Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Word Energy

It's my  personal philosophy that words have a vibration - not only because they physically vibrate the air which they are spoken into, but because very single word has its own unique vibrational being and energetic substance. Each word spoken gathers intent and meaning with every utterance by every being, every single time it's used.

Next time you say you 'hate' something or someone, think of the resonance behind the word, the power it has gathered down through the centuries, the concentrated intent behind every single letter. Think how poisonous and powerful it is.

Words have life; they have an ability to influence far beyond mere consonants and vowels. Once they are formed and spoken, they vibrate; they reverberate and take on a life of their own. Once said, you can't take them back - like a stone thrown into a lake, each ripple echoes out and touches everything else. On its reverse journey back to you, that ripple in the verbal lake might become a huge wave of words that sweeps you away.

So choose your words carefully and use them wisely. They have the power to impact upon everything around you.




Saturday, October 15, 2011

different strokes..

I always feel like cooking - especially baking. It's therapy for me. I love to see basic ingredients come together and turn into something entirely deliciously different. Eating and cooking gluten free has been a challenge for me and a huge learning curve - but I love it.

I made blueberry muffins a few days ago, and I tweaked my GF flour recipe and added some tapioca flour (it comes from the root of the cassava plant), it added a lightness and really helped the overall texture of the baked muffins. Proof positive? I baked my blueberry muffins and they were just about all gone that same afternoon!

When I first started out eating gluten free, most people had no idea what that term meant. I had to constantly explain what the word gluten meant and why I had to be free of it. Lately that's happening a lot less. Even being vegetarian and gluten free barely raises an eyebrow at most places - but I'd seriously like to see something other than a salad offered to me as a meal.. unless it's a roasted vegetable quinoa salad!

I think we've come a long way in accepting that people have, or choose to follow different diets, which I hope is a sign that people are becoming more open and tolerant. After all, how does it hurt anyone else if I don't eat wheat or animals? Why would anyone be affronted by that choice? If my partner chooses to eat beef, I don't feel personally insulted. Why should I? As long as she's an adult and she has a full understanding about her food and is knowledgeable about her dietary choices, then what she eats is up to her and is her own karma..

Now if I can just get people to see that same reasoning when it comes to legalising same-sex marriage, things would be perfect. I'd be a vegetarian-gluten-free-happily-married-same-sex attracted woman.

I think I'll try ordering that off the menu more often!







Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Well, bless me!

I got called "pushy" this week. I think of it as a kind of compliment in a way, because for so many years I'd not speak up.. or push, or ask what the hell was going on.. I'd just put up with another's unclear, rather muddy boundaries and hope things would improve.

They rarely ever did.

I looked up "pushy" in the dictionary and it says, 'excessively or unpleasantly self-assertive or ambitious.'

Hmm, I wasn't any of that. Maybe one person's persistent is another's pushy, depending on the circumstances? Or maybe people like assertiveness in themselves, but not in others?

But at least I know where I stand now.














Monday, October 10, 2011

No Capes

Feeling down, Sam? Lets play with Photo Booth on my iPad! I can do my "Syndrome" from "The Incredibles" impression for you...






















See? THAT made me smile. Now you know why I love Debra so much!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

My Gluten Free Banana Bread


Banana bread is yum. I’ve not had it in years because I’ve not seen a gluten free one in cafes. I decided to modify a recipe I’ve used for other things and see how it went with banana bread…
Basically I use my own SR flour recipe. That’s 1 cup brown rice flour combined with 1 cup of almond meal. To that I add 1 teaspoon of Xanthan Gum (praise the deities for Xanthan gum!) 2 teaspoons of baking powder (GF, of course) and 1 teaspoon of bicarb soda.
I mashed up two expensive (curse Cyclone Yasi) and very ripe bananas and slurped in 1/2 cup of honey and 1/2 cup of sugar mixing them through. I also added a dash of Maple syrup (just because), 2 beaten eggs and just under a 1/3 of a cup of rice bran oil. 
I added the wet mix to the dry and tasted it, pronouncing it yummo! But for some reason I went a bit mad.. I decided to add some coconut milk powder that I had left over (I love this stuff:). It added a bit of creaminess but wasn’t too full-on with the coconut flavour. You could also add nuts (walnuts, pecans..whatever) if you wanted to at this stage..
I scooped the bananary mixture into a loaf tin and baked it at 170C for about 50 mins. I watched it though because sometimes the top can brown up fiercely because of the honey content.
So, here ‘tis.
(sorry ‘bout the fuzzy photo. I’m no food photographer, I just cook things.)