November, a Time of Realisation

Our health, I believe, stems from the many conscious decisions we make everyday.  Whether it be choosing to use poisons in our homes to be rid of pests, to maintain a highly stressful workload, to watch TV over walking your dog.  Or, choosing to have a particular diet.
Most importantly, however, our health depends on how important, and how much we value, good health.  
I started this blog because I am passionate about health, and particularly health as is impacted by the food we consume.  I love to make food. I love to talk about food. I love to think about food, dream about food, consume food. Food that makes people happy, that can relate to those no matter what dietary restrictions or requirements they have.  Food that is inventive, creative, colourful and diverse. Food that ultimately promotes health, in all forms of the word.

You are probably thinking what the hell I am getting to.
Well I am not entirely sure.

I originally wanted to study dietetics to change things from the inside.  I wanted to change the direction of health professionals, from such a biomedical paradigm to something much more holistic and preventative.  As a child, I was given two opinions of dietitians.  One that didn't even know what a zucchini was, and the other an amazing, open, creative individual who ordered chefs around and went to the store to get patient requests for herself.
I obviously aspired to be like the first, but as I knew what a zucchini was by the time I was four, my hopes were dashed.  (for those who are unaware, this is a joke.  I get sarcastic when I'm venting).

Now I don't know what I was hoping for.  To be that dietitian who gives hope to their patients that have been living with, or newly diagnosed, with a chronic disease.  To make them sugar-free custard myself if the damn chefs couldn't be bothered. To work in a hospital and change regulations to provide good, fresh, wholesome food to patients instead of the shit that they are currently getting? To somehow, miraculously, persuade the CEO of the hospital to put a majority of the institution's funding toward good food over other things such as beds and medications. Yeh right.  I said in one assignment at the start of the year, "If nutrition were such an important issue in assisting with chronic disease management, wouldn’t it make sense to give patients proper, nutritious food in hospital? Doctors wouldn’t prescribe second-rate medicine".  Amazingly I got full marks for this ballsy assignment. I think I have "grown up" a little since then and realised that although probably not altogether impossible, it will be very, very, difficult to make changes.  

So now I am thinking why make changes when I can create new change? If that even makes sense.

Although I know there are many different fields dietitians can work in, I don't think I am cut out for what is required for a dietitian.  I could never recommend for someone with high cholesterol to only eat the whites of eggs, for an obese person to consume diet coke (over normal coke), for a person with diabetes to opt for artificial sweeteners. To give someone supplements or texture modified foods that, although are nutritionally complete and serve a very important role in disease management and prevention of malnutrition,  are artificial and commercial and used by large companies just for ease of use and produced by even larger.  I believe it is possible to formulate a texture modified, nutritionally complete, diet from real food, not chemicals.  But there is no point, it will be expensive, time-consuming, difficult to do, and I will no doubt be unsupported.

This, however, is still my hope for the future, and this is where my passion lies - to create good food for all people. I know over the next 12months, if continuing my study of dietetics, I will struggle on placement, I will not want to conform, and most of all I feel I will lose my passion.  I will lose my hope.  I will lose what I have always believed.  I had already got told at the start of this semester that in order to a good dietitian I had to step back from my own passions and beliefs.  I got told this by a dietitian at the Uni who we, as students, are supposed to model. Maybe some people are able to do that, and I admire you, I really do, but I know for a fact that everyday I tell someone to continue with their weight loss shakes or to eat whatever they want as long as it is under 2000kcal/day, that I will lose a piece of who I am. Oh woe is me, I am sounding dramatic now haha.

So I have been thinking.  Thinking about my options.  And I have pretty much come to the decision that I will graduate at the end of this year with a Bachelor of Nutrition.  
This, however, is not enough.  I do not want to be a dietitian and what it represents in my eyes, but I want to be more.  Become more.  I will continue on studying another closely-related, although opposing, field, and pursue a career centred around where my passion lies, food.  
I want to spend more time on this blog, getting it up and running formerly.  
I have the knowledge, I have the know-how, and most importantly I have the passion and the belief that I can make changes to even a few people's lives.  


Making the decision to drop back to Nutrition has in a way been a quick and ultimate decision, but still extremely difficult.  It is pretty confronting to change what you have always thought about yourself, and what you were always going to be.  Suddenly, I am no longer a "future dietitian".  What am I? A nutritionist? A drop-out? An alternative, unconforming no-body who gets on her high horse? 
But I know this is not closing doors for me, but rather opening them.  One day I may even return to dietetics, after I have gotten more life experience and possibly re-discovered that it is the path I have to take to get me to where I want.  And if I do return to it, I know I will be able to get a lot more out of it then I will if I carry it out next year.  

This being said, I can't let myself go.  I am giving up dietetics to pursue my passions, and pursue I must do!  It, again, will take me a long time until I have achieved all the qualifications I want, and where I want, but there are many opportunities for me right now that I must take.   

Sigh, I don't know what else to say? I'm scared, but mostly relieved and somewhat inspirited.  I am also so very thankful for all those who have sat down with me and listened to me discuss this. Thank you for not judging me on 'dropping' out, and knowing me well enough that you can see this is definitely the right choice for me. For being excited for me.  And mostly, thankyou for your endless support.  

 

 I hope that every one of you are able to follow your passions. 

Omnipotent Orange Mud Cake

(gluten-free, vegetarian, diabetic-friendly, lactose-free options)

Cody asked me to make this week's orange and almond cake.  As it is my study week (which means I am craving sweets BIG-time) I thought I'd make it with a twist.  An extremely rich, chocolate-y, twist. 
This recipe is not too different from the original, so if you are already adept at making orange and almond cake, this stupendous sweet will be a piece of cake (I am soo very good at making lame jokes!).  

You will require...
Cake:

1.5-2C almond meal

½ C xylitol, or any other sweetener you prefer

1/2 – 3/4C cacao powder

1-2tsp gluten-free baking powder

4 oranges, unpeeled

200g dark chocolate, at least 70% cocoa.  I normally use dairy and sugar free dark chocolate that you can buy from natural food stores.

4 free-range eggs

vanilla essence

Icing:

Solids from separated yoghurt (do not despair - this is extremely easy!), or philly cheese

1 orange, juice or boiled whole

Method of Preparation:

Boil the oranges  for half an hour, empty the water out of the saucepan, and boil again for another half an hour in fresh water. Emptying the water out and refilling with fresh water reduces the bitterness of the orange rind.  Blend the oranges in a food processor until smooth.
Mix all the dry ingredients together, ensuring that the baking powder is thoroughly incorporated into the mixture.  Add the oranges, along with the eggs and vanilla essence, to the dry ingredients. Temper half of the chocolate, and roughly chop the rest.  Put both lots into the cake mix.
Pour the cake mix into a greased cake tin of your preference, and cook at 190 degrees for 40 minutes, or until skewer comes out clean.

Icing:
Blend boiled orange, or juice of orange, with the yoghurt/cheese using a food processor.  Once smooth consistency add liberally over top of cooled cake. 
If you are going down the philly cheese road, allow it to sit for a short period of time at room temperature, before using, so it becomes easier to manipulate.

Yoghurt Separation:
Now if you have the balls to try the yoghurt-icing I must first congratulate you.  It is well worth it.  Separation of the yoghurt does require it to strain, using some good ol' cheese cloth, over night.  Just get a large bowl and place the cheese cloth over the top (I used cheese cloth that had been folded over itself a few times, increasing strain-ability), securing it with a rubber band.  Pour the yoghurt over the top of the cheese cloth, it should remain sitting on top.  Cover, and put in the fridge to strain.  Over the 12-24hrs most of the liquid component of the yoghurt (called the whey) should be at the bottom of the bowl, with the remaining solids on top.  Do not throw the whey away - it can be kept in the fridge for a couple of weeks and used for other great things!! (recipes coming soon...). 

Most people with lactose intolerance do not have trouble eating yoghurt, so for these people, it definitely serves as an adequate substitute to the less-tolerable cheese.


Grate some dark chocolate over the top, and allow a few hours for the icing to set in the fridge. 

The philly cheese icing is predictably a lot firmer than the yoghurt-icing, however, the yoghurt still does hold it's place on the top of the cake (see pics). Like a boss.




I gave some of this cake away to my doctor and her receptionist who, over the last couple of weeks, have been absolutely amazing.  And seriously when the day comes that I have my own private clinic (pfft yeh right!), I am going to steal that receptionist away! She is always a pleasure to talk to, both on the phone and in person, and she treats all patients equally and with the highest regard.  It doesn't matter how run off her feet she is, and how many phone calls she has had that day, she always makes sure she has a smile on her face, especially plastered there, for you.  It really makes a difference to how you feel, especially when you are in such a state that you have to resort to crawling, on your hands and feet, over to the receptionist desk.  So I hope I gave them a little bit of joy to repay them, even just slightly, for the perpetuating relief they have given to me in this last week.






Cody has also eaten almost half of what was left of the cake.  To avoid missing out, I know what I'm having for breakfast!

Poked Vegetable Stack

The other night I had planned to make a vegetable stack.  I could not, however, find the patience nor the tolerance in amongst our dirty dishes to actually carry it out.  So instead, I came up with a much simpler, quicker, version of a 'stack'.

Poked Vegetable Stack
(gluten-free, vegetarian/easily vegan, diabetic-friendly)

Ingredients:
Raw veggies of your choice, sliced thinly in 'rings' (I am not sure if that's what you call them - just try and make circular shapes with as many types of vegetables as you can...)
Feta, or tofu if vegan
Onion

Serve with sauce of your choice; balsamic vinegar, sweet chilli etc.  I made a chilli/garlic/balsamic/Braggs sauce mix that tasted ok...if you were a dog...or my boyfriend.
I also served with some of Ma's fresh lettuce and pureed four beans with chilli, lemon and garlic. 


Grease up a flat tray, and preheat oven to 160degrees C.  Slice thin rings from a large sweet potato (or potato or pumpkin) and put in the oven until golden brown.  Meanwhile, slice rings from all your other veggies.  Brown onion and eggplant rings in a fry pan.  

 The veggies I used (in stacked order) was sweet potato, eggplant, zucchini (the only one sliced lengthways), squash, tomato, onion and then mushroom (in later pics).

Stack all the vegetables on top of each other, starting with the sweet potato (or potato/pumpkin).  Also include the feta, or fried tofu.  Pierce with a skewer to hold into place and put into the oven until feta is melted or vegetables are fragrant.

I just poured the sauce right over the top of the whole dish, beans and all!


Quick, easy, and extremely filling...

Have a great day!

A Grandmothers Touch

Oh yay for some time to be able to blog!
And as this time is limited, I am not going to spend it whinging.  Instead, I am going to focus on all the beautiful moments I captured this week, and I am going to be oh so thankful for what I have (blah blah blah).

I learnt a lesson this week; not to underestimate the power of family and friends.  Pretty cliche, I know, but it's important nonetheless! 
Most of last week I hid from my roommates, some of my closest friends, ashamed and embarrassed.  I was afraid of the responses that I thought I would get, I didn't want to have to face their disappointment, sympathy, mockery...or anything reaction that may fit inbetween. 
So I hid myself away from them, finally escaping to my hometown for the weekend.  This in itself was daunting, as I was also afraid to face my family for fear of seeing even a flicker of revulsion and disappointment in their faces.  But I needn't have feared.  They gave me more support and love, and courage, then I knew what to do with.  They talked things through with me.  They cried with me.  They held me, and understood me, and distracted me.  They renewed my confidence.  So much so that I came home and straight away told my roommates of my troubles of the previous week.  Again, I needn't have feared. 

One of these lovely people was my Grandmother, who we call 'Ma'.  Ma has been a huge inspiration to me.  I hold her pretty much accountable for why I am like I am - and lets just say fanatical passion runs in the family!  With my course, and in such a day and age, it is so easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of new sciences and technologies.  Ma grounds me.  She reminds me, with her simplistic views on cooking and gardening, why I am doing dietetics.  Why I want to be a dietitian, and what it is I truly believe in.
Ma has an encycolpedia-worthy wealth of knowledge about foods; what they are good for, how they are grown, how you should prepare them, what products are currently on the market, and sustainability.  I often go to her for advice, or to rant.  Oh yeah we have our different views, and she can get too trivial (as can I), but I am so lucky to have her there to confide in, to know that I am not alone.
She is also the only person I know who can wear triple denim (jeans, jacket and hat) and get away with it.

Over the weekend I took some photos of her lovingly cultivated garden, for a little inspiration. 

 Ma's frontyard.  Spot the red spinach!

The pipe you see sticking out of the ground with a little pot-hat on it, is uniquely called a 'tower'. I'm not quite sure what it does - something to do with decreasing the pH balance of the soil maybe?  Maybe I should ask...haha

Ma's side yard.  Quite a range of herbs are grown here, along with carrots and some 'compost' plants (they improve the compost environment but are not so good for human insides).

 This is a Stevia plant.  This plant is overwhelmingly, sickenly, sweet.  This is the little guy that some artificial sweeteners are produced from.  I bought my own little fella today at the markets.  I can't wait to use him in some recipes!

Finally Ma's veggie patch.  At the moment it is actually quite bare. The makeshift fence is to keep my sister's doberman (dopeyman) puppy out. 

Although Ma has been living with countless numbers of allergies to a wide range of different things, mostly foods, for many years, this has not stopped her from living out a healthy, balanced life.  This morning Cody and I had breakfast with her.  After making us quinoa porridge and supplying us with truckloads of her scone damper and jam, she started to prepare her own breakfast.  First went in half an avocado, then some chia seeds, some nut butter (which she grinds herself from walnuts, macadamias, and brazil nuts), some more walnuts, some coconut oil (which I noticed she also ate a teaspoonful after, obviously enjoying it as a kid does a candy bar), flaxseed oil, an egg, psyllium husk...and then I lost it.  However, she then blends all the ingredients in together until it resembles a thick shake, a green, wholesome, thick shake.  Cody at one stage said to me, 'look at all that!'.  I think he was surprised that my five foot three, fifty kilo grandmother could eat so much at one sitting.  

Haha, she is amazing.

The following are some pictures of other high points of the week:

This was a meal from a raw food, vegan, cafe here on the coast. Amazing food! Just wish I had more of an appetite when we were there so I could have enjoyed it more.  On the plate, starting from 12 o'clock and going clockwise, is hummus with sesame crackers, a little side salad, felafels, olives and some weird green dip, a tahini dip and sauerkraut. The sauerkraut was soo good, really fresh and spicy! The only other sauerkraut I have ever liked was Ma's.

These next photos are of two vintage umbrellas I got while at the markets in my hometown today.  This first one is from the 70's and came free with a bottle of Gloria Vanderbilt perfume!  It is still in perfect condition, and I just love the swan handle!

This umbrella we got for cheap as it is not quite in working order anymore.  Cody said I could have it because apparently I looked really adorable when I held it open over my head and pleadingly asked for it. I really just think he like the handle too. 

Aagh, it's good to be back. 

I made a really yummy dinner tonight, so hopefully I will have time soon to post about that! Have fun everyone!