Simple French Toast

For a lazy Sunday morning I love making this fast and simple french toast recipe. 

French Toast

Ingredients: 

2 slices gluten free bread 

1 egg

sunflower oil as needed

1 banana

maple syrup

cinnamon 

If you wish to make more than just 2 slices, 1 egg is usually enough for about 4 slices of bread. 

Steps: 

1. In a bowl, beat the egg. Heat the oil in a pan. Take a slice of bread and coat both sides of it with the egg mixture. 

2. Place the completely coated bread into the pan. Let it fry on both sides until golden brown - this should only take about 2 minutes or so either side. 

3. Serve with sliced banana, maple syrup and cinnamon dusted on top or any other combination of your favourite toppings. 

Corn Bread

While in Montenegro with my family, we came across a small bakery selling corn bread. This corn bread uses corn flour made from the flour used for feeding cattle, and therefore is not sweet. Nor did it cause me to have any symptoms. I ate this bread everyday for the 10 days we were there and was sad when leaving that I would leave this amazing bread behind (as it definitely trumps every gluten free bread out there). Across other parts of Eastern Europe I found corn bread, but it was made from wheat flour with corn flour just for the colouring and was not the same.

Now that I am back home, I am attempting to make my own variation of this bread. Although it may still need a little bit of altering to make it perfect, this recipe is quite close in taste and texture to what I ate while in Montenegro.

Corn Bread Recipe 

Ingredients
2 cups polenta (cornmeal)
1 cup gluten-free self raising flour
1/2 cup spelt flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/8 cup canola oil

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees celcius and grease a 21x11cm baking tin.

2. Combine the dry ingredients (polenta, gf flour, spelt flour, baking powder) in a bowl

3. Combine the wet ingredients in a separate bowl.

4. Create a well in the dry ingredients, pour in the wet ingredients and stir until the mixture is firm and holds together well.

5. Pour into the baking tin and bake for 20-25min or until raised, golden and a fork comes out clean.

Serve with your favourite sandwich toppings, jams, butter or rice malt syrup.

Fettuccine Carbonara

Tonight we made a quick pasta sauce from scratch without garlic or onion. Very fast, very simple, and yet still tasty!

As half our family follows a low-FODMAP diet and the other half doesn't we cooked gluten free pasta and wheat pasta separately, but the sauce was appreciated by all - even the non low-FODMAPers!

Low-FODMAP Fettuccine Carbonara Recipe

Ingredients: 

500g gluten-free fettuccine pasta (I like this one by san remo) 

100ml sour cream
100ml thickened cream
200g gluten-free bacon, diced
garlic-infused olive oil
1 zucchini, sliced
salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese, to taste

Steps: 

1.Set fettuccine to cook.

2. Heat oil in a large pan on medium and cook bacon until brown. Take bacon out of the pan and cook zucchini in the same pan for about 2-3 minutes

3. Place bacon back into the pan with the zucchini, add in the sour cream and cream. Add salt and pepper, and Parmesan cheese to taste (I like about 1 tablespoon, but add less or more as you see fit). Cook for about 5 minutes.

3. Add the cooked fettuccine to the sauce, combine through and serve!

Easy, simple and fast! The key ingredient is the bacon as it adds a lot of flavour to the dish.

Chocolate Rum Balls (actually Bailey's Balls)

Clearly from the majority of my posts you can see that I am a huge sweet tooth and love nothing more than a delicious treat after dinner. This is another very fast and extremely simple dessert to put together. 

Unfortunately, this is not a lactose-free recipe. If you know of any lactose-free alternatives for Rum Balls please let me know and I will have a go at making them. 

Chocolate Rum Ball Recipe 

Makes about 40 

Ingredients: 

350g gluten free shortbread biscuits, crushed 
1 tin (395g) sweetened condensed milk
3 tbsp cocoa powder
50ml Bailey's Irish Cream alcohol
1 cup shaved coconut with extra for coating
1 cup crushed macadamia nuts 

Steps: 

1. Combine the biscuits, cocoa, macadamia nuts and coconut in a bowl.

2. Add the Bailey's and stir. Add the condensed milk as you go, until all the ingredients are combined and hold together well. I use maybe just under a tin in total as I do not want them too mushy.  

3. Make into small balls using hands and coat with extra coconut. 

4. Freeze for at least an hour before serving. 

I've stored mine in an ice cream container, in the freezer 

Alternatives:
- Other nuts, or almond meal instead of macadamias
- Gluten-free choc biccies instead of short bread

Let me know of any others that work for you!

Please note: 

**Because Fructose Malabsorbers cannot have Rum I used Bailey's as an alternative. I cannot find anywhere that states whether or not we can have Baileys and whether it is safe for Fructose Malabsorbers. If you know the answer please let me know! However, having eaten many of these delicious Bailey's Balls I have never felt unwell. So please let me know how you went with them! 

Zucchini Fritters

Mum made zucchini fritters for lunch, these gluten free - fructose friendly fritters are perfect for a lunch, breakfast or a easy to make snack. I like to eat them plain or with a cottage cheese. Alternatively, serve them with some avocado or fructose friendly dip. 

Zucchini Fritters Recipe

Makes 15 small fritters

Ingredients: 

2 medium zucchinis

pinch of salt

2 large organic free range eggs

3/4 cup cottage cheese (use 1/2 cup goats cheese if lactose intolerant) 

1/2 cup gluten free plain flour
1/2 cup gluten free self-rising flour
pinch of pepper 

Steps: 

1. Skin the zucchinis and grate. Add the salt and leave aside to sit. 

2. Beat eggs, add another pinch of salt and pepper to the egg and mix with cottage cheese.  

3. Squeeze out the excess water from the zucchini and add to the cottage cheese and egg mixture. Add both the self rising and plain flour. You may need to add more flour if the mixture is too runny. The batter should be quite thick and hold together well. 

4. Heat a fry pan on high with olive oil, cook a fritter at a time for about 1 minutes on either side or until golden brown and cooked through the middle. 

5. Serve on their own, with avocado or a dipping sauce

Raspberry and White Chocolate Muffins

Being a huge sweet tooth I always need to think up new ways of maintaining my low fodmap diet and still being able to enjoy sweet treats to help with the sugar cravings. Tonight I whipped up some super easy raspberry and white chocolate muffins. 

Raspberry and White Chocolate FODMAP Friendly Muffins 

Prep time: 10min, Oven time: 20-25min 

Ingredients: 

Makes 12

2 cups of gluten free self raising flour

1 cup caster sugar

1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla essence 

1 cup milk (use lactose free milk or almond milk if lactose intolerant)

50g butter, melted (use a lactose free substitute if need be)

1 cup frozen raspberries, thawed

1 cup of white chocolate, roughly chopped

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Place 12 large patty cases into a muffin pan. 

2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour and sugar. 

3. In a small bowl, whisk together egg, milk and butter. Add this liquid mixture to dry ingredients.  Add the vanilla essence. Once combined, fold through the raspberries and chocolate

4. Distribute the batter between patty cakes and bake for 20-25min, or until a skewer comes out clean and muffins are golden. 

Berry Frangipane Slice Recipe

Last night I whipped up a very simple, but delicious low-FODMAP Berry Cake, because who doesn't love berries or almonds?

I found this recipe on the Monash University Low FODMAP Diet App and have slightly altered it. 

Berry Frangipane Slice Recipe

Ingredients: 

150g butter, softened (or lactose free margarine)

1tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cup raw sugar 

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups almond meal

1/2 cup gluten-free cornflour 

300 g fresh berries, such as blueberries, raspberries or strawberries

4 tspb pure icing sugar

Steps:

1. Preheat oven at 180 degrees Celsius. Grease a small cake tin with butter or oil and set aside.

2 Mix the butter, vanilla extract and caster sugar in a small bowl with an electric mixer until combined. Add the egg and mix through. 

3. Gently mix in the almond meal and cornflour and mix until smooth. Spoon the mixture into the cake tin; smooth surface and sprinkle with berries. 

4. Bake the slice for about 30 minutes or until the surface is a light golden brown and firm to touch. Turn upside down, carefully, onto the bench. Serve dusted with icing sugar. 

Alternatives: 

You can serve this slice with cream or ice cream if you are not lactose intolerant.

You can exchange the berries for other low-FODMAP fruits such as Banana, Rhubarb, or Passionfruit. 

Please keep your serve to about 1 slice per sitting, as almonds should be moderated in their intake.