carrot, apple & rhubarb muffins

I love ways to get healthy cakes/muffins into my kids. I especially love baking that incorporates vegetables, as it's just another source my kids are receiving their quota of vegetable intake for the day!

These muffins are delicious, moist and tasty and have the bonus of being gluten free, dairy free and nut free, making them a great option for lunch boxes and those events where allergy free cooking calls.

Carrot Apple & Rhubarb Muffins

2 1/2 cups/250g rolled oats (gluten free if requiring gluten free recipe) plus extra for sprinkling

1/3 coconut sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon sea salt/himayan salt

1 teaspoon baking powder'

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 carrots/200g, unpeeled, ends cut off & cut into 3 pieces each

2 stalks rhubarb, ends removed

1 apple, unpeeled, cored

1/4 cup pure maple syrup or honey

3 eggs

Olive oil, coconut oil (spray) or butter for greasing tin

METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
Place the oats into the thermomix or food processor and blitz 1 minute speed 9 or until flour forms.

Remove oats and place in a separate bowl.

Place carrots, rhubarb and apple into thermomix  and dice speed 4 for 5 seconds several times, scraping down in between until everything is chopped fairly evenly. If you don't have a thermomix just dice/grate these finely by hand.

Add in all the other ingredients including the oats. Combine together speed 4 for 20 seconds, scraping down and repeating until everything is combined well.

Fill batter into greased muffin tins and sprinkle with some extra oats if desired. Bake in oven for 20-25 mins or until golden and an inserted skewer comes out clean. They taste delicious eaten warm!

NOTE

They also freeze well. Once cooled I pack the left over ones into snap lock bags and freeze for lunch box fillers.

banana bread

There's something super comforting about banana bread, especially on these cold winter days. Banana bread is a great addition to school lunch boxes and morning tea gatherings with friends. This recipe is gluten free but rather than using gluten free flour it uses milled buckwheat. Amazingly it's the yummiest banana bread I've tasted, which I wasn't expecting considering the main ingredient! It was a winner for my husand too, which is certainly saying something!

Banana Bread

1 1/2 cups (225g) buckwheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 cup ripe bananas (approximately 3)

1 egg

1/2 cup yogurt (recipe here)

1/4 cup vegetable, rice bran, olive or coconut oil (can also use organic butter)

1/3 cup pure maple syrup or raw honey

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (recipe here)

pinch sea salt/Himalayan salt

Preheat oven to 160 degrees. 

Place buckwheat into thermomix or food processor and mill for 1 minute/speed 9. Scrape down sides and repeat if required.

Add in remaining ingredients and combine 10 seconds/speed 5. Scraping down sides and repeating if needed.

Pour into a loaf tin lined with baking paper or oiled.

Bake for 1 hour or until cooked through when tested with a skewer. 

Serve warm with butter.

banana, blueberry & chia bread

 Beware this banana bread is incredibly delicious! My kids love this recipe and the loaf disappears in one sitting if I'm not carefully monitoring the situation! It tastes best when eaten warm with some butter. It makes a great lunch box addition and is gluten free as the base ingredient is buckwheat.

Banana, Blueberry & Chia Bread

1 1/2 cups (225g) buckwheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 cup ripe bananas (approximately 3)

1 egg

1/2 cup yogurt (recipe here)

1/4 cup vegetable, rice bran, olive or coconut oil

1/3 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup (45g) chia seeds

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (recipe here)

pinch sea salt/Himalayan salt
1 cup blueberries (150g)
rolled oats for sprinkling, optional

Preheat oven to 160 degrees. 

Place buckwheat in thermomix or food processor and mill for 30 seconds/speed 9 (a little longer in food processor - till flour forms) Scrape down sides and repeat if required.

Add in remaining ingredients except bluberries and combine 30 seconds/speed 5. Scraping down sides and repeating if needed.
Stir in blueberries using a wooden spoon.

Pour into a loaf tin lined with baking paper or oiled.
Top with rolled oats if desired.

Bake for 1 hour or until cooked through when tested with a skewer. 

Serve warm with butter.

NOTES

You can replace the buckwheat for buckwheat flour if you don't have a thermomix or high powered food processor. 

If your family didn't manage to consume the whole loaf in one sitting (beware...this has been done!) cut the loaf into medium slices and place into snap lock bags with small pieces of baking paper separating each slice. It freezes very well and is a fabulous addition to lunch boxes.

nachos with guacamole & yogurt

This is a family favorite of ours and usually appears on a saturday movie night. As a mum I love to create special memories for our family and one of my boys favorite things to do is to have a movie night. At ages 2 , 4 and 5 you can imagine the mess that eating of the couch creates but to me it's worth it, because it's these moments my boys are going to remember. Nachos are normally followed by salted caramel popcorn (see recipe here) on our movie night. This recipe comes from quirky cooking (see website here). It has just been slightly adjusted to our taste and had a few additions. Thank you Jo, I love your recipes!

nachos with guacamole & yogurt

1 onion, halved

2 cloves garlic

20g olive oil

1 tin tomatoes

120g tomato paste

1 Tablespoon honey

1/2 tsp chilli powder 

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp vegetable stock paste 

2 tins of kidney beans, drained & rinsed

to bake:

1-2 packets corn chips

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

to serve:

1 cup yogurt (recipe here)

1 serve guacamole (see below)

Guacamole
8 sprigs fresh coriander
20g red onion
1 tomato, halved, deseeded
juice 1/2 lemon or lime
2-3 ripe avocados, flesh only
sea salt and pepper

Thermomix Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

To make guacamole place coriander and onion into thermomoix bowl and chop 3 seconds/speed7

Add tomato and chop 5 seconds/speed 7. Scrape down sides of bowl.

Add remaining ingredients and mix 3-5 seconds/reverse/speed 5. Clean thermomix bowl.

To make bean sauce place onion and garlic in Thermomix bowl and mix on speed 5 for 5 seconds. Add oil and saute for 2 minutes, 100C, speed 1

Add remaining ingredients except for the beans and cook for 5 minutes, 100C, speed 1

Add beans and cook for 2 minutes, 100C, reverse speed 1

Place corn chips in a casserole dish.

 Top with black bean sauce and top with cheese. Place into oven and cook 15-20 mins or until cooked through and cheese is golden.

Serve with guacamole and yohurt.

So I don't leave anyone out I've decided to start including instructions for people that don't have a thermie. So here you go:

conventional method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

To make guacamole mash avacado in a bowl. Finely chop coriander, onion & tomato. Add to bowl along with lemon/lime juice and season. Stir well to combine.

To make the bean sauce finely chop onion and garlic. Saute in a frying pan with the olive oil until onion is translucent.

Add remaining ingredients except for the beans and cook for 5 minutes on a medium heat.

Add beans and cook for 2 minutes.

Place corn chips in a casserole dish.

 Top with black bean sauce and top with cheese. Place into oven and cook 15-20 mins or until cooked through and cheese is golden.

Serve with guacamole and yohurt.

choc pancakes

 These pancakes are indulgent for sure but what a treat for a special occasion! They aren't overly sweet which means they're not sickly and because they are made from healthy ingredients you don't feel bloated afterwards. 

Chocolate Pancakes

2 1/2 cups rolled oats 

1 1/2 cups milk (almond is lovely too)

2 tablespoons protein powder (recipe here), optional

2 T melted butter 

1 tsp vanilla (recipe here)

3 eggs

2 tablespoons maple syrup

3 T cocoa powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

 Strawberries, cacao nibs & yoghurt to serve (recipe here)

METHOD
Place oats in thermomix or food processor and mill 30 seconds/speed 9 or until flour forms.

Add remaining ingredients and combine 30 seconds/speed 5 scraping down the sides and repeating if needed

Cook pancakes over medium heat in a pan oiled with ghee or coconut oil. 

Chocolate sauce

1/2 cup coconut cream

3 tablespoons cacao powder

1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (recipe here)

2 Tablespoons maple syrup

pinch sea salt/Himalayan salt

Place ingredients in a frying pan and heat over low heat until combined and hot. Serve sauce warm over pancakes with yoghurt, strawberries and cacao nibs.

pumpkin & peanut butter soup

This soup is hearty and nutritious. With the addition of the nut butter it keeps you full much longer!

Pumpkin & Peanut Butter Soup

1/2 tablespoon coconut oil or ghee

1 onion, peeled and cut in half

2 cloves garlic, peeled

10g ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 capsicum, cut in half, seeds removed

1 carrot, unpeeled, cut into 3 segments

300g pumpkin, peeled, roughly chopped
200g sweet potato, peeled, roughly chopped

1 tomato, halved

1/2 cup/140g natural peanut butter (recipe here)

1 can coconut milk 

300g filtered water

salt and pepper

Garnish:

40g green beans, trimmed length ways

1/2 chilli, sliced thinly

few springs coriander, leaves removed

2 tablespoons roasted cashews

1 lime cut into wedges

THERMOMIX METHOD

Place onion, garlic and ginger in thermomix and chop 3 seconds/speed 7. Scrape down sides of bowl.

Add coconut oil or ghee and saute 3 min/varoma/speed 1

Add cinnamon and saute 1 min/varoma/speed 1

Add remaining ingredients (except the serving ingredients) and cook 20 min/100/speed 1

Blend 1 min/speed 9, gradually increasing from speed 1 to speed 9. Garnish with toppings and serve

CONVENTIONAL METHOD

Chop onion, garlic and ginger finely.

Heat oil in a medium saucepan, cook onion, garlic and ginger, stirring until onion softens. Add cinnamon, cook stirring, 1 minute.

Add remaining ingredients (except the serving ingredients) and bring to the boil and simmer, uncovered 15 minutes until the sweet potato and pumpkin are tender.
Blend soup in batches, until smooth.

Season. Ladle into serving bowls. Garnish with toppings and serve.

NOTES

I do notice this soup tastes better using the conventional method so even though I have a thermomix I generally use my thermomix for chopping the onion, garlic and ginger and then in the final blending process.

curried vegetable & lentil soup

This is a delicious winter warmer and makes a great lunch or dinner. It is dense in nutrition considering the number of vegetables in it, and the addition of lentils means you stay full for hours afterwards.

curried vegetable & lentil soup

1 tablespoon coconut oil or ghee (recipe here)

1 brown onion, peeled and halved

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1 stalk celery, cut in thirds

1 zuccini, cut in thirds

1 carrot, unpeeled, cut in thirds

1/2 tablespoon mild curry powder

400g can diced tomatoes)

1 cup lentils, rinsed and drained

850g filtered water

1 tablespoon soy sauce/tamari
Sea salt and pepper to season

2 kale leaves, trimmed, shredded 

1 tablespoon lime juice

yoghurt (recipe here) & lime segments to serve

Thermomix method
Place brown onion and garlic in thermomix. Dice 5 seconds/speed 5. Scraping down sides and repeating for 3 seconds.

Add coconut oil or ghee and saute 3 min/varoma/speed 1.

Add celery, zucchini and carrot dice 5 seconds/speed 5.

Add curry powder, cook 1 minute/100C/speed 1

Add tomaotes, lentils and soy sauce/tamari and cook 15min/100C/reverse/speed 1 .

Add kale and juice into soup. 5 seconds/reverse/speed 5 to combine. Season to taste and place into serving bowls. Serve with lime segments and yogurt

Conventional method

Dice onion, garlic, celery, carrot & zucchini. Heat oil or ghee in medium saucepan. Add onion, garlic, celery and carrot and cook, stirring, for 3-5 minutes til veges begin to soften. Add zucchini and curry powder, cook stirring 1 minute or until fragrant. 
Add tomatoes, lentils, water and soy sauce, bring to the boil. Reduce heat, simmer, covered, 10 minutes or until lentils are tender.
Stir kale and juice into soup & season to taste. Serve with yoghurt if desired and lemon wedges.

peppermint body scrub

 I've been searching for a way to use up my old coffee or cacao bean grounds for a while now. In the middle of winter my skin is always desperate for a little TLC and this year is no exception!

This recipe is super cheap, takes as little as 5 minutes to make & uses ingredients you have in your pantry. And lets be honest, who doesn't love a relaxing soak in the tub with some (inexpensive) pampering!

Peppermint Body Scrub 

1 1/2 cups course sea salt

1 cup coffee grounds or Crio Bru cacao bean grounds

1 cup coconut oil, melted

10 drops peppermint essential oil

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and place into a jar and get pampering!