Soy Yogurt

I was successful in making soy yogurt using the Easiyo Yogurt Maker.

Ingredients

• 1L Long Life Soy Milk
•  A single tub of Soy Yogurt*
• Easiyo Maker
• Water

1. Boil water an fill yogurt maker to top of red baffle.
2. Half fill yogurt container with soy milk.
3. Add tub of yogurt, screw on lid and shake.
4. Fill yogurt container to top with Soy milk. Replace lid and shake.
5. Put yogurt container in yogurt maker and pop on maker's lid.
6. Leave on bench for approx 8 hrs.

*I used Soy Life Vanilla Yogurt, 175g tub.

I checked the yogurt at 9hrs and it was set. There wasn't any split whey at the bottom like my previous attempts. It was creamy looking, had a soft vanilla scent and my little man had some this morning for breakfast. So this is a thumb up. Next trial will be using some of this mix with Vanilla Bliss Soy Milk to make a very Vanilla Yogurt.
Also note, the soy yogurt doesn't quite seem to be keeping at long as the normal Easiyo did.

Soy Yogurt - using Easiyo Maker.

This is my 2nd Attempt at making Soy Yogurt with the Easiyo Yogurt Maker, and I have to say its actually very yogurty. Very thick, natural sort of yogurt so great for cooking and introducing to bubs. My 1st attempt did work but I decided I would mx the whey(?) back in that had seperated. That wasn't a good idea and just made it runny. I did use it though to cook the Butter Chicken, so not a complete waste.

What You Need/ I used

• Easiyo Yogurt Maker
• 1L Long life Soy Milk
• Boiling water
• 100g Leftover yogurt*
• Table spoon white sugar (optional) ^

1. Put Leftover yogurt in easiyo yogurt container.
2. Add half Soy Milk. Put lid on and shake.
3. Fill yogurt container till just off the top with Soy milk. Lid on and shake.
4. Fill Easiyo Yogurt Maker up to the top of the red baffle (like normal). Put yogurt container in. Put lid on yogurt maker and set aside on the bench.

I would say mine was on the bench about 12hrs while I was at work and was too lazy to check it properly before putting in the fridge, but I could see it had worked because the yogurt had floated to the top leaving the whey(?) at the bottom.
* The left over yogurt I used was a dairy/milk Easiyo yogurt mix, Low lactose. So this is not Dairy Free yet. I do have a Soy Yogurt in the fridge I will use next time and see if I have results. For our situation though this will be dairy free enough for us, for now.
^ I'm not sure if the sugar sweetened it at all it was still quite bitter like natural yogurt but it was worth a try. Next time if I'm going for a sweet yogurt I'll add more, or something else. But if going for natural I would leave it out.

Gluten Fail #3

Was the most recent fail yet. Riley has decided he doesn't want to do what he normally had for breakfast, which was fruit. He also refused to eat anything else I tried including scrambled eggs, what use to be his favourite. So I decided we would try oats. Next shopping trip at coles I searched the isles for GF oats and after not finding any marked GF I settled on some Organic Oats that didn't say "contains traces of Gluten". Done. The next morning we sat down as a family with a bowl of oats each. I was hoping by mummy and daddy eating them he would too, nope didn't want a bar of them. I persisted. On the 3rd day I finally got him to take 3 small teaspoons of it. He then promptly threw up. Oh bother. After a lot of thinking an umm-ing and arr-ing I rung the company to find out "No, They are not Gluten Free". Oh bugger, back o the drawing board on that one.

I was always under the impression it had to be printed on the label if products contained traces of common allergens, either by ingredient or by warning. Apparently this is not the case. :(

Meal Plan - WB Sun 6th March

Sunday – Chicken Sushi

Monday – Chicken Nibbles and Roast Veg

Tuesday – Sausages and Veg

Wednesday – Crumbed pan fried Chicken strips with veg

Thursday – Stir-fry

Friday – Freezer Meal

Saturday – Stroganoff with Rice *

*Stroganoff will be a GF packet mix but I don't believe DF.I will be trying it will soy yogurt instead of sour cream mixed in though to cut the dairy down.

Butter Chicken GFDF

• 1 cup Soy Yogurt (I used what I made in the easiyo maker, still perfecting it though)
• 1 tbls lemon Juice
• 1 tsp Turmeric
• 2 tsp Garam Masala
• 1 tsp Chilli Powder
• 1 tsp Ground Cumin
• 2 tsp Grated Ginger
• 2 Garlic Cloves, Crushed
• 1 kg Chicken Fillet, chopped (large Diced)
• 125g Cashews Roasted
• 60g Nuttelex
• 1tbls Oil
• 1 Onion Finely Chopped
• 1 tsp Ground Cardamon
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 2 tsp Paprika
• 425g Tin Tomatoes, Pureed
• 150ml Massel's Chicken Style Stock
• 1 tsp Fenugreek

1. Combine Yogurt, lemon juice, turmeric, garam masala, chilli, cumin, ginger and garlic in a bowl. Add Chicken and stir well. Cover and refrigerate overnight. (I used jar ginger and garlic).
2. Reserve half cashews and place remaining in food processor. Process till finely ground. (I didn't have cashews so used almond meal this time, I often leave it out otherwise).
3. Heat butter and oil in pan over medium heat. Add onion, cardamom, cinnamon and bay leaf and cook until onion softens. Reduce heat to low, then add Chicken and marinade, tomato puree, cashew powder and stock. Simmer until chicken cooked and tender.
4. Garnish with cashews, chopped coriander and serve with rice.

Notes & Tips

• Begin the recipe the day before
• Tomato puree is not tomato paste.

Don't be put off with how long this recipe is. Its all spices and is actually very easy to cook. Yes expensive when you first make if you have to buy all the spices but cheaper from then on. So worth it though. I have made it without Fenugreek heaps before now but added it because I though it would be a nice bonus when breastfeeding to help with supply. Next time I make this I will use a little less Chilli, although it was good and I really enjoyed it, if I'm breastfeeding I wonder what bubs would think. Although I do wonder what the affects of different spices are on bubs and if anyone can answer please comment.

Rissoles GFDF

• 500g Mince
• 1 Grated Carrot
• 1 Grated Zucchini
• 1 Egg
• GF Bread Crumbs
• Tomato Sauce
• Soy Sauce
• Garlic
• Salt & Pepper
• Onion, Finely Diced
• Massel's Chicken Stock Powder

1. Put all in a bowl and use hands to mix.
2. Shape into balls with hands, and flatten out. (We actually used an egg ring like a cookie cutter).
3. Fry on medium heat until cooked through and browned.

Note: we didn't measure as we went along. Sauces were probably about 1 tablespoon, garlic a teaspoon or two (hubby did that), stock powder about 1 tablespoon, Bread Crumbs about 1/2 a cup. We used lamb mince last night and they were Divine. Riley ate his all up and wanted more (pity we only cooked what we needed and froze the rest).

Meal Plan - Week Begining Sun 27th

I have decided this week I would like to eat some salad. So I have based the meals mostly around salad to use it up and save it going off. Works well because it means if Riley can't eat the main part I can bulk out his salad. As long as the boy has Avocado he's happy. Here goes:

Sunday - Butter Chicken, 1st attempt at GFDF, hopefully.
Monday - Caesar Salad with chicken, Using GF Bread for croutons and leaving dressing off Riley's.
Tuesday - Burgers, Riley's wont be on bread he'll just get the burger and some salad, and some GF flat bread.
Wednesday - Mexican Mince, served with Doritos and salad (I'll post the recipe I use next week)
Thursday Soccer Night - So Riley and I will have a Caesar Salad again.
Friday - Freezer Meal
Saturday - Meat and Salad

Gluten Free and Dairy Free Pics

Gluten Fail #2

Ok well this wasn't so much a fail more of a gluten test which he failed. lol.

Anyway, we were out at the shops and my mum and I had grabbed some food from the seafood shop for a bite to eat. As usual I had some food for him packed, which he enjoyed but insisted on some of what we were having. He was pretty rope-able about not having any so we decided to see how he would go and gave him a little bit of fish from inside the crumbs.

We then went into Coles to do the grocery shop. Within 10mins of being in there he was off this planet. It was like he was high. His eyes were going red and he started to garble a weird random sounds in a disorganised sort of manner. Like how a baby sort of would and looking at his hands like they were the most peculiar things. This continued for a quite a few isles until he broke out screaming and completely unhappy and no amount of distraction was working to settle him. By the time we had finished my shop his eyes were so red and puffy.

We have since been back to the same Coles and he was perfectly happy cruising the isles, which leaves me to think it must have been the gluten.

Toddler Food Diaries. Feb 23rd

In Toddler Food Diaries I will post what my little man is eating roughly each day. It wont be an exact food diary more of an idea, and hopefully create some inspirtation for you.

We are doing a little bit of dairy at the moment to see how he goes, but the bulk of his meals are still GFDF. Its more just the addition of cheese into things, something we can control. He has also decided not to eat fresh fruit now so I will be using tin fruit.
Things aren't very interesting at the moment because we have hit a wall but here goes....

Riley 2yo 7months
Breakfast - 2 Crispibread (GF crusket in health isle Coles) with cream cheese (you could use Toffuti Cream cheese instead of dairy) and a biscuit.
Morning Tea - 2 Crispibread with mighty might, A mini muffin, some tin fruit, and a biscuit.
Lunch - Rafferty Garden's Fruit squish, some plain Doritos, Mini muffin
AT - biscuit, Jelly Fruit Cup, maybe Crispibread with mighty might or a couple more doritos.
Dinner - Either something from the freezer or what we are having if suitable. Maybe a biscuit.

He also gets treats through the day when he uses his potty. Like a mini marshmellow (I got them from Aldi but don't know if you still can), Sweet Williams Choc chip (just 1), or in the morning its a multi-vitamin (which we refer to as pink treats, and are his all time favourite treat. lol).
Notice that hes eating quite a few biscuits? I would like to cut that down, hes just so dam addicted and if you give him one he will usually eat the rest of the meal instead of throw a tantrum. I'm going the peace option at the moment, till I find something that sparks his interest again.
Also notice the use of crispibread...they seem to be a staple. Its the only thing I have managed to get him to eat for breakfast once he ditched the Banana and everything else.

Weekend Goals - Feb 26-27 2011

This weekend I plan on perfecting making soy yogurt and try a GFDF Butter Chicken.

I attempted soy yogurt last weekend and it worked ok. Enough so that I'm going to use it in the butter chicken but not enough though to let the toddler loose with it. It was fine when it first set but then I decided to mix all the clear juices that separated back in and that made it way too runny and messy.

As for Butter Chicken. Well that would have to be one of my favourite meals and I will miss it dearly if I can't have it when bubs is born, so I'm setting out now to create GFDF friendly version. I have a recipe I have used previously (non GFDF) so I will see how I go substituting.

I will post my results next week.

Gluten Fail #1

Just before Christmas we had a BBQ with the inlaws. We had organised for Riley (My Son) a selection of GF foods, but we have never been put into a group situation where we had to worry about cooking and cross contamination, nor dd it cross our minds. Everything got cooked up on the BBQ along with Rissoles that had bread crumb coating and other marinated things.

Came home put Riley to bed only to have him wake up an hour later screaming and refluxing. Poor little mite. Sure enough 2 days later he had bright red eyes and was completely feral.

We learnt our lesson that night!

Mini Honey Mustard Chicken Balls

• 500g Mince Chicken
• Honey 
• Whole Mustard 
• Oil

1. Mix the ingredients together and shape into little balls.
2. Fry in a tiny bit of oil to colour. Just enough oil to give a coat over the pan, the balls will release heaps of their own oil.
3. Transfer to a baking tray and bake in oven till cooked through. about 160`C.

Freezeable.

Note: Be patient with this mix its very sloppy but once cooked holds together and taste awesome.

Mini Lamb Meatballs

• 500g Mince Lamb
• Mint, very finely chopped.
• Curry powder
• Oil

1. Mix the ingredients together and shape into little balls
2. Fry in a tiny bit of oil to colour. Just enough oil to give a coat over the pan, the balls will release heaps of their own oil.
3. Transfer to a baking tray and bake in oven till cooked through. about 160`C.

Freezeable.

Note: I often use the mint squeeze tubes you get in the produce section, you will need to check the ingredients if you wish to do this. Otherwise fresh mint works just finely chopped.

Cookie Dough

• 1 cup Nuttelex
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups GF plain flour

1. Put Nuttelex, both sugars, salt and baking soda in bowl and beat for 3 mins.
2. Blend in eggs and vanilla.
3. Reduce speed and gradually add flour.
4. Best used when chilled.

Makes About 60 cookies.

Its was quite wet once I mixed it all so added some extra flour.

I split the mixture up. Half I did with saltanas and coconut and plopped balls of it on baking paper on a tray. The other half I added in some gluten/dairy free choc chips and I rolled the mixture up in glad wrap in logs, and put in the freezer. Then sliced it up to bake (did get a little messy at end of roll).

I baked at 160 degrees, fan forced until going slightly golden. They were so yummy straight out of the oven.

Uh-oh Playdoh

I have copied this from my previous blog.

I thought making playdough was easy, oh how wrong I was.  I printed off a recipe from the net and thought great I will just substitute plain flour with GF (gluten free) plain flour. Why did I not think to google a GF playdough recipe.

I get home and set about my way to make what I thought would be a super easy mix. I start well, I get the flour, oil, water, colour - Blue, and salt ready...a cup of salt, What the..? I thought there was meant to be cream of tartar in here somwhere...no recipe doesn't want that.

I follow the recipe and I end up with this bowl of sticky goop. Well thats not what I wanted. I add more flour, it wasn't helping. So I thought wait maybe I need xanthan gum (to replace the gluten), Quick Chris I need reforcements, come help. Out he trotts giving in to my every demand until I decided this just isn't working. My hands, bench, bowl and glass cutting board are covered in this blue goop that is meant to be playdough. At my demand he goes to the study to google "Gluten free playdough recipe". It says boiling water but mine said cold...lets microwave it. Back to the kitchen we go. "Hold the board while I scape it off" "easy don't pull it off the bench", It was like glue. finially we get a good portion of it into the bowl and in the microwave. EWW its drying out. Oh well. Chris goes back to google more. We saw slight improvements after microwaving it but really had little faith we were on a winning track. This is no longer an individual task! I decide it now needs the cream of tartar, I know it should be there, google tells me 4 table spoons. In they go....slight improvement again.... in goes more flour, last of that box. I keep trying to knead it in hope it will come together, it isn't so back in the microwave, this time for longer. Its now hot, all crusty and dried out on the top, but workable. I can knead it. I work the dry bits in and they disappear...wow this isn't too bad. We had managed to rescue what we thought was beyond hope. I did add a little more oil, which ended up everywhere too, oops. The end result is something that quite resembles playdough.

Ingredients:
As Per Recipe
2 cups plain flour
1 cup salt

1 cup cold water

1 tablespoon oil

2 drops of food colour.

Mix dry ingredients, then add wet, wella!

What else I added

~1 cup more of GF flour
4 tablespoons Cream of tartar
1 tablespoon xanthan gum
1 tablespoon oil.
More food colouring, 2 drops didn't give very much colour at all.

The result.
It's quite tough, I wonder if this is the xanthan gum.
It's very grainy, prehaps next time I will desolve salt in boiling hot water 1st.
Its taste is discustingly salty worse than I remember it as a kid (We all know you have to try recipes when you make them :S ), so next time I might use less salt too.
Here it is.

. . . Riley better like playdough

Curried Sausages

• GF Sausages
• Curry Powder
• Massel's Chicken Stock
• Honey
• Onion, sliced small, not quite diced though
• GF Corn Flour, made into a paste
• Sweet potato and potato, cubed

1. Put the sausages in a pot of water (enough to cover). Turn on high.
2. Once water starts heating and skin discolouring pull sausages out one at a time, skin them, and cut them up so each piece is roughly 1-1.5cms long. Throw them back in as you continue to cut the whole ones. (If water starts to get too hot pull remaining whole sausages out and continue cutting).
3. Transfer sausages to a baking tray and add the pot water, enough to cover the sausages. (note: you could leave them in the pot on the stove if you would prefer, I'm not a fan of laving pots unattended on the stove).
4. Add in curry powder, stock powder, honey and corn flour paste. I used about 2 tb spoons of each.
5. Fry onions until they are browning in the pan making the pan colour and add to sausages.
6. Add some curry stock liquid to pan to loosen all the flavours and add back to sausages. Add potatos.
7. Cover and put into a slow oven till you are ready to eat it and curry has thickened.

Serve with rice or mashed potato.

Freezeable.

I made a massive lot up. About 1.7kg Sausages and have now got some frozen in the freezer for cheat meals and some smaller portions just for my son.

Apricot Chicken

• Tin apricots, drained
• Tin apricot nector
• 2 tb spoons Massel's Chicken Style Stock
• 1tb spoon dijon mustard (I believe Maserfoods)
• 2tb spoon GF corn flour, made into paste with water
• Diced chicken (was roughly 1.5kg)
• Onion, Sliced small
• Cauliflower, diced (optional)

Throw it all (except cauliflower and oinion) into a baking try, and into the oven around 160` until you are ready to eat. Fry onions and add to chicken. About 10mins before ready to eat boil cauliflower tell tender and add to Apricot Chicken.

Serve with Rice.

I have also frozen portions. Some small ones just for my son (which he loves, even after reheating) and a large portion for a quick meal later on. I didn't have any onions when I made this it was nice but needed that something extra I think an onion would add.

Welcome!

Welcome to Jazy's Cooking.
 Here I plan on sharing recipes and stories about living life with a toddler on a gluten free and dairy free diet.
As a family we try to follow a very similar diet, and when the newest addition to our family is born n July 2011 I will be going completely gluten and dairy free.
We have had some gluten fails along the way but once you get the hang of it, it gets alot easier.