Good Afternoon! I hope this finds you all well. Last Thursday we went to The Easter Show. It was the first day of the show and so much quieter to what we are use to – we normally go Good Friday – which I think always works out to be the busiest day! My Miss 10 dances Bjp Physie and was given the opportunity to Dance there with 300 other Physie girls and ladies in the main arena. She did it last year and was eager to do it again and so we didn’t have a say in the day we went. It is lovely that she gets the opportunity to do this with the Sport she LOVES!

Getting ready to catch the train – the girls were super excited!

The girls are on there somewhere!

It was such a great day as we saw so many stands that we normally can’t get anywhere near! It was quite hot, we did lots of walking, lots of rides and had a LONG but wonderful day! (We got on a train at 7.40am and home at 11pm!) We were lucky enough to have my in-laws come down and mind Master and Miss 2 so Miss 10 and Miss 8 and I could go down and have some quality time together. Hubby had to work so he came down afterwards….which was good as Miss 10 and I don’t do scary rides but Miss 8 and him do!

Me with my gorgeous big girls!

I am thrilled to be able to share with you some things I found on the day and perhaps you will find some goodies you have not seen before…

Morish Nuts: This is an Australian family owned business that we see and buy from every year at the show. Hubby is a savoury snacker rather than sweet, so this is where he goes to instead of a Showbag! With a huge range of flavours, hubby had a taste test and settled on these: Hot and Spicy Macadamias, Wasabi Macadamias and the Premium Nut Mix (he could have got a lot more I am sure but knows we can get them online through their store) …. and YES there are plenty of choices for those that are Gluten, Dairy and Preservative Free!

MORISH

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Ph: 1800 888 184 – (08) 9221 0214

Pukara Estate: These gorgeous products are only a few hours away from us and we never knew! What a great find! They have Olive oils, vinegars, Dukkas and salt flakes (the picture above it what we got) The smell is DIVINE and I can not wait to cook with it this week. Checking out their website for all their products is a must and for those that are in the area you need to pop in too! I know we will be! Once again just like the Morish nuts, there are plenty of options for those with food allergies and intolerances.

PUKARA ESTATE

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1440 Denman Road Muswellbrook NSW 2333

Ph: 02) 65471055

The Chilli Factory: Another favourite of hubbys that he has to have a taste at and buy something at, at every Easter Show (and even close to us, less than half an hour!) The heat is rated out of 10 so you know what you are tasting. We bought ‘Morning Afterburn’ which is a Hot Chilli and Mango Sauce 10/10 and also ‘The Bilby’s Bummer’ which is a medium Green Thai Chilli Sauce 7/10. The Chilli Factory holds the Guinness World Record for the Hottest Chilli which is not out on display but you can purchase it 15/10!!!!! We bought this (we are not crazy enough to try this ourselves) as a gift for a very dear friend who brags about how much he can handle hot chilli…can’t wait to give him this and hopefully get a reaction….I will have my camera ready!

For those keen to check them out they have online sales and also a list of stockists on their website. The heat starts at #1 so check them out even if you are not a major chilli lover. Be sure to read all the ingredients carefully if you have food allergies or intolerances.

THE CHILLI FACTORY

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1 Ironbark Road Morissett 2264 NSW

Ph: 02) 4973 3951

The Biltong Man: We had a great chat to the lovely couple at this stand from Springbok Delights. Hubby and the big girls tried pretty much everything they had and bought one of everything I think too! Last night watching telly hubby was snacking on the Mango and Chilli Beef Ingredients Lean Australian Beef, Salt, Spices, Brown Vinegar, Sugar, Soy Sauce (Water Wheat Soybeans and Salt) he LOVES this …. pair it up with some of the nuts from earlier, some cheese and a glass of red and I think he would be is tastebud heaven!

Springbok Delights

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656 Mowbray Rd Lane Cove NSW 2066

Ph: 02) 9427 5168

Thats it for today…..will have some more for you tomorrow so stay tuned….don’t forget to check out their Facebook pages, websites and if you are going to the Easter Show this year go and have a taste!

Wishing you a beautiful day!

Take Care of You,

Collette x

The Easter Show and some goodies I found....

Thursday 21 March 2013

In my Pantry...Spreads....

Good Afternoon and HAPPY FRIDAY! Can you believe it is only 1 week until Easter….is it true that days, weeks and months go much faster the older you get!?

I have some exciting blogs coming up for you over the next week or so….I am continuing my weekly “Whats in my Pantry” blogs and I also have some cute Easter ideas as well as sharing with you our day yesterday at The Royal Easter Show and all the goodies I found…. so stay tuned and don’t forget to head to the home page, right hand side and put your email address in so my blogs come straight to your email!

Today I am sharing with you “What is in my Pantry”….

SPREADS

Straight from my Pantry

Peanut Butter: I like this Macro Organic Crunchy Peanut Butter. It doesn’t get used a great deal for School Lunches due to the no nut policy and only occasionally is it used on toast for the kids. For a quick and sweet treat for late night cravings when I am needing something for dessert and up late working I love thin rice cakes with a light spread of this and a drizzle of honey. I use this peanut butter in cooking, there is a DELICIOUS Satay Dip in Cut out the Crap Book and also a YUMMY Peanut Butter Chicken in Cut out the Crap for Kids. You will see that at times when making ‘Tart Cases” in Cut out the Crap, I use peanut butter as a replacement for butter in the recipes.

Macro Brand = Woolworths. I am sure there are many other brands around that are only Peanuts also.

Ingredients: 100% Organic Roasted Peanuts. Around $1 extra compared to other peanut butters that have a lot of ‘crap’ in them. Well worth it in my opinion.

Tahini: This spread is simply Sesame Seeds turned into a paste. This brand that I buy is hulled, natural, dairy, gluten and cholesterol free. You can get hulled or unhulled the difference being the ‘skin’ is left on the unhulled which makes them better nutritionally, however hulled is still great for you. In my opinion unhulled is also more bitter in taste.

Tahini is high in calcium, protein, copper, magnesium and Vitamin A, E, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6 and B15 WOW!!!!!!!! It can be used as a spread instead of peanut butter. I use this on rice crackers as a spread, drizzled on steamed vegetables and I especially LOVE this dip I created http://www.cutoutthecrap.com.au/recipe-tahini-dip/

I bought this from our local Health Food store but have seen Tahini in Supermarket health food stores also.

Ingredients: JUST NATURAL HULLED SESAME SEEDS – no added oil, salt or sugar

Jam: I love the brand Anathoth. It is purely fruit and sugar. Yes it has a lot of sugar but I get this from my local Supermarket its convenient to buy and its something that is not used often at all so I don’t mind. We probably go through a jar every few months! I especially love this as it has “apricot” which I can have seen as thought I am allergic to all berries which are in most Jams. I also use this Jam when making the Apricot Chicken from COTC for Kids.

Ingredients: New Zealand Apricots 50%, Sugar.

Honey: My hubby especially loves honey, drizzled onto his Muesli, Chia Pudding and Toast. I try and buy Honey when we go to fresh food markets that we feel have more variety and flavour than a lot of store bought honeys. This recent one we got from the Easter Show yesterday is Golden Nectar, Organic Real Leatherwood made in Tasmania. Have you seen our family favourite of Honey Chicken on my blog??? Check it out here….HONEY CHICKEN…

“Leatherwood” Honey

THAT’S IT for spreads in my Pantry. You may notice me missing a much loved product in most homes….Vegemite and all the other mites! I refuse it buy it as its not additive free in the slightest. I threw it out last June, told Miss 10 and Miss 8 that it was because it was bad for them and that was that. Whilst Tanya from The Additive Free Pantry uses Miso as a replacement for Vegemite and says it tastes “just the same” it is Soy and I am allergic and not a fan for the kids so I haven’t tried it. It might be something to look into though for those that are interested.

One thing that isn’t actually a ‘spread’ but I use it as one just the same is Avocados….all 4 of my children LOVE this spread on toast, wraps, crackers with a sprinkle of Herbamare and especially Vital Veggie Powder sprinkled on top.

I hope you have found this blog useful!

Wishing you a FANTASTIC weekend!

Take Care of You,

Collette x

In my Pantry...Spreads....

Sunday 17 March 2013

COTC starter pack!

This pack contains:

1 x Cut out the Crap Recipe Book

1 x Cut out the Crap for Kids Recipe Book

1 x Additive Free Shopping Guide

1 x The Chemical Maze ‘Shopping Companion’

1 x Black Apron (with Blue and Green COTC logo)

All items bought separate would be $97

This pack SPECIAL is only $87!!!!! (Plus postage and handling)

COTC starter pack!

Tuesday 12 March 2013

In my Pantry .... Sauces ....

Good Morning…I hope this finds you all well…today I will be continuing to show you what is in my Pantry….

SAUCES

Coles Organic Tomato Sauce: Ingredients – Concentrated Organic Tomatoes (67%) Organic Sugar Organic White Distilled Vinegar (from Corn) Salt, Spice.

This is not something I can have (as I am allergic to tomatoes) but like to have it in the Cupboard, especially when friends kids come over (I once was stuck with no tomato sauce in the cupboard and my friend had to go to the shops to buy some as her son wouldn’t eat lunch without it!) as you can see by how much is in there it is not used that oftenin our house….my kids have never been allowed to put tomato sauce on everything! It is for home made potato chips / wedges and bbq meat only!

Abundant Earth Tamari Reduced Salt Soy Sauce: Ingredients – Water, Soybean, sea salt. Marked as wheat and preservative free.

Even though I can only have this in moderation and generally chose to leave it out of food I eat, I only ever buy this now, not “normal” soy sauce with wheat in in. It is good to splash in stir-frys and my kids love dipping rice paper rolls into it.

Obento Rice Wine Vinegar: Ingredients – Water, glutinous rice, salt. Note…glutinous rice does not mean it contains gluten! This is the only vinegar I buy and you will see it a few times in my recipes as a ‘flavour’.

Maggi Authentic Thai Fish Sauce: Ingredients – Fish Extract 66%, salt, sugar. I love the warning on this label ‘contains crustacean and fish’
I know there is the issue that companies are allowed to hide MSG in anything with the word ‘extract’ …. however, I have not been able to find a fish sauce that doesn’t say it, I only ever use 1 tspn at a time (and not that often) and my ‘additive radar Miss 8′ (who goes OFF after eating any additives) does not react to meals that have this in it…..maybe it would be different if we used it often or in large amounts, I am unsure. However, this is just MY opinion and I would recommend you to look into this yourself if you are worried this may be an issue.

Macro Organic Sweet Chilli Sauce: Ingredients – Filtered Water, Organic Raw Sugar, Organic Onion, Organic Chilli 4%, Sea Salt, Organic Sweet Paprika, Vegetable Gum (Xanthan), Organic Garlic Powder, Food Acid (Acetic)

I generally make my own sweet chilli sauce, however this is a good one to have on hand if you don’t have time to make it. This is a really yummy Sweet Chilli Sauce that even my Miss 10 and Miss 8 don’t mind.

Organics Unsweetened Apple Sauce: Ingredients – Apples!

I have been experimenting with using this instead of eggs and/or sugar in baking cakes. Some have been successful…..some others not so much! It is great to put a dollop in your cereal, yoghurt, fruit salad….or if you are like my kids they like to use it as a dip for chicken…..or eat it as is!!!!

That is it for what I have for sauces in my pantry! Everything else I make myself (mayo, salad dressings etc) ….

Homemade Mayonnaise from book ‘Cut out the Crap’

I have had a few people ask me where I get my information and ‘how do I know what to buy’ ….. because YES I am ‘just a mum’ with food allergies that LOVES to cook and create recipes!

I get my info from The Chemical Maze and The Additive Free Shopping Guide ….. BOTH NOW AVAILABLE THROUGH MY WEBSITE!!!!!!!!!!

The Chemical Maze – simply look items up by name or number and it will tell you exactly what it is!!! I would not be without this!!!!!!

The Additive Free Shopping Guide – over 800 additive free products listed!!!!!!

I hope this info has helped you in some way…..

Have a wonderful day!!!!!

Take Care of You,

Collette x

In my Pantry .... Sauces ....

Good Morning…I hope this finds you all well…today I will be continuing to show you what is in my Pantry….

SAUCES

Coles Organic Tomato Sauce: Ingredients – Concentrated Organic Tomatoes (67%) Organic Sugar Organic White Distilled Vinegar (from Corn) Salt, Spice.

Abundant Earth Tamari Reduced Salt Soy Sauce: Ingredients – Water, Soybean, sea salt. Marked as wheat and preservative free.

Organics Unsweetened Apple Sauce: Ingredients – Apples!

That is it for what I have for sauces in my pantry! Everything else I make myself (mayo, salad dressings etc) ….

Homemade Mayonnaise from book ‘Cut out the Crap’

I have had a few people ask me where I get my information and ‘how do I know what to buy’ ….. because YES I am ‘just a mum’ with food allergies that LOVES to cook and create recipes!

I get my info from The Chemical Maze and The Additive Free Shopping Guide ….. BOTH NOW AVAILABLE THROUGH MY WEBSITE!!!!!!!!!!

The Chemical Maze – simply look items up by name or number and it will tell you exactly what it is!!! I would not be without this!!!!!!

The Additive Free Shopping Guide – over 800 additive free products listed!!!!!!

I hope this info has helped you in some way…..

Have a wonderful day!!!!!

Take Care of You,

Collette x

In my Pantry .... Sauces ....

Thursday 7 March 2013

Chia Pudding....a new addiction....

Good Afternoon I hope this finds you well. All is great here with it being a full on week for us as a family as well as busy for the world of COTC. My Miss 10 and Miss 8 had their swimming carnival on last Thursday and I was truly excited that Miss 10 made it to Zone for 50m Breaststroke, Backstroke, Freestyle and the School Relay. I am always a proud Mum when effort is made….for them to get out there and have the confidence to try is all I ask, I know as a child I didn’t have the confidence to try many things and I feel it often shows in me as an adult (as much as I try to not allow it to).

My gorgeous big girls after a long day at the Swimming Carnival!

I have had a productive week taking photos for COTC3 whilst nursing a sick belly after indulging in too many eggs…and the sad thing is it hasn’t been the chocolate kind! My tolerance levels are not too high for eggs at the moment which is frustrating as I love them SO much! To ease my pains and give me energy to keep working and being a Mum of 4 I have been relying a lot on my juices, I feel like I get SO much out of them. My favourite at the moment is Orange, Lime, Apple, Carrot, Cucumber or Baby Spinach (or both), Ginger, Maca and Chia Seeds… LOVE LOVE LOVE…..

When my tummy plays up I really need to step back on the food that normally I can have in moderation like eggs, nuts and lentils which makes breakfast difficult when already I can not have wheat / gluten, dairy or tomato! So I decided to try the much talked about Chia Seed Pudding….the main thing I had to work out was the quantity which was a bit of trial and error…which I am use to with the creating of recipes or my books. A good thing about making this is that you can taste it as you go! So flavour really depend on your taste buds, what you can eat and your imagination!

Here is the base recipe:

1 cup of rice milk

4 tablespoons chia seeds

Yep! Thats it! I honestly could have eaten it like this as the rice milk is quite sweet as it is. However, here are some options.

Add: 1/2 tspn sweeteer of your choice eg agave, honey, maple syrup, rapadura, coconut sugar…whatever takes your fancy

and / or Add 1/2 tspn cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg

Another option is to add 1 teaspoon of Berry Choc Chunk from Superfoods for Kidz for a healthy (YES HEALTHY!) option or 1 tspn drinking chocolate from Loving Earth (of course you can use cacao, cocoa or drinking chocolate of your choice, this is just what I use)

Method: Place milk and chia seeds into a cup and mix well. Place in the fridge for one hour. Mix again. THIS STEP IS IMPORTANT IF YOU WANT IT TO THICKEN. Return to the fridge for 2-3 hours until set.

The one on the left was stirred after an hour, the one on the right wasn’t & therefore remained slightly runnier.

To serve: Eat as is! YUM!

This is how it will look when ready to eat!

OPTIONS:

* Serve with fruit, nuts and seeds or coconut stirred through.

* Use milk of your choice or replace half of the milk with coconut milk for a tasty and quick dessert.

* Make of a night ready for breakfast! Easy as that!

This is certainly going to be a regular in our house….loved by all….so quick and easy….and nutritious, I am a huge fan!

Hope you love it when you try it too!

Have a BEAUTIFUL weekend!

Take Care of You,

Collette x

Chia Pudding....a new addiction....

Tuesday 5 March 2013

In my Pantry .... Nuts and Seeds ....

Good Afternoon! I hope this finds you all well. Welcome to Part 4 of “what is in my Gluten, Dairy and Preservative Free Pantry” …. today I will be sharing with you ….

NUTS AND SEEDS

In my Pantry

I have to say I love nuts but sadly they don’t love me. I have been tested and confirmed as being allergic to them (not just peanuts but all nuts) however doing my own process of elimination, I have worked out that this is something I can have in moderation….stopping myself when “moderation” is reached is the hardest thing though! I try to keep nuts just for baking and salads etc and don’t temp myself to just snack on them. This is so very hard as I know how good they are for me, they are in my pantry and my hubby and kids love them! If I am tempted to snack too much on them I remind myself of the labour type pains I will have (no exaggeration) if I eat too many and that pulls me to a screaming halt!

Like most products I do my best to buy Organic. However this can be limiting when the closest Health Food Store is 30 minutes away and can’t fit a single pram in it let alone my double pram, or if I want to cook something tomorrow so online shopping isn’t an option or it is simply not affordable. I am more than happy to buy Supermarket nuts and seeds when I have to, especially when I am cooking and creating and not even sure if its going to turn out!

Nuts: I have a massive variety of these in my pantry especially as hubby, Miss 10 and Miss 8 love snacking on them. Cashews, Pistachios, Almonds, Macadamias and Brazil Nuts are favourites for snacking (add a few in a container with some dates and cacao nibs for a GREAT snack!)

For cooking I use a lot of Pine Nuts, Macadamias and Slivered Almonds … especially toasted an thrown in a Salad…Yum!

Health benefits of nuts: Nuts are full of ‘healthy fats’ and Omega 3 Fatty Acids. They are source of fibre and many vitamins, minerals and nutrients like many B vitamins, vitamin E, iron, zinc, and magnesium plus so much more.

Turkey and Spinach Rissoles from book ‘Cut out the Crap’ have Pine Nuts in them!

Seeds: Seeds are another thing I love….I throw them into everything, salads, strifrys, soups, juices and of course snacks. I always have in my pantry Sesame seeds, Chia Seeds, Popcorn (I am sure I will be corrected by someone that its not a seed but I wanted to add it in here!) Pepitas and Sunflower Seeds. Most of these seeds are high in fibre and MANY vitamins and minerals…..so very worthwhile for you to add to your cooking and ‘snack’ section of your pantry.