Tag: wellness

Flourless Banana Pancakes

2 Comments
Gluten Free Banana Pancakes & Raspberry Compote

Gluten Free Banana Pancakes & Raspberry Compote

Miss 2 has gone off porridge recently, which is a shame as it’s a cheap, healthy, and filling gluten free breakfast. I wondered how else I might coax her into eating oats and made up these beautiful banana pancakes – she loved them! The idea of including variations was actually inspired by her as she asked for them again and wanted to know if we could make Peanut Butter banana pancakes.

This an easy recipe to make up (for breakfast, snack, or dinner) if you have food allergies in your family. I’ve made it sometimes as Miss 2’s dinner when we’ve had a particularly trying day and we both need some comforting. It’s also a cheap and easy recipe to teach teenage boys to make when they get home from school – more nutritious than filling up on white bread!

Tip: There are two ways that you can make this recipe; you can make it with fork mashed bananas + rolled oats for a more rustic texture or use a food processor to blend the banana smooth + use oat flour. I like to do the latter as I have a little (non-motorised) beater that I use and happen to have oat flour in the cupboard (along with all a multitude of other flours).

Ingredients

  • 1 ripe banana (mashed)
  • 1/2c oats
    • Finely cut ‘quick cook’ porridge oats are best, or, oat flour.
  • 3 1/2T milk / almond or rice milk
  • Pinch salt
  • Pinch cinnamon
  • Optional: 1/4 tsp guar gum + 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
    • If you are using oat flour, this will provide a slightly lighter texture.

Tip: If cooking for celiacs make sure that the oats are certified as gluten free as it is possible for cross-contamination to occur if there are wheat fields nearby.

Allergies: gluten free, dairy free, egg free, soy free, nut free.

Variations

Directions

  1. Mix everything together well in a bowl (or food processor).
  2. Heat frying pan or skillet.
  3. Throw in some butter or neutral oil (like Rice Bran Oil), add a few tablespoons of pancake mix. Cook on both sides until golden brown.
Advertisement

Baked Chicken & Peaches

Leave a comment
Baked Chicken and Peaches.jpg

Baked Chicken and Peaches

This is a great dish to make in summer when fresh peaches are cheap; I made it recently on a dark Autumn day with the skies full of rain – tinned peaches work just as well and bring a bright note to the day!

It takes very little time too mix up and put in the oven; combine it with some vegetables and instant mashed potatoes for a quick meal that is also toddler / child friendly!

(FYI I buy plain potato flakes from a bulk buy store rather than buying boxed instant mashed potato from the supermarket.)

Ingredients

  • 2 chicken breasts (boned & skinned)
  • 1/3c brown sugar
  • 1 peach / 1/3 of a 400g tin of peaches
  • 2 pinches of ground ginger
  • 1 pinch allspice or ground cloves
  • 1/2T lemon juice

Optional

  • Superfine white rice flour or cornflour (corn starch) to make gravy.
  • Potato flakes + boiling water + rice bran oil + salt + almond milk to make mashed potatoes.
  • Broccoli.

Allergies: gluten free, dairy free, soy free, egg free, nut free.

Note: The recipe will also work well for larger amounts just double or triple the ingredients based on the number of chicken breasts you are cooking.

Directions

  1. Take a pyrex baking dish and put in the brown sugar.
  2. Put in the chicken breasts (turning them to coat them in sugar).
  3. Lay slices of peaches over the chicken breasts.
  4. Sprinkle the ground ginger, allspice, and lemon juice over the chicken and peaches.
  5. Bake in a preheated oven at 180’C for approx. 30 minutes. Baste regularly with the chicken juices. Cover in tinfoil if needed.
  6. Optional: After removing the chicken and peaches, whisk in some superfine white rice flour (or cornflour) to make a sweet gravy.
  7. Optional: Serve with steamed broccoli, mashed potatoes, and gravy.

How to save money and freshen clothes naturally! Pre-soaking laundry using baking soda.

Leave a comment
Replace chemical cleaners with a natural and cheap laundry soaking solution!

Replace chemical cleaners with a natural and cheap laundry soaking solution!

Miss 2 has really sensitive skin (and eczema) which means that I’ve needed to look around for non-chemical options for the laundry pre-soak bucket. Funnily enough, sometimes it’s the mid-range brands of ‘Oxygenated Whiteners’ or ‘Nappy Soakers’, which claim to be environmentally friendly and ‘natural’, which cause her to react more. Of course they’re still packed with chemicals and I know it’s just a marketing ploy but it’s easy to want to believe them!

Turns out all I needed was a 1/2 cup baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) dissolved in warm water (a couple of litres half fills my soak bucket). It helps to freshen and soak laundry (and keep it smell free) before it goes in the washing machine.

Tip: Rinse laundry first and handscrub any stubborn stains. Create a paste using four tablespoons of baking soda and ¼ cup of water. After working the paste thoroughly into the stains, apply a little undiluted vinegar.

Tip: Don’t add white vinegar to the soak bucket. Baking soda (base) + white vinegar (acid) will largely cancel each other out and reduce effectiveness. Instead, add white vinegar during the rinse cycle (instead of fabric softener or an anti-bacterial agent) and line dry in the sun if you can.  Vinegar will help to soften hard water, reduce odours, and reduce bugs. Sunlight will also help (especially if you’re washing cloth nappies!)

Butter beans (a baked beans alternative)

Leave a comment
Butter beans with butter, leek, and garlic

Butter beans with butter, leek, and garlic. Grated parmesan. Choko noodles.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved baked beans as much as the next kiwi kid, but  the reality is that processed foods these days are often packed full of unnecessary sugar and salt. Hopefully Watties have changed their recipe since this damning article in 2009: “Wattie’s baked beans 420g: Although beans are good for you and packed with fibre, a can of baked beans has almost 30g of sugar. This is a low fat product and high in fibre, but does it require 1890mg of salt and 29g of sugar to make it taste good?”

Processed foods can also be a minefield for allergy families! Additionally, the reason for choosing vegetables like garlic, choko (chayote), leeks, and shallots for this recipe is because they’re low in naturally occuring food chemicals like salicylates, amines, and glutamates which is helpful for sensitive systems.

Don’t worry if you don’t have allergies – I’ve seen people post similar recipes simply because they don’t like baked beans or because butter + garlic can make anything awesome!

Tip: This recipe is also the basis of the easy to make Butter bean dip!

Ingredients

  • 400g tin of butter beans (rinse thoroughly)
    • You can substitute different beans according to taste. Like broad beans, these are quite large and hold up well in a wok without a sauce to simmer in.
  • Butter (or neutral oil, like Rice Bran Oil)
  • Garlic (crushed)
    • You can use garlic granules if you don’t have fresh.
  • Optional: leek (thinly sliced) or shallots (finely diced)
  • Optional: parmesan or grated cheese
  • Optional: cooked bacon (finely chopped)
  • Optional: choko (cheyote) as vegetable noodles.

Allergies: gluten free, dairy free*, soy free, egg free, noodle free.

Directions

  1.  Heat a frying pan (or wok) and melt butter. Lightly saute the garlic and any optional extras like leek or shallots.
    • Be careful not to over cook the garlic or you’ll get a distinctly smokey taste! (she says from experience…)
  2. Add the butter beans and cook until soft. You may need to add some extra butter while they are cooking.
  3. Serve topped with parmesan or tasty cheese if desired.

 

Choko noodles

  1. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the skin.
  2. Peel wide strips of the actual vegetable (the length of the choko).
  3. Add some more butter to the pan (after you’ve removed the butter beans) and fry the choko noodles until softened (they should still be slightly firm to the bite; not raw and not falling apart!). They will pick up the remaining garlic from the pan.

 

 

Superfood Coconut Cacao Smoothie

Leave a comment
Superfood Coconut Cacao Smoothie
Superfood Coconut Cacao Smoothie
Superfood Coconut Cacao Smoothie

I used the Healtheries Ground Chia Superfood Blend Cacao & Coconut in the Gluten Free Wild Berry Chocolate Cake and wanted to see what it would be like in a smoothie. The result is creamy, delicious, chocolatey, and with the added nutritional benefits of chia seeds!

Ingredients

Allergies: gluten free, dairy free*, soy free, nut free*, egg free.

Directions

  1. Place everything in a high-powered blender and blend until smooth and creamy.
  2. Pour into a serving glass. Consider topping with a little coconut cream or greek yoghurt and sprinkle some cacao on top.

Wild berry chocolate cake (Gluten Free)

1 Comment
Wild berry chocolate cake (Gluten Free)

Wild berry chocolate cake (Gluten Free)

I love chocolate. I’ve posted a few chocolate recipes like the Crazy One Dish Chocolate Cake and the Chocolate Irish Potato Cake, and I’ve posted some make-from-scratch gluten free recipes like the Vanilla Cupcakes and the all natural pink berry flavoured icing. I wanted to play around in the kitchen with some different gluten free ingredients and make a wonderfully chocolatey and moist cake that also wouldn’t be packed with sugar – I prefer to balance my cakes so there’s more chocolate flavour in the cake and then extra sweetness in the (optional) icing. I liked my recipe for the gluten free Chocolate Cupcakes and used it as the basis for this cake!

Ingredients

Group 1

Group 2

  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup Dutch cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup superfine white rice flour
  • 1/2 cup garbanzo flour (also called chickpea flour)
  • 1T sweet (glutinous) rice flour
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch (cornflour)
  • 1/2 tsp guar gum
  • 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1/2 Tbsp Baking Powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup fresh or frozen mixed berries (i.e, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries).
    • I like this paired with raspberries best!

Allergies: dairy free, soy free, gluten free, nut free.

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 180’C.
  2. Whisk together the ingredients in Group 1. This helps to aerate the mix. You can use a stick blender or I used the food processor (with a plastic mixing attachment, not a metal cutting blade!).
  3. Sift together the ingredients in Group 2.
  4. Mix the combined dry ingredients into the whisked liquid.
  5. Divide the mix between two cake tins (or similar). Bake at 180’c for approx. 25-30 mins or until cooked.
  6. Allow to cool before icing. Place one cake layer on serving dish. Cover with jam (i.e. you could have raspberries in the cake mix and then use raspberry jam), place the second cake layer on top, dust with icing sugar. Serve with cream or coconut ice-cream.

Tips

As an alternative you might want to bake this as a bundt cake and use a chocolate buttercream frosting.

Tamale Pie

1 Comment
Tamale Pie.jpg

Tamale Pie (gluten free!)

Tamale Pie is delicious! I’d never heard of it until I discovered it in Elizabeth Gordon’s The Complete Allergy-Free Comfort Foods Cookbook. Apparently it’s a Depression-era dish that’s considered a comfort food in the Southwestern United States. It’s warm, filling, serves a bunch of hungry people (or can be used over several nights), and is conveniently gluten-free. It’s also an awesome and economical dish for those that do eat gluten and just want to try something different from a traditional Shepherd’s Pie.

Ingredients

  • 4 1/2c water
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2c quick-cooking polenta (fine cornmeal)
  • 350-450g beef mince (ground beef)
    • Or: turkey,  chicken.
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/4 tsp chipotle powder
  • 400g tin of black beans (rinsed and drained)
  • 350-450g jar mild salsa
  • 1c grated cheese
    • Use Daiya vegan cheese if you need to be soy & dairy free.
  • Optional: 2nd jar of: salsa, or tomato passata, or basic tomato pasta sauce.
  • Optional: grated carrot, grated zucchini, finely sliced celery.
  • Optional: finely chopped ham or bacon.

Allergies: soy free, gluten free, dairy free*, egg free, nut free.

Note: You’ll see that there are a number of optional ingredients. Personally, I like to add in the extra vegetables so that I have a one dish meal. I also like to add in the extra tomato for flavour (you’ll need to spend more time simmering the mince in order to reduce the extra liquid). The cheese on top helps to flavour the polenta (and is just plain yum); Daiya is apparently affordable in the USA as an allergy-free vegan cheese but it very expensive in New Zealand. If you can’t use cheese, consider adding some light spices to the polenta that is going on top.

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 180’C.
  2. Bring the water and salt to the boil in a large pot. When the water is boiling, slowly stir the polenta in and keep stirring to prevent clumping. Stir until smooth and then turn heat to low; cook for 5 minutes.
  3. Remove the polenta from pot and spread half over the bottom of your pie plate or casserole dish.
  4. Heat up your frying pan (or electric wok in my case) and brown your mince; break it up as it cooks. Stir in the cumin, chipotle, and a pinch of salt.
  5. Add the beans + salsa. Also add any additional salsa/pasta sauce and vegetables that you are choosing to use.
  6. Continue cooking over a medium heat.If you are using a minimum of ingredients, you only need to cook until the edges start to bubble.
    • If you have added extra liquid and vegetables then, once the mix has started to bubble, reduce to a low-medium heat until the liquid has reduced and vegetables have started to soften.
  7. Pour the meat mixture on top of the polenta.
  8. Spread the remaining polenta on top. Sprinkle with cheese (if using).
  9. Cook for 20-25 mins at 180’C.
  10. Remove the pie from oven and let it cool for 10-15 mins before serving.
  11. Store lefovers, covered and refridgerated, for up to 3 days.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Ancient Grains Bread (soft & fluffy!)

1 Comment
Ancient Grains Bread

Ancient Grains Bread

To make a 750g loaf. This was delicious with home made peanut butter.

Ingredients

  • 290ml water
  • 2T oil (I use rice bran oil)
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2T sugar
  • 3c bread flour
  • 2 T mix of:
    • Linseed
    • Pumpkin Seeds
    • Sunflower Seeds
    • Buckwheat
    • Puffed Quinoa
    • Coconut Thread
    • *You can mix this yourself or Hubbards conveniently sell a Seeds & Ancient Grains Mix
  • 2T milk powder
    • Baby formula also works and has the benefit of fortifying it with added vitamins & minerals!
    • Can replace with Almond Milk powder or Coconut Milk powder.
  • 3 tsp bread improver yeast

Allergies: soy free, egg free, dairy free* nut free.

Directions

  1. Put everything into the breadmaker in order listed. Select Dough only.
  2. When it finishes, select Dough only again so that it goes through another knockdown/rising cycle.
  3. Take out dough, knead for a couple of minutes, and place in bread tin. Let it rise while oven heats.
  4. Heat oven to 220’C.
  5. Bake at 220’C for 10 minutes, then at 180’C for 30 minutes; you may want to lower the oven tray when you turn the temperature down. I also recommend removing the loaf from the bread tin for the last 5-10 mins of cooking to allow even browning along the base.
  6. Bread should sound ‘hollow’ if you take it out of the tin and knock on the bottom.

Note: This will not turn out the same if you simply cook it in the breadmaker (it will be okay but not amazing) because the bread is contained by the size of the breadmaker and you can’t vary temperature and distance from heat.

Tip: A longer rising time will result in fluffier bread. I have sometimes done 4 knockdowns (two lengthy and two short) and 4 rising times meaning that the bread with 4-8 hours of ‘proofing’ before baking. Gluten based bread loves getting knocked around; all that kneading and rising helps to elasticate the dough and allows the gluten + yeast to work together to create tiny air bubbles.

If you’re interested in the chemistry of breadmaking check out this great post from Serious Eats.

Did you know? A commercial bakery will go from start to bag in 3 hours or less when making bread; traditional methods (and sourdoughs) take 18-25 hours. One theory behind rising numbers of gluten sensitivity and celiac disease is our move away to industrialized baking; a longer rising time results in decreased gluten proteins as they break down and change. It’s something to think about if you’re considering decreasing gluten in your diet.

Ancient Grains Bread

Ancient Grains Bread

Tender and delicious Italian American meatballs in tomato passata

2 Comments
Gluten Free Italian American Meatballs in Pasta Sauce

Gluten Free Italian American Meatballs in Pasta Sauce

I haven’t made meatballs in the past; for some reason I thought they would be really tricky to make. I found these to be super easy and have now made them both in passata and oven baked. The two cooking styles create different textures – if you cook in passata they will have a softer, moister mouthfeel whereas oven baked meatballs will be drier and denser (good to dip in an accompanying sauce). Both ways are great!

This recipe will make a big batch of meatballs so feel free to halve it if desired (or to cook half in passata and half in the oven to enjoy both styles!)

Ingredients

Meatballs

  • 150g breadcrumbs / gluten-free breadcrumbs / cooked quinoa
  • 3/4c milk / almond or rice milk
  • 600g beef mince (ground beef)
  • 1 small finely chopped onion
  • Optional: 1/2c parmesan cheese (powder or finely grated)
  • 1T ground chia seeds
  • Salt & pepper
  • Parsley (dried or finely chopped fresh)
  • Chives (dried or finely chopped fresh)
  • Garlic (dried granules or crushed fresh garlic)

Tomato Passata

  • 2x 700g jar tomato passata
  • Fresh basil (finely chopped)
  • Sugar
  • Salt & Pepper

Allergies: gluten free*, dairy free*, egg free, soy free, nut free.

Directions

  1. Soak the breadcrumbs in the milk until the liquid has been absorbed.
    • If you’re using cooked quinoa instead: put the quinoa in the mixing bowl for the next step and add the milk after the other ingredients are roughly combined (you may not need to add all the milk).
    • You can do Steps 2 & 3 while the breadcrumbs are soaking. The pasta sauce will then simmer while you carry on making the meatballs.
  2. In a large pot (or electric wok), mix the tomato passata, basil, sugar, salt, pepper to your taste.
  3. Bring the sauce to a boil over a medium heat and then reduce to simmer.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, add all of the meatball ingredients (including the soaked breadcrumbs). Mix until combined. The mixture will be a little sticky but should be thick and not overly wet.
  5. Lightly oil your hands and roll meatballs; I like to do lots of small ones (approx. 2T of meat mix). You can sit the rolled meatballs on a sheet of baking paper or a lightly oiled plate until you’re ready to cook them.
  6. Add the meatballs to the simmering sauce.
  7. Give a gentle stir after 5 minutes. Cover and simmer for another 35 minutes.
  8. Remove the lid and simmer for another 5 minutes.
  9. Serve with spaghetti, gluten-free pasta, or rice noodles.

 

Chocolate Buttercream Icing (allergy friendly)

6 Comments
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

This is a great frosting to use with Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes, the Crazy One Dish Chocolate Cake, or the Chocolate Irish Potato Cake (vegan). I made a vegan version of this frosting for my daughter’s 3rd Birthday (using Nuttelex + coconut milk) and it tasted divine!

Ingredients

  • 115g softened butter, or allergy friendly spread like Nuttelex
  • 2 cups icing sugar
  • 1/2 cup Dutch Cocoa Powder
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
  • 1 – 3 Tbsp milk (dairy, rice, or coconut)
  • Optional: 1/2 tsp espresso powder

Allergies: gluten free, dairy free*, soy free, egg free, nut free. Vegan*.

Directions

  1. Whip the butter.
  2. Sift in 1 cup icing sugar, cocoa powder, and espresso powder. Add the vanilla and milk.
  3. Beat until smooth.
  4. Slowly beat in the rest of the icing sugar to give a good consistency for frosting.