What the hell is the ‘Paleo’ diet, anyway?

Regular readers of this blog will know that I spent January following the Paleo lifestyle, with the goal of giving my system a ‘re-set’ and I guess a bit of a cleanse, whatever that means. It was a New Year’s resolution for someone who doesn’t do New Year’s resolutions…

Asparagus wrapped in proscuitto - yum :)

First up, I have to say I am totally surprised at how easy I found it this time around. I’d done a Paleo month previously (which involved me going hard core for a fortnight, then slowly falling off the wagon over the next fortnight), and I found it really hard! I don’t know why it worked this time – I think everything aligned, and I knew I had to put in the prep to make it work for me. I also felt amazing after just one week (and lost 2kg), so that helped to keep me on track.

Butt-Ugly Paleo Breakfast Bites

Butt Ugly Paleo Breakfast Bites

I definitely find breakfast the trickiest part of following the Paleo lifestyle. I’m used to just popping a slice of bread into the toaster and eating it as I run around the house getting everyone ready, so it’s been difficult to break the habit of relying on toast or crumpets each morning.

Savoury Paleo Waffles

Savoury Paleo Waffles

This recipe is based on the Grain-Free Waffles recipe on the Against All Grain website, which are beautifully sweet waffles.

I was really craving a savoury waffle to have in place of a piece of toast under an egg, so I came up with this recipe. I use Boris the Bellini to make these, but you could use any high powered blender or food processor.

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup unsweetened Almond milk
• 3 tbsp oil - macadamia or olive (coconut oil is too sweet for this recipe)
• 1 cup raw cashews
• 3 tbsp coconut flour
• 3/4 tspn bicarb soda
• 1/2 tspn onion flakes
• 1/2 tspn garlic powder
• 2 tspn savoury yeast flakes
• 1/2 tspn salt 
• 1 tspn white chia seeds
• 1 tspn psyllium husk

Method
Pre-heat your waffle iron.

Place all ingredients in a high powered blender or food processor, process on Speed 6 (medium) for 30 seconds, moving up to Speed 9 (high) for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides with a spatula, and repeat for another 30 seconds on Speed 9 (high).

Spoon mixture onto your hot waffle iron, and cook until golden brown (watch for the steam - once that stops, you're pretty close).

Serve warm with poached eggs, ham, and some sauteed spinach and mushrooms.

These freeze really well - just place in individual ziplock bags in the freezer. When I want one from the freezer I let it sit on the bench for about 20 minutes to defrost, then pop it in the toaster to warm it up, which makes them go a bit crispy on the edges. Just watch they don't burn in the toaster!

Ham it Up - 5 ways with leftover ham

I don’t know about you but I’ve got a fridge full of leftovers from Christmas, especially ham! I am so sick of ham and coleslaw sandwiches… so here are five easy recipes to use up some of that delicious Christmas ham.

 

Turkey and ham free form pie (Image: Taste.com.au)

Turkey and ham free form pie (recipe from Taste)

No leftover turkey? Use chicken thigh instead. Or leftover BBQ chicken! Use oil instead of butter, and skip the cream to make this dairy free. It doesn't need it! Most puff pastries are dairy-free (just double check the ingredients), but generally do have soy lecithin in them so go with what you can tolerate.

Hummus - kid friendly and adult versions

I really love Hummus. I like it as a spread in sandwiches, and I love it with vegie sticks and crackers. It's such a versatile dip and it's so easy to make. Some of the shop-bought varieties have a list of ingredients as long as your arm, so I avoid these at all costs. They also often use vegetable oil, which can contain soy.

It seriously takes about 4 minutes to make this Hummus. Here's how.

Ingredients
1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp tahini (I use hulled)
Juice of one lemon
1/4 cup of olive oil
1 garlic glove
1/4 cup water
Salt to taste (leave this out for babies under 12 months)
1 tspn ground cumin

Method
Chuck everything in a high powered blender or food processor (I use Boris the Bellini), and whiz on high for 10 seconds. Scrape down the sides and keep repeating until you have the texture you like. You can add more olive oil, or more water, depending on whether you like it thick and creamy or slightly thinner.

Tweaks

• To make this Hummus a bit more exciting for grown ups I like to add 1/2 tspn or so of chilli flakes or chilli powder.
• You can also add more garlic for a stronger flavour (but be careful - too much raw garlic can be very overpowering).

This Hummus will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for 4 or 5 days, just give it a stir before you use it.

Perfect served with Mountain Bread Chips, vegie sticks or rice crackers.

Mountain Bread Chips recipe

Mountain Bread Chips are our go-to chips for home made nachos, or to have with dips. The kids love them as they're crunchy, but each sheet only has 70 calories, so you can eat a big bowl full without feeling too guilty.

It's a bit of a con to call this a recipe, it's really just a matter of putting them in the oven!

Ingredients
Mountain Bread, cut into 'chip shapes' (rectangles or triangles)
Olive oil spray
Salt

Method
Pre-heat oven to 180 deg C. Place the cut up Mountain Bread on an oven tray, spray very lightly with olive oil, and bake for 5 minutes. They're ready when they turn slightly golden brown. Keep a close eye on them though, as they can go from brown to black in a matter of seconds!

They crisp up as they cool down, so best to leave them to cool for at least a few minutes.

Tweaks

• I like to add a sprinkle of savoury yeast flakes along with the salt for a cheesy flavour.
• You could also sprinkle with chilli powder for a spicy chip.

These don't keep very well, so you need to eat them on the day they're made (not usually a problem in our house!).

Awesome dairy-free banana muffins

I love baking healthy treats for my kiddies, first and foremost because that way I know exactly what's in them, and secondly because it makes me happy to watch their little faces light up when they bite into something yummy.

Yep, I'm a 'feeder', but I do try my best to keep our treats healthy and low in refined sugar.

I've been using coconut sugar recently as an alternative to refined white sugar, as it has quite a few minerals and nutrients in it, is low GI (only 35), and also has a really yummy caramel flavour. It is also high in fructose, so be aware of that. For a fructose-free sweetener, I use rice malt syrup, which is made from brown rice and is a blend of glucose and maltose. 

My other issue when baking is making sure everything is dairy-free for my little man, so I generally use coconut oil in place of butter, and use almond or oat milk if a recipe calls for milk. Most recipes take a couple of goes with tweaking different ingredients before they come out the way I want, but my kids and husband are generally happy to taste the 'practice' ones. "I'll take a bullet for you", says Mr McD.

Banana muffins are a weekly thing in our household, as they're the perfect way to use up the almost black bananas in the bottom of the fruit bowl, and they're also a great way to hide some fibre and other goodness from Little Miss, who is currently following the 'white food only' diet popular with 3 year olds the world over.

Awesome dairy-free banana muffins

This recipe is very forgiving, and I probably make it slightly differently each time.

Ingredients
4 large very ripe bananas
1/4 cup coconut sugar or brown rice syrup
1/3 cup coconut oil (warmed to liquid)
1 egg, very lightly beaten (or you can use 1 chia egg* for an egg-free/vegan version)
1tbsp white chia seeds
1 tspn vanilla bean paste
1/2 tspn cinnamon 
1 1/2 cups plain wholemeal flour
1 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn baking soda

Method
In a medium bowl, mash the bananas with a fork (leaving a few chunky bits), and then mix in the sugar, oil, egg, chia seeds and vanilla.

In a larger bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon together, and then pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Stir until just combined, then spoon into muffin trays.

I bake these at about 180 deg C (fan forced) - mini muffins take about 18 minutes, and standard muffins take about 25 minutes. Just keep an eye on them and test them with a skewer - they're ready when the skewer comes out clean and they're nice and brown on the top.

This recipe usually makes 12 mini muffins and 12 standard size muffins.

These freeze really well, or keep them in an airtight container in the fridge for 4 or 5 days.

Tweaks

• Add a handful of chopped walnuts and some Lindt 70% chocolate to the mixture for dairy-free banana-choc-walnut muffins. OMG. 
• A handful of frozen blueberries also works really well as an added extra.
• You can use plain white flour instead of wholemeal.
• If you don't have enough bananas, you can make up the difference with apple sauce (or I've been known to squeeze in a pouch of Rafferty's pureed apple).

*A chia egg is a decent egg replacer in a lot of baking recipes - mix 1 tablespoon of chia seeds with 3 tablespoons of water, and let sit for about 10-15 mins.