Hi there! I’m Alex and welcome to Yummy Alternatives.
So I’ve finally made it!! Decided to get this blog off the ground.
I’m feeling both excited and nervous at the same time. So here goes …
This blog will be a place where I wish to share my love for cooking and where you will find countless recipes, both traditional and non-traditional, each of which will have a special “TWIST” to them.
Right now, you’re probably thinking: “What does she mean by recipes with a TWIST?”
Well to start off with, I am wheat intolerant and, I have been suffering from colitis since my early twenties. However, a few years ago I was diagnosed with what is known as Crohns Disease.
For any of you out there who suffer from this condition, you know that it can have quite a few debilitating and annoying symptoms.
There’s no script or manual on what type of diet should be followed. I was lucky enough to discover that by avoiding wheat, cutting out refined sugars and dairy products from my diet I could eliminate or keep most of my symptoms under control.
I can already imagine the look on all your faces while reading that last sentence and thinking “Oh my gosh, what the heck does she eat!”
I asked myself that very same question.
At the time as I was addicted to all three!
I had the biggest sweet tooth: cakes and desserts with cream, caramel sauce, ice cream and the list could go on for entire days.
In the beginning I didn’t have much variety, I ate properly, but I missed having some of my favourite meals.
So I decided to experiment and recreate some of my preferred recipes by exchanging the products I couldn’t have with the healthy alternatives I could find on the market.
I started substituting wheat flour with spelt or buckwheat flour, having fructose, pure cane sugar or maple syrup instead of refined sugar and using non dairy products like coconut milk, almond milk, and plant based creams instead of regular cows milk.
Another reason why I decided to start this blog is the fact that I found it very difficult to find recipes that didn’t have all three ingredients. They’re usually gluten free or sugar free or dairy free but rarely all three. Hey that actually rhymes …. and thought I might be able to help other people with similar intolerances by sharing my recipes.
Eliminating or at least drastically limiting the intake of these foods has had a tremendous effect on my health and well-being. It’s made me realise just how important it is to eat healthy, fresh foods without additives or preservatives and I truly believe that WE REALLY ARE WHAT WE EAT! And it’s important that we educate our children about the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle.
MY BACKGROUND
I’m an Australian, currently living in north eastern Italy near Trieste where both my parents grew up and got married before migrating to Australia in the fifties.
I started cooking at a very young age. I have very fond memories of helping my ‘nonna Pina’ (nonna = grandmother) opening up the fresh pea pods at the kitchen table before cooking them; helping my mother crumbing our veal steaks – coating them with flour, dipping them into the egg mixture and finally into the breadcrumbs before they were fried, or watching my mother and nonna cooking for special occasions.
I just loved the wonderful fragrances that wafted through the house, especially when they were baking our traditional cakes for Easter, the intoxicating aroma of Bundaberg double proof rum with golden melted butter and sugar mixed with flour to make the dough. Thankfully I wasn’t intolerant back then!
By the time I was about 11 years old I started baking cakes, and by 12-13 I was preparing pizza’s for Sunday lunch and creating some new recipes for Sunday dinner.
I always loved cooking and experimenting. I think it wasn’t just that I loved to cook but I also loved to eat!
AIM
So I’ll be sharing with you delicious traditional meals “with a twist”, as well as some family favourites. I believe in cooking with fresh, and where possible, using seasonal products. Most of my recipes are simple and whatever started out as not so simple was converted into simple, as much as possible! Being a working wife and mother, time is very often limited.
My aim is to not only share my favourite recipes with you, which I am sure you will love but to show you how easy it is to create delicious meals despite of a food intolerance.
Enjoy and let me know how you go, I’d love to hear from you.