Buckwheat Pancakes

Buckwheat Pancakes

Delicious gluten free, refined sugar free pancakes that are packed full of goodness. The thing I love most about pancakes, is they are easy to whip up and perfect to eat for breaky, pre or post training, a snack, or even for dessert!  And best of all, you can change up ingredients to suit what you have on hand. Let me know what you think. 🙂
Course Breakfast, Snack

Equipment

  • Frying Pan
  • Blender or simple bowl and fork/whisk
  • Measuring cups / jug

Ingredients
  

  • 1 1/2 – 2 cups Buckwheat flour (or your flour of choice) This can depend on how thick you like your pancakes and whether you include seeds
  • 1 1/4 – 1 1/2 cups Milk of choice – I love oat milk, but any non-dairy milk is fine (dairy too if that's your preference)
  • 1 tbsp Lemon juice or apple cider vinegar this helps to make them nice and fluffy!
  • 1 small/medium Banana, mashed You can leave this out, but adds extra oomph and goodness
  • 1 large Egg
  • 2 tbsp Melted butter if you don't want to use butter, add an extra egg
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1 tbsp Ground flaxmeal or linseeds can also be whole seeds if you like!
  • 1 tbsp Chia Seeds
  • Extra butter OR coconut oil for cooking

Topping suggestions – some of my favorites!

  • Coconut / Greek yoghurt
  • Fresh berries
  • Fresh banana
  • Almond Flakes
  • Crushed macadamias
  • Coconut flakes
  • Hemp Seeds
  • Maple Syrup

Instructions
 

Notes: If you don't use flaxmeal/linseeds and/or chia seeds, you can simply adjust tehe amount of flour/water to a nice pancake consistency

  • In a measuring jug or small bowl, stir the milk and vinegar (or lemon juice) together, and then set aside for five minutes. (This mixture mimics buttermilk, which when mixed with the baking soda later in the recipe, makes the pancakes fluffy.)
  • In a medium bowl or a blender of choice, mix together the flour & baking soda
  • Whisk the egg, butter, mashed banana and vanilla into the milk mixture (so all wet ingredients are together)
  • Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk together until combined. Don't overmix. Adjust wet/dry ingredients as needed. You don't want it too runny though. These are designed to be fluffy pancakes.

Cooking pancakes

  • Heat a large frying pan over medium heat.
  • Once hot, add a small amount of butter or coconut oil to coat the pan. With a large spoon or small measuring cup, scoop batter into frypan. Gently spread the batter into the size of your pancake of choice. If smaller, you should be able to fit 3 medium sized ones in a large fry pan.
  • When the edges look dry, and bubbles start to appear and pop on the top surface of the pancake, they are ready to turn over. This takes about 2 minutes. Once flipped, cook for another 1 to 2min or until lightly browned and cooked in the middle.
  • When making batches, I like to cover a plate with paper towel and keep them covered / warm while you continue to cook more.
  • Then the best part – serve warm with your favorite pancake toppings. ENJOY !

Healthy Gingerbread Cookies

Healthy Gingerbread Cookies

I made these gingerbread cookies last year and packaged them as little gifts for my children's childcare educators and they were such a hit that I thought I better share the secret recipe. 
This recipe is very versatile so you can use it all year round not just for Christmas! You can experiment with different spices or flavours, use the flour and milk of your choice, can easily be made vegan, and you can also choose to decorate by adding icing and toppings or leave as is.
So next time you are in a baking mood, whip us some of these delicious cookies, eat yourself, or make for family/friends, or pop into jars and gift to others. Time to get into the Christmas Spirit! Enjoy! 
Course Dessert, Snack

Ingredients
  

Spice Mix – this makes plenty so you will have leftovers you can use for next time or adding to smoothies, into a hot chocolate, your pancake mix, into muesli / muesli bar mix. Anything really!

  • 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp ground ginger
  • 1/2 tbsp mixed spice
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp ground clove
  • 1 pinch ground turmeric
  • 1 pinch group black pepper

Gingerbread Cookie

  • 180 g wholemeal spelt flour/buckwheat flour Or flour of choice. I often use a mix of flours, including almond meal too!
  • 1-2 tbsp of your spice mix how much you add depends on how ginger-y you like your biscuits
  • 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 pinch seat salt
  • 50 g butter can be replaced with coconut oil, but cookies not as soft
  • 30 ml milk of your choice I use coconut or oat milk
  • ~85g g (1/4 cup) maple syrup or rice malt syrup Or other sweetener of choice

Instructions
 

  • Preheat your oven to 150℃
  • Combine the flour, spice mix, bicarbonate of soda salt in a bowl
  • In a blender/food processor/thermo, mix melted butter, milk and maple syrup until well combined.
  • Add the wet to the dry ingredients and mix together until dough forms. If the mixture seems a little wet, add a little more flour, or too dry add more milk (it should be like plyadough and not stick to your fingers).
  • Roll into a ball, wrap in baking paper and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes. (you can't leave this step out)
  • If you can't be bothered with shapes, you can simply roll the dough into a long log and cut the log into slices (to form round biscuits).
  • To make shapes: Place the dough between two pieces of baking paper and roll to approximately 2-3 mm thick.
  • Cut the dough with cookie cutters (playdough cutters work great too!) 😉
  • Place on a lined or greased baking tray and bake for 10 minutes or until golden (gluten free may need a bit longer).
  • Leave on the tray until completely cooled. They firm as they cool
  • Leave as is, or decorate with icing / toppings.
  • Store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer. Or as I did, pop into nice little jars and gift to someone. ENJOY !
Keyword biscuits, cookies

Roasted Beetroot Hommus

Roasted Beetroot Hommus

Next time you are roasting up some veggies, do yourself a favour and throw in a beetroot (or two!) as well. Once you have a roasted beetroot on hand, you then can't go past whipping up a batch of this delicious beetroot hummus. For as little as $2-3, this makes 500+g of the most delicious hommus that can be used as a dip, added to salads, wraps or as a side to any meal – a great way to bump up your veggie & nutritional intake.
Beetroot are packed full of essential nutrients, and a great source of fiber, folate (vitamin B9), manganese, potassium, iron, and vitamin C. So give this one a go next time you are in meal prep mode!
Course Side Dish, Snack

Ingredients
  

  • 1 Medium Raw Beetroot (approx 150-175g)
  • 425 g Can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed (you could use butter beans)
  • 1 small garlic clove
  • 4 tbsp Tahini
  • 10 g Olive Oil
  • Juice of one small lemon or half a big one
  • 1 tsp Ground cumin
  • 1 tsp Cold water
  • Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions
 

  • To roast the beetrot simply wash, cut the ends off and slice into 8ths (like a pizza). Keep together and wrap in foil. (you can throw in whole, just takes longer to cook)
  • Cook in preheated oven at ~180deg for around 40min. Check by inserting a knife, it's cooked once soft. Allow to cool before making hommus.
  • To make the hommus, throw your feeled garlic in a blender or thermo, blitz and scrap down the bowl
  • Add all the other ingredients. Blitz to consistency of your liking. If it's a little thick, add a little extra cold water
  • Taste and adjust flavour to taste. Ie more cumin, lemon juice, salt…
  • Transfer to a jar and add a lug of olive oil on top to keep it fresher for longer
  • Keep in the fridge for up to a week.
  • If serving as a dip, transfer to a bowl, drizzle with olive oil, an extra sprinkle of cumin and a few chopped herbs
Keyword beetroot, dip, hommus

Simple 3 Ingredient Homemade Wraps

Simple 3 Ingredient Homemade Wraps

We all love to be able to whip up something simple and nutritious when we have 'nothing' left in the fridge. Well these 3 ingredient wraps will be your go to for breaky, lunch or snack time. Simple and quick to make, delicious AND nutritious. You won't ever need to buy store bought wraps again!
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Course Appetizer, Breakfast, Side Dish, Snack
Servings 4 wraps

Equipment

  • blender / nutri bullet
  • small fry pan

Ingredients
  

  • 2 Eggs
  • 2 cups Raw spinach
  • 1/2 tbsp Flaxmeal and/or LSA

Optional extras

    Instructions
     

    • Pop everything into a blender and blitz together
    • Pour mixture thinly into a pre heated and lightly oiled fry pan and swirl around to form a thing round wrap
    • Cook with lid on on medium heat until lightly browned, then flip and cook for another 30-60sec, lid off
    • Let cool on paper towel or rack and cook remaining wraps. Mixture should make 4 small wraps, or 2 larger size.
    • Once cooled, fill with your ingredients of choice. Wrap and eat as a whole, or cut up into finger sized pieces. Great for a sharing plate!
      My fav's are chicken, avo, lettuce & mayo.
      Or my beetroot hommus, lettuce, roast pumpkin and fetta.
    • These keep well in the fridge for a couple of days. Just leave flat on a plate and cover with gladwrap.
    Keyword breakfast wraps, homemade wraps, low carb

    Bone Broth

    If you haven’t made your own broth (or stock) at home before, well, it’s better late than never! Bone broth in particular is one of the most affordable and nourishing foods you can make at home – literally it will cost you next to nothing for litres of this delicious broth. So stop buying store bought broth now. 🙂

    Bone broth is the liquid that is left over after after you simmer meaty bones and connective tissue in water – I love to add additional vegetables, herbs and spices for added flavour and nutrients too. Having your own broth on hand means you have a nutritious and delicious base to soups, stews, sauces, can be enjoyed straight, added into bolognaise, used to cook your rice/quinoa/pasta in – basically anything to add additional nutrients and flavour!

    Bone broth and stock are similar – bone broth though is typically simmered for an extensive period of time, and draws more nutrients from the bones. Stocks can be either bone and/or vegetable and not cooked for as long. Either way – it’s time to grab out your big stock pot or slow cooker and get simmering !
    (read more on the benefits of bone broth here)

    Bone Broth

    Equipment

    • Large Stock Pot or slow cooker

    Ingredients
      

    • Bone broth: Use (ideally organic) knuckle and neck bones, shanks and oxtails. You can also use marrow bones, too. But I find too much marrow creates a greasy / oily broth. Just ask your local butcher! Note: If you roast your bones prior, you will get a richer flavour
    • Chicken Broth: Use a whole chicken, chicken feet, the frame of a roasted chicken etc. Basically anything from the chicken. So next time you cook up a roast chook, save those bones!
    • 1-2 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar This helps draw out the nutrients from the bones
    • 1 tbsp Black peppercorns
    • 2 Bay Leaves
    • 1 Garlic bulb slightly crushed
    • Any left over vegetables off cuts such as carrots, onion, celery/leaves (optional, not essential) TIP: I save these when I prep dinner and just put in a bag and freeze so I have all the off cuts when I'm ready to make a batch!)
    • Enough water to 3/4 fill your pot or to cover your bones
    • NOTE: You can really add any flavours / spices to your broth that you like! Just about anything goes!

    Instructions
     

    • It's as simple as throwing everything into a stock pot, filling with water that it covers the bones and some. Bring to the boil over medium – high heat and then turn heart down to low.
    • Simmer, uncovered for at least 8 hours and up to 16 hours. Skim any foam that appears at the surface of the broth over that time.
    • Once done, strain the broth and discard the bones / vegetables. Be careful the bones will be super hot !
    • Pop the broth in the fridge over night and remove the excess fat that solidifies on the top. Your cold broth should look like jelly. 🙂
    • Scoop the broth into jars or containers. I use silicon muffin tray / moulds and pop them in the freezer. Once frozen, I then transfer the frozen moulds into containers and store. That way I have on hand approx 1 cup size of broth anytime I need.
    • Broth can be stored in the fridge for up to a week (remember it's a meat), but in the freezer for 6mths. But mine definitely doesn't last that long!

    Ultimate Banana Bread

    Ultimate Banana Bread

    This banana bread will sure to please the whole family. Unlike your store bought banana bread this one is refined sugar free, and is packed full of goodness. I've adapted this recipe from probably 3 different recipes I've used over the years and often (as I do) I modify slightly based on what ingredients I have in the pantry. So I offer some substitutes or optional add ins for what works for you. As long as you stick to the bones of the recipe you can't go wrong.
    Perfect for an arvo snack or pre, during or post training. I also love it sliced and toasted and then topped with yoghurt, berries and nuts/seeds for a delicious dessert! Can be made as a loaf, or as muffins and freezes super well.

    Ingredients
      

    • ~4 Ripe Bananas (approx 350-400g)
    • 2 large eggs (or 3 if on the smaller side)
    • 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted you can sub this for butter also
    • 2 tbsp rice malt syrup you can adjust this based on how ripe your bananas are
    • 1 tsp vanilla extract just omit if you don't have
    • 1 1/2 cups brown rice flour or flour of choice
    • 2 tsp baking powder
    • 1 tsp baking soda
    • 1 tsp cinnamon
    • 2 tbs flaxmeal and/or LSA
    • 2 tbs chia seeds
    • 1/4-1/3 cup coconut /almond milk you can sub in any milk here
    • 1/3 CUP chopped walnuts or other soft nut of choice, or you can omit

    Instructions
     

    • Pre heat oven to 180 degrees and line a loaf tin or muffin tray
    • Using whatever kitchen device / aid you have – I use a thermo (you can even do by hand!), blend / mix bananas
    • Blend through eggs
    • Add remaining wet ingredients (excluding the milk) – rice malt syrup, vanilla essence and coconut oil/butter and blend until combined
    • Place in all the dry ingredients (excluding walnuts) + 1/4 cup of milk blend until combined
    • Add in additional milk if needed. I should be thick and creamy and not too runny.
    • Fold through the walnuts – or any soft nut or addition of choice (choc chips are great too!) 😉 Save some to sprinkle on top
    • Pour the mixture into lined tin (or muffin tray) If you want to get fancy, slice an extra banana in half long ways and place both on top of your banana bread. (you can also do little tiny slices on your muffins if you like)
    • Cook until skewer comes out clean. If you under cook it will be too soggy. For a loaf this can be 1-1.25hours. For muffins, 20-30min. Just keep an eye on them.
    • When cooked pull out of the oven and let cool in tin/tray for ~20min then turn out onto wire rack to cool fully.
    • Keep in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer. ENJOY!