Home's

I am sharing this recipe for my friend Erin who is so desperate for it after visiting last week.
It is a family favourite and we also have it without the chicken in for a vegetable soup on it's own.
We have found it to be  a very nourishing and filling soup for all year round.

Honestly  it is just something we made up and the quantities vary but this is as close as I can remember.
This can be a two meal recipe for our family of 14. So if you want less you can reduce the quantities or perhaps freeze it, although I am not sure how it goes frozen. The amount really varies with the amount of veggies you put in

First Cook one or two chickens and let cool then pull apart discarding the skin. Or you can use cooked chicken breast pieces.

Preparing the vegetables:
chop up onions 6-12 and cook in a olive oil while preparing the rest of the veggies

Peel and cut up potatoes 3-5kg (or you can leave the skin on if you prefer)
3 garlic cloves chopped
sweet potatoes 4 large sweet some larger and some smaller
pumpkin half a large and or one whole some large and some smaller
The reason we do some smaller is so that they break down more and make the soup thicker
carrots in little quarters 1kg
4 zucchini in quarters
celery 4 stalks

Put all the veggies in a large stock pot and cover with water just above the veggie line.

At some stage usually when all the veggies are in the pot we add these seasonings~
about a desert spoon of curry powder,
a shake of garlic powder
a shake of onion salt
a sprinkle of Celtic sea salt
grind some 4 seasons pepper in to the soup
and some chili flakes ground up too.

As the soup is near the end of cooking I sprinkle some chia seeds in to thicken. If it needs more thickening at the end just add more chia and cook a little longer.
I no longer use any other thickener for our soups or stews.
I get a taste tester at this stage to taste and tell me if we need more seasoning too.

Serve as it is or with sourdough bread.

There I hope that is what you wanted Erin, it is an imprecise art really.

Blessings to you and your homes,
 

One of the sweet foods  we have added to our diet since removing all refined sugar is what I call 'Date Syrup.'
Although it really isn't a syrup but a simple mixture of dried dates in water and then blended.

One of the food uses we use it for is on our soaked oats that we have for breakfast a couple of times a week. Remembering it is Winter here and a hot breakfast is a great start to the day.
Besides, I am not sure that Stephen will ever get used to a smoothie as correct breakfast food!
In his opinion it is still a drink and not worthy of the name food.

However as a former lover of brown sugar and cream on my oats for breaky, ( and I could still be tempted by this) I admit I found that adding honey was not really doing it for me in regards to sweetener on porridge.

So it came to me that if we could have dates in a soft syrupy form and add those we might be getting somewhere near that lovely creamy sweet porridge I love.

The way I decided to this was from the way I prepared dates for date cake:
I simply put a 500g packet of dried dates into a bowl add two cups of boiling water and 2 teaspoons of bicarb soda .
I generally leave this overnight but it does not have to be that long, at least allow it to cool.

Then pop it in to the blender and pulverize it. You may need to add a little bit of water to your mix as you go, it is a bit of see how you go recipe.

Refrigerate when done and add it to the soaked oats recipe below.
Our Porridge Recipe - adapted from  Nourishing Traditions

This serves our family of 12
6 cups rolled oats add 7 cup warm filtered water plus 14 tablespoons whey, yoghurt, kefir or buttermilk
½ teaspoon sea salt
6 cups  water
 For highest benefits and best assimilation, porridge should be soaked overnight or even longer. Once soaked, oatmeal cooks up in less than 5 minutes—truly a fast food. (Note: Those with severe milk allergies can use lemon juice or vinegar in place of whey, yoghurt, kefir or buttermilk.)


Mix oats with warm water mixture, cover and leave in a warm place for at least 7 hours and as long as 24 hours.
Bring an additional 6 cups of water to a boil with sea salt.
Add soaked oats, reduce heat, cover and simmer several minutes.
Remove from heat and let stand for a few minutes.
Serve with plenty of butter and date syrup from above



Blessings to you and your homes,
 

Yesterday we made our first ever batch of Buttermilk Scones (Biscuits for my US friends).
These were made from soaking our Spelt flour in buttermilk for 24 hours or more

Yes I know, 'wheat' but you said you were grain  free' and yes I did.
In my research on wheat from Wheat Belly we decided to go completely grain free. From here though after even more research we have re-introduced   spelt, which is an old grain wheat which has not been hybridised as  modern wheat has, on rare occasions.

Interestingly enough William Davis tested old grain wheat,  and in his own research observed that eating spelt did not produce  of the side effects of eating regular wheat.
IN fact we have found the same and although we still rarely use grains of any sort I have found that spelt is quite acceptable to our family diet with no side effects either physically or emotionally.

However to cover both bases I have been soaking any grain we have used: the three types being oats, brown rice and now spelt flour.
The reasons being basically ;that lacto-fermentation makes nutrients in these foods more available and supplies the intestinal tract with health-promoting lactic acid and lactic-acid-producing bacteria. Fermenting grains is a traditional practice that helps make the grains more digestible, and reduces anti-nutrients for better nutritional value."For   more detailed look at this I really recommend the book Nourishing Traditions  


So now we have a few soaked recipes we have used and find them to be 'non reactive for us'


So now I am sure you want to know the recipe we used!
BUTTERMILK BISCUITS ~ recipe is from Nourishing Traditions
Makes about 1 dozen
Ingredients~
3 ½ cups freshly ground spelt, kamut or whole wheat flour  (we used store bought spelt)
1 cup buttermilk (Cultured Butter and Buttermilk)
4 tablespoons melted butter
1½ teaspoons sea salt
2 teaspoons bicarb soda
unbleached white flour (for dusting)

Method~
Mix flour with buttermilk to form a thick dough.
Cover and leave in a warm place for 12 to 24 hours.
In a bowl we used our dough hook on  a hand held beater.
Add  in remaining ingredients and knead with hook for longer.
Remove dough to a well-floured  board and sprinkle with unbleached white flour to prevent sticking.
Roll dough to about ¾ inch thickness.
Cut biscuits with a glass and place on a buttered baking sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.

I also sprinkle a little milk on top of our scones and this time we made ours date scones so I added  2 tablespoons of coconut sugar to melted butter  and 1 generous cup chopped dates to dough for the  last mix
Corbyn as you see was my baker this time and he loved them even though he does not usually like dates.
Straight out of the oven
and on to the plate.

Frankly they do not last long so be prepared to grab them while hot.

Of course they do taste great with butter and if indulging I am sure a little jam and cream would be just perfect!

Blessings to you and your homes,
 

One of the new items in our pantry lately has been buttermilk.

I have used this before occasionally, but tended to make my own 'quick version' that I had found as a fall back measure. Simply- to one cup of milk add two tablespoons of lemon juice. I have used this in my Irish Soda bread for years in this manner.

Since going Grain 'n' Sugar FREE we have been slowly adding some cultured and fermented foods, after reading Nourishing Traditions and will talk more about this at a later date :)

As these tend to have buttermilk, kefir or yoghurt in them I have been buying buttermilk for part of these. As I make yogurt already using more of this was not a problem. I also started making kefir and prefer this to yogurt as it does not have as strong a taste in the soaking process.

However I had not made buttermilk till just recently, in fact it never occurred to me that we could make it properly, well in fact I never even saw it in the supermarket until I was looking for it.
I did object to the price though at just under $3 for 600 ml, but considered it a part of our new eating regime and thus worth it. I did tend to use kefir more as I thought it more economical.
To make this buttermilk you need:
1 cup of cultered buttermilk from the supermarket
3 cups of  whole milk ( I just use regular milk, but you can use raw milk if that is your preference)
A jar with a lid

To make:
Pour the cup of buttermilk into the jar,
add the milk
Close or put the lid on then....
Shake the bottle up and leave on kitchen bench or other warm place for about 24 hours, depending how warm it is.

How do you know it is ready?
When it is ready, ie, the new cultured buttermilk  will coat the glass jar.
Put it in the fridge and it will last for  weeks, or until it is used up.

To re culture follow the steps from the start.
Simple remember the ratio of 1:3 or buttermilk to milk and you can use any quantities you like

Blessings to you and your homes,
 

Another birthday down!
Another birthday with much fun and excitement.

Myffwyn was so happy to have her birthday and had waited a whole 7 days to actually celebrate her birthday.
Once again I am so thankful that our children are more interested in the actual celebration together than having the 'presents' on the day as the main focus of their celebration.

Myffy was very excited that on her actual birthday her special buddy, Braedon gave her an MP3 player like Moran got. I do like these for our children and we have a very wide variety of audio books for them to listen too. The current favourite is the Rangers Apprentice books read by William Zappa. These are from audible.com and we are truly enjoying them as the new ones have been released. We have listened to the first  books for over 5 years and then in the last 3 months the last 5 books have been released. A HUGE listening project in our home.

Having big brothers working has been a real plus for our younger children this year and Myffy also received a complete outfit from Kynan and his special girl which she loved.

As Braedon had given her the main present we would had I had to think of other special gifts for her. So when she asked for a tea cup like the big girls I was pleased we could get this for her.
Mind you our tea cup collection is truly growing and I think we will need another place to house them.
Of course for our little girls what has become known as 'bling' in our family is always a welcome gift and so Myffy received a nice lot of this as well.

For the birthday food we had~
Breakfast:  buckwheat pancakes with jam and cream
Lunch: the party bags she choose and odds and ends as per birthday tradition.
Dinner: Hmmm well I am not sure this was a wise choice as we had both Myffwyn and Vellvin sick during  the night after her meal of......
McDonald's Chicken and Cheese burgers with home cooked potato chips, soft drink.
We definitely  have reactions now we are Grain 'n' Sugar Free
Birthday Cake: I made a Castle Cake from my own ideas and loved how it turned out.
I used a Macro Cake Mix Chocolate Cake Gluten Free as I am looking for a more 'shapable cake for these special cakes we make and not so expensive either.
However this one was not as nice as the one we had used before and so not really worth it.

Once again it was a big day here and one we really enjoyed as we celebrate the special days of each of our precious children.

Next birthday is mine!! Oh I can't wait to see what is planned for me............

Blessings to you and your homes,
 

My very talented daughter and her partner as well as side kick Moran put this very yummy meatball recipe together the other night when we were looking for something a little more interesting.

We call them 'Tomato Chilli Balls' and here is the recipe for them.

INGREDIENTS:
Simply add all the ingredients into a bowl~
For our family we use: at the moment we have 12 people at home
2 kg of beef mince
2  eggs
cheese approx 2 cups
onion salt, 1/2 tablespoon
garlic powder  1/2 tablespoon
dried basil, approx 2 tablespoons
dried rosemary about 1 tablespoon
chilli powder 3 teaspoons
curry powder  1 tablespoon
salt and pepper
Home made Tomato sauce
Tomato paste
(However please adjust the seasoning to your own tastes)

METHOD:
Combine well and form into balls.
Lightly spray olive oil in fry pan and place meatballs in

Pour tomato sauce over the meatballs, add a little tomato paste and cook in the sauce.
You may need to add more sauce as you go but continue to cook until the sauce has reduced and thickened and the meatballs are cooked through.

Serve meatballs with some of the sauce (my favourite part) and your choice of vegetables.

Enjoy!!

Blessings to you and your homes,
 

The joy I find in home making is a blessing I am thankful for.
It is the little things that bring a smile to my face as I go through the day
Today as every day when I do a lot of preparing to cook just reminds me how I love this life.
If there is one aspect of home-making I love, a particular it is cooking
Being in the kitchen with my children, often daughters and younger children.

So today being a rest day I felt very happy to be in the kitchen baking chicken to go into the pot of vegetables we were preparing for chicken soup.
Adding the next lot of flour to the sour-dough starter.
Preparing the next lot of yogurt and kefir
Then I started the soaking process for Muffins and Buttermilk biscuits, these will be finished tomorrow.
While this was happening we were adding the last ingredients to the tomato sauce so it could simmer away through the day.
 Perhaps you are thinking this is not a rest day. This is not what you should be doing on a Sunday, the Lords Day.
Perhaps you are right : for you.
However for me this is a rest day, a day I get to do those things I enjoy without the pressure of weekdays and time schedules to work to. Knowing we have lessons to work on, chores to do and other day to day essentials.
Sunday is a day to totally be at peace with what I choose to do with the day, thankful to God that I am given this day to love Him and still be happy in my creative endeavours.
So I love a day when I can indulge in MY rest and recovery options. In fact I do not think of these as work but as an opportunity to shower those I love with the fruits of my love, and thankful I have the opportunity to do so.
Obviously by now it must be lunch time so to keep things simple today we made Peach Yogurt Smoothies a variation on our Banana Yogurt ones we have been enjoying.

After feeding and rocking our baby to sleep I then went up to the loft to work on my sewing projects, this didn't  go for long though as he soon woke up. However it was interesting to see that some of the children brought up their projects (reading, puzzles, painting and sewing) to the loft just to be in the same space with me.

Next up was playing Uno with my sweet Moran and her Daddy. She has really discovered card games and wants to play all the time.
The children really enjoy this day as well, a day when they can catch up on reading, perhaps play a board game or other games. I also admit to letting the older ones play some computer games, this for me is a huge thing as I monitor this VERY tightly.
Interestingly enough the older children have found a lot of fun in the fame Twister over the last couple of days. It is delightful to hear them playing this together and enjoying the simple and yet memorable fun this game can provide
Then I wanted to print out an embroidery pattern to work on while giving my younger girls reading lessons during the week so I found this Sunbonnet Sue pattern to do.
I adore Sunbonnet sue and some years ago our Autumn embroidered one for me. I haven't done a lot of embroidery lately and just really felt the desire to follow this up in my free time.
So I look forward to working on this next week and I am trying to decide whether to do a whole group of them or individual ones.

As we had dinner all prepared it was a very easy evening and due to the simplicity of the meal we had a rare treat for sweets, something I call Banana Cream.
So very tasty and delectable:
Whipped cream with sliced banana on top with a drizzle of honey and sprinkle of nutmeg.

As Stephen, Rogan and Saxon went to the evening Mass (we others had been to Vigil Mass) I received a phone call after Mass to say Saxon had sprained his ankle, again, for the third time in a few months, and needed some TLC when they got home.
So love, due care and attention were administered for our poor boy.
However another opportunity to really love and serve as I know our Lord would want  me to.

Of course chatting to our older boys is always a pleasure and I am blessed that we can do this on a daily basis. I love sharing what they have done and telling them the ordinary things we have done in our family and how much we miss them still.
With joy like this to behold today as well as every day I really love to look into the faces of those I love and receive the love and joy that is there to be taken.

May you all have had a most blessed Sunday as I have had.

Blessings to you and your homes,
 

This post is about some celebration food we ha have had over the last couple of weeks.
One of the things we changed for Rogan's birthday was to eliminate the party bags and replace with some  other special 'party food'.
Frankly I am not convinced we achieved much with this as we had a small amount of lollies and the younger children especially responded to the sugar in them as well as the sugar in Rogan's bought packet mix, even though it was gluten free.
It also took a lot of time to prepare this extra party food and so the time spent on birthday  preparation for this took away from the birthday time doing other things.
So we may just consider putting the party bags back on the menu, perhaps with a selection of the birthday child's favourites and simply deal with he aftermath as a special occasion deal

So for now here are the recipes we used for his birthday and a few other special occasions we had recently~

For breakfast we had pancakes using this  packet mix - Orgran Buckwheat Pancake Mix. We really are enjoying this mix and it does not contain wheat but does  contain rice flour.

Peppermint Patties from Elana's Pantry 
( we adjusted this for our tastes)
½ cup coconut oil
¼ cup honey
½ teaspoon peppermint essence
½ to 1 cup chocolate melted
Apple Crisp Muffins-  from here
 ( we make this a fair bit but recently added nutmeg instead of cinnamon and I think they are even better)
2 ½ cups blanched almond flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp sea salt
3 large eggs
1/3 cup honey (we prefer clover honey, as it's mild flavor makes it a perfect choice baking)
3 tbsp coconut oil, melted

Apple Crisp Topping: ( we actually at least double the topping recipe for ours  )
½ cup finely diced apple
¼ cup of finely chopped crispy nuts, (we use almonds mainly)
 1 tbsp coconut sugar
¼ tsp ground cinnamon

Method~
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
 Line a muffin tin with 10 baking cups.
 In a small bowl, mix almond flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, honey, coconut oil and vanilla until well blended.
 Add dry ingredients to wet and whisk until well combined. In another small bowl, mix together the apple crisp topping.
Add one spoonful of batter to prepared muffins cups.
Lift muffin pan with both hands and evenly tap bottom of the pan on the counter to flatten batter.
 Then add a spoonful of the apple crisp mixture.
Top with another spoonful of batter, tap pan to flatten batter.
Top with remaining apple crisp mixture.
Bake 25-28 minutes, until muffins are slightly brown and an inserted knife comes out clean.
 Allow to cool in muffin pan.

This is the birthday goodies plate we had. We added a few  lollies of choice to the mix as well.
On the 30th of April we had the Feast Day of St Catherine of Siena who  is Autumn and Vellvin's Confirmation saints. We made this very nice Chocolate Mousse Cake with no flour of any kind . I got it from here. This is my favourite chocolate cake. It is very 'fudgy' and muddy and I love that it has no flour of any kind.
Ingredients

• 1 and 1/4 cup cocoa powder (carob works well too)
• 1 and 1/4 cup butter
• 6 eggs
• 2/3 cup coconut sugar
• 2 Tbsp Kahlua (or substitute real vanilla extract and dismiss the tsp of vanilla below) (we only used vanilla)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Method of Preparation
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9 inch round pan. In a double boiler (you may also use a glass or metal bowl that fits snugly over a pan of simmering water) melt the butter and stir in the cocoa powder. Let cool slightly, about 10 minutes. In a large bowl, whisk 2 of the eggs and the additional 4 eggs yolks (reserving the whites!) until well combined. Stir into the eggs only 1/3 cup of the sugar, the chocolate mixture (if it’s to warm it will begin to cook the eggs! As a precaution always stir while pouring in the warm mixture), Kahlua, vanilla, and a small pinch of salt. Blend until combined. In a mixer with balloon whisk attachment (can be done by hand as well) beat the 4 remaining egg whites with the cream of tartar until stiff peaks form. While beating, gradually add in the remaining 1/3 cup sugar.
Once combined turn off.
Whipped cream is a fantastic accompainment to this!
As part of our wedding anniversary the children made the cake below and put cream on top along with a flower heart wreath. This is one of the most  successul cakes we have as well

Rogan's Birthday beehive cake was a packet mix  Deliciously Free Moist Chocolate Mud Cake this has sugar in it though so not as good as we would have liked.
Once again our 'icing' of choice is whipped cream ( we have always used this instead of an icing mixture so the change to sugar free frosting has only been slight for us)
For this one to get the colour I added a small amount of dissolved coffee and a little bit of honey.

And for more celebrations I will be  sharing our special wedding anniversary meal and Rogan's Zoo party soon!

Blessings to you and your homes,
 

Our next Fortnight Menu~
we have been winging it since our first menu and are starting to become a bit stale and trying to work it out on the fly. So in the spirit of keeping  everything in order here is our next menu

Breakfast~
Soaked Oats
4 bacon and eggs.
Sleepy Banana  Muffin Smootie we have enjoyed these since we started
Pancakes cream and fruit
Boiled eggs

Lunch~
Salad: pretty much what we have been having mostly it usually consists of -lettuce/ diff types, capsicum, tomato, cucumber celery, sultanas, beans, cauliflower, cabbage etc) with this mayonaise which is very very nice. I also sue it to dunk chips in too.
Cheese or eggs or tuna
Our own version of vegetable soup, sometimes with chicken. (Recipe to follow)
Home made chips
Grain Free Indian flat bread and chicken and  salad
Grain Free Pita Bread similar recipe to above recipe ( when we made this it was more like a pancake)
Grain Free Raisin Bread
Grain-free Almond Bread with cream and jam



Sweets~
Fruit or berry crumble:
got this from a face book friend
can use frozen berries to make crumble
put thick layer of berries or other fruit in a baking dish, drizzle with honey, sprinkle with a tiny pit of coconut flour (approx TBS) Mix together equal amount of almond flour and butter, add another TBS or two of  coconut flour, pinch salt cinnamon, honey to taste, maybe a little vanill.
Drop over berries in bits.
Cook at 350 until edges are bubbling and topping slightly browned.
Whip up heavy cream to serve with.

Fruit Crumble but use this as a basic recipe

Morning tea~
yougurt and Peaches -
chocolate chip cookies
Fruit straps
Grain Free Oatmeal Cookies these are really good
Pop corn with butter (not strickly grain free but oh so good)

for self so don't lose it chai

Dinner~
Chicken with Olives and Prunes
Pizza -grain free
Corned Beef  with mashed potato and veg
Potato and bacon bake with vegs
Sizzle steak with baked potato and other baked vegies  x2
Chips and fish x2
Meat and vegetable stew
Fried chicken with 'slater' potatoes
Homemade Chicken soup x2
Rissoles (our own recipe)
Stir fry beef or chicken stir fry

Blessings to you and your homes,
 

All right I have had this in draft for so long with the pictures as well as another one so I have decided to break it up into a few posts as I got overwhelmed with the amount I wanted to share at once and so kept putting it off.
So for the first instalment ~

I would like to share our family's experiences with the grain free baking (ie, cakes, cookies and other 'baked goods.' I will be doing a cooking version as well) that we have done over the first 5  weeks or so.

First off let me get this off my chest......
I have decided that I really am not an almond flour or coconut flour baking person.
For myself I just can't get past the texture of the almond and coconut flour in my baked goods. The taste is also a fair bit more dominant and for me well, chocolate cake seems to be a thing of the past, as I can't do chocolate cake grain free. There is still one recipe I am going to try that does not have the flour so perhaps there is hope yet.(in fact the cupcakes at the bottom I can do and another large cake that I will share in my next post)

In regards to the children though they seem to have taken (mostly) to the new baking we are doing, not that we have done a lot anyway.

The baking below is everything  that we have baked in the first 6 weeks of morning tea and sweets.
Since then we have tried other recipes as well and I will follow up in a Part 2 for them.

We are still searching for that perfect bread recipe, as the item the children miss (some more than others) is bread!!
Bread Recipe~
Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups almond flour
3 eggs
1/4 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon bicarb soda
1 cup yoghurt
1/4 teaspoon salt

Method:
1. Mix together in food processor, bake at 350 F (180 C) for about 45 minutes.
2. Test to see when it's done.
 The bread was  left a little too long in the oven (it has taken us a little while to adjust to the new cooking times etc with our wood oven) but it was fine. Still  it was not bread as were were looking for it.
This was good with butter and jam but would not support a sandwich for lunch. The jam we use is St Dalfour  fruit spreads
These cupcakes were quite good and the little ones liked them a lot, in fact most of us did
Recipe from here (we did not alter it at all)

Ingredients ~
1 ½  cups almond meal
¼ cup  cocoa powder
1 teaspoon gluten free baking powder
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup  light olive  oil
60 ml milk (¼ cup) your choice of dairy, almond or soy
2 tablespoons honey

Method~
Preheat oven to 160 C – fan forced. 180 C no fan. Combine almond meal, cocoa powder and baking powder.
Add the eggs, oil, milk and honey then mix well to form a smooth batter.
Spoon into 12 small individual cupcake tins.
Bake for 25 minutes until puffed and cooked through.
These cupcakes were only liked by a few of our little ones.
The older kids didn't like them at all, quite tasteless apparently. Obviously I did not even try these ones. Interesting as these looked the most appetising!
They were from here, but seriously I don't know what it was that we did not like about them
Irish Soda Bread: from  Elana's Pantry- Yes the kids liked it. It was a bit dry  and much smaller than we are used to  but still very good
Still it was eaten by everyone and a little butter  and jam always adds to the flavours

Irish Soda Bread (we altered slightly from the original)
 2 ¾ cups almond flour
 ¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
½ cup raisins
2 eggs
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
pinch of caraway seeds

Method~
In a large bowl combine almond flour, salt, baking soda and raisins
In a smaller bowl combine eggs, agave and apple cider vinegar
Mix wet ingredients into dry
Place on a greased cookie tray and form dough into a large, flat circle 
Using a serrated knife, score the top of dough  
Sprinkle top of bread with caraway seeds
Bake at 350° for 20 minutes, then turn off oven and leave bread in for 10 more minutes
Cool bread for ½ hour then slice and serve with butter and jam
Paleo  Banana Bread: we have had this one twice in the original 6 weeks. Once again from Elana's Pantry (recipe here) once again a slight variation by us.

Paleo Banana Bread
3 bananas (about 1 ½ cups) mashed
 3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon honey
¼ cup coconut oil
 2 cups almond flour
1/2teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

 Method~
Place bananas, eggs, vanilla, honey and coconut oil in a food processor
Pulse ingredients together
Pulse in almond flour, salt and baking soda
Scoop batter into a greased  loaf pan
 Bake at 350° for 55-65 minutes
Remove from oven and allow to cool
 Orange Coconut cake from the back of an packet in fact I couldn't find it to even copy it here it was extremely.......YUKKY. The kids called it 'granny cake,' memories  from too many church functions.
Chocolate Chip Cookies ( Elana's Pantry again, and once again we made alterations)
Ingredients~

Ingredients~
2 ½ cups almond flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup light olive oil
1 tablespoon vanilla
½ cup honey
1 cup dark chocolate chips

 Method~
 Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl
Stir together wet ingredients in a smaller bowl
Mix wet ingredients into dry
 Form small balls and press onto a greased baking tray
 Bake at 350° for 7-10 minutes
Cool and serve
Finished Choc Chip Cookies, yes they were left a little too long in the oven  (but this is real life) however we love these and have made them even after our initial 6 week period.
Apricot Power Bars
1 cup dried apricots
2 cups almonds or pecans (we used a mixture of both)
2 eggs
¼ teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon vanilla
½ cup chocolate chips of your choice, or none whatsoever

 Method~
Place apricots and pecans in a  food processor and pulse until the texture of coarse gravel
Pulse in eggs, salt and vanilla, until mixture forms a ball
 Remove mixture from food processor and work in chocolate chips
Place mixture in a greased  square baking dish Bake for 25 minutes at 350°
Cool and serve
No Grain Honey Bread:  from here
This was the first 'bread' recipe we tried and were quick to establish that 'bread' does not mean bread but usually has a cake like consistancy.
Chocolate Cake with Honey Ricotta Cream:  from here
For the Chocolate Cake:

• 4 large eggs, separated
• 2/3 cup powdered coconut palm sugar
• 2 1/4 cups almond flour
• 3 tablespoons dutch processed cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
For the Honeyed Ricotta:
• 3 cups low-fat ricotta
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch of kosher salt
For the Topping:
• 1/4 cup grated carob or refined sugar-free chocolate

Make the Chocolate Cake:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter an 8-inch springform pan.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the egg yolks and powdered coconut palm sugar until pale and creamy.
3. Sift together the almond flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder. Set aside.
4. In a separate medium bowl, beat the egg whites to medium peaks.
5. Stir 1/4 of the whipped egg whites directly into the egg yolk mixture. Fold the remaining egg whites into the yolks in two to three additions.
6. Fold the almond mixture into the egg mixture in three additions.
7. Transfer the batter into the prepared springform pan.
8. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, until the center of the cake is set and a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.
9. Run an offset spatula around the edges of the cake. Allow to cool completely in the pan.

1. Combine the ricotta, honey, vanilla, and salt.
2. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Assemble the Cake:
3. Use a sharp, serrated knife to slice a paper thin layer off the top of the cake. This will let the moisture from the ricotta soak into the cake.
4. Cut the cake in half, being careful to keep the layers even.
5. Spread half of the ricotta mixture on the bottom layer of the cake.
6. Place the top layer on top of the ricotta. Spread the remaining ricotta on top of the cake.
7. Top with grated carob or refined sugar-free chocolate.
8. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
9. Bring to room temperature before serving

Apple Crisp Muffins- these are a great non chocolate alternative that we have all liked the recipe is from here

2 ½ cups blanched almond flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp sea salt
3 large eggs
1/3 cup honey (we prefer clover honey, as it's mild flavor makes it a perfect choice baking)
3 tbsp coconut oil, melted

Apple Crisp Topping: ( we actually at least double the topping recipe for ours  )
½ cup finely diced apple
¼ cup of finely chopped crispy nuts, (we use almonds mainly)
 1 tbsp coconut sugar
¼ tsp ground cinnamon

Method~
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
 Line a muffin tin with 10 baking cups.
 In a small bowl, mix almond flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, honey, coconut oil and vanilla until well blended.
 Add dry ingredients to wet and whisk until well combined. In another small bowl, mix together the apple crisp topping.
Add one spoonful of batter to prepared muffins cups.
Lift muffin pan with both hands and evenly tap bottom of the pan on the counter to flatten batter.
 Then add a spoonful of the apple crisp mixture.
Top with another spoonful of batter, tap pan to flatten batter.
Top with remaining apple crisp mixture.
Bake 25-28 minutes, until muffins are slightly brown and an inserted knife comes out clean.
 Allow to cool in muffin pan.
These are THE best cupcakes we have tried so far and the frosting is lovely although a little buttery so I would add less butter next time.

We got the original recipe  from Gluten Free cupcakes but you can also find it at her website-  Elana's Pantry, however we adjusted it for our taste

Chocolate Cupcakes:
¼ cup coconut flour
 ¼ cup cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs
¼ cup light olive oil
½ cup honey

Method~
In a medium bowl, combine coconut flour, cacao powder, salt and baking soda
In a large bowl, blend together eggs, oil and honey
Blend dry ingredients into wet thoroughly
Line a cupcake tin with paper liners and scoop a scant ¼ cup into each
 Bake at 375° for 20-22 minutes
Cool and cover with vegan buttercream chocolate frosting Serve Makes 10 cupcakes

So there you have it, some of the recipes we  have tried and our families responses to them.

Stay tuned for the next lot of recipes and ratings according to our family!!

Blessings to you and your homes,