Rabu, 25 Februari 2009

Gluten-Free Coffee Biscuits Recipe


Coffee laced cookies with chocolate chips

This is a cookie recipe for a grown up. Call them adult cookies. Or better yet, go a little UK and name them biscuits. It sounds a whisker more civilized when you declare to your co-workers, Excuse me while I fetch myself a coffee and a biscuit, Darling. Back in two shakes!

Much less Kindergarten, with all that grab your blankie from your cubbie business and the ritual involving tiny milk cartons and poking bendy straws through paper wrappers and the inevitable bad boy, Sully, who would blow on the straw and shoot the wrapper missile right at your ear (so annoying) and those graham crackers that never quite snap apart evenly and get stuck in your teeth (beyond annoying). Quiet time. With cookies.

A prelude to adult tea time, I suppose. But don't mention snuggies. I don't even know what a snuggie is, nor do I want to know why I would want to bring one to work with me and why they're making a day of it. It seems so. Let's see. The image of graham crackers and milk and that nasty snotty Sully shooting paper straw wrappers at my head comes to mind.

Kindergarten.

The word itself conjures that official classroom smell. Crayons and white paste and chalk. I'm snagged in the late trailing end of the Boomer Generation, can you tell? We had nap time on the floor with blankets and milk. I'm sure my sons have a their own '80's variation on this "time out" theme. (I'll have to ask them.)

What did you have for your Quite Time ritual?

Milk and cookies? Or Juice boxes and Cheetos? And why are cookies called cookies here in the States and biscuits in the UK? I ask you. Inquiring minds are scrambling to uncover these mysteries.

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Dreamweaver CS4 En-Fr-De




Develop websites and applications without installation.

Download Portable Dreamweaver on RapidShare (55 MB)

(md5: 23d10103158b89acf14f044fa5b75fe5)

Download German Patch on MediaFire (3.2 MB) (thanks to Stefan)

If not in german, go to DreamweaverPortable\App\DreamweaverCS4 folder, rename en_GB in en_GB_BAK and de_DE in en_GB.


Tested on XP Pro SP3 and Vista Ultimate SP1 with admin rights.



Extract and run DreamweaverCS4Portable.

Portable settings stored in Data.

Settings of installed Dreamweaver should be preserved.



Same program files than previous (link was dead).

Settings are now packed in one file in Data (instead of more than 300 files).

Only updated files.


Senin, 23 Februari 2009

Advanced Installer 6.8




.MSI installs in Minutes without installation.

Download Portable AdvancedInstaller on RapidShare (10.5 MB)

(md5: 91fe61a89226f3c3b4f3b1978514d3b6)


Extract and run AdvancedInstallerPortable.

Settings of installed AdvancedInstaller should be preserved.

Meet Your Cook

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Meet Karina





Probiotic Power


Last week I got really sick. I was so sick after four days of being glued to my bed, that I started to panic. I thought that with my arsenal of natural, cold-fighting remedies, I’d kick my sore throat, sleepless nights and high-grade fever to the curb, but I finally admitted that I needed help from…gulp…my doctor. She took some swabs, unsure of what had invaded my poor body and gave me a prescription for antibiotics just in case it was a bacterial infection. Just in case? I love how doctors just throw drugs around like they’re no big deal. What has the world come to?
As bad as this situation seemed at the time, the antibiotics gave me the perfect excuse to discuss a very important topic and something that seems to be on everyone’s mind: probiotics.

So, what are probiotics anyway? It has certainly become the new “it girl” ingredient in everything from yoghurt to granola bars and people seem to be catching on to the trend, buying probiotic enriched products by the truckloads. There’s just one little problem: no one really knows what probiotics are!

What the heck are probiotics?
In short, probiotics are friendly bacteria that live inside our guts. An estimated 100 trillion microorganisms representing more than 500 different species inhabit every normal, healthy bowel. Hard to believe since the medical community has been raging wars against bacteria for years now, scaring us all into buying anti-bacterial everything. But these guys, the probiotics, are the good kind of bacteria, essential to our health. In fact, probiotics have a lot of important work to do inside us. Here are a few of their responsibilities:
• Promote regular bowel movements (help relieve diarrhea and constipation)
• Improve digestion of proteins, carbohydrates and fats
• Enhance immune function
• Contribute to the absorption of minerals
• Produce antioxidants
• Participate in the manufacture of some B vitamins
• Help inhibit food poisoning
• Normalize skin conditions
• Help reduce cholesterol
• Maintain bone health
• Help manage blood sugar levels
• Improve the symptoms of lactose intolerance
• Help combat fungal and yeast infections
• Limit the action of disease-causing bacteria

BONUS!!! Probiotics are helpful in the treatment of constipation, diarrhea, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Chron’s Disease, ulcerative colitis, yeast infections, urinary tract infections, allergies, skin problems and Candida.

Let’s jump back to the topic of antibiotics and break down the word itself. “Anti” means against, and “biotic” means life. Antibiotics are against life, and they work by wiping out all bacteria in the body (the good kind and the bad kind) in order to get a sick person healthy again. In times of need, they are life saving, but they certainly shouldn’t be taken “just in case”. Obliterating all the bacteria in your body is an incredibly drastic thing to do if you don’t have to.
With a little logic, we can deduce that the word “probiotic” means “for life”. This is precisely why during and after a course of antibiotics it is essential to bring those friendly little guys back to your gut. Have you ever experienced diarrhea, flatulence, fatigue, skin problems or yeast infections after a taking around of penicillin and the like? It’s because all your little warriors are gone! Yikes!

And unfortunately, there are even more ways that our modern lifestyles negatively impact our bowel ecology. Ask yourself the following questions to get an idea of how your gut measures up:
Do you….
- use antibiotics?
- drink chlorinated (tap) water?
- consume alcohol?
- take over-the-counter medication (aspirin, antacids, antihistamines etc.)?
- eat processed foods (containing preservatives, additives)?
- experience daily stress?
- take birth control pills?
- use steroidal & hormonal drugs?
- drink carbonated and/or caffeinated drinks?
- watch a lot of television or use a mobile phone (exposure to radiation)?

Based on that list, chances are good that your bowels aren’t in the shape they could be, right? The good news is you can counteract the effects of these factors by taking a daily probiotic supplement. This is especially critical after consuming antibiotics, and a very thorough re-inoculation regime should do wonders for your digestive system, after it’s taken a beating!

Feeding your Friends – Fermented Foods and Prebiotics
We should also be aware that our diets play a serious role in the ecology of our colons. Certain fermented foods like miso, tempeh, sauerkraut, and natural yogurt, encourage the growth of friendly bacteria populations. And, if you’ve ever heard the term “prebiotic”, another trendy term that is being thrown around by food manufactures these days, it refers to certain types of non-digestible foods that make their way through our digestive system and help good bacteria grow and flourish. Prebiotics come from eating certain types of carbohydrates fibers that feed beneficial bacteria and keep them healthy. Sources of prebiotics include raw vegetables and fruits, legumes and whole grains. Sometimes probiotic supplements will include a prebiotc fiber, often referred to as FOS (fructo-oligosaccharides).

How to pick your probiotics
Like I mentioned earlier, many food manufacturers are jumping on the benevolent bacteria bandwagon and in my opinion, ripping people off. A large proportion of grocery store products simply do not deliver the benefits of probiotics because they lack the potency and nutrition of a true supplement. You can tell just by watching some advertisements for probiotic-enriched whatever…do they really say anything at all? Hardly.
Pick up your probiotics at a health food store and speak to a qualified, non-biased employee about what they offer. A single dose of probiotic supplement should have a MINIMUM of 10 million live bacteria, experts say. It is also clear that these bacteria should be from one or more of the Lactobacillus family - which are just about the only 'friendly-bacteria' tough enough to make it into the large intestine where they need to be! After a course of antibiotics, I take between 30 and 50 BILLION everyday for a week just to re-inoculate, followed by my regular 15 billion daily just to keep my bowels in top form. You can experiment with different amounts to see what works best for you, but if you are just beginning to take probiotics, I would start with a rather high dose to get the ball rolling.
Please keep in mind that these powerful, health-enhancing team players don’t always come cheap. Your health is an investment! You may be paying upwards of (gasp!) one dollar a day for good quality probiotics, but it is worth every penny. Don’t sell yourself short. Those 100 trillion friends you didn’t know you had need all the help they can get. Especially when your doctor gives you antibiotics just in case, or in my case for no reason. The tests came back negative.

image: http://www.freshhealthnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/probiotics.jpg
info source: Jensen, Bernard Dr Jensen's Guide To Better Bowel Care New York, NY: Penguin, 1999.
http://www.gonando.com/probiotics.html

Sabtu, 21 Februari 2009

A Little Preoccupied


I know, I know. It's been a while. I am in the process of moving back to Copenhagen, Denmark and just need some time to settle in here. What would life be like if we couldn't stop and enjoy the view once in a while? Check back in a couple days...

In health and sanity,
Sarah B.

Kamis, 19 Februari 2009

Scalloped Potatoes - Vegan + Dairy-Free

Dairy free scalloped potatoes vegan style comfort food
Creamy vegan scalloped potatoes

On a whim and out of nowhere (and at 2:54 AM, I'll have you know) I began conjuring images of creamy scalloped potatoes. Odd for someone who must avoid cheese and cream and butter and who- most days- is reconciled to her cheese-free life with a shrugging Lebowski-Zen detachment they write books about. Not to mention, it's been (literally) over a decade since I made this retro recipe, cream or no cream. Alas, I simply couldn't get the idea out of my sleepy Ewan McGregor-esque spiky head. 

The vegan scalloped potato challenge bit me. And refused to let go.

To make my pre-dawn vision a reality this classic recipe would need some serious tweaking. I mean, it's not just cheese you have to replace (and I'm no fan of plastic vegan cheeses, let me tell you). There is cream. And sweet moo-cow butter. Three key ingredients that make this comfy dish so melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Lucky for me I happened to have some dairy-free cream sauce left over from a vegan pasta I had tossed together the night before. A thick and silky hemp based sauce featuring artichokes and wine.

Accident? Destiny? Or simply the collective unconscious zeroing in on post-midnight potato cravings when your serotonin is dropping so fast your heart beat skips and triggers a hot flash?

You decide.

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Senin, 16 Februari 2009

Gluten-Free Ryeless Rye Bread

Gluten free rye bread aka ryeless rye is baked with gluten free flours
My gluten-free ryeless rye bread recipe makes delicious toast.

Call me crazy but one of the comfort foods I miss most after living gluten-free for years is not some fancy French cookie or triple layer ganache swathed cake. Nope. 

It's rye toast- piping hot and crunchy around the edges slathered with melting peanut butter. 

My favorite tea time snack. There's something about that fragrant rye tang with caraway paired with sweet creamy peanut butter that sends my little endorphins into all's right with the world childlike bliss.

I'm easy, I know.

The snag is- ever since my celiac disease epiphany gluten-free rye bread has been playing hard to get. Recipes for ryeless rye bread have proved petulant and elusive. Rice flour or chick pea flour does not taste like rye, I'm sorry to tell you. And now peanut butter has gotten itself into all kinds of trouble with the whole e-coli thing (through no inherent fault of it's own-- the peanut is innocent, I tell you).

So what's a gluten-free goddess to do? Live without one of life's simple pleasures? (Aren't I already doing that, living sans bagels?!) Dear Zen Universe- honestly now- for the sake of calm detachment and flow must I give up all dreams of deli?

Not today.

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Jumat, 13 Februari 2009

Make Your Own Potato Chips

Make your own potato chips.

Before I get to how to cook your own potato chips and avoid the game we food allergic individuals refer to as Le Chip Roulette, I'd like to mention dreaming. Because I woke from some very strange dreams this morning. Dreams involving caveman chest hair and glistening inky fish and long distance songs on some radio left behind in an abandoned mining shack perfect for a David Lynch location shoot. Spandau Ballet, in fact- crooning, I know this much is tru-hoo.

It's day fifteen of the tenacious head cold I picked up in Los Angeles. And it's Friday the thirteenth. But I'm not so easily spooked. Old ghosts got nothing on this morning's weirdness. This is kindergarten stuff. Amateur hour. So I shook it off and brewed some tea.

I'm blaming high altitude and not enough fresh fruit.

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Senin, 09 Februari 2009

Vegan Flourless Chocolate Cake

Vegan flourless chocolate cake recipe
A dairy-free vegan flourless chocolate cake- no tofu.

A deep dark chocolate cake recipe. Just in time for Valentine's Day. And the best part? It's not only gluten-free, but vegan as well. And it's technically a flourless chocolate cake (which for some retro-fueled reason still conjures the term sexy thanks to Sarah Jessica Parker).

In full disclosure (hey, I vet my recipes okay?) I added a scant amount of buckwheat flour to help it set up without eggs, but buckwheat isn't technically a grain, is it? More of a groat, a fruit kernel. In fact, buckwheat is a cousin to sorrel and rhubarb. I could try to impress you with shout-outs to the Polygonaceae family, dropping botanical distinctions like actinomorphic and calyx as fast as Madonna drops post-Guy Ritchie boyfriends, but I'd rather leave all botany urges behind and get back to chocolate and celebrating the dream of true love. 

All in the nick of time for Valentine's Day.

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Jumat, 06 Februari 2009

Do the Millet Mash


Ah, mashed potatoes. The very thought of the creamy, light, buttery mounds of white bring up found memories of Thanksgiving, Christmas and Sunday night dinners. Giving us the cozy comfort only rivaled by a feather duvet, mashed potatoes are the traditional side dish that seem to round out every meal.
So why would I be trying to find a replacement for a seemingly perfect food? Well, there are a couple reasons: my right knee is one reason and my left knee is the other.
Believe it or not, potatoes, and all other vegetables a part of the same family, contain a whole host of alkaloids (re: plant poisons) that can trigger problems in our bodies, like arthritis

Potatoes (not sweet potatoes), tomatoes, eggplants and peppers (just to name a common few) are part of the Solanaceae family, also called Nightshades, a group of plants named for their ability to grow at night. Nightshades vegetables contain high levels of glycoalkaloids, compounds known to be toxic at certain levels, causing gastrointestinal inflammation, nausea, diarrhea, dizziness, and other symptoms severe enough to require hospitalization.

And as for my knees, they’ve been borderline arthritic for years now (don’t ask) and cutting back on all nightshades, but specifically, potatoes has seemed to help. What’s the connection? Glycoalkaloids like the solanine found in potatoes, not only exacerbate inflammatory conditions, but also can disrupt the metabolization of calcium in the body, by blocking its assimilation and therefore depleting already low calcium levels in people with arthritis.

Nightshade vegetables may also aggravate other conditions like eczema, cystitis, lupus and psoriasis. It can take up to six months of exclusion of nightshades from the diet to achieve a beneficial effect.
Surprisingly, tobacco is included in the nightshade family, and consequently all nightshades contain very small amounts of nicotine, explaining why these foods are so addictive. Some programs to help people give up cigarettes also recommend giving up nightshade foods in order to completely eliminate low level nicotine intake and consequent re-addiction.


Here is a recipe for mashed potatoes minus the potatoes! This is a great dish to serve even if you’re not trying to avoid nightshade vegetables. The main ingredient is millet, a nutty, quick-cooking grain similar to quinoa, only slightly drier. Millet can be used in place of rice, or any other grain. Aside from quinoa and amaranth, millet has the most complete protein of any grain, making it a great choice for vegetarians. It is naturally alkaline, which is beneficial to the spleen, pancreas and stomach. Its significant amounts of iron, lecithin and choline help keep cholesterol in check and stop the formation of certain types of gallstones.


Millet Mash
Ingredients:
1 cup millet
3 cups water
1 medium onion
1 small head cauliflower
2 Tbsp cold pressed oil (olive, flax, hemp, etc.)
2-3 cloves garlic (optional, but delicious)
¼ cup arame, soaked for 20 minutes (optional – a huge nutritional boost!)
Unrefined sea salt to taste

Directions:
1. Rinse millet well by covering with water and swishing it around, then draining. Do this 2-4 times until the water runs clear.
2. Chop cauliflower and onion into chunks.
3. Put rinsed millet and water in a large pot and cover with chopped vegetables and salt. Bring to a rapid boil, cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes, until the vegetables are soft and the millet is cooked.
4. Remove from heat, add the cold pressed oil (and arame is you’re using it), and mash with a large fork or potato masher. For an extra smooth consistency, use a hand blender or a food processor.

Millet is like a blank canvas - you can use any type of vegetable you and your family likes. For orange mash, use carrots; for green use broccoli, kale, or spinach; for pink use beets!
Happy Mashing!

info source: Balch, Phyllis, A. Prescription for Dietary Wellness. New York, NY: Avery, 2003.

Minggu, 01 Februari 2009

Big Easy Chili- and some super recipes

Big easy chili that is gluten free scrumptious
Big easy soup with beans and spicy sausage.

I'm back from our jaunt to Los Angeles- an impromptu trip that was over far too quickly (where does time fly to, by the way? They say time flies but I always want to know, where?). I have a handful of juicy details to report, and I will, in an upcoming post, but today is apparently sort of a big deal.

There's a game goin' on? And rumor has it, today's a big chili day. So I am reprising a big easy chili recipe and sharing a link to Whole Foods- for healthy and tasty vegan and gluten-free menu ideas and recipes for pot lucks and Super Bowl parties. Me?

I'll be doing laundry. Lots of laundry.

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