Gluten Free Pancakes

Chickpea pancakes might sound like an odd proposition for breakfast but bear with me.  Chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour or 'Besan' has a distinctive, savoury taste but there is something delicious about that served with syrup, just like that salty sweet combo of bacon and syrup is something fantastic, so was this.

The amazing thing about chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour is it has over double the amount of protein compared with wheat flour which makes them amazingly filling so a great start for the day, and, handily for coeliacs (or people choosing to avoid gluten), it's naturally gluten and wheat free.

The verdict was "nice but not quite as good as the normal ones" from the household, I disagreed.  I really liked them and I felt seriously full until lunch.

Gluten Free Pancakes - Makes enough for 3-4

Ingredients

Batter
225g, 8oz Chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour (besan)
2 tsp Gluten free baking powder
1 tsp Cinnamon
2 Apples, grated (including skin but excluding the core)
300ml, a generous half pint Milk
2 Eggs

Butter or spray oil

Butter, honey (over 1s only), golden syrup or maple syrup to serve.

Method

Blend all of the batter ingredients together including the grated apples.  I normally take them and crate them back to the core.

Heat a non stick frying pan and either rub butter over it or spray with spray oil (see my original pancake post for more instructions).

Pour or spoon on a little batter.  Keep on a medium heat and turn when the bubbles start to burst.  It might take a little trial and error to get the perfect heat.

Once ready, put on a plate and top with your choice of toppings.

Make it Thrifty

Look out for big bags of Besan or Chickpea flour in the Indian / South Asian section of your supermarket.  They're also great for making pakoras!

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7 a day challenge: Carrot cake Bircher Muesli

The things I learned the most in my first day of trying to have 7 fruits and vegetables in my diet were:

• It takes organisation
• I need to buy more fruit and veg urgently (so much so after only buying some on Monday I went out for more today)
• A 'portion' is bigger than I thought so it's not just about variety but about quantity
• It's a bit confusing what a portion size is for a child so for my 3 year old I aimed for variety and didn't get too hung up on how much he ate
• I'm going to get very bored weighing ingredients very, very quickly...

Today was a day at home with my son.

Breakfast

My first day of 7 fruit and vegetables in 7 days started with a Bircher Muesli.  It might look like a bowl of mush (ok it is kind of a bowl of mush) but it's also a great way to get raw fruit and vegetables into your breakfast.

As I said yesterday, I think the key to getting to 7 in a day is to include fruit and vegetables into every meal.

I didn't add any sugar or honey and you could if you like but both my son and I liked it as it was  ("it delicious!")

Carrot Cake Bircher Muesli - Makes 1 adult portion

Ingredients

1/2 apple grated (include the skin)
30g, 1oz Carrot finely grated
30g, 1oz Porridge oats
30g, 1oz Sultanas (Golden Raisins)
1/2 tsp Ground cinnamon

Method

Mix everything together then add milk or yogurt to taste (I like milk).  If preferred you can make this the night before and store in the fridge but I like the oats to still have a little bite so I make just before serving.

After eating it I felt really nicely full without feeling like I'd eaten something awful.  It felt like a nice fresh addition to my day actually.

An alternative recipe for Bircher muesli is here.

The interesting thing about this recipe though with it's three different fruits and vegetables (carrot, apple and dried fruit) is there aren't three portions.  A 'portion' is about 80g so this breakfast only actually contains 1.  This is going to be harder than I thought...

Snack

I don't normally have a snack but I felt in the mood to so I had 80g of a Galia Melon and the wee man had an apple.  I was up to 2 out of 7 and my son was on 1 only having had a taste of my breakfast earlier.  The other thing I did was prepare more melon for lunch tomorrow.  That way there would be no "I'm running late" excuses in the morning.

I'm not denying I would have preferred to go to the local cafe but I probably would have had a hot chocolate had I gone there, expensive and full of sugar and fat.  So in some ways this was better for me and made me wonder if this 7 a day business is more about what you miss out rather than what you include.  The sheer volume of fruit and vegetables doesn't leave a lot of space for anything else.

So at 10am I'd managed two.  I was going to have to squeeze another 5 into lunch, tea and any snacks and my son would need 6.  Thinking cap on...

Lunch

I went for my bacon and broccoli frittata for lunch.  I upped the broccoli a bit to 120g per frittata so it was more likely I'd get the full 80g for me and served with cabbage and sweetcorn on the side, I hit three for the main course.  Again I was more worried about portion size for me and to get the 160g of vegetables on the side was a much larger amount than I was expecting.  I felt very full after my meal but I'm not totally sure I could be happy eating 80g of cabbage in one sitting every day; and I like cabbage.

After lunch I was up to 5 portions and my son on 4.

Snack

A handful of black skinned grapes each.

Tea

My son had a version of this fried rice dish with added sugarsnap peas, petit pois (ok still peas but kind of different) as well as the mushrooms.  So with his snack he was on 8 different fruits and vegetables.

For me later, I had some pan fried fresh tuna with rice and a salad made from cucumber, radishes and peppers (capsicums), three vegetables but in terms of quantity only 2 portions.

For me, 7 a day achieved in terms of quantity and here are the fruits and vegetables I ate:  Apple, carrot, sultana, melon, broccoli, cabbage, sweetcorn, grapes, radishes, cucumber, pepper and I'm feeling pretty full!

Day 1 - Success so far...  But can I keep this going on a work day?

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Best Pancake recipes

Pancakes; I'm a bit of a fan; in fact, one of my very early recipes was for a sugar free American style pancake recipe so I thought, with Shrove Tuesday (aka Pancake Day or Mardi Gras) looming on 4th March this year, I'd tell you about my favourites!

The point of Shrove Tuesday was to use up all of the rich ingredients in the house like eggs and sugar before the traditional period of fasting and reflection of Lent.  Pancakes though are a fantastic way to make food quickly and easily and make a meal out of eggs (mostly, see below!)  Eggs are a great way to include vitamin D into your diet which is often lacking in our bodies at this time of year (as I look outside to the frosty ground and sun shining weakly on my garden!)

All of my recipes are made without added sugar or are low in sugar unless you add some with the topping with syrups or icing sugar which makes them great even for babies.


Sweet

My original sugar free pancake recipe is here (with step by step instructions).  This is the one I come back to again and again and was a finger food my son absolutely loved as a baby.

A slight extension from this was to include berries into the batter in my berry pancakes (defrosted frozen berries would work well at this time of year.)

I also made some for my new blog using frozen cherries which were lovely pink pancakes!

Savoury

By rights I'm no fan of a savoury pancake recipe, especially when it's a crepe wrapped around something which would work much better if it was inside cannelloni (I'm thinking spinach / ricotta mixes here particularly).

That said, I am a fan of the savoury American style batters, basically vegetable fritter recipes but my absolute favourite has to be my sweetcorn fritter recipe.

Sweetcorn in a slightly spiced savoury batter dunked into sweet chilli sauce.  If you make too many they are even great for lunch, warmed up for a few seconds in a microwave.

You can also make really decent potato pancakes which would be great with a fry up.

Traditional

For the UK anyway this is a traditional pancake recipe, a thin pancake with a filling is the traditional thing (I've chosen strawberries here but I do love lemon juice and sugar).  My recipe includes step by step instructions on how to make a traditional crepe if you're a bit lost.

Special Diets

Not everyone is able to eat every ingredient sadly and food allergies are on the rise.  I work in food safety and I'm aware of how difficult it is to live with these restrictions from day to day.  This is why I often try and find ways to make traditional recipes but avoiding some of the key food allergens.

My egg free pancakes might sound like an impossibility but there's a great thing about bananas that they lend so much structure to the batter.  It started out as an accident when I forgot to add eggs to the batter one time and realised I didn't notice the difference (so much so it took me years to repeat thinking I'd simply got it wrong and put eggs in after all!)

You do notice a slight difference in flavour with the dairy free pancakes but not in a bad way and it's great if you just don't have much milk in but need breakfast!

Unusual ingredients

I've also made a few more twists on the classic by making wholemeal pancakes or even including ground almonds (see top photo; delicious by the way).

Alternatively if you are using syrup or honey, yogurt pancakes add a slight tang which is great against the sweet topping.

I suppose this kind of development on a theme harks back to the days when the pancake was to use what was left in the cupboard before the fasting began.

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Sugar Free Apple Scones

I'm sorry, these must be the ugliest scones ever made but they do taste nice.

My son used to have this huge thing about dried apple, then, overnight, with a huge bag left in the cupboard, he decided he didn't like it anymore.

So I tried these for size and I think they're lovely (if extremely ugly!)

Apple scones - makes approx 8 small scones

Ingredients

225g, 8 oz SR flour or plain (all purpose) flour with 2 tsp baking powder
50g, 1.75oz Butter or dairy free margarine
1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon (Cinnamon powder)
100ml, 3.3 floz Apple juice
130g, 4.5 oz Dried apple

Method

Preheat the oven to 180oC (Fan), 200oC, 400F, Gas Mark 6.

Put the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, butter and chopped pieces of dried apple into a food processor.  Process till the butter is rubbed in and the apple is in small pieces (don't carry on till they disappear though!)

Turn out into a bowl and add the apple juice.  Bring together into a dough and pat out into a thick layer, certainly no thinner than an inch.  Cut using a small, round fluted or straight cutter.  Mine was 6cm (a bit more than 2 inch) diameter.

Put on a floured baking tin and reroll the scraps until the dough is used.

Brush the tops with milk (optional) and bake for 10-12 minutes or until browned and cooked through.

Serve with butter and / or apple butter if liked (if you're not worried about them being sugar free) or these would also be equally at home with cheese.  Tasty.  My son looked at them and said "no", I suggested he tried a bite and he loved them.  Just so ugly... Sorry!

Best served on day of baking or freeze, defrost and warm through slightly in a microwave.

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Sugar Free Raspberry Mousse, great for babies and toddlers

It can be easy with toddlers to ease up too much on the 'naughty' snacks and treats.  I'm certainly more relaxed than I used to be but occasionally I try to challenge myself to cut back a bit on the sugar again so I made this mousse with all natural ingredients and no added sugar or sweeteners.  The result was creamy and gently sweetened.  My son said it was "fantastic".

This would be great for all ages including babies.

Apple and Raspberry Mousse - serves 2

Ingredients

2 Leaves of gelatine (enough to set half a pint, 300ml)
150ml,  5.5 floz, 2/3 cups Unsweetened Apple and Raspberry juice (or other naturally sweet juice)
100ml, 3.5 floz, just less than 1/2 cup Double (heavy) cream

Method

Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water.

Take half of the juice and heat to boiling in a microwave.

Put the gelatine into the hot juice, leave for a few seconds then stir in.  Add the remaining cold juice, stirring in and put the juice mix in the fridge.

Whisk the cream using an electric whisk until soft peaks form.  When that's done, take the juice out of the fridge and whisk that until foamy.

Add the cream into the juice and whisk together.  Pour into dishes or glasses and chill for a few hours until set.

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Egg Free Pancakes - great for all ages

It never occurred to me that you could make American style pancakes without eggs and you wouldn't be able to notice the difference.  The only way I knew was, one time when making my normal sugar free pancake recipe, I made it as normal then got confused thinking I had more eggs in the fridge than I thought.  I was convinced for years I'd miscounted, but, this morning I gave it a go again and I was right, you don't need the egg!

Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with eggs at all and they're a great source of vitamin D but they are also a common food allergy and, if you don't have eggs in, you can still have delicious pancakes!  Result!

Egg Free Banana Pancakes

225g, 8oz, (1 and three quarters cups) of Self Raising Flour (or plain / all purpose flour plus 2 tsp baking powder)
Knob (about 30g, 1 oz, 1tbsp) butter or use non dairy spray oil
300ml, 10.5floz, (1 and a quarter cups) Milk 
1 tsp natural vanilla paste or vanilla extract
2 ripe bananas

To serve for adults and older children (optional)
A knob of butter and a drizzle of honey (over 1 year only) or syrup

Method

Weigh out the flour, put in a blender with the milk, vanilla and bananas.  Blend until fully smooth.

Warm a non stick frying pan and either rub with a knob of butter or use spray oil.

Fry in batches; turning when bubbles appear on the surface of the pancakes (see here for instructions.)

Serve!  When my son was little I got away with giving him these without toppings.  It wasn't until he was three he noticed Mummy and Daddy were having honey or syrup.  I can still get away with giving them to him as a snack though without a topping as they're naturally sweet.

These are a great first finger food or baby led weaning food for younger kids.  Cold they taste like Scotch Pancakes so are great any time.

Make it Thrifty:

This is a great way to use up over-ripe bananas.

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No added sugar banana French toast; great for babies, toddlers and adults

This one had been in the ideas bank for a while.  French toast without the sugar, but with added fruit.  It just seemed right and so great as an idea for babies or toddlers on finger foods.  The only reason I added the icing sugar on the photo was to make it look pretty.  I know, I failed.  Without bacon and syrup, French toast photography is surprisingly hard!  Especially in artificial light at 6:45am!

This is surprisingly sweet reward for my early cooking antics though.  I was expecting to serve it with drizzled honey but none was needed.

Texturally this was pretty similar to American style pancakes so a little more floppy than regular french toast but without having to open a pack of flour.  If you keep bread in the freezer; a few slices defrost easily within 15-20 minutes at room temperature meaning this is a great way to avoid waste too.

Banana French Toast - makes 3 slices

Ingredients

1 banana (see 'make it thrifty')
1 egg
2 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
3 slices of sliced bread (use wholemeal or 50/50 bread for more fibre.)
Spray oil or butter to cook

Method

Peel and blend the banana with the egg, milk and vanilla.  Make sure it's fully blended with no lumps.

Pour into a bowl.

Preheat a non stick frying pan and spray with spray oil or butter.

Dip each slice into the egg mix then cook in turn until browned on both sides.  A medium heat seemed to be best.

Delicious on it's own or serve with extra sliced banana.

Make it Thrifty:

This is a great way to use up over-ripe bananas that you don't fancy eating as they are and by freezing sliced bread and using either straight from the freezer or defrosting, you are much less likely to have wasted bread.  About 40% of bread I bought in this house used to be wasted!  No longer!

If you like this you might like this Vanilla French Toast:

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My Favourite Healthy Smart Swap Recipes

Well we're thinking on with it being New Year; time for change, renewal and as many people do, dieting.

I've said before, I'm not 100% sure that dieting works; especially if you are substituting 'diet' products for regular.  I know this is a controversial attitude, particularly considering official government advice reported in the media today.  That said though, some people really are out of the habit of eating healthily and I know I get like that sometimes and need to give myself a shake up, wake up and start to realise how delicious healthier food can be.  So rather than swapping sugary drink for sugar free, these are MY smart swap recipes!

Not all of them are salads either (even if this goats cheese salad is delicious) I can appreciate some people reject stuff like this as 'rabbit food' and need a little more encouragement towards their 5 a day.

So here are some recipes which often contain fruit and / or vegetables and have something else about them which I think makes them worthwhile as a 'healthy' recipe depending on your approach.  After all, remember, everything is ok in moderation but the important word is 'moderation' not 'everything'!

Frittata is a great way to get the flavour of a quiche without all of the fat and refined carbohydrate from the pastry, also a great way to get vegetables into your family's diet.

Fresh tuna is an excellent source of Omega 3.  Most of us don't have the right kind of balance of these good fats in our diet and oily fish like fresh tuna is one of the best sources.  Not all kids are massive fans though.  No problem with these tuna 'meat'balls.  Don't get me wrong, I think encouraging a love for fish is a great thing but for the most fussy of kids who aren't keen; they won't even notice they're eating fish or why not try my baked Salmon fishcakes?

My son has always been a reluctant salad eater.  So I decided to practice what I preach as I often advise other parents to try serving up rejected foods cooked or even just cut a different way.  This chopped salad was a winner and I thought it was tasty too.  Or why not try my coleslaw?

I always think spice is a great way to add flavour without loads of fat or calories.  This baked spicy chicken is delicious, yet made with skin off chicken thighs.  Very easy to cook for one busy Mum too.  Or why not try my baked Southern Fried Chicken?

With British interpretations of Indian food, there are often loads of hidden calories in the accompaniments; naan breads, poppadoms, pilau with ghee.  It all adds up.  If you're smart, rather than loading up with the calories in the bits which don't add all that much flavour anyway, why not have a salad?  Kachumber is deliciously cooling and full of vitamin C.

Soups are a fantastic way to reach your 5 a day without much effort and soup is more likely to fill you up with fewer calories.  Tomato and pesto soup is my current favourite, only 10-15 mins to make and really loved by my son too.  I often make extra, freeze in individual portions and reheat for lunch at work.  Wonderful on these blustery days, maybe substitute for gazpacho when the weather gets warmer.

Talking of quick meals, making these sweetcorn fritters is an awesome quick dish.  'Fritters' might not sound healthy but use spray oil and these aren't bad and remember if you serve this alongside some vegetables or salad, you're well on your way to 5 a day.

It's worth keeping an eye out for raw frozen prawns on offer in your local shops, not only are they frozen quickly and don't go off, they are delicious and healthy.  Baked prawns with a tomato salad and some crusty bread feels like a luxurious way to live life but as long as you're not lavish with the baked goods, it will taste good and help you look good too.

While I'm on the theme of prawns; making prawns into this sweet and sour is a great way to up the vegetable content of the dish and reduce the sugar.  It's still sweet but without the sugary gloopiness of commercial versions and with fresh green peppers, fresh pineapple and fresh carrots, it's full of vitamins too.  Piece of cake to make and very cheap as well.







I also love these thai style lettuce wraps; again a great way to cut the calories because it's served with lettuce rather than rice.









But even breakfast can be more delicious than breakfast cereal and can have added fibre and fruit like these wholemeal pancakes.

We could all do worse than starting the day as our grandparents would have.  A boiled or scrambled egg used to be seen as an ideal breakfast then fell out of favour due to Salmonella and the cholesterol content in the 80's.  Little did we know back then that the dietary cholesterol in eggs has little impact on blood cholesterol and now UK eggs are vaccinated against Salmonella and eggs are a fantastic source of vitamin D, they are a great option.  Alternatively porridge is a great source of beta glucan which is known to help heart health.

It's amazing how much a proper breakfast like this keeps you sated too and less likely to snack.

So I hope that convinces you with these photos of delicious looking food that healthy isn't necessarily boring, in fact, it can be far more appetising than the alternatives and not difficult to make at all.

I hope you enjoy.  Good luck with your plans for New Year.

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No added sugar, nut free Granola

I find commercial granolas a bit too sweet if I'm honest and although my son loves things like this for breakfast, they're also pretty expensive and, as a three year old, there is still a choking risk on larger nuts.  Not of course if you make it yourself and control what goes in!  This is refined sugar free!

I have to be totally honest and say the chunks weren't all as quite as big as I would have liked but I suspect I might have to add more honey to make that happen.  There were some satisfyingly large bits though and a tasty and pretty healthy option for breakfast.

This should be for over 1's only due to the honey but also be guided by your child and their ability to chew the delicious chunky bits!  My son has been eating things like this since he was around 2 years old.

Raisin and Apple Granola makes around 400g (14oz)

Ingredients

2 tbsp Runny honey (substitute for golden syrup, maple syrup or agave nectar to make vegan)

2 tsp Oil (chose a mild, flavourless oil with high monounsaturates for health, like rapeseed)

1 tsp Vanilla extract

250g, 9oz Porridge oats

75g, 2.5oz Unsweetened dessicated coconut

4 tbsp Apple juice

2 tbsp Sunflower seeds

150g, 5.5oz Raisins

50g, 2oz Dried apple

Method

Preheat the oven to 170oC, 325F, Gas mark 3.

Mix the oats, coconut and seeds together in a bowl.

In a microwavable cup or jug mix the honey, vanilla, oil and juice.  Microwave for approx 30-45 seconds or until the honey mixes in well with the remaining liquids.

Pour the liquids over the dry mix and mix in well.  Turn onto a lined swiss roll tin and press into a layer.

Bake for approx 10 -15 minutes, give it all a stir and bake again for 5-10 more minutes; around 20 mins in total until you have crunchy browned pieces with no soggy bits.

Leave to cool then mix with the raisins, chopped up dried apple and pour into a sealable box (e.g. tupperware).

Serve with dairy or soy milk or yogurt and fruit.  My son loved this and suddenly wasn't quite so interested in Shreddies anymore!

I've linked this up here.

Make it Thrifty:

Look out for 'value' or 'smart price' packs of porridge oats, they work fine and are much cheaper than the branded varieties.

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No Refined Sugar Breakfast Muffins; great for adults but also for kids

I have some 'cupcake' cases in the cupboard, bought in a moment when I actually needed fairy cake cases but picked up the wrong thing.  They were somewhere between a cupcake and a muffin in size, nearer a muffin so I decided to cook something more substantial to fill them.

Ok, they may look 'parent sized' but my son has a large appetite so he still ate two.  No refined sugar though which can't be bad.  Sorry, just for over 1 year olds though as under 1's can't eat honey.

Ooh, I've just realised while I was writing this up, this is dairy free!  Purely accidental!

Breakfast Muffins - makes 8

Ingredients

1 egg
75ml apple juice
1 tbsp oil (chose something flavourless like rapeseed or sunflower)
50g, 1.5oz grated apple (approx half an apple)
1 ripe banana, mashed
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g, 3.5oz self raising flour
30g, 1oz porridge oats plus an extra 1tbsp to sprinkle
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
90g, 3oz sultanas (golden raisins)

Method

Preheat the oven to 160oC, 320F.

Mix the first 7 ingredients together (the wet ingredients).  Mix the next 5 ingredients together (the dry ingredients).  Mix the two together but don't go mad, you don't want it fully mixed through.

Put into the cups and then sprinkle with the extra oats.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cooked through and springing back when pressed.  If you use proper muffin cases, they may take a little longer.

Leave to cool.  No idea how long they last in a tin, it only lasted two days in our house.  Do leave them to cool fully before eating though, otherwise they tend to stick a bit to the wrappers.  I may try spraying a little spray oil in the cases next time to help them release.

Make it Thrifty:

This is a great way to use bananas which are a little past their best preventing waste.  If you cook them at the same time as there are other things in the oven too it will reduce cooking costs.

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Porridge for Babies, Toddlers and Grown Ups

Why don't more people eat porridge?  I think part of the reason is people think it's difficult.  It's not at all but if you make it on the hob it makes no sense to cook it for 1 and the pan ends up pretty mucky.  Making it in the microwave solves all of that.

Until March this year, I was commuting for up to 90 minutes morning and night.  I'd been working at the site for several months before I realised they served porridge in the canteen.  Seeing as I had to leave before 6am to be at work on time; I never had breakfast before I left home.  It was such a joy then when the canteen opened and a steaming dish full of thick porridge went onto the counter.

The portions were huge as well.  Way too big for me really but I normally finished it anyway and ended up having the smallest snack at lunchtime.  That's the great thing about oats, they fill you up.

So, this is a more sensibly sized portion for me but my son (at the age of 3) being a lover of oats would probably eat the same amount.  Increase or decrease accordingly (and you might need to change the microwave instructions too.)

Microwave Porridge Oats - Serves 1

Ingredients

1/2 cup, 40g, 1.4oz Porridge Oats - use confirmed wheat free oats if suffering from a gluten allergy*
1 cup, 220ml, 8 fl oz Milk (use full fat for under 2 year olds)

To serve
Honey (over 1's only), brown sugar, cinnamon, golden syrup (optional)

Method

In a large jug, mix the oats and milk.

Microwave on full power for 2 minutes, stir then microwave for 3 more minutes.  You might need to decrease or increase the cooking time depending on the power of your microwave and how old it is (they tend to lose power over time).  Make sure it's bubbling and thick before serving.

Allow to cool, even for adults a little cooling time is needed (it somehow ends up molten!)  Add a little cold milk if needed to children's portions to speed this up or if you like it a bit thinner anyway.  Just add the milk and whisk it in.

Serve with one of the topping options if liked!  (No honey for the under 1s though please.)

This is great for babies who are starting to be on more coarse and mashed foods, i.e. from the age of 6 months.  Also because it's pretty sticky, it's a great food to start self feeding with, either with hands or with a spoon.  Messy but lots of fun!

After my posts about food thrift last week, it's well worth remembering that you can buy a kilo of porridge oats for 75p and 4 pints, 2.27L of milk for �1.  Microwave cooking is very low in energy usage so the total cost of this breakfast, even topped with a tsp of golden syrup (at an additional 2 pence) is less than 15p.  Even if you're not choosing to be thrifty, that's surely a good thing!

Keep an eye out on my posts for a "Make it Thrifty" comment at the end.  I'm going to start this with new and old posts so anyone on a limited budget can see how to adapt a recipe to make it cheaper to make.

*Note, although oats are naturally gluten free; there is inevitable cross contamination in the field between different grains.  You can get some oats which are confirmed as gluten free.  If you are on a gluten free diet, look out for these specifically.

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Honey Digestive Biscuits - no refined sugar

I'd been thinking about making a simple, no nonsense, "no bad stuff" biscuit for a while and I'd had some attempts at making some sugar free.  If I'm honest though, I was never happy with them.  Unlike a cake, a sweet biscuit is very difficult to make without sugar.

After a few attempts though I settled on this recipe.  Not strictly sugar free because it contains honey but no refined sugars and pretty low in sugar overall.  Yet it's still sweet but in that sweet / slightly savoury way that digestive biscuits are which make them as at home with a cup of tea or with strong cheddar.

I was impressed and will make them again.  Just keep an eye on them, the temperatures and times are for my oven and after I overcooked a previous batch, I lowered the temperature to what you see below.  You want to take them out of the oven when they're just starting to colour and firming up.

Obviously due to the honey, these won't be suitable for kids under the age of 12 months.

Honey Digestive Biscuits - Made 15-30 depending on size

Ingredients

2.5oz, 70g Self Raising Wholemeal Flour (or Wholemeal biscuit flour with 1tsp baking powder added)
0.5oz, 15g Porridge oats
1.5oz, 45g Butter - make with solid vegetable margarine or vegetable shortening if avoiding dairy
1 tbsp Runny honey
1oz, 30g Wheatgerm

Method

Preheat the oven to 170oC, 340F, Gas mark 3-4.

Rub the dry ingredients into the butter using a food processor.  Add the honey and process for a few more seconds.  Tip out onto a board and bring together with your hands.

Once in a ball roll out with some more flour until 2-3 mm thick.  Cut out the shapes of your choosing (hearts for me, no ninjas today) and put onto baking paper.  Bake for 6-8 minutes (7 in my oven) until browning and firming up.  Leave to cool on the baking paper for a few minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

Serve as a snack or pudding for your child or with a cup of tea or cheeses.  Very popular with the little man.

Update: These are also great baked from frozen, just add on a minute and keep an eye on them.  A great way to have freshly baked biscuits!

What do I mean by "no bad stuff"?  I guess over the years, despite my science background I've settled on liking to eat foods which haven't been messed with too much.  It's not a hard and fast rule but certainly with my son I don't give him sweeteners, I don't give him a huge amount of sugar either.  I'm happy to give him animal fats but he also has plenty of olive oil in his diet.  Frankly I try and make our diets as "unfussed with" as I can.

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Sugar Free Apple Pies for babies, toddlers and grown ups

A great way to not need to add sugar or reduce sugar in baked goods is to use fruit.  When fruit is ripe there is really no need to go on sweetening it, especially if you have a bit of dried fruit too.

From talking to parents I find that so many get really het up on what they should do if a child refuses part of their meal or holds out for dessert.  I think you have to do the thing which works for you but I'd also advocate making sure the meal is pretty balanced anyway, e.g. having fruit as a dessert or choosing a no added sugar option rather than a sticky cake or chocolate.

Anyway, it's the way I've always approached it and from my sample of one I now have a pretty open minded toddler when it comes to food who was asking for more broccoli yesterday but saying "no" to sweet potato.  Fair enough, I just go with it.  I sometimes feel like kids are born with personalities and my son has definitely inherited my stubborn streak.  There are times when I stand my ground but if I don't allow him some control and choices in his food, he digs his heels in and it gets worse.  Likewise though just because he's refused something once, doesn't mean he won't be offered it again.  This only reinforces fussy behaviour in my opinion.

A great way to get kids trying something they think they don't like is to change the way you offer it, so perhaps mashed sweet potato next time rather than roasted?  He went off broccoli for a while so I used to give him broccoli nuggets and well he's now back to loving it.

So if you do have a fussy child, don't give up, don't stop trying but do make lovely little things like these mini apple pies.  Not only will your child probably wolf them down but also parents think they're pretty good too!

Mini Apple Pies for Babies, Toddlers and Grown ups - makes about 6-8

Ingredients

Filling
1 Dessert apple, peeled, cored and sliced
1oz, 30g Sultanas (golden raisins)
3 tbsp Apple juice
1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
A generous pinch of mixed spice (apple pie spice)
1/2 tsp cornflour (cornstarch)

Pastry
90g, 3oz Plain flour (all purpose flour)
25g, A scant 1oz Cornflour (cornstarch)
70g, 2.5oz Butter (use non dairy margarine to make vegan)

Milk for brushing (optional)

Method

Put the apple, sultanas, juice, vanilla and spice in a sauce pan.  Simmer until the apple is starting to soften.  Mix the 1/2 tsp cornflour with a tsp of cold water then mix in so the juice is thickened and coats the fruit.  Allow the filling to cool.

Preheat the oven to 200oC / 180oC (fan) / 400F / Gas mark 6.

Use a food processor or a bowl to rub the butter into the flours to resemble breadcrumbs.  Add in cold water, maybe 1-2 tbsp until the pastry starts to come together when you grab a handful.

Bring it together on a clean worktop or board, then flour the surface and roll out until a couple of mm / 1/10th inch thick.

Use a round cookie cutter and cut out circles.  Press them into a fairy cake tin.  (Outside the UK you probably will only have access to cupcake or muffin tins which are much bigger.  Either make bigger pies or go for a mini muffin tin.  They will be more straight sided but should still work.)

Put a tsp of filling into each pastry case then top with a pastry shape of your choosing.

(If there's any pastry left you could reroll it and make jam tarts.  But remember shortcrust pastry doesn't "like" being handled a lot so don't reroll repeatedly.)

Brush with a little cold milk and bake for approx 10 mins or until the pastry is crisp and browning.  Put onto a wire rack, dust with icing sugar if you're wanting to be slightly naughty and either serve warm or cold with cream.

Best eaten the same day or warmed through if eaten on the second day.

Hmm, eat me!

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