Thursday, April 14th

Last night Michellie and I spent the evening going through her exercises from Physio.  As she has lost all of her muscle tone, 4 months of sitting in a hospital or not dancing has taken its tole on my body as well.  I could find the muscle groups, but they certainly weren't worth much.  It looks like Michellie's Journey is going to bring us all into a better place physically now.  Its like our whole winter was an overhaul.  For those following, or on their own journey, The Star, is the ultimate sequence of movements to coordinate the brain and body and to relink sections together and work in a coordinated fashion.  Michellie has found this to be invaluable.  The instructions can be found on my website at http://www.dancedebut.com/ under articles.  Last night we also introduced Tai Chi Balls.  We didn't have balls, so we used all the crystals we have on the windowsill.  This was very empowering.  We also played with the arms used in a Chene Turn where you open the back and use the anterior serratus and pull the scapula forward.  Michellie has no muscle tone to hold this, so we started with just doing a big hug around a ball.  Eventually she will be able to hold her arms there and start into some dance basics to strength her back and arms.  For those dancers reading this, it is hard to imagine how she can not have enough strength to do the most basics of the dance movements, but you can understand how the basics are so important.  Once again, dance will be an incredible part of her healing process. 

Today Michellie is working on her Food class homework and we are compiling some recipes for the teacher that Michellie has learnt with gluten free ingredients.  I am attaching the Garbanzo Bean Chocolate Cake from Talia and Chelsie-Anne, as well as the Chocolate Chip Cookies and the German Chocolate Cake.  I did improvise on the amount of sugar and used molasses and agave nectar as substitutes if you are feeling like you need to.  Enjoy playing with these recipes.

For those people who would like to become a follower of Dance Debut Insights, I have a new posting at http://www.dancedebut.blogspot.com/.  The insights for the next few months will be around our experiences this winter and what it means in community and in the arts.  These postings are for http://www.acecommunities.ca/ and their content is based on ideas around Active, Creative and Engaging ideas.  I would love for you to share any comments you have and increase awareness for ACE.  Enjoy and thanks to those who have inspired the writings. 

Garbanzo Bean Chocolate Cake (Gluten Free)   

11/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1 (19 ounce) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

4 eggs

5 TBS butter

 1 tsp vanilla

¾ cup white sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 TBS confectioner’s sugar for dusting

Directions:  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a 9 inch round cake pan.  Place the chocolate chips into a microwave-safe bowl.  Cook in the microwave for about 2 minutes, stirring every 20 seconds after the first minute, until chocolate is melted and smooth.  If you have a powerful microwave, reduce the power to 50 percent.  Combine the beans, eggs, butter and vanilla in the bowl of food processor.  Process until smooth.  Add the sugar and the baking powder, and pulse to blend.  Pour in the melted chocolate and blend until smooth, scraping down the corners to make sure chocolate is completely mixed.  Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan.  Bake for 40 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.  Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 to 15 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate.  Dust with confectioners’ sugar just before serving.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 Cup Garbanzo Bean Flour

1 Cup cornstarch

1 cup Tapioca

¼ cup Potato Flour

½ tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Mix all together.

1 Cup Butter, 1 cup sugar, 1/3 cup molasses, 2 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla – beat all together.

Mix with dry ingredients.  Add 1 ½ cup chocolate chips.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

German Chocolate Cake – The Gluten Free Gourmet by Bette Hagman

2 ¼ cup Four Flour Bean Mix or GF Mix

1 ¼ tsp zanthan gum

1 ¼ tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp egg replacer

½ tsp salt

4 squares semisweet chocolate (1oz each)

½ cup water

 1 cup butter or margarine

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

 1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla

350 degrees, grease two 9”cake pans or a 9 by 13 pan and dust with rice flour

Whisk together the dry incredients and set aside.  Melt the chocolate and set aside (this can be over the water in a double boiler, or in the microwave – but watch so it does not burn and stir often). 

Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time and beat.  Pour in chocolate and blend.  Add the flour alternately with the buttermilk and vanilla in two additions.  Beat on low speed until well blended.  Spoon into prepared pans and bake for 35 – 45 minutes.  Frost when cool. 

Easy Chocolate Icing:  4 squares semisweet chocolate, ½ cup butter, 1 pound confectioner’s sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, ½ cup milk

Melt chocolate.  Stir butter to soften.  Beat in half the sugar.  Blend in the chocolate and vanilla.  Add the remaining sugar alternating with the milk, beating until smooth and the right consistency to spread. Makes 2 ½ cups icing.