It’s always a thrill to get a great book review, especially when it’s from a big-name website such as Babyology

I’m not going to sugarcoat it: publishing a book is one of those heart-in-hand experiences. It’s a massive amount of work, crammed in around normal family life. And while you’re deep in the trenches, you can never really be sure that you’re judging your own work objectively..

That’s why book reviews are so important. They validate the work, and they signal to the potential customer that the book is worth the investment (even if it’s only a few dollars).

So, when I published my book in 2015, it was a relief to get this lovely review from parenting mega-website Babyology. With more than one million readers, Babyology has long enjoyed a reputation for its interesting, stylish, innovative and cutting-edge finds. It’s also a hub of fantastic parenting information:

Check out what Katrina Whelen of Babyology had to say about Gluten-free Lunchboxes e-Cookbook. As this review is now archived, the screenshot version appears below.

And if this review is tempting enough to tickle your tastebuds, you can get your copy delivered straight to your inbox for just $9.95.

This review was first published on the Babyology website in 2015.

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Gluten-free Asian pancakes

A savoury recipe ideal for light lunches

Course Light lunch

Cuisine Asian

Keyword gluten-free, gluten-free kids, kids lunch, lunchbox, school lunch

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 4 people

Author Kate Crocker

Equipment

• Grater
• Mixing bowl
• Frypan
• Mixing spoon

Ingredients

• 300 g plain gluten-free flour (Orgran brand works well)
• 15 g gluten-free baking powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 100 g grated carrot (approximately 1 large carrot)
• 150 g bean shoots
• 60 g finely chopped green beans
• 25 g finely sliced spring onions
• 1 handful chopped fresh coriander leaves
• 7 g finely chopped fresh ginger
• 3 eggs lightly beaten
• 375 ml milk
• oil for frying

Instructions

• Put flour, baking powder and salt into large mixing bowl
• Add vegetables, coriander and ginger
• Add eggs and milk
• Stir to combine
• In a large, non-stick frypan, heat a generous amount of oil over medium heat
• Spoon in batter to form pancakes that are approximately 10 centimetres in diameter and 2 centimetres thick
• Allow to cook for approximately 12 minutes, or until golden brown and tops of pancakes are starting to set
• Flip and cook on other side for 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown
• Serve immediately as a light meal, or cold in lunchboxes

Notes

Serve with a gluten-free dipping sauce, for example, sweet chilli sauce, plum sauce or soy sauce. 

It’s no secret that I’m lacking in Asian cooking skills. I love Asian food – especially because so much of it can be made gluten-free – but I just don’t have the right touch in the kitchen. Nevertheless, there are a few things that I can pull off. For example, these gluten-free Asian pancakes.

They make a great light meal and the leftovers are brilliant in the lunchboxes the next day. Best of all, there’s no limit to flavour combinations – just choose whatever veggies your family will eat, or whatever veggies will challenge their tastebuds – either way, they work really well. I decided to extend my family’s palates with fresh ginger and coriander, two of my favourite Asian flavours. I didn’t hold much hope that they’d eat them, but to my surprise, they tucked in, no problems!

You can also serve these pancakes with a dipping sauce, for example, sweet chilli sauce, plum sauce or soy sauce.

Looking for some other lunch ideas? Check out my eCookbook.

Click through for a conversion chart.

Enjoy!

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Gluten-free bread and butter puddings

This classic pudding gets a lunchbox makeover for a recess time snack

Course Snack

Cuisine English

Keyword gluten-free, gluten-free kids, lunchbox

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 6 puddings

Author Kate Crocker

Equipment

• Muffin tray (half cup capacity)
• Rolling pin
• Whisk
• Small saucepan
• Fine grater (optional)

Ingredients

• 6 slices gluten-free fruit loaf (I use Lifestyle Bakery brand)
• Butter
• 3 tbs gluten-free cornflour
• 500 ml milk
• 1/3 cup caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 5 egg yolks, lightly beaten
• grated nutmeg (optional garnish)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 180° Celsius (conventional oven) or 160° Celsius (fan-forced oven)
• Grease and line 6 cavities in a half-cup capacity muffin tray
• Spread out bread slices on a benchtop
• Using a rolling pin, gently roll over each slice of bread until it is approximately 3 or 4 mm thick
•  Spread with a thin layer of butter
• Press each slice of bread into each muffin tray cavity. Press overlapping edges into one another, but don’t worry too much about holes or cracks in the bread
• To make the custard, separate the egg yolks into a small bowl. Lightly beat them and set aside
• In a small saucepan over medium heat whisk together the cornflour with 125 ml (half a cup) of the milk. Whisk until evenly combined and there are no lumps
• Add the rest of the milk, sugar and vanilla essence while whisking constantly to prevent mixture from catching on the bottom of the saucepan.
• Continue to whisk until mixture is hot and thickened a little, but not boiling. Remove from heat and slowly add the egg yolks, whisking constantly to ensure the custard is smooth
• Return saucepan to medium heat and continue to whisk until custard is quite thick. Remove from heat immediately
• Spoon hot custard into the bread-lined muffin cavities until each cavity is filled
• Bake for 20 minutes
• To serve, grate a little nutmeg over each pudding (optional)

Notes

Serve hot with ice cream, or at room temperature in the lunchbox.

There will be enough custard left over to serve 3 or 4 people as a dessert.

Here in Australia, we’re just coming out of the depths of winter. Not that we ever experience very severe winters in our Mediterranean climate, but it does get cold enough to crave a bit of comfort food, like these Gluten-free Bread and Butter Puddings.

This recipe isn’t new – you’ll actually find it in my eCookbook – but I was inspired to recreate it because of Lifestyle Bakery’s brand new range of gluten-free bread. The range includes a fruit loaf that is incredibly soft and flexible and loaded with gorgeous spices and fruit. Check out my post that includes video of the bendy gluten-free breads. Amazing!

Bread and Butter Pud may not seem like a very practical lunchbox choice, but this recipe allows you to make individual puddings using a muffin tin. Because the custard is baked, it becomes fairly solid, which makes the puddings easy for kids to transport and handle.

You can make a custard from scratch (it’s not difficult nor time-consuming) and then use the leftovers to make the individual puddings. That’s the beauty of this recipe – it’s flexible enough to make as few or as many puddings as you need. My son’s a bit of a custard junkie, so he would happily eat these in bulk.

Enjoy!

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It’s always pretty exciting when brand new gluten-free products hit the market, especially when we’re talking about gluten-free bread.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I think gluten-free bread is the holy grail of gluten-free baking. If you can achieve a light and fluffy loaf of gluten-free bread, then you’ve really done something special. Especially if a slice of that bread is flexible enough to wrap around a snag.

Making gluten-free bread is something that I find so tricky that I decided long ago to leave it to the experts. You won’t find a bread recipe on this site, that’s for sure.

It turns out that Lifestyle Bakery IS an expert in this area. Its new range of gluten-free bread is being rolled out right now and, well, it’s pretty amazing.

Lifestyle Bakery was kind enough to send me a sample of its new range and we were only too delighted to road test the products.

Five products equal five good reasons to try the new range. Here they are:

1. Gluten-free bread – Multigrain Loaf

This loaf has a lovely, nutty flavour, packing a nutritional punch with sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, poppy seeds, linseeds and quinoa. There are just enough seeds for a lovely taste and interesting texture, but they aren’t overloaded in the bread. Always a good thing!

As you can see from this short video, the bread is beautifully flexible, even with the seeds.

2. Gluten-free bread – High Fibre White Loaf

This loaf is amazingly flexible, with a soft texture and plenty of fibre in disguise, just in case you’ve got a fussy eater. It’s a decent size, too and passes the sausage test. Check out this image from Lifestyle Bakery’s own website. It really is as good as it looks!

3. Gluten-free bread – Fruit Loaf

Gluten-free fruit loaf is such a delicious treat. Toasted slices are warm and comforting with butter slathered all over. Yum! And, just quietly, if you’ve been caught out without enough food in the house for a lunchbox recess, keeping a Fruit Loaf in your freezer can really come to your rescue.

This loaf is wonderfully bendy – just take a look at the video below – and it tastes fantastic. Lightly spiced with a generous helping of fruit. Just the way it should be!

4. Gluten-free bread: High Fibre White Rolls

Wow. Just wow. White rolls, high in fibre and the perfect size for lunchboxes. Fill them with cold meat and salad ingredients, or for something different, try my recipe for Gluten-free Hamburgers.

These rolls are soft and springy, as well as flexible. No coarse crumbs in sight! Check out the video for proof:

5. Gluten-free bread: Bake at Home White Dinner Rolls

Holy smokes, what a great idea! I can’t think of anything more comforting than the smell of bread rolls heating up in the oven. But this is so often torture for someone on a gluten-free diet. Not any more! These rolls are the perfect size for a dinner and they form a lovely crust, with soft and fluffy bread on the inside. And did I mention lashings of butter? Six rolls per pack. Bingo!

For stockists, check out your local independent supermarket. Fruit Loaf is now available nationally in Woolworths.

Lifestyle Bakery provided its products to me in exchange for a fair review. All opinions are my own. 

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Gluten-free cinnamon teacake

This gluten-free cinnamon teacake is a delightful treat for recess time or afternoon tea

Keyword gluten-free, gluten-free kids, lunchbox

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Author Kate Crocker

Equipment

• 24 centimetre fluted bundt cake tin
• Electric mixer with large bowl
• Sifter
• Measuring scales
• Small bowl

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 50 g tapioca flour
• 70 g sorghum flour
• 60 g brown rice flour
• 5 g psyllium husk
• 30 g baking powder
• 165 g brown sugar
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 250 g ricotta cheese
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 125 ml oil (Use the oil of your choice)

Icing

• 50 g butter (unsalted)
• 100 g gluten-free icing mixture
• 1 tsp milk (use the milk of your choice)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 180° Celsius (conventional) or 160° Celsius (fan-forced)
• Grease a 24 centimetre fluted bundt cake tin
• In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat eggs on medium speed for 5 minutes
• Sift the flours, psyllium husk, baking powder into the bowl. Add sugar and cinnamon. Add ricotta cheese, vanilla essence and oil
• Mix until well-combined
• Pour evenly into cake tin
• Bake for 35 minutes or until a skewer, when inserted, comes out clean
• Leave in tin to cool

Icing

• Melt the butter in a small bowl
• Sift in icing mixture and add milk
• Stir to combine
• Once cake is completely cooled, turn out of the tin and evenly spread over the icing

Notes

To freeze, wrap individual slices and store in freezer. Defrost at room temperature.

Use Greek yoghurt instead of ricotta cheese if you prefer. 

Hello! Sorry it’s been so long between drinks. These days, I have so many recipes in my head but so little time to develop them. C’est la vie, as the French say. Although life is hurtling along, but it’s nice to be able to get back to blogging. I’ve been laid up with a very sore back these past few days, so it’s an ideal time for me to catch up.

There have been a few changes for me recently. In March I finished up a two-year stint as a Content Manager for a local law firm. Now I’m back to freelance writing, enjoying the chance to write on a wider range of topics. I’m planning a bit of further study as well, so interesting times lay ahead!

Always, always baking

These days, my recipe development tends to be spontaneous – if I have a cook-up, sometimes a new recipe results. Actually, this gluten-free cinnamon tea cake is a product of that spontaneity, and it represents a milestone for me. Why?

Well, you may have noticed that many of my gluten-free baking recipes contain a fruit or vegetable to lock in the moisture. This is especially important in baked goods that need to rise. I’ve tried and failed to successfully bake goods that are mainly flour-based. For example, bread. I’m hopeless at bread. I’ve created a successful scone recipe in the past, with apple to lock in the moisture. And wow, those scones worked so well that I put them in my eCookbook! Check it out if you’re looking for a scone recipe.

Recipe success

Anyway, this is the first time that I’ve successfully made a cake without including a fruit/vegetable. Not only did it work, but it’s good! It passed the family test, too. #winning

I slice the cake into individual serves, wrap them and freeze. I can then defrost as required for school lunchboxes.

The key ingredient here is ricotta cheese. It’s a great replacement for moisture-rich fruit and veg. Greek yogurt is good too, just quietly, and I’ve used that pretty successfully in other recipes, for example my gluten-free lemon and poppy seed cupcakes.

And the other advantage is that without fruit or veg, this cake is really quick to make. The bundt tin is essential to ensure the cake cooks evenly. If you don’t have one, consider making a purchase – it’s a great investment in successful gluten-free baking.

Enjoy!

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Gluten-free Chicken Vegetable Soup

A warming winter soup, perfect for a cold day

Course Lunch

Cuisine Mediterranean

Keyword gluten-free, gluten-free kids, kids lunch, lunchbox, school lunch

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Author Kate Crocker

Equipment

• Medium sized saucepan
• Large stockpot
• Soup ladle

Ingredients

• 2 skinless chicken breast fillets
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 brown onion, peeled and diced
• 3 large carrots, peeled, trimmed and diced
• 2 celery stalks, trimmed and diced
• 1 cob of corn kernels
• 1.5 litres gluten-free liquid vegetable stock
• 2 generous handfuls of cooked noodles
• salt to taste
• chopped spring onion (to serve - optional)
• cracked black pepper (to serve - optional)

Instructions

• Over high heat, boil a medium-sized pot of water
• Add the chicken breasts (ensuring that they are covered by the water) and bring back to the boil
• Reduce heat to medium-high and allow chicken to poach for approximately 15 minutes, or until cooked through
• Meanwhile, in a large stockpot, heat oil over high heat
• Add onions and cook for two minutes, stirring occasionally
• Add carrots and celery stalks and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened
• Add the corn kernels and cook for a further minute, stirring occasionally
• Add the stock to the pot and bring to the boil. Then reduce heat to medium-high.
• In the meantime, remove the chicken from the water and drain. Using two forks, shred the chicken
• Add shredded chicken to the soup. Cook for 10 minutes.
• Add the noodles and cook for a further 5 to 10 minutes, or until cooked through. If soup is too thick, use a little water to thin to desired consistency
• Add salt to taste
• Serve immediately, with sliced spring onion and black pepper

Notes

For the noodles, use broken gluten-free spaghetti, or rice noodles.

Hi there! It’s autumn Down Under at the moment, although we’re still experiencing summer weather. It was really something for the family to go body surfing at the beach over Easter. The warm weather has been great, but it’s also been very dry here, which unfortunately brought my fig season to an abrupt end. Normally, my fig tree produces 30 to 40 kilograms of fruit. This year, I think we may have been lucky to have around 15 kilos.

So we’re all looking forward to some proper autumn weather. Crisp and cool, with gorgeous changes in tree leaves. It will happen eventually!

Gluten-free chicken vegetable soup recipe for winter

In the hope that the cooler weather will be with us soon, here is a gluten-free chicken vegetable soup recipe that is one of my family’s favourite meals. I tend to cook this when I’ve got chicken breast on hand, but am all out of ideas. The great thing about soup is that the ingredients are fairly approximate, so you can really just throw in whatever you have on hand.

Gluten-free noodles

For the noodles, I used Orgran’s Gluten-free Rice and Corn Spaghetti Noodles. The Orgran website says that they’ve been discontinued, which is a shame because they’re brilliant in this soup. So if you find them, do yourself a favour and stock up. And if you can’t find them, use gluten-free spaghetti. Just break up the uncooked spaghetti into small pieces and throw them in the pot to cook. The starch that it releases when cooking makes a beautiful thick base for the soup.

This makes a big pot of soup so there’s plenty for a second meal and for school lunches. Send heated soup in a thermos for a filling and warming lunch. For something a little different, try my Asian-style Chicken Noodle Soup. 

Enjoy!

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Well, hello there! I hope you’ve had a great start to the new year and that you had a fantastic festive season. It’s summer here in Australia. Let’s mark the season with the gluten-free tropical slice.  We’ve just sweltered through a week-long heatwave. Thank goodness for air-conditioning. It’s not a luxury over here. It’s a health necessity.

Kids have now returned to school after about seven weeks of summer holidays. The schedule of activities is looking pretty packed. In fact, I was just about hyperventilating into a paper bag when I realised how many early starts we’re going to have this term. Sometimes I think that my head’s so cluttered with logistics and plans for keeping kids organised that I have no idea how to get through the day.

But I do. And so does every other parent. Crazy times.

So the opportunities for me to actually develop new recipes seem to be shrinking, but this dairy -free and gluten-free tropical slice has been in the works for quite a while. I finally had some opportunity over the summer holidays to finalise it.

If at first you don’t succeed

It took a number of attempts because pineapple presents a few challenges. It’s high in liquid and will release a lot of that liquid during the cooking process. That means that it took a fair bit of tweaking to get the texture right.

I was going for a “short” slice texture, but because of the liquid in the pineapple, it’s a little more cakey. I suspect that squeezing the liquid out of the pineapple might give a different result but I’ll save that for further experimentation down the track.

Fresh pineapple

It’s important to use fresh pineapple for this recipe. Canned pineapple is logged with even more liquid, so if you use it you’ll find the batter is too wet and it won’t properly cook.

There’s nothing like fresh passionfruit pulp to top this one off, but if you can’t source it, try to get a jar of pure passionfruit pulp. Steer clear of canned pulp because the more liquid that is added to the pulp, the more the taste is diluted. And that would be a shame!

If you’re looking for other gluten-free lunchbox snacks? Check out my eCookbook.

If you’re in need of gluten-free AND dairy-free recipes, take a look at my post on how to convert many of the recipes in my eBook to dairy-free.

Enjoy!

Gluten-free tropical slice – ingredients

Base

1 egg

100 g tapioca flour

80 g sorghum flour

80 g brown rice flour

5 g psyllium husk

5 g baking powder

100 g brown sugar

50 g coconut milk powder

1 tsp vanilla essence

125 ml oil

125 ml coconut milk

230 g fresh pineapple chunks (1 cm chunks)

Icing

80 g gluten-free icing mixture

50 g butter (or for a dairy-free option, use a dairy-free spread, such as Nuttelex), melted

25 g fresh passionfruit pulp

Gluten-free tropical slice – method

Preheat oven to 180° Celsius (conventional oven) or 160° Celsius (fan-forced oven). Grease and line an 18 centimetre by 28 centimetre slice tray.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat egg for 5 minutes. Sift in tapioca flour, sorghum flour, brown rice flour, psyllium husk and baking powder. Add brown sugar, coconut milk powder, vanilla essence, oil and coconut milk. Mix until combined.

Add pineapple chunks and gently fold into mixture.

Pour mixture into slice tray and spread to evenly cover base of tray.

Bake for 30 minutes. Allow to cool in tray.

Meanwhile, to make the icing, sift icing mixture into a bowl. Add melted butter (or Nuttelex) and passionfruit pulp. Stir to combine.

When base is completely cool, spread icing evenly over the top. Cut into 4 centimetre squares. Serve immediately, or within 3 days. Can be frozen.

Makes approximately 24 squares

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Way back when I first started this blog, one of the first things I did was to write a list of all the foods that I wished were gluten-free. Filo pastry was at the top of that list. Gluten-free filo pastry. Now there’s a happy thought.

Imagine enjoying that super-crisp, super-thin pastry again. And all the Greek delights you could enjoy once more. Gluten-free Spanakopita, gluten-free baklava. …. Uh, what? … Sorry. I must have slipped into a dreamy trance for a moment. 

Gluten-free filo pastry: Does it exist?

Anyway, gluten-free filo pastry (or gluten-free phyllo pastry) does exist, if you make it. The legendary Gluten Free on a Shoestring blog has a gluten-free filo pastry recipe that seems reasonable enough – it even comes with a recipe for Spanakopita – but it does use a product called Expandex, which isn’t available in Australia. From what I can gather, Expandex is a modified tapioca starch, so you may be able to make the recipe using a normal tapioca starch in the same quantities. But perhaps the results won’t be as good.

The thing for me, though, is that I’m not great with pastry. I’ve never been good at making it, and even handling it seems to be a challenge. So I’m not the kind of cook who wants to jump in and make my own gluten-free filo pastry from scratch. I’m also time poor, which presents an additional challenge. Are you with me? I’ll bet.

I just want to mosey up to the refrigerator section of my local supermarket and help myself to a box of commercially produced, gluten-free filo pastry. Wait … Sorry. Dream-like trance has taken over again.

Yeah, so that’s hardly likely to happen at least in the short term. Probably because it’s HARD to make a good gluten-free filo pastry. But again, I’m just guessing. Never tried it and I doubt I ever will. At least not until I have a granite bench top in my kitchen, just so I can work some pastry magic (dreaming again).

In the meantime, I’ll put up with my awful old laminate bench tops (or whatever they’re made of. I don’t really know because my kitchen’s that ancient).

Greek flavours without the pastry

It is possible to enjoy some Greek flavours, minus the pastry. It’s spinach and silverbeet season at the moment and between my parents and my neighbours, I seem to have abundant access to the good stuff. So it seemed logical to create a recipe.

Apart from all the great health benefits, one of the reasons I love spinach and silverbeet is that you can cook it and then freeze it, ready for the next time you feel like popping it into your cooking.

Whilst I appreciate that many kids don’t like their greens, these bites are small enough for them to sample. And you may not really care about whether the kids like them. I sure didn’t! They make a great lunchbox addition for grown-ups too, and they’re really filling.

Christmas finger food

While I’m at it, I hate to scare you, but Christmas season is fast approaching. That means parties and cocktails and – eek! – the need for finger food. Having to come up with gluten-free finger food can scare the pants off some people, but if you arm yourself with these little gems, you can confidently go forth and conquer your guests’ taste buds.

And just quietly, I think that a bit of chopped fresh dill would work a treat in this recipe. Yummo!

Gluten-free spinach and feta bites – serving suggestions

Serve in lunchboxes with some vegetable sticks and sliced cooked chicken breast. Or, as fingerfood with a dipping sauce made up of Greek yogurt, a squeeze of lemon juice and some chopped dill.

Looking for some more finger food recipes? Try my gluten-free recipes for Balsamic Rosemary and Sea Salt Scrolls, Corn and Bacon Mini Frittatas and Cheesy Corn Fritters. Recipes in my eCookbook.

Enjoy!

Gluten-free spinach and feta bites – Ingredients 

1 large bunch of fresh spinach (or silverbeet) (approximately 320g)

110 g ricotta cheese

100 g feta cheese

15 g chopped spring onions (green part only)

1 egg

Finely grated zest of 1 large lemon

Salt and pepper to taste

Gluten-free spinach and feta bites – method

Preheat oven to 180° Celsius (conventional oven) or 160° Celsius (fan-forced oven). Grease and line 12 cavities in a mini-muffin tray (50 millilitre capacity).

Roughly chop leaves of spinach (or silverbeet). Rinse thoroughly. Put in large pot with water covering the bottom. Cover and bring to the boil over high heat. Cook until wilted (approximately 5 minutes). Move from heat and allow to cool a little.

Drain spinach and transfer to a dry, clean tea towel. Use towel to squeeze out excess liquid from spinach. Squeeze out as much as possible.

Put spinach in the bowl of a food processor. Add other ingredients.

Process until well combined. If necessary, add a drizzle of olive oil to loosen up the mixture.

Spoon mixture into muffin tray cavities. Press down with back of spoon to compact the mixture. Fill each cavity.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Makes 12

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Why, hello! It’s been a while since I’ve checked in – still struggling to find enough time for blogging but hanging in there. Thought I would tempt you with this gluten-free lemon blueberry breakfast loaf. It’s also nut-free, dairy-free and refined sugar-free. Pretty good, huh?

But first…

Remembering Grandma

About 10 days ago, my Grandma passed away. She was 98 years old and lived independently until the last month of her life. I was privileged to be with her at the end, along with other family members. Now I know what people mean when they say that someone passed away peacefully.

She was my last surviving grandparent.

She enjoyed a very busy social life in her latter years. I used to come across her at the local shopping mall every now and again. The last few times I saw her there, I got her to pose with me for selfies, much to her amusement.

Grandma probably never thought of herself as a great cook, but there’s no doubt that her cooking brought joy and comfort to her family. She was also of an era when self-sufficiency was an important part of every day life and waste was minimal. Grandma preserved the fruit from her backyard fruit trees, ensuring a year-long supply of fruits for desserts and baking. She also made jams and her own special lemon cordial. Grandma gave her whole family enduring happy memories via our taste buds.

Granny skills

It was from this example and from other other women in my family that I learned to make jams and relishes and how to make the best of excess fruit. It was an important way that her legacy has kept me in touch with my “granny skills.”

She was a beautiful, serene, intelligent woman who delighted in her family and adored her growing tribe of great-grand children. We’ll really miss her.

And now for a complete change of subject… It’s lemon season, so my Grandma would probably approve of using excess lemons in baking.

I developed this recipe some time ago and had forgotten about it but cooked it recently and was pretty pleased with the results.

Breakfast loaf for something a bit different

Breakfast is a bit of an issue in our house. My coeliac daughter doesn’t much like breakfast – the options are a bit boring for her. Sometimes she’ll mix things up by making a salad wrap, or putting some homemade choc-hazelnut spread on toast, but mostly she’s not very interested in the options.

This gluten-free lemon blueberry breakfast loaf is a great option for breakfast. It’s free of refined sugar – instead it’s sweetened with rice malt syrup. It’s made with whole ingredients and it’s also dairy-free. Yeehah! And don’t worry about the texture – it’s not crumbly.

This makes a great breakfast on the run – just slice and go. And it’s substantial so will keep you full for a good long while. If you’ve got time to sit down and eat, try it warmed up with a generous drizzle of rice malt syrup or maple syrup if you’re feeling like a treat. It’s also great as a lunchbox snack.

Looking for some other breakfast ideas? Try my Gluten-free Banana Breakfast Bars.

Enjoy!

Ingredients – gluten-free lemon blueberry breakfast loaf

2 eggs

280 g blueberries (fresh or frozen)

160 g rice malt syrup

90 g brown rice flour

80 g sorghum flour

50 g tapioca flour

30 g baking powder

5 g psyllium husk

120 g coconut oil, melted

2 tsp vanilla essence

100 ml lemon juice

Zest of 1 lemon

1 tbs chia seeds

125 ml rice milk

Method – gluten-free lemon blueberry breakfast loaf

Preheat oven to 180° Celsius (conventional oven) or 160°Celsius (fan-forced oven). Grease and line a 13 x 23 cm loaf tin.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat eggs on medium speed for 5 minutes.

In the meantime, put 130 g of the blueberries and 60 g of the rice malt syrup into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high, uncovered, for 2 minutes. Stir and then microwave for a further 2 minutes. Stir and then microwave at one minute intervals for a further 2 or 3 minutes until mixture has thickened and has a jam-like consistency.  Set aside to cool a little.

Sift the flours and baking powder and psyllium husk into the beaten eggs. Add the coconut oil, vanilla essence, the remaining 100 g of rice malt syrup, lemon juice, lemon zest, chia seeds and rice milk. Mix until well combined.

Add the remaining 150 g blueberries and gently stir through the mixture.

Pour batter into loaf tin. Gently spoon over the blueberry syrup mixture so that it covers the top of the loaf fairly evenly.

Bake for 45 minutes, or until a skewer, when inserted, comes out clean.

Makes 10 slices

• Gluten free
• Low fructose
• Processed sugar free
• Nut free

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It’s been a long time between gluten-free posts. Sorry about that, but health issues continue and frankly I’d rather lie on the sofa watching old episodes of ER (I’m now halfway through season 12. That’s commitment for you).

Still, you’ve read it all before, so no point dwelling on it.

South Australia’s gluten-free expo

About a month ago, South Australia had its own gluten-free expo, Gluten Matters. It was only the second time the expo’s been held in SA and it was huge compared with the first expo. I presented a talk on Managing your Gluten-free Child’s Social Life and did a couple of cooking demos as well. My kids, especially my coeliac daughter, thought the expo was AMAAAZING. And it was.

It was also great to make some more contacts in the gluten-free world, especially my mates from Australian Gluten Free Life Magazine. It’s such a great publication and has now branched out into a low FODMAP issue as well. If you’ve not yet checked it out, do yourself a favour.

Gluten-free schnitzel wraps for lunchboxes

But onto the issue at hand. Gluten-free beef schnitzel wraps. I mean, who doesn’t love a schnitty? I know schnitzels originated in Germany, but over time they’ve become as Aussie as lamingtons/peach melba/Vegemite/Tim Tams (take your pick).

This recipe is more like a serving suggestion, but what the heck. I’m sure you’ll make it your own. I cook up a big batch of schnitzels. I use Lifestyle Bakery Gluten-free Breadcrumbs, or if I’ve forgotten to buy them, I use polenta grains. They stretch to two evening meals (for the second meal, I reheat them in an oiled pan so that they crisp up again) and served cold in wraps for lunchboxes.

I love them in wraps because they’re so filling – the kids aren’t nearly as hungry after school on the days they score these. I use BFree wraps – they’re flexible and don’t crack or break.

This recipe is for a big batch but can be halved if you wish.

They’re a family favourite meal in our house (served with mashed potato and steamed vegetables) and a lunchbox treat. A double win which makes them worth the effort!

Other family meals that can be turned into great gluten-free lunchboxes:

• Chicken Rice Balls
• Cassoulet Quickbread
• Sweet Potato and Leek Pasta Bakes

Ingredients – Gluten-free beef schnitzel wraps

Gluten-free beef schnitzel

800 g tenderised beef schnitzel or beef sizzle steak

350 g gluten-free breadcrumbs

4 eggs

1 ½ cups (approximately) gluten-free plain flour

½ teaspoon dried oregano leaves

pinch of salt

Oil for frying

Gluten-free wraps

1 gluten-free wrap

Dollop of gluten-free whole egg mayonnaise

lettuce, sliced red capsicum, avocado and cucumber, to serve

1 small gluten-free beef schnitzel (cold), cut into 2 cm strips

Method – Gluten-free beef schnitzel wraps

Gluten-free schnitzel

Put flour on large plate. Lightly beat eggs in large bowl. Put breadcrumbs on another large plate. Season breadcrumbs with salt and oregano.

Coat one schnitzel steak in flour. Then dip it in egg and then coat generously in breadcrumbs. Set aside. Repeat with remaining steaks until all are coated.

Heat generous amount of oil over medium heat in large fry pan. Add some schnitzels to the pan, being careful not to overcrowd the pan. Cook for a few minutes until schnitzels are golden brown. Turn and repeat on other side.

Remove schnitzels from pan and drain on wire rack. Repeat with remaining schnitzels. Cook in batches until all schnitzels are cooked.

Serve immediately with mashed potato and steamed vegetables.

Makes approximately 16 schnitzels.

Gluten-free wraps

Spread one wrap with mayonnaise.

Place lettuce, cucumber, avocado and capsicum in centre of wrap. Place schnitzel slices on top of salad ingredients

Fold wrap by folding up bottom edge of wrap to centre and then folding in side edges to centre.

Wrap firmly in plastic film and keep cool until served.

Serves 1.

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