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Baked fish with savoury topping

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I love fish and it agrees with my stomach. Gluten-free fish and chips can be good but as my stomach has been disordered, I thought I would go with a thick fillet of cod. The topping is made up of vegan cheese, grated shallots and finely chopped mushrooms. Instead of grating or chopping I used an electric mini-chopper.

Instead of onions you could use breadcrumbs, I didn’t use a recipe for this, as it’s a mix of food I wanted to eat last night.

Ingredients (per 1 portion):

  • 6-8 ounce thick fish fillet

Topping:

  • Half a cup of each of grated vegan cheese, shallots and mushrooms.
  • Fresh/dried herbs and black pepper
  • 1 free-range egg

Method:

1.) Preheat the oven to 200C/180C (fan assisted oven)

2.) Place the shallots and mushooms into the electric mini chopper.


3.) Add the vegan cheese to the chopped shallots and mushrooms.

4.) Season the topping mixture with fresh/dried herbs and black pepper.

5.) Bind the topping together with about a third of a beaten egg.

6.) Place the fish fillet in a dish; flat side up. Pile the topping onto the surface and pat in place.

7.) Bake for 20-25 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish fillet and how crisp you like the topping.

8.) Then serve with your chosen sides; my preference is sweet potatoes and broccoli.

N.B. If there is topping left over it makes a good sandwich toasted under the grill.

Helping my sensitive gut

Strategies that help my Dyspraxia, Updates1 Comment

A sensitive gut runs in my family as does dyspraxia in differing degrees; slow transition and the need to eat carefully. I have IBS-C and my gut needs to be carefully balanced. The things that upset it include sugar, alcohol, anxiety and when I eat too many different foods in one meal,

Take Sunday, it was a birthday and the close family went out for a meal at Miller and Carter on Parbold Hill. I was enjoying a fillet steak with baked potato; then I ate their signature onion loaf and that made me feel sick. It is apparently gluten-free but I’m thinking it may have dairy in it. I did have half a cider and maybe that contributed. I didn’t eat for the rest of the day.

My secret weapon when my stomach is off is to have a Biomel shot which has live active cultures in dairy-free coconut milk. I find it’s best to have it before I have eaten as I can feel it coating and soothing my stomach. I’ve taken many probiotics over the years with variable impact but I notice a difference with the liquid shot. Information on the website is clear: https://www.biomel.life/products

I also use inulin powder in water which is a prebiotic soluble fibre. If you stir it and leave it for five minutes then it becomes clear and it’s easier to swallow. It’s important for me to balance my gut with prebiotics and probiotics. After I finish taking a batch of these I tend to have a break and see how I feel. I feel they become less effective if I carry on.

The key thing that really affects my gut is anxiety. When I am going through a difficult time with IBS then I become over-focused on every little internal gurgle or rumble. I carry a lot of tension in my gut. Although I’ve had the HeartMath emWave2 portable device for a few years I resisted using it; as I found it hard to relax to an order.

I have now started using it once or twice a day and I can see that relaxing helps my gut. When I am stressed my gut is tense. The emWave displays the heart’s rhythm which reflects your emotional state and helps you to learn how to move into a more coherent state. I am learning that by breathing more slowly and letting go of tension, my heart rhythm pattern becomes less chaotic. The visual feedback helps me calm. There are good resources on the website:https://www.heartmath.co.uk

I recently found a blog ‘The Sensitive Gut’ and their blog post about the link between dyspraxia and the bowel. I visit this site when I want to check something out and I’ve just bought the Sensitive Gut cookbook – watch this space!


Pancakes for Breakfast

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These are gluten-, dairy- and grain-free pancakes, they are delicious and settle well if you have any type of stomach disorder. There are few ingredients and they keep you full all morning.

This recipe should make about 7/8 pancakes.

Ingredients:

  • 2 large free-range eggs
  • 2 bananas; I use green bananas as its better for my digestion.
  • 1/2 cup of almond or no-added sugar peanut butter.
  • 1 teaspoon of baking powder.



The Ingredients

Method:

1.) Put everything in a mixing bowl or food processor and mix until smooth smooth.

2.) Heat a heavy frying plan or griddle; & lightly grease with coconut oil.

3.) Drop quarter cups of batter into the pan; turn the heat down to medium as the pancakes brown easily.

4.) Bubbles should start to appear on top and the surface of the pancake will appear more dry. Once you see this flip them, over to the other side. Be sure to watch the sides of the pancakes as you want some moistness left.

5.) Serve stacked in a dish with the toppings of your choice; I like mine with KoKo natural yogurt, blueberries, strawberries and a drizzle of maple syrup.

Variations:

Since I started making these I have made some changes.

To give your pancakes a crispier surface, instead of using 2 eggs, try 2 egg yolks plus a whole egg. This mix is good when you mix in half a small punnet of blueberries and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. You may need to turn the heat down at the end to get sticky blueberry jam effect. These are my favourite.

February 2018 Update

Updates1 Comment

I have been working hard with the team on my first talking PowerPoint. It has taken the best part of three years. Grandma has grappled with this concept for a long time and no one could help. Finally in training with an organisation called Sight and Sound there was someone who seemed to understand. Yes it works and the first one is now on my YouTube channel. You should have received a link to it. If you haven’t then let me know. The aim is to let people know about global dyspraxia and educate them in some way.

Let me update you on how I am doing. I was in America in September and had my triple tongue tie released. We were in la for 4 days and I spent most of the time eating pureed food and watching TV films. In between I applied copious amounts of pain-relief gel. We did go to Santa Monica and the Pier where Route 66 ends.  That was great with live music, strange behavioured people who had obviously imbibed something stronger than a cigarette. I developed my love of iced vanilla lattes made with coconut milk there. I couldn’t eat and they were soothing and filling. The rest of the trip went well.

I celebrated my 21st birthday in October with a house party in a beautiful house overlooking a wild sea. That was a fab week although I was miserable on my birthday.

My programme is going well and I am making good progress in my speech. I finally accept that I am starting to talk. It has taken me a while to adjust my perception of myself. Yes I feel I am starting to make some progress emotionally. It’s about time. My physio needs have been assessed and updated and it was obvious way past doing. I am still working on stretches but am also working on strengthening my core muscles. She recommended a treadmill as my overall fitness was below par. I am improving my time for a mile walking.  I have completed my first assignment for my level 3 certificate in Creative Writing and passed with flying colours. I’m working on assignment 2 now. I want to do level 3 in psychology but will wait until next year.

I am going to review my blog and try to make it more interesting and diverse with product placement. I haven’t said much about the IOPI medical device which is helping me strengthen my tongue for speech. I shall review it next time.

I am going to upload my talking PowerPoint here so let me know what you think. I will be uploading videos and doing blogs more often. Hope you are all well. Keep in touch.

March Update

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How are you all? This is my last day of term so I thought I had better do an update. It has been a bit up and down this half term. I have irritable bowel syndrome and it is linked to migraine. Grandma seems to have sorted it for the minute with judicious use of probiotics, transdermal magnesium oil and Oxypowder. i think she would have been burned at the stake in the past. She says she comes from a long line of women who believe in natural healing on her mother’s side. These are the Hendry’s again, all bright and a bit eccentric. There is the matriarchal theme again which permeates our family. There must have been some men. Great uncle Chris but you apparently are Great grandad George in most ways. All very strong and thriving. We certainly don’t do wishy-washy in my family.

Things have been unsettled in my programme as one person left but it is much stronger now and more calm and stable. I have to say I can see the progress i am making so it must be good. I know I’m a glass half empty person. That comes into conflict with grandma regularly. She is a glass half full person with an attitude of ‘how do I fill the bloody thing up’. We have a few arguments over this disparity and I get my ‘ass kicked’ metaphorically speaking. However, even I can see how well I am doing in the last year. My latest focus is on saying things independently across a range of words and different vowels so I have to change my motor-plans and I can! It is such a pleasure to do it too. One of the phrases I have now is ‘eff off’ but thats not officially in my targets – but it’s age appropriate! The ForBrain headset has played a big part of this development and I can differentiate speech sounds now. Where are all these so called specialists in the UK? I know Diane my US-based speech therapist wants to open a multi-sensory clinic with grandma in Manchester to bring together a range of specialists to work with people with true apraxia of speech. There is one in Finland apparently. We need it and knowing them they will do it too.

It’s Easter and lots of things are planned including a birthday picnic for my cousins Evie and Isobel. As long as there is wine and pizza I am happy. Then we are going to plan walks in Lancashire, based around pub lunches. I am walking three times a day and doing two relaxation sessions to help my irritable bowel syndrome and related anxiety and it helps. Grandad and I have been encouraged to go in all weathers; ‘you won’t melt’ is the family saying. It was touch and go a few times this week.

Anyway I must go as it’s relaxation time with a heated eye mask and then the walk which, as it’s a nice day, grandma is joining us! Then lunch and music. I’m hoping for a few toasted cheese and ham sandwiches. All gluten and dairy free and they’re so good I feel I’m back in Wholefoods; in fact they are better.

Have a good Spring Holiday. Do try Hotel Chocolat vegan chocolate and eggs; they are the best ever. We go to Manchester every few weeks to stock up. Of course there are other brands available but they are not as good. I am looking for sponsorship so I am into product placement! in fact, we use Ancient Minerals transdermal mineral oil and it is excellent for all aches and pains.

Until next time do take care and look after yourself naturally.

Much love, Con XxxxxxxxxxxX