Moroccan Beef and Lentil Casserole

Here we are, day 2 of my Blog, and it has been eventful!  Miss A is still sick, so had to miss the day of school, meaning I had a helper to do the shopping.  Unfortunately, as anyone with unusual allergies or intolerances knows, you cannot buy all your items in one place.  For example, Woolworths has the best GF snacks in their Macro range, but does not sell nut free, wheat free bread.  Coles has a great range of baked goods that are allergy friendly, but does not have the snack range or cake mixes.  Foodland has a good range of bread and cake mixes, but not much else.  This means I have to shop at all three stores, and usually visit a health food shop or two in the bargain.  Makes for a tired, grumpy, sick chick!  To help alleviate her boredom, I have taught her how to read and understand the ingredients on products so she can see for herself what she can eat and what she can't.

Today I did the usual marathon shop, and my Mum sat out the front of the local Woolworths with Miss A, reading and playing games.  During this exchange, a woman stole my Mum's handbag. Thank you to the security guard who found it, and the stranger who handed it in!  We all needed a cuppa after thatt!

As I always do when we leave the house, I pack  a lot of snacks for Miss A because we cannot buy her anything to eat from any food vendors.  This means that she has a lot of snacking on her menu today.  Unfortunately, because a lot of what she can eat is tasteless, and a lot of the spices and herbs are not ok on the Fructose Friendly plan, we let her do the 'grazing' style of eating, rather than expecting her to eat large amounts of food she does not like.

Here is tonight's dinner that I put in the slow cooker this morning, the house smells divine!

MOROCCAN BEEF AND LENTIL CASSEROLE

INGREDIENTS
500g chuck steak, cubed
3tsp cumin
3tsp paprika
1tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Salt for seasoning
2L homemade beef stock (mine was made with leek, celery, green capsicum, beef bones)
3 sticks celery
2 cups red lentils
2 cups Nomato sauce

METHOD
Place beef in a bowl and add the spices, mixing thoroughly.  Heat some oil in a pan and brown the meat.  Add to slow cooker with the rest of the ingredients and stir to combine.  Use the instructions of your slow cooker as a guide, I left mine all day.  Serve with steamed veg and mashed potato.

I just love easy cooking like that!  Now I will give you Miss A's eating plan for today:

Breakfast
Quinoa Porridge - 1/4 cup quinoa flakes, 1/4 cup coconut milk, 1/4 cup rice milk and cook until the texture of porridge.

Morning Tea
2 vegan mini doughnuts.  I got this recipe from Chocolate Covered Katie and love it!  Best doughnuts I have ever eaten.  Here is the link http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2013/02/22/homemade-krispy-kreme-doughnuts-the-healthy-version/

Lunch
Fried Rice - rice, diced bacon, peas and corn, simple and easy!
1 Quinoa Crumbed KFC drumstick

Afternoon Tea
Coconut Rice Custard
Pumpkin seeds - toasted with cinnamon, vanilla essence sprinkled with sugar

Dinner
Moroccan Beef and Lentil Casserole with mashed potato and steamed green beans
Gluten Free Soda Bread - my favourite wheat free bread recipe, from Doves Farms.  Here is the link http://www.dovesfarm.co.uk/recipes/gluten-free-soda-bread/

If you have any suggestions on improvements I can make to recipes or to the food I am feeding Miss A, please let me know in the comments.  See you all tomorrow!