Cooking Class - Grain Free Christmas Baking

Celebrate this Christmas with a beautiful grain free meal

We will explore how to make some traditional Christmas foods grain free

DATE: Saturday 16 November 2013

TIME: 10.30am - 1.30pm

LOCATION: Peakhurst, Sydney

COST: $90

 

 

Let's make a delicious grain free Christmas dinner:

Chicken stuffed with grain free cranberry herb stuffing (we will make the bread to use)
Steamed Christmas puddings served with coconut custard
Gingerbread almond cookies
Trifle with a fermented twist
Honey Marshmallows


At the end of class we will share our Christmas lunch!


Everything will be free from gluten and grains. We will be using nuts and eggs in this class. This class is not suitable for those following RPAH Elimination and Failsafe diet. We will be using the Thermomix to make our goodies.



Places are limited so please email now to confirm your place kerstenskitchen@bigpond.com

Cooking Class in Sydney Term 3, 2013

 
 

Grain free cooking

We have a one day class coming up in Sydney learning to cook without grains

 

Date: 

Saturday 7 September 2013

Time: 

10-3pm

Cost:

$150

 

Location:

Peakhurst, Sydney

 
We will be making savoury main meals, as well as sweet treats and desserts.

 

Learn how to

 
create main meals using healing ingredients, including grain free lasagne
make broth and basic soups
bake with seeds and nuts
bake with coconut flour and oil
 
 
You will also get to sample other delicious goodies

 

 

Please email me at kerstenskitchen@bigpond.com if you would like to attend and I will send you all the details.

Passionfruit Curd

Perfect on pancakes or with coconut yoghurt

Ingredients

2 eggs
80g honey
3 passionfruits
60g ghee

Method

Insert the butterfly into Thermomix bowl
Add all ingredients in the bowl
Cook 8 minutes, 80 degrees, speed 3

Pour into a container and allow to cool. Store in fridge

Coconut Yoghurt

Smooth and Creamy Yoghurt, no dairy!

The gelatin in this recipe does two things: it sets the yoghurt and it gives you a smooth and creamy mouth feel

Ingredients

800ml coconut milk
(I use AYAM brand: 3 x 270ml tins
or 2 x 400ml tins)
2t  honey
1 1/2t gelatin*
1/32t yoghurt starter**
1/32t probiotic culture**

Method

Add coconut milk, honey and gelatin to Thermomix bowl
Heat until gelatin dissolves, 5 minutes, 80 degrees, speed 3

Allow to cool until around 37 degrees (about 5 minutes)
Add yoghurt starter and probiotic, mix 30 seconds, speed 3

Pour into containers and leave in yoghurt machine for 24 hours

When done, it will still be liquid and will have separated. Shake well, then refridgerate for 8 hours or until set.



When set it will look firm. All it needs is a quick stir with a spoon until smooth. Now you can use as is, or flavour with homemade jam or fruit puree. My favourite combination is with passionfruit curd.





*Gelatin - make sure you use a good quality gelatin

You can vary the amount of gelatin to vary the thickness of the yoghurt
pouring yoghurt - 1t
normal thickness - 1.5t
thick greek style - 2t

I find 1.5t enough. Coconut sets when cold, so you will find the yoghurt will firm up just from being cold.

**Yoghurt Starter

I use the dairy free culture from www.greenlivingaustralia.com.au as well as their probiotic. You can use a probiotic like Polybac 8 too (or whatever you have in your fridge).

Note: To measure such small amounts, grab a set of tiny measuring spoons from Green Living Australia when purchasing your cultures



Perfect to use with Squeeze 'ums... fill up the small 80ml for school lunchboxes or 200ml for a snack for mum

Fine Almond Meal in Thermomix

The impossible... right???

Well I have read all sorts of hints and tips on how to get your almond meal fine in the Thermomix... none got it very fine. Ok for some recipes, but terrible for cookies.

After some mouldy activated nuts, I decided I had better keep them in the freezer.







I wanted to make some Almond Bread and just chucked in some almonds and pulverised for 20sec speed 9... and low and behold, the meal was nice and fine!

The problem with nuts is they are full of oil and as you grind them, the heat releases the oils... hence a few seconds for a coarse flour, a bit too long and you have nut butter. When the nuts are cold, you get a bit longer before the oils are released so the Thermomix can make a finer meal.

I am using Almonds with the skin on, if you used blanched nuts, you would no doubt get an even finer result.

Very pleased I don't need to purchase expensive almond meal any more to make my cookies!


So the secret is simple

 

FREEZE YOUR NUTS BEFORE YOU GRIND

Pumpkin Soup

Delicious and Creamy... eat as is, or with some shredded chicken

This soup is light but filling as it has lots of healing fats and broth...

Ingredients:

1/4C duck fat
1/4C ghee
1/2 butternut pumpkin
2C broth

Method:

Peel and chop pumpkin and put in a pot with the fat and ghee
Stir on medium heat as the fats melt
Once melted, simmer for 10 minutes
Add the broth and cook until pumpkin is soft
Puree in the Thermomix for 20 seconds Speed 8







To Serve,
simply drink from a cup with a dollop of yoghurt or top with shredded chicken, some crispy kale and toasted nuts





Crispy Kale - toss some finely sliced kale in coconut oil and fry until crispy
Toasted Nuts - chop some walnuts and stir over medium heat until golden and crunchy

Gingerbread cookies

Chewy spicy and lovely...

Ingredients:

1 1/2C fine almond meal
1/2C honey
3T coconut oil
1T ghee
1/4t mixed spice
1/4t ground ginger
1/4t salt
1/4t bicarb soda

Method:

Warm honey, oil and ghee in a small pot
Combine all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl
Add melted liquids and stir until combined with a wooden spoon

Roll into small balls and place on a lined baking tray with space between to allow for spreading (they double in size)
Press flat with either your hand or a damp cup

Bake 180 degrees for 15 minutes until lightly golden... watch carefully as the honey cooks quickly

Cool on the trays (they will harden on cooling)



If you store in the pantry, they will remain chewy... If in the freezer, they are super crunchy

To flatten cookies, use a flat measuring cup... dip in water and press gently but firmly on cookie ball... carefully lift off cup... then repeat for remaining cookies

White Sauce

Creamy Cauliflower...

Use this white sauce as a soup or for lasagne or just a dollop on top of some baked salmon...

Ingredients:

half a head of cauliflower
3 heaped T duck fat
3 heaped T ghee
1C broth (lamb or chicken)

Method:

Cut off all the fibrous parts of the cauliflower
Place the florets into your pot with the fat and ghee
Cook over medium heat, stirring as the fat melts... combine it all together
Reduce to a low heat, place lid on pot and cook for 10-15 minutes... stirring occasionally
Add the broth once the cauliflower has started to soften
Replace the lid and cook until very soft

Pour mix into your Thermomix, blend 20 seconds speed 8
Add salt and pepper to taste, combine10 seconds speed 4




This is very thick, just right for a white sauce for lasagne or to dollop... If you want to use it for a thinner soup, add another cup of broth.

Sunflower Seed Cookies

A nut free lunch box filler...

Cookies before baking...

 

Ingredients:

1C sunflower seeds
30g ghee
1T raisins
1t cinnamon

Method:

Pulverise sunflower seeds in your Thermomix, 10sec speed 9
Add remaining ingredients and process 15sec speed 4








Roll into balls and flatten with your hand or the back of a flat measuring cup
**If the cup sticks to the cookie, cover the rolled ball with baking paper then press lightly with the cup... remove paper and repeat with remaining cookies

Bake 180 degrees for 10 minutes until lightly golden
Cool on tray

Store in freezer for a crisp snack... can store in the pantry as well

Almond Bread

Lovely and light... satisfies my craving for cake and bread

This makes a very small quantity and a thin slice. I use a small dish 18x12cm. It works well doubled.

Ingredients:

1/2C activated almonds
1T coconut flour
1T honey
1/4t bicarb soda
2 eggs

 

Method:

Using your Thermomix, Process almonds until they are almost a paste 30sec speed 8
Add honey, 10sec speed 4
Add eggs, 20sec speed 4
Add flour, 10sec speed 4

Pour into lined baking dish (don't be alarmed it should be runny)
Bake 180 degrees for 20 minutes until golden
Lift out of tin and cool on rack

Slice and freeze in portions if desired.

Chocolate Avocado Mousse

Cacao plus Avocado equals amazing

Who would have thought these two ingredients together could be so delicious and flexible... You can enjoy this as a mousse, as an icecream, as an icing on cupcakes, as a slice, or just with a spoon!

Ingredients:

2 avocadoes
70g coconut oil
60g raw cacao
2-3 heaped T honey (to taste)
1/2 vanilla bean (seeds only)

Method:

Put all ingredients in Thermomix and combine 20sec speed 5
Taste and add more honey if you like it sweeter

As a mousse:

Put in a container and store in the fridge - eat with a spoon or use as a spread

As an icing:

Use straight away, put cupcakes in fridge to set, then remove cakes half an hour before serving

 

As an icecream:

Freeze... it will set hard. If you use it within a couple of hours of making, it will still scoop. For longer storage times, remove from the freezer an hour before use.

As a slice:

Prepare a base, spread topping... freeze until set (one hour approx), then slice into portions and freeze each portion ready for use

Nut Base:

150g ground nuts (pecans or walnuts combine well with this dish)
100g dates
Combine and spread on the base of a small lined dish, top with mousse

Cookie Base:

Use Coconut cookie recipe
120g cookies
40g ghee
Chrush cookies and combine with ghee
Spread on the base of a small lined dish, top with mousse

Chocolate Cupcakes

Chocolate Coconut Cakes

These taste like chocolate cakes to me, but if you don't eat a lot of coconut, they will taste like a lamington

 

Ingredients:

5 eggs
130g honey
1/2C coconut oil
3T coconut flour
1/4C raw cacao
1/2t bicarb soda
pinch salt

Method:

Put all ingredients into your Thermomix bowl and combine 20sec speed 5

Do not be alarmed that this is indeed a very runny batter... if it was normal gluten free flour it would never work, but coconut flour absorbs A LOT of liquid, so it will all be ok when baked...

Pour into patty cases (half fill)

Bake for 15 mins 180 degrees celcius until puffed and when pressed gently in the centre, they spring back

Remove from the muffin tray and cool on racks



Once cool you can ice with chocolate avocado mousse and top with coconut or just serve warm with icecream and chocolate sauce

Meal time

What to eat?

Breakfast Lunch Dinner...

I think one of the big challenges when going grain free is working out what to eat for each meal.








Breakfast is tricky when you are accustomed to eating cereal or toast... lunch is a sandwich... dinner not so tricky as most would think meat and veg pretty normal. How do you do grain free toast and cereal for breakfast... so you go searching for nut bread recipes... when in fact the easy solution is to think of each meal as suitable for any time of the day.

Soup can be for breakfast, lunch or dinner... oh no you say... I am not having soup all the time. Unless you decide to do hard core GAPS and do Intro, I am not saying that at all. I am saying OPEN YOUR MIND lol to other possibilities. Meat balls for breakfast... my kids do it every day. At the start they were horrified (as you might be) but now if I give them some toast they ask for meat :)

You need to make yourself and your children (if they are joining your diet changes) just try it over and over... until it becomes habit.

And give yourself some variety... here are some ideas I love

• thai salmon fish cakes with spinach and avocado and a dollop of goat yoghurt
• omelette with salmon, kale, tomato and a dressing of yoghurt with garlic and dill
• scrambled eggs with avocado and kraut (pour over some broth for a soup)
• lasagne - zucchini becomes your lasagne sheets, cauliflower an amazing white sauce
• seared scallop creamy soup
• pumpkin soup with chicken, crispy kale and toasted walnuts
• creamy cauliflower soup with chicken
• zucchini noodles with broth and slow cooked lamb
• crunchy herb topped roast chicken or turkey breast
• slow cooked lamb with honeyed carrots and roast butternut squash

Be creative... think of all the things you can eat and how you might combine them. Some may work, others not so much... Soup is open for creation! Chuck in some broth, veg and meat... top with some kraut and a dollop of yoghurt... simple

My fav fast meal is roast chicken thigh (cooked in coconut oil), topped with kraut and yoghurt.



There are plenty of sweet goodies too... as you might have noticed from my failsafe recipes, I am rather fond of baking

So in these early phases of changing from failsafe to healing... think outside the square and be open to all the possibilites.

 

 

Children's Journey

My Children's Journey so far from Failsafe to healing...

My little ones have been on a low chemical diet since birth... proteins caused bleeding bowels and food chemicals caused lots of pain which in a baby means loads of crying. I maintained a very limited diet as I was breast feeding and they reacted to what I was eating through the milk. Their safe foods were lamb and rice. We eventually were able to add in chicken, potato, celery, iceberg lettuce and choko.

Their diet stayed this way until late last year when I had been having success with healing, thought I would make a start with them. I waited until they had been on their Biomedical journey for a few months. Zinc levels were very low and initially their Doctor has been working on bringing that to within normal ranges.

 

Coconut Oil

I started adding 20g of coconut oil to their cookies, to replace some of the Nuttelex. They initially had one cookie each a day. Once that was tolerated I increased that to two cookies a day. I now add coconut flour and have increased the coconut oil to 40g. They eat as many as they like.

Once the cookies were going well, I started replacing some Nuttelex with coconut oil in their cupcakes. They initially had one coconut cupcake every few days. Now they eat a couple a day.

Meat - ghee and coconut oil

Previously I cooked in sunflower oil and always baked their meat balls and any chicken in the oven very lightly so there was no browning at all. Now I fry their meat balls and chicken sticks in Ghee on the stove. I also bake with coconut oil.

Broth

They are having very small amounts of chicken broth, only cooked for 2 hours. I add 4 tablespoons to their shepherd's pie twice a week.

Fermented Veg

Every few days they have half a ml of fermented veg juice. It is a strong probiotic so I am going very slowly with this.

Kefir

Instead of increasing their food chemicals even more by using coconut kefir, I made some rice milk kefir. I then subsituted 50% of the rice milk in my icecream recipe, for rice kefir. They have 1-2 scoops of this daily. It has a nice tangy taste.

Vegetables

I have been slowly increasing their salicylates. Initially started with some cucumber and carrot in small amounts every few days. They now have some every day. They are also having small amounts of kale and sweet potato. Will be trialling avocado this week.

Fruit

This is has been tricky. Small servings create a big reaction. With the aim of increasing tolerance, I am perserving with tiny servings once a week. For example, a sliver of banana or a half a strawberry.


The children have been so excited to try new foods and it has been a delight to watch their faces light up at all the new experiences.

 

With the aim to increase the healing foods and decrease the servings of grains, I am slowly building their chemical tolerance so that will soon be achievable. This progress has all been made in just a month of food changes.

 

 

 

Time Saving Tips...

Do we really need to be in the kitchen all day cooking for this style of eating?

Here are some tips to get you started:


Make your broth overnight in slowcooker
then use this as base for soup and casseroles etc all the next day
If only you doing it, then freeze what you don't need

Slow cook lamb shoulders
use that as your meat for your meals and snacks
(you can slow cook it over night on very low or do it for 4 hours in oven on 150)
 
Make chicken broth with half a chicken (I do 2 pots to use the whole chicken)
then you are left with meat and broth

If you are working
have a big day doing lots of broth and meat,
freeze in meal size portions for your work day
 
When baking slices and cakes, bake them in rectangluar tins
cut into cubes and freeze for quick snacks and lunchbox treats

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog...

This is where I am at with my family and our diets...


We have transitioned from Failsafe to a GAPS style diet.

I am currently on full GAPS and the children are in the process of liberalising their food chemicals...

Read all about this in Beyond Failsafe



We have a facebook group you might like to join for support Beyond Failsafe...GAPS



I will be sharing all the recipes we love very soon...