Gluten Free Recipes

Nearly all muesli bars you buy are loaded with sugars like glucose, corn syrup and other nasties, so we thought we’d show you how to make your own! This is an open recipe – meaning that you can mix and change the ingredients as you please using different grains, nuts/seeds and fruits each time.

Ingredients:

• Honey
• Tahini or Organic Peanut Paste
• Any gluten free cereal grain – puffed amaranth, puffed rice, puffed millet, rolled quinoa, puffed buckwheat.
• Nuts – almonds, walnuts, cashews, brazil nuts, pecans, hazelnuts…
• Seeds – sunflower, pepitas, sesame, poppy…
• Dried fruit – organic or sulphate free – apricots, dates, sultanas, raisins, cranberries, figs..
• Flour – rice, chickpea (basan) or buckwheat work well
• Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger or other spices as desired

How to make it!

1. In a saucepan, heat equal amounts of honey and tahini on a very low heat until melted through.
2. Choose your ingredients from the list. Add enough grains, nuts, seeds and dried fruit so that the mix is coated but not too wet. Try for just a small amount of fruit and lots of grains, nuts and seeds.
3. Add a small amount of the gluten free flour of your choice, around 1 tsp per handful of grains.
4. Spread into a greased shallow baking tray (or use greaseproof paper), press down to pack tightly.
5. Put into an oven preheated to 180 degrees celcius and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until browned on top.
6. Let cool then using a sharp knife, slice into desired size.
7. Store in an airtight container for up to 10 days.

Some recipe ideas:

• Rolled quinoa, puffed amaranth, almonds, sunflower seeds and sultanas
• Puffed millet, puffed amaranth, puffed rice, apricots, coconut and sunflower seeds
• Puffed rice, walnuts, pepitas and dates
• Puffed amaranth, macadamia nuts, sesame seeds and dried cranberries

Quinoa is an ancient grain originating in South America. It is gluten free, high in protein and calcium and is a complex carbohydrate. Our naturopaths recommend making this porridge on Sunday and reheating it in the morning for a quick and delicious breakfast!

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup rice milk or full fat organic dairy milk
• 1 apple or pear – diced
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• pinch celtic sea salt
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• honey or pure maple syrup to serve

Method

1. Soak quinoa for at least 3 hours in water (or overnight). Discard water and rinse well using a fine sieve.
2. In a pot add rinsed quinoa, water and cinnamon. Bring to the boil then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Add milk and apple to pot and continue to simmer for another 15 mintues, stirring occasionally.
4. Remove from stove and rest for 10 mintues. This will allow the porridge to thicken.
5. Serve while hot or put in a container in the fridge for later use. To reheat, put porridge in a saucepan with a little water or milk.
6. Serve hot with 1/4 cup chopped walnuts and around a tsp of honey or maple syrup. Enjoy!

Sugar, Dairy and Gluten Free

Ingredients:

• 150g coconut flour
• 1/4 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons stevia powder, plus extra to dust
• a pinch of sea salt
• 200g cashew butter
• 4 organic eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 1/2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons coconut milk (try Lee’s homemade version, recipe in her book)

1. Preheat the oven to 175 C and grease a baking tray.

2. In a bowl, mix together the coconut flour, baking powder, stevia and salt.

3. Warm the cashew butter slightly, then mix with the eggs, vanilla, coconut oil and coconut milk until smooth. Add to the dry ingredients and mix well to form a dough.

4. Roll the dough out between two sheets of baking paper to a thickness of 6 -8 mm. Cut out shapes using your favourite cookie cutter, and place on the greased baking tray. These cookies won’t spread during baking.

5. Bake for 20 – 25 mins, or until cookies are crisp and golden. Leave them to cool on the tray a little before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with extra stevia if required.

Cookies will keep in an airtight container for several days.

Makes 24.

Recipe extracted from Super Charged Food by Lee Holmes. Brisbane Natural Health highly recommends this book!

Green leafy vegetables are an essential element to any healthy diet. They are power packed full of vitamins, minerals and beneficial phytonutrients that contribute to good health.

A great diet would contain at least 3 good handfuls of green leafy vegetables per day! If it’s a leaf and it’s dark green or purple then it is most likely good for you. Try eating:

• Kale (the best)
• Silverbeet
• Spinach (large and baby)
• Dark coloured lettuce (not iceberg)
• Mustard greens
• Herbs such as parley, basil and mint
• Dandelion greens
• Watercress
• Celery leaves

There is an easy way to get large amounts of these green super foods into your diet – making a smoothie out of them! Although it might sound strange to drink a spinach smoothie – if you mix it with fruit you can hardly taste the leaves at all! If you’re new to green smoothies start with a smaller amount of greens and increase gradually to help get your tastebuds used to it. By blending the greens you break down the cellular walls of the plant, releasing the maximum amount of nutrition for digestion and assimilation.

Basic Green Smoothie Recipe

In a blender put:

2 pieces/handfuls of fresh or frozen fruit

1-2 large handfuls of green leafy vegetables – kale or baby spinach are a good place to start

about 1 cup of water (depending on how thick you like it

a handful of ice cubes

Blend until super smooth and drink! You can store left over green smoothie in the fridge in a glass jar or bottle and drink later in the day.
You’ll need a fairly decent blender to get a smooth consistency.
Having one green smoothie every day has significant health benefits, including antiinflammatory effects, digestive improvements and improvement in skin health. Green smoothies are a great addition to any detoxification program, helping to provide nutrients that are essential for your detoxification pathways.

The problem with most muesli that you buy is that they are loaded with sugar and preservatives. Another issue is that toasting muesli with nuts and seeds makes the good oils in the nuts turn into trans fats, reducing their benefits. Do not depair – there is an alternative – our naturopath Katherine Maslen’s home made gluten free muesli!

This muesli is high in protein, gluten free and contains alkaline grains and seeds, making it less acid forming than most muesli. Enjoy!

1. Preheat your oven to 160 degrees celcius.
2. In a large baking tray/dish, add the following:
   • 2 cups puffed amaranth
   • 2 cups puffed millet
   • 2 cups puffed buckwheat
3. In a small bowl mix together:
   • 1/2 cup raw honey (warmed if thick)
   • 1/4 cup macadamia oil (or coconut oil)
   • 2 tsp cinnamon
   • 1 tsp natural vanilla essence (optional)
4. Add honey mix to dry mix and combine well using the back of a large spoon. The mixture should be have a light and even coat all over with no clumps of honey!
5. Place tray in oven and bake for 10 minutes. Turn mix over a few times with a spoon and bake for a further 10 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Once cool add:
   • 1/2 cup pepitas
   • 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
   • 1/2 cup chopped almonds
   • 1/4 cup chia seeds
7. Combine well and place in an airtight glass jar for storage. Serve with fresh berries or figs and yoghurt.

Ingredients:

Nut mix – will serve 4

• 2tbsp raw almonds
• 2tbsp pepitas
• 2tbsp sunflower seeds
• 2tbsp flax seeds
• Fruit for one person:
• ½ ripe mango, finely chopped
• ¼ medium paw paw, finely chopped
• 1 inch slice pineapple, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 tbsp Dessicated coconut

Method:

1. Soak all nuts and seeds in water overnight. Drain with a fine sieve and rinse well.
2. In a blender, place half of the soaked nuts and seeds and 1 cup of water. Blend on high until smooth.
3. Place the rest of the soaked nuts and seeds in the blender. Blend on low until nuts are finely chopped but still visible in milk. Mixture should be a runny thick consistency, but it is not essential.
4. Add 3 tbsp of nut mix and coconut to fruit and stir through. Enjoy immediately.
5. Place leftover nut mix in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Indulge guilt free with this lovely cake, which is free from sugar, wheat and gluten.

Ingredients:

• 250g chopped organic butter
• 1/2 cup filtered water
• 1/2 cup brandy
• 1/2 cup xylitol
• 375g raisins
• 300g sultanas
• 300g currants
• 125g chopped prunes
• 4 organic eggs, beaten
• 1tbsp grated orange zest
• 1tsp grated lemon zest
• 2 1/4 cups freshly made almond flour
• 100g chopped almonds
• 1/2tsp bicarb soda
• 1 1/2 tsp mixed spice
• 1/4 cup whole almonds to decorate
• 2 tablespoons brandy

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius.

2. Grease a 23cm cake tin and line with baking paper

3. In a saucepan on medium heat add butter, brandy, water and xylitol. Once butter is melted add dried fruit and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 8 minutes, stirring frequently. Place in a large mixing bowl and allow to cool.

4. Once cool stir in beaten eggs and grated zest with a wooden spoon. Then add almond meal, bicarb, mixed spice and chopped almonds. Stir until well combined.

5. Spoon mixture into prepared cake tin. Decorate the top with whole almonds.

6. Cover the top of the cake with baking paper. Loosely wrap the cake in brown paper and place in preheated oven. Bake at 160 degrees for 1 hour.

7. Remove the brown paper and reduce temperature to 150 degrees celcius. Bake for one more hour, or until a skewer comes out clean.

8. Drizzle with 2 tbsp brandy and leave to cool in the tin.

Recipe adapted from www.perfectsweet.com.au

Kale is a bounty of good nutrition – being high in calcium, magnesium, iron and many other trace minerals. Kale is also very alkaline (antiinflammatory) and has a decent amount of protein too. Happy snacking!

• Soak 1 cup of nuts (cashews/walnuts) in water for minimum 1 hour
• Wash 1 bunch of kale then remove the stalks and tear leaves up into small pieces (approx 1 inch size)
• Dry the kale with a clean tea towel or paper towel
• In a food processor blend the nuts (and soaking water), 1 cup of steamed diced pumpkin, 2 medium sized carrots (or 1 carrot and 1 zucchini), 1 tablespoon of garlic, 2 tablespoons of coconut oil and Himalayan salt and pepper to taste
• Pour the puree over the kale and stir until well covered
• Spread the kale over dehydrating machine trays, trying to flatten the leaves where possible
• Dehydrate overnight or until crisp and dry

Note: This may also be done in an oven on very low setting – put your oven on the lowest temparature and leave the door ajar. Timing will vary depending on ovens but is usually between 4-6 hours.