Showing posts with label gluten free. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gluten free. Show all posts

Sunday, 22 May 2016

I’ve always been a lover of savoury food - cheesy, salty, vinegary, chilli, you name it! Unless I’ve baked it myself (or a friend or colleague has done so) I rarely indulge in sweet things, just pass me the cheese and biscuits and be done with it. Since cheese doesn’t especially agree with me (we’ll save the cheese feasts for when I’m seriously prepared for over-indulgence) and I was getting a little bored of popcorn (N.b. this is a sin in itself, popcorn should never be boring – I just wanted something a little different), I was itching to reach for something else. I wanted something a little more nutritious than a packet of crisps (although those who know me will know I’ll always be reaching for salt and vinegar) and with that can of chickpeas sitting on the naughty shelf of the cupboard I thought I’d have a hunt around for a recipe.

In the world of FODMAPs, legumes are – in general – given a bad name due to GOS (galacto-oligosaccharides) which broke my heart when I was venturing out into the big ol’ world of FODMAPS (or should I say, lack of). What was a girl to do when she lived on the things?!

Then a wonderful, wonderful thing happened – I’d done my research.

FODMAPs are water soluble.

So? This means that canned legumes (namely lentils and chickpeas, I’m not sure about other ones) are usually safe to eat in certain amounts as long as the liquid they’re in is discarded and the legumes are washed thoroughly (yes, this means that the chickpea water ‘aquafaba’ is a no-no). YES! My prayers had quite literally been answered and that poor can of chickpeas that had previously been banished to the naughty shelf could come down.

I stumbled on quite a few recipes for roasted chickpeas, some more exotic than others, but what I really craved was a real punchy hit of salt and vinegar with the crunch and satisfaction that you’d get from your favourite crisps (but with a little more goodness). So, without further ado, here’s a very simple recipe for some roasted chickpeas – ever-so-slightly adapted from Oh She Glows.

Salt and vinegar roasted chickpeas 

Ingredients:

  • 1 can of chickpeas (drained and rinsed thoroughly)
  • Approx. 2 cups of white vinegar (NOT malt if you’re following a low FODMAP diet)
  • 1 teaspoon of salt (table is perfectly fine here)
  • 2 teaspoons of olive oil (no need to dig your posh EVOO out from the cupboard, but not the light stuff). 

Directions:
1. Line a baking tray (we use those reusable non-stick baking sheets – no waste!)
2. Add chickpeas and vinegar into a pot and bring to the boil before taking off the light and leaving for 20-30 minutes – uncovered (keep in a well-ventilated area for this and open up a window, boiled vinegar is strong stuff!)
4. Preheat oven to 200C.
5. Drain your chickpeas and discard the vinegar. Place into baking tray and massage the oil and salt so that each chickpea is covered.
6. Roast for a good 30-45 minutes (oven dependent). They’ll be OK up to the 15 minute mark but from then on I checked on them every 5/10 minutes and gave them a shake. Make sure they don’t burn, basically, as they tend to go a bit bitter.
7. Leave to cool slightly and tuck in! Enjoy with a glass of vino and your favourite movie.


Getting enough fibre on a low FODMAP diet can be a bit of a challenge (unfortunately a lot of high fibre foods are also high on the FODMAP scale too) but a safe-serve of chickpeas will give you approximately 2.5g of fibre!

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Tuesday, 17 May 2016


I have a confession to make, I'm a lazy cook. Yes, I occasionally get the bug where all I want to do is make these intricate little creations and watch the smiles appear on my loved ones faces (or maybe they're wincing and reaching for the bucket, who knows), experiment with these wild and wonderful creations and thank my Mother for her creative trait. Most of the time (like, 90% of the time) I would settle for quick, easy, cheap, and cheerful - minimal washing up please!

Bring on the potato pie!

I was craving something easy to rustle together on Sunday as part of my food prep. I'll admit, this week we were a little slack on the food prep side of things. We managed to slow roast a chicken and rustle up a few bits and bobs alongside this creation, but otherwise it was relaxed. In fact, I think we spent most of the day tidying up and then celebrating over a booked holiday (I'm heading to Turkey in 3 weeks). It was getting a little late in the day to be cooking for the week but I'd already got my pen and paper out and minimal ingredients out on the side and I needed to just give it a go! 

This is a recipe suitable for the low FODMAP diet if you're out of the elimination stage. It's wheat free, lactose free, and relatively FODMAP free too... Just watch out for asparagus! I tolerate it well (thankfully - I love the stuff) but it contains moderate levels of fructans. Some sources say avoid completely, some say <3 spears are low FODMAP but use your own judgement here and omit if unsure.

Ingredients

 300g Maris Piper Potatoes - grated with liquid squeezed out (so approx. 250g grated potato)
 4 medium eggs (50g each)
 100ml milk (I used semi skimmed Lactofree)
 2 spears of asparagus (woody ends removed and thinly sliced / peeled)
 1 sliced tomato (100g)
 About 5g melted butter to grease your dish
 Plenty of salt and pepper to taste

Method
 1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
 2. Grease your pie/small quiche dish.
 3. Whisk together eggs and milk.
 4. Layer half of your grated potato on the bottom, season well, and add your peeled asparagus.
 5. Pour over half of your egg/milk mixture.
 6. Layer the remainder of the potato, season, and press down. Add the rest of your liquid mixture.
 7. Pop into the centre of your preheated oven and bake for between 45 mins to 1 hour until golden brown and fully set.

Enjoy!

Serves 3.
Calories per serving: 309 || Carbs: 33 (3g sugar) || Fat: 17 || Protein: 13

Portion it up when cool and add a side salad for a perfect lunch.
 
On a side note (and completely unrelated as per), it's been lovely these past few days (ok - intermittently lovely). Since I've been upping my fitness levels (and dying thanks to day one of the pre-training week of BBG - yes, day one!) I thought I should make the most of this beautiful afternoon and go for a little walk after work. A quick pootle around the block turned into a 3.3 mile wander past the fields and farms near me, but isn't it beautiful?!

Little Fish, xo

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Wednesday, 4 May 2016

These hands just weren't made for bread. Even before going gluten (well, wheat) free I’ve been rubbish at bread making. Whilst watching Paul Hollywood work his hands on the Great British Bake Off and I can’t help but feel the utmost jealousy. I know it comes with practice - don’t get me wrong - but I knew I had to be doomed after I killed my yeast off during Food class in high school (don’t cut corners and add all of your dry ingredients to a bag, seems like a wise idea unless you realise that salt - in high amounts - kills off the yeast, oops).

Alas, we’ve been experimenting with bread recipes. I can’t for the life of me think where this one was from so apologies. We modified it slightly by using 1 cup of buckwheat in place of 1 cup of flour to try and boost the nutritional content a little. It did mean that the overall mixture was drier and more dense, but it still made a pretty tasty little loaf.

I wouldn’t say this is suitable as a sandwich loaf replacement (it’s definitely not fluffy and light!) but it tastes pretty darn good toasted, with butter and your favourite jam, or thinly slices and stuffed with cheese and toasted!

It’s gluten free, lactose free, totally FODMAP friendly, and void of any of those hidden nasties you often find in shop-bought gluten free bread (inulin anyone?!)


  • 2 cups gluten-free flour (I use Doves Farm)
  • 1 cup of buckwheat flour (mill your own buckwheat, it’s far cheaper)
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 2 tsp dried active yeast
  • 1.25 tsp xantham gum
  • 1 cup of warm milk (I use lactose-free)
  • 4 tbsp salted butter
  • 3 large eggs
  • Pinch of salt

First prepare your yeast! Add to milk that’s just warm to touch (you don’t want it too hot as it’ll denature your yeast), whisk, and leave in a warm place for 10 minutes. Normally the lactose in milk will provide enough of the sugar for the yeast to feed on. As I use lactofree milk, I added one of the tbsp of sugar into the milk mixture [check on it from time to time, it should have a frothy layer - if not, check your expiry date!

Add your flour, gum, and sugar to a large mixing bowl. Give your milk/yeast mixture a whisk and gently pour into the flour, mixing well.

Add your butter, and mix.

Add your eggs one by one, mixing after each addition, and add your sprinkling of salt (I actually didn’t use any additional salt in my bread and found it a little lacking so if you’re watching your watching your sodium - omit!)

Now, this whole process if a LOT easier with a stand mixer. Lesson learnt, I’ve been scoping out Kenwood K Mixers to make gluten-free bread making a dream. If you, like me, don’t have a mixer, then you need to rustle up a bit of elbow grease and give this a real good mix for about 5 minutes. It’s murder, trust me, but hopefully yours will come out a little lighter than mine did!

We proved this bread twice to get a decent rise - one hour each time in a warm place. After the first prove, transfer to a well greased bread tin and prove again.



Smooth out the top, sprinkle with golden linseeds and pumpkin seeds if you wish (and all the best of luck - mine fell off after baking!), and bake in a preheated oven (160 degrees) for 40 minutes.

Remove, leave to cool slightly and then tip out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

Makes 15 slices: 129 calories || 5g fat || 22g carbs || 3g protein
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Thursday, 28 April 2016


To those who know me, I adore pesto. I could quite literally eat the stuff out of a jar with a spoon - tasty but not especially healthy nor good for me (hello FODMAPs). I've experimented making a low FODMAP pesto before (see my vegan and (nearly) FODMAP pesto here) which was exceptionally yummy and full of goodness but with a bag of kale in the fridge soon to perish and a rumbling tummy (that couldn't bare the thought of slaving over the hob for hours on end) I needed something quick, something fab, and something filling.

Bring on the kale pesto.

I did have an idea to throw some avocado into the mix since it would act as an excellent base (think of all those good, healthy fats!) but since avocados contain polyols (a FODMAP) then we're told to restrict our consumption - at least in the elimination stage anyway (off the top of my head you're 'allowed' 1/8th of an avocado per serving to keep it low FODMAP). With this in mind, and the fact that I'm avo-solutely addicted to avocado, I decided to omit avo and keep it kaley and totally within my limits.

You will need...

  • 1/4 cup pine nuts (30g)
  • 2 loose cups of kale (about 30g)
  • 1/4 cup of olive oil (2 tbsp of which has been infused with garlic)
  • 1/4 cup of Parmesan (try nutritional yeast if you're vegan)
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon
  • Handful of chive and parsley
  • Plenty of salt and pepper (to taste)
Blitz everything bar the lemon and salt/pepper until it, well, looks like pesto. Add your lemon juice, blitz, and taste. Add your salt and pepper depending on how much you like...



Just look at that colour! All natural, no filter, no editing, just green goodness.



I served mine with some gluten free spaghetti but I'd love to try it with my edamame spaghetti once I know that edamame is a safe food for me. Whilst the spaghetti is cooking throw in a handful of kale and some peas, drain once cooked, mix in your pesto (I made 3 servings from the above recipe), and serve. It's as simple as that.

From fridge to plate in about 20 minutes.

Enjoy...! ♡


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Monday, 18 April 2016



Saying I love breakfast is an understatement... I absolutely adore it. It sets you up for the day ahead, all of those nutrients and vitamins breaking your fast from the night before. With our hectic lifestyles, breakfast is often overlooked. As a student I regularly skipped it. My brain just didn't function as I hoped it would, I'd feel tired and dependent on a regular supply of coffee, and then when I did eventually eat my blood sugar would spike so much and I'd end up on a temporary high and experience a pretty long crash. Great hey?

So. Breakfast IS important. Really important. After a night of rest, our blood sugar levels that our body need to function (brains and muscles!) are usually low so you need a nutritious and filling brekkie to really get you going. Even if you just grab a banana and a handful of nuts as you're running out of the house you'll be doing yourself some favours.

Put down the refined sugar ridden Poptarts and seemingly healthy cereals (the amount of sugar in those things is astronomical!) and have a go at making something that you can whip up on a Sunday afternoon to enjoy all week... such as my baked carrot cake oats. A fabulous concoction of oats, plant based milk, carrots and spices that taste wonderful all week long.



Ingredients

  • 2 cups of oats
  • 2 cups of unsweetened almond milk (I use Alpro)
  • 2 tsp chia seeds
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 cup grated carrot (approx. 1 medium carrot)
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup

Method
Add your oats, almond milk (or any other dairy free milk!), and chia seeds to a bowl. Mix well and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (I left mine for an hour).

Preheat your oven to 180°C.

Grab your bowl out of the fridge - most of the liquid should've been absorbed - and add your carrots and other dry ingredients.

Mix well and add your maple syrup (add as little or as much as you'd like. I'm not a fan of super sweet things so I found 2 tbsp to be perfectly ok).

Grab your Pyrex dish and grease well with a little melted coconut oil. I used one that's about 8x8 inch.

Flatten your mixture down and sprinkle generously with nuts and seeds of your choice. I used a combination of chopped almonds and pumpkin seeds.

Bake in the centre of your oven for 30-35 minutes. Bake longer if you'd rather have a less-soggy middle but otherwise it's all up to personal preference.

Now you need to portion them. I wasn't having mine straight away so I left to cool completely and then split into 6 portions. If you're planning on eating straight away I'd suggest leaving to cool for 10 minutes and spooning out your desired amount.



Enjoy! ♡
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Wednesday, 6 April 2016

With the weather starting to warm and the blue skies starting to show (I swear this is happening in other places other than rainy Warrington, I'm still holding out for spring to appear for more than a few hours), what can be more perfect than sitting outside tucking into some delicious grub with a cold glass of Sauvignon Blanc (Malborough Estate please, New Zealand), serenaded by the late afternoon birds...

Idyllic right? 

Before I slip into a full-blown poetic dream about how perfect spring and summer can be with your loved ones near and food on the table (the best way to my heart is good food - fact), I'm going to say that when I ventured into the FODMAP elimination phase I thought - "that's it, my social life is over, I'm never going to be able to go out and enjoy the naughtier things in life - goodbye wine, goodbye beer, goodbye life". I can see you grabbing your little violin between your fingers.

Alcohol is naturally a gut irritant as I'm sure I don't need to explain to you. Take home message? If you suffer from IBS or other related issues then a simple change to make would just be to just avoid the stuff outright. Don't get me wrong, I don't need alcohol to have a good time but sometimes - just sometimes - I enjoy a tipple with the friends or mothership, particularly when said good weather hits and said Sav Blanc has been chilling all day. To keep tummies happy, maybe it'd be best to just restrict yourself to one glass (no more than two glasses) of the nectar and keep it dry, too.

So, weather and wine aside (intermittent sunshine doesn't call for lazy afternoons in the garden and I don't have any Sav, just a Rioja that for some reason I can't stomach at the moment), how about we just settle for some truly tummy-friendly, low-FODMAP, vegetarian quiche?



First make your pastry, if you aren't following a FODMAP diet - great - feel free to use your favourite shortcrust recipe. Since we are officially wheat free (far easier to just say I'm avoiding gluten!) we decided to use the shortcrust recipe on the back of the pack of Doves Farm packet.

Whilst chilling (about 30 minutes) proceed to make your filling and preheat your oven to 180C.

  • 150g grated Lancashire cheese
  • 6 medium free-range eggs
  • 300ml (lactofree) milk
  • Handful of chives, chopped
  • 4 greens of the spring onions, chopped
  • Salt/white pepper

Mix all of the above ingredients together - season well.

Line your quiche dish (we used a 24cm fluted quiche tin with a loose bottom) with some butter.

Roll out your pastry. If using the GF pastry it will be a bit crumbly and hard to work with. Roll to about 5mm thick and don't worry if it tears when adding to your quiche dish - ours did and we just patched it up (shh, don't tell Mary Berry)

Prick the base, line with parchment and baking beans, and blind bake for 15/20 minutes

Just to make sure it was sealed we did an egg-yolk wash and bake for a further 5 minutes (without the parchment this time)

Carefully fill the baked base with the filling and bake until set (about 20 minutes) then take out and top with sliced cherry tomatoes and a few slices of brie (optional, we had some left over and I can't stand waste) and bake for a further 10 or so minutes until the brie is melted. 

Remove from oven and leave to stand to cool a little. Remove from the dish. Serve and enjoy!

(Psst. It also tastes so much better the next day)




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Monday, 4 April 2016

Sunday is supposed to be the day of rest, right? Not in my house. Sunday is characteristically spent doing all of the little odds and ends that Saturday just didn't produce.... Namely the cooked goods. I wholeheartedly take part in what I call 'Domestic Sundays', I break away from the mould and ensure my Sunday is as productive as can be. Face it, the following day is *whispers* Monday (terrible word - I know - and today feels like it has been the slowest Monday on record) and nothing gets me ready for the bustling week ahead than getting my life together on that last day. What better way to attack the day than to rise and shine, coffee at hand, and a bowl (I told you I'm obsessed with bowls lately) of some truly nourishing and filling grub.

I absolutely adore baked eggs. I remember chowing down to two delicious dishes - one with a creamy base and the other a tomato base - at a little cafe in Hobart, Tasmania called Raspberry Fool. I've recreated them both a number of times (and they were utterly delicious) but now I'm an officially FODMAPer (started the strict elimination diet on 02/04/2016) I definitely won't be indulging in a) cream or b) the onion and garlic filled tomato one. What a pity.

Yesterday, to prep myself for the busy day again, I rustled up a hearty bowl of baked eggs teaming with goodness, protein, and a good kick of chilli and paprika. Guess what? No onion/garlic in sight...

Baked eggs: FODMAP edition.



· 1 tbsp of garlic infused oil
· 2 spring onions (green only)
· 1 leek (green only)
· 1 can of tomato (plus ¼ of the can with water)
· 5 fresh cherry tomatoes, halved (optional)
· ½ of a red pepper, chopped (1cm chunks)
· Small bunch of basil and parsley, finely chopped
· 1 tsp paprika
· 1 tsp chilli powder
· 4 medium free-range eggs
· Plenty of salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the spring onions and leeks, add the chopped red pepper and halved tomatoes and cook until softened.

Add the can of tomatoes and fill the can with some water to create some extra juice (make sure your tomatoes are just plain old tomatoes, no added onion or garlic)

Add your chilli and paprika and stir well, throw in the chopped herbs and let the sauce simmer for 5-10 minutes on a medium light to let it thicken.

Make four little wells in the sauce (if you can – I failed miserably here) and crack in your four eggs. Simmer for a little while on the hob and either add a lid (if your pan has one) or throw in the oven until your eggs finish cooking. The whites should be cooked but your yolk still runny. Mine ended up a little on the hard side so this is all going to be a bit of an experiment with timing...



I served mine with some chopped chives and half of a gluten-free pitta bread.



Enjoy! ♡
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Friday, 1 April 2016

If there's one thing I've learnt recently it's that everything (and I seriously mean everything) tastes better in a bowl. I don't know why, I mean I can hardly pluck some scientific fact to evidence this but you'll just have to trust me. I think there's something so comforting about huddling around a bowl and nomming away as you tuck into your favourite comfort grub.

Maybe it's that hit of nostalgia hey? Those childhood memories of digging around in the garden collecting bugs and getting covered in soil before running in to a bowl of your grandmother's homemade soup, crusty bread, and what seems like half a block of butter. Ok. Maybe I'm on my own there for the first bit (I didn't exactly conform to society's 'little girl' image and my love of nature started young) but I'm sure we can all resonate with the sheer home comfort associated with freshly made soup.

Now, soup's chilly cousin - the smoothie - has been flooding instagram by storm. No longer in a glass or drank with a straw, the slightly thicker aptly named 'smoothie bowl' is a treat and jam packed full of nutrients and yumminess that makes this breakfast bowl a true treat.



Now doesn't it look pretty?

This one was rustled up in a matter of minutes, it can of course be made with whatever you'd like but here's mine...

......PB and banana smoothie bowl.......

[Gluten/wheat free // Dairy free // Vegan // Fodmap friendly]

Blitz together the following ingredients:

  • 1/2 frozen banana
  • 2 tsp peanut butter (I use Meridian as it's just pure peanut - no sugar, salt, or added palm oil)
  • 10 tbsp unsweetened almond milk (Alpro here!)
  • A small handful of oats.


Add more liquid/oats to get your desired consistency.

Add to a bowl and add your toppings. I used chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, and a few almonds.

Enjoy - - - ♡
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Tuesday, 15 March 2016

It's hard to believe that growing up through school, college, and university I used to skip the most important meal of the day - breakfast. There was no reason for it really... I just wasn't hungry and I'm not the best person in the morning so it made sense to stay in bed as long as possible. Rookie error. No wonder my blood sugars were all over the place and I used to get the shakes....

It was only when I started hitting the gym a few years back (that has since stopped which of course is not at all evident *nervous laugh*) and I knew I needed to fill my body with some kind of nourishment otherwise I'd pass out (and believe me - that nearly happened on several occasions when I attempted fasted cardio.... another rookie error).

Back then it was always wholemeal toast  slathered in my favourite peanut butter (100% peanut - no added sugar or oil for me thank you) or a nourishing and filling breakfast shake made with almond milk, protein powder, banana, and of course some spinach....

Whilst I may still reach for the shake (minus the protein until I start attacking the gym like a gale force 10) my now go-to breakfast meal usually involves some kind of overnight oats, egg muffins, Greek yoghurt with fruit and chia seeds.... you get the picture. Yesterday I decided it was time to rustle up a chia seed pudding, jazz things up a bit. It's paleo, fodmap friendly, vegan, and totally delicious......



You'll need....

• 200ml of your favourite milk (I use Alpro almond milk but coconut works exceptionally well here)
• 3 tbsp chia seeds (an absolute steal in Home Bargains by the way!)
• 1/2 tbsp of pure maple syrup (not pictured! It was a last minute addition).



Mix it all together in a jar and leave for a few hours, preferably overnight. Top with whatever you would like! I chose pomegranate and some sunflower and pumpkin seeds... Delicious. Those little pomegranate seeds really made it something special; the different texture and burst of tart but sweet flavour really cut through the natural creaminess of the chia pudding.

The best part? It's perfectly suited for paleo and low-FODMAP diets. It's naturally vegan too... I shouldn't have honey whilst following this diet and I just don't really like 'real' milk (plus lactose is a no no anyway). It packs in your protein, your good fats, and your fibre, so it ticks a lot of boxes.....♡ Perfect.

With love, xo
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