light and fluffy banana muffins.

Eating gluten free seems restrictive to many, but there are actually so many different ways to cook and flours to use. I love experimenting with different flours and getting goodness from so many different real ingredients. I also love incorporating fruit and veg into my baking for natural sweetness and extra nutrients. My current favourite banana bread/muffin recipe uses besan flour, also known as chickpea/garbanzo bean flour. I'm guessing not many people often cook with besan flour, but these muffins are light, fluffy and delicious and can be made as bread, big muffins, or small cupcakes. 

So grab a bunch of those cheap, old looking bananas (you'll have to steer clear of supermarkets to find them!) and let's get baking!

B A N A N A  M U F F I N S
Gluten free. Dairy free. Nut free (if no nuts added). Refined Sugar free.
Makes one loaf, 6 muffins or 12 cupcakes.

• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 3T honey (or use a bit less depending on how sweet you like it or how ripe your bananas are)
• 2t vanilla
• 2 free range (or organic) eggs
• 2T coconut oil, melted and cooled
• 1t apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 C besan flour
• 1t baking soda
• 1/2t cinnamon
• 1/4t salt

Preheat oven to 175*C. Line chosen baking tray with something non-stick – I personally like to use silicone cupcake cases or a silicone baking mat or non-stick paper (as above).

Whisk together dry ingredients.

Mix together wet ingredients until well combined and creamy.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
Fold in optional add-ins such as choc chips, walnuts, blueberries, coconut.

Pour batter into pan. Bake cupcakes for 25 minutes, muffins for 30 minutes and loaf for 40 minutes or until skewer inserted in centre comes out clean. Leave to cool (if you can resist). Try stopping at just one!

Original recipe from Pulse Pledge.

the best apple recipes.

"An apple a day keeps the doctor away."

"You're the apple of my eye."

"Apples are so sweet, and they're wholesome, and it's biblical – and I just thought it sounded so lovely and... clean!"
     Gwenyth Paltrow on naming her daughter.

Apples, obviously have a good thing going. And when, just down the road, you can get 4kg for $5, you know that's a good thing!

The other week I went and purchased one of those bags and ate many apples and made many things from apples. I wasn't disappointed – I found many awesome recipes and enjoyed the fresh, crisp apples.

So if you find yourself with an excess of apples or just need to get more fruit into your life, here are some ways I have eaten apples:

• as a snack. Apples are an easy food to chuck in your handbag, or take with you wherever you're going. They're hardy, filling and refreshing.

• as a snack with toppings. My personal favourite is apple slices with nut butter – it's high in protein and good fats and makes a filling and delicious afternoon tea. I also enjoy apple sprinkled with cinnamon, and my husband had apple with (a healthified) salted caramel sauce for dessert the other night. And I'm sure apple slices dipped in dark chocolate would also be delicious! 

• apple chips. These are delicious, easy to make, and make a great snack – just careful not to eat too many at once! All you need to do is grab a mandolin (or a knife), slice thinly, chuck them in your dehydrator (or I've done it in the oven!) and wait patiently. They're just so good!

• apple crumble. I love apple crumble and it's one of my go-to desserts when having people over. I usually use this recipe by The Healthy Chef (or make a variation of it) but my husband needs to be eating less gluten so I thought I'd try a new recipe from a new cookbook: Love Life and Gluten Free. (I do realise that The Healthy Chef's recipe has a gluten-free option but why not try something new?!). I made this Apple Berry Crumble in individual ramekins and we ate it for breakfasts for a week (it made 10!). Healthy, delicious and filling – my husband was so happy to be able to eat apple crumble for breakfast!

• apple blueberry chia bircher. This was another breakfast we enjoyed – and it was even better because it served 4 (so lasted two days), was super easy to prepare, and can be made in a jar and taken on the road if need be. It is also from the Love Life and Gluten Free cookbook. It's a mixture between a chia pudding and bircher muesli – a good in-between, in my opinion! So good I didn't take any photos, so you'll just have to imagine how good it is! Comment below if you'd like the recipe and I'll type it up for you.

I now need to go back for more because I still have a list of incredible apple recipes to make:

• As I was writing this post, a recipe for Vanilla Toffee Apples by Alexx from Low Tox Life came up on my Facebook newsfeed. YUM!

• I'm keen to make (and decrease the quantity and type of sugar in) this Nigella Apple and Almond Cake recipe. 

• Speaking of cake, I'm keen to make my fave Spiced Apple Coconut Cake from I Am Food. I've made this a lot but not in a while, but it's so moist and uses desiccated coconut as the flour – an excellent gluten free alternative.

• Other cake recipes I've come across include Brown Butter Apple Cakes and Coconut Apple Cake from Eleanor Ozich's – from Petite Kitchen – cookbooks.

• I'd love to also make gluten-free versions of an Applesauce Sweetened Granola and Apple Pie, as well as try an Apple Pie Milkshake and make some Stewed Apples to have when I have porridge.

So many apple recipes to try. I just want to make all of them. Have you got any more to recommend? Please comment below – I'd love to try them. I better get in quick while they're still in season and such a great price at the farm down the road.

coconut lemon pound cake.

I finally found a recipe that uses coconut flour and is simple and delicious!

I used a lot of coconut flour when I first started considering what goes into my body and treating my chronic fatigue syndrome with food. It's so good because of its many health benefits but is quite a difficult flour to use.

Some of its benefits include:

• it is gluten-free: gluten is damaging to the gut and is difficult for your body to process.
• it is also grain-free and so doesn't need any special preparation, like some grains do, to help you process them.
• it is high in protein, fibre and fat (the good kind), and so is much more filling than other flours.
• it is made from the flesh of a coconut, so you know exactly what's in it, but the coconut flavour isn't overly dominant.

It's a difficult flour to use because:

• it is highly absorbent and so you don't need much but you need to work quickly and use lots of liquid and eggs to get the recipe right.
• it often clumps up as it is really fine so you need to mix it really well to ensure you don't get clumps of flour.

Coconut flour and I have been on a break because I didn't love any of the recipes but I'm glad I tried again. I think you'll also love this recipe I found. 

Do you have any coconut flour recipes you love? Please comment below, I'd love to try them!

COCONUT LEMON POUND CAKE

gluten free, dairy free, refined sugar free

Ingredients:

5 eggs

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

1/3 cup maple syrup

1/3 cup lemon juice (this was about 1 1/2 lemons)

zest of one lemon

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon coconut flour

1/4 cup tapioca starch (also known as arrowroot starch/flour)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

pinch salt

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 175*C and line/grease a loaf pan (approx 8x20cm) 
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk eggs with coconut oil, maple syrup, lemon juice and zest.
3. Add coconut flour, tapioca, baking soda and salt. Mix well.
4. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 40 minutes or until skewer/toothpick comes out clean.
5. Remove from pan, cool and eat!

Recipe from blog.paleohacks.com

top 5 school lunches.

School's been back a week (or so) and I bet you're wondering what to pack in the lunchboxes: healthy and delicious, cheap and easy, filling and nut-free.

Now, I'm not a mum, nor do I have to pack anyone's lunchbox, but I was approached by Rebecca from My Resolve (who also happens to be my sister – check out her website and Instagram page for heaps of healthy living ideas and tips) in need of some lunchbox ideas. Her eldest daughter has just started school and her son has started pre school:

"Ok Thearle Girl, I have a challenge for you. I want your top 5:

1. breakfasts
2. easy things to bake
3. lunches that can be packed for school
4. snacks
5. dinners
6. while we're at it, let's do dessert too.

I'm trying to put together a list that I can easily refer to for what to cook. ... BTW, GF and DF please. ... Ready. Set. Go."

So, to start with, here are my top 5 school lunch ideas: gluten free, dairy free, nut free, refined sugar free. The other "top 5" requests will appear over the next five weeks.

1. MEATBALLS or CHICKEN DRUMSTICKS or SAUSAGES or ...
As you're making dinner, cook a few extras ready for lunches. This way you can beat the morning panic by packing the lunchbox while dishing up dinner. It's easy to buy and cook a couple of extras. If you don't want sausages or meatballs every week, cook a few more and freeze them, then you'll have them good to go.

Leftover chicken drumsticks are great for the lunchbox!

2. "FRIED RICE"
Make a super easy "fried rice" by mixing some leftover rice with a tin of tuna (or cut up some ham) and some frozen peas and corn. They will have defrosted by lunchtime and will be a delicious lunch. Obviously, you can add in whatever veggies you like.

3. RICE PAPER ROLLS
Once again, you can make these for dinner and give your kids the leftovers, or make a big batch for lunches – I wouldn't complain having these more than once a week. Get a production line going (I'd suggest the night before) and add in whatever meat and veg you've got. I'd suggest chicken with raw carrot and cucumber and some rice noodles, or a fave in my house is turkey mince cooked with garlic and veggies (grated or cut small), lime juice and fish sauce then rolled with baby spinach and coriander. But anything will work. Let your kids decide what they like, then they might eat it ;)

One I prepared earlier: chicken mince cooked with veggies, plus raw carrot, cucumber, spinach, capsicum, mint, rice noodles and sweet chili sauce.

Easy idea: buy a BBQ chicken (or cook one yourself – it's really not hard) and give the kids the drumsticks one day and use the meat for the rice paper rolls another two days. And then you could even make bone broth and put that in a little thermos for another day... 

4. EGG MUFFINS
Rebecca makes awesome egg muffins, so this isn't really helping her, but I thought others might be interested in this as a great idea. Basically, make an omelette in muffin tins: mix eggs and veggies (I use whatever I have in the fridge) together and bake in the oven. But this is what she suggests:

"I think these are the TASTIEST ones I've made. So here's the recipe: first grate veges (or blitz them in a food processor like I do) 1 carrot, 1 zucchini, and 1 big handful of kale. Add 6 eggs, 2/3C uncooked polenta, 1 185g tin of tuna and bit of pink salt. Mix together. Pour mixture into muffin trays. Bake for around 30mins on 180-200 degrees Celsius. This made around 10 big muffins (2/3 full) and 12 mini muffins. The polenta makes them really fluffy and helps the mixture go further. These are perfect for lunch boxes!"

Image: @myresolve_rebecca Instagram

Another idea, is a hard boiled egg. Make a batch and add to the lunchbox. Easy!

5. DIPS AND VEGGIES
My go-to savoury thing to make is dips: hummus, pumpkin dip, pesto, beetroot dip, carrot dip... what veggies do you want to use up? I bet there's a dip to make!
They're so easy, very cheap and delicious, and don't have any of the nasty preservatives that go with the store bought ones. They keep in the fridge for a while too! Add a tub to the lunchbox with some carrot, celery and cucumber sticks.

Homemade hummus and pumpkin dips with carrot and cucumber.

Google to your heart's content. So many great recipes out there. And they are usually quite forgiving if you want to leave out (or substitute) cheese or nuts to make them dairy and nut free!

If you're allowed nuts at your school, you could always make some nut butter (whizz nuts in your food processor) and serve with celery sticks or pieces of apple. If you want to buy nut butter, I'd suggest Mayver's or another brand with nothing additional added – read the ingredients list, it should only contain nuts (or maybe a bit of salt).

Other lunchbox ideas: 

Add in fruit, veggies (cherry tomatoes, corn on the cob), snacks and baked goods (ideas coming soon). And a big bottle of water. If your kids aren't into water, don't give in, but add some fresh lemon and lime, strawberries and mint, or orange slices to flavour the water. They'll learn to love it (I have!).

Don't feed the plastic monster! Use reusable containers and get a lunchbox with segments. There shouldn't be a need for cling wrap or plastic bags. And don't forget to add an ice pack into the lunchbox to keep everything fresh and cool.

If you have some great lunchbox ideas, PLEASE share them below – we'd love to hear and help each other out!

Stay tuned for next week: top 5 easy to bake.