Recipe Recommendation: September

These are the recipes that I’ve tried from other bloggers/websites that I haven’t altered that we’ve really enjoyed for the month of September. It’s nice to recommend others plus it’s also encouraging to know the recipe didn’t just work for the person posting it but for others too (I’ve tried so many recipes that just simply haven’t worked).

Apple Tea Cake

I spent HOURS trying to find a recipe for a low sugar/refined sugar free apple tea cake recipe and let me tell you there wasn’t much out there and what was looked a bit, well let’s put it this way – i wasn’t leaping at the chance to go and make them. So i found this recipe and basically reduced the sugar to only 1/2 cup, i substituted the white flour for half barley/half rye (that seems to be my standard at the moment) and i didn’t add the extra sugar on the top of the apples – i did however add the extra butter! I’m going for low sugar here, not low fat 😀 Anyway it was lovely. Everyone enjoyed it! And it was a great way to use up some apples that were getting a bit old and wrinkly…

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Recipe Recommendation: August

These are the recipes that I’ve tried from other bloggers/websites that I haven’t altered that we’ve really enjoyed for the month of August. It’s nice to recommend others plus it’s also encouraging to know the recipe didn’t just work for the person posting it but for others too (I’ve tried so many recipes that just simply haven’t worked).

Rock Cakes

So i FINALLY made a recipe from the cookbook i bought ages ago, Saved By Cake by Marian Keyes, and i can definitely recommend it! I only used half white flour, the other half being a mix of barley and rye flour, which added an even richer flavour. And they weren’t dry! I hear this is the most common complaint with rock cakes.

Coconut Flour Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

I have a container of coconut flour that i need to use up and I’ve been on the hunt for good coconut flour recipes for ages. I’ve tried a fair few and they haven’t been that nice at all. The ones that do turn out nicely usually are half almond meal, half coconut flour however almond meal is expensive and the whole point is so that i can use up the coconut flour! Detoxinista posted these on her Facebook wall not that long ago and i knew i had to try them and i was SUPER happy with the result. I reduced the amount of maple syrup to make it healthier and added the equivalent in more lemon juice so the ratios of wet/dry weren’t out. She has a creamy lemon icing recipe that goes with the muffins if you so choose however again for a healthier alternative, we left these naked 😉

Recipe Recommendation: July

These are the recipes that I’ve tried from other bloggers/websites that I haven’t altered that we’ve really enjoyed for the month of July. It’s nice to recommend others plus it’s also encouraging to know the recipe didn’t just work for the person posting it but for others too (I’ve tried so many recipes that just simply haven’t worked).

Pork & Bean Burritos

I have no idea why i have no photo for this dish except that it must have been so good we dived right into eating it after i had finished cooking and preparing. It was so easy and delicious and we’ve even made it again since. Definitely recommend!

Recipe Recommendation: May

These are the recipes that I’ve tried from other bloggers/websites that I haven’t altered that we’ve really enjoyed for the month of May. It’s nice to recommend others plus it’s also encouraging to know the recipe didn’t just work for the person posting it but for others too (I’ve tried so many recipes that just simply haven’t worked).

Fresh Tomato Spinach Garlic Pasta

I’ve followed Andrea’s blog Cooking with a Wallflower for quite some time now and i thought it was high time i tried one of her recipes. I already had all the ingredients on hand for this recipe so hence why i chose this one. It was super delicious! Tomatoes aren’t in season for us at the moment so they are a bit watery and mine didn’t stay together like they usually would but that doesn’t matter! And i cheated and used frozen spinach so even though it was tasty, it doesn’t look as presentable as Andrea’s 😉

Creamy Broccoli and Spinach Pasta

I don’t know if i can really recommend the original recipe for this one as i altered it a bit too much however i didn’t want to leave it out for this month either. I’m sure the original is delicious, i just didn’t have the seeds on hand (pepitas and sunflower) and instead of using evaporated milk and lemon juice, i thought I’d give the Greek yoghurt substitution a go that everyone is touting is a healthier alternative. It worked out wonderfully! Super tasty.

Recipe Recommendation: April

These are the recipes that I’ve tried from other bloggers/websites that I haven’t altered that we’ve really enjoyed for the month of April. It’s nice to recommend others plus it’s also encouraging to know the recipe didn’t just work for the person posting it but for others too (I’ve tried so many recipes that just simply haven’t worked).

Real Cream of Chicken Soup

We had a leftover chicken carcass from having had a roast chicken and i really felt like a creamy chicken and corn soup. I used this recipe as a base and added some corn plus pasta for extra carbohydrates. It was delicious and definitely the best way to get an extra meal out of a chicken carcass!

Recipe Recommendation: March

These are the recipes that I’ve tried from other bloggers/websites that I haven’t altered that we’ve really enjoyed for the month of March. It’s nice to recommend others plus it’s also encouraging to know the recipe didn’t just work for the person posting it but for others too (I’ve tried so many recipes that just simply haven’t worked).

Black Bean Vegetarian Burritos

I felt like burritos for dinner and we had a can of black beans in the cupboard so i found this recipe online and thought I’d give it a try. I didn’t have any capsicum on hand so that would have added a nice touch however it was still delicious and went well in a burrito. It was super rich though so you don’t need much in each burrito and this mix went further than the recipe said.

Soft and Chewy Ginger Cookies (gluten & grain free)

Kel saw a friend post this recipe on Facebook and asked if i could make them for Christmas. We already had a bunch of treats for Christmas so i said i would make them later. I finally did and he loved them!

Recipe Recommendation: February

These are the recipes that I’ve tried from other bloggers/websites that I haven’t altered that we’ve really enjoyed for the month of February. It’s nice to recommend others plus it’s also encouraging to know the recipe didn’t just work for the person posting it but for others too (I’ve tried so many recipes that just simply haven’t worked).

Date and Walnut Loaf

I mentioned in our last post that Kel was heading to the Philippines on a mission trip with our church. While he was there, Ethan and i stayed my Mum, Step-Dad and brother in Sydney. My parents were on a refined sugar free fast for the time i was there so i decided to try making this date and walnut loaf that only uses the dates as the sweetener. It turned out really well and was a hit with everyone!

Again, i was hoping to be able to recommend more recipes however i have to admit I’ve been a bit slack in the cooking/baking department. Hopefully next month!

Recipe Recommendation: January

These are the recipes that I’ve tried from other bloggers/websites that I haven’t altered that we’ve really enjoyed for the month of January. It’s nice to recommend others plus it’s also encouraging to know the recipe didn’t just work for the person posting it but for others too (I’ve tried so many recipes that just simply haven’t worked).

It’s a week late this month because we were busy preparing for Kel’s mission trip with church to the Philippines!

Spinach & Feta Quiche

Obviously a spinach & feta quiche isn’t a hard thing to make however i wanted ratios more than anything. I didn’t have any mushrooms so i didn’t add them however apart from that i followed the recipe and it turned out so well! It was extremely delicious.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

I’ve been wanting to find some more treat recipes for Ethan and he loves sultanas so i was looking up sugar free, refined sugar free or low sugar sultana cookie recipes and i couldn’t find any! Anyway i thought well instead, why i don’t i just find a chocolate chip cookie recipe and substitute the chocolate chips for sultanas? And so that is what i did. And they turned out really well! Ethan wasn’t a huge fan however Kel was, haha.

And I’m so glad that I’ve been able to recommend some recipes again this month! I’m disappointed that i couldn’t recommend more, especially as i tried more than the two above however it’s better than none.

Recipe Recommendation: December

Well i haven’t been having a lot of luck lately with other people’s recipes as once again, i have NO recipes to recommend!

January is sure to be a month of trying many other people’s recipes as i have lots of ingredients to use up (you know when you have jars of things in the fridge and you just want them GONE). So hopefully i will have at least one!

Anyway, so i don’t leave you empty handed, these were our Christmas Eve treats that i baked/assembled. Coconut Ice (bottom container was for Kel’s Dad as his Christmas treat), traditional Scottish petticoat tails, and rum balls decorated as Christmas puddings (the ones on the left are alcohol free for Kel’s Mum). I didn’t have any rum though did i? So i used some homemade scotch that one of our customers gave us for Christmas – delicious! And for my first attempt, i am actually SO proud of my little Christmas puddings.

Refined Sugar-Free and Wheat Free Banana Cake

Most households have “their banana cake recipe”, which is always “the best banana cake recipe”. Well this is our households!

Originally this recipe was full of sugar and wheat however I’ve experiemented with it a number of times to make it what it is today. And it’s still equally as delicious!

We find that this recipe works best if you use frozen bananas so the mixture has time to caramelise and the sloppier the bananas the better.

The cake also tastes fantastic when frozen and defrosted for some reason. It’s super fudgy.

Refined Sugar-Free and Wheat Free Banana Cake

Ingredients

125g butter
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 overripe bananas, frozen is best
1 egg
1 cup rye flour
1/2 cup barley flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170°C fan forced and grease and line a loaf tin (or standard cake tin) with baking paper
2. Melt the butter, honey, maple syrup, vanilla and the frozen bananas in a large saucepan. As the bananas defrost, mash them into the mixture. When fully mashed, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flours and baking powder.
4. Quickly whisk the egg into the banana mixture to avoid it scrambling and then stir in the flour mixture. Add the milk and stir until just combined.
5. Bake for approximately 30 minutes