Alex Hallatt 3/11/19 Alex Hallatt 3/11/19

Reasons to Be Cheerful - Socca Bread is a Grain-Free Alternative to Wraps, Pancakes and Pizza Dough

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I have a few inflammatory things going on and in an effort to appease my gut microbiome I have embarked on a grain-free diet for three months. I'm about halfway in and so far it hasn't made any difference, which is either really annoying or a relief, depending on how you look at it.

Since grains are in most of the carbohydrate portion of our diet (bread, pasta, rice, etc.), apart from potatoes, it is a bit of a challenge. So I was delighted to find a grain-free alternative to things like pancakes and wraps. Socca bread is made with chickpea (garbanzo) flour and tastes brilliant (when you haven't had anything like bread for weeks).

The recipe is simple: one and a half cups of chickpea flour, one and a half cups of water, 3 tablespoons of olive oil (plus a little more to cook with, or you can use coconut oil to cook with) and a bit of salt and pepper. The key thing is to gradually add the liquid so it doesn't get too lumpy and then to whisk it so that there are a lot of bubbles which helps the texture of the pancake. The batter is super runny, but it works. And it makes a brilliant pizza base, which I prefer to the regular kind.

The socca batter is really really runny and that’s okay

I make little ones for spreading with peanut butter, etc.

Big ones can be used for a pizza base. It is best to loosen with a knife or spatula before flipping.

Alex Hallatt 2/15/19 Alex Hallatt 2/15/19

Reasons to Be Cheerful - Building a Potting Shed From Recycled Materials

I read a few books, watched some YouTube videos and drew up some rough plans. Then I started to make my own shed. So far, I have put in a floor and framed three of the four walls. It is already a little wonky because, well, I’ve never built anything before and also I didn’t want to put in concrete. But that’s okay. It’s a shed, not a house.

Alex Hallatt 2/5/19 Alex Hallatt 2/5/19

Reasons to Be Cheerful - The Benefits of a Social Media-Free February

I confess that I have been reading The Luminaries (a book about 19th-century New Zealand written in the language of the same) since Christmas, but until now I have only been able to handle a chapter a day. It's a very dense book and at 830 pages long, I was worried that I would never finish it. Or understand it if I did. I'll be glad to finish it and get on to something lighter for a while.

But yes, spending less time on Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram means that I have more time to focus on my Deep Work and I have more time in the evenings to read. It also means that I don't have the anxiety that comes with not posting to Facebook and not checking for any posts I may have missed. I know I'm missing everything, but strangely I feel a lot calmer about it than when I was checking it every day. If you don't know what you're missing you have a lot less FOMO.