Our big boys went to a school disco the other night so after making very simple dinners for the 2 little ones, Peter and I got to enjoy a grown up dinner. It was so quick to make and it was just delicious!
Salmon fillet (ours was about 220g and shared between the 2 of us)
2 tbsp Olive oil
1 tsp fresh, finely chopped dill
1 tsp rinsed capers, chopped
pinch of salt
small pinch of ground pepper
lemon slices
steamed greens
cauliflower rice (cauliflower finely chopped in the food processor and steamed)
Heat a frying pan and place the salmon in the pan.
In a small saucepan, place the oil, then add the dill, capers and salt and pepper. Don’t allow to boil just keep warm over a very low heat.
Turn the salmon after a couple of minutes (depending on thickness) and fry for a further 2-3 minutes on the other side.
Lay the salmon on a bed of cauli-rice (or some crushed boiled ‘jacket’ potatoes), top with slices of lemon and drizzle the herb oil over the top. Serve with steamed greens.
Enjoy!
P.S. For a bit of variety, and if I’m being a bit lazy, instead of the lemon slices, I just add the juice and zest of 1 lemon to the Herb butter instead.
Tonight I serve the salon on a bed of steamed and crush sweet potato, together with blanched asparagus and roasted beetroot. Yum!
This is a super-easy idea that I pinched from my Mum. Sadly the kids don’t enjoy it much but Peter and I have loved it … and its left overs for multiple days afterwards!
I may have gone slightly overboard in my excitement to see bananas for $1.50/kg at the markets the other day … I came home with 30 of them!!!! Eek … too many even for us, and we eat about 8 a day in this house!
So banana inspired baking it is!
These muffins are super easy to make, they are moist and sweet, lightly sweetened with honey, they freeze well for lunchboxes, and best of all – my little people love them!
See below the recipe for a Coeliac friendlyoption and a nutritionally boosted version too.
300g flour (I use like a half wholemeal mix with the white flour)
2tbsp chia seeds (black are great, but white are less obvious – hemp also works well here)
2.5 tsp GF baking powder
4 tbsp honey/maple syrup
4 tbsp melted butter/vegan butter
1 large, very ripe banana
220ml milk of choice (I love unsweetened vanilla almond)
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
Optional extras – 50g choc chip of choice and 1 cup frozen blueberries.
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and chia seeds (Speed 4, 8 seconds) then set aside.
In the bowl of your blender/processor/bullet/thermal cooker, place together the butter, honey, milk, vanilla and banana. Blend/process until well combined and smooth (Speed 5, 10 seconds).
Pour the wet mix into the dry mix and fold together until just combined. Don’t over-mix. (Speed 4, 6 seconds, scrape down and repeat).
I often do a double batch and split the mix into 2 bowls – fold the berries through one and the choc chips through the other. (if you’re not going to add in any extras, a tsp of ground cinnamon gives a bit of a boost).
Spoon into lined muffin pans and place in to a preheated moderate oven for about 20 mins, or until well risen, golden brown and they spring back to a light touch.
All to cool before freezing.
Makes 12-14
Enjoy 🙂
For a Coeliac friendly option, replace the glutinous flours with 1.5 cups gluten free flour plus 2 heaped tbsp almond meal/seed meal.
To boost the nutritional content of these muffins, I often replace 1/2 a cup of flour with 1/2 a cup of my ‘Real Protein Powder‘.
I love lamb … but it is seriously pricey! So as I continue my search for filling and inexpensive meals for my growing family, my slow cooker and stewing bones are getting more and more of a work out!
This curry is delicious, easy to make in very large quantities and it freezes well … and best of all for the budget, the stewing bones I used cost me under $5. Awesome!
1 tbsp rice bran oil
1 brown onion, finely diced
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp minced ginger
2 tsp minced chilli
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp tumeric
1 tsp sugar/honey/agave
lamb stewing bones/offcuts, about 800g-1kg
butternut pumpkin, about 1kg, diced into roughly 2cm cubes
green beans, about 600g cut into roughly 3cm peices
spinach, about 3 large handfuls, roughly chopped
800g tin of crushed tomatoes
200g coconut cream
Cauliflower rice/brown rice to serve.
Place the pumpkin in the bottom of the slow cooker and turn on to low.
Heat the oil in a frying pan and saute the onion until it is slightly translucent. Add in the dry spices and cook for another 2 minutes.
Add in the garlic, ginger and chilli and cook for a further 2 minutes.
Add the tomatoes to the pan and stir until well combined with the spices. Add sugar and stir.
(For a Thermal Cooker: Chop the onion on speed 5 for about 10 seconds,scrape down sides and add oil. Cook on steam temp, speed 1 for 5 minutes. Add in dry spices and cook for a further 2 minutes. Add in Garlic, ginger and chilli and cook on steam temp, speed 1 for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and stir on speed 4 for 10 seconds, then cook on steam temp, speed 2 for 3 minutes)
Place the stewing bones on top of the pumpkin and pour the tomato and spice mix over the top of the lamb.
Return the lid to the slow cooker and cook on low for about 5 hours.
Remove the bones from the slow cooker and strip the meat. Dice the meat and return it to the slow cooker along with the green beans and stir well. Discard the remainder of the bones.
Place the lid back on and cook for a further 2 hours.
About an hour before serving, stir in the spinach and coconut cream (don’t shake the can, but use the thickest part at the top of the tin for a creamier sauce). Turn the cooker up to high but leave the lid off the slow cooker to allow some of the liquid to evaporate, stirring occasionally.
Serve with cauliflower rice. To make this I simply place the cauliflower in the food processor and process until fine, then steam and use in place of rice.
This quantity of curry serves about 10-12. I make it in my 6L slow cooker.
The original version on this slice was another childhood favourite of mine. It was a regular feature in our school lunchboxes. But until today it hasn’t been possible to pass it on to my kids. But we have discovered this new product:
It’s made with sorghum and although I’m not the biggest fan of the original as a cereal, it fits our allergy requirements, my kids are excited and I’m pleased to be able to use them in baking!
160g Nuttelex, melted
4 weetbix, crushed
1.5 cups SR GF flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup flaked quinoa or rolled oats
1 tbsp chia seeds
5 tbsp orange juice
Mix together the dry ingredients then pour in the Nuttelex and juice and mix well.
Press firmly into a lined baking tray (mine was 20x20cm).
Bake in a preheated 180C oven for 25 minutes.
Cool and then ice with orange icing, made with the finely grated rind of one orange, a tsp of melted Nuttelex, a couple of tbsp of orange juice and pure icing sugar.
Slice and store in airtight container in the fridge. Makes 16 slices.
Enjoy 🙂
To adapt for a Thermal cooking machine (Thermomix, Bellini, Mistral etc):
Add Nuttelex and sugar and melt at 100C on speed 3 for 1 minute.
Add in the quinoa, chia, flour and weet-bix. Mix on speed 4 for 20 seconds.
Pour in the orange juice and pulse 3-4 times to combine, the mix on speed 6 for 20 seconds.
Growing up, my mum was famous for her chocolate cake. So much so that it was known simply as ‘The Chocolate Cake’.
It was the base for most (if not all!) of mine and my brother’s birthday cakes and it made an appearance at a lot of special family occasions. Since our diet has had to change I have so missed that cake! So since we are off to a birthday party tomorrow where we will need to take ‘safe’ cake along for Ellie … here is my attempt at living up to Mum’s cake!
See below the recipe for a coeliac friendly version.
1 3/4 cups flour (half wholemeal)**
2 tsp GF baking powder
1/2 – 3/4 cup sugar (use more or less depending on your sweet tooth!)
2 tbsp cocoa
125ml light olive oil
1 cup milk of choice
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
3 tbsp aquafaba (liquid drained from a can of chic peas)/one medium (overripe) pureed banana/ 1 whole egg
** To boost the nutritional value of this cake, I often leave out 1/2 cup of flour and replace it with 1/2 of almond meal cup or milled seeds (I like a mix of chia, flax and pepita) – the ground chia and flax also help the bind the cake without an egg present too.
Mix together the oil, milk and vanilla until well combined.
In the large bowl of your mixer mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa and baking powder.
Mix the wet mix into the flour mix and beat until to combined. While the mix is beating, add in the aquafaba or egg.
Pour into a lined cake tin or 14 regular muffin holes.
Bake in a preheated moderate oven for approx 45 minutes (for the cake) or 20 minutes for the muffins, or until a skewer comes out clean.
Allow them to cool and then ice as desired.
I have made a simple icing from 1 tbsp melted Nuttelex, 1 tsp cocoa, a splash of milk and pure icing sugar. But my kids enjoy them equally un-iced.
It’s not quite the same as Mum’s but it is a pretty close substitute and the kids seem to agree!
It freezes and thaws well too.
To adapt for a Thermal cooker:
Place the oil, vanilla and milk in the jug mix on speed 4 for 5 seconds.
Add in the sugar, baking powder and cocoa and mix on speed 4 for 15 seconds.
Add the flours and mix on speed 4 for 30 seconds. Whilst mixing, add the aquafaba or egg through the opening in the top of the lid.
Enjoy 🙂
To make this into a coeliac friendly version make sure you use an appropriate milk and replace the flour with 1 1/2 cups of a plain GF flour mix and 1 tsp psyllium husk. Reduce the mixing time when you’ve added the gf flour so that you mix just until the flour in combined.
I recently made a double mix of this cake for miss Ellie’s 3rd birthday party. And it worked well as a based for the fondant icing too.
My little Harry has a serious infatuation with bread. He would eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day if he was allowed! In fact recently when I was writing our menu and shopping list I asked the kids for their input and Harry’s response was “Mummy, I’ve told you what I like; bread, salt, cake, butter and enchiladas. Don’t keep asking me again, just make ALL the dinners from that!”.
However, he does not like ‘yucky seedy bits’ or ‘pooey vegetables’ … so when I served this bread up he was highly unimpressed that I had sullied his precious bread with both seedy bits and vegetables!!!
After quite a bit of encouragement he tried some … then scoffed the whole piece and promptly asked for another. Then he ate another piece with his dinner and gave me 100 out of 10 – I am claiming victory!!!
It is based on a pan bread from the ‘Multi-allergy cookbook’ by Lola Workman.
See below the recipe for a conversion for Thermal Cookers.
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp gelatin (kosher gelatin or agar-agar if you need to make it vegan)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp dried yeast
1 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp warm mashed pumpkin
2 cups flour of choice – Wholemeal spelt or a combineation of oat and rye are great. (For GF flour mixes, use 1 3/4 cups plus 1 tsp psyllium)
1 tsp chia seeds
1 tsp flax seeds
1 tbsp sunflower seeds
1 tbsp pepitas
1 tbsp rolled oats (omit these or switch for rolled quinoa for GF)
Place 1/2 a cup of warm water in a mixing bowl and add the sugar, gelatin and yeast. Whisk until well combined
Stir in the mashed pumpkin and leave to sit for 10 minutes.
Place your seeds into a processor and process until finely chopped.
Add the flour, salt and seed mix to the pumpkin mix and fold together. Start with 3/4 of the flour and gradually add a bit more if the mix is too wet.
Tip the dough on to the floured board and gently knead until the flour is absorbed. Shape to a rough ball.
Pour the oil into you hands and rub it all over the ball of dough.
Place the dough back in to the mixing bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place to rise for 20 minutes.
Before rising…
20 minutes later
When the dough has risen, warm a heavy based pan on the stove, spray the base with some oil and sprinkle the oats and extra pepitas on the bottom.
Tip the dough into the middle of the pan and, using your fingers, spread the dough to fill the pan. Cook for 3-4 minutes, then turn the bread and cook for a further 10 minutes until both sides are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped.
Can be eaten warm or cold, on its own or with a spread.
We cut it into wedges and it makes 12 wedges.
To convert for a Thermal cooker:
Place your seeds into bowl and process on speed 6, 6 seconds. Set aside.
Place 1/2 a cup of warm water into mixing bowl and add the sugar, gelatin and yeast. Speed 2, 5 seconds. Allow to sit.
Stir in the mashed pumpkin (Speed 3, 15 seconds) and leave to sit for 10 minutes.
Add the flour, salt and seed mix to the pumpkin mix and mix on Speed 4 for 10 seconds. Start with 3/4 of the flour and gradually add a bit more if the mix is too wet.
Tip the dough on to the floured board and gently knead until the flour is absorbed. Shape to a rough ball.
This is a recent addition to our ‘special breakfasts’ and it is a hit!
2 overripe bananas, very well mashed
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp honey
2 tbsp milk of choice
bread of choice
rice bran oil
Mix together the bananas, cinnamon, honey and milk. Make the mixture as smooth as you can – the smoother it is, the better the mix sticks to the bread when you turn it in the fry pan.
Place 1 tbsp of oil in the frying pan on a high heat.
Roll the bread in the mix and place in the frying pan. Turn to the next side when it is golden brown.
Serve warm, with extra sliced bananas if you’d like.
I love winter time – the cold, grey days give me energy … I know, I’m strange!
One of the things I love is making delicious comfort food that warms and fills you up. I love that I can cook huge quantities of soups, curries, stews and casseroles that are packed with veggies and freeze them for easy meals. This is one of those meals.
It is quick and easy to make (about 10 minutes to start and another 5 later), is really cheap – about $8 for the entire 6L pot and the left overs freeze and defrost really well.
800g beef soup bones
3-4 carrots, diced (skin on is fine)
3-4 large sticks of celery, diced
3 potatoes, diced (skin on too) OR 1 medium sweet potato
2 cups dried lentils
1 cup pearl barley
400g tin crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup red wine
2 sprigs fresh thyme
approx 2L water
Salt to taste
Mix all of the ingredients together in the slow cooker and fill with water to cover. Place lid on and cook on low for 8 hours.
Remove beef bones and strip the meat. Remove sprigs of thyme. Dice the meat up and return to the pot, stirring well. Add salt to taste.
Itchin' Kitchen 
