bristastic or bust

Today I went to buy some more of the rice noodles used in the deliciously healthy Vegetable Rice Noodles recipe I posted a few days ago.

The packaging had changed slightly. Now there’s only two reasons I can think of that a company changes it’s packaging, either the ingredients have changed or they decide they need a new look. Yup, a quick check of the ingredients revealed they contained wheaten starch. Although there was some there in the old packaging, I wasn’t going blackberry free mp3 ringtones download free sprint ringtones free composer ringtones free ringtones for verizon wireless phone free nokia ringtones tracfone free make own ringtones free pcs ringtones sprint motorola ringtones maker free ringtones for nextel phone cellular download free phone ringtones gold mp3 ringtones free lg ringtones free nokia phone ringtones sprint pcs ringtones make your own mp3 ringtones dash mobile ringtones t cell phone ringtones and wallpaper free ringtones for verizon phone complimentary music real ringtones free cingular cell phone ringtones to take the risk that the company had decided to use up old bags after the recipe had changed. Now I just hope that this was a recent change and the noodles last bought didn’t contain wheat. (They had cornflour listed as an ingredient. Here in Australia, many brands of “cornflour” are actually wheaten starch.)

I’m very disappointed that I finally found a recipe which was almost all vegetables and very tasty and now I can’t make it anymore. There are gluten-free rice noodles sold at supermarkets but it’s much harder to get there for me. (Plus they’re a lot more expensive.)

On the plus side, I found curry paste I can eat! At least the Rogan Josh and Butter Chicken of Maharajah’s Choice Curry Pastes are both gluten-free and dairy-free. Both of these jars carry a “gluten-free and suitable for vegetarians” label, but as always, check the ingredients list.

I look forward to making Butterless or Margarine Chicken, which oddly I was craving the other night but discounted immediately due to the dairy content. But with dairy-free margarine (Nuttelex) and soy milk instead of cream, I think I can pull it off. Recipe shall be posted if it’s a success! (Or even if it’s not, someone may as well learn from my mistakes.)

Now for a final WTF. My friend bought a roast chicken from Coles the other night for dinner. The bag contained a warning that it contained wheat, milk and soy. No, I’m not taking about the stuffing here, the actual meat contained these! The front of the bag contained the marketing speak “moisture infused”. In plain language, this means they inject the meat full of a water mixture which usually includes wheat and milk. Supposedly to make the meat more moist and tender, it also pumps up the weight so you’re paying meat prices for water.

It’s a sad day when you can’t even eat the meat at a supermarket which prides itself on having a big gluten-free food range and was the major sponsor of the Brisbane Gluten Free and Allergy Expo.

Ingredients per person:

• Oil
• 1 onion
• 1-2 tsp minced garlic
• 150g fresh rice noodles (check packaging if you need gluten free. some contain wheat starch.)
• 1-2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
• Soy sauce (again check it’s gluten-free if necessary)

Method:

1. Heat a wok over medium-high heat.
2. Pour in just enough oil to cover the bottom.
3. Cut onion into smallish wedges.
4. Fry onion and garlic until translucent and soft (or how you like them).
5. Microwave frozen vegetables according to directions on packet or until hot.
6. Mix vegetables into the wok and stir until everything is mixed up nicely.
7. Microwave rice noodles until hot.
8. Stir rice noodles into wok.
9. Add a few dashes of soy sauce to your liking.
10. Mix some more.
11. Eat and enjoy!

Variations:
Add leftover cooked meat or scrambled eggs.
If you have fresh vegetables on hand, dice or slice and add ‘em. Make sure to cook for longer until the vegetables are softened.
Add sesame seeds with the onion and garlic.

Actually, this recipe is easy to experiment with. Just chuck whatever you like in the wok and cook until everything is hot. Yummy!

Yesterday I went to the Gluten Free and Food Allergy Expo held here in Brisbane.

Wow! It was packed! I arrived right on the dot of opening and the queues to get in were huge. The crowds caused problems though as it was a case of queueing for 5 minutes before being able to access any stand.

Most companies were giving out samples and I tried lots of delicious food. Below are some of the stand outs as they’re for foods which are hard to find gluten-free and dariy-free versions of.

Orgran is my new favourest food company because all of their products are gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free yeast-free, GMO-free, vegan and have no artificial colours, flavours or perservatives, yet still taste great. I bought some of their Outback Animal cookies. They’re very similar to Arnott’s Tiny Teddy biscuits and would be good for kids.

Sweet William also had a GFCF white chocolate to try (and for sale) which won’t be officially available to buy until next year. I tried it and it’s good! I purchased their chocolate spread which works great as icing on muffins made with their chocolate chips. It’s good on GF bread as well and this is coming from someone who hates putting any kind of spread on bread. The chocolate chips are so tasty too - completely melt in your mouth texture.

The other exciting product was Mototo which is a gluten, dairy and soy-free dessert. I tried the chocolate flavour and it does indeed taste as good as ice cream! It’s available from IGA supermarkets (talk to the manager to have them stock it if not on the shelf).

Coles had a big stand showcasing all the gluten free products they stock. I didn’t realise that they have a special gluten free spot in the freezer section with things like chicken nuggets, fish fillets, pizza and meat pies in it.

Well I’ve just started a gluten-free and casein-free diet to try to help a certain health problem. So I shall be posting gluten and dairy free recipes in the future.

Here’s one of my first - a gluten free granola thats so good I had trouble stopping eating it to put into a storage container!

Ingredients

• 1 C okara
• 1 C thin rice flakes
• 2 handfuls sunflower seeds
• 2 handfuls sesame seeds
• 1 T vanilla essence
• 2 T brown sugar
• 3 T honey
• 2 T oil
• pinch salt

Method

1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Place on a cookie sheet.
3. Bake at 175°C (350°F) for 60 minutes, stirring every so often to ensure even browning.

To celebrate my first day as a penniless student, I went on a tour of the new Brisbane Square Library (hey, it included a free lunch :D).

The facilities are very shiny indeed with almost as many computers as books! Over 30 internet computers, a computer lounge dedicated for studying, catalogue terminals everywhere, not to mention the x-boxes and big screen TVs. This is a library for the 21st century.

Groups have been catered for with many many meeting rooms available from large ones with AV equipment, to smaller study rooms, to one very public one which almost floats in the middle of the top level looking down on the rest of the library.

The books (remember them?) have been mostly relegated to the upper levels, with funky colour coded neon lights on the end of each row.

As my house is rather lacking in study space (we don’t even have a dining table), I am seriously considering using the Brisbane Square library as my main study space. Unfortunately with the views and TVs and gaming consoles, it won’t be quite as far away from distractions as I would like.

And for the two lovely ladies I had lunch with, please find some working links below for the two blog sites:
Word Press - the software I use for this blog.
Blogger

As a special bonus, here’s links to a couple of my favourite blogs to show you what people are using them for:
i was just really very hungry. - a food blog
Chewing the Fat - about people with disabilities. (This one uses Blogger.)
Cute Overload! - photos of cute animals
Google Sightseeing - a tour guide to interesting sights on Google Earth’s satellite imagery.
Ballastexistenz - a personal blog by a woman with autism (uses Word Press).

I realise I’ve been neglecting this blog for quite some time and one of my New Years Resolutions is begin contributing to the blogosphere more. One of the major factors affecting my lack of affection has been simply a lack of time. However this won’t be a problem any more becuase as of Monday, I have quit my job to become a full time student. This is kind of scary financially because I have a mortgage to pay and there is no Mr Bristastic to contribute.

I’m hoping to be able to continue working 1-2 days at my present workplace, which along with some partial assistance from the government and sharing costs with my flatmates, should hopefully be enough to live on. Of course, if I find have a talent for writing and this blog becomes fantastically popular enough to generate some advertising revenue I won’t complain either!

My plans for the blog this year are to post a review of every book I read (and you will forgive me if I include affliate links to buy the book on Amazon I hope), information on how to garden with water restrictions, recipes for those on a very tight budget and photos of bento lunches.

Upgraded WordPress to version 2.0.2.
All went smoothly, there should be no bugs.

Today, I happened to have some leftover silverside, which needs something bland and starchy to go with it’s salty taste. Normally I’d have potatoes or turn it into a sandwich but the cupboards are a bit empty at the moment so I decided to try it with rice.

I give you… Silverside Sushi:

It didn’t work too well. The taste of the rice overwhelmed the silverside so it was a bit of a failure, truth be told. However I did try out a new sushi rice recipe, which turned out to be excellent. My blocks of rice have never been this firm before. For once I could eat them without the rice all falling apart. Wow! Plus, the recipe is a lot lot quicker and less complicated than the one I was using.

Sushi Rice Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 C Short Grain Rice
• 2 C Water
• 3 T Rice Vinegar
• 1 T Sugar
• 1/2 t Salt

Method

1. Put rice and water in a pot and bring to the boil.
2. Turn heat down to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Keep the lid on, no peeking!
3. Meanwhile, put the remaining 3 ingredients in the smallest pot available. Heat on low and stir just until the sugar dissolves. Cool to room temperature.
4. Put cooked rice in a large shallow tub or bowl.
5. Cut in vinegar mixture gently with a rice paddle or wooden spoon.
6. Put bowl under a fan until rice reaches room temperature. Or fan by hand if you have the patience!

Should serve two, but I scoffed the lot ^_^;;

I tried freezing tofu for the first time recently. This is the first thing I’ve cooked with the results. At first it didn’t look promising, a runny watery mess full of white tofu bits. But it did cook and turn into a firmish mass. There was still a little bit of liquid but that was probably because I didn’t use quite enough tofu. The tofu itself was indistinguishable from the eggs, maybe a good dish to use for kids and others who haven’t yet been converted to soy lovers.

In fact, the finished dish reminds me a lot of oyakodon, one of my favourite recipes. This would be great served domburi style over hot rice, which would also stretch the dish further than serving it on its own. It really does need a carbohydrate side to accompany it.

The recipe comes from the wonderful “Book of Tofu” by William Shurtleff and Akiko Aoyagi, one of my very favouritest books.

Ingredients

• 5-6 oz (1 piece) frozen tofu, reconstituted
• 2 eggs
• 2 t soy sauce
• 1 T sugar
• 1/3 C dashi, stock or water

Method

1. Crumble tofu into a bowl.
2. Add rest of ingredients and beat lightly.
3. Cook in a fry pan (a wok works wonderfully) over medium heat until firm.
4. Server hot or cold.

The recipe says this serves 2, maybe with a side dish it will but I ate the whole thing myself for brekkie!

Based upon a recipe in “Ken Hom’s Hot Wok” by, surprising enough, Ken Hom. This book is so great, I just realised I’ve got it checked out of the library twice. Either that, or I’m loosing my mind.

On with the recipe!

Ingredients

• 225g (1/2 lb) onions
• 1/2 T oil
• 1 T minced garlic
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/2 T soy sauce
• 1 T vinegar
• 1 T sugar

Method

1. Cut onions into thick slices.
2. Heat wok over high heat.
3. Add oil and wait until it’s hot.
4. Add garlic and stir fry for 20 seconds.
5. Add salt and onions and stir fry for 1 minute.
6. Add the soy sauce, vinegar and sugar and cook for 3 minutes.
7. Chill for at least 1 hour before serving.
8. Serve chilled.

Serves 2

Hmmm, this tastes good but the onions don’t get soft. I’m not used to eating raw onions so it was a bit off putting. I cooked the mixture for a lot longer and also ate it reheated and the darn things were still crunchy. It is however a good veggie addition to a bento lunch.