Remove from the tin as soon as possible and cool on a cake rack for 20 minutes before slicing
Gluten-free rosemary and olive bread
Ingredients:
1 packet of Orgran Gluten-Free Bread Mix
425mL water (or milk)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ teaspoons of chopped fresh rosemary
¾ cup of pitted, roughly chopped kalamata olives
* Add 1 or 2 beaten eggs to make a more full-bodied loaf (depending on diet requirements)
*Add 1 teaspoon of sugar to enhance browning
Method:
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Grease a 22 x12cm loaf tin
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Pre-heat oven to 180°C
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Place bread mix, water and oil (plus eggs and sugar if you desire) into a medium bowl and mix continuously for about 3-4 minutes on low to medium speed until batter is smooth.
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Stir through olives and rosemary.
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Immediately spoon mixture into the loaf tin and let it stand in a warm place for 15 minutes until the dough has risen to the top of the tin.
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Place in the oven for 35 – 40 minutes.
-
Remove from the tin as soon as possible and cool on a cake rack for 20 minutes before slicing.
Sunflower, date & walnut wholewheat gluten-free bread
Ingredients:
1 packet of Orgran Wholemeal Gluten-Free Bread Mix
425mL water (or milk)
2 tspn sesame oil
2 tbspn brown sugar
1 cup pitted dried dates
1 cup walnut halves
½ cup raisins
½ cup chopped dried apricots
2 tbsp sunflower kernels
2 tbsp pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
2 tbsp poppy seeds
1 egg lightly whisked
Method:
-
Grease a 22 x12cm loaf tin
-
Pre-heat oven to 180°C
-
Place bread mix, water, sugar and oil into a medium bowl and mix continuously for about 3-4 minutes on low to medium speed until batter is smooth.
-
Stir through dates, walnuts, raisins, apricot.
-
Immediately spoon mixture into the loaf tin and let it stand in a warm place for 15 minutes until the dough has risen to the top of the tin.
-
Brush the top of the loaf with the egg and sprinkle with a mixture of the sunflower kernels, pepitas and poppy seeds.
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Place in the oven for 35 – 40 minutes.
-
Remove from the tin as soon as possible and cool on a cake rack for 20 minutes before slicing.
More nutritional information..........
Food is essential for optimal physical health, but it is also an integral part of social and emotional health (1). Food fuels the body for energy as well as providing vital nutrients for physiological processes. It brings people together and creates social occasions and an excuse to get together and relax with loved ones. Food also has the ability to generate strong emotional responses, for instance the lovely satisfied feeling after a great meal or a delicious piece of chocolate. A healthy diet is an excellent way to maintain an an active lifestyle and protect us from potential health problems. It can boost your energy levels, improve body functions, strengthen your immune system and assist in weight maintenance and weight gain.
Food and eating are simply a way of life and are dependant on the following factors:
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Availability / accessibility of food
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Cultural background, values & beliefs about eating & food preparation
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Health or disease status of the individual
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Time available for meal preparation
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Knowledge about healthy food
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Financial status (1)
Healthy eating throughout life can help reduce the risk of many nutrition related dieases such as cardio vascular disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity (1). The total amount of food and nutrients that your body requires depends on your:
- Age
- Gender
- Body size
- Level of physical activity
- Whether you are pregnant / breast feeding
- Any special dietary needs (1)
Eating a variety of foods every day from the following food groups will help ensure you obtain the greatest nutritional benefits from the foods you eat for a positive effect on your health. These include:
Grains
- These include breads, cereals, pasta, noodles and rice (preferably wholegrain) plus corn, barley, couscous and polenta.
- These foods provide you with carbohydrates, protein, fibre and many vitamins and minerals such as folate, some B vitamins, thiamin, riboflavin and niacin and iron (1)
Vegetables
- Vegetables include:
- Leaves - spinach, cabbage & lettuce
- Roots - carrots, sweet potato, beetroot & turnip
- Tubers - potato
- Flowers -broccoli & cauliflower
- Stems & stalks - celery & asparagus
- Botanical fruits - tomato, cucumbers, squash, pumpkins & capsicum
- Bulbs - garli
- A wide range of vegetables provide you with ab excellent source of vitamins (vitamin C, vitamin A, folate) minerals, dietary fibre and carbohydrates.
- According to the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating, the nutrients in a variety of vegetables have shown to help prevent some cancers.
Fruits
- Fruits include quite a variety:
- Apples & pears
- Stone fruits, such as nectarines, apricots, peaches and plums
- Citrus fruits, such as oranges and grapefruits
- Tropical fruits such as pineapples, bananas and papaya
- Grapes, both red and green
- Melons, such as rockmelon and honeydew melon
- Berries such as raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, cranberries and blackberries.
- Fruit provides many essential nutrients such as vitamin A, vitamin C, some B vitamins and folate. Fruit is also an excellent source of fibre.
- Fruit contains carbohydrates in the form of fructose, or fruit sugar.
Dairy Products
- Dairy products include foods that are produced from milk. They include foods such as milk, cheese and yogurt.
- Dairy products are an excellent source of calcium which is essential for bones and teeth health.
- Some indivduals can be intolerant to the sugar lactose, which is found in most dairy products. Yogurt and cheese however often contain far less lactose than milk because yogurt contains enzymes to metabolise the latose and cheese making and ageing often greatly reduces the amount of lactose found in the cheese.
- Alternative products are available that are fortified with calcium. They include soy milk, almond milk, oat milk, rice milk, soy cheese and soy yogurt.
- Dairy products contain increased amounts of saturate fats, so choosing a lower fat variety (except for children under 5 and some people with specialised needs) would be beneficial. (1)
- 'White' cheeses such as cottage cheese, ricotta cheese and feta cheese are an excellent lower fat dairy choice.
Nutrition: The Foundation of Optimal Health
The way you eat is an expression of who you are.
Gaining optimal health doesn't need to get complicated, eating what mother nature provides is the key. If you can focus a large percentage of your diet being as close to it's natural source and as fresh as possible you are building a solid foundation of health.
There is no universal diet that suits everyone. To find OUR diet is OUR journey. Some people thrive with raw foods; some do not tolerate grains; some do well with animal products, while others do not. Consult a nutritionist or naturopath to find out what foods are suited to you. Just as we are put on this earth to discover what our mind and spirit wants, so too, we need to discover what our body wants.
This, we need to realise, cannot be result focussed. We may never find a permanently perfect diet, just as we may never have a perfect mind, or body, but maintaining the desire, enjoying the journey and learning on the way is paramount. Our needs are always changing. We need to be scientists and experiment on ourselves. What might work for us at age 40 may not be the same 20 years later. What might work for us in a tropical climate may be different in cooler conditions.
When you look at the food you are eating think about the processes it has been through before it got to you. Has it been made by a machine? Has it been heated? Has it been manmade? How fresh is it? For a food to give you life and strength it must still retain a life force of it's own. Read labels and become familiar with the types of common additives that are in our food and their effects. During processing of foods essential vitamins and minerals are lost. In order for your body to digest these foods properly these vitamins and minerals are thus taken from your bodily stores. Therefore these foods deplete, rather than give you goodness.
As with most things knowledge is power. Socrates once said,"There is only one good - knowledge, and one evil - ignorance." This can guide us in all our actions and especially where our health is concerned. Many people, who are ill, don't see their own contribution to their deterioration of health. If we take responsibility for our health then we are self-sufficient. 'The cure' comes from within. Nature has provided us with a wondrous bounty of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and grains. If we take an active part in our nutrition the more likely we can awaken 'the doctor within'. Our body is the vehicle of our soul in this life and if we look after it by giving it the fuel that mother nature intended it will support us to lead a happy, healthy, energetic and fruitful experience.
Bon appetit!
