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. 

Gluten Free Nutella Muffins

I have a confession to make: I love Nutella. I can eat it in every way imaginable - on toast, with a banana, on top of ice cream, or just by itself on a spoon. 

 

So my boyfriend bought me a 5kg tub of Nutella for my birthday! And although I love Nutella, 5kg is a lot to get through (and moderation and healthy eating is important!) I decided that it would have to be used in other ways, so I came up with this simple recipe - and trust me, these muffins are divine! 

Nutella Muffins

Ingredients: 

2 cups gluten-free self raising flour (I use the one by Aldi) 

1 cup Nutella

1 cup lactose-free milk

1/2 cup lactose-free butter, melted (I used nuttelex)

2 tsp cocoa powder

1/2 cup raw sugar

A pinch of salt 

Steps: 

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celcius. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin and set aside. 

2. In a large bowl, sift through flour, cocoa powder and salt. 

3. In a separate bowl, mix butter and sugar until combined. Stir in the eggs one at a time. Add in the milk, followed by the Nutella and continue to mix until mixture is smooth. 

4. Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet mixture until completely combined. 

5. Pour batter into the muffin tins. Bake for 20-25 min or until cake tester comes out clean. 

6. Cool in pan for about 5 minutes. Serve warm or transfer to wire rack to cool. 

Muffins with 5kg jar of Nutella!

Banana Bread

There were three over-ripe bananas sitting in our fruit bowl today. Instead of getting rid of them I thought I would make a banana bread. This banana bread is soft and full of flavour. The rest of my family could not tell that it was gluten free. 

Banana Bread Recipe

Preparation time: 10 min       Baking time: 1 hour

Ingredients: 

3 small ripe Bananas, mashed

3 small eggs (or 2 large eggs)

3/4 cup Milk (lactose free alternatives: coconut milk, soy milk or rice milk)

1/4 cup oil (rice bran or sunflower)

1 tsp vanilla essence

2 cups gluten free self rising flour

1 cup raw sugar

1 cup almond meal 

2 tsp maple syrup 

pinch of ground cloves (or cinnamon!)

pinch of salt 
1/2 cup crushed walnuts 

Steps: 

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease a small cake tin (11cmx21cm). 

2. Combine bananas, eggs, milk, oil, vanilla essence and maple syrup into a medium bowl. 

3. Combine dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Whist wet ingredients into dry ingredients until combined. 

4. Pour into the greased tin and cover with walnuts. Bake for 1 hour, or until cooked when tested with a skewer. 

5. Serve plain or indulge by serving with melted chocolate or Nutella

Healthy Snacks - Fruit Salad

Working on an assignment over the weekend, I have needed some extra brain food to get me through. 

Many people think that because you have fructose malabsorption, you cannot eat fruit, this is very wrong! It's just about selecting the right fruits and going with whats in season. 

Here's a fruit salad I whipped up in just a few minutes: 

Seasonal Fruit Salad Recipe:

 

Ingredients: 
1 small banana
5 large strawberries
1 handful of seedless grapes
1 small mandarin, with pieces sliced in half
1 small kiwi fruit 

Makes two serves 

Add ice cream or cream for a special treat 

Steps: 

Cut up all the ingredients into smaller pieces and mix! 

Alternatives: 

Other fresh fruit you could use depending on its availability: 

- Pineapple
- Blueberries 
- Raspberries
- Cantaloupe 
- Honeydew melon 
- Paw Paw (add lime juice to lift the flavour of the pawpaw!) 

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.

Product Review: The Fruit Free Clusters with Chia Muesli

The Fruit Free Clusters with Chia breakfast muesli

My ideal breakfast is simple to prepare and full of flavour. I was a big fan of muesli and cereal before I was diagnosed with Fructose Malabsorption.Until recently, I thought I would have to say goodbye to breakfast muesli due to nearly every single muesli product having either gluten or some sort of dried raisins or sultanas in them. However, Food For Health have introduced a range of cereals including 'The Fruit Free Clusters with Chia' which label themselves 'Fructose Friendly'. I have already been eating this muesli for about a month now and could not be happier. I have been able to sit down and enjoy a delicious, tasty and easy to prepare breakfast. The cereal has a good crunch, enough sweetness and a really good kick of flavour due to the cinnamon in there. Yum!

The fruit free clusters are literally small clusters of tasty things like buckwheat, puffed rice, a range of nuts, chia and cinnamon.They can be found in local Australian super markets, and although they are pricey (I have seen them from about $8-$10) they are worth it. I often add puffed rice or puffed corn to the mix to have the muesli last longer.

The muesli does not require any extra preparation time and can be enjoyed with milk (soy if you cannot have dairy) or with yoghurt and blueberries for even more flavour (not that it is needed).

Overall, it is a muesli I regularly stock in my cupboard and I would highly recommend it. 

Taste: 4/5

Price: $$$ (expensive)

Easiness of Use: 5/5 

Good for: Fructose Malabsorption, Coeliac Disease, Lactose Intolerance, Wheat Intolerance, Peanut allergies (does contain other nuts). 

What other cereals or muesli would you recommend?

Mivvy

Please note this was not a paid review, just a review for a product that I bought and really like to eat!