It's Tuesday!

Minestrone Soup (serves 4)

V, DF, GF, P, F

This minestrone soup is warming and hearty. Get it boiling away on a Sunday and enjoy a premade lunch during the week.

Ingredients

•       •   3 slices of the best bacon you can find and afford (naturally smoked adds an AMAZING flavour to this soup)
•       •   1 sliced onion
•       •   2 garlic cloves chopped
•       •   3 carrots chopped
•       •   3 zucchinis chopped
•       •   3 potatoes chopped
•       •   300 g green beans chopped
•       •   2 tins chopped tomatoes
•       •   1 cup passata
•       •   1 litre chicken broth/stock
•       •   1.5 - 2 litres water
•       •   Dash of tamari
•       •   3 bay leaves
•       •   1 tsp heaped Italian herbs
•       •   1 cup pearl barley (or 1 cup gluten-free pasta spirals)

Method

•      1.   Cook bacon, onion and garlic in 2 tbls olive oil over a medium heat for 3-5 minutes in a very large sauce pan.
•      2.   Then add all other ingredients.
•      3.   Bring to boil them simmer for 1.5 hours
•      4.   Add 1 cup of pearl barley and continue cooking for half an hour until soft. Enjoy x

Easy as Pie

P, F

A delicious, veggie filled mince mixture and simple pastry. Perfect for little fingers and big fingers alike. Freeze leftovers and pull out for an easy lunch.

Inspiration for this pastry from the gorgeous Kitch’n Thyme blog

Filling Ingredients

•       •   2 tbls Olive Oil
•       •   1 onion chopped
•       •   3 cloves garlic chopped
•       •   500 grams beef mince grassfed is best
•       •   Chopped vegetables of choice I’ve used 1 diced eggplant and 3 grated zucchini
•            OR 1 chopped broccoli and 2 large grated carrots
•       •   1/3 cup tamari find it in the supermarket
•       •   1 cup tomato paste
•       •   1 tin of chopped tomatoes
•       •   1 tbls coconut sugar or rapadura sugar
•       •   100 g feta cheese

Pastry Ingredients

•       •   200g Spelt Flour
•       •   ½ tsp Celtic Sea Salt
•       •   100g Organic Butter
•       •   40g Water

Method

•       1.   Preheat your oven to 180 degrees
•       2.   Warm either your olive oil in a large pan over moderate heat.
•             Add onion and garlic and cook until softened.
•       3.   Then add your mince and cook for five minutes.
•       4.   Once mince is mostly cooked add your chopped veggies of choice and cook for ten minutes.
•       5.   Now add all the other ingredients and stir through. It will be quite ‘wet’ so now we need to reduce. Let it simmer away for at least half an hour, stirring occasionally.
•       6.   While it’s cooking make your pastry.
•       7.   Place the flours, butter & salt into a bowl and use your hands to combine until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
•       8.   Add the water and knead for 1-2 minutes.
•       9.   Roll out the dough on a floured surface and use a coffee mug to create circles.
•     10.   Place these circles in greased cupcake trays (I get ten-twelve pie crusts from this recipe) and let it rest in the fridge for half an hour.
•     11.   Once your meat pie mix has been reduced really well, add large spoonfuls to your pastry cases then sprinkle with feta. Put in oven for half an hour or until pastry is cooked.
•     12.   Serve with a simple salad

Chocolate Banana Cake

V, GF, DF, Veg, P, F

A simple, low sugar cake. Pop all ingredients in your food processor and whizz!

Ingredients

•    •   2 tbls Olive Oil
•    •   2 cups white spelt flour (or wheat or gluten-free flour)
•    •   1 cup dessicated coconut
•    •   1/2 cup rapadura sugar (or raw sugar if you don't have it)
•    •   1 not-too-ripe banana
•    •   3/4 cup dairy or non dairy milk
•    •   1/2 cup olive oil or macadamia oil
•    •   1 tbls cacao or dutched cocoa
•    •   2 large eggs
•    •   2 tsp baking powder

Method

•    1.   Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
•    2.   Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend to combine - 20-30 seconds on medium.
•    3.   Scrape down sides and repeat.
•    4.   Pour mixture into a lined cake pan of choice - I love a loaf tin for this cake.
•    5.   Cook in oven for 30-35 minutes or until cooked through when tested with a skewer.
•    6.   Slice once cooled (if you can wait!) and eat with a dollop of whipped cream or on it's own.

Boiled Eggs

GF, DF, Veg, P

Boil a batch of eggs on a Sunday to grab for a quick mid-afternoon or mid-morning snack. Keep for three days in the fridge. Add to school/work lunch boxes after sprinkling with a little salt. A favourite way to eat eggs is to slice in half and then top with a slice of avocado and tomato and salt - delish!