PRESENT IDEAS

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Do you get stuck for present ideas for your family and friends?

Maybe this will help you out a little!!!

Presents don’t have to expensive or mass produced, sometimes we just need to give that special someone something from the heart. What better way to do it than with something that you have made yourself.

OK let’s get down to why I’m writing this post in October instead of December when everyone is looking for Christmas present ideas. It really is quite simple…. I have a special friend who is turning the BIG 40. What do you get a friend who has most things and loves everything pink? Yes of course pink BPA free containers filled with Lucas Lifestyle treats. 🙂  Sterilised glass jars would also be great containers to put you treats in.

In the photo below I have made Almond butter, Cashew butter, Coconut butter and mayo.

I’m also testing out some natural body products and if they work well I will post them.

Happy birthday my dear friend I hope you like your Lucas Lifestyle treats xxx

HAIR CHALLENGE PART 4

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24th October 2012

 

I have a little confession to make…. Just a little one, nothing big or bad……. I WASHED MY HAIR!!! Yep you read correctly I washed my hair but not with Shampoo which makes this only a little confession. I washed my hair with Bi – Carb soda and gee am I impressed with the results. My hair wasn’t moving forward in this challenge and it wasn’t going backwards either, I just needed something to get rid of the extra oil. While reading a lot of peoples blogs about the ‘no – poo’ a lot of them used Bi – carb soda as their shampoo and Apple cider vinegar as their conditioner. So last night of I went to the shower with 1 tablespoon of bi – carb in hand and washed my hair. Any excess oil is now gone. I have to admit that Bi – carb is the best shampoo that I have ever used, my hair still has a natural shine and isn’t all blow away ish. It also didn’t get knotty which is one of the best points about this challenge. I hate having knotty hair and it hurts when you brush it but since undertaking this challenge I haven’t been getting knotty hair which in turn would mean less breakage. Sounding like a win, win situation to me. 🙂

ZUCCHINI SLICE

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While staying in my friend’s backyard in Maroochydore I have been taught this wonderful recipe and am keen to share it with you all.

2 zucchinis cut into chunks

1 carrot cut into chunks

1 onion quartered

1/2 cup GF self-raising flour

3 eggs lightly beaten

Feta cheese (I use Sheep)

Method:

  1. Place the carrot and then the zucchini into the TM bowl grate 2 sec / speed 9.
  2. Once grated remove from TM bowl and squeeze all the juice out. (this can be done with a nut milk bag or in a strainer)
  3.  Place onion in TM bowl and chop 1 sec / speed 9.
  4. Place all the veg into a bowl.  Add the rest of the ingredients and combine well.
  5. Put your mixture into a greased oven proof dish and cook for 40 min / 180 degrees or until cooked through and golden brown on the top.
  6. Allow to cool for around 15 min / ½ hour. Enjoy

Squeeze the juice from the zucchini and carrot is very important for if you don’t your slice will be to moist and end up as just hot slop 🙂

HAIR CHALLENGE PART 3

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16th October 2012

 

Well the last 10 days have been a little stagnant for any moving forward of my hair status.  There have been no real improvements in the look and quality of my hair, which is a little flattening but on the bright side things haven’t gone backwards either 🙂 . I’m still washing my hair in warm water and massaging my scalp as I do.  I have read that it can take up to at least 6 weeks for your hair to adjust to not having chemicals washed over it every few days, so I will plug on with it and see where we end up after 6 weeks.  If any of you have any suggestions or have tried the No – Poo please leave your thought. Till next report in, take care.

CUSTARD

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This has to be one of the easiest recipes to cook and it is also one of my family’s favourites.  We whip it up after dinner for desert, as an afternoon snack, and even sometimes I whip it up for breakfast with stewed apple.

20g – 50g Honey

500g Coconut milk

2 Eggs

20g – 30g Cornflour GF

 

  1. Place all the ingredients into the TM bowl and mix 30 sec / speed 6.
  2. Cook  90 degrees / 7 min / speed 4.
  3. The amount of honey that you put in depends on the sweetness that you desire, and the amount of cornflour that you use depends on the thickness that you require.

 

Original recipe is from ‘Everyday cooking for every family’ Thermomix page 155

HAIR CHALLENGE PART 2

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6th October 2012

Well since my last post 6 days ago I’ve had the thought, am I doing the right thing, what do people think of me, and then a light bulb went off I DON’T CARE WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK.  So since last post I have been washing (scrubbing) my hair with lukewarm water every second day, and brushing it every morning and every night (I use to do this part anyway). A few things that I have noticed this week is that my hair has way less knots in it than it use to get, that’s always a good  point because knots hurt. Another noticeable point is that part of my hair is starting to look and feel less oily. I really do recommend the washing your hair with lukewarm water every couple of days. This seems to wash away the excess oil and sweat and every time that I do it my hair seems to perform and feel better than ever before.

HAIR CHALLENGE

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1st October 2012

Ok I’ve been thinking about doing a challenge of not using any hair products and today is the day that I will start. It’s been about 5 days since I last washed my hair and to be truthful I should have washed it yesterday, but since I was just relaxing around home I didn’t.  For the past month I’ve been only using a natural shampoo and no conditioner. The reason for using this natural shampoo is, I noticed that after using some brands of shampoo and conditioner my head would become really itchy.  On my search for a natural product with low chemicals and no wheat based products I found the one that I was using but the conditioner contained wheat products so I chose to just use the shampoo.  This is working just fine my hair isn’t getting to dry or to oily, which got me thinking could I use no product and have lovely looking hair. After a little research I decided that I reckon I could.  I’m going to use some of the knowledge in this article (http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2007/04/30/1887681.htm) to get my hair challenge underway.  At the moment my hair is looking and feeling oily, so the first thing that I’m going to do after putting up this post is to go and have a shower and wash my hair with lukewarm water and give my scalp a real good rub and then rinse with cool water.

DONUT

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Ahh donuts, they bring back so many fabulous memories of when my kids were babies and after having story time at our local library we would head over to the shops and have fresh hot cinnamon donuts as our treat for the week.  Even now as I walk past the fresh donut shops I think gee I would love one of them right now J.

1 cup (120g) Almonds

1 egg

2 tsp Honey

½  tsp Vanilla concentrate

¼ tsp Bi-Carb soda

¼ tsp Baking Powder GF

2 Tbs Cocoa Powder

½ Cup coconut milk

 

  1. Add the Almonds to the TM bowl 1 min / speed 8.  Scrape down the sides and repeat till you reach a nut butter consistency.  You may find doing it in 20 or 30 sec blocks works better for you.  Time will vary depending on the oil content of the nut.
  2. Once you have formed a nut butter you then need to add the rest of your ingredients to the TM bowl and mix 1 min / speed 4.
  3. Place you mixture into a pre oiled doughnut tray and back in the oven at 175 degrees for 15 min.
  4. Allow the donuts to cool for around 10 min in the tray then take them out and allow to fully cool on a cooling rack. Or you could eat them while still warm

Once your donuts are cool you can then ice them if you wish. I iced mine with coconut butter.

‘Original recipe from The Spunky Coconut’

 

CHIPS

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I’m a real fan of hot chips but since going gluten and dairy free I’ve discovered that most chips aren’t what you would expect them to be. If you were like me you would think that a hot potato chip was made from just a potato. WRONG! Most hot chips also contain wheat. What they do is get the potato and mash it then they add flour to bulk it up then form these perfect looking chips. Tada!, we now have chips that contain gluten.  I was at a pub the other week and asked the lady taking my order what the chips were made of because I have  gluten intolerance’s and she answered in a ‘are you stupid lady’ kind of voice “they are made from potatoes” so I naturally asked if that was it and if she could talk to the chef to confirm what she had just told me. The lady was quite obliging and went and spoke to the chef and on her return apologized and confirmed that they also contained flour. This goes to show that you should always question what you are wanting to eat.

 

After this episode I decided to do a little research on the fast food chains in Australia and find out what on their menu is gluten free. I have put links at the bottom of the page for you so that you can look at their menu and ingredients in all their food for yourself and make your own decisions. I hope that this quick reference point helps you decide which chips you are going to eat next time you are out and about looking for a quick snack.

 

 

 

http://www.subwayhfv.com/allergenchart.pdf

 

http://kfc.com.au/nutrition/allergen.asp

 

http://www.hungryjacks.com.au/menu

 

http://mcdonalds.com.au/our-food/nutrition

 

http://www.redrooster.com.au/

 

At the time of writing this article there wasn’t any information available on the internet for Chicken Treat you will have to contact them yourself.