As those of you who follow my blog know as well as beauty I love yummy treats and as I can’t eat gluten I’m always trying to find new ways to make yummy cakes that don’t involve flour. These are my GAPs style muffins and are totally delicious! No flour, no sugar just good wholesome stuff. Recipe: 2 1/2 Cups or 200g of Ground Almonds 1/4 Cup of soft Butter 3-4 Eggs depending on size 2 Cups of dried Mixed Fruit 1 Banana Squeeze of Honey (optional) 1 tsp of Cinnamon Oven: 150 C (fan) 1. Pour the Almonds into the bowl and add the butter. Work the butter into the almonds with your fingers until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs (as if you were making a crumble). Then add the eggs in, mix after the third egg and then if the mixture is still too dry add a fourth. It should look a bit like porridge. Then pop in 2 cups of mixed fruit (you can use any dried fruit you like but I used that because it was left from Christmas!) give it a good stir to combine. Peel your banana and then break up and put into mixture. Mash and fold it in and then add the cinnamon. (Again you can use what ever spice you like, orange/lemon peel, mixed spice etc I used cinnamon because that’s what was in the cupboard.) Then if you like you can add a wee squeeze of honey for added sweetness. Once totally combined it should look like this: 2. Then you need to line a tray with paper cases and spoon in the mixture. One good desert spoon per case should be enough to give you 10-12 muffins. 3. Pop them in the oven at 150 C (fan) for 25 minutes and they should be golden brown and cooked through. (Check with a skewer to see if cooked in the middle.) 4. Leave to cool in the tray and then pop into an airtight container to store for a few days. Enjoy with a lovely cup of tea! It’s a fairly easy mixture to use and you can adapt it to suit yourself e.g. swap butter for coconut oil if you want to make it dairy free. I’ve used cups even though I’m Scottish because they are very handy when your scales have run out of battery! If you want anything in oz then give me a shout.
Hx
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As many of you will know this month is Sober October! With Christmas and it's many parties just around the corner October is the perfect time to put down the wine and pick up the water. Giving up booze is an easy way to get rid of a whole host of empty calories and shed the pounds with little effort. It will also help you to get a more restful sleep and we all know how important our beauty sleep is! Who doesn't want clearer skin? Swap your wine for a favourite herbal or fruit tea and if you don't have a favourite then get experimenting! If you are really going for it then why not try a detox tea to help cleanse the body and give you beautiful glowing skin. Get your friends and family in on the act too as the best way to stick at it is to do it as a group. To get the most out of your October challenge why not swap chatting over tea and biscuits for going for a walk with your best friend? Wrap up warm and head out on a lovely autumnal day and crunch through the leaves. Not only will you shed pounds this month you will also save them. So why not treat yourself to a facial or dinner out with your friends at the end of the month to celebrate your achievement! This month is Organic September and as such the Soil Association has challenged Britain to make one small change in their shopping this month and buy something that is organic. It could be something as small as buying organic milk or carrots instead of regular. The thinking behind it is that if each person swaps just one product then that can have a big impact nationally as if people start consuming more organic produce it can improve the land for wildlife encouraging pollinators, which food production relies on, to thrive in our countryside. Another product we should all be considering swapping to is organic skin care. The skin is the largest organ in our body but it is so often neglected. Often people forget what you put on your body ends up in it (just like nicotine patches). So if you wouldn't put in your mouth don't put it on your skin! Certified organic skin care is always free of the sulphates and parabens which are found in so many petroleum based creams. However, make sure that it is certified by the soil association as some products that claim to be organic may not be wholly so. By swapping to organic skin care you are reducing the amount of chemical residues that are absorbed by your body. A good diet going in and on your body is the way to glowing skin! My one small change was to start using Power Berry Facial Wash and Moisturiser from Neal's Yard Remedies which smell delicious and I can honestly say my skin feels great! When I became gluten free the one thing I have always missed was having fresh pasta. I had always thought it would be a pain to make it from scratch but then I found a recipe for it in the Allergy-free cookbook by Alice Sherwood and it turns out its really easy. Anyone who has used gluten free lasagne sheets knows what a pain they are trying to cook them before use they stick together or fall apart. Well with this recipe lasagne is now a pleasure to make, I can even make my own ravioli and farfalle now. In this recipe I am using Buckwheat flour as it is not only hypo-allergenic but incredibly good for you containing lots of amino acids, magnesium (for strong teeth and bones), fibre, and can help to reduce heart pressure and lower bad cholesterol. However, you can use plain gluten free flour if you would prefer. Ingredients: 3 oz of Buckwheat Flour 3/4 tsp of xanthan gum 1/4 tsp of salt 1 large egg 1 tbsp olive oil This pasta couldn't be easier and takes seconds to make, simply weight out your dry ingredients in a large bowl. Then make a well in the middle, crack in your egg and olive oil into the well and then it's time to get your hands dirty! Mix the until it forms a dough, then kneed on a well floured surface until smooth. Then all you have to do is wrap it in cling film and leave it to rest for 30mins in the fridge. Once the pasta has rested just roll the dough out as thinly as you can and then cut it to the size you need to fit in your pasta dish for lasagne, or however you need for ravioli etc. Then just pop the pasta on a board to dry out a little while you make the sauce and you are ready to go! I hope you enjoy this as much as I do :) It really is lazy pasta. I very much enjoyed my recent holiday abroad but having returned home I am feeling very blessed to live in Aberdeenshire. Not only is the weather currently much better than it was on holiday (nuts I know!) but it is also so much easier to find places to eat if like me you have a wheat intolerance.
Inverurie, which today is celebrating it's Independent Retailers has some wonderful wheat free friendly shops and eateries. Fennel This is one of my favourite places to eat in Inverurie, the staff are friendly, the food is amazing and even better I can eat it. They have some really good gluten free options which are already marked on their menu which saves me the embarrassment of having to ask what I can have. The flour-less chocolate cake is a must try! This community run cafe is a great place for lunch, I just love their gluten free pancakes and soups. The also use Fair Trade products where possible and are always happy to adapt their products to make them gluten or dairy free. This has to be one of my favourite shops in Inverurie, it has an amazing variety of gluten free products from sausages, to pizza bases, all of which taste delicious. In addition to this they also stock a huge variety of flours which mean I can get just the right mix for my own gluten free cooking and baking at home. The staff are always very friendly and happy to try and order products in for you. The perfect place to go and buy a few treats! Hx While experimenting for one of my latest projects I came up with this beauty and thought I would share the recipe with you. This cake uses ground almonds instead of flour which helps keep it gorgeously moist for days (not that it lasted that long in my house!). The even better news is that almonds are a heart-healthy food as they help to reduce LDL (bad) cholesterol and also contain lots of magnesium and vitamin E. I have also swapped half the regular sugar for coconut sugar as although no sugar is good for you this one is better than regular caster sugar as it has a lower glycemic index and contains more vitamins and minerals. Unfortunately I couldn't swap it all as the coconut sugar wouldn't have the same effect on the egg whites. Recipe:
Serves 6-8 depending on how hungry you are! Sadly my cake didn't last long enough for me to take a picture, I hope you enjoy eating yours as much as we did! Hx |
Harriette RobinsonHealth, Beauty and making you feel great! Archives
August 2014
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