Quinoa Hash Browns, and be kind to each other!

As a mother, I try to keep abreast of healthy eating options.  We all do.  We join parenting websites, healthy eating blogs, and Pinterest so we know how to make our Acai berry, quinoa chia puds look like rainbows. We constantly assess our parenting based on what we find on the web, and usually find ourselves wanting.  So we try harder and seek answers from our peers via chatrooms, forums and Facebook pages.

The problem with this is that many of us are very judgemental of each others journeys.  We believe that the information we have gotten from our painstaking research is better or more complete than the information our peers have gotten from their painstaking research.  Unfortunately, for every eating plan, way of life or super ingredient out there, there is as much research to say that it is rubbish as there is to say it is the answer for perfect health.  We also need to consider that we all have different goals and ideas of what is healthy.

I remember a conversation with a close friend, that we had when our children were very little.  We met for a picnic, and both brought food to share.  We brought Christmas pretzels and chips, they brought cake and chocolate (this was prior to our knowing about Miss A's allergies!).  I was worried about my children eating cake and chocolate due to the high sugar and fat content.  I allowed them a small amount.  My friend was concerned about his children eating pretzels and chips due to the high salt and carbohydrate content.  This struck a chord with me in that we were both trying to be the best parents we could be, but we were coming at the problem from opposite angles.

One of the chat pages I belong to had a similar discussion yesterday regarding soy.  Several mums were asking about soy as a substitute for dairy in the case of lactose intolerance.  What they received as advice was a minefield of polar opposites.  From people telling them that soy is a great milk substitute, people saying that only Japanese soy is ok as fermented, people saying only unfermented Australian soy is ok, and people saying all soy is bad and every male child that drinks soy will grow man boobs.  I am not even exaggerating!  This very quickly dissolved into personal attacks, but the most confronting problem was that all sides of the argument had scientific evidence to support it.  How can this be?  I don't know, but it is very frustrating.  How can we as consumers have any idea of what to feed our families, when even the experts can't agree?

All I can say is that we need to be respectful of each other's points of view.  All of us who are dealing with healthy eating issues and allergies and intolerances are doing our best.  We are researching as much as we can and picking out what we can handle and making do with what we cannot.  Because of this, we all need to be supportive of each other and not attack other parents for doing their best.  Just because a child has packets and additives in their lunch box does not mean they are less loved or cared for.  It means that today his Mum gave him biscuits and muesli bars for lunch.  Just because a lunch box is all healthy, hand made food does not mean that child is brainwashed and missing out on treats.  It means that her Mum is trying to feed her healthy alternatives to hopefully make her healthier and happier.  Or that the child is allergic to everything and her mother has no choice.....

Rant over!  Now here is a really yummy breakfast idea that has quinoa in it.  I don't know if this means it is healthy, or that we will now live forever for eating this Superfood, but it tastes good and provides a different grain for those who are gluten free.

I got this recipe from a blog called A Beautiful Mess, made a few obligitary changes and now it is a regular in our house.  I use a pancake maker, a cheap electric appliance that I got from a cheap shop, to make my hashbrowns.  This means that apart from a small amount of spray oil on the hotplates, there is no added fat.  They are lovely fried in butter, not so lovely fried in Nuttelex.

QUINOA HASH BROWNS

Ingredients

1/3 cup tricoloured quinoa (any quinoa will do, but this one looks prettier)

2/3 cup water

1 1/2 cups grated raw potato

1 egg

Season All to taste

Chives to taste

Optional - 1/2 cup grated lactose free cheese

Method

Place quinoa and water in a saucepan.  Bring to the boil.  As bubbles start to appear, cover and turn down the heat to low.  Leave simmer to 10 mins.  Turn off the heat, and leave covered for 10 mins so that the quinoa can absorb the water.

In a bowl, mix the potato, egg, SeasonAll, chives, cheese (if using) and quinoa.  When combined, place spoonfuls either into Pancake Maker and cook until golden.  Can also be fried in butter, nuttelex or presumable coconut oil.  Flip when a golden crust forms on the bottom.

Great served with eggs and bacon.

Sliders

It has been hot here the last few days.  Hot and humid.  I really hate the humidity, and it makes me quite grumpy.  This makes coming up with fab dinner ideas nearly impossible.  I recently had a birthday, a big enough number not to disclose here, and got a great cookbook for my Thermie called Quirky Cooking by Jo Whitton.  She had a heap of dietary issues and has made up the best recipes to compensate.  I decided to try her Spelt Bread.  Miss A has never tried spelt, but I thought it was worth a go.

I made up the dough and it rose beautifully!  Like no GF dough as ever risen!  I was so excited!  I split into 12 small dinner rolls and baked.  The smell of baking bread that isn't GF is divine!  I had nearly forgotten the joy of kneading dough and stretching and moulding of elastic wheat dough.  It was a heavenly experience.

I had some meatballs in the freezer, pork and vegetable from Ottoway Pork, that flatten into beautiful little mini hamburger patties.  These went beautifully with our rolls to make yummy little sliders.  In case you haven't been bitten with the 'slider bug', a slider is two or three tiny hamburgers served in many restaurants at the moment.  I am not quite sure of the point, a normal size hamburger hits the spot the same, but these things seem to be everywhere.  They worked well for tonight as my kids only manage one of them.  Spelt rolls are much more filling than their GF counterparts.

Unfortunately, Miss A has had a gut reaction to these.  Within an hour of comsumption, her gut was swollen and hard.  I hope this is a small reaction so we can consider introducing again in a month's time, but if not, it was worth the try.  Any possibility of expanding her diet is worth the risk.

I will share the recipe anyway, you may be able to tolerate it where she cannot.  Just be aware that spelt is a type of wheat, and does contain gluten.  It is a more ancient form and can be more easily digested for a percentage of the population, but not for everyone.

SPELT BREAD ROLLS

Ingredients

100g brown rice

400g white spelt flour

2 tsp dried instant yeast

1 1/2 tsp salt

40g olive oil

1 egg

230g water, room temperature

Method

Place brown rice into Thermomix mixing bowl and mill 1 min/ speed 9.

Add all remaining ingredients and mix 6 sec/speed 6.  Then knead 2 min/knead function.

Transfer dough to Thermomat and let rise until doubled in size, approx 30 mins.

Roll into 12 balls and place together on a tray lined with baking paper.  Bake 30 mins, 200C.

Non-Thermomix Option

Use brown rice flour instead of brown rice.  Mix and until smooth in a mixing bowl, knead until smooth on a pastry sheet or floured surface.  To rise, place in an oiled bowl in a cold oven on the middle rack.  Fill a roasting pan with boiling water and place on bottom of oven.  Shut door to keep in all the steam.  Allow to dough to rise for 30 mins.  Remove roasting pan before baking.

To turn into these cute sliders, I added butter (because it is yummy!), cheese, nomato sauce (recipe here) and lettuce.  For Mstr H's to be dairy free, I used Nuttelex and soy cheese on his slider.

First Day Back at School

Well, it is the first day back at school for Master H (Year 5) and Miss A (Year 3).  We are lucky that they have both kept the same teacher as last year, so no need to break in a new one!  I love that we already have a good rapport and working realtionship with both teachers in regards to dietary and health needs.  Makes life so much easier!

Amongst the hustle and bustle of the first day, with hair brushing, tieing new shoes and making sure all new drink bottles and hats are labeled, the kids didn't feel like a proper breakfast.  As they both love the King William Chocolate smoothies from Boost, I have made a fair copy that they enjoy on those days when they don't want to eat.  As this had a lot of milk in it, I had to change it up a bit this morning to cater for Master H not being able to tolerate dairy.

I will give you both recipes to do with as you will, my kids love them!

KING WILLIAM CHOCOLATE RECIPE

Ingredients

1 cup milk

1/3 cup Greek Yoghurt

1 banana, frozen

2 scoops vanilla ice cream

4 tsp Sustagen Gold Dutch Chocolate

2 tsp cocoa powder

1 handful ice cubes

Method

Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.

Makes two small smoothies.  The frozen banana makes it creamy, and the Sustagen Gold is packed with vitamins.

DAIRY FREE KING WILLIAM CHOCOLATE RECIPE

Ingredients

1 cup Quinoa and Chia milk (or your preferred choice)

2 tbsp Quinoa Flakes

2 tbsp Coconut Yoghurt

2 scoops Soy Vanilla Ice Cream

1 banana, frozen

4 tsp cocoa powder

1 handful ice cubes

Method

Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.  

Voila! An easy brekky for fussy kids that tastes good.  Also a lot cheaper than buying smoothies, too!

Party Share Plates

Miss A's class was having a shared recess today.  This is where all the Receptions and Year 1s take in a plate of food to share.  Obviously these sorts of situations can be stressful with dietary issues, and there is no real right way to tackle them.  Because of the stress that can be felt, I thought I would share with you what I do to give you ideas for tackling your own challenges.

Firstly, I like to take a selection of food so that if there is nothing else she can eat, Miss A has some variety to choose from.  Given all the yummy-looking food that will be there, it also needs to be presented nicely.  She misses out on so much, the last thing she needs is to share an ugly plate of food.  I also try to make the plate healthy-ish, but palatable so she doesn't feel unsatisfied.

For this recess, I decided to make watermelon trees, choc dipped strawberries and some gluten free chocolate muffins.  I cheated and used the Orgran Chocolate Muffin mix.  Usually for this mix I add a grated zucchini, it makes it really moist and yummy with the hidden veg to add nutrition, but from past mistakes I have realised that these things are an aquired taste born from necessity.  None of Miss A's friends appreciate this sort of effort so her food ends up being passed over by the other children as 'yukky' or 'strange'.  Instead I made as per the packet instructions and used a delicious chocolate butter frosting to top.  The recipe for the frosting I got from google, but cannot remember the page.  Feel free to let me know if it is your recipe and I will give credit.

It is 1 cup butter and 1/2 cup cocoa, whipped until smooth.  Add 5 cups pure icing sugar and 1 tsp vanilla essence and continue beating.  Gradually add small amounts of milk until the desired consistency is reached.  I made this as a soft frosting to be extra gooey and yummy for little people.  If you have never choc dipped a strawberry, just melt some choc melts (I used dark, but white or milk work too), and dip the strawberries in, leaving the green leaves at the top.  Place onto some baking paper on a tray and put in the fridge to harden.  The chocolate will not stick to the baking paper so this works perfectly.

You don't need to do a sweet platter, nice savoury platters are easily achieved with your favourite quiche slice recipe, popcorn and veg cut into sticks, or popcorn, cheese and ham sticks and gluten free jaffas makes a lovely supper.  Lots of ideas to get creative with.  With important thing is variety and presentation.  This is what makes it bearable for little people who can't eat off of anyone else's plate.

Let me know your ideas in the comments.

BBQ Season

Here we are, at the end of Spring and BBQ's are being fired up in every backyard.  This presents its own problems for those who are have allergies and intolerances.  Even with the beautiful array of lean meats and veg to put on the grill, most people go for prepackaged sausages and patties that contain all of the foods that we or our loved ones can't eat.  Most contain onion and garlic, a banned food for Fructose Malabsorption, and/or gluten for coeliacs or those intolerant or allergic to wheat or gluten.  The other issue is salad dressings or the chosen vegetables in the salad.

Tonight, being the tail end of a 35C day in Adelaide, we have guests coming over for a BBQ dinner, so as I was pressing my burgers and marinading my eggplant I thought I would share the recipes with you.  I am not as organised as I would normally be, as Miss A had to stay home today.  It appears she has caught Mstr H's virus from last week.  She is itchy, spotty (eczema) and running a temperature periodically.  Argh!  I had hoped to have a sick-day-free school term for her, but we are now up to 4 days off.  Oh well.  With vague symptoms like this, Miss A usually has a swollen, hard, sore tummy, and this is no exception.  She is also inflamed 'down below', leading to redness and pain.  All due to her digestive issues.

Back to my yummy food!  I have previously given you my hamburger recipe, so here is one for chicken burgers!

CHICKEN BURGERS
INGREDIENTS
500g chicken mince
1/2 cup nomato sauce
1 carrot (grated)
1 tbsp tamari soy sauce
1 tsp paprika
herbs and spices to taste

METHOD
Mix all the ingredients together well.  Separate mix into 8 equal portions.  Using your hands, shape each portion into a round, hamburger shape.  Grill carefully on a BBQ or in a frypan.  Remember that these burgers are fragile, so may break apart if you are not careful when flipping.  Serve with veg or in a gluten free roll of your choice.


The best accompaniment for these is corn on the cob with butter, marinated eggplant and stuffed field mushrooms.  Here are the recipes for the eggplant and mushrooms.

MARINATED EGGPLANT
INGREDIENTS
2 eggplants
1/2 cup Balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp tamari soy sauce
herbs and spices to taste

METHOD
Slice the eggplant fairly thinly, each slice should be about 2 mm thick.  Place rounds overlapping in a large seal-able container.  Mix the remaining ingredients thoroughly.  Pour evenly over the top layer of eggplant and seal the lid.  Shake the container to distribute the marinade evenly.  Sit for at least 30 mins.  BBQ and serve.


STUFFED FIELD MUSHROOMS
INGREDIENTS
Field mushrooms or any large mushroom
1 pkt spreadable cream cheese
chives
diced bacon
black pepper

METHOD
Mix together the cheese, chives, bacon and pepper.  Carefully remove the stem from the mushrooms.  Fill the hole with the cheese mixture.  BBQ until cooked.  Yummo!

I hope you enjoy!  Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Green Smoothy and Halloween

Last night, we did Trick or Treating at a lovely street party run by one of the mums at school, you know who you are!  The issue with this sort of activity is that Miss A cannot eat most of her haul.  This leads to the night being fraught with emotional highs and lows as we try to guide her to make sensible choices about the lollies she can and cannot eat, without crushing her little spirit in the process.

The way we managed this was to take our usual picnic for the shared dinner, this week's selection was GF lepinja rolls with homemade schnitzels and salad greens, with a salad and some strawberries.  We also took a selection of chocolates and some lollies from Sue Shepherd's gluten free and fructose friendly lollie collection.  I highly recommend these lollies!  Anytime we are going to a party, fete or gathering where there is likely to be lollies and other sweet foods we have a small bag of these for Miss A.  They are not recommended in large quantities, this is always a no-no for people with Fructose Malabsorption, but a small handful so she doesn't miss out is fine.

Given that all of Miss A's friends and school chums are really understanding, I love our little school for how inclusive they are, she had no problems swapping her lollies for chocolates so she still got a pretty nice selection of sweets without making herself sick.  It was, as always, a lovely night, and we walked away from the experience with renewed confidence that we can live with this lifestyle and still raise two well adjusted, normal children who have not missed out on all the fun things due to circumstance.  If you put in the planning, anything is possible, regardless how difficult your eating plan needs to be.


Green smoothy time!  Because of how educated my kids have become through this process, they have both been really eager to try a green smoothy for a healthy breakfast option.  All the recipes I have come across either have ingredients that Miss A cannot tolerate or are outright allergic to, or things that are not readily available in Adelaide or I have not heard of.  This has led to us not yet giving this a try.  Even a search on the web for Fructose Friendly recipes came up with recipes that are not ok for us, for example, they all call for banana as the main ingredient, a big no-no for Miss A, or nuts which we have to avoid completely.  One even called for cherries which are on every High Fructose list I have ever seen!

Once again, invention needed to be my saviour.  We gave this a go, and it was drunk by both kids and only uses ingredients that we can consume readily.  There are a couple of moderate fructose ingredients in there, but with the high percentage of low fructose ingredients, I think the balance works.  It is not an attractive looking drink, being a muddy orange colour, but is packed with nutrients and tastes pretty good.  If too strong for your taste, add extra coconut juice/water to thin it out.

GREEN SMOOTHY
INGREDIENTS
1 cucumber
2 sticks of celery, with leaves attached
2 tangelos, peeled
1 punnet strawberries
1 carrot
2 cups coconut juice or coconut water

METHOD
Put all ingredients except the coconut juice/water through a juicer.  Add the coconut and mix to combine.  Serves 4.

Give it a try and see what you think!  You could try some spinach leaves to improve the colour and boost the iron as well.  Let me know how you went in the comments.

Hamburger Patties

Spring is always a busy time for us, and this year even more so.  This is why I have been so quiet lately!  We have had a lot of specialist appointments for Miss A, school has started back and after school activities are in full swing.  Miss A and Mstr H both have concerts coming up, and both are starting up miniball (little basketball), which should be interesting...........neither are naturals with balls!  I have joined Weight Watchers to deal with my weight problem, as well.

We have been messing around with lots of fresh produce in the kitchen, all as a way to improve the health of our little family.  Both kids get really excited when I get the juicer out of the cupboard, or the ice cream machine to make frozen treats!

All is looking positive in our little house!  We have even dusted off the BBQ, in the midst of Spring Cleaning, which has given rise to this gem of a recipe I want to share with you.  I love hamburgers!  There, I said it!  Unfortunately, I hate the prepackaged kind, but prefer the gourmet, juicy, fat laden kind that you get in cafes and restaurants.  I had never made them myself, as I really dislike playing around with raw meat, but when in need a quick picnic dinner one night, gave this a go.  They are yummy!  The kids both ate two each, with veg, and it is now a staple in our house.  They work hot or cold, with or without the bun.


HAMBURGER PATTIES

INGREDIENTS
500g lean, organic beef mince
1 handful garlic chives
1/2 cup nomato sauce
100g diced bacon
SeasonAll and Mixed Herbs to taste
8 slices Colby (or equilavent) cheese

METHOD
Mix all the ingredients (except the cheese) in a large bowl.  When combined, separate into 8 even portions.  Using your hands, flatten and shape the portions into hamburger patties.  Heat and oil a large fry pan or BBQ.  Carefully place the burgers on the heat, remember they are fragile.  After 2 mins, carefully flip and place a slice of cheese on the cooked side to melt.  Should be cooked after 2 mins on second side.

We served these with sauteed Silverbeet, straight from the garden, and barbequed Portabello mushrooms.  You can serve with a roll or bread, but they are lovely on their own.  With the sauce in the mix, you don't really need any condiments, depending on your taste.

I hope you enjoy these as much as we do!  Let me know what you think in the comments.  Will keep you updated with test results for Miss A when they come in.

Baked Beans

It has been a busy couple of days for our little family.  Miss A had a big singing audition, should hear today, and Mstr H had his first Acrobatics competition.  Love my beautiful kids.  Hayfever season has really knocked them about, too, so we are going through tissues like you wouldn't believe.  Oh well.

Because Miss A has been not loving breakfasts, but has been eating a lot more lately, I put on my thinking cap.  It dawned on me, baked beans!  So here is my adaptation of a recipe from the Choice Practical Cooking for Babies and Toddlers book.  I have made it easier to make, Fructose Friendly and Gluten Free, and it is pretty yummy, especially on toast.  Miss A loves the LifeStyle Bakery Chia and Quinoa bread.


BAKED BEANS
INGREDIENTS
1 tin beans of your choice (kidney, white, butter, cannellini), drained
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 cup nomato sauce
100g diced bacon
1/2 tsp each dried chives, mixed herbs, SeasonAll
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp tamari soy sauce

METHOD
Place all ingredients into a large saucepan and bring up to the boil.  Lower heat and simmer for 15 mins or until beans are soft, stirring occasionally.  Sauce should thicken and reduce.  Serve spread on buttery toast of your choice.

Mstr H had two serves this morning!  Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.  What is your favourite wheat free bread?

Mouthwatering Meatball Sauce

I think just about everyone loves IKEA meatballs.  Unfortunately with Miss A's dietary restrictions, this is not an option for us anymore.  One day she may be able to eat these things, but we are still waiting for her health to improve to a level that we can try things.  We have too many days of her being in pain and unwell to even attempt anything like that.  I always try to look for the easy way to do things, and this shows in this recipe.  The first cheat is that I buy the meatballs.  Woolworths has a range of beef and lamb meatballs that are gluten, wheat and nut free so I start with those.  They are pretty cheap too!  Not the best meatballs I have ever tasted on their own, but cook them in this sauce and you will be convert!  (I hope)

MEATBALL SAUCE
INGREDIENTS
1 kg beef or lamb meatballs (premade or make your own, up to you)
1 cup beef stock (see recipe below)
1 cup nomato sauce (see recipe below)
1/2 cup thickened cream
herbs and spices to taste

METHOD
Place meatballs in a large frypan in a single layer.  Poor over the stock, this will stop them sticking a burning.  Heat, stirring, until stock comes to the boil.  Add nomato sauce and herbs and spices.  Continue cooking, stirring occasionally so the meatballs cook evenly, until the meatballs are cooked.  Stir in cream.  You can serve at this stage, or keep cooking until the sauce reduces and thickens.  I serve these with mash potatoes and silverbeet out of the garden, sauteed in butter.  Yumm!  I even caught my mum and husband eating the sauce out of the pot last time!   It is so yummy!

Now to recap, here are the recipes for stock and nomato sauce again.  I know they are on a previous post, but if you like the ease of it all being together, then here it is!

NOMATO SAUCE
INGREDIENTS
1 sml beetroot, peeled and diced
6 carrots, sliced
3 sticks celery, diced
1 leek, finely sliced
1 1/2 cups water
herbs and spices, to taste

METHOD
Place all ingredients in a pot, cover and simmer until vegetables are soft.  Blend until smooth.  Replaces tomato in most recipes, works as a salsa, pizza sauce, pasta sauce, flavouring in casseroles and soups, everytime you see 'tomato paste' or 'tinned tomato' in a recipe.

BEEF OR CHICKEN STOCK
INGREDIENTS
1 kg beef bones or chicken frames
1 leek, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
2 sticks celery, sliced
1 green capsicum, seeded and chopped
10 cups water
herbs and spices

METHOD
Place all ingredients into a slow cooker and leave overnight or up to 2 days.  Skim off the fat, and strain into a container, ice cube trays or lined muffin trays for freezing.  Use whenever a recipe calls for stock or a stock cube.  Lasts up to 4 days in the fridge or indefinitely in the freezer.

I hope you like my blog and senseless chatter, as much as I like doing it for you.  Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Egg Puffs

My sick little girl is still sick!  Doctors this morning, with the standard diagnosis - it is just a virus.  This may be so, but we are on our third day off of school this term, and it is only week 2.  Miss A's eczema is out of control, so we are back off of milk and soy to see if that is the problem, but I suspect it is this nasty virus causing the problems.

Here is another fun egg recipe that includes veggies.  It comes out of the Jessica Seinfeld book - Deceptively Delicious, where she adds veg puree to just about everything.  Most of the recipes are not fructose friendly, but a few, like this one, are fantastic.  In the recipe she uses pumpkin, but I have found mashed carrot to be Miss A's favourite, while Mstr H prefers pureed spinach.  To puree the spinach in my blender, I add the eggs to it for moisture, otherwise it just jumps the leaves around without blending them.

INGREDIENTS
2 large eggs
4 large egg whites
1/2 cup veg puree or mash, depending on what veg you use.  Steam your veg of choice (or raw if leafy) and mash or puree as needed
2 tbsp grated cheese
2 tbsp all purpose flour (I use maize flour)
1/2 tsp baking powder
sprinkle of salt for seasoning

METHOD
Preheat oven to 200C.  Coat 6 ramekins with spray oil and place on a tray.  In a large bowl, whisk eggs, egg whites, puree/mash, cheese, flour, baking powder and salt until combined.  Divide mixture between cups and bake for 15 mins, or until puffed up and cooked all the way through.  Serve on a plate with some warm, cut up tortilla wrap (gluten free of course) or some gf toast soldiers.

Great to take as a lunch too.  Quite tasty cold.

Let me know what you think in the comments.

Green Eggs and Ham (well, bacon actually)

Today is one of those rare days where I have no children.  Thank you Mama and Papa!  So I was wracking my brain on what to write on the blog, and decided to draw on one of Mstr H's favourite recipes, that is still allergy friendly.  Over the last couple of weeks we have been reintroducing eggs, milk and soy to Miss A's diet with success in small amounts, so the occasional eggy breakfast will soon be part of our life again, yay!  I love this recipe as it is chock full of leafy green spinach, tasty and fulfills all childhood quotas by being a direct quote out of a Dr Seuss book!  What more could you want?

GREEN EGGS AND HAM

INGREDIENTS
lg handful baby spinach leaves
4 eggs (depending on how many people you are feeding)
splash milk
lemon pepper
100g diced bacon, cooked until crisp
grated cheese for sprinkling

METHOD
Place spinach, eggs and milk into a blender and blend until smooth.  Spray a frypan with oil and add mixture with some lemon pepper to taste.  Fry like normal scrambled eggs, stirring constantly, until cooked.  Add the bacon and mix through.  Serve in bowls with a sprinkle of cheese, or on toast if you prefer.

We love this as a light dinner for the kids when they aren't very hungry, or as a snack before swimming.  It is very green!

Let me know what you think in the comments.

Quinoa Crumbed KFC

My idea is to give you an insight into day-to-day cooking and eating for my Miss A, as so many of my friends are intrigued by what I actually feed her given the restrictions.  I hope this will be a ray of light for anyone else in a similar situation.

First off, Google is my best friend.  I have found I can type searches like 'wheat free nut free noodle recipes' and get some choices to use.  This has saved my life!  By taking these recipes and making the necessary changes for the diets we are using I can give my little one as varied a diet as possible.

Invention has also been a big help, and making sure my kitchen is stocked at all times with the necessary ingredients for everything she likes to eat.  Bearing in mind, take out is NEVER an option for us.  There is no take away food that meets her needs.

So here is today's menu for her:

Breakfast - Freedom Foods Cocoa Bombs (a special treat as she has a sinus infection today)
                 A cornbread muffin - I use the Orgran Cornbread mix, I have had no success making cornbread from scratch without the milk or egg.  It is too crumbly.

Morning Tea - A vegan doughnut (recipe to come in the next couple of days)

Lunch - Homemade Pumpkin Soup (recipe to come on future posts)
             Macro popcorn, small packet

Afternoon Tea - Coconut Rice Custard

Dinner - Quinoa Crumbed KFC, Chips, Green beans

Dessert - Homemade iceblock

This is not a normal day menu, this is the 'comfort food' version that we trott out on weekends and when she is sick.  Tomorrow will be better, I promise!  As you can see I do use premade ingredients where appropriate, but not often.  There are not many out there that I can use.  But if there is one that fits the diet and makes my life easier, I say 'Go for it!'.  I have not need to prove myself to anyone.

QUINOA CRUMBED KFC

INGREDIENTS
Chicken pieces - thigh fillets or drumsticks work best
1/3 cup Orgran Multigrain crumbs with Quinoa
1/3 cup rice crumbs
1/3 cup maize flour
egg, beaten (or rice milk to wet the meat so the crumbs will stick)
herbs and spices of choice

METHOD
Mix the crumbs and flour together with some herbs and spices for taste.  Dip chicken in egg or milk and then coat in the crumbs.  Then bake in a moderate oven for 30 mins or deep fry, depending on choice.

Serve with chips and green veg.  Chips can be easily made by peeling and chopping a potato into chips and baking as above or deep frying.  Yum!

Let's try this again..............

Here is my attempt at a blog again.  My last try led to me posting a heap of recipes, only to find that my information was wrong.  So I tried again, and my daughter's medical condition changed and again, my recipes were wrong.  Since my last post 2 years ago, she has had so many diet changes that I have lost count, and none of them have been fun.  To add to the joy, she has been diagnosed with IBS, Fructose Malabsorption and multiple food allergies, and is currently on an elimination diet too.  She still has chronic eczema and has many digestive problems, is low in iron and spends a lot of her time in pain from bloating and abdominal distention.  Basically, she is a mess, but we love her anyway.

With my journey, many of my friends have suggested I document it here to share with other people who may be going through similar things, so here goes.

I won't bore you with all the ins and outs right now, bit by bit on future blogs will be enough whinging for anyone!  Needless to say, we are currently feeding her foods that avoid egg, dairy, soy, fruit (except apricots, lemons and limes and limited strawberries.  She is allergic to wheat, oats, nuts, tomato and mint, and can only eat leafy green veg, potatoes and limited carrots and butternut.

Here are my two favourite recipes for survival - Nomato Sauce and Coconut Rice Custard.  They are easy to make and are a staple food in this house.  I am planning to put up any interesting recipes that I cook, with links to where I got the recipes from.

NOMATO SAUCE

This is a great recipe as it is easy, and can be substituted for pasta sauce, pizza sauce or even for dipping your chips and nuggets in!  It DOES NOT taste like tomato sauce, because it isn't, but is nice and light as a substitute.

INGREDIENTS
1 small beet, peeled and diced
6 carrots, diced
1 leek, diced
1 1/2 cup water
herbs, spices to taste  (don't do too much flavouring as you can do that when you cook with it)

METHOD
Place all ingredients in a saucepan with a tight fitting lid.  Bring to the boil and simmer until veggies are soft.  Blend in a blender or food processor until fairly smooth.  It does not need to be completely smooth as it is a nice veggie sauce.  Use like you would any tomato sauce or paste.


See how easy that is?  It does tend to turn your bolognaise sauce pink, but otherwise is easy to use!

COCONUT RICE CUSTARD

Miss A (who is 6 yo) uses this as a breakfast cereal, to fill up as a dessert or we add some cocoa and freeze as an iceblock.

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup arborio rice
400 ml coconut milk
200 ml rice milk or alternative of your choice
2 tbsp sugar

METHOD
Place all ingredients in a saucepan and bring up to the bowl.  Simmer for at least 20 mins, stirring often, until it has thickened to a custard consistency.