Recent concoctions, recipes to follow

Beef banger

Egg muffins

Bacon and egg pizza

Luscious lamb

Tropical chicken

Hhhmmmm prawns smothered in garlic and basil tomato sauce

Goats Cheese Pasta

I have been doing my best to keep the little mans intake of cows milk to a minimum so today's lunch was made with goats cheese and a sprinkling of Parmesan.

What do you need?

Pasta (today we used spirals)

Goats cheese

Basil pesto

Oregano

Basil

How:

Boil the pasta and a few minutes before it is ready add some oregano and basil.

Once done and strained add in the goats milk and stir so it melts to the pasta.

Add in a dollop of pesto and sprinkle some Parmesan.

Hey presto lunch is ready'

Veggie Pizza with Cauliflower Base

So we tried the Cauliflower base pizza for dinner this evening and wow it was delicious!

What you need:

Base:

1 head of cauliflower (medium size)

2 large eggs

1 ball of mozzarella 

Dried basil (half a teaspoon)

Dried Oregano (half a teaspoon)

Fennel seeds (1 teaspoon)

Topping:

Tomato based sauce *

Red and Green pepper

Onion (tonight we used a spring onion)

Baby Spinach

Mozzarella 

Parmesan

Cheddar Cheese

Tomato (I just used 1 vine tomato tonight - small)

Basil pesto

*Sauce, this can be a passata or like us tonight some double concentrate tomato purée 

2 tablespoons of the purée 

1 clove of garlic

Dash of oregano and basil

How:

Heat your oven to 180c

I used the grater on the food processor to grate the cauliflower to make it roughly rice grain sized, I used it for the mozzarella also or you could use grated mozzarella, doing this yourself is messy. 

Literally mix the base ingredients in a bowl, cauliflower, mozzarella, eggs, basil, oregano and fennel seed.

Grease your pizza tray or use grease proof paper.

Pour the contents on to the tray and as you flatten it out into a disc shape from the centre, use your other hand to keep it together, for example, left hand spreading the base, right hand cupping the edges to stop it from cracking, and ensure it stays even as you turn the tray.

Pop the base in to the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the edges brown, one trick I found handy was take it out after 10 minutes, let it cool for 2 minutes and gently flip it over to crisp up the other side.

Leave it to cool as you prepare your toppings.

Whilst this was in the oven I prepared the sauce.

I bunged the sauce ingredients with some water in to a pot stirring occasionally as it reduced. It should be a bit thick, if it is watery then it will just soak in to the base.

Once the base is cooled apply the sauce and toppings in what ever order you like, leaving the cheese and pesto as the last toppings, seems the most aesthetically pleasing,  then back in to the oven until the toppings are cooked/ cheddar turns golden.

Pic is just before its popped back in to the oven.

And the finished product!

Enjoy!

Sweet Treat - but healthy and tastey

Apples, sliced and swimming in a sweet sweet caramel sauce and a whipped cream iceberg in the middle! But it's dairy free!

What? But you said whipped cream!

Yes, whipped coconut milk cream!

Ingredients:

Apple

Caramel:

2 tsp water

1/4 cup of raw coconut palm sugar

1/2 cup of coconut milk (full fat)

1 tsp vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

Whipped cream:

1 tin of coconut milk (full fat)

Drop of vanilla extract

1 tsp of honey

What you need to do

Caramel

Put water and sugar in to a pot on a high heat, stirring constantly, bring to the boil.

Reduce the heat while you add the coconut milk, vanilla extract and salt and stir as it reduces for 10 minutes as the colour darkens.

Whipped cream:

Before you open the tin of coconut milk turn it upside down and back upright to loosen the contents.

Have 2 bowls ready and strain the contents so that it separates the milk from the clotted milk (cream).

Use the clotted cream adding the drop of vanilla extract and honey as you whisk.

Hint of chocolate and maple buns

So I had left over ingredients from another bake so had a look in the press to see what I could add to it.

This recipe contains almond and egg

So what did I use?

1 egg

1/3 cup of coconut milk (full fat)

1 tablespoon of coconut oil melted

1/3 cup of maple syrup

1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract

100g ground almond

1/4 teaspoon of baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 tablespoon coconut flour

1 tablespoon of 70% cocoa powder

Mix all the wet ingredients together.

Add the dry ingredients and mix into a light batter.

Oven at 175/180

This gave me 6 regular size buns

To fill a typical tray of 12 double your ingredients!

In the middle of the oven they only take 15/20 mins.

Just check to make sure they are dry in the middle with a toothpick and put on a baking tray

Paleo experiments!

So we want to try out cleaner eating for ourselves as well as the now not so little Sam.

We have been trying out sweet things among the choices widely available on other sites, forums, blogs and one which has gone down a treat at home with little man and big man is our adaptation to a Warm Apple Pie Bread.

What do you need?

For the Bread:

2.5 cups almond flour (I used ground almond and hand sieved it to remove the nutty kernels)

1 tablespoon coconut flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

2 apples (I have been using one granny smith and one gala red)

⅓ cup coconut milk, full fat (tinned coconut milk by the way, not the carton milk which isn't  suitable for cooking)

4 tablespoon coconut oil, melted

6 tablespoons raw honey (I don't always have raw honey so ordinary honey will do if you are not fully paleo)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract (I may add another drop or two)

⅓ raisins

 

For the topping:

¼ cup almond flour

1 teaspoon coconut oil, melted

dash of ground cinnamon

 

2 separate mixing bowls and a 2lb loaf tin.

 

 

What you need to do:

 

Apple Pie Bread:

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Grease the bottom and sides of a 2lb loaf tin with coconut oil, and line it with grease proof  paper.

 

Sieve the almond flour, coconut flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in to a bowl and lightly mix it.

In the second bowl, whisk the coconut milk, coconut oil, honey, eggs, apple cider vinegar and vanilla extract together.

Using a spatula, add the dry mixture to the wet, just until it comes together. Do not over mix.

Add the raisins to the mix.

Use a peeler to  thinly slice the apples (other recipes leave them in chunks but by doing this it melts in to the bread as it bakes), now gently fold these in to the batter.

Pour batter into the loaf tin.

 

Now you are ready to make the crumby topping.

Using your hands, imply mix the almond flour, coconut oil and the dash of cinnamon (1/8 of a teaspoon should suffice, no more as it will take over the flavour) and sprinkle it over the top of the batter.

 

 

Here's the tricky part.... (for me, timing isn't my best attribute)

 

Bake for 30 minutes, then cover bread with tin foil and bake until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean, what I tend to do here is turn the oven down a little (perhaps to 170) for another 30 mins.

 

Total baking time should be approximately 50-60 minutes depending on your oven (fan assisted or not).

 

Set pan on a wire rack to cool.

 

 

 

Hat-tip to : http://livinghealthywithchocolate.com/desserts/warm-caramel-apple-pie-bread-paleo-gluten-free-5200/

for the original recipe with caramel, and walnuts.

Penne pasta with Smoked Salmon

So I have not tried fish with the ever growing little man who has been off his food for a week or so (not well) so thought I would change things up to give him a new taste to see if it would spark an interest in solids again ( sore throat along with ear infection and blocked nose)

What do you need?

Penne pasta

Passata

Basil

Oregano

Cheese

Smoked salmon

How to:

Boil the pasta, drain and leave back on to the heat adding passata sauce and season with basil and oregano.

Turn off the heat and let it sit while you get the cheese and salmon ready.

I used some grated red cheddar and mozzarella.

I shredded the smoked salmon lights in to small pieces.

Put the pasta in a bowl and sprinkle the cheese and salmon over the top.