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.

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!

Strawberry Shortcake

It was my dad's birthday a while back, and when thinking of the birthday cake, which I obviously offered to prepare, I drew a blank.  You can only make mudcake so many times.  We are all getting sick of it.  I remembered seeing a recipe in the ones my mum got from the library for Strawberry Shortcake (which was a red headed doll in my day!) and thought I would give it a go.

Being a sponge-type cake I was dubious.  The gluten free ones I have tried in the past have a nasty after taste and are just 'not quite right' in the consistency/texture feel.  They have always been a big disappointment.

I tried this one, and although it is still a different consistency to a normal sponge, it works with the cream and strawberries.  Looks pretty nice too, if I do say so myself.  The recipe comes from Lola, so here goes.

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE
INGREDIENTS
100g castor sugar
2 tsp butter
1 tbsp glycerine (edible - from supermarkets and cake decorating shops)
4 tbsp hot water
100g gluten free plain flour
2 tsp gluten free baking powder
2 tsp vanilla essence

Filling:
1 punnet strawberries
250 ml cream
2 tbsp pure icing sugar
few drops vanilla essence

METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180C.  Grease sides and line the bottom of 2x20cm round cake tins.

Place the eggs and sugar in a large metal or glass bowl and hand whisk over a saucepan of hot water until the mixture is slightly warm and frothy.  Remove from the heat and continue beating with an electric beater until the mixture is thick and creamy, but not stiff.  In a separate bowl, add the glycerine and butter to the hot water and let stand for 1 minute.  Fold the flour and baking powder into the egg mixture.  Mix in the vanilla and glycerine mixture.  Fold lightly but thoroughly.  Pour into prepared tins and bake for 30 mins.  Let stand for at least 1 minute before turning onto a wire rack to cool.

Beat cream until thickened and add the icing sugar and vanilla.  Continue beating until stiff.  Reserve strawberries for decoration, and thinly slice the rest.

Place down your base cake (the least pretty of your two cakes) and spread thickly with cream.  Top with a layer of strawberries.  Place the other cake on top.  Pipe swirls of cream on to the top and decorate with strawberries.  To fan you slice thinly, but not all the way through.  Fan with fingers.  When decorated, sprinkle the entire cake with icing sugar to serve.

Yummo!  A great cake to take to someone's house or to share with a cuppa!  Let me know what you think in the comments.

Chocolate Gelato

Wow, we have had such a busy week!  Mstr H has been sick all week with a nasty virus.  I hate those vague viruses!  He is really lethargic, has a nasty cough and occasionally asthma.  Such a pain.  This has led to a lot of 'stay at home' time, but very little time to actually achieve anything.  We have also been getting together some donations to help the people in Ormoc in the Philippines after a typhoon wiped out the entire area.  So sad and so many people affected.

With all of this happening, we have been using the BBQ a lot for dinner.  I just get the meat out, cook the veg and hubby takes care of the rest!  We are even planning a BBQ Christmas this year.  Who needs a big roast, when we have prawn kebabs, salmon fillets and marinaded lamb chops instead?  Also taste testing a recipe to make a frozen Christmas pudding.  I thought choc chip strawberry icecream, vanilla bean ripple and all encased in rich chocolate fudge icecream.  Will let you know how I go.

We have also been experimenting with glucose powder as a way to introduce Miss A to some higher fructose foods.  She is loving banana smoothies with yoghurt, a handful of strawberries, rice bran and some glucose powder.  I am hoping this will mean she can eat some cherries at Christmas, by mixing them into an icecream and using the glucose to balance out the fructose.  Feeling like a mad scientist!

I also have to share the break through we have had with Miss A's eczema.  I saw an article on a current affairs show for Robertsons Skin Repair.  This is an ointment that is all natural, basically made up of cod liver oil and oatmeal, and it actually works!  You apply 3 times a day, and in our case, the eczema has cleared up.  We no longer need to use steroid creams and Miss A has a lovely smooth face free of scabs!  She is no longer itchy all the time or oozing and bleeding.  Her skin is smooth, and free of the roughness she has always had.  It is not a cure, if we don't use the eczema comes back, but it is making it liveable for us.

On to the promised recipe!  In South Australia, we have always called Italian ice cream 'gelati', so I was confused when I saw all the signage changing to 'gelato'.  Was it the same stuff, or something different?  Was it a change inspired by America, like so many of our language changes are?  The answer is that it is the same, and that the change has come from us calling it the wrong name for all those years.  Who knew?  Will be hard to make the change!  So given all of this, I googled to find Miss A's favourite flavour, chocolate!  I found this low fat recipe on taste.com.au, and it is fantastic!  It uses cornflour to make the custard base, rather than egg yolks.  I will try this method on other flavours!

CHOCOLATE GELATO
INGREDIENTS
3 cups skim milk
3/4 cup caster sugar
2 tbs gluten free cornflour
3/4 cup gluten free cocoa

METHOD
Whisk together 1 cup milk with the sugar, cornflour and cocoa.  Place the remaining milk in a saucepan and bring to the boil.  Add the cocoa mixture and continue heating until it thickens.  As it starts to thicken, remove from the heat and stir periodically.  Using the gluten free cornflour means that it will thicken on standing.

Cool to room temperature, chill for an hour.  Place in ice cream maker.  Yum!

Let me know what you think 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.

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?

Spinach and Mushroom Lasagne and Simple Chocolate Ice Cream

Looking at my past blog posts, I notice that we have been eating a lot of red meat.  Although there are reasons, Miss A is low in iron, I still felt that I needed to balance out our diet.  This prompted me to investigate some fish options and some vegetarian options.  The lasagne recipe below is not technically vegetarian, as I use beef stock in the sauce, but you can substitute that for vegetable stock if you prefer.  I also do not make my own pasta, I have not found a GF recipe that works for me, so I have used the San Remo GF mini lasagne sheets.  These have a fairly chewy consistency, so if you can get them, I recommend the frozen sheets that are fresher when thawed.  I have not included a bechamel sauce recipe as mine has failed the last 2 times I have tried to make it.  I will trial a new recipe and keep you posted.

I have also included a simple ice cream recipe.  I usually make the custard based ice creams, but these simple ones are great on the side of a nice dessert, and the kids love them in cones.  Mstr H will prefer these to the store bought ones, even though he has no dietary needs at all.  He just likes the taste!  Homemade ice cream has a freshness you just can't get in a plastic tub!

We have hit birthday season with Miss A's bday a few weeks ago, Craig's in just over a week and Mstr H's in 4 weeks.  I have decided to discard the idea of catering for Mstr H's party, and will just order in some pizzas for the boys, while taking Miss A to the movies.  Much easier than trying to make party food for a heap of 9 year old boys!  Although I am loving that I make the food my kids eat, there are times when I need to take a break and let someone else do the cooking.


SPINACH AND MUSHROOM LASAGNE

INGREDIENTS
GF lasagne sheets
1L bechamel cheese sauce
500g sliced mushrooms
500g baby spinach leaves
100g baby kale leaves
100g rocket, chopped finely
1 cup Nomato sauce
2 cups beef stock (optional - can be substituted for vegetable stock)
2 cups grated Colby cheese
Mixed herbs and spices
Knob butter, dairy free spread, or oil, as preferred

METHOD
Melt butter, spread or heat oil in a large frypan.  Saute mushrooms lightly.  Add spinach, kale and rocket and cook until wilted.  Add Nomato sauce, stock and herbs and spices to taste.  Be aware that the rocket has a pepper taste, so you may not need to add more pepper.  Simmer until reduced and sauce is thick.

Preheat oven to 180C.  In a lasagne dish, put a layer of mushroom sauce, a layer of bechamel sauce, a layer of pasta.  Repeat.  Top with remaining bechamel sauce and grated cheese.  Bake for 45 mins.


SIMPLE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM (from the Cuisinart Ice Cream booklet)

INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup cocoa
2/3 cup granulated sugar
pinch salt
1 cup whole milk (I use skim)
2 cups thickened cream
1/2 tbsp vanilla essence

METHOD
In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, salt and cocoa.  Add milk and whisk until sugar has dissolved.  Add remaining ingredients, and mix until combined.  Here, the recipe suggests refridgerating for 2 hours, but I put straight in ice cream maker.

Churn in ice cream maker until frozen, about 20 mins.  Will need to be put in freezer for about 20 mins to firm up.

Let me know what you think in the comments!  My next installment - Veal Scallopini Funghi!  Yum!

Vanilla Buttercream, Chocolate Cupcakes and Mocha Mudcake

Yesterday was Miss A's 7th birthday, and it was so busy!  By the time I made 36 mini vegan doughnuts (see my link to Chocolate Covered Katies blog in a previous post), topped with pink icing and sprinkles for school, 12 chocolate panda cupcakes and a large panda mocha mudcake, I was all worn out!  I was disappointed when the children who eat normal food did not like my creations, but most of the adults and kids who are used to GF did.  Proves that GF is an acquired taste.  It also meant that Miss A got to eat 10 of the doughnuts, so she was in heaven!  Surprisingly we didn't even get a full out for the amount of sugar she consumed, so I was really happy.  I felt renewed in my efforts that I could give my daughter a beautiful birthday, and not have a sick girl the next day.

Now, I chose pandas because they are cute, and really easy to replicate.  I cheated and bought some of the black candy melts (never again!  Really hard to work with compared to chocolate and the taste was not good either.  Normal dark chocolate next time!) and the ready-made candy eyes.  Now is the easy part, I drew a template of big, panda eye circles in biro on a white sheet of paper, a triangle nose piece and two half circles for ears.  Mstr H did the same, but smaller for the cupcakes.  Then I made a baking paper cone for piping and melted the black candy melts.  If you place baking paper over the templates, you can use it as tracing paper and the set chocolate/candy melts come right off with no fuss.  It also means you can use one template for many shapes.

I melted the chocolate/candy melts and piped the shapes and filled in, and while still wet, placed the candy eyes on top of the eye pieces.

You may think that mocha is a strange flavour for a 7 year old, but you need to understand that with the strict nature of Miss A's diet, her tastes are slightly different to most kids her age.  And yes, I use organic, decaffinated coffee in my cooking, so they get the taste, not the nasties.

The following cake recipes are not mine, they have come from cookbooks, but I am not sure which ones.  Since we started this diet, we have been copying and altering recipes to see us through from books from the library, so this is part of the collection.

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

INGREDIENTS

Dry:

1 1/4 cup gluten free SR flour

1/2 cup caster sugar

1/4 cup cocoa

1/2 cup Sweet William dairy free choc chips

Wet:

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2/3 cup water

1 tsp vanilla essence

METHOD

Preheat oven to 170C and grease and line a 12 hole muffin tin with patty pans.  Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.  Make a well in the centre and add wet ingredients.  Mix until they form a batter, but do not mix too much.  Spoon into prepared pans, filling close to the top of each case.  Bake for 15-20 mins, or until a skewer comes out clean.  Cool in tray for 5 mins before turning onto a wire rack. Top with chocolate frosting or vanilla buttercream when cool.

MOCHA MUDCAKE

INGREDIENTS

3 tbsp strong coffee

250g Sweet William dairy free choc chips

180g Nuttelex

1 tsp vanilla essence

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 cup caster sugar

3 eggs

1/2 cup fine rice flour

1/4 cup potato flour

1/4 cup maize flour

1 tsp xanthan gum

METHOD

Preheat oven to 160C.  Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin.  Place the coffee, chocolate, Nuttelex, vanilla and cocoa powder in a medium glass bowl.  Set over a saucepan of simmering water (make sure the base of the bowl does not touch the water) and stir until melted and well combined.  

Place the sugar and eggs in a large bowl and beat with electric beaters on high for 3-5 mins, or until light, fluffy and doubled in volume.  Gradually fold in the chocolate mixture, stirring gently with a metal spoon to combine.

Sift the flours and xanthan gum three times into a large bowl.  Gradually fold into the chocolate mixture with a metal spoon.

Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 50-60 mins.  Remove from oven and allow to cool in the tin for 15 mins before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

VEGAN VANILLA BUTTERCREAM 

INGREDIENTS

500g pure icing sugar, sifted

250g Nuttelex

1 tbsp vanilla essence

METHOD

Beat the butter until light and fluffy.  Add half the icing sugar and the essence and beat until all the sugar is combined.  Add the remaining icing sugar and beat til light and fluffy.  Add colouring of choice or leave white for a fluffy look.  

To create the panda look, I covered the cake completely in the buttercream, topped with a sprinkle of dessicated coconut for fur and added the chocolate shapes.  Voila!  Easy cake decorating!  haha

Let me know what you think 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.

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.