Sneaky zucchini cake

Mr. 2 is going through an "EWW THAT'S YUCK!" stage.. If its green, it's yuck. So I've decided, while also offering him his regular dinner-type veggies, I'm going to do some sneaky veggie hiding too. 

I went looking for a "veggie cake" recipe & stumbled upon this fantastic recipe over at scandifoodie.blogspot.com. I have adapted it to make it nut free- so here's my version:

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

3-4 zucchini (about 250g grated)

450g plain flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp mixed spice

180g chocolate

225g brown sugar

4 large eggs

1/2 cup sultanas

125g melted butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

250ml milk

Preheat your oven to 180C and grease a large cake tin (23 cm). 

Squeeze out excess water of the zucchini by placing in a clean tea towel & squeezing. Sift the dry ingredients, except the sugar, into a bowl and add sultanas. Melt the chocolate in the microwave and set aside. Beat together the eggs, sugar and butter. Beat in chocolate and vanilla. Fold in the flour mixture and the milk & when combined, add the zucchini.

Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake for 45-60 minutes or until a a skewer comes out clean.

As requested.. The lemon cake recipe to end all lemon cake recipes!!

I believe that food should be enjoyed, and while I do need to limit the quantity and ensure the quality is top-notch, I don't believe in avoiding treats! 

Food is not naughty.. it's delicious!!

So, in the interest of balance, I give you the ultimate lemon cake recipe!!

**warning- contains nuts**

Nigella's Lemon Cake (adapted from How to Eat)

400g lemons

250g caster sugar

250g ground almonds

6 eggs

1tsp baking powder

Place lemons in a saucepan, cover with boiling water and simmer for 1-1.5 hours or until the lemons are very tender (a spoon should easily break the skin). Top up with boiling water from the kettle if the water gets too low. Once cooked, remove from water and allow to cool.

Pre-heat oven to 190c degrees and grease and line an 8" round cake tin (or use patty pans like we did!)

Place the cooled lemons in a food processor and whiz them up until they are a fine puree. Pick out any pips that are left over. Add the rest of the ingredients and whiz again until it's all combined.

Pour into pan and bake for about an hour (or until a skewer comes out clean). Check it at the 40 minute mark and place some foil over the top to stop the cake from browning too much (we didn't do this and ended up with dark tops... it was a great excuse to blob some lemon cream on the top!).

Turn the cake out on a tray and allow to cool. As I said, pop some sweetened lemon cream on the top for an extra treat or make up some lemon cream cheese icing... yummy!!!

Enjoy with a cuppa and you've got the makings of a lovely morning or afternoon tea!

The bolognese that blew my freaking mind...

I made bolognese yesterday... big deal! I hear you say..

But it was a big deal you see.. because it was GILL'S bolognese.. Gill from River Cottage. And Gill from River Cottage, I now realise, has the best bolognese recipe in the whole world.. Think I'm exaggerating??!

You must CLICK HERE right now and get this recipe for yourself! Because it was the best freaking pasta sauce I have ever consumed! It has a whole lot of lovely, healthy ingredients but I think the thing that made it so wonderful was the cooking time. I let it simmer away for nearly two hours. Like a bolognese stew really! We left out the booze because we had none and swapped the pancetta for short cut bacon. Even with those changes it was amazeballicious!

I SO wish I had taken a better picture but alas, we ate it all before I managed to snap a classy food-bloggeresque image to share. The River Cottage crew have a lovely, much more appetising image on their page which I could've stolen (and given due credit of course) but in the interest of being an ethical blogger, this crappy picture will have to do!

We ate the whole batch last night. John and the kids had theirs with spaghetti and I had mine poured over some blanched broccoli and cauliflower. I would've had the spaghetti usually but yesterday was "accelerator day" on the 12wbt and it was just as delicious with veggies.

***Quick brag***
I have now dropped 9.8kg in the 9 weeks I have been following the 12wbt plan!! Feeling much healthier and my head is so much clearer!!

Rhubarb and vanilla bean jam!

As winter rolls around once again the plums and apricots have long since disappeared from our trees and have been made into delicious jams, preserves and baked goods, not to mention eaten fresh from the tree. 

This time of year is not known for jamming but I have found a gorgeous recipe for jam made from the abundant rhubarb plant that lives by our front porch. We usually use rhubarb in crumbles and pies and sometimes stew it up with apples to eat with icecream but this year I have an inkling that the whole plant will be cooked up into this delicious spread!

Without further ado, here is the recipe!

Adapted from BBC Good Food

Rhubarb and vanilla bean jam

Ingredients:

1kg rhubarb (trimmed of leaves and ends)

1kg sugar

1 tsp pectin (or, as I did, finely dice the skin of a mandarin or clementine- any citrus skin will do)

2 vanilla beans halved

Method:

Put a small plate in the freezer.

Wash rhubarb, chop into 3cm chunks and place in a large pot with the sugar, mandarin skin and vanilla bean. Cook over a medium heat until the sugar dissolves.

Turn to low and simmer for 10 minutes or until the rhubarb is soft and beginning to break apart. After this point, begin testing every 2 minutes to see if the jam is set by dropping a small amount onto the cold plate. After a couple of minutes, run your finger through the jam on the plate and if it wrinkles on the surface it is ready.

Once the jam is ready, carefully spoon into warm sterilised jars and place lids on while the jam is still hot to ensure a vacuum seal.

Stored in a dark pantry, this delicious jam should keep for 6 months.

Enjoy!!

xxoo

Before the sugar dissolved

Simmering away nicely

Recipe: Lactation cookies

I have seen a few different recipes for these cookies and I intend to make myself a huge batch to enjoy during our baby-moon.

Lactation Cookies

Makes approx 72 cookies

* 1 cup butter or spread

* 1 cup sugar

* 1 cup brown sugar

* 4 tablespoons water

* 2 tablespoons flaxseed meal*

* 2 large eggs

* 1 teaspoon vanilla

* 2 cups flour

* 1 teaspoon baking soda

* 1 teaspoon salt

* 3 cups oats, thick cut if you can get them

* 1 cup or more chocolate chips/sultanas/almonds (whatever takes your fancy)

* 2 tablespoons of brewers yeast** (be generous)

Preheat oven at 180 degrees C. Mix together 2 tablespoons of flaxseed meal and water, set aside for 3-5 minutes. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, mix well. Stir flaxseed mixture and add with vanilla to the margarine mix. Beat until blended. Sift together dry ingredients, except oats and chips. Add to margarine mixture. Stir in oats then chips. Scoop or drop onto baking sheet, preferably lined with parchment. The dough is a little crumbly, so it helps to use a scoop.

Bake 8-12 minutes, depending on size of cookies.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

*can be found at any local health food store.

**Don't substitute brewer's yeast for anything else... that's what makes them work!



Much brighter today!

Thank you for the couple of lovely kind comments after my down-in-the-mouth post last night.

Yes, I was feeling extremely sorry for myself, but I was completely right in guessing it was due to lack of sleep, too much wheat and salt, and not enough water... Oh, and the lack of sunshine yesterday. I swear I have S.A.D. (seasonal affective disorder) as my mood is thoroughly governed by what the weather wants to do. It's hard to live with!

Today has been much better... I ensured it would start on the right foot by getting enough sleep. I did have a couple of hours awake from about 2am to 4am, but I used the time to work on my hypnobirthing meditation and before I knew it, it was morning and I was feeling somewhat human! I slept in until about 9am, and John brought be breakfast in bed of home made wholemeal spelt toast with scrambled eggs with coriander. He also brewed me a delicious coffee.

After breakfast our little family went for a walk around a local park. It's a great park with a track all the way around and resistence equipment stations at several spots along the way. We had fun trying all the machines. The sun was shining, there were loads of other families out enjoying the space, and we were all feeling really relaxed and happy. John dropped me at work after this and I was really hungry for lunch by this stage so I popped half a sweet potato in the microwave and served it with some tinned salmon (Safcol premium skinless and boneless is my fave) and low fat mayo. I also munched on a few rice thins while I was waiting for the potato to cook. It was a quick, easy and satisfying lunch.

I had a client this afternoon who wanted to do some cooking so we decided to make wholemeal date scones. They turned out great! Because we used a recipe that had minimal fat and sugar I ate two with a cup of tea. I am now feeling that I shouldn't have had that much wheat but I am no where near as uncomfortable as I was yesterday. Here is the link for the recipe I changed it by substituting the SR flour with wholemeal SR flour, dropping the sugar all together, adding 1 cup chopped dried dates and using low fat cream and sugar free lemonade. They worked really well with all these modifications. Next time I will try them with spelt flour as it's a bit easier on my belly.

So now here I am and it's only an hour till knock off. I have a couple of things to do before I pack up but all in all it's been a much more positive day. I am planning for this week to be full of activity and to get out in the sunshine whenever we have a chance.

Now tell me, what is your favourite healthy snack recipe??

Please hit me up in the comments and I will publish them!

Muesli Bars

Molly and I made these delicious muesli bars this morning. The recipe made 18 bars and I already had most of the ingredients in the cupboard. Recipe adapted from taste.com.au..




Home Made Muesli Bars


Ingredients

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup desiccated coconut
• 1/2 cup oat bran
• 1/2 cup sesame seeds
• 1/2 cup sunflower kernels (didn't have any so omitted these)
• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
• 1 cup sultanas
• 100g butter
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/3 cup brown sugar (you could use less as they are pretty sweet)

Method

Grease and line a 3cm deep, 16cm x 28cm (base) baking pan with baking paper. Cook (using no oil) oats, coconut, oat bran, sesame seeds, sunflower kernels and pumpkin seeds in a frying pan over medium heat, stirring, for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden. Transfer to a bowl. Set aside to cool. Stir in sultanas.

Cook butter, honey and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring, for 3 to 4 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, without stirring, for 7 minutes or until mixture forms a soft ball when a little is dropped into ice-cold water. Add to dry ingredients. Stir until combined.

Spoon mixture into pan. Use a large metal spoon to press down firmly. Allow to cool. Cut into squares. Store in a foil-lined airtight container for up to 7 days

Enjoy!