Recipes

This week I've been trying out various gluten free recipes as 3 out of 5 of us have IBS and I know many of you out there also suffer from this condition and if you have a sweet tooth like us I thought you may like some of these recipes.

However - it's not easy getting it right - some of the recipes I have tried (and they  have been numerous) are just too dry and crumbly and others lacking in flavour, mostly though it's trying to get the right texture.

The first recipe was given to me by a lovely woman who has a coeliac husband, it has to be said when I saw the ingredients my eyebrows shot up and I was exceptionally dubious about the whole thing - but I gave it a whirl.

Apricot and Almond Cake

1 tin of chick peas (drained)
3 eggs
4 tablespoons of granulated sugar
1 teaspoon gluten free baking powder
2.5 oz dried apricots
3 teaspoons almond essence
Method

Put all ingredients into a blender and blend well.

Grease and line a cake tin

Pour mixture into oven Gas Mark 4 / 180C / 350F  (basically a moderate oven).

Cook for between 35-40 minutes.

Turn out to cool and dust with icing sugar.

Result: ~

I have to be honest, although initially dubious it tasted lovely and no hint of a chickpea flavour (which was my biggest fear) - I also tried a few variations on this -I substituted the almond for chopped dried or glace cherries which was really lovely - sort of like a Bakewell Cake.  Then for another twist I added orange instead of almond essence and dark chocolate chips instead of fruit and that was good too.  However - my attempt at a banana and chocolate version was disgusting - some how the combination of bananas with the chickpea mix tasted bitter and burnt, so that one ended up in the bottom of the bin!

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My second challenge was to find a lovely moist gluten free version of a Victoria sponge cake (second daughters favourite).  I'd tried a few but always found the texture to be just a little off - BUT - hurrah - I have found the perfect recipe and so have decided to share it with you.

Gluten Free Vanilla Sponge Cake/Fairy Cakes

180g Caster Sugar
2 medium eggs at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon glycerine
175g Gluten free self raising flour
1.5 teaspoons gluten free baking powder
0.5 teaspoon Xanthan gum
130ml sunflower oil
130ml whole milk (I used semi-skimmed which worked out perfectly fine)
Method

Place all ingredients into a mixing bowl and whisk until light and creamy.
Place mixture into two sandwich greased and line tins (or fairy cake papers)
Bake in oven 180C for 15-20 minutes if fairy cakes a little longer if sandwich tins.
Turn out and cool
Ice as it takes your fancy.

Result: ~

I made mine in one deep tin and added some plain chocolate chips, topping it off with a vanilla butter cream icing.  It is the best gluten free sponge recipe so far, beautifully moist. It keeps longer than the previous recipes I've tried and even though no butter was used has a lovely buttery flavour.

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My last challenge was to try and make gluten free brownies - as my daughter loves them and so far I have failed to find a good recipe for her.  So was very pleased to find a tiny card in with the gluten free baking powder with this recipe in it.

Gluten Free Brownies (makes 9 brownie slices)

175g Dark chocolate chips
190g unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
150g light brown sugar
3 medium eggs, beaten
15g cocoa powder + 2 extra teaspoons for dusting
1 teaspoon gluten free baking powder
150g ground almonds
1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
200g White chocolate chips
Method

Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3.

Grease and line a deep 8" square tin.

Put the dark chocolate chips and small pieces of butter into a bowl and melt together over a pan of simmering water.

Once chocolate and butter melted remove from heat and add the sugar - then set aside to cool for about 10 minutes.

Whisk the eggs to make a thick and glossy mixture, sift onto that the cocoa and baking powders, add the ground almonds, vanilla extract and 150g of the white chocolate chips and carefully mix well together (set the remaining white chocolate chips to one side for decorating the brownies).

Pour the mixture into the baking tin and smooth over the top.

Bake for about 40 minutes until risen and slightly crusty on the top (the mixture should be soft underneath).

Leave to cool completely in the tin then remove and wrap and store for 24 hours.

To serve; melt the remaining white chocolate pieces in a bowl over simmering water.

Cut brownies into 9 portions and drizzle each slices with the white chocolate, leave to set for a few minutes and then dust lightly with the 2 teaspoons of cocoa powder.

Result: ~

It was pretty damn good if you ask me. This brownie recipe is a real keeper - the brownies are really soft, moist and gooey - mmmmm!

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The last recipe I was excited about and thought share with you (although you may not thank me afterwards!) is my Windy Winter Soup (it's a slimming world recipe and it's official title is "Super Speed Soup" and very healthy but due to the number of beans and lentils may make you a wee bit windy so I have renamed it!)  I was worried when I saw the recipe and thought it may be a little bland, but it actually makes a wonderfully tasty, chunky, filling and warming winter soup, so good I will definitely be making this again and again.

It's dead easy to make: -

Winter Windy Soup

Add all of the following into a pan, cover with water & cook until veggies are soft but not mush ..

1 can mixed bean salad
1 can green lentils
2 cans chopped tomatoes
1 can baked beans
Handful of split lentils
1 large onion, chopped
4 large carrots, diced
2 parsnips, diced
Pepper (any colour), chopped
2 beef stock cubes
Mixed herbs
Salt and Pepper to taste.
Hope you like it.

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Other than baking this week I have been helping the girls to dye their hair.  I don't know about you but sometimes jazzing up your hair can really lift a girls spirits, especially when your are a teenager and so physically limited by everything because of the damn evil Mr M.E.

Seeing as both girls don't go into school and so aren't tied down to their regulations we don't see why they can't experiment with their hair.  AND boy did we have some fun - at some point during the process I must have caught my glove because afterwards I had a very purple thumb!!

Tara has gone a bluey green and Tasha a lovely purple (using a bleach/shampoo combination to lighten their hair and then directions dye on top of that).  The results were awesome and the girls are very happy with their new looks :)  PLUS as directions hair dyes are cheap to buy it doesn't break the bank to do, win win if you ask me.

~ Blessings ~

x~X~x

Happiness & Positivity Jars

Last night whilst I lay in bed waiting for sleep to take me and listening to my husband grunt and snore many thoughts flitted in and out of my head.  One of them was how normal our abnormal life has become and wondering how we are perceived by people from outside our tight inner circle. 

It's tough sometimes living with illnesses that are "invisible" and it has to be said there are days when you just can't bear the thought of explaining why the girls aren't in school and can't go to parties, family gatherings, holidays, travel long journeys (you get the gist).  But I also feel that no matter how bad things get the silver lining of all we have and are going through is that it has bound us all closer together than ever before. 

If the girls had led a "normal" teenage life we most likely would only see them briefly as we pass on the stairs or hallway as they come and go to school, clubs, social gatherings etc but instead we have been pushed together through intensely difficult times, emotions have boiled over, tears and angry words have been spoken, grief expressed and through it all we have developed a closeness that we value and hold dear. 

We may sometimes appear strange when people come into see us as somehow we have developed our own way of speaking to each other with deliberately misspoken words (a legacy from my mother!), in-jokes, nicknames and constant teasing banter - the girls call their dad The Dave and I go by almost any name under the sun - but none of it rude or malicious - the girls have developed a great sense of humour, insight and maturity through their experiences which perhaps would not have occurred if their life had gone down the normal healthy route.

HOWEVER there are times when the girls struggle, especially with their mood ~ anxiety and depression sadly an issue for all three, so when I saw a post floating about Facebook about filling a jar full of your happy thoughts and memories throughout the year for 2014 and then opening it to read and remember at the end of the year I thought FABULOUS (by the way, in our family you HAVE to sing the word FABULOUS, it's a word to be celebrated whenever it is used), just a note for you to remember!

So, I spoke to the girls about it and although all three thought it a great idea only Tasha wanted to join me in doing it.  We have two jars, one each - Tasha's is the Jar of Happiness and mine the Jar of Positivity.  Tasha is slowly bit by bit decorating them as and when energy allows and we are filling them with teeny tiny pieces of coloured paper to keep it bright, then, whenever we are feeling low we are going to open the jars and read everything that is happy and positive to remind us that it's a blip ~ better days are ahead.

We're also a household full of foodies and so we find baking is another way to hit the happy button and make us smile - thankfully I LOVE baking but it can be a challenge as we have to accommodate gluten free and sugar free diets.  Some recipes can easily be converted using gluten free flour and xylitol as a sugar replacement - but others don't work out so well, so we have some successes and also many disasters - but hey, it's a learning curve! 

One recipe that is tried and tested and works well gluten and sugar free is my chocolate chip cookies ~ the girls love them and can be guaranteed to raise a smile, admittedly the recipe for no restrictions is nicest, the gluten free version are also good. (I'll put both gluten/sugar free recipe up for you and the normal recipe for peeps who have no diet restrictions if you fancy trying them).

Ingredients (for normal version)

Makes 14-16 cookies

125g unsalted butter
100g golden caster sugar
75g soft light brown sugar
1 medium egg, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
150g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
100g dark chocolate chips
Method

Preheat the oven to 190C or Gas 5 and line 2 baking sheets with baking parchment.
Gently melt the butter in a small saucepan.
Put both sugars in a mixing bowl and pour the melted butter over them and combine well by beating with a wooden spoon.
Beat in the egg and vanilla extract.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together and then add to the mixture stirring well.
Then add the chocolate chips.
Dot heaped dessert spoonfuls of the mixture onto the baking tray leaving plenty of room around them as the dough spreads out during cooking.
Bake for 8-10 minutes until they are pale and golden brown.
Leave to cool on the baking tray for 5 minutes to firm up before carefully using a spatula to transfer onto a cooling wire.
Eat and enjoy!

To make a Gluten, sugar free version - substitute the flour for the Gluten Free Plain Flour and add just less than a quarter of a teaspoon of Xanthan Gum (helps stop biscuits becoming too crumbly, add too much and they go all stretchy and sticky and inedible!).  Also replace the caster and brown sugar for Xylitol.  They do work but are slightly less chewing and unctuous as the normal version.

Oh, and you know I mentioned the purple hair (hence the name) - I had Tasha re-dye it for me yesterday - the box said purple, the shade looked purple BUT my hair looks black - although admittedly it has a purple glow in the light!  I was perturbed as had never considered having purple black hair, but you know what - I really quite like it - so there you go!

Anyway - the point I was trying to get to was, no matter how dark and bleak life can be, there will always be sunshine ahead, look closely and I am certain a silver lining can be found somewhere.

Stay happy and positive when ever possible folks!

~ Blessings ~

x~X~x