Tag: breakfast

Confessions of a Healthy Food Blogger

I share a fairly popular recipe for zucchini cheese – but I never make it myself, and always buy that super expensive vegan cheese from the supermarket.

I don’t like Brussel sprouts, I think they taste like farts. I live with three males (five including the cat and the dog) yes, I know what farts taste like.

My kids won’t eat frozen peas, in fact they won’t eat frozen mixed veggies either. Purely to make my life difficult. Except this one time I told my friend that my kids don’t eat peas and my 1 year old then stole and ate all the peas from her sons lunchbox.

Ashton, just Ashton. Ashton is incredibly fussy. He has the most ginormous list of foods he won’t eat, and bunch of finicky food preferences that I often comply with because I hate the moaning at the dinner table. If you want a winge-fest serve roast chicken (unless it’s a supermarket rotisserie basted in all sorts of non allergy friendly crap that he shouldn’t eat), or potatoes, especially mashed, roasted is marginally acceptable but only if they are cut into 1cm cubes, and crisp, but not too crisp, heaven forbid. Or try soup – if it’s soup, it’s inedible. Make sure you have you best gag face at the ready to make a performance at the table on soup night. Also if its marginally spicy, it may as well be poisonous. Someone save me from this kid he is a healthy food bloggers worst nightmare.

My kids won’t eat my homemade hummus, the two little ones just straight up won’t touch the stuff while Ashton will only eat “Lisa’s” hummus original flavour.

Sometimes I eat proper crisps for breakfast … and let the baby join me.

None of my kids eat raw carrot sticks, but I put them in their lunchboxes all the time because they look good in photos.

When I was a kid I used to steal meal mates crackers from the pantry and eat raro juice sachets like it was sherbet.

My mum buys the kids allergy friendly biscuits and chocolate and I eat it all myself.

Our children are allowed pudding once a week. But every night when they go to bed we eat chips and chocolate and mug cakes.

Most of my blog photos are taken on our bed covered in white sheets, or on the floor of our snail infested sunroom (best lighting in the house 😆)- I peg an upside down piece of scrap vinyl to a portable clothes rack to bounce the light off. Once I spilled a milkshake all through the bed during a photo shoot.

Sometimes I lie to the kids about what they are allergic to, so they don’t eat too much sugar, because I can’t handle the meltdowns.

Anyone else got anything to confess?!

Kayla

Egg Free Mayo

Ingredients

3/4 cup olive oil (light olive oil works best)
2 T Dijon mustard
1 T lemon juice
1/4 cup chickpea brine (yep the stuff you usually tip down the sink from your can of chickpeas!)
1/2 tsp salt

what to do

Put all the ingredients in a narrow blender (or tall narrow container if using a stick blender). If your blender has a wide jug it may not work, and you may need a stick blender or NutriBullet type blender, my vitamix works fine.

Blend starting slowly, then increasing speed slightly, until it is thick and creamy, usually about a minute. Store in a glass jar in the fridge for a week. It will thicken slightly more after refrigeration.

This recipe can be temperamental to work with, and even with exact measured ingredients can sometimes end up with two completely different textured mayos! I suspect maybe the temperature and exact measurements might play a part. If it’s not thickening up, adding a scant 1/4 cup wholegrain mustard turns it into a really delicious tangy mayo, add then blend until thick. Often now I will add wholegrain mustard from the start (and omit the Dijon mustard) because I like the flavour.

Kayla

Chicken Noodle Soup

This meal is based on leftovers from the night before’s roast – which for us usually includes an organic / free range chicken, potatoes, kumara, pumpkin, parsnip, broccoli, cauli, mushrooms, roast garlic and carrots. I use the bones to make broth and the leftover veggies in the soup – so it only takes about 10 mins to put together!

serves 4-6

Ingredients

5-6 cups chicken broth or stock*

Oil (coconut or olive oil)

200g rice noodles (about half a standard size packet) – check ingredients to make sure GF (best is rice flour, water)

leftovers from roast chicken and veggies

Some extra greens if you have some handy – parsley, spinach, kale or silverbeet

what to do

*When you have removed all the meat from your roast chicken, simmer the bones in 1.5L water for around 3-4 hours. During the last hour you can add some garlic, tumeric, onion and veggie scraps like carrot tops, celery leaves, parsnip peels – whatever you have handy. Strain the liquid into a container to store in the fridge, and add a generous pinch of salt. Store your leftover chicken and veggies in a container in the fridge. Sometimes i save my veggie scraps, onion and garlic skins and freeze them to put in the broth.

In a deep pan or pot add a decent dollop of coconut oil or olive oil, add the leftover chicken and veggies – and some garlic and / or ginger if there wasn’t any with your leftovers.

Brown everything up a bit, then pour over the broth.

Bring to the boil. Add the rice noodles and simmer for 10 mins, or until cooked.

Stir the greens through last and season well with salt and pepper. If your broth tastes a bit lifeless, chances are it needs more salt!

This is one of my favorite breakfasts and when pulled together from the leftovers, doesn’t take any longer to make than a bowl of porridge!

Kayla

Zucchini Cheese – Dairy free, melty delicious cheese

I am a lover of all things cheese. Cheese is life. When cheese and life begin to clash, in my world, this is quite a problem. I am 99% dairy free, as my body does not love me eating dairy. The 1% allows for me to sometimes, eat cheese. I save my cheese eating for special occasions, like when we are at a function, event or family gathering and someone brings out the cheeseboard! I allow myself some cheese, and my body seems to be ok with this (and so i sternly tell it). But at home, when life calls for cheese, i am totally happy for this replacement.

Sincerely Yours,

A fellow Cheese Lover

Recipe Notes

coconut free

Use light olive oil instead

Vegan

Replace gelatine with an equal measure of agar-agar

Cheesy Flavour

I brought nutritional yeast to try in there because apparently it tastes cheesy, i’m more than happy to leave this out, it is not to my taste! So if you like nutritional yeast then some of that too.
Half a teaspoon onion and / or garlic powder can also make this next level, or sometimes I use garlic salt instead of regular. But i don’t always have these and it’s fine without. A pinch of smoked paprika can give a subtle smokey depth and a more yellowy colour. 

Gelatin

This ‘cheese’ is set with gelatin, make sure you choose a good quality, setting gelatin (I personally use Great Lakes Beef Gelatin) cheap supermarket gelatin can sometimes have a nasty flavour. I have tons of recipes on my blog that use good quality gelatin so you will have no trouble using it up! 

Storage

It stores in a sealed container in the fridge for about 5 days to a week. You can Freeze, but on defrosting it can be a little watery, so is best used for melting and adding to meals after that, rather than snacking. 

If you are after a delicious, cheesy dairy free meal, then my Mac and Cheese  is inspired by this recipe, I highly recommend you check it out! 

You could also use this cheese sauce recipe to make your cheese instead – (a few more ingredients but the flavour is next level!)  Use 2 Tablespoons gelatin to every 1.5 cups of cheese sauce. Heat the sauce, sprinkle the gelatin on and whisk through (or blitz in blender) until melted. Then set, as below in the recipe. 

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Dairy Free Zucchini Cheese

Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time10 mins
Keyword: AIP, allergy friendly, dairy free, easy recipe, egg free, grain free, paleo, SCD

Ingredients

  • 1 generous cup peeled diced raw zuchinni 2 small – med sized ones
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil i use refined coconut oil here because i don’t want my ‘cheese’ to have lingering notes of coconut!*
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice this makes it quite lemony but i like it this way, you could reduce slightly
  • 2 tablespoons gelatine**
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • Good shake of white pepper

Instructions

  • Steam the zucchini until tender (about 5 mins if its diced small) drain all water off, and keep in the hot pan.
  • Add the coconut oil to melt. Sprinkle the gelatine over the top and let it melt and dissolve in while stirring.
  • Add the rest of the ingredients.
  • blend up everything in your blender, food processor or stick blender. I have a taste and adjust seasoning accordingly.
  • I set ours in a mini silicone loaf pan so it make about 2 mini blocks of ‘cheese’. But set in a lined container of choice, that your are happy to store and slice your ‘cheese’ from that shape.
  • Takes a couple hours to set in the fridge. Stores in there in a sealed container for about 5 days to a week.

Notes

*coconut free? – use light olive oil instead
**vegan? You can replace gelatine with an equal measure of agar-agar

Kayla

Waffles – Free from gluten, dairy, egg, nuts

So if you have been following me for a while, you will know that I’ve spent a good part of this year trying to create the perfect gluten, dairy, soy free but also egg and nut free waffle. And a month or so ago I finally cracked it. Well actually, that’s kind of a lie, I found this fantastic pancake recipe from one of my favourite real food blogs and decided to try and turn it into a waffle. Low and behold, it turned out perfect! there is nothing I could have done to make this recipe any better. So i really can’t take any credit for the everything free waffle recipe I spent so long trying to create, but I’m totally cool with that because it found me in the end!

All the credit goes to Buffy from Be Good Organics who created this stunning pancake recipe which I then turned into waffles. Here is the original pancake recipe, and below I will outline how I make it into waffles! The best part is I can serve this to the whole family and everyone loves it, gluten eating Dad and egg eating Chef Ashton included, and the best part is that our little guy Felix can enjoy the same breakfast as the rest of the family! He thinks its pretty cool and loves to partake in ‘build your own’ waffle Sunday when I lay out a bunch of condiments on the table and you can choose what to top your waffle with. (think blueberries, banana, kiwi fruit, maple syrup, seeds, dark chocolate, whipped coconut cream, coconut yoghurt, homemade chia jam, honey).

This makes 4 waffles and feeds our family of 4, with toppings.

Ingredients

1c buckwheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp himalayan pink salt
1 large ripe banana
1c + 1/4c coconut milk (or milk of choice)
1/4 lemon (juice & flesh)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 dates

Oil – for the waffle iron (this is the one and only place I use an oil spray)

what to do

Turn the waffle iron on and set to preheat. Grease the waffle iron, grease it real good, like i said this is the one time i use an oil spray instead of coconut oil because you really need to get into all the crevices. Trust me, you don’t want the waffle to stick!

Add all the ingredients into a blender or food processor, except the 1/4 cup milk – i put them all into a 1 litre glass jug and use my hand held blender. If it’s too thick add at the 1/4 cup milk. The consistency works best if its thick, but pour-able, with the help of a spoon.
Blend until all the ingredients are combined.

When the waffle iron is heated set it to your desired doneness (i like it a little brown, but not too much – which is about a 4 or 5 on my machine). Pour 1/4 of the mix in and close the lid. Obviously your waffle iron might be a different size to mine, so be the judge over whether that will be enough or too much. You don’t want it to overflow! I’m always so greedy and pour too much in the first two then the second two end up kinda stingy (the kids get those ones haha).

Remove each waffle with a spatula when done and place in a low temp oven until the others are cooked. While they cook, I chop and assemble the toppings (see above for suggestions) also some nice suggestions in the original recipe you could check out.

So there you have it, the most delicious egg and nut free (and all the other stuff free) waffle! I’m generally not a hue fan of a strong buckwheat flavour, but I don’t find the buckwheat flavour over powering at all in these.

If you are like us, and need options for egg free baking, you should definitely check out Be Good Organics, why reinvent the egg free baking wheel when you can just go there! Some seriously yum stuff, using good, quality, real food ingredients that I’m happy to feed my family.

Kayla

Homemade Coconut Yoghurt

This makes just under 1 litre of coconut yoghurt, You might need to make sure your coconut cream is chilled, so you can scoop just the cream from the can. We don’t have to worry about that in Stratford, we have solid coconut cream and coconut oil pretty much all year round!

Ingredients

3 tins ‘essentials’ brand coconut cream (from countdown) or any coconut cream that lists only one or two ingredients: coconut extract, water.

1L glass jar or container (washed well with very hot water)

2 teaspoons probiotic powder (from a capsule or from a powdered probiotic)

1 Tablespoon sweetener (I use maple syrup)

what to do

Scoop the cream from the coconut cream and put into a small saucepan. Heat gently just to remove all the lumps and make it all smooth.

Take off the heat, make sure its only just luke warm. pour it into your jar or container. Then add the sweetener and probiotic.

Put the lid on and shake it. Place the jar in the oven with the oven light on, for 12 hours or overnight, this keeps it at a nice steady temp that’s not too hot or cold. (Make sure you tell the other family members about this or you might get up in the morning to find your coconut yoghurt has spent a long lonely night alone, in a cold, dark oven, when a well meaning spouse turns the light off before bed!)

Take it out and put straight in the fridge, it is ready to eat in another 6 or so hours when its properly chilled. Enjoy!

If you don’t have an oven light that works well (it turns out i might be quite privileged to have one of these?) then a hot water cupboard or a yoghurt maker will also work. With the yoghurt maker you need to make sure the water isn’t too hot and might need to change it once, after 6 hours in the winter.

Kayla

Crispy Hash browns |2 ingredients | egg free

These delicious crispy homemade hash browns are so easy to make. Only 2 ingredients (and one of them is salt!) These hash browns are made in the waffle iron, which makes them super quick, easy and fuss free. They are also gluten free, egg free and vegan, as well as free from all the other allergens.

I have no idea what inspired me to try and make a hash brown in the waffle iron, my first test I did, I used an egg to bind them, it worked ok but my fussiest child said it was ‘too eggy’ and one of my kids who was allergic to egg at the time, couldn’t have one. So I tried really squeezing the moisture out, and doing them without egg – and low and behold, it worked!

Nightshade / potato free?

If you are avoiding nightshades then you can make them using Kumara. You may not need to squeeze the Kumara as it doesn’t carry as much moisture as potatoes.

Type of potatoes

The type of potatoes you use also makes a difference, I always use agria potatoes, or any potato that has a yellowish flesh and floury texture. Don’t use the ‘white washed’ potatoes from the supermarket – they tend to go a bit gluey in the middle.

These make a fantastic breakfast or lunch. A great substitute for toast, and even go nicely instead of bread with soups! You can serve on their own or with fried mushrooms and spinach, poached eggs, or crispy bacon, tomatoes and avocado.

You can find more easy, nourishing breakfast ideas here.

If you make this don’t forget the tag me on Facebook and Instagram, and use the hashtag #chefashtonnz

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Crispy Homemade Hash Browns | Vegan | gluten free | 2 ingredients

These delicious crispy homemade hash browns are so easy to make. Only 2 ingredients (and one of them is salt!) These Gluten free hash browns are made in the waffle iron.
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time20 mins
Course: Breakfast, lunch, lunchbox, Main Course, Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: coconut free, dairy free, egg free, gluten free, grain free, hash brown, hash browns, hashbrowns, nut free, waffle hash brown, waffle iron
Servings: 4

Equipment

  • Waffle iron

Ingredients

  • 4-8 large Potatoes
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

  • Finely grate the potato (I use the smallest size on by box grater) and place into a large bowl.
  • Sprinkle with salt and leave to sit for a few minutes. The salt helps to draw the moisture out.
  • Preheat your waffle iron to high.
  • Place the grated potato into the middle of a muslin cloth, a cotton cloth, or old cotton shirt, a nut milk bag, or a clean tea towel.
  • Bring the edges up and around the potato, and squeeze like you’ve never squeezed before! Until all the liquid and moisture is squeezed from the potatoes.
  • Tip the mix back into your bowl and season with a little more salt, and pepper if desired. Grease the waffle iron with a little olive oil on the bottom.
  • Scoop ¼ of the mix out and pack into the waffle iron. Lightly swig some olive oil over the top. Close the lid tightly and leave to cook for about 5 minutes, or until the hash brown is brown and crispy.

Kayla

Paleo Waffles | Easy recipe only 4 Ingredients

These delicious paleo waffles only require 4 healthy ingredients and are so quick and simple to whip up. Thick, fluffy and perfect for weekend brunch! They freeze great and can be pulled on out busy mornings to reheat in the toaster. Also great to make ahead for lunchboxes too.

All you need is bananas, peanut butter, eggs and a smidge of coconut flour. That simple!

This makes about 3 – 4 waffles – depending on the size of your waffle iron, how much you spill from overfill and how many children you had helping to throw ingredients all over the bench (the struggle is real!).

Can you make them nut free?

Yes. You can omit the peanut butter and the waffles still turn out nice.

How do you grease a waffle iron without using non-stick oil spray?

Most non stick oil sprays contain hugely refined and processed vegetable oils. We try to avoid these types of oils as they are not good for our health. Though that sometimes comes at the cost of convenience! If you are looking for a way to grease a waffle iron with out non-stick spray you can use whatever healthy oil you like (olive oil, melted coconut oil, butter) melt it in a little ramekin and use a silicone pastry brush to brush the oil on.

We love these paleo waffles, but due to increasing food restrictions of my family, I had to develop another recipe too. If you are after a nut free, gluten free, dairy free, and egg free waffle, I totally have you covered on that, you can find that recipe here.

If you make any of my recipes don’t forget to tag me on Facebook or Instagram. And if you have any questions about the recipe, or anything else don’t hesitate to ask!

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Easy 4 Ingredient Paleo Waffles

These delicious paleo waffles only require 4 healthy ingredients and are so quick and simple to whip up. They freeze great and can then be pulled on out busy mornings to reheat in the toaster. Great for making ahead to go in lunchboxes too.
Prep Time10 mins
Course: Breakfast, celebration, Dessert, Main Course, Snack, treats
Cuisine: American
Keyword: coconut free, dairy free, easy recipe, gluten free, grain free, paleo, quick, soy free, waffle, waffles
Servings: 4 Waffles

Equipment

  • Waffle iron

Ingredients

  • 2 medium bananas
  • 2 Tablespoons peanut butter
  • 3 Tablespoons coconut flour
  • 3 Eggs

Instructions

  • Preheat your waffle iron following the manufacterers instructions.
  • Combine all the ingredients in your blender, and blend.
  • Let sit for 5 – 10 minutes to let the coconut flour do its thing.
  • Grease your waffle iron. Carefully pour into your waffle iron making sure not to overfill it.
  • Cook until waffles are golden brown and crisp. Top with your choice of toppings, our favourites are chia berry jam, berries (fresh or frozen) and whipped coconut cream.

Kayla

Chocolate Avocado Mousse |Egg free, Dairy Free

This smooth and creamy chocolate avocado mousse is a great healthy, allergy friendly dessert. It’s gluten free, dairy free, egg free, nut free, coconut free, and probably paleo!

I get asked quite a few questions about this recipe so I will do my best to answer them here!

Can you taste the avocado?

No you cannot taste the avocado! And I am fussy about this – I dont like the taste of avocado in my cooking and baking! Once I could taste it and it was because my avocados were way too overripe, and I tried to salvage them by making them into mousse – sadly, the best place for them was the compost! So if you hate food waste like me, make sure your avocados are actually edible first!

Can you make this banana free?

Yes! I only added the banana for some natural sweetness, as one of my kids doesn’t do well on sweeteners, whether they are refined sugar free or not. So I try and stick to whole foods for sweetness where I can. You can completely omit the banana, and you may or may not have to adjust the sweetener, depending on your preferences.

Does this HAVE to chill first?

Yes AND no …

Yes it does need to be cold before you eat it, just like any good mousse it is best enjoyed after some setting time to let it chill. HOWEVER, patience not being my virtue, I came up with a hack – and that was to add 1/2 cup (or up to 1 cup) of frozen berries to the blender with the other ingredients. This will make you instant, chilled chocolate avocado mousse! You can just taste the berries and they make a lovely edition to the mousse.

If you make this don’t forget the tag me on Facebook and Instagram, and use the hashtag #chefashtonnz

If you are keen on other raw avocado desserts I have the most delicious Chocolate Peanut butter cheesecake in my Easter Treats Ebook.

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Avocado Chocolate Mousse

This smooth and creamy chocolate avocado mousse is a great healthy, allergy friendly dessert. It's gluten free, dairy free, egg free, nut free and coconut free!
Prep Time5 mins
Course: Dessert, lunchbox, Snack, treats
Keyword: avocado, chocolate, chocolate avocado mousse, chocolate mousse, coconut free, dairy free, egg free, gluten free, grain free, mousse, no bake, nut free, treats
Servings: 2

Ingredients

  • 2 large avocados
  • ½ banana (if you cannot have banana or are looking for low carb option, omit the banana)
  • 2 Tablespoons raw cacao
  • 2 – 4 Tablespoons maple syrup (or sweetner of your choice)
  • 1/2 c milk of your choice (almond, coconut, hemp, rice milk etc)

Instructions

  • Add all ingredients together in your blender or food processor.
  • Blitz until well combined, smooth and creamy. You may need to scrape the sides down a couple of times to incorperate everything. ½
  • Chill in the fridge for an hour or so before serving. (unless adding frozen berries*)

Notes

*To make instant cold mousse that doesn’t need to be chilled first, add 1/2 to 1 cup of frozen berries. If using a blender, put them in first, against the blades, then layer the other ingredients on top. 
 

Kayla

Grain Free Banana Pancakes | 3 Ingredient

These grain free banana pancakes are so easy to make, and only have 3 ingredients. You can add more if you like, but they get by just fine with the 3! You can make them nut free, by replacing the peanut butter with a flour of your choice, or a Protien powder. Obviously the flour you use will depend on whether they remain grain free or not!

Nut free

Replace the nut butter with a flour of your choice:

Wheat flour, almond flour, spelt, gluten free flour, buckwheat, coconut flour, oat flour and tapioca would all work. Or use a protien powder of your choice (we use this one).

Nut Free and Grain Free

Use either coconut flour, almond meal or tapioca. Make sure you add the baking powder (or 1/3 tsp baking soda + 1 tsp vinegar if your store brought baking powder isn’t grain free) when you use these flours as it helps to add lift with the addition of the flours and keep the pancakes fluffy!

My kids love these grain free banana pancakes for afternoon tea, or a quick, easy breakfast. Sometimes I pour the mix into my muffin tray and bake them … I guess that would make them ‘Puffins’? ‘Mancakes’? ‘Muffcakes’? Haha – you decide, just know that whatever you call them, you need to be comfortable with the level of awkwardness that results if your child might name them to their neighbour, or the supermarket checkout operator … In any case if you’d like to bake them, pour into muffin tray and bake at 180℃ for about 10 minutes or until they are cooked in the centre. (They will puff right up in the middle, then ‘deflate’ when taken out of the oven).

Options:

So you can also add the following to the pancakes which would then not make them ‘3 ingredient pancakes’ but would still make them super quick, easy and versatile!

  • 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
  • 1 Tablespoon protien powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder (I highly recommend adding this, it helps to keep them light and fluffy)
  • A handful of frozen berries

I have been known to include ALL of the above at once!

You can also cook these in the waffle iron – they come out delish and are also great for lunchboxes!

If you make these don’t forget to let me know, leave a comment, and share them by tagging Chef Ashton on Facebook and Instagram.

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3 Ingredient Banana Pancakes

These Banana pancakes are so quick and easy to throw together. They are naturally gluten and dairy free, and there are several variations you can use to suit your preferances and dietary requirements.
Prep Time10 mins
Course: Breakfast, Dessert, lunch, lunchbox, Snack
Cuisine: Gluten free, Grain free
Keyword: coconut free, dairy free, gluten free, grain free, nut free, pancakes, treats
Author: Kayla

Ingredients

  • 2 eggs
  • 1 banana
  • 1 Tablespoon peanut butter (or any nut butter)

Instructions

  • Either mash the banana and add the eggs and peanut butter, stir to combine or whizz the whole lot up in the blender, or with a handheld blender.
  • Fry with some coconut oil, or other neutral tasting oil, on low – med heat until bubbles begin to form and pop. Then flip and brown on the other side.
  • We enjoy these with coconut yoghurt and berries

Notes

To make these nut free replace the nut butter with a flour of your choice, wheat flour, buckwheat flour, gluten free flour, spelt flour and coconut flour would all work. You can also use a Protien powder of your choice instead of nut butter or flour as well. 
If you have some extra time, you can add 1 tsp baking powder to the mix, it helps them to rise and adds a bit of fluffiness. 
 
 

Kayla