Baking!

Some days only cake will do.

I struggled with this a lot when I first changed my diet. Custard caramel doughnuts, rocky road slices, coffee shop cakes, chocolate brownies... And my view on deciding not to eat something is that you don't attempt to replicate it (I could never understand vegetarians who eat "fake" meat), but just sometimes cake just makes everything better.

So I looked for something I could cook at home, starting with the theory that if the ingredients themselves were less processed then surely a "healthier" cake would be possible. This was when I discovered spelt flour, now thankfully available from most supermarkets and health shops.

The popularity of this type of flour was such that actually my first baking project was from a very mainstream cookery book - Nigella Lawson's Kitchen from which I adapted her Apple and Cinnamon muffins adding in porridge oats for a slightly heavier muffin. And they are now a firm favourite - a proper old fashioned style cake with substance, not one of these flighty, fussy, lighter than air fripperies in the form of a cupcake that are sickly sweet and insubstantial. I have decided I like my cakes brown and tasting of something other than just sugar.

I am now reading my way through two books - Love Bake Nourish by Amber Rose (given to me by my friend Jon) and also Spelt by Roger Saul. I am planning my next baking projects with much anticipation. I love cookery books so half the fun is being able to look at a whole bunch of recipes feeling that there is nothing to stop me making, and eating, them when for a while baking seemed no longer an option.

So expect a few more baking blogs to come.

Dehydration

I don't drink as much water as I should, who does?

But when I do drink water I feel the benefit. And when I don't drink water I feel the impact.

Simple fixes, but important ones.

A nice cup of tea

Betty's black china tea with rose petals brewed in a teapot. Memories of student days and my friend Roger who would still insist on using a proper teapot and loose leaf tea even in a student hall of residence.

These days, though, my tea of choice is very different. Having decided that the normal bog standard cup of English tea had an extremely diuretic effect on me I reluctantly tried to find an alternative. And now I drink rooibos (red bush) tea with milk regularly - the first drink of the day and often the last. But it wasn't a change made without reluctance - I missed Earl Grey in particular.

Now, with excitement, I have discovered that there is an Earl Grey rooibos tea available from my local health food shop, and it is a fantastic brew.

The options available are noticeably increasing, which to my mind can only be a good thing. Recently I discovered rooibos, vanilla, and cocoa. Obviously I bought  it, although am still yet to try it. Can I admit that the packaging alone swayed me? But, in my defence, if the pretty packaging of cupcakes, pastries and pre-packed milk chocolates are no longer an option than surely a little nicety in the form of a pack of tea should be allowed. And it is the closest I have felt to the excitement of buying Betty's beautifully packaged loose leaf tea twenty years ago.

Time for tea? I think so.

A working day lunch

From the start of my diet change lunchtimes became a challenge. I had fallen into the routine of so many busy working women and made my daily trip to Sainsbury or M&S to buy a pre-packed lunch. I knew I should be more virtuous than this, making time to make lunch at home - a way to be certain of what I ate and most definitely a way to save money - but when the hours in the day never seemed to be enough and tiredness was a constant state the daily food raids became a way of life, and in my mind an excuse to make me leave my desk for a brief while.

And any way did I know what I was eating, even if I made lunch at home? Sandwiches, with brown bread if I was trying to feel a little healthier, pre-packed salads that seemed to be low in calories, couscous, flatbreads filled with chicken in sweet sauces, confusing packaging, numbers and percentages that I was sure should mean something. But whatever care I took to try to understand, it seemed to make little difference - I weighed what I weighed (heavier than I wanted to be), and tiredness seemed to be constant.

Lunch now is easier. I take advantage of the fridge at work and fill it with a bag of salad (yes, pre-packed and from the supermarket, I admit it! But I am still busy). Adding olives, cold meats or fish, other antipasti (such as artichokes or peppers), cheeses (Roquefort is my favourite), seeds (pumpkin or sunflower), a splash of olive oil and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Perfect. A lunch that always feels like the sort of food you eat on holiday and have every intention of replicating when you return home (but never do). Yes it takes some thought on a Monday, but once I have filled the fridge it will last me for a few days, which actually makes it cheaper than buying separately daily. I have also discovered that there is something mood lifting about eating food from a plate with a knife and fork in the middle of a working day, rather than from a plastic packet.

A granola alternative (and other breakfast options...)

Much as I love porridge the thought of having the same breakfast every morning can lead even the most sane person to the edge of insanity. So I have experimented with alternatives, such as cooking up a version of granola which can then be eaten with greek yoghurt (and maybe a touch of the slightly naughty honey or maple syrup) or cold with milk as a replacement cereal. My granola was a mix of oats, crushed nuts (macadamia, cashew), a few dried cranberries (but not too many), pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, desiccated coconut and a little honey. The mix was then placed on a baking tray and toasted in the oven for approximately 20 minutes. Left to cool it doesn't become as crunchy as commercial versions, but it tastes good and I know exactly what is in it.

 

 

Of course there is always the option to avoid anything cereal related completely. Unlike trying to follow a low calorie diet I have found that being able to eat eggs and cheese and dairy products has been quite liberating. What better way to start the weekend then with a version of eggs benedict, or, more accurately, eggs en cocotte with spinach and a teaspoon of crème fraiche, cooked in the oven in a pan of water for approx. 20 minutes or until the eggs are soft set (obviously served on a granary based toast, rather than a white flour muffin). Coffee and eggs - could there be a better combination for a slow morning?

 

 

Porridge!

Breakfast cereals are no longer an option, even the ones parading as a healthy start to the day are no longer a possibility. Porridge has proved to be a lifesaver -  good breakfast is vital in the control of sugar levels and nothing works better than starting the day with oats. Perfect.

 

 

 

 

 

Unbearable Sweetness

Removing sugar from my diet has made me realise just how sweet modern foods are. I don't mean obviously sweet foods - cake, puddings, biscuits are clearly going to be sugary - but foods which we class as savoury also now seem so very sweet. Salsa dips, pasta sauces, ketchups and pre-packed meals all now taste unbearably of sugar.

But going without sweetness altogether is not easy. I cannot drink coffee without a spoonful of sugar, and I like my porridge sweet in the morning. And now and again I really do need some sort of cake - not a fluffy, sugar filled fancy but a wholemeal muffin with apple and almonds or similar.

So what options for those avoiding sugar but still wanting the sweetness? I have tried stevia but cannot get on with the after taste. Recipes for "healthier" cakes have suggested using maple syrup or honey, but, although less processed, I am unsure whether these represent a lower gi than the sugars I used to cook with (granulated / demerera / muscovado). I have also tried agave, nice in taste but so very expensive, and fructose. Fructose is my current sugar of choice with its claims of being lower gi, but I have heard the arguments against it too, which worry me that in trying to make a healthier choice I am in fact choosing an even unhealthier option.

I know, I know - the obvious answer is to learn to live without sugar at all, but life is just too short to live with that amount of denial.

So I will continue to try to reduce my sugar intake as much as possible and will continue to wonder which is the best option for those times when I really do need a little sweetness.