I make - Gluten-free apple breakfast cake

Since being diagnosed with coeliac a week ago, I've been wondering what I can eat for breakfast. Yes, I like my granola and oatmeal but I also like variety. What cake can I bake for breakfast. Just to say that at the moment I intend to do my gluten-free baking with as little gluten-free flour mix as possible. Not only is it expensive,  but also it just feels too refined for me. Yes, I understand it's no different from conventional plain flour from wheat. Perhaps I just need to get over the mental barrier first. For now, I am sticking with oat flour and ground almond.

Anyhow, I learned a few things on gluten-free baking after reading a good number of blog posts. Since there is no longer gluten in the mix, bumping up the protein content in the batter helps rebuild the structure of the baked goods. Things like protein powder and eggs can improve the texture of the final baked goods. This is something I could not have thought about. Also, making sure that you aerate the eggs sufficiently is another way to give the final product a lift. I've incorporated both tips into the apple breakfast cake below. This is the first gluten-free baking that I am really happy with.

Gluten-free apple breakfast cake

4 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
zest from 1 lemon
juice from 1/2 lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup oat flour (gluten-free)
1/4 cup coconut flour (or use oat flour instead)
1/4 cup (vegan) protein powder
1 cup ground almond
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 big apple, grated
1/2 cup of mixed nuts/seeds to stir in
1/4 cup of mixed nuts/seeds to scatter on the top

Preheat the oven at 180C. Grease and line a baking tin (I use 25-cm round cake tin).

Beat eggs and sugar in a warm water bath for 7 minutes. Drizzle in melted butter and beat for another minute. Stir in lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla extract.

Stir in oat flour, coconut flour and protein powder. Beat for 30 seconds and add in ground almond, mixed spice, cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda. Switch to a rubber spatula and stir in the grated apple and 1/2 cup of mixed seeds. Make sure everything is evenly distributed in the batter before pouring into the prepared baking tin. Scatter 1/4 cup of mixed nuts/seeds on top and bake for 30-35 minutes. Start doing the toothpick test at 28 minutes.

Remove the cake from the oven when the toothpick comes out clean. Cool the cake for 20 minutes before serving.

2020 weekly - week 13 (1st week of confinement)

22/03/2020, Sunday

Ankle circumference (tape going on top of tibia/fibula pointed parts):
left widest: 22.5-23cm
right widest: 25cm

I didn't do as much physio as usual. Well, what's usual these days?! The world has been turned up side down by this new virus. The British government is finally getting serious about combating Covid-19. I'm also very relived to see that the so-called herd immunity and minimum testing strategies have been abandoned. I really wonder where the government got its initial advice as none made any practical nor scientific sense.

Anyhow, since I am back to working from home again. I need to revise my routines a little bit. I hope to do the physio more regularly in a structured way. Here is the routine I plan for the coming week.

Morning and Lunchtime routine (this is my old routine):

0. Warm up by raising up both heels and slowly coming down
1. Alternating toe and heel walk: 10 minutes
2. Heel walk: 4 minutes
3. Single leg stance: 5 minutes
4. Alfredson Protocol: 15 reps x 3 on the right leg; 15 reps x 3 on the left leg
4b. Single leg calf raise: 1 minute x 3 on the right leg; 1 minute x 3 on the left leg
5. Dorsiflexion stretch on a step: 4 minutes
6. Ankle four ways with resistance band

Evening routine (this is for the new exercises):

0. Warm up: squat down and heel raise 3x10, inchworm 10-20 reps
1. Stationary lunges, forward/backward: 2 minutes
1b. Walking lunges: 6 minutes
2. Jogging on the spot: 2 minutes
2b. Knee-high jump: (45-sec on + 15-sec off)x4
3. Stationary side lunges: 2 minutes
3b. Moving side lunges: 4 minutes
4. Single leg calf raise with a dumbbell on a stepper: right leg 3 minutes + left leg 3 minutes
5. Jumping squats (not yet)
6. Balance on a wobble board (not yet)
7. Leg press machine (not yet)

23/03/2020, Monday

Just got off the phone with my GP. It turned out that I may be coeliac/celiac which is an autoimmune disease caused by gluten ingestion. It leads to malabsorption and can cause anemia (poor absorption of iron), fracture-prone bones (poor absorption of calcium) and skin issues (skin manifestation). All of sudden, the health issues which have been happening to me may have a common cause. In a way, there seems to be an answer for these. Being diagnosed with coeliac is annoying, no doubt, to know that I may have dietary restrictions for life. But there is always a bright side of thing. Perhaps it's a motivation to discover less visited aspects of cooking.

It looks like this curve ball is bendier than I initially thought and I am still trying to take the new find in, in addition to stricter lock-down measures imposed by the government tonight.

26/03/2020, Thursday

20:00 ClapForCarers. ThankYouNHS.

Not enough Thank-you is sufficient to express my immense gratitude to NHS. Thank you all NHS staff from bottom of my heart.

27/03/2020, Friday

Well, after Prince Charles tested positive, today is BoJo's turn. Washing hands frequently is essential but not enough. Need to wear masks!

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On a positive note, we have been doing outdoor exercises everyday this week, the first week of confinement. No more than 1 hour each day, within Government's advice and also the time is just right to continue working afterwards.

As long as weather permits, I hope to continue this daily exercise.

I make - Beef and pepper stir-fry

I am sure it has a proper name but stir-fry seems to be a catch-all phrase for Chinese flavored dishes. It's convenient but certainly misses out the vast dimension Chinese cooking encompasses. As I am no expert in Chinese cooking, allow me to use a rather generic name for my beef dish.

Beef and pepper stir-fry

Beef marinade:
450 g thin beef strips
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1/2 tsp Chinese 5-spice powder (optional)
1/4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp corn starch

Marinade the beef with all ingredients above for 30 minutes.

Stir-fry sauce:
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp water/stock
1 tsp corn starch

Mix all the sauce ingredients and set aside.

Stir-fry ingredients:
3 green onions, angle sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 thumb-sized ginger, minced
1 small onion, roughly chopped
1 big red bell pepper, roughly chopped

Heat a frying pan on medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons of oil. First fry the beef strips in several batches. If they are in thin strips, they should be cooked fairly quickly. Just make sure they are colored outside before remove from the pan. Set the beef strips aside.

In the same pan on medium-high, put in green onion, garlic and ginger. Cook for 2 minutes before adding in the rest of veggies. Cook the veggies for 3 minutes or until onions are translucent. Mix in the beef strips and cook for another minute or two. Stir in the sauce and cook the mixture on high heat until the sauce is bubbling on the edge of the pan and becomes glossy. Taste and decide whether you need some salt, sugar or vinegar.

Serve immediately with plain steamed rice.

2020 weekly - week 12

15/03/2020, Sunday

Ankle circumference (tape going on top of tibia/fibula pointed parts):
left widest: 22.5-23cm
right widest: 25cm

I'm pretty pleased to say that I didn't have ankle pain last week with the revised routine. I should have listened to my therapist from the start. Well, at least I listened to my body now. So, if Covid-19 is not getting in the way, here is the routine I plan for the coming week.

Lunchtime routine (this is for the new exercises):

0. Warm up: squat down and heel raise 3x10, inchworm 10-20 reps
1. Stationary lunges, forward/backward: 2 minutes
1b. Walking lunges: 6 minutes
2. Jogging on the spot: 2 minutes
2b. Knee-high jump: (45-sec on + 15-sec off)x4
3. Stationary side lunges: 2 minutes
3b. Moving side lunges: 4 minutes
4. Single leg calf raise with a dumbbell on a stepper: right leg 3 minutes + left leg 3 minutes
5. Jumping squats (not yet)
6. Balance on a wobble board (not yet)
7. Leg press machine (not yet)


Evening routine (this is my old routine):

0. Warm up by raising up both heels and slowly coming down
1. Alternating toe and heel walk: 10 minutes
2. Heel walk: 4 minutes
3. Single leg stance: 5 minutes
4. Alfredson Protocol: 15 reps x 3 on the right leg; 15 reps x 3 on the left leg
4b. Single leg calf raise: 1 minute x 3 on the right leg; 1 minute x 3 on the left leg
5. Dorsiflexion stretch on a step: 4 minutes
6. Ankle four ways with resistance band

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Meals planned this week are:

Lasagna
Mushroom Stilton quiche
Fish with turmeric chickpeas

16/03/2020, Monday

The lunch time routine went well until single calf raise. For whatever reason, today I couldn't raise my calf at all! A little bit worrying. Hope it's only one of those days when things don't go my way.

I heard that someone at the research park got Covid-19! The premise where this person worked was deep cleaned last week. Why didn't the management office announce the news more broadly? Shouldn't we all have the right to know whether we might be in contact with this individual? Not very happy.

Finally, our couldn't-care-less government announced remote work when possible. A sigh of relief! Then our own management emailed soon after to give the permission of remote working. Looks like this year will be disquiet for some time.

19/03/2020, Thursday

Have to say, working from home is the best for me to do physio properly. I don't rush the exercises as much as I do in the gym at work. I also get to do the routines more regularly, instead of squeezing in between meeting breaks, if I am not too tired.

Anyway, very pleased to be back to a more structured physio routine. I had problems of raising my calf again, this time just with body weight. It went away after one round of routine. Still, I am a bit concerned.

On the plus side, I feel jumping/jogging is easier and my ankle seems to take it better. This makes me happy. I need to continue with the routine. It's working for me steadily.

I make - breakfast blueberry cake

This is a cake quick and easy enough to prepare after getting up before everyone comes down on a weekend morning. It smells inviting during baking and always pleases people at the table.

Breakfast Blueberry Cake

- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil + 2 tablespoons Rum/Amaretto/milk (or 70g of melted butter)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1.5 cup GF plain flour + 1/2 cup ground almond (or 2 cups flour instead)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup of fresh blueberries (raspberries, tinned peaches or chopped apples)
- demerara sugar for topping

Grease and line a 8- or 9-in square tin and preheat the oven at 180C.

Beat eggs and sugar for 3 minutes. Drizzle in oil/butter and beat for another 2 minutes. Mix in the liquid if using oil (rum/amaretto/milk) and vanilla extract.

In another bowl, sift flour, ground almond, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ones. Mix in 1/2 cup of milk. Use minimum strokes to mix the batter. 

Pour the batter into the prepared tin and scatter the blueberries on top. The batter layer may be thin but it will double the size in the oven. Scatter some demerara sugar on top. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test.

2020 weekly - week 11

08/03/2020, Sunday

My local supermarket was swept clean for the long-life items such as canned food, pulses and beans and household items. It seems that people panic-buy for the covid-19. It's annoying because it means we have to follow a bit to keep our household going. We didn't go too crazy (we can't anyway because the shelves are empty!). Just extra bags of pasta and cereals. I had to get bread flour in an organic shop because nearby supermarkets all sold out. When did this ever happen?

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I decided to track my ankle swelling with actual numbers!

Ankle circumference (tape going on top of tibia/fibula pointed parts):
left widest: 23cm
right widest: 25cm

Also, I have revised my routines again. Mainly because I don't want to have ankle pain to stop doing what I should do. So I decided to take an easier approach (close to my therapist's suggestion) on jumping.

Lunchtime routine (this is for the new exercises):

0. Warm up: squat down and heel raise 3x10, inchworm 10-20 reps
1a. Jogging on the spot: 2 minutes
1b. Knee-high jump: (45-sec on + 15-sec off)x4
2. Stationary lunges, forward/backward: 2 minutes
2b. Mobile + Walking lunges: 2 + 2 minutes
3. Stationary side lunges: 2 minutes
3b. Moving side lunges: 4 minutes
4. Single leg calf raise with a dumbbell: right leg 3 minutes + left leg 3 minutes
5. Jumping squats (not yet)
6. Balance on a ball (not yet)
7. Leg press machine (not yet)


Evening routine (this is my old routine):

0. Warm up by raising up both heels and slowly coming down
1. Alternating toe and heel walk: 10 minutes
2. Heel walk: 4 minutes
3. Single leg stance: 5 minutes
4. Alfredson Protocol: 15 reps x 3 on the right leg; 15 reps x 3 on the left leg
4b. Single leg calf raise: 1 minute x 3 on the right leg; 1 minute x 3 on the left leg
5. Dorsiflexion stretch on a step: 4 minutes
6. Ankle four ways with resistance band

09/03/2020, Monday

Italy plans for a nationwide lock-down. Israel requests 14-day quarantine for all travelers (all nationalities). Travel ban has been imposed by many countries. In the meantime, the stock markets have plunged everywhere. UK consumers clear off household items faster than the virus spread. Are people panicking or I am too relaxed about this COVID-19?

11/03/2020, Wednesday

Today my company announces bans on business travels and conferences, as WHO declared a pandemic.

2020 weekly - week 10

01/03/2020, Sunday

I've been trying the new exercises and my legs are really sore! But now I can balance on one leg for up to 50 seconds. A week ago it was 30 seconds. Pretty amazing to see the improvement.

Because I am going back to the office tomorrow, I won't have much time for physio as before. The good thing is that with the new exercises, I won't need much repetition as before. I will continue to do my old routine and also incorporate a new one. Here is a revised routine for this week.

Lunchtime routine (this is for the new exercises):

0. Warm up: squat down and heel raise 3x10, inchworm 10-20 reps
1. Knee-high jump/jog: 6 minutes
2. Stationary lunges, forward/backward: 2 minutes
2b. Mobile + Walking lunges: 2 + 2 minutes
3. Stationary side lunges: 2 minutes
3b. Moving side lunges: 4 minutes
4. Jumping squats (not yet)
5. Balance on a ball (not yet)
6. Leg press machine (not yet)
7. Standing on the edge of stairs on right leg with extra weight (not yet)

Evening routine (this is my old routine):

0. Warm up by raising up both heels and slowly coming down
1. Toe standing (single leg) combined with toe walk: 6 minutes
2. Heel walk: 4 minutes
3. Single leg stance: 5 minutes
4. Alfredson Protocol: 15 reps x 3
4b. Standing on the edge of stairs on right leg, heel down and up: 1 minute x 3
5. Dorsiflexion stretch on a step: 4 minutes
6. Ankle four ways with resistance band

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Meals planned for this week:

Quiche Lorraine (take II)
Malaysian spicy tomato chicken with red pepper basmati rice and tomato/cucumber salad
Pasta frittata (take II)

02/03/2020, Monday

I did the two routines as listed up there, one at work and the other at the gym. Feeling pretty good about how the day went. Now I am feeling tired. Perhaps an early night.

06/03/2020, Friday

I am happy with the routines so far, after a week. I've tweaked a bit but overall I am going to work on this for another week. Jumping/jogging is the hard one. I developed some ankle pain on the 4th day so I left it out today. Instead, I did standing on the stairs and heel up/down with weight. 5-kg is just right for me.