Chocolate Protein Drink (‘Milo’ Substitute)

October 26, 2015March 26, 2017 ~ desertcook ~ 12 Comments

My big boys love Milo. My husband loves Milo … and quite frankly, I’d quite happily eat it straight from the tin too if it wasn’t for the health concerns …. I suspect all Aussie kids would have done it at one time in their lives 😀

But it’s not an option for my little miss and I’d really rather that my boys weren’t getting the refined sugar, oils and additives from it either. So I’ve been trying to find a way to make a home made version that we could all enjoy.

This is a pretty good approximation. I have to tell you that it is not like eating the original (for obvious reasons!), so please don’t expect an exact replica, or you will be a bit disappointed! But it is sweet, chocolatey and has crunchy bits when mixed with cold milk. So if you are you missing a chocolately drink or you just want a healthier version, then this is a good place to start!

For us, it is also a simple way to make sure that our biggest boy gets the weekly Hazelnut quota that he requires after his nut challenge.

I based my mix on this one from Changing Habits.

3 tbsp each of sunflower, pumpkin, chia and flax seeds
1/2 cup roasted almonds
1/2 cup roasted hazelnuts (skin off)
1/2 cup cacao powder OR 3/4 cup cocoa
1 cup coconut sugar

Place nuts and seeds in high power processor and process until fine – be careful not to overdo it and wind up with a butter! (Speed 8, 8 seconds).

Add in cacao and sugar and process again to combine (Speed 4, 6 seconds).

Store in airtight jars. Makes 2 large jars.

Use as you would use Milo. I doesn’t completely dissolve in cold milk because of the nuts and seeds, but the cacao and sugar do giving the milk a chocolatey appearance whilst leaving the crunchy bits, typical of Milo. Don’t use with hot milk – the chia and flax seeds give a gelatinous mix if you do!

We use it in milkshakes, on top of porridge, in pancakes or even sprinkled on to frozen banana ‘ice cream’. Yum!!

2 out of my 3 bigger kids drank it and loved it. Harry wasn’t convinced with just plain milk, but we have discovered that he loves it in a milk shake (you can find his favourite milkshake recipe at the end of the post!). My husband drank it and enjoyed it although knew that it was different to ‘the real stuff’! Ellie and George … well … they likes to eat it by the spoonful!

If you want a really fine mix, try using the milling blade in a smaller bullet type blender (like a Nutribullet).

For a nut free version:

3 tbsp each of chia and flax seeds
3/4 cup roasted sunflower seeds
3/4 cup roasted pumpkin seeds
3/4 cup cacao powder
1 1/4 cups coconut sugar

To dry roast the seeds, place them in a large baking tray under the grill, on the shelf furthest away in the oven. Watch them carefully … it only takes a few minutes! Flip seeds in tray a few times during cooking process to ensure even cooking coverage.

Allow seeds to cool before adding to processor with chia and flax. Follow above method for remainder of recipe.

Enjoy 🙂

Harry’s Choc Shake:

1 frozen banana
1 tbsp drinking chocolate mix
1 tbsp rolled oats
1 tsp Sunflower seed butter
1 cup cold milk of choice.

Place all ingredients in a high powered blender/processor and blend until very smooth.

Drink immediately – Harry says it’s best with a blue straw 🙂

Teff cookies

October 23, 2015November 12, 2019 ~ desertcook ~ Leave a comment

As is often the case, my wonderful and delightful (but cheeky and determined!!) little miss is the source of inspiration for my baking experiments.

We are struggling to get enough protein into her, but she is quite a fan of baked goods. So I have been trying to find higher protein flours to work with and Teff came up.

Apparently, according to my research, it is the world’s tiniest grain. It originated in Ethiopia where is has long been a staple in their diet. Compared with other grains, it has a higher percentage of bran and germ which makes it higher in fibre and protein. It’s also go the highest calcium content of all grains … another deficiency we struggle with. It has quite a light flavour and is naturally gluten free – wins all ’round!

So now …. what do I make with it?

Well, I bought a packet (of Bob’s Red Mill Teff) and on the back there was a recipe for teff and peanut butter cookies.

This is my adapted version.

1.5 cups teff flour
1/2 cup maple syrup (honey or rice malt works too)
1/2 tsp himilayan salt
175g sunflower seed butter
6 large medjool dates
3/4 tsp GF Baking powder
1 tbsp coconut oil/vegan butter
1 tsp vanilla bean paste

In your processor mix together syrup, seed butter, vanilla and oil. Process until completely combined (Speed 5, 10 seconds)

Remove the seeds from your dates and drop them, one at a time, through the chute of the processor on to spinning blades, then process until dates are very finely diced and well mixed in (Speed 4 while you are adding the dates then up to speed 7 for 15 seconds).

Add in the baking powder, salt and flour and process to combine into a thick dough (Speed 5 for 15 seconds, scrape down sides and repeat).

Use a teaspoon to scoop out the mixture and roll in to walnut sized balls, then press down with the back of a fork on to a lined baking tray.

Place in a preheated 180C oven and bake for 15 minutes. They don’t spread out much, but do rise a little.

The cookies will still be soft when removed from oven but they will harden as they cool.

Makes about 30-35 cookies. Store in an air tight container or pop them in the freezer.

Enjoy!

Lemon and Blueberry tart

October 17, 2015October 17, 2015 ~ desertcook ~ 3 Comments

A little while ago I saw this amazing looking recipe for a Lemon and Blueberry shortbread slice and I couldn’t stop thinking about how I wanted to make something similar in an allergy friendly and low sugar version.

After recently having discovered ‘Aquafaba’ as an egg replacer I thought it might be a good way to add some lightness and rise to the filling of a tart. You can find out more about this amazing discovery at aquafaba.com

So after having a little play, this is my tart.

(See below the recipe for a nut free version)

180g Plain Gluten Free flour
160g almond meal
3 tbsp Rice Malt Syrup
3 tbsp coconut oil
juice and finely grated zest of 4 medium lemons
80g Stevia
50g pure cornflour
1 tbsp Nuttelex
1/2 the drained liquid from a 400g tin of chic peas
100g fresh blueberries

To make the crust place the flour, almond meal, syrup and oil in a food processor. Process to combine well and until it resembles wet sand (Pulse twice, then speed 5 for about 15 seconds in a Thermal Cooker).

Grease a 26cm round spring form pan and tip the base mix into the bottom. Use your hand to press the mix down to cover the bottom and a little bit up the sides.

Cover with baking paper and add blind baking weights (rice or beans work well) and place in a preheated 180C oven and bake for about 12 minutes. Remove from oven and remove the weights and paper and return to oven for a further 5 minutes then remove from oven and set aside. Turn the oven down to 160C.

In a large saucepan place the zest, juice, stevia, cornflour and Nuttelex and heat over a gentle heat, whisking regularly to avoid lumps, until the curd begins to thicken. Remove from heat.

While to curd is heating, place the chic pea liquid drained into a stand mixer and whip on a high speed until fairly stiff peaks form (not as stiff as a meringue). This will take about 4-5 minutes.

Fold the whipped mix through the lemon curd mix – don’t over mix it.

Pour the lemon mix on top of the crust.

Place blueberries on top and place in a preheated 160C oven for about 40 minutes. The top will be golden and beginning to crack.

The filling of the tart will still be quite soft when you remove it from the oven but will become firmer as it cools.

Cut and serve – lovely warm or cold.

We took this one to share with family for afternoon tea and it was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone – even those without any food restrictions!

Enjoy 🙂

For a Nut Free Version; replace the almond meal with equal quantity sunflower seed meal or omit the almond meal and use gluten free flour plus 1 heaped tsp of psyllium (to help with flexibility).

Egg free Meringue

October 16, 2015December 20, 2016 ~ desertcook ~ Leave a comment

It is always good to have clever friends … and it is extra great when they are vegan ‘foodies’ who are prepared to share their clever tricks with you!!

A little while ago I was chatting to my friend Dan and she told me about an egg replacer called ‘Aquafaba’ … the liquid drained from a can of chic peas. Um, what?

Yep – this stuff:

Apparently the clever vegans have been on to it for a while … I’ve just been a bit slow catching up 😉 It is the proteins in egg whites that help them to whip up all frothy and go stiff – which is why this replacement works well – the proteins from the legumes. Who knew?! And I promise you that there isn’t even a hint of a taste of the legumes. They look, feel and eat just like the real thing.

Here is the link to the original recipe for meringues.

I used

The drained liquid from 1 400g can of chic peas (do not buy the no salt version!)
1/3 cup sugar (or about 1/4 cup powdered Stevia), milled to resemble icing sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla bean paste
pinch cream of tartar
Optional – sprinkles to top (I use the Hoppers brand that is allergies friendly and is also free of artificial colours and preservatives) and a few drops of natural food colours (Madam’s request is for pink next time!).

Place the liquid in a very clean bowl of your stand mixer and turn on to a high speed (Mine is a Sunbeam Mixmaster and goes up to 12 and I used speed 10).

Beat until doubled in size and very frothy.

Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat until soft peaks form. This took about 5 minutes.

Continue to beat and gradually add in the sweetener.

Beat until stiff peaks form.

Add in the vanilla and colour if you are using it.

Spoon on to a lined baking tray (and add sprinkles if you wish) and place in a preheated 100C oven to bake for about 1.5 hours.

Do not bake any hotter because you are essentially drying out the mixture rather than baking it (kind of like a fruit leather). Low and slow is the best option.

Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Store in an airtight container for a week.

Makes 24.

Enjoy!!

Crunchy Quinoa Biscuits

October 4, 2015February 14, 2020 ~ desertcook ~ 1 Comment

I love crunchy bikkies …. dunking them in a hot cuppa was always a favourite!

These delicious bikkies definitely meet my sweet and crunchy requirements.

My kids (and husband!) all love them. They are simple to make, the kids love choosing their own shapes and they are really easy to adapt to meet most allergy requirements.

100g rolled quinoa (or you can mill the whole grain)
160g plain flour OR GF flour
1/2 tsp bicarb soda
1 tsp mixed spice
70g of sunflower seed butter OR nut butter**
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
150g maple OR golden syrup

**You can use half seed butter and half butter here, or even all butter – all combinations work well!

In a saucepan, over a medium heat, stirring, melt together the seed butter, syrup and vanilla (100C, speed 2 for 2 11/2 mins or until completely melted). Remove from stove

Mix together all of the dry ingredients (speed 5 for 10 seconds). Then add in the wet mix and mix gently until combined (speed 4, 10 seconds. Scrape down and repeat if required)

Wrap dough and place in fridge for about 20 minutes.

Roll out, to about 3mm thick and cut into shapes. The thinner you roll them the quicker they cook and the crunchier they are.

Place on lined baking trays and bake for about 9-10 minutes, or until golden brown, in a preheated 180C oven.

20200214_075549 — The tri coloured grains milled for this batch

They will be soft when removed from the oven and will crisp up on cooling.

Makes about 60 small cookies – depending on the size of your cutters.

When completely cooled, store in an airtight container for up to a week.

20200214_081729 — Watch out for the Cookie Monster!

Enjoy!

Blueberry Almond Loaf

September 28, 2015October 26, 2020 ~ desertcook ~ 1 Comment

The recipe for this lovely, sweet, dense bread came about after we picked over 5kg of Mulberries …. and then my Harry declared that he didn’t like them, that blueberries were his favourite and please could I make him blueberry bread instead?

That gorgeous face is pretty hard to refuse sometimes!

45g light tasting oil (or use a melted butter that suits)
40g sugar OR 1/4 cup honey/maple syrup
1 cup milk of choice
6tbsp aquafaba OR 2 whole eggs
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp GF baking powder
1 1/2 cup spelt flour (half wholemeal) OR 1 1/3 cup GF flour mix
1/2 cup almond meal OR seed meal
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen).

In a large bowl (or your processor) mix together all of the dry ingredients (Speed 4, 8 seconds), then set aside.

Now place all of the wet ingredients in your processor/blender/nutribullet/thermal cooker and process until well combined (Speed 6, 6 seconds).

Mix the the dry and wet ingredients until combined – don’t over beat them.

Then add the berries – if you are doing this in a food processor, tip mixture into a bowl and fold through blueberries. In a Thermal Cooker, use speed 4 for 8 seconds. Or for ease, sprinkle them on top of the batter once in the pan.

Pour into a small greased loaf pan and bake in a preheated 170C oven for about 1hr, or until cooked through.

Or pour into lined muffin tins and bake for about 25 minutes or until cooked through (makes about 18).

Allow to cool before slicing.

This recipe freezes and defrosts well, and is particularly lovely when slightly warmed (and even toasted!).

Enjoy 🙂

Chocolate beetroot muffins (with extra veggies!)

September 27, 2015February 8, 2018 ~ desertcook ~ 3 Comments

I know … beetroot and spinach (or pumpkin and chick peas!) are not ingredients you would normally associate with a chocolate muffin – but trust me, it works!

My tribe wolf them down and have no idea of the goodies hiding inside – yay! They are a standard lunchbox favourite – I even use this recipe to make the base of our birthday cakes now and everyone digs in!

See below the recipe for the coeliac friendly option and some different veggie variations

1 large cooked beetroot (approx 225g)*
2 handfuls of baby spinach
40g cocoa/30g cacao powder
70ml tasteless oil (rice bran oil, melted vegan butter & coconut oil work well) OR 70g sunflower seed butter
150ml oat/rice/soy/almond milk
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
90g maple syrup OR coconut sugar
280g spelt flour (half wholemeal)
2.5 tsp GF baking powder
6 tbsp aquafaba OR 2 whole eggs
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
pinch Himilayan salt

*If you don’t have access to fresh beetroot, use an equal weight of tinned beetroot and omit 1 of the teaspoons of vinegar), or when my garden gives us an abundance, I puree and freeze in batches to add in instead.

In your processor/blender/bullet/thermal cooker place the milk, beetroot, vinegar vanilla, oil, spinach and aquafaba and blitz until the mix is smooth with no obvious ‘green bits’ 😉 (Speed 5, 10 seconds, scrape down, then speed 8 for 10 seconds, scrape and repeat if required). Then set the wet mix aside.

Mix together the flour, cocoa, salt, sugar and baking powder until evenly combined (speed 4, 8 seconds).

Whilst mixing the dry mix (use speed 4), gradually pour in the wet mix until well combined. Don’t over mix.

Scoop batter into lined muffin tins and bake in a preheated 180C oven for about 20 minutes or until top springs back when gently pressed.

Makes about 14, they freeze and defrost well and are especially delicious when slightly warmed.

To make these coeliac friendly: use rice, almond or soy milk and replace the spelt flour with 1 1/2 cup plain GF flour and 1/4 cup almond/seed meal.

To make a little variation on these, I switch out the spinach for a large handful of steamed sweet potato or 1/3 of a tin of chick peas. Just add them into the wet mix and blend at the same time as the beetroot. Yum!!

Enjoy 🙂

Yoghurt – soy and dairy

September 12, 2015December 3, 2020 ~ desertcook ~ 16 Comments

We go through quite a lot of yoghurt in this house.

All 6 of us enjoy it, so it is a standard dessert with berries, we use it to make pizza dough and scrolls, plus cakes, smoothies and fruit icy poles and the kids all like to take it to school.

To cut down on costs we used to buy in large tubs and spoon into our reusable squeezey pouches. But it is still not cheap, and unless you are buying plain natural yoghurt, then it is full of sugar and flavourings, which I don’t love!

FB_IMG_1580597227983 — Soy yoghurt in Ellie’s Lunchbox – We’ve been using these Sinchies containers for over 5 years!

The push for me to make my own was when I realised that 350g of the soy yoghurt that Ellie eats was costing almost $4 but I could buy 1L of Soy milk for just over $2 – Yikes!

I did a bit of research and found that I could buy a non-dairy culture as a starter online. This is the one I use, from Green Living Australia. It was about $22 to buy, but contains enough starter to make 100L – not too bad!!

You can use the non dairy starter to make dairy yoghurt too – but their Dairy Starter does a better job as they work at slightly different temperatures.

The starters do need to be kept in the freezer.

I adapted the instructions from Green Living Australia to make a couple of recipes that suit our family.

If you don’t have access to the starter, you can use simply use 1 heaped tablespoon of your last yoghurt into the milk at the same point the started would go in then whisk it to combine it evenly and continue on with the rest of the steps as per the recipe.

The simplest way to go is to use UHT milk because it has already been heat treated. If you want to use fresh milk then you will need to heat the milk to 90C for 8-10 minutes and then allow to cool to between 37-42C before adding the culture. This allows only the bacteria that you want to culture to be left over.

You will need an accurate cooking thermometer for this recipe. A digital candy thermometer is ideal (they cost under $15 in most big Supermarkets)

Dairy Yoghurt:

1L full cream UHT milk
1/3 cup milk powder (optional, but gives a thicker yoghurt)
1 tbsp sugar (optional, we don’t use it for the dairy milk)
1 dose starter culture

In a large saucepan place the milk, sugar (if using) and powder and whisk to ensure even distribution.

Heat on a gentle heat until it reaches between 41-43C. Remove from heat and tip in culture. The amount required is very small!

this quantity of powder is enough starter for 1.5L!

Whisk again to ensure even distribution.

The idea now is to keep the milk mix at this temperature for the next 18-24 hours. I use both the Easiyo container and my regular thermos (warmed with boiling water before tipping the yoghurt in) – both work equally well. An Electric yoghurt maker is a fancier option but essentially does the same job of keeping the mix at a stable warm temperature.

After about 18-24 hours, check to see that the yoghurt is set, flavour it as you wish and then store in a clean container in the fridge for up to 10 days. We tend to leave the yoghurt plain in the fridge and then flavour it as we choose when we’re serving to allow for more variety – and for no flavour when we’re using it in dough.

If you have tummy difficulties with lactose, then leave the yoghurt fermenting for the full 24 hours and the bacteria will have eaten almost all of the milk sugars (lactose) and you will essentially have a lactose free yoghurt.

The sugar is optional in dairy milks since there is already lactose available to feed the culture, however, adding a simple sugar increases the carbohydrate available for the culture to eat and improves the end result. Green Living Australia say that the sugar is used up by the bacteria and won’t be there in the end.

Soy yoghurt:

1L soy UHT milk** (opt for the no added sugar, organic version if you can so you can control the quantity of sugar)
1 tbsp sugar
1 dose starter culture

**I buy a ‘protein rich’ Soy milk which has the bean content upped to 21% and it makes for a really amazing thick yoghurt – much closer to the store bought variety!

In a large saucepan place the milk and sugar and whisk to ensure even distribution.

Heat on a gentle heat until it reaches between 37-41C. Remove from heat and tip in culture. The amount required is very small!

Whisk again to ensure even distribution.

Place in Thermos/Easiyo container and follow same storage and flavouring guidelines as for Dairy yoghurt.

The sugar isn’t optional when you are making soy yoghurt as the soy bean doesn’t have the same natural sugars to feed the cultures.

The enrich the calcium content you can add a few drops of calcium carbonate before tipping in to the thermos, which also helps with giving a thicker yoghurt.

To get a Greek style yoghurt you need to strain the end yoghurt through a nut milk bag.

Enjoy!!

Soft white bread (Sandwich loaf, bread rolls, fruit toast and sticky finger buns)

September 2, 2015January 17, 2022 ~ desertcook ~ 3 Comments

We don’t have very much white bread in our house. But occasionally, a soft white bread sandwich (with cheese and gherkin as my preference!) is amazing.

The base for all the recipes is below.

500g white spelt
1 heaped tsp yeast
1 heaped tsp coconut sugar
15g olive oil
275g luke warm water
1 tsp salt
olive oil to cover
1 heaped tsp pea protein powder OR 1 tsp apple cider vinegar (optional but acts as a bread improver)

To make the Sandwich Loaf or rolls seeded add: 20g flax seeds and 20g chia seeds

For Fruit Toast: remove 100g of white spelt and replace with 100g wholemeal spelt and add 2 tsp mixed spice, 1 tbsp extra coconut sugar and 3/4 cup dried fruit of choice.

For the Sticky Finger Buns: add 1 tsp of mixed spice, 1 tbsp extra coconut sugar, optional 1/2 cup of sultanas and icing (1 tbsp melted Nuttelex whisked together with 4 tbsp pure icing sugar, few drops food colouring and topped with GF sprinkles).

Place the water, yeast and sugar in the food processor and pulse briefly to combine or speed 2 for 6 seconds). Allow to stand for 5 minutes (a good time to check that your yeast is still active. Look for it foaming).

Add seeds (milled first if you’d prefer less obvious ‘bits’) and spices if applicable and pulse again to combine.

Add flour, pea protein, salt and oil (in that order) and process to bring together (speed 6 for 15 seconds).

Tip onto a lightly floured mat and knead until dough is soft and elastic.

Add in fruit and knead at this point if using.

Cover with oil, using hands and place in a clean oiled bowl, cover and place in a warm place to double in size (about – 45 mins-1 hour).

Knock back the dough and place into oiled loaf tin or break into bun size (about 10-12 rolls or finger buns of equal weight – rolled tightly for buns) and place on a lined baking tray. It is a very light and fluffy dough so be careful not to over work it.

20150902_114328 — Need to work on making them more finger like!

Leave to double in size again (approximately another hour).

Place into a preheated 250C oven for 10 minutes, then drop temperature to 190C and cook for a further 25 minutes, or until golden on top and bottom sounds hollow when tapped. Leave to cool before slicing.

20160306_125530-1 — Sandwich loaf and rolls (plus some Yoghurt Dough Cheeseymite scrolls!)

Harry the 'Carbivore'!! — Harry the ‘Carbivore’!!

For the sticky finger buns and bread rolls, place into a preheated 190C oven and cook for about 15-18 minutes or until bottoms sounds hollow when tapped. Ice while warm.

Enjoy!!

Will-kshake

August 2, 2015August 2, 2015 ~ desertcook ~ Leave a comment

My biggest boy, William, is about to turn 7 and has recently become quite interested in ‘creations’ in the kitchen.

A couple of weeks ago, he made this smoothie which has now become known as a Will-kshake in our house and he was very keen for me to share it with you!

We made it in our Nutribullet, but you could also do it in a high powered blender.

It is very thick and filling and he tells me that it’s like having soft serve ice-cream for breakfast 🙂

1 cup milk of choice, nice and cold
1/3 cup frozen blueberries
1/3 cup frozen mango
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 a ripe banana (fresh or frozen – frozen makes it even thicker)

Add all ingredients to cup and blend until smooth.

Enjoy 🙂

Itchin' Kitchen

Come join me in the kitchen

Snack

Chocolate Protein Drink (‘Milo’ Substitute)

Teff cookies

Lemon and Blueberry tart

Egg free Meringue

Crunchy Quinoa Biscuits

Blueberry Almond Loaf

Chocolate beetroot muffins (with extra veggies!)

Yoghurt – soy and dairy

Soft white bread (Sandwich loaf, bread rolls, fruit toast and sticky finger buns)

Will-kshake