Fructose Free Anzac Biscuits

Hi Everyone,
Well Saturday was weigh in day again and we are pleased to report that after our Easter week weight gain (only little.....not quite 1kg each), we are back to where we were pre-Easter....which is great although Ralphy is a bit disheartened. I really think he wants it to fall off by the bucket loads. But a sedentary life most weekends won't cut it (so to speak). And we are eating well... sometimes really surpassing our satisfaction state in appetite control...hence the Easter little gain!!!!  I believe that we need to cut down on the carbs a little more, (allowable and yummy as they are). The bottom line is still that old equation - energy in < energy out = lose weight..... Einstein would be so proud of me!!!!


How do I feel all up with my new "lesser" me? In a word - great! I do have more energy, more bounce, more motivation as the weeks go by. Sometimes I feel like grabbing something naughty like an ice-cream when we go out or a ???............ actually, it just dawned on me as I am typing away that most times I don't really feel like anything. I don't actually ever miss anything not allowed that I would want to go out and intentionally buy. This doesn't mean if I see someone indulging in a Ferro Roche I don't salivate embarrassingly. But it is all what the eyes see and the memory triggers that makes me almost instantly drown in my own saliva. But once I move on, it is all forgotten. Soooo.... the secret is to try and avoid being tempted although I am getting better at resisting. I have a will-power now that my dear sweet dad would be sooooooo very proud of.


And the really "bestest" thing happening lately is all the compliments I am getting from my work mates. They don't realise just how much of a bounce they put in my step every time they comment on how great I am looking/ how much weight I have lost. I love them so much for making me feel so good. Just as well I don't wear tops with buttons down the front as I would pop the buttons I am sure. 


And this is a lesson to self. To try and say something really genuine and nice to at least one person each day in my life. If I can make one person a day feel even half as good as I feel when I have a nice compliment given to me, then my days goal is achieved. I truly don't think this is going to be a challenge as I work with some pretty amazing people who give so much of themselves. But enough soppiness.... it is going to make my next recipe all soggy and soft!!!!


Being Anzac Day tomorrow, I just had to do Anzac Biscuits. Yes you heard me correctly.....Anzac Biscuits with no sugar!!!! And they are yummy....really firm and yummy and close to the original flavour..... and allowable in our 'diet'....although calories are calories and will stop you losing weight if you have more than one (or two). 


This recipe is out of my cooking bible by David Gillespie.... the Sweet Poison Quit Plan.  If you haven't purchased it yet and want to join us on the fructose free lifestyle plan, then I suggest you get your little butts off quickly and order it. By the way Big W usually stock it. As David says, "The critical part of the traditional Anzac biscuit is golden syrup". And as I mentioned in an earlier posting for those who have been following me to date, golden syrup is full of fructose and a BIG NO NO!!!! But we can use liquid glucose purchased from the supermarket, the result being a nice hard tooth-breaking biscuit that you expect the Anzac biscuit to be. So here goes.


Anzac Biscuits

Makes approx. 24

Ingredients

1 cup plain flour

1 cup rolled oats

3/4 cup coconut

1 1/4 cups dextrose

150g butter

3 tablespoons boiling water

4 tablespoons glucose syrup

1 teaspoon baking powder

Method

• Preheat oven to 150º C (300º F). 
• Line two baking trays with paper.
• Sift flour into a large bowl. Add oats, coconut and dextrose, then set aside.
• Melt butter in a saucepan, then add syrup and water. Allow mixture to boil briefly before taking off the heat. Add baking powder to the saucepan, allow it to foam, then pour immediately onto dry ingredients. Mix well.
• Take heaped teaspoon sized pieces of mixture and press out thinly (about a fingers width) onto greased trays, allowing room for spreading.
• Bake for approximately 30 minutes until golden.
• Cool on a wire rack (biscuits will be soft and spongy when warm, but will harden as they cool).
• Store in an airtight container.

If you want to make a variation on the theme, try adding 2 teaspoons of ground ginger (or more, if you like) and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to this mixture before you bake it.

Challenge

• To stop at only one or two!!!!  BE WARNED!!

I hope you are starting to get the gist of this new healthy eating plan by now. It doesn't mean cutting your throat or doing without the sort of treats life threw our way. It does however mean that we have to be more motivated and creative in the kitchen and actually do more than open a packet of frozen food and heat it in the microwave.  Yes, we must actually cook and occasionally be required to adapt old favourite recipes to a fructose free way. But it is our health and that of our children we are talking about here...so what more motivation do we need than that. 

And to make things a little easier for you, I thought I would (starting in the next posting) give you some tips on how to plan meals ahead with not so much "planning" or "effort". Soooo stay tuned.

And in the meantime, sleep tight cherubs and don't let the bed bugs bite.........Noels