Tara Prana

Mother. Teacher. Foodie. Friend.

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Clean, mean baked beans

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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.

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Clean, mean baked beans
 
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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.

 

 

 

Choc pudding jellies

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IMG_6107 IMG_6098 IMG_6102I have been ‘refined sugar free’ for a couple of years now. Well, I was.

It started off as just sneaking some dark chocolate after the kids were in bed. Every night. It was organic, good quality, dark chocolate so it wasn’t that bad. Then it became hubby and I eating a block between us. One night I *may have* demolished one by myself after a particularly stressful day. After a while I realised that I couldn’t really claim to be mostly ‘sugar-free’ when I was inhaling chocolate daily. Plus, I was craving the chocolate, or anything sweet really. I knew I had to go cold turkey on sugar again.

Small problem: I fail at self-control. So I decided to trick my brain and replace the naughty chocolate with a healthier, refined sugar-free version (yes, yes- I know these still contain sugar). I had made these a few times as large pudding squares from a recipe by Aimee of Primal Influence, and so I made up a batch using some recently bought silicon chocolate moulds I got from K-Mart. These guys helped to make my self-trickery even more effective.

These really are very easy, and provide a bit of variety from my recipe for Healthy Jellies that uses fruit juice (recipe here and in my lunchbox eBook, ‘Forget the Sandwich!’). Pop them in the fridge and whenever you have a sweet craving reach for these- and don’t feel guilty.

Choc pudding jellies
 
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A protein-filled healthier chocolate alternative.
Author:
Recipe type: Lunchbox, Sweets
Serves: 30-50
Ingredients
  • 275ml coconut milk
  • 2 Tbs coconut oil
  • 2 Tbs filtered water
  • 1-2Tbs sweetener of choice (honey, maple, coconut syrup, coconut sugar)
  • 3 Tbs cacao or cocoa powder
  • 4 Tbs Great Lakes' Grass Fed Gelatin
  • Macadamia oil for greasing.
Instructions
  1. Lightly grease silicon chocolate or ice cube moulds with macadamia oil.
  2. Place all ingredients except gelatin and honey (if using) into a saucepan and mix well. Do not heat yet.
  3. Evenly sprinkle the gelatin over the surface and leave for 5-10 mins to 'bloom'.
  4. Turn heat onto low and slowly whisk together.
  5. If using honey, add now and continue whisking.
  6. Pour into the greased moulds and transfer to the fridge straight away.
  7. Depending on the size, the 'chocolates' should set in 1-3 hours.
  8. Store in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
Notes
Tbs = Australian metric Tablespoon which is 20mls.

 

 

 

 

Vegetable Spaghetti

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Vegetable spaghetti

Spaghetti squash instructions

Spaghetti squash instructions

Have you heard of this vegetable before? I vaguely remembered hearing about it, until recently when I found to my delight that they were being stocked in my local fruit and vegetable store.

If you are in the states, and possibly the UK, I am under the assumption that these are commonly available along with other varieties of the squash family. Until recently, here in Australia (and sub-tropical Queensland in particular), they were rarely seen. The only squash we are familiar with are the small yellow button variety and Butternut squash, which we call Butternut pumpkin here. Just to be confusing!

The producers are the Milano Brothers in Victoria who have a facebook page called ‘Vegetable Spaghetti’ with information and recipes about the vegetable. They also list their suppliers around Australia, so you can go ahead and source some in your local area too!

The first time I cooked it without following the instructions listed on their label about boiling the squash, and instead took the advice of the cashier who said he preferred it baked. He instructed me to simply cut it in half lengthways, drizzle with olive oil and bake in a moderate oven for about 45 mins- 1 hr. On this occasion I baked it and added it to a jar of pasta sauce. The texture was perhaps a little too  ‘al dente’, as I had not been sure how long to cook it for. Despite this it was delicious and got the ‘thumbs’ up from my kids.

The second time I cooked it I boiled it as per the instructions in the above picture. This method yields a mushier ‘spaghetti’ and is not my preferred version.

I continued to cook it for many months following the first (bake) method and we all enjoyed it each time. However, I recently stumbled across this youtube clip by Against All Grain’s Danielle Walker- where she shares her own method of preparing the spaghetti squash- and I haven’t looked back! This method was third-time lucky for me.

 

Let me know if you already love Spaghetti Squash, or if you try it for the first time after reading this!

 

Tara x

Before and after.

Before and after scooping out.

In sauce

In sauce

 

Falling off the sugar-wagon

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Yep, it’s true. I’m saying it- I have fallen off the grain and processed sugar free wagon.

I have a high expectation of myself, particularly being a food-blogger. Once you blog about how you eat you have almost ‘put yourself out there’ to be judged by others. You don’t want to be snapped hoeing into something that goes against your food-stance (think “Paleo Food Blogger found eating Big Mac in dark alleyway”). Pete Evans, the Chef, was recently the target of this. The front page of a leading newspaper ‘exposed’ him as admitting to eating grains and sugar while judging the My Kitchen Rules TV series. As part of his paid employment. How ridiculous! If someone said they were eating low-fat food only and I caught them eating a pie, no one would care. When you claim to be grain or sugar free, it is somehow different.

No, I haven’t been eating Big Macs in dark alleyways! But over the Christmas/Summer/New Year period I became more relaxed. I would eat a chocolate here, a sweet there. If I went to a function or event and they had catered for gluten-free people, I would value and appreciate that and eat the gluten-free slice on offer, knowing it would have included soy flour and be loaded with refined sugar. When I went to cafes I started eating the gluten-free brownies and cakes again and at home kept eating more and more little chocolates that we had in the fridge. If I had run out of my own grain-free bread I would eat a slice or two of my daughters’ gluten-free bread.

Of course, this is not a huge deal. I didn’t fall to pieces or anything, and it is not like I started eating bread and pasta again and hanging out at McDonalds. I was just having a ‘little bit more sugar’ again and eating gluten-free grains. Hardly a big deal, I thought!  I had also stopped having my regular bone broths as, being summer, it was just too hot. I felt okay, but not quite in my best health. I had also started to steadily put on weight and found it hard to keep it off- an unfamiliar concept for me who spent 18 months desperately trying to gain weight and at the height of my illness was 12kg less than I am now!

Then I decided to write and produce a book in a very short space of time. It was a happily-hectic time and I felt drained and run down after the book’s release, but I didn’t mind. I was happy with what I had created.

However, I got sick. Not just a head cold but the proper, awful flu with fevers and ending in a bad chest infection and anti-biotics.

You see, since starting to ‘eat clean’ exactly two years ago and healing myself through GAPS, I have not been sick. I have had a head cold once but that is all. If you knew me before (wheat-eating, potato chip and pie-loving Tara) you would have known me as ‘Tara who always gets sick”. That’s how my boss saw me. It was awful. I was always unwell and if I got something, I got it badly. I’m talking bed-ridden for 5 weeks, unable to work for 8 weeks. If I had to have anti-biotics my body would go into turmoil.

The wonderful, lovely, amazing thing is that that didn’t happen this time. That won’t happen to me anymore. Because of the healing and the nourishing and loving that I have done for my body and mind, it bounced back after illness. Yeah, I feel run-down and not-quite-right as I try to consume more pro-biotics and restore the balance. But I am not bed-ridden and I now trust my body to do it’s thing. It was a helpful reminder to ease off the sweets, take the chocolate out of the house (except I was gifted some again yesterday-eek!!) and get back into my bone broths and grain-free cooking again. I’m not going to beat myself up or feel guilty- I may blog about grain and sugar free eating but I am still human! The important thing is that I re-focussed and started listening to my body once again.

Have you learned to listen to your body, or do you still struggle with this? It can be hard when we don’t actually want to hear what it is saying!

“Lalalalalalalalala!”

Tara x

*Here are some SKINNY BUT SICK TARA and CHUBBIER THAN I WOULD LIKE TO BE BUT HEALTHY AND HAPPY TARA pictures!

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I felt really weak and drawn at this time. Don’t worry, my youngest isn’t sad that I am unwell, she just liked to cry back then. A lot. Oh, actually still does now.

I thought I looked good back then, but now I just see pale and drawn.

I thought I looked good back then, but now I just see pale and drawn.

Healthy me with colour in my face and sunshine in my smile!

Healthy me with colour in my face and sunshine in my smile!