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Simple Pumpkin Soup

~ desertcook ~ Leave a comment

Hooray for soup weather!

This is a soup-er simple meal, really inexpensive and delicious. A pretty mild soup, so it is very kid friendly too.

  • 400g Cauliflower  (1 medium size), roughly chopped
  • 1.2kg Butternut pumpkin roughly chopped
  • 1/2 small brown onion (about 60g), diced
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 tbsp garlic infused olive oil
  • 2 tbsp veggie stock paste
  • 10 cups boiling water
  • 225g 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 3 cups liquid stock and then only 7 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 pumpkin 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 the veggies a quick blitz in your food processor first.

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.

I love to serve mine topped with roasted pumpkin seeds and pine nuts (switch hemp seeds for nut free) …. Just pop the seeds in a hot, dry frying pan and cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes until they are golden brown. Sprinkle on the soup and if you want a little extra kick … sprinkle on a little pinch of chilli flakes!

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Serves 12.

If Macros are important to you, here they are for 1 serve (roughly 2 ladles of soup) , worked out for the dairy based cream cheese – not including the seed topping.

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This will last several days in the fridge, or it freezes and defrosts well.

Enjoy 🙂

 

 

Salmon Tart

~ desertcook ~ 1 Comment

I love a good veg tart.

So simple to make and I love the way that you can bulk them up with whatever you had on hand – so they’re budget friendly too!

I tend to make tarts like these so I have them on hand work work lunches – delicious cold (so I don’t stink out my office colleagues!) or warm (for those days I work at home). Or if you’re in a rush, grab a couple of slices out of the freezer and steam some extra greens – speedy and filling dinner!

  • 7 medium eggs
  • 130g (approx) salmon fillet*
  • 150g broccoli
  • 3 large celery sticks
  • 20g olive oil
  • 25g milk of choice (I mostly use unsweetened high protein almond milk)
  • 1 tsp freshly chopped dill
  • salt and pepper to taste

*If you don’t have a salmon fillet, just used plain tinned salmon, and skip the cooking part.

Start by pan cooking the salmon, so it is almost cooked – it will finish in the oven. Then break it in to small pieces.

Steam your broccoli – I did a couple of minutes in the microwave. And then use a knife to diced it evenly.

Finely dice your celery.

Place the broccoli, celery and salmon into a bowl.

In a separate bowl (I prefer a decent sized measuring jug because it pours well), break all of your eggs. Then add in the dill, salt and pepper, milk and oil and then whisk really well.

Pour the egg mix into the salmon and veg mix and then fold together until even.

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Pour into a lined baking dish (21cm x 21cm) and place into a preheated 180C oven.

Bake for about 25 minutes or until it is golden and the egg is mostly set …. as the egg is still hot it will continue to cook as it cools when you remove it from the oven.

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Allow to cool a little before slicing into 9 squares.

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You can gently reheat this one in a microwave from the fridge. Or if you are going to freeze it, lay it between 2 sheets of kitchen paper before you do, as this will help to absorb the ice crystals as it defrosts.

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If macros are important to you, here are the details for 1 slice (that is 1/9 of the total dish)

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If you want an easy switch to make this a vegetarian option, omit the salmon and replace with a few handfuls of sliced mushrooms – I like the swiss brown variety!

Enjoy 🙂

Almost ANZAC biscuits

~ desertcook ~ 2 Comments

Tomorrow won’t be celebrated as it normally is, but we will still remember them.

Itchin' Kitchen

This week in Australia we remember ANZAC day.

It marks the anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli of the Australian and New Zealand troops during WW1. It is a time when Australians give thanks for the sacrifices that our service men and women (including both of my beloved Granddads) have made for our country. We remember with the Dawn Service, the March and ANZAC biscuits.

The biscuits were originally sent in care packages to troops far off because they were cheap to make, didn’t contain any eggs and they kept well for a long time – after the end of the war they were sold as a fundraiser and today they are the only commercial good allowed to carry the name of ‘ANZAC’. They are delicious and thankfully, very easy to make into an allergy friendly version – plus, you can be very flexible with them based on what you…

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An Itchin’ Budget?

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Managing a tight food budget for a family of 6 with multiple food requirements … This is how we do it!

Itchin' Kitchen

Living in this day and age is expensive.

Living in an allergy home is even more costly – regular trips to (very expensive) allergists, dermatologists and doctors, regular updates of asthma medication, epi-pens and bottles of antihistamines for every place they go. Creams, creams and more creams. Gosh it adds up quickly.

Then there’s the groceries ….. no options for $1 bags of pasta or flour. Allergy friendly options are often 8-10 times the price. And then there is the choice about buy foods that are locally or ethically produced.

Don’t get me wrong – I am so very grateful  that my husband has a job (and after 10 years with one income, so now do I!), we actually have many allergy friendly options in shops and that we are able to access the specialists we need to care well for our children. We are FAR better off than many.

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Crunchy Quinoa Biscuits

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So simple but so delicious … a quick batch of these ones made their way to school this morning after my little ones asked me to make Valentine’s day bikkies for their teachers …. at 7am!!!!

Itchin' Kitchen

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…

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Roasted Tomato Confit

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It’s that time of year again and our summer garden is bursting with juicy, red gems! Time to get preserving 🙂

Itchin' Kitchen

We have had such a lovely abundance of cherry tomatoes this year. But then we have had some crazily inconsistent weather – and tomatoes don’t like inconsistent watering …. so we picked a load that had split. Gr. What to do?

I remember my host family in France (from a loooong time ago) had all kids of amazing confit jars (confit is French for preserved) in their cool basement. Lots of meats and veggies to get them through a snowy, regional winter. Since I couldn’t bear to waste these little gems, I decided to have a go at my own confit with my little red gems.

You’ll need:

  • cherry tomatoes
  • fresh herbs (I use basil, rosemary and thyme)
  • garlic olive oil
  • salt and pepper

Wash and pat dry your tomatoes. Remove little stems.

Place in a lined baking dish.

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Tear herbs and scatter around the tomatoes. Drizzle very generously with…

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Chocolate, Date and Chick Pea Cookies

~ desertcook ~ 2 Comments

Family favourites – delicious and nutritious!!

Itchin' Kitchen

Today we were heading out to a party but when I went to the freezer to grab out a safe cake for miss Ellie – there were none left … eek!

So, with an hour to go before we needed to leave … these cookies were the made-up-on-the-spot result. They have now been a firm favourite for the past 4 years!

I use legumes in soooo many things, little powerhouses of fibre and protein and so good for your gut health – but I was inspired to add legumes to my cookies by TRTLMT

We most often use chick peas, but when I’m after a little variety, or the pantry dictates, we also used butter beans and kidney beans. They are all delish!

My little miss loves them – I’m pretty sure she’d eaten about 6 of them by the end of the day while I wasn’t paying too much…

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Mushroom and Lentil Bolognese

~ desertcook ~ 3 Comments

Bolognese has long been a favourite dinner in our house.

We have a pretty non-traditional version, but it works for us – there are always 6 empty plates and 6 happy tummies when it’s on the menu.

Easy to make, a massive serve of veggies, great fibre and it’s  a very budget friendly meal, that cooks up in bulk and freezes well too.

More recently as we are reducing the number of meals we eat that contain meat, we’ve moved from making our standard beef mince bolognese, to this vegan version.

The kids haven’t blinked an eye with the transition, in fact, Harry recently requested it as his birthday party dinner – hope you like it too!

 

  • 1 finely chopped medium brown onion
  • 2 tbsp garlic olive oil
  • 1-2 tsp minced chillies (depending on your heat preference)
  • 2 large carrots
  • 2 large zucchini
  • 2 400g tin kidney beans, drained and rinsed (we also use black beans)
  • 2 400g tin lentils, drained and rinsed
  • 3-4 cups mushrooms (a mixture of types is good to give textural variety)
  • a first sized piece of sweet potato or pumpkin, peeled and diced
  • 3 large handfuls spinach
  • 700 ml tomato pasata or a large tin of peeled tomatoes
  • 3 tbsp tomato paste OR preserved tomatoes
  • 1/4 cup red wine (optional)
  • 1/3 cup fresh basil leaves
  • 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • spaghetti or pasta that suits your diet to serve

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Heat the oil in a large frying pan, then add the onion and stir until soft.

Add in the chillies, mix well and turn down to low heat.

In your food processor (or with a knife if you have the patience!), pulse the mushrooms until you get a fine chop. Add the mushrooms to the onion mix in the hot saucepan. Stir them in well to coat in onion mixture.

Add in the lentils, tomato paste and red wine then stir well to combine.

Meanwhile, in the food processor blitz or grate the vegetables, spinach and beans. Add in the pasata to help bring the mix all together. Process more or less depending on how smooth you want your sauce.

Add the veggie and pasata mix to the mushroom and lentil mix in the pan and stir well. Bring to a very gentle simmer, then add the fresh herbs. I tend to finely chop the basil before stirring through, but I leave the rosemary on it’s stems, just bruising the leaves before adding it to the pot, just remove the stems when you serve. Simmer for about half an hour, stirring regularly.

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Adding in the preserved tomatoes to boost the flavour!

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Serve on your choice of pasta, zucchini noodles or a bed of steamed green beans – add cheese of choice to top if you like, or even sprinkle with nutritional yeast.

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Serves about 10 adults (freeze left over sauce in an airtight container for a couple of months)

Enjoy 🙂

 

Chocolate beetroot muffins (with extra veggies!)

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These rich, earthy muffins are a standard in our freezer – today we have to feed the hordes after school so there’s a double batch cooling!

Itchin' Kitchen

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!

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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…

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The Chocolate Cake

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This is one of my most versatile cakes. There are options to cater for gluten, egg, dairy, nut, soy and legume allergies. The cake is vegan and can be more or less sweet depending on your sugar preference. It cooks well as a double batch for bulk cooking and freezing and also makes yummy cupcakes.
We’re taking a big batch off to a picnic today – enjoy!

Itchin' Kitchen

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 spelt flour (half wholemeal)**
  • 2 tsp GF baking powder
  • 1/2 – 3/4  cup coconut sugar (use more or less depending on your sweet tooth!)
  • 2 tbsp cocoa
  • 125g Nuttelex/Vegan butter/tasteless coconut oil
  • 1 cup milk of choice
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 3…

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