Pineapple & Cinnamon Jam

I was told this jam flavour sounded a bit odd but I don't know.... I thought it sounded summery and exotic and delicious!   And it certainly turned out that way.  I'm still in my study period and exam period starts next week.  Making these preserves and things for Christmas pressies is certainly a welcome distraction from studying!  

Ingredients (makes about 400ml):

- 1 pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into chunks (I had about 650g of chopped pineapple)
- 1 green apple, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
- 1 cinnamon quill
- 200g raw sugar
- Juice of 1/2 lime

Method:

Add all ingredients (except lime juice) to a pot and cook on a low heat, stirring frequently, for about an hour or until the jam sets when tested.  Stir through the lime juice, remove the cinnamon quill and then put the jam into sterilised jars.

If making this in the Thermomix, follow the above method but cook on 100deg/sp1.

Strawberry & Chocolate Cupcakes

I always go out of my way to ensure that our fridge is fully stocked with a variety of wholefoods because one of my kids (yes, only one of my 2, much to my frustration) loves to have a large variety of fruit and veg in her diet.  So I may or may not have gone a bit overboard with buying berries in the past week.  With a large stash of strawberries, I decided to cook something lunchbox friendly with some of them!

Ingredients (makes 12):
- 1 cup light spelt flour
- 1/2 cup whole spelt flour
- 1/2 cup rapadura
- 1/2 cup cacao powder
- 1 cup milk
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1 free range egg
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1/2 cup choc chips
- 100g strawberries, hulled and sliced
- 2 tsp baking powder

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees and line a 12 hole cupcake pan with cupcake cases.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cacao powder, milk, coconut oil, egg and vanilla.  Stir to combine.

3.  Fold in the remaining ingredients.

4.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until cooked through.

White Bean & Roasted Garlic Dip

Well it feels like summer is here already in Brisbane although it's still on the beginning of November!  Hot weekend days mean easy lunches and today we thought we would have a plate of dip with veggies, cheese and crackers.  The only thing to remember with preparing legumes is if possible, please use dried legumes which you just need to soak, rinse and cook ahead of time.  I always find that preparing legumes this way, as opposed to using the tinned varieties, results in less chance of bloating due to the fact that the phytic acid has been neutralised through the soaking process.  

Ingredients (makes about 2 cups of dip):
- 1 cup dried white beans (I used haricot beans), soaked overnight and then rinsed well and cooked until tender - this resulted in about 400g of cooked beans
- 3 cloves garlic, roasted in the skins in a hot oven for 10 minutes, then cooled and peeled
- Juice from half a lemon
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp Herbamare
- Few leaves of fresh basil
- Couple of sprigs of fresh parsley
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Method:
Pop all ingredients into Thermomix or food processor and process until the desired consistency is reached (about 30 seconds on speed 4 in Thermomix).  Serve.

Choc, Coconut & Chia Brekky Pudding

My Tuesday mornings are a tad hectic!  Kids have to be at school by 7am and I have to be at uni not long after.  So hectic mornings call for brekkies on the run... and this chia pudding is my new obsession!  With just a couple of minutes of prep time last night, my brekky was all ready and waiting for me in the fridge this morning when I needed to grab it and race out the door!

Ingredients (serves 1):
- 2 tbsp chia seeds
- 3/4 cup coconut cream (or coconut milk or other milk)
- 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp cacao powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp vanilla
- Fresh fruit to garnish (I used strawberries, blueberries and a couple of mint leaves)

Method:

Mix all the ingredients (except garnish) together in a small bowl, cover and pop into the fridge overnight.  In the morning, garnish with fresh fruit and an extra sprinkle of cinnamon.

Lemon & Almond Balls

My my, it has been a long time since I have blogged!  Life has just been so busy so far in the second half of this year thanks to my studies and life in general.  On a positive note though, at the end of this year, I will officially be halfway through my degree! It's been a big 4 years so far and I'm hoping it will take a lot less time to finish the second half.  Anyway, in between studying for an exam last week, I made a batch of these yummy treats.  A healthy snack to have in the fridge for when I need it!

Ingredients (makes 16 balls):

- 1 cup almond meal

- 1/2 cup activated mixed nuts

- 1 tsp chia seeds

- Zest from half a lemon

- Juice from 1/4 lemon

- 2 Medjool dates, pitted

- 1 tbsp coconut oil 

- 1tsp vanilla essence

- Organic desiccated coconut for rolling 

Method:

Add all ingredients to a food processor or Thermomix and pulse a few times until the mixture starts to come together and the contents are well chopped.  Roll into balls and then roll in coconut.  Store in an airtight container in the fridge.  

Mixed Vegetable Gnocchi

Some of my earliest childhood memories include my grandmother cooking for me the Polish version of gnocchi (kopytka) which we ate with copious amounts of melted butter.  Soooo good!  These days I have developed my own style of cooking and I always like to make my own versions of different dishes.  This includes making gnocchi with a few different veggies - not just potatoes!  The process takes a while from start to finish and can be a bit of a messy job so I suggest probably trying this recipe on a weekend or when you have a spare couple of hours.  Depending on the mix of veggies you use and the type of flour, you may need to adjust the amount of flour you use - this is why I put an approximate amount of flour below - what worked for me might be slightly different for others.  

Ingredients (serves 4-6):
- 1kg mixed, peeled veggies (I used 500g white potato, 300 sweet potato, 200g pumpkin)
- 50g butter, softened
- 1 free range egg
- Sea salt and pepper
- 3.5 cups (approximately) GF flour (I used Macro brand) or other flour

Method:
1.  Boil veggies until tender.  Drain and allow to cool to room temperature.

2.  In a large bowl, mash the veggies with butter, egg and season with salt and pepper.

3.  Add the flour, a half cup at a time and mix it in.  Once you've added about 2 cups of flour, get in there with your hands and begin to knead the dough.  Add more flour until the dough is still soft but not sticky.

4.  Separate the dough into 8 balls and roll each ball out into a log.  With a floured butter knife, cut each log into small pieces.  Put the cut pieces in a single layer onto a sheet of baking paper.

5.  Boil a pot of water and cook the gnocchi in batches.  The gnocchi is ready when it floats to the surface.

* I served the gnocchi with grated cheese and a simple sauce which I made by frying half a chopped onion and a crushed garlic clove in some butter, then I added some chopped, mixed fresh herbs, a tin of chopped BPA-free tomatoes (I used Spiral brand), 200ml water, 2 tbsp tomato paste, 1 tsp Thermomix veggie stock concentrate and some salt and pepper.  I cooked this for about 10 minutes until the sauce reduced and thickened.


 

Spicy Kale Chips

Super easy one today.  I had a bunch of kale sitting in my fridge - some of which I had juiced, but there was still lots leftover.  So I decided to make a batch of kale chips.  The spices made them super tasty and these babies didn't last long after I had baked them!  As a side note, anyone with hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) needs to be careful when consuming cruciferous veggies such as kale as these types of veggies have been linked to suppressing thyroid function.  I personally don't have an underactive thyroid, however kale also contains oxalates - which when consumed, bind strongly to iron (and some other minerals) in your body and the iron is then excreted.  Not ideal for those of us (like me) who have iron deficiency.  So this is definitely one of a number of foods that I only like to enjoy every now and then.  

Ingredients:
- 1 bunch of kale
- 1 tbsp macadamia oil
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp chilli powder

Method:
1.  Preheat oven to 170 degrees and line 2 large baking trays with baking paper

2.  Separate the kale leaves from the stems and discard the stems.  Wash the kale leaves and then dry well.  Break up the kale leaves into chunks.

3.  In a large bowl, toss the remaining ingredients through the kale leaves.  Spread out onto the baking trays.  Bake for around 10 minutes or until the kale starts browning around the edges.