Tara Prana

Mother. Teacher. Foodie. Friend.

Navigation

Guest recipe: Gluten Free Apple Walnut Muffins

by

Carrot and apple muffins with raisin

Today I have a recipe for you from Food blogger, Mum and Author Joanna Steven from wwww.joannasteven.com!

About

Joanna Steven is an Amazon best-selling author, and the founder of The Nourished Village [http://www.joannasteven.com/programs/nourished-village], a nurturing community for moms and their families. Her work as been published in Food Matters, Eco Hearth, Get Fresh!, Yum Gluten Free Magazine, Girlie Girl Army, and more. She regularly shares kid-friendly vegetarian recipes on her blog [http://www.joannasteven.com], and loves to interact with other moms on Facebook page [https://www.facebook.com/JoannaSteven] and Twitter [https://twitter.com/nettle_juice].

About this recipe, Joanna says: How many of these can my son Franklin eat? Probably the whole batch in 3 days. He loves them. I love that they are easy to make and everything can be rinsed under warm water and put in the dishwasher. Wipe the counter, you’re done with both the muffins and the kitchen clean up.

I can’t wait to try making them myself! Here is Joanna’s recipe.

Gluten Free Apple Walnut Muffins
 
Print
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
These muffins are easy to make and a hit with kids.
Author:
Recipe type: Muffins
Serves: 12 muffins
Ingredients
  • 1 apple, shredded fine
  • ½ cup chopped walnuts
  • 4 eggs
  • ⅓ cup coconut oil
  • 2 15ml (US) tablespoons maple syrup
  • ½ cup almond flour
  • ⅓ cup coconut flour
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Pinch salt
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 175 C/ 350 F.
  2. Blend all the ingredients except for the apple and walnuts.
  3. Fold apple and walnuts in by hand.
  4. Pour batter in ¼ cup measures into muffin cup.
  5. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in a muffin comes out dry.

Let me know if you make these and they are a winner with your own kids. Don’t forget to check out Joanna’s blog for more gluten-free recipes and inspiration.

Tara x

 

Friends and intolerances….or intolerant friends?

by

IMG_1507I have a friend. A good friend, a lovely friend.

But I feel she doesn’t respect my way of eating.

Last night we went out for dinner with friends, to a pizza place. At the end of the evening I declared that the gluten free pizza was the worst I had had in a long time (It was truly like cardboard!).
Now to that comment, my friend, she could have said ‘that sucks’ or ‘that must be frustrating’ or ‘shame, our wheat one was was really nice’ or she could have just nodded and said …… nothing.

But my friend, she said this: ‘You should have eaten the other one then.’

I felt upset, like all the other times she says things like that.

But I smiled. I smiled and said ‘I couldn’t, it wouldn’t be worth it’ to which she asked directly, ‘Are you a coeliac?’.

I mumbled no, but that doesn’t mean I don’t suffer, and then trailed off because she wasn’t listening.

The truth is, I don’t know if I am a coeliac or not, because I have not had the full range of tests. Sure, I’ve had the blood test and a colonoscopy, but those do not actually detect coeliac disease. For that, I would need a laparoscopy, a camera from both ends.

My GP, who I respect, discouraged me from having this a while ago when I was still recovering. I understand why.

She said, ‘Tara, do we need a test to tell us you can’t eat gluten? We know how sick you get from eating gluten and grain. We saw it with our own eyes. Do you remember?’

Yes, I remember.

 

I remember that I went from 56kg to 48kg in a matter of months. I remember my ribs and hips stuck out and I felt too weak to walk normal places such as from the car. I remember that I would start to faint if I stood for too long. I remember that just taking my kids to the park was a huge struggle.

I remember that I could not keep any food in and needed to be within a few minutes of a toilet at all- I mean, AT ALL- times.
I remember that I was incredibly anxious if I needed to go to a new, unfamiliar place. For how would I know if there was a toilet, or where it even was? Would I get there in time?

I remember literally running to the toilet each morning, about five times, before I could even leave the house. This was tricky as I had a baby and a toddler at the time.

I remember that my iron levels got so low that I almost needed a blood transfusion. Instead I was subjected to fortnightly injections of iron and B vitamins in my behind, and had so many bruises that I could not sit back on the floor with my young children.

I feel like I lost a year of my life at that time. Not only a year of my own life but that precious year of my children’s life.
I was a shell of a person, a literal skeleton. I also lost my mind. All my marbles- gone.

So, to my friend: No actually, I do not know if I am a coeliac or not.

What I do know is that I now know my health. And my life. And my children’s lives.

A slice of ‘normal’ pizza cannot tempt me away from those precious, precious things that I have fought so hard to regain.

Don’t be confused- I send my friend love, not resentment. That is because we only know what we know. We only know our own experience, our own truth, our own lives. And that’s okay. I don’t need others to know my truths. The important thing is that I know them myself. After many years I now do, on many levels.

It would be nice though. 😉

How do you find other people’s approach to the way that you eat? Let me know in the comments.

Tara X

Clean, mean baked beans

by

IMG_7794 ‘Clean’ baked beans?

No, I didn’t give them a good old scrub! These babies are clean because they are free from sugar, additives and preservatives.

Why bother?

Well, I used to go to a specific shop every few weeks to buy my kids a few cans of an organic brand of baked beans, which had me feeling like I was a ‘good mother’ and buying them quality food. I would go to that particular store because each can was $2.50 as opposed to the usual $4 + for organic versions. To me this was a good, cost-effective system that ensured my children had protein and variety in their breakfasts.

A few months ago though, I went to see ‘That Sugar Film‘ at the cinema. One of the foods that they spotlighted in the film as being high in sugar were baked beans. I watched the scene, smugly self-assured that my stockpile of ‘certified organic’ Australian baked beans were sitting at home in the pantry.

It was not until I got home later that night that I thought I would just check the label of the beans, using my freshly learned knowledge. I was gob-smacked- the can had per serving 12g sugar (3 teaspoons sugar). Well! Yes, yes it was Organic Cane Sugar but we all know that that is still: SUGAR. Organic or not, sugar is sugar and I had just learned that day that the WHO recommended sugar intake for children, PER DAY, was 4 teaspoons.

To be clear:

  • I am not anti-sugar. I am sugar-aware and definitely pro limiting it.
  • If you give your children canned baked beans, organic or not, that’s okay. I’m not judging.
  • This realisation was, for me, about easily replacing something with sugar with something without it.
  • This recipe is as cost-effective as the alternative.
  • For the record, I personally don’t like conventional Baked Beans however I really like these (I’m modest too;).
  • I used cannellini beans for a reason- for me personally they are the easiest beans to digest. If your gut is damaged you may not be as tolerant.
  • I think we all remember the following childhood rhyme. It’s very true- this easy meal packs a protein-filled breakfast or lunchbox hit to fuel their growing brains. Just don’t overdo it, for fear of the last line:

Baked Beans, Baked Beans, they make you smart

Baked Beans, Baked Beans, they make you fart!

If you want to give this recipe a try, do so and let me know how you go. The variations are endless. Start with something you or your child likes and experiment- be it bacon, smoky paprika, coriander, basil, cheese, anything. Or nothing, for those plain eaters! You could even be super-tricky and stretch it further by finely grating zucchini and carrot into this dish.

IMG_7796 IMG_7792IMG_8338

Clean, mean baked beans
 
Print
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
A cost-effective recipe for sugar-free baked beans
Author:
Recipe type: Breakfast, Lunchbox
Serves: 6-8 child serves
Ingredients
  • ½ onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • olive oil or ghee
  • 2 x 400g cans Cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 x 400g cans crushed tomatoes
  • 1TBS tomato paste
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • salt to taste
  • Optional:
  • rosemary, parsley, basil, oregano, italian herb mix, coriander, smoked paprika, bacon, cheese
Instructions
  1. Fry onion and garlic in oil/ghee
  2. Add cannellini beans and fry for a minute
  3. Add canned tomatoes, tomato paste, paprika and herbs of choice
  4. Stir then simmer for 10-20 minutes.
Notes
Change the flavour depending on what your child likes- if they like tacos make them Mexican by adding coriander and cumin with the paprika. If they love cheese grate some parmesan in at the last step. If they like Bolognese use lots of Italian herbs. If they like smoky flavours use smoked paprika and ¼ cup of diced bacon at step one.
This recipe can be frozen in small portions ready for weekday breakfasts and lunchboxes.

 

 

 

I’ve discovered a new flour!

by

Which gluten/grain-free flours do you use in your cooking?

There are so many options available, with new ones emerging all the time. Until now I have mostly dealt with almond/other nut flours, tapioca, arrowroot, coconut, flaxseed meal and besan (chickpea) flour. These flours are all great in their own way but none of them emulate or replace chewy, malleable, spongy wheat flour (c’mon, we all know it!;). Plus, we need to combine them to create baked goodies.

Well guess what? I’ve discovered something.

I have stumbled across a new grainless flour and it replaces wheat 1:1.

Really??

Yes (in most instances).

And another thing: it resembles wheat.

Really?

Yes.

Do you want one more? In most cases you can use conventional-normal-people-wheat-recipes and just sub the wheat for this flour. No special recipes.

Are you kidding me?

Yes.

(Just joking, no I’m not).

 

The story….

I’m Australian, but I follow many US-based paleo and other foodie blogs. I kept hearing about this ‘yuca’ flour that people were talking about. It sounded great, albeit hard-to-find, and I knew I couldn’t source it in Australia. I assumed it was either the same or similar to tapioca and would be a starchy flour like it. I’m all for easy-to-use and affordable ingredients so I didn’t look into it too much.

That was until a few months ago when I heard of a new flour hitting the Australian foodie supply and interwebs. It was called Cassava flour. I did some researching and discovered that this Cassava flour was actually the American ‘Yuca’ flour that I had heard about. Cassava was a familiar root vegetable to me, having lived on a pacific island. I had been under the general impression that Tapioca/Arrowroot/Cassava were all names for the same thing essentially, but I wasn’t exactly clear on that.

The lovely folks who supply this product, Otto’s Cassava flour, sent me some information and product to try.

And the rest is history, baby.

I’ve made cupcakes with it. I’ve made pastry (no photo as it did not look pretty, at all. Pastry skills: fail). What did I make the most with the Cassava flour, though?

Pancakes. Pancakes every weekend. Because I like almond meal or  gluten-free pancakes as much as the next grain-free girl, but oh man, nothing beats REAL wheaten pancakes. Chewy, bendy and stackable. Except for these, as they are just like real wheaten ones but without the tummy ache! Woot-woot.

IMG_6406

I was going to give you some facts on cassava flour. But you can just read them here, from the source.

If you are in Australia you can now purchase Otto’s exclusively through www.pantryinnovations.com.au. Double yay.