Gluten Free Almond Fruit Cake Recipe

Healthy Treat Recipe Uses No Wheat, No Butter, No Oils.

This Almond Fruit Cake Recipe Uses No Grains At All

Here is a welcome little recipe for people with sensitivity to wheat and other grains.  Those who have coeliac diseases will enjoy this one.

Just the thing for a children’s party when some children are on gluten free diets, or for those school lunches to provide a healthy snack filled with protein-rich goodness.

If you prefer, and no one is allergic to peanuts, then peanuts could be substituted for the almonds.

You will need:

4 eggs

1/2 cup boiling water

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 cups ground almonds – or use cashews or peanuts if preferred

1 cup of minced sultanas or raisins

1 cup of minced dates

Beat up the eggs well.  Add the sugar and beat again.

Pour the boiling water over the baking soda and stir.

Add all other ingredients, including the cream of tartar, into the bowl containing the beaten egg mixture.

Now pour over the hot water and baking soda mixture.

Stir all ingredients well.

Put the cake mix into a buttered and floured tin or pyrex dish.  About 23 cm square is fine.

Bake on 180 C for around 3/4 hour, or until the cake is lightly browned and smelling delicious.

Leave to cool, and then ice if desired.

You could use a straight icing sugar icing with cocoa powder.  Alternatively, you might like to use a philadelphia cheese icing with a little lemon juice added.  Simply add enough icing sugar into your philly cheese to make a smooth, spreadable consistency.  Add the lemon juice.  Mix in well.  Then spread over your Almond Fruit Cake.

Or use without icing and simply slice into squares when cold.

Delicious treat for school lunches.

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Wake Up New Zealand America’s TPPA Puts Agriculture At Risk

March Against TPPA 7th March 2015

These protest marches against TPPA really are a statement against corporate greed in New Zealand.  The TPPA will serve to profit those huge multi-national corporations, such as Monsanto, Bayer, Du Pont and Syngenta, whilst minimizing our own profit. More for them, and less for us.

The price of food is bound to go up.

Disappointing that the turn-out yesterday to the Nation-wide protest against TPPA was so low.  The marches over the country did not attract anything like the numbers who have protested against ocean oil drilling, or the sale of assets marches.

The low response to the anti TPPA protest is largely because most New Zealanders still do not have a clue about the TPPA.  Many have never heard of it.

And this ignorance is just what is intended by our New Zealand National government, and the drivers for TPPA from America.

How come the public has no knowledge about the TPPA and what it will do to our way of life?

The title is a nebulous one, for a start. ‘TPPA’ has been chosen deliberately to disguise the reality of the proposed movement which will have our rights whittled away.

We have so many abbreviations for this and that in government departments .  SIPS,  WINZ, MAF,  Who cares if there is another one?

But the media – newspapers, TV and radio, have been primed to keep any discussion about TPPA to a minimum.  I did hear that ‘Campbell Live’ ran a good programme about the erosion of rights, and the economic impact for New Zealand.  But nought else on TV, radio or newspaper.

And so, in Hamilton, there were only around 200 demonstrators, by the looks of the photos on Facebook.

And in Auckland, where the protesters usually come out in their thousands to support a just cause, were only 1500 to 2000 at the most.  The low turn-out shows how TPPA means nothing to the average New Zealander.

Not that protesting has had any influence thus far on this government.  The majority of people were against the sale of public assets, and despite many marches of huge numbers, petitions to government, etc, they still charged on ahead to sell off public assets which our predecessors have worked hard for.

New Zealand Growers Will Suffer With TPPA:  Because of TPPA, virtually everybody in agriculture will be at risk of being sued.

Our heritage seeds and trees are all at risk  Because of Monsanto’s huge presence in agriculture, their modified seeds are taking over, which is putting our heritage seeds and trees and plants at risk..  Many old varieties of seed and fruits have died out because of the monopolization of the big agriculture companies.

Expect To Be Sued If You Lose A Heritage Crop Due To a Rogue Patented Variety

Losing our heitage plants is one thing – but having to pay for the contamination and loss of our own crops, because patented rogue seed has taken over our crops, is another.

TPPA will put us under American law, which means any of us can be sued for our crops accidentally being contaminated by genetically modified patented seeds, such as those which Monsanto produce.

In America, some of these big companies are employing people to go around the countryside testing all crops.  If it is found that cross-pollination with their patented varieties has occurred, then you will be fined or sued.

Is This What We Want? Aready, innocent farmers, in America and other countries, are being sued by Monsanto and other agri-giant companies because their seeds, or a cross-pollinated version of them, have been found on the farmer’s property.  This will happen in New Zealand too, if the TPPA comes into force.  We will have to abide by American law which favours these big seed and chemical giants.

The situation is most bizarre and corrupt.  Monsanto, Syngenta and DuPont, among other seed producing corporations, have their seeds virtually all over the world now.  They proliferate naturally, by wind and birds carrying the seeds to other locations, away from their original planting sites.

The farmer who grows his own heritage varieties of seed is not protected at all if his or her crops become contaminated by Monsanto’s genetically altered patented seeds.  The law is on Monsanto and the other big companies’ side.

Freedom Of Speech Will Be A Thing Of The Past: The Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement, known as The TPPA agreement, will severely curtail our Freedom Of Speech and weaken our human rights.

We will not be allowed to discuss the ill-effects of any poison, such as the glyphosphate-containing RoundUp, or neonicotinoid poisons which cause bee colony collapse disorder, killing bees and other pollinating insects.  Because if we do make a statement against the use of these toxic chemicals, then we stand to be sued by those overseas chemical manufacturers of the said chemical, for loss of sales, loss of revenue.

Such is American law.

They will say ‘there is no proof’ or ‘prove it’.  But without sharing our stories about the ill-effects of toxic chemicals, there will be no body of case studies to examine, and we will be none the wiser, except for the ‘research’ which they tell us to be true.

Other related articles:

Bayer Says Stop Campaign To Save Bees Or We Will Sue

Bee-Killing Insecticides Banned In Europe, But Now Bayer Sues

Bee Colony Collapse Disorder

Nicotinoid Insecticides Kill Bees And Harm Humans

March Against Monsanto Planned New York 23 May 2015

Organic USA Farmers Sue Monsanto For Contamination Of Crops

Here is an interesting document entitled ‘Negotiating Healthy Trade In Australia – Health Impact Assessment of the Proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.’  Read about how food labelling could be affected, and how alcohol and tobacco advertisements might be affected to the detriment of the nation’s health.

http://hiaconnect.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/TPP_HIA.pdf

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Cider Vinegar Socks And Onion Pack For Coughs Fever And Flu

Natural Remedies For Fever And Coughs

Apple Cider Vinegar Socks Applied to the Feet To Reduce Fever

Of course you should see your doctor or natural health practitioner in the case of a fever, especially with a child.  But here is a simple remedy you can try in conjunction with their advice.

The idea of  reducing a fever by soaking socks with cider vinegar is taken from International Masters Publishers ‘Nature’s Medicine Chest’ – sorry, no date on this publication here.

I have not personally tried this remedy, but it sounds like a good one to me.  ‘Nature’s Medicine Chest’ say that it works well for children who have a fever.

Note: I think that the onion water idea, which I have outlined below, could also be used as a treatment for fever by applying to the feet.

Mineral And Vitamin Content Of  Apples:  Apples are a wonderful food.  They are rich in phtytochemicals which help prevent cancer and other diseases.  They are high in potassium and pectin, both of which help heart function and keep the immune system strong.

Apples also contain reasonable amounts of magnesium, calcium and sodium, phosphorous, choline, and Vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, C, E.

Apple cider vinegar contains all of the apple’s therapeutic value.  Cider vinegar is strongly anti-bacterial and has a cleansing and tonic effect on the whole body.  Drinking small amounts of diluted apple cider vinegar on a daily basis can help prevent candida overgrowth in the intestines.

Apple Cider Vinegar Sock Treatment:  The cleansing quality of the vinegar, plus the  inherent nutrients which are absorbed through the soles of the feet, aid the healing process and somehow help to bring a fever down.

It could be a very good remedy to use in conjunction with other therapies, such as homeopathy, for bringing down the fever which accompanies measles, mumps, or chicken pox.

With this method for bringing down a fever, all you do is to soak a pair of cotton socks in a cold solution made with equal quantities of apple cider vinegar and water.

My advice is to make sure you use pure cotton socks, and preferably white ones which will not contain dye.  Synthetic or nylon socks should not be used for this treatment, as the cider vinegar will draw out chemicals from the fabric.  Use white cotton socks.

Dip the socks into the cider vinegar solution, wring out, and put the wet socks onto the patient.  Reserve the apple cider vinegar solution so that you can repeat the process every half hour or as necessary.

Onion Pack On The Chest For Obstinate Coughs Or Pleurisy

In the past, I have used boiled onion water for the treatment for bronchitis and pleurisy.  All you need is a couple of litres of water and a large onion, which you chop and boil up until soft, skin and all.

This treatment. although a bit of an effort to perform, has been a life-saver for myself.  A large cloth or towel is soaked with the onion water, wrung out, and wrapped, while still hot, around the chest and back.  With this treatment, you leave the onion cloth on for several hours.  Wrap a plastic around so the bed-clothes don’t get damp, and then a layer or two of blanket to keep the heat and moisture in.

It is a good idea to drink plenty of hot lemon drinks, or simply hot water, while you sweat it out with the onion pack on.  Try to drink several pints over two or three hours.

This remedy has proved to be effective when nothing else seemed to work.  It broke the cough and reduced the fever after an hour or two.

I think that apple cider vinegar, diluted half and half with water, could be just as effective as the onion water remedy for putting on the chest when fever and cough are present.  But onions are cheap, and cider vinegar is not, unless you make it yourself.  So, seeing you need to have a quantity of liquid for the soaking of the towel, I would stick to the onion remedy for the treatment of choughs with the wet chest wrap.

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Protest Stop Deep Sea Oil In New Zealand Waters 29 March 2015

New Zealand Environment At Risk

Join the march on the 29th March to stop deep sea oil corporations in NZ.  This very important march is to take place in Auckland at noon, leaving from Britomart downtown by the ferry buildings.

New Zealand’s waters are about to be opened up to overseas corporations by the current national government.  Our beautiful, clean, green environment is about to be raped and pillaged by these mega giant companies, who do not care a damn about the damage they cause.  History shows their reluctance to take responsibility when accidents occur.  And even with the best of intentions, and financial input, you cannot expect that the environment will ever fully recover again after a major oil spill.  All those dead birds and fish cannot be brought back to life, and nor can the people who have died of cancers and other diseases linked to oil.

There are very toxic chemicals in oil which cause cancers and other degenerative disease.

The Gulf of Mexico is still suffering.  Many people have died of strange illnesses and cancers after the massive spillage there.  Millions of sea creatures and birds have died as a result of this accident.

For all their assurances that technology prevents such accidents, oil spillages are still going on.

Ocean drilling for oil is an exceedingly risky process, and so it should be stopped everywhere in the world wherever it can, and most especially in New Zealand.

New Zealand has such a small area, which makes it particularly vulnerable in the event of an oil spill or any disaster of a chemical nature.

New Zealand Oil Spills:

Tauranga is still recovering environmentally and economically from the oil spill of two years ago, when the ship Rena went aground and spilt masses of oil into the sea.

And we hear that over at the OMV’s floating oil storage facility in Taranaki, on the 23rd of February, just over a week ago, another oil spill has occurred 70 kilometres out from the Taranaki coastline. This has apparently put 300 litres into the sea, but I suspect that this figure vastly underestimates the actual amount.  This is the fifth oil spill in this area over a five year period.

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Bayer Says Stop Campaign To Save Bees Or We Will Sue

Environment Crisis: Bees Are Dying By The Millions

SumOfUs, who are working hard to save the bees, have been threatened by Bayer because of their campaign to stop the use of harmful-to-bees pesticides.

Bayer is already on the warpath of the European Commission, who have banned some insecticides because of the evidence which shows them to be harmful to bees.

Bayer want the European Commission’s ruling overturned so that they can continue right on with making and selling and profitting from their evil toxic sprays.  I wrote about Bayer’s incredibly irresponsible response to the EC’s ruling on:

Bee-Killing Insecticides Banned In Europe, But Now Bayer Sues

Heading for a Major Environmental Disaster:  We need bees and pollinating insects to fertilize our crops, orchards and gardens.  Without enough of these pollinators there will be world-wide famine and we will all starve.

Many insecticides and herbicides currently on the market are killing bees by the millions, as well as many other pollinating insects.

Alexis Hope wrote me last week:  ‘The short haired bumble bee in NZ has gone extinct in the UK where it was originally imported from. They’re trying to reintroduce it from NZ back to the UK.
There are other varieties which have died out that can’t be reintroduced. Tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers (that whole night shade family of veg) are all pollinated by bumble bees from buzz polination. Something honey bees can’t do.’

Neonicotinoid insecticides are mainly to blame for the rapid decline in bee numbers across Europe, America and New Zealand.

Of course, there are other factors involved in the phenomenon of a declining bee population, such as lack of diversity in agriculture, and climate change, but there is plenty of evidence to show that neonicotinoids really do affect bees in a devastating way.  Read my post on Bee Colony Collapse Disorder from way back in 2011:

Bee Colony Collapse Disorder

Nicotinoid Insecticides Kill Bees And Harm Humans

The trouble is that these multinational corporations, which manufacture the harmful agricultural chemicals used the world over, do not wish to stop profiting from the sale of their harmful chemicals.  It is a multi-billion dollar industry.

So these big greedy companies are fighting all the way to keep their products on the market.

Save The Bee campaigners SumOfUs have received a letter from Bayer which threatens legal action unless SumOfUs stop their campaign to save the bees.  SumOfUs desperately need funds to help fight the legal battle against ‘the deep-pocketed Bayer’ on the issue of their campaign to protect the bees.

See if you can donate a little.  SumOfUs, who have influence because of their international following and their website ‘voice’, are fighting this legal battle for the rest of us.  If we all give just $5 or $10, we are doing our bit to help gain a good result. Go to SumOfUs website

us@sumofus.org and search for Bees:SumOfUs sued

Read about  New Zealand parliament’s concerns over bee welfare and their suggested moratorium on the use of neonicotinoid poisons .  Thankyou Alexis for posting me this link:

Alexis wrote me:

‘While the Nats go to war, looks like the Greens are trying to stop the use of neonicotinoids in NZ.’

Sue Kedgley respectfully requests
“Stop the use of pesticides that are implicated in bee deaths until an ERMA reassessment finds that they do not pose a risk to bee health.”
“It is argued that, unlike older pesticides that evaporate or disperse shortly after application, neonicotinoids incorporate themselves into the plant’s tissues and emits toxins from its roots, leaves, stems, pollen, and nectar.”
Other related articles:
http://merrilynhope.com/bees-killed-by-insecticide/
http://merrilynhope.com/glyphosphate-in-roundup-banned-in-holland/

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