Grain Free Salmon Fish Cakes

BY CHRISTINA · SEPTEMBER 19, 2014

This is one of my quick go to meals for my family, when I haven’t been organised to get something out of the freezer for dinner or I have left over fish, from our favourite family meals of pan fried salmon. This is Full GAPS Friendly, and Paleo.

Ingredients

400 grams Canned or pre-cooked salmon (Remove Bones)

1 TB – Your Inspirations At Home  - Herb and Garlic

1 TB – Your Inspirations At Home - Dill and Onion

2 TB – Coconut flour

1/4 tsp – Salt

2 eggs

1/4 a cup of Peas

1. Combine all ingredients together in a bowl and let sit for 10 – 15 mins.  I use this time to make a salad, and Avocado Mash.

2. Using either your hands or spoons, shape batter into patties,  I make mine the size of a heaped Soup spoon.

3. Shallow fry in the coconut oil, butter or ghee.

4. Turn when browned on one side.

5. Serve and enjoy.

* Serves 5 – I doubt the recipe for my family.

** I have used YIAH Herbs, you can use fresh or dried herbs of your choice, these ones work great for us.

Blueberry Kefir Cake

So here's my recipe for the Day.

Blueberry Kefir Cake
Ingredients
125g Butter, or Coconut Oil
1 Cup Sweetener of your choice, sugar, honey, Stevia( you don't need a cup of stevia)
3 eggs
2 Cups plain flour - you can use white or wholemeal, Spelt, we like the wholemeal Spelt version Better.
3 Tsp. Baking powder
3/4 Cup of Kefir or yoghurt
1 cup of blueberries, fresh or frozen.

1. Preheat oven to 180c. Grease a round spring form Cake tin. 
2. Using an electric mixer, or whisk, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating to combine.
4. Add half the flour mix (flour and baking powder, and half the kefir, stir to combine.
5. Add the remainder of flour mix and kefir and stir until combined. Be careful not to over work the batter, just until combined.
6. Spread mixture into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with blueberries. Press blueberries in slightly.
7. bake for 50 mins,or until a skewer comes out clean. If the top of the cake seems to be getting too dark, cover with foil.
8. Let cool and sprinkle with Icing Sugar.

Eat and Enjoy! The better the Ingredients the better more nutrients.

Sour Dough Crepes - With Caramel Pineapple

Sour Dough Crepes - with Caramel Pineapple.

Ingredients

2 cups of Sour Dough Starter,

2 eggs, 

2 TB honey, (or sweetener of your choice)

1 TB Cinnamon

coconut oil, butter, ghee.

Extra honey to taste.

1 Pineapple, fresh or canned (if you can't get fresh)

Homemade Yoghurt or  Coconut Cream. 

Method

1. Combine all ingredients, in a pouring jug. 

2. Heat a pan, and add your oil or butter. 

3. Once warm, start adding the batter, creating the desired crepe size. 

4. Once bubbles start to appear in the batter, you now your crepe is ready to flip. 

5. Cook for a few minutes on the other side, and then serve. 

Carmel Pineapple

1. Cut one whole Pineapple into pieces, 

2. Cook Pineapple in a pan with coconut oil or butter, and honey to taste.

3. Keep stirring as it cooks and heats through.

4. Once you see the pineapple starting to soften, it's ready to serve.

Serve 

Serve crepes with pineapple and homemade yoghurt or coconut cream.

- Christina

Beef & Beans Casserole

In Winter here in Australia, So time for some tasty hearty warm Meals! 

Beef and Beans Casserole

Ingredients

3 Cans of Tomatoes, or 15 frozen Tomatoes

5 tb Worcestershire sauce; we use organic one

1 piece of beef casserole steak, diced

1 Can or equivalent Kidney Beans, (or any other beans)

3 Cloves of Garlic, crushed or diced

1 Onion diced.

Mixed Herbs

Salt and Pepper

Mixed Veggies, I use Carrots, green beans, peas, Swede.

You could add whatever you have on hand.

Method

1. If using Frozen Tomatoes, put them into the slow cooker to defrost, after they are melted down a little you can pull the skins off.

2. Add all ingredients to the slow cooker, and add enough water to cover the ingredients. Let cook for 5 or more hours. Add salt and pepper to taste, before serving.

You can serve as is, Add a dollop of Home made Sour Cream, serve with Mashed potatoes, Rice, Pasta. We enjoy it with mashed Cauliflower.

Enjoy your winter meals!

Warm Grain Free Muesli

Warm Grain Free Muesli 

Being on a Grain free or Gluten free diet can at times present with a lack of choices when it comes to breakfast! In the West we have become accustomed to eating cereals for breakfast, whether it be in the form of toast, packaged cereal, Oats, Muesli. etc.  

So making a change and taking grains out of your diet for good, or just a time means that you need to sometimes rethink breakfast. 

With a household of children that have in the past enjoyed those breakfast choices means that at times they get over having eggs, and the many different forms you can present them!  So here is my take on a grain free breakfast, served with a good dollop of home made yoghurt.

Recipe.

( Serves 6)

4 apples sliced
1 cup sultanas

1 cup peanuts
3 tsp of cinnamon
2 TB of Butter ( could also be coconut oil)
2 TB of coconut oil
1 TB of Honey.
Homemade yoghurt to serve.

Method 

1. Fry apples in butter and coconut oil until soft.
2. Add cinnamon to the pan. Stir well.
3. Add sultanas, peanuts, and honey to the pan, stir well and heating through.
                                                                                    4. Serve with some homemade Yoghurt.

 A really nice change this morning, and there was only licked clean bowls left over.

Pumpkin Puffs - GAPS

Pumpkin Puffs

Ingredients:
3 cups of mashed pumpkins
3 eggs
1/3 cup sour cream (Kefir works as well, optional extra for serving)
1 heaping cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons chopped chives or parsley
Salt and black pepper, to taste

Directions:
1 - Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
2 - Lightly grease with butter 12 pan, muffin pan.
3 - In a medium mixing bowl whisk the eggs then mix in the sour cream. Stir in both cheeses and the chives. Add pumpkin and mix well.
4 - Spoon them into the pan filling the cups to slightly below the top, top each one with a little grated cheese.
5 - Bake 25- 35 minutes until they pull away from the sides of the cup and are golden brown. Remove from oven and let them cool 5 minutes in pan. 

GAPS Coconut cinnamon custard.

When we first brought our thermomix we weren't on GAPS, and one of our favorite recipes was Custard. So when we came to GAPS I really wanted a recipe so that we could still have custard. I have found a few recipes online, but they were more complicated than I wanted, so I thought I would simply have a go at making up my own recipe. So here it is.

Ingredients
5 eggs
400mls of coconut cream
1 tbs of cinnamon
1/3 cup of honey
2 vanilla beans (scrap the insides)


Add all ingredients to the thermomix bowl, on temp 90 degrees, for 8 mins, speed 4. Enjoy!

Now for those of you that don't have a thermomix don't dispare, you can still make this recipe. Combine all the ingredients in a heat proof bowl, and whisk over a sauce pan of water until your custard is firming up.

It will be more firm on standing. :)

p.s. when I work out how to up load pictures on this computer I will post a photo to go along with all my recipes.

If you try it tell me what you think :)

Fermented Tomato sauce

15 Tomatoes
3 Onions
3 cloves of Garlic
2 tsp of salt
2Tbs of Sage or Basil
½ tsp of chilli powder
2 tsp of sweet paprika
⅓ cup of whey

Blend all together in a thermomix, and then set to cook 100 for 40 mins, on speed 1.
Check for salt, let cool. When finger cool add ⅓ cup of whey and bottle. Leaving to ferment for two days on the counter and then move to cool storage.

Non Thermomix instructions, Put all the ingredients into a blender or food processor, blend well. Transfer to a large pot, and slow boil for around 40 mins. leave to cook, add whey and bottle. Leave to ferment for 2 days on the counter and then transfer to cool storage/fridge.

Fermented Cherry Chutney

1200grams of fresh or frozen Cherries
8 peeled and diced apples
3 Diced onions
1 TBS of Chinese 5 spices
¼ cup of honey
½ cup of whey.

Put apples and onion in a frying pan with enough water to stop them burning. On medium heat cooked until soft, add in cherries, honey, and spice, and cook until the cherries are breaking down. Take off the heat and let cool. The mixture needs to be cool enough so that when you put your finger in it isn’t too hot. At this point you can add the whey, and stir through. Put into jars and let ferment for 2 days on the bench then transfer to cool store/fridge.

Fermented Tomato Salsa

Fermented tomato salsa,is just like normal salsa only on steroids! The flavour is amazing with a touch of Zing. My family love it and if your family likes salsa I'm sure they will too :)


5 tomatoes, diced
1 cucumber, diced and peeled if skin is rough
1 capsicum, diced
1 bunch spring onions, sliced
1 bunch fresh basil leaves, chopped

¼ cup whey
salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl; spoon into sterile jars and push down until juices cover the top. Add a splash of filtered water if necessary to cover contents. Leave a little head space. Let sit on the bench for 1 day, then refrigerate and enjoy!

Fermented Raspberry Mint Sauce

1 Kg of Frozen or fresh Raspberries
½ cup of Raw Honey
30 Mint leaves, more if you like.
½ cup of whey.

Mix all together, mashing the raspberries to break them down a bit. Bottle and ferment on the counter for 2 days, then move to cool storage, fridge. Will Keep for 1 month.

Very tasty over ice cream, in yoghurt, in smoothies, etc

Kimchi Recipe

1 Chinese cabbage, sliced to a crunchy thickness
5 carrots, shredded
2 chillies, or to taste
1 fat thumb-sized ginger, diced very small
6 cloves garlic, diced very small

¼ cup whey
salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl; mash together with hands, meat hammer, or similar until juices are flowing. Spoon into sterile jars and push down repeatedly so that it packs tightly in, until juices cover the top. Add a splash of whey and filtered water if necessary to cover contents. Leave a little head space. Let sit on the bench for 5 days, then refrigerate and enjoy!

My meal plan for week 1 GAPS Intro

My meal plan for week 1 of intro. I plan to do stage 1 for one week, then next week we will do stage 2. Ben and I have both agreed to leave Dairy out for at least the first week.

Ok, so what is allowed on stage one
* Meat stock
* Fish stock
* Organ meat - liver should be included at least once a week.
* Well boiled veggies, onions, garlic, carrots, broccoli, leeks, cauliflower, courgettes, zucchini, squash, pumpkin, Asparagus, beetroot, Eggplant, Kale, Spinach, Tomatoes,
* Boiled meats
* Mineral Salt and Pepper
* sauerkraut juice
* Ginger root - for fresh herbal tea
* Honey - Raw, only a small amount in herbal tea.
* Lemon - only a small piece in warm water as morning drink
* Apple Cider Vinegar for bone broth, and in the morning glass of water to aid in digestion.
* homemade Ghee
* Homemade Yoghurt - if tolerated


So here is our meal plan for the week. I have found that my family loves breakfast meat balls, and having soup for our lunch meal works best for us. All mornings will start with room temp mineral water, with ACV or lemon juice. I will also add some kraut juice to each meal.

Monday
Breakfast: Meat Balls with veggie and onion gravy
Lunch: Pumpkin Soup
Dinner: Poached Fish with boiled veggies, and fish gravy

Tuesday
Breakfast: Meat Balls with veggie and onion gravy
Lunch: Pumpkin Soup
Dinner: Slow cooked Lamb chops with boiled veggies and Lamb Gravy

Wednesday
Breakfast: Meat Balls with veggie and Onion gravy
Lunch: Leek soup
Dinner: Beef casserole, thickened with cauliflower.

Thurday
Breakfast : Meat Balls with veggie and Onion gravy
Lunch: Leek Soup
Dinner: Slow cooked chicken, with boiled veggies, and chicken gravy

Friday
Breakfast: Meat Balls with Veggie and Onion Gravy.
Lunch: Chicken soup
Dinner: Slow cooked pork roast, with boiled veggies and gravy.

Saturday
Breakfast: Meat Balls with Veggie and Onion Gravy.
Lunch: Chicken soup
Dinner: Lamb casserole

Sunday
Breakfast: Meat Balls with Veggie and Onion Gravy
Lunch: Pumpkin soup
Dinner: Slow Roasted lamb with boiled veggies and Onion Gravy.


Now you may have noticed that we are having meat balls every morning. My children love them, so I have no arguments getting the children to eat them, they normally ask for more- so if you have something like that, simple to make, no fighting, then use it! Ok so how do I make them. Well for us we need 1 kg of mince- I have used all types of mince and they all work well, or favourite is a mix of beef and pork, however I don't have any pork at the moment so beef will be it. I 1/2 fill an electric frying pan with bone or meat broth. Then I roughly chop 2 onions, 4 garlic cloves, 4 carrots and put them in the pan with the broth. I then mix the mince with pepper, salt, and herbs when they are allowed, mixing them very well, and forming palm size patties with the mince and putting on top of the veggies into the broth. Boil the whole lot until the patties are cooked through, turning once, and the veggies are soft. Remove the Patties, then with slotted spoon, scoop out all the veggies, and put into a tall jug or jar, and blend with a stick blender to make gravy.

You can use whatever Gaps veggies you have to make this gravy. You can also make your patties in any shape you want, small balls, sausage shape, heart shape for fun. :0)

You may also have noticed that I have used the same soup for two days each time. This is a time saver. As a gaps cook I already have heaps of things to do in the kitchen so saving myself some time is a bonus, so I make enough for two days. Also, since I have soup in the middle of the day and my children don't always eat much soup, so if I put it in the middle of the day and they have a big breakfast, it's not too long before dinner if they choose to miss out.

And yes I use my slow cooker a lot. When you have to boil all the meat and veggies you eat, use the tools you have on hand.

If you have any questions or want to know about any of the meals please let me know, I would be happy to help.

Thanks,
Christina

Raspberry Cashew, Raw Butter Fudge.

As a treat for my family this week I made this delightful fudge, that is not only tasty but delicious, and a great way to get butter into your family. Yes I said get some butter into your family. Butter is full of vitamins and minerals that are great for our body's, nourishing and helping them to repair and grow.




Recipe
500grams of the best butter you can get. I choice some cultured Danish butter.
1 cup of Cashew butter, or some other nut butter. I made mine at home in the food processor.
1 1/2 cups of local Raw honey
1 tsp of mineral salt.
1 vanilla bean, the inside scrappings.
2 cups of fresh or frozen Raspberries.

Mix all together well. Pour out into a lined slice tray,Sprinkle flaked coconut and put into the freezer. Slice into squares with hard enough, and enjoy. Keep stored in the freezer until your ready to eat.

Hope you enjoy these as much as we have. :0)

Peanut Butter Banana Waffles - GAPS legal

Hi all, I have been on the look out for a waffle maker for a little while now. Today I was walking past chickenfeed, a discount shop we have here, and they had one for sale, so Yay! I now have a waffle maker! So what better way to start my waffle making journey than to make up a recipe for some grain free, peanut butter ones. So here is the recipe so that you can join me on this waffling journey!

Recipe
500 grams of peanuts, turned into peanut butter.
(I just whiz them in the thermomix, you could use a processor or buy good peanut butter)
4 Bananas
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of bi carb.
6 eggs
1 TB vanilla essences
1/4 - 1/2 cup of honey (depending on the sweetness you want and what your going to top it with).

Blend all together, and pour 1/3 cup of batter for each waffle, and cook for around 3 mins.
Top and enjoy. These waffles can also be used to make sandwiches, or anything else you could imagine.

Don't forget to post a comment and share your ideas.

100 days on GAPS - Banana, Date and Almond cake.

What better way to celebrate our first 100 days on GAPS than with a Cake like this!

Today our internet access was out and I wanted to make the family a treat. I was planning on make banana bread that we have made a few times, but I never wrote the recipe down,I just always looked it up. So today I though well I'll make my own up. So here is my version, and oh it is so tasty! I would have this cake over any non gaps treat on the market.

Recipe
2 cups of Almond flour/ meal.
5 eggs
1 tsp of Vanilla Essence
1 tsp Bi carbs soda.
4 ripe bananas
1/2 cup dates
1/2 cup of Honey.

Put it all in a food processor, whiz it together. Pour into a greased tin. Bake in the oven for 1 hour on 160oC.

Decorate with homemade sour cream and mixed berries.

ENJOY!

Blueberry, lemon,coconut, kefir cheese cake

We have just finished devouring this tasty little treat. Oh it is so nice! i highly recommend you give it ago. Now there are a few steps to making it that take time, but aren't difficult, and once you give it ago you, like me will wonder why you didn't try making it before. :)

Crust
2 cups of Almonds, or almond meal
3 tbs of melted butter.
1 cup of dates

1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor, until fine crumb had developed.
2. Press into a well greased spring pan. Refrigerate until firm.

First Layer.
2 cups of Lemon Kefir cheese. - Instructions below
1 cup of Sour cream - Instructions below
Juice of one lemon
The flesh of a young coconut.
Beans of 2 vanilla bean pods.

Mix all ingredients together in a blender or with a hand blender, making sure all the coconut flesh is broken up. Pour 3/4 of the mixture over the base. Put in the freezer to set.

Second layer.
1 1/2 cups of blueberries
Remain mixture.

Blend mixture with a blender. I used a hand blender. Pour over the first layer, and set back into the freezer to set.

Within two hours your cheese cake will be set and it's time to enjoy. At room temp it will be a little runny, but still very enjoyable. Best served slightly frozen.









Lemon Kefir Cheese
This product is easy to make. Simple take you kefir once ready, Add the peel of a whole lemon, and store in the fridge for a second ferment over night. The next day, simply strain and hang through cheese cloth, tea towel, nut bag or pillow case. Let drip for around 8 hours.

Sour cream
Using 500mls of cream, pour into a glass jar, and stir in 1/4 of a cup of Kefir.
Leave at room temp. for 24 hours. Stir at least once or twice.
Refrigerate.

GAPS Coconut Treats

These coconut treats a Full Gaps legal. As my children are coming along for the right on this diet with us, from time to time I like to make some little treats for them to enjoy. As Full Gaps has so many yummy food, and treats that they we don't normally try, so in a creative moment I put this on together. I have used a Thermomix to put it together but you could use any food processor, or some times and a good knife.

Ingredients
One young coconut
300grams Blanched Almonds
200grams Dates
200grams crushed peanuts.

Open a young coconut and drain out the water, drink or set aside for another use. Remove all the flesh from the coconut, and put into the blender with Almonds and Dates. Blend until coming to together and slightly sticky, add a little warm water if needed. Line the inside of a slice tin with grease proof paper, and sprinkle with half the peanut mix. Press the mixture into the tray on top of the peanuts, cover with the remaining peanuts, and press in. Put in the freezer for an hour to set. Take out of tin and slice into bite size squares.

These little squares are packed full of goodness, and a tasty little treat for young and old. Here is one of my blessings enjoying it.

Day 48 Chicken Nuggets.

Chicken Nuggets are a favorite in most household containing children, and our home is no different. Pre GAPS our children would have enjoyed these from either KFC or McDonalds. Since we haven't eaten any food like that for the last 48 days, this tasty little treat is something that they haven't enjoyed for a little while. So tonight I thought I would brave a grain free version on them. Oh boy these were tasty, and everyone agreed that they were way better than any we had brought at a takeaway shop!.


Garam Masala
Ingredients
2 cinnamon sticks
8 Cardamom pods
2 Tbs whole coriander seeds
1 Tbs whole cloves
1 Tbs Cumin seeds
1 Tbs Black pepper
2 bay leaves

Put all the ingredients into a blender, food processer, or Thermomix and grind to get a powder. Put in a jar. This mix will last months, and great to add a little extra flavour to your cooking.

Chicken Nugget
Ingredient
1 kg of Chicken mince
1 egg
1 Onion
5 cloves of Garlic
1 TB Salt
1 Table spoon of Garam Masala
1 tsp. of Sweet Paprika
300gram of Almond meal/flour
Ghee, Lard, or coconut oil for frying.

Mix all the ingredients (except Almond meal and oil) together in a bowl. In another bowl have the almond meal ready for rolling the nuggets in. Using a heaped tsp of chicken mixture roll and then coat them in the almond flour, pressing into the nugget shape and setting aside on a tray. Once all the balls have been rolled and coated, heat a frying pan with your chosen oil, and fry until golden brown on both sides. lightly salt and serve.

My children have told me that is recipe is a new family favorite or ours. I think we will be eating this one for many years to come, even if we are not on GAPS anymore. :0)

GAPS White Bean (Lima) Birthday Cake

Well I have finally found my camera cord, so here as promised is the pictures from my Bean cake, that we enjoyed so much for my daughters birthday.

Recipe
3 cups of Cooked Lima beans.
9 Tbles of coconut oil
1 cup + 2tbls of honey
6 eggs
2 Tbles of Vanilla, I used my homemade vanilla essence.
3/4 tsp of good quality salt.
1 tsp of Bi Carb soda ( good quality, and optional)

Mix all ingredients together in a blender or food processor, until well combined. Pour into a with greased cake pan. Bake for 40-45 mins on 180C, or a little longer if not quite set.

I served mine with Yoghurt mixed with kvass to make it pink, drizzled over the top, and then covered with berries. :0)

So here is it again with the birthday girl :0)

I think she looks happy.