Dairy Egg Wheat Nut Soy free recipe

Raspberry Snap – Alecia’s Chocolate

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This is my amazing friend, Alecia.

Her birthday was last week and I wanted to make her something special for when we got together to celebrate.

She’s vegetarian, allergic to peanuts … and she doesn’t like cake. But I know that she LOVES raspberry!

So I decided to create a special chocolate named for her … Happy Birthday A … hope you enjoyed your goodie bag 🧡

It’s pretty simple and fast to make, but it has amazing crunch and a beautiful tang to go with the sweetness of the chocolate.

If you’re headed out to a special function during the lead up to Christmas, it’d make a great dessert too.

  • 275g Dark Chocolate melts (which ever suits your dietary needs)
  • Pumpkin seeds 1/4 cup
  • Hemp seeds 1/4 cup
  • 1 tsp dehydrated raspberry powder

Heating a frying pan to medium heat and add in the pumpkin seeds. Dry fry them, stirring very frequently.

When they start to look a little golden, add in the hemp seeds. As they are so tiny, these cook much faster than the pumpkin seeds. Dry fry them, stirring very frequently, until they are golden brown – it doesn’t take very long!

Put the seeds to to the side.

Melt the chocolate until it is very runny … I use my microwave in about 30 second bursts.

Tip the seeds into the melted chocolate and mix well. It helps if the seeds are still warm.

Pour the chocolate mix onto a sheet of baking paper and spread it out as thin as you are able.

Before the chocolate sets, sprinkle over the raspberry powder.

Allow to cool and set before snapping into pieces.

Enjoy however you wish … my preference is for a couple of pieces along with a book and a hot coffee ☕️

*A note on the raspberry powder: I got mine from Weigh n Pay in Woodvale. It is fairly expensive as a single ingredient but the taste is so beautiful and strong and a little goes a loooooong way. Thanks to Craig for all of your helpful advice!!!

You will need to eat this within a couple of days because the raspberry power will draw in moisture and get a little clumpy … but trust me … that shouldn’t be a problem!!

Weekend Waffles

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You can find waffles recipes pretty much everywhere.

They’re not new.

So why would I share my waffle recipe? 👩‍🍳

Well, my family LOVE them. But also, this is Itchin’ Kitchen version. I have worked at making them more nutritious and more filling. Plus giving you allergy friendly options.

Let me be clear – there is absolutely nothing wrong with regular waffles. NOTHING. If you love your waffles, then you keep going 👍

But I have big, super active teens and kids who are always hungry. So at the moment, my priority is working at ways to get my kids the nutrients they need to function well, to keep them full AND to do it in ways that will not break my budget (good luck right?!).

These waffles have more protein, more heart healthy fats, more fibre and are lower in sugar than your standard waffle, BUT importantly they still taste delicious!

  • 1 1/2 cups self raising flour
  • 1/2 cup almond meal
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/3 cup hemp seeds
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 medium banana, very ripe
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 1 cup milk
  • 25g butter, melted

Mix together all of the dried ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.

Into blender/bullet/thermomix, place the banana, eggs, vanilla and milk. Blend until very smooth (Speed 5, 8 secs).

Add the wet mix to the dry mix and mix until well combined (Speed 4, 12 secs. Scrape down and process again for 5 seconds if necessary). The mix doesn’t need beating.

Add in the melted butter and mix until well combined (Speed 4, 5 secs).

Into a preheated waffle maker, place approx 1/2 cup mixture of the batter, and cook until golden brown – this usually takes a couple of minutes, and I like to flip the waffle part way through to get an even colour … but that might just be my waffle maker!

Serve warm with your favourite toppings. Nut or seed better with berries is my favourite, and it will help to keep those tummies satisfied. Chopped banana and a drizzle of honey is great too

Makes 5-6 depending on size … I usually (ok, always!) make a double batch 😆

To freeze, allow to cool completely and then lay on a paper towel in a single layer inside a ziplock bag. A great solution for when a speedy school day breakfast is required.

Need Gluten free? Use the same amount of a one-to-one GF flour blend, or use 1 1/3 cups of a standard GF, SR flour mix.

Need Dairy Free? Use equal quantities of a plant based milk (look for high protein and calcium fortified – we use high protein soy or almond mostly), and a vegan butter.

Need Egg Free? Use an egg placement mix (the Orgran one is great), or use another 1/2 a ripe banana and 3 tbsp of aquafaba. Add the egg replacement mix or the aquafaba in at the same time that you would add the butter, not at the blending stage.

Need Nut Free? Replace the almond meal with a seed meal, or 1/2 cup of roughly blended oats.

Enjoy 🙂

P.S if you would like a chocolate version (and why wouldn’t you?! 😆) … Replace the almond meal with hazelnut meal, add in 2 tbsp of cocoa, 1/4 cup sugar and 2 tbsp more milk.

Hemp Crusted Salmon

~ desertcook ~ 2 Comments

Sounds kinda fancy … but it is super simple!

Literally 4 ingredients and less than 15 minutes from start to finish. Woo!

This delicious meal with salmon, olive oil and hemp seeds gives you an incredibly nutritious meal that is high in protein, packed with heart, brain and skin healthy omega 3 fats, plus fibre and a whole slew of vitamins and minerals.

So if you need a simple week night meal that is quick to get on the table, allergy friendly, nutritious and delicious – this is your meal!

  • 1 salmon fillet per person (we prefer skin on)
  • 1 tsp lemon olive oil per fillet
  • 1 tsp coconut aminos per fillet
  • 1 tbsp hemp seeds per fillet

Lay the salmon on paper towel and pat it dry on both sides.

Mix together the oil and aminos and then place the salmon into the oil mix to coat the flesh surface.

Then dip the salmon into the hemp seeds so that they stick well to the oil.

Place the salmon skin side down (seeds up) onto a hot baking tray and place into a 200C oven, and bake for about 12-14 minutes.

Have an air fryer? Cook in air fryer, skin side down, on 200C for 8 minutes.

Serve immediately with;

*a fresh crunchy salad,

*steamed greens,

*boiled baby potatoes,

*potato wedges,

*grilled corn on the cob, or

*a lentil salad.

Want a little extra zing? Drizzle the finished salmon with some chilli olive oil, or add chilli flakes to the oil mix at the start.

Enjoy 🙂

Speedy Taco Soup

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Managing our food budget is a priority for our family …. but so is eating delicious and nutritious food. Which means we always pack lunches not just for the kids at school, but for the adults too.

And I am excited to have the second of my 2 new winter soups to share with you today

Welcome to Speedy Taco Soup! I crunched the numbers for you – this DELICIOUS batch, even including the oil and the seasonings, cost me a total of $16.80 to make. That is 6 lunches, each with 20g of protein and a great serve of gut loving fibre, for $2.80each. Yay!

  • 500g lean beef mince
  • 400g tin black beans
  • 400g tin pinto beans
  • 820g tin condensed tomato soup
  • 1 medium brown onion
  • 3 cloves garlic (or just measure if with your heart!)
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 1 1/4 soup tins boiling water
  • 1 tbsp Mexican seasoning mix

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan.

Dice the onion and add to the oil. Cook in medium heat, stirring occasionally until the onion is golden.

Add in the finely chopped garlic. Cook for 2 minutes.

Add the mince to the onion mixture, break it down well and cook until browned all over.

Drain then add the tins of beans, then stir in the seasoning and mix well.

Now add the soup and then boiling water.

Keep at a gentle simmer for about 15 minutes.

Serve warm or divide in to shallow containers and freeze.

Serves 6

Need a bigger meal?

-Double the beans for very little additional cost, but a good serve more of fibre and protein.

-Add a hand full of grated cheese at serving time to the hot soup to boost the fats and protein to help with satiety, or

-Divide the meal into 4. You’ll then get 30g of protein and it will still cost you only $4.20 for lunch.

Enjoy 🙂

Cereal Bars

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Knowing that I am always on the look out for delicious, nutritious food to feed my crew, my awesome Mum saw a recipe for a cereal bar on Facebook and tagged me in it:

They did look good – but I needed to make it fit our needs (and likes), so 15 minutes after I saw her tag I had my version in the oven! 😆 You can find the original version here on Weetbix

It’s a great high energy, nutrient dense bar, that works really well (like you can see above) to fuel the biggest one who regularly does a day that includes school sport, 10km of bike riding, a game of footy immediately followed by an hour of parkour training. Yes. All in the same day. He is 15, 6 foot 2 and ACTIVE!

Mr Itchin’ Kitchen thinks they are delicious and has been happily taking them in his work lunchbox too.

The ingredients are all pantry staples for us and you can buy all of them at your regular grocery store.

  • 3 Weet-Bix, crushed​ (we use the sorghum gluten free Weet-Bix)
  • 50g butter/plant based butter
  • 125ml honey​/maple syrup
  • 100g pumpkin seeds​
  • 2 heaped tbsp hemp seeds
  • 2 heaped tbsp chia seeds
  • 50g dried apricots, diced
  • 50g medjool dates, diced​
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 75g rolled oats​*
  • 75g self-raising flour​ (plain or Gluten Free)

Melt the butter, honey and vanilla over gentle heat. (Saucepan or microwave).

Add in the chia seeds, stir well and allow to sit for 5 minutes to thicken.

Mix together the remaining dry ingredients and dried fruit in a separate bowl.

Pour the dry mixture into the wet and combine until all of the dry mix is moistened. It will initially seem like not enough liquid, but keep stirring.

Place the mixture into a lined 20cm tin and smooth the surface, pressing down firmly with damp hands.

Bake in a 160°C oven for about 25-30 minutes or until golden. Leave in the tin for 20minutes to cool before slicing.

We cut this one into 10​ bars.

Need it Gluten Free? Make sure you use a gluten free flour and use equal weight of either rolled quinoa or shredded coconut in place of the oats

Enjoy 🙂

Poached Chicken French Lentil Soup

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It’s 2024 and I swear that the grocery prices rise very time I go to the shop 💸

One of the ways we try to manage our food budget is by packing lunches not just for the kids at school, but for my husband and myself too.

We both work in busy jobs so the food needs to be quick and uncomplicated, but it also needs to be filling, tasty and cost effective.

So, as we come into winter we move into soups. I LOVE that I can prepare big batches in advance and have meals ready for the week. And I am excited to have 2 new soups to share with you over the coming weeks.

The first is my delicious Poached Chicken French Lentil Soup. I crunched the numbers for you – this DELICIOUS batch, even including the oil and the seasonings, cost me a total of $15 to make. That is 6 lunches, each with 25g of protein and a great serve of gut loving fibre, for $2.50each. Winner!

  • 2 large chicken breasts (about 500g)
  • 80g dried french lentils
  • 70g pearl barley
  • 2 large carrots
  • 5 sticks celery
  • 160g frozen corn kernels
  • 1 medium brown onion
  • 3 cloves garlic (or just measure if with your heart!)
  • 2 tsp chicken stocks powder (we use Massel brand)
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 8 cups boiling water
  • 1 tbsp dried Italian herb mix

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan.

Dice the onion and add to the oil. Cook in medium heat, stirring occasionally until the onion is golden.

Add in the finely chopped garlic. Cook for 2 minutes.

Finely slice the carrot and celery, add to the onion mixture and cook down for 4-5 minutes.

Add in the barley and lentils, then stir in the herbs and mix well.

Now add the boiling water and chicken stock powder as well as the corn. Bring back to a gentle simmer.

Add the chicken breasts into the liquid and return the lid to the pan to allow the breasts to poach.

After about 10 minutes, turn the chicken breasts over and return the lid for another 8-10 minutes.

Check that the chicken is cooked (juices should run clear or be at 75C), and remove the breasts to a bowl. Slice the chicken.

Stir the soup and check that the lentils and barley are cooked – takes about 20 minutes from the start. Allow to simmer for a little longer if they are not yet soft.

Return the chicken to the pot and stir well.

Serve warm or divide in to shallow containers and freeze.

Serves 6

Gluten free? Switch the barley for brown rice.

Need a bigger meal?

-Double the barley and lentils for very little addition cost, but a good serve more of fibre and protein.

-Add a hand full of grated cheese at serving time to the hot soup to boost the fats and protein to help with satiety, or

-Divide the meal into 4. You’ll get almost 38g of protein and it will still cost you less than $4 for lunch.

Enjoy 🙂

Easter Pull-Apart Scrolls

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Delicious, sweet Easter treats!

This year I just haven’t had time to make my own hot cross buns… We wanted treats to take out but had no time to wait for 2 rises!

So instead these ones start with a modified scone dough and come together very quickly!

Dough:

2.5 cups SR flour* (plus extra for rolling out)

1/2 cup almond meal**

80g cold butter (or nuttelex)

1 tbsp sugar

1 cup milk of choice (I use high protein almond milk)

Filling:

1 large Apple, finely diced

8 medjool dates, finely chopped

1/2 cup walnuts (optional), finely chopped

2 tsp butter (or nuttelex), melted

1/2 tsp mixed spice

Icing:

2 heaped tsp butter (or nuttelex), melted

4 heaped tbsp pure icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

1 tsp milk of choice

*To make this gluten free: swap the flour for 2 1/4 cup SR GF flour mix and add 1 tsp of psyllium husk
**To make this nut free: swap out the almond meal for an extra half cup of flour and omit the walnuts

Place the flour, almond meal and sugar in the food processor and pulse to combine.

Add in the butter and pulse numerous times until the mix resembles breadcrumbs.

Add in milk then process until dough is well combined (speed 4, 6 seconds).

Tip the dough into a well floured surface, bring together with your hands and then roll into a rectangular shape, about 1/2cm thick.

Mix together the Apple, dates, Walnuts, mixed spice and melted butter and spread over the dough.

Roll the dough over on top of each other to form a log.

Cut the log into slices about 2cm wide and then lay on a lined baking tray.

Place them fairly close together and into a preheated 200C oven for about 20 minutes.

Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before icing.

For the icing- mix together the melted butter, icing sugar and vanilla until smooth and then add in the milk to thin it out before drizzling over the top of the scrolls.

Best served warm.

Wishing you peace, hope and renewal this Easter!

J x

Chicken and eggplant stew

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This is simple, delicious comfort food.

Packed with veggies and flavour. We love this dinner because we both leave it thick and chunky for the adults, and also put some through a quick spin in the food processor to give a ‘chicken bolognese style sauce’ for the less, ah, amenable kiddos!

It’s a pretty forgiving and flexible dish so the quantities are pretty rough!

  • 5-6 Chicken boneless thighs, skin removed
  • 1 tbsp garlic flavoured olive oil
  • 1 medium brown onion, finely chopped
  • Fresh thyme, basil and rosemary, finely chopped (or about 2 tsp dried Italian Style herbs)
  • 1/2 tsp dried chill flakes (optional)
  • 1 large eggplant (about 800g), diced
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 12-15 button mushrooms, or 6-8 larger field mushrooms, diced
  • 1 cup passata
  • 1 heaped tbsp tomato paste
  • 2 large handfuls of fresh spinach
  • ground black pepper to taste

Start with the eggplant – it needs some time to draw out the moisture to stop it going rubbery when you cook it.

Dice the eggplant, and place it in a draining sieve. Sprinkle it with the salt and leave to sit for 30 minutes. You will see lots of moisture on the surface and dripping down into the sink. Pat dry with a paper towel.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add in the onion and cook over medium heat until it starts to brown. Add in the diced chicken, sprinkle with herbs and chilli then cook over a medium heat until the chicken starts to brown.

Add in the eggplant and stir well to combine.

Now add in the mushroom and stir them through. Cook over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, for a few minutes until the eggplant and mushrooms cook down.

Now add in the passata and paste, stir well and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes. Then add in the spinach and stir well to combine.

You only need to cook down the spinach for another 2 minutes before you’re ready to serve.

Serve the stew on its own, over pasta or zucchini noodles. Our kids eat this best when we pop in in the food processor and roughly process it so it is less chunky and more of a sauce. They enjoy it with pasta and little bit of grated cheese.

Makes about 6 adult serves. It freezes and defrosts fairly well, but also keeps well in the fridge for a couple of days for left over lunches.

Enjoy 🙂

Broccoli and Cream Cheese soup

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Very simple, inexpensive, easily sourced ingredients. Amazingly good at feeding your super gut bugs. Quick to make, cooks in bulk and freezes well for weekday lunches. Allergy friendly ….. AND YUMMY!!!

  • 400g Broccoli (1 medium size), roughly chopped
  • 600g Cauliflower (1 large), roughly chopped
  • 1 small brown onion (about 120g), diced
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp veggie stock paste
  • 8 cups boiling water
  • 150g cream cheese (*dairy, soy or nut based – you can even use a light silken tofu here)

If you don’t have stock paste you can use 2 cups liquid stock and then only 6 cups water.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan then add in the onion and cook, stirring, until it is soft and golden.

Add in the cauliflower and broccoli plus the stock paste and stir well. Cook down for about 3 minutes then add in the boiling water.

Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the veggies are very soft. *If you need a quicker cooking time you can give them veggies a quick blitz in your food processor first.

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Remove from the heat and add in the cream cheese.

Use an immersion blender to blend until the soup is very smooth. If you are using a blender/thermo cooker/bullet machine to blend – BE VERY CAREFUL! Allow it to cool quite a bit first and then do small batches.

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Serves 8.

If Macros are important to you, here they are for 1 serve.

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Enjoy 🙂

 

Lunchbox Apple Slice

~ desertcook ~ 3 Comments

I love this slice because it is fragrant and lightly sweet, uses only the things that I always have in my cupboard so it is inexpensive, you can have it in the oven in 5 minutes flat and it is really simple to make it allergy friendly.

And even better … my kiddo who has an Oral Allergy Syndrome reaction to raw apple can tolerate some cooked apple so everyone in our family can share!

**See below the main recipe for allergy friendly swaps and more options**

  • 2 large apples
  • 2 cups of flour (I use spelt and do half wholemeal)**
  • 2 tsp GF baking powder
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup sugar (I like coconut sugar for the caramel taste)
  • 3/4 cup rolled oats
  • 185g melted butter

Mix together all of the dry ingredients.

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Add in the melted butter, then core and dice (but don’t peel) the apples and mix them through.

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Press them mix firmly into a greased 20×20 baking dish and place in a preheated 180C for about 25 minutes.

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Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the tin before moving to a wire rack.

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Cut into about 16 squares and serve warm or cold.

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To change it up:

Gluten Free – replace the flour with 1 3/4 cup of a gluten free flour mix plus 1 tsp of psyllium husk. Then replace the oats with shredded coconut or puffed rice.

Dairy Free – use a plant based butter

Can’t do apples? Pears are a great switch

Want something a bit fancier? Crumble some chopped almonds over the top and sprinkle with a tsp of extra sugar before baking and serve warm, with custard.

Got a super sweet tooth? Add in 6 chopped medjool dates or 1/2 cup of sultanas

Not sending it to school? Replace 1/2 a cup of the flour with almond meal

Enjoy 🙂