Healthy Orange Jellies

When you think of healthy foods I'm pretty sure jelly isn't the first thing that springs to mind! But did you know you can make a jelly that is not only delicious but healing too?

I've been reading about and experimenting with all sorts of gut healing foods lately and one ingredient that continually appears is gelatin. Not all gelatin is created equal though and it is important to source a high quality product. I use Great Lakes Gelatin (red label) which I bought online from iHerb at less than half the price you can buy it in Australia.

Gelatin is packed full of protein, collagen and minerals all of which help to support healthy gut and immune function. A great source of gelatin is bone broth which I have been making all winter as a base for soups and casseroles and even just drinking warm with a pinch of salt. You can read about the benefits of bone broth here and here.

Two of my three boys love bone broth and the savoury meals I make with it but Mr 4 won't go near it in any form. This jelly however has become a favourite treat and I know he's getting all the health benefits he needs.

The ginger, turmeric and Manuka honey are all brilliant for coughs and colds and combined with hydrating coconut water and the vitamin-C from the orange juice this makes one seriously healthy jelly!

Healthy Orange Jellies
Adapted from Well Nourished

1 cup coconut water
1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice (I got enough from 3 large oranges)
2 cm piece of fresh ginger
1/4 ts dried turmeric
1-2 tbs Manuka honey
3 tbs good quality gelatin powder

Oil and line a small slice/brownie pan and set aside.

Squeeze your oranges and measure out 1 cup of juice into a heatproof jug (mine was pyrex).

Place the coconut water, ginger and turmeric in a medium pan over low-medium heat. Bring to the simmer and allow to steep for 5 minutes.

Pour the coconut water mixture through a sieve into the orange juice. Stir to combine then return to the pan by pouring through the sieve again to remove any orange pulp (my juice was cold from the fridge so my mixture was just luke-warm. Allow to cool slightly before adding the Manuka honey if your mixture feels hot to touch).

Add the honey and stir to combine.

Sprinkle the gelatin over the warm liquid, one tablespoon at a time, whisking well after each addition. Continue whisking until the gelatin is completely absorbed. If you have lumps of gelatin return the pan to the heat but don't let it get more than luke-warm.

Pour the mixture through the sieve into the prepared pan and place in the fridge to set for a few hours.

I give the kids a couple of pieces a day and it lasts for about 1 week in the fridge. 

Gluten-free Orange Shortbread Cookies

With citrus so abundant and so delicious at the moment I've been looking for different ways to use it. One of my favourite things is a whole orange and almond cake which I've been meaning to blog about for ages. Today though I felt like making biscuits and came up with these little gems.

I've been doing lots of experimenting with different flours for baking lately and while none of us have coeliac, I know I at least feel so much better when I limit the amount of gluten that I eat. You can buy some great gluten free flours these days but I prefer to make my own as it lets me choose the recipe that best suits what I am baking.

My top 2 gluten free flour recipes are from The Holistic Ingredient and Gluten-free-Girl.

For these shortbread cookies I used the Gluten-free-Girl recipe which gives a light, crisp and slightly crumbly result, perfect for shortbread. This one doesn't contain xanthan gum so I added a tablespoon of linseed meal which has similar properties.

You will notice there is a lot (a LOT) of butter in these cookies and as you mix them up you will probably see butter beginning to ooze out of the mixture. When I first made them I wondered whether I'd made a huge mistake but actually the end result is amazing and there is no extra butter to be seen - just perfect little shortbread cookies which are crisp, short and crumbly and beautifully fragrant from the orange zest. The house smelt spectacular while they were baking and made for a delicious afternoon snack with a cup of ginger tea.

Whether you need to be gluten free or not, with treats like these you certainly won't feel like you are missing out!

Gluten free Orange Shortbread Cookies

2 1/4 cups gluten-free plain flour
1 tbs linseed meal
1 ts baking powder
1/2 cup coconut sugar
zest of 1 large orange
1 ts vanilla extract
250g salted butter, melted and cooled
1 egg

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Line 2 trays with baking paper and set aside.

Place the dry ingredients into a large bowl and add the orange zest. Use your fingers to rub the zest into the flour mix until well combined. Add the wet ingredients and mix well.

Roll into small balls and place on the prepared trays. They don't spread very much so they can be placed quite closely together.

Bake at 170 degrees Celsius for approx 12 minutes. They will be golden brown and firm to touch. Leave to cool on the trays for 5 minutes before placing on wire racks to cool completely.

Makes approximately 30 cookies.

Delicious Dairy-free Lasagne

One of my all-time favourite meals is lasagne. Always has been and probably always will be! It has also been a favourite of my kids and I have some gorgeous photos of each of them on their first birthday pretty much covered in it from head to toe! Now that they are older they get to choose what they want to eat for their birthday dinner and Oscar, bless him, still always choose lasagne.

When I first had to give up dairy I really thought there was no way I could give up cheese. My husband used to call me a cheese-freak but now I haven't touched any for more than 18 months. Go me!

After so many dairy-free months I have perfected my dairy-free white sauce and use it for all sorts of recipes from tuna mornay to macaroni and 'cheese' and of course lasagne. I use the thermomix to make it because it's just so easy but you can of course do it on the stove top and I have included those instructions as well.

Go ahead and try it, I promise you won't miss the cheese at all!!!

Dairy free White Sauce

500ml rice milk (or any non-dairy milk)
50g olive oil
50g rice flour
2 tbs nutritional yeast
1 ts salt
1/8 ts nutmeg
pepper to taste

Thermomix - place all ingredients in the mixing bowl and cook for 7 minutes / 90 degrees / SP 4.

Stove top - heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the rice flour and whisk  together. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly then add the milk and whisk to combine. Once smooth add all remaining ingredients and cook over low heat for 5 minutes, stirring often. Use immediately.

To assemble the lasagne just alternate layers of Vegie-loaded Bolognaise sauce with lasagna sheets (gluten free work well) and dairy-free white sauce ending with lots of white sauce on the top. Bake for approx 45 minutes at 180 degrees C or until the pasta is tender and the top is bubbly and golden.

Spicy Carrot Loaf Cake and some news

Oh it feels like ages since I've been here! The last month or so has been a bit of a blur of phone calls and emails but it feels like the right time now to share our news ... we bought a house!!! After being in a rented townhouse for the past 5 years we are thrilled that soon we will have a house of our own. We are moving in the middle of September and have already started packing. We've accumulated a lot of stuff as well as had 2 more children since we moved in here and there is a lot of sort out. I'm loving the chance for a clear out though and we have passed on bags and bags of stuff to the Salvos already.

In all the busyness my diet has slipped a little and my health started suffering as a result. Nothing major but constant colds and the stress of studying for exams and house-hunting took their toll on my thyroid and I've been feeling exhausted. After trip to the naturopath I am back on the right path and taking the time to cook and bake for all of us properly.

I'm really loving my spices at the moment. Not sure whether it's just my body's way of wanting to warm up this winter but whatever the reason, I can't get enough! I needed to make something for afternoon tea and decided to use up some veggies at the same time. This cake used 4 medium carrots but you could use pumpkin, zucchini or even parsnips for this recipe or even a combination of these.

This was an easy and absolutely delicious cake. My boys loved it and Oscar told me it was the best cake I'd ever made! I of course loved that it go some extra carrot into them along with the amazing health benefits of cinnamon, ginger and turmeric in winter.

I left the walnuts out of this batch but if you don't have littlies add them in for some yummy crunch.

Spicy Carrot Loaf Cake

250g grated carrot
2 large eggs
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup rice malt syrup
1 cup wholemeal spelt flour
1 ts baking powder
1/4 ts bicarb soda
2 ts cinnamon
1 ts turmeric
1 ts ginger
1/4 ts ground cloves
pinch salt
1/2 cup natural raisins
1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 170 degrees celsius / 150 degrees fan-forced. Grease and line an 8 inch loaf pan (mine was pyrex).

Place the carrot, eggs, oil, syrup and raisins in a large bowl and mix well. Sift the flour and spices together and then add to the wet mix, folding through until only just combined.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the top.

Bake for approximately 1 hour. It will be golden brown and fragrant and the middle will spring back when pressed lightly. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for half an hour before turning out onto a wire rack.

Slice and serve with butter (if not dairy free).

Chocolate Chess Pie (SRC)

Secret recipe club time! For those who are new, each member of SRC is secretly assigned a blog each month to peruse and choose a recipe to post. All is revealed on the same day and today is Group D's turn!

This month I was assigned I am a Honey Bee by Nicole. I had a brilliant time on Nicole's blog and found even though we live on opposite sides of the world we actually have a lot in common (apart from just a love of food and cooking) - we are both detail oriented, hate the cold, are morning people, think eggs Benedict is the best way to eat eggs and love Buffy the Vampire Slayer (I binge-watched the entire series again when Oscar was a baby and I was stuck on the couch feeding).

I also found similar food journeys and she has completed not one but two rounds of the Whole30. I eat pretty cleanly (no sugar or dairy and reduced grain) most of the time and am really keen to give it a go. I have bookmarked a few of Nicole's Whole30 posts to re-read when I do finally take the plunge.

So what did I end up choosing? Well it was really tough to choose and I narrowed it down to 3 - Lemony Raspberry Zucchini Bread with a Lemony Glaze, Paleo Waffled Breakfast Sandwiches and
Chocolate Chess Pie.

In the end I couldn't go past the Chocolate Chess Pie because I have seen the name around for years and wondered what on earth it had to do with chess! After a bit of research I am none the wiser (there seem to be at least 3 distinct explanations) but I am delighted to have made this delicious chocolate pie. I love that this one has cocoa powder rather than chocolate which makes it cheaper and easier to whip up.

I did make a few substitutions like using coconut oil instead of shortening in the pastry and some rice malt syrup instead of just sugar in the filling.

The taste test? It was completely delicious. The top was crispy and crackly while underneath was creamy, chocolatey and sweet without being too rich. The pastry was light and flaky and I loved the slight hint of coconut with the chocolate. The pastry was a little underdone in the middle although the filling was perfect so next time I would blind bake the pastry first to make it extra crisp.

Chocolate Chess Pie
Slightly Adapted from I am a Honey Bee

Crust:
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 ts salt
60g coconut oil, very cold and cut into pieces
60g butter, very cold and cut into pieces
4-6 tablespoons ice water

Filling:
2/3 cup rice malt syrup
1/4 cup raw cacao powder
1/2 teaspoon instant coffee powder (optional)
4 tbs butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 ts vanilla extract
2 eggs, lightly beaten

To make the crust:

Grease a 9 inch pie dish and set aside. Keep the butter and coconut oil in the fridge until ready to use.

Place the flour and salt in a food processor fitted with the dough blade and pulse a few times to combine. Add the coconut oil and butter and pulse until the mixture is crumbly. Gradually add enough ice water to the mixture while pulsing until a ball of dough is about formed.

Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Press into a disc then wrap in plastic and place in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Once chilled place the dough back on a floured surface and roll out to approx 3mm thick. Add more flour if it starts to stick to the bench while you’re rolling.

Press onto the base and sides of the prepared pie dish and trim and crimp the edges as needed. Cover the pie plate with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to overnight.

To make the pie:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C / 350 degrees F.

Using a stand mixer or large bowl with electric beaters, beat together the cacao, sugar, coffee powder, melted butter and syrup and beat on high speed.

Add the vanilla extract and eggs and mix on high for approximately 2-3 minutes.

Pour the mixture into the unbaked pie shell and bake for 35-40 minutes. The centre of the pie will still be a little soft but it will firm up as it cools. Leave on a wire rack for at least an hour before slicing. I baked mine the day before and stored in the fridge then left at room temperature for 1 hour before serving.

Thanks Nicole for a great recipe and great month!

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