Moon Shadow....

Following on from my last post....

I certainly did enjoy the full moons energy tonight, took some photos of her beauty and popped my crystals out to cleanse and recharge with healing energies...
 Isn't she lovely

And what's that?  My moon shadow is following me! Hehe, we used to sing this song from Cat Stevens at school, it used to freak me out back then lol

Good night, full moon blessings )0(

wintry stirrings...

I love this time of year, just after Yule, still a chilly month or two of winter to come but the earth is beginning to stir and the wake up.  Whenever I see the bulbs emergeing from their slumber, I am always reminded of one of my favourite childhood books, The Secret Garden.

I remember reading this book for the first time when I was about 10 or 11, I have a memory of sitting outside reading it on a cool sunny spring day, feeling the wind stirring around me and feeling so much as I read, words on paper described the wonder, magic and love I felt in the garden and around nature.

I got this book one day in the supermarket with my mum and granny, the book was in a centre aisle bin full of books, I asked mum if I could have it, she said "no", haha, and so my granny bought it for me, funny the things we remember huh 

We are having a very chilly winter and night tonight, I love looking down the hill of our street and seeing everyone's house lights, cozy.  Let's hope I can see the full moon tonight!

TTFN x S

Wintery Treat to Warm your Tummy...

Gluten, dairy and cane sugar free, 

Apple Spice Slice

Yum, yum, yum! Inspired by my gorgeous Dutch friends apple cinnamon cake http://www.chococolette.com that looked so good in the beautiful photos on her blog I could almost smell it...I really wanted a slice!  So with the wintery weather keeping me indoors, it was perfect timing to get to work on tweaking a recipe to suit my food restriction requirements, I came up with this delicious slice.  

The yummy smell of cake baking...waiting by the hot oven for the timer buzzer to buzz...and the satisfaction of breaking the rules and cutting into the cake...before its cooled...and eating a slightly sloppy piece of warm cake with a hot cup of tea....do rainy days get any better???

- To make the cake base, add to a mixing bowl,

3 medium apples, purée in blender raw, my small $15 blender does the trick, one apple at a time.

1 cup gluten free flour

1 TSP cinnamon

1/2 TSP ginger

1/2 TSP nutmeg

1/4 TSP ground cloves

1/2 TSP sea salt

2 eggs

4 TBS maple syrup

4 TBS coconut cream

3 TBS coconut oil, melted

1 TSP vanilla extract

 2 TSP gluten free baking powder

- Mix until all combined and pour into a slice tin and then start with the crumble topping

- For the crumble, mix together

1/3 cup ground almonds or cashews

1/3 cup shredded coconut

1 TBS coconut sugar

1 TSP cinnamon

3 TBS coconut oil, melted

- spread evenly over slice base

- bake in a preheated oven 160 C for approximately 30 mins or until cooked through to centre

Enjoy 😊

Pretty Pansy..

Pressing flowers, it's something I used to enjoy doing as a child, I haven't thought about it for a long while but I used to love my little flower press, I think my mum bought it for me from one of those book catalogues we found in magazines (not sure if those places still exist, but its what we did for book bargains before the internet lol)   I used to press all sorts of flowers, even sour sobs hehe, I made bookmarks and decorate lavender bags and all sorts. The little book that cane with my press had ideas and other information, such a small thing but I used it a lot, I loved and still love my books and stuff...

So, in an effort to keep my spirits at their highest this past week to cope with feeling poorly again, I decided to think back to simple happies, coinciding with our first heat wave arriving and probable crisping of my pansy plants, I decided to get picking and pressing! 

I went out in the beautiful sunny breezy morning -delishious, I love fresh country mornings! Making sure I thanked the flower faeries, (and left some for them too, they are at the height of their clothes making season after all!), I collected quite a pile of beautiful blooms.  

Pansies have the flower meaning "think of me", which is special to me today because it's been one year today that my dog Kira went over the rainbow bridge.  I have been thinking of her a lot.

Place them spaced out on absorbent paper, I used the old fashioned technique, between heavy books, simple, enjoyment, nothing too hard or serious here.

 Pile them up to squish the flat and load up the fat books on top, quite an impressive tower I have hehe

 I can't wait to see them dried out and pressed ready to use in some art journal pages, and perhaps a bookmark or two.

x Sarah

dairy free ice cream perfection!

With our first mini heat wave almost over, I've been in an ice cream making frenzy once again! The most exciting news is that I've perfected my recipe! Yay!

When I first made ice cream I was using the raw egg, or, no egg techniques, the main reason was, I wanted ice cream in an hour, tops, not 5 hours with lots of preparation over a hot stove.  However, I knew the cooked custard way would probably taste better...

So, I decided to stop being a wimp and experiment some more over the hot stove! It really wasn't that bad or long, and if you're ok with using the microwave, even quicker!  I used the recipe I created in my last post, only I cooked the egg through first in the coconut cream, maple syrup, lemon juice and salt, then added the fruit  ingredient.... Chilled, And, ice cream maker or ice mould freezy magic time later....perfection, sooo delishious, it's certainly worth the prep time and wait time.

I also decided to try using silicon single serve cake moulds and kids ice block moulds, they worked fabulously!!!

So here are the photos...

And here is the recipe

Ingredients...

1 can coconut cream
2 eggs
Pinch salt
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 TSP vanilla essence (one day soon when I can afford it I'll try the real stuff!)
Squeeze lemon juice

For berry ice cream
250 g raspberries or your favourite berry

OR for banana ice cream
one mashed banana

OR for coffee ice cream
1 heaped teaspoon instant coffee, dissolved in one teaspoon hot water

To make...
Whisk together coconut cream, eggs, salt, maple syrup, vanilla, lemon juice.  Stir over low - medium heat until custard thickens.  Add berries or banana or coffee, then chill in your fridge or freezer for a quicker chill!  Then add the mix to your ice cream maker and follow your machines instructions, or, pour directly into your silicone or ice block moulds and freeze a few hours until frozen solid.

Yum!!!!!

Did I say yum?!!! :-)

Can't be without my ice cream!

I looove ice cream, always have!  One of the many reasons it took me so long to abandon dairy!  Gelati too, I remember going to get gelati in the 80's with my sisters when we were young kids. Mum went one way to do the food shopping, we went the other, ah, simple times!  Mine was always strawberry, hehe, Strawberry Shortcake girl, everything was pink or Strawberry, just like my hero, I don't even know if it was my favourite flavour, isn't that silly!  And completely ME lol. - and I think I just called myself silly... Annnyway, when I was older and beyond the doll with the sweet smelling hair's influence, well, sort of, ("smile a sunny mornin'", lol,) I would only eat vanilla, weird!  Anyway, now I have a new way of eating, and an awesome ice cream maker, the weather is finally warming up, it's time to go berserk :-)

I'd made a few recipes, and wasn't completely happy with any of them, so I decided to do what I do best and create my own. I came up with this, my family and I have tried it three times, each time a winner. Yum yum yum!!!!

Ingredients...
1 can coconut cream
Pinch salt
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 TSP vanilla essence (one day soon I'll try the real stuff!)
Squeeze lemon juice
250 g raspberries or your favourite berry

To make...
Whisk together coconut cream, salt, maple syrup, vanilla, lemon juice.  Add berries, then add the mix to your ice cream maker and follow your machines instructions.  Yum!!!!!

Can't get enough Pumpkin Pie!

I wanted to share my pumpkin pie recipe with you, not because we celebrate Thanksgiving here in Australia, but after seeing so many pumpkin recipes on the internet at this time of the I was craving one! I've made this recipe twice already and I'm ready to make another!  I do love my pumpkin :-) 

I am always thankful for my loving and supportive family, amazing friends, fur kids, home, and all mother nature has provided me with.  Now I'm at the beginning of a new journey, through healing foods, it's the first time in my life I can begin to feel grateful for my glimpses of health, it's still early days, but I'm truly thankful for the small blessings in daily living.

Yummy and Healthy Pumpkin Pie!

Biscuit Base
Gluten free, dairy free

1/3 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup almond meal
1/2 cup cashew meal
Pinch of Himalayan salt
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
1/4 cup maple syrup

Mix all these ingredients together, and press into 25 cm pie dish

Pre bake base for approximately 20 mins at 180C or until it's just stating to brown up.

Leave to cool

Pumpkin filling
Gluten free, dairy free

1/2 a butternut pumpkin, baked and puréed, approx 2 cups pumpkin.
1 TSP cinnamon
1/2 TSP nutmeg
1/4 TSP ground cloves
2 eggs
1/4 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup coconut cream
Pinch salt
1tsp vanilla essence

Blend all this together with an electric mixer.  Pour into pie base, and bake at 160C for approx 40 minutes. Make sure filling is cooked through, it will have risen a little and be fully set.

Yum!  Enjoy!