Author: Bill Hutchison

How to work with Store Bought Gluten Free Pastry

I have baked with gluten free pastry from Coles and Woolworths Simply Wize. My results have not been good, and they almost always end up being to tick, or cracked, or not cooked through properly.

Champagne & Gumboots is a YouTube channel that includes some great tips for baking and cooking Ceoliac Friendly gluten free foods. I came accross this video entitled, “Coles Gluten Free Pastry vs Simply Wize (3 TIPS TO MAKING GF FROZEN PASTRY WORK EVERY SINGLE TIME)” that looks to help a lot, and I’m looking forward to giving it a try next time I get gluten free puff pastry from Woolworths or Coles.

The three tips that she highlights are:

  1. Use it as soon as possible.
  2. Defrost it completely. Have patience as this could take longer than you think (15-minutes).
  3. Roll it out. The pastry is too thick to start with. Roll it between two pieces of baking paper.

Using these tips I am hoping for better results next time I use these puff pastry sheets.

Sausage with Capsicum and Onions

I’m pretty desperate at the moment to find meals that are easy and quick to make. This one looks like a good option that I plan to try out this week …

Ingredients:

  • 400g smoked sausage, sliced
  • 1 brown onion sliced
  • 3 diced capsicum
  • 2 cans diced tomatoes
  • 1 chicken stock cube
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning

Instructions:

  1. Spray the slow cooker with cooking spray
  2. Place all the ingredients in the slow cooker
  3. Cook on low for 5-6 hours, or high for 3 hours

Serve on rice or cauliflower rice when done

You can also place all the ingredients in a freezer bag and freeze for future use. Before placing in the slow cooker however make sure that you fully defrost the ingredients.

This was one of a few slow cooker recipes on the Hip2Save site that you can check out here.

Whatever Gluten Free Muffins

One of the things that my kids like best about these muffins is the name …

WHATEVER!!!

Actually, the also love how they taste, which is the reason why we almost always have some of these gluten free muffins in the freezer. When I make them for eating at school I leave out the nuts …

This recipe makes 24 muffins.

Ingredients:

  • 4 large egg
  • 2 cups milk (or liquid of choice, even just water)
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 4 cups white or brown rice flour
  • 8 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup chopped nuts – whatever type you want (optional)
  • 2 cups fresh or frozen fruit-any kind

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees celsius. Spray 2 x 12-cup muffin tray with canola cooking spray.
  2. In large mixing bowl, combine egg, milk or  liquid of choice, sugar, and canola oil, beating on low until smooth.
  3. Add brown rice flour, baking powder, and salt and beat on low just until combined.
  4. Stir in nuts (if desired) and fruit of choice.
  5. Divide batter among the prepared 24 muffin cups
  6. Bake for 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center of largest muffin comes out reasonably clean.

Low Carb Tuna Mornay Pasta Bake

A cheesy, low carb, tuna mornay with peas and corn for extra flavour. A great quick dinner.

Ingredients:

  • 2 x Packages of Shirataki/Konjac noodles drained and rinsed well
  • 20g butter or margarine
  • 2 tablespoons GF Corn flour (20g carbs)
  • 1 1/2 cups (375ml) milk (18g carbs)
  • 2 cups (230g) grated cheddar cheese
  • 200g frozen green peas  (12g carbs)
  • 200g frozen corn kernels (25g carbs)
  • 1 (425g) tin tuna, drained
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 50g Almond Flour (2g carbs)

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Drain and rinse the Konjac noodles
  2. Melt the butter over medium heat in a small saucepan. Stir in the GF corn flour until it is smooth and then gradually mix in the milk so that there are no more lumps and then stir in half of the cheese. Add the peas, corn, and Konjac noodles. Drain the tuna and add that to the cheese mixture.
  3. Transfer the cheese and tuna mixture into a greased casserole dish and then top it with the rest of the cheese. Sprinkle the almond flour on top of the cheese.
  4. Bake for about 20-minutes in the preheated oven until the sauce is bubbly and the cheese is browned.

Although this recipe is not an ultra-low carb recipe, it is only about 80g of carbohydrates for the entire dish, which serves our family of 5. If you add a salad to the menu then the entire meal should work out to be less than 20g of carbs per serve.

Please check your own carb count based on your individual ingredients, the carb count I’ve included here is only to be used as a guide …

Adapted from All Recipes Tuna Mornay Pasta Bake

Low Carb Tuna Casserole

I really need to find some meals that are easy and quick to cook for our T1D son and our Ceoliac daughter. This one looks like it might just hit the spot …

The ingredients are very basic …

  • Shirataki/Konjac noodles drained and rinsed well
  • Canned tuna
  • Peas
  • Cream
  • Almond milk
  • Garlic powder
  • Onion powder
  • Pepper
  • Small amount of smoked paprika
  • Cream cheese
  • Tasty Cheese
  • Mozzarella Cheese
  • Parmesan

To cook the casserole bake it at 180C for approximately 10-15 min.

Found this one on the Facebook Group Let Me Be 83: 30 Day Low-carb Support Group by Kimberly Ann Nguyen.

Low Carb Savory Almond Biscuits

This biscuit would be great for breakfast egg sandwiches …

Ingredients:

  • 300 grams Almond Meal (15g carbs)
  • 1 tsp Salt (0g carbs)
  • 2 Tbsp Baking Powder (15g carbs)
  • 4 Eggs (3g carbs)
  • 2/3 cup Sour Cream (4g carbs)
  • 120 ml Melted Butter (0g carbs)
  • 2/3 cup Shredded Cheese (0g carbs)
  • 1 tsp Garlic Powder (3g carbs)

Directions (makes 15 muffins / buscuits):

  1. Mix together the dry ingredients
  2. Add the eggs and sour cream to the melted butter and mix until smooth
  3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix together
  4. Stir in the cheese
  5. Spoon evenly into greased muffin trays
  6. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes at 205C (400F) until they are golden on top

Low carb savoury almond meal biscuits
Low carb savoury almond meal biscuits

Almond Coconut Muffins

I have tried making a few different coconut muffins and this one is by far my T1D son’s favourite …

Ingredients:

  • 200 grams Almond Meal (10g carbs)
  • 110 Coconut Flour (27g carbs)
  • 6 Large Eggs (4.5g carbs)
  • 2/3 Cups Olive Oil (0g carbs)
  • 4 tbsp Low Carb Sweetner (0g carbs)
  • 1/2 Cup Milk (6g carbs)
  • 2 tsp Baking Soda (0g carbs)

Toppings:

  • Shredded Coconut (2g carbs)
  • Slivered Almonds (1g carbs)

Directions (makes 18 muffins):

  1. Mix together try ingredients
  2. Add wet ingredients and mix together
  3. Fill greased muffin trays 2/3 full of mixture and then sprinkle with shredded coconut and slivered almonds
  4. Bake for 18 – 20 minutes at 190C until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

Savory Almond Flour Muffins

Ingredients:

  • 400 grams Almond Flour (20g carbs)
  • 4 Diced Green Onions (2g carbs)
  • 3 tsp Baking Powder (7.5g carbs)
  • 2 tsp Salt (0g carbs)
  • 8 Large Eggs (6g carbs)
  • 1/4 Cup Olive Oil (0g carbs)
  • 1 Cup Sour Cream (9g carbs)

Optional Ingredients:

  • 1 tbps mixed / savory herbs (1g carbs)
  • 150g Diced Ham (15g carbs)
  • 2 Cups Grated Cheese (0g carbs)

Directions:

  1. Mix all dry ingredients together
  2. Add wet ingredients and mix in
  3. Add optional ingredients to the mix
  4. Separate the batter into 24 greased muffin tins and bake for 15 – 20 minutes at 180C until golden at the edges

This recipes makes 24 delicious savory muffins. With the cheese and herbs, depending on the brand of ingredients that you use, each muffin will be about 2 grams of carbs each. With the added ham, again depending on brand, each muffin will only be about 2.5 grams of carbs each.

Coconut Flour Bread

Ingredients:

  • 6 Large Eggs (4.5g carbs)
  • 1/2 Cup Melted Butter or Coconut Oil (0g carbs)
  • 1/2 tsp Salt (0g carbs)
  • 100g Coconut Flour (25g carbs)
  • 10ml Maple Syrup (8.5g carbs)
  • 20g Slivered Almonds (2g carbs)

Directions:

  1. Mix top 5 ingredients together in a small loaf pan lined with parchment paper
  2. Top loaf with slivered almonds
  3. Make at 180C for 40-minutes

Total carbs for this recipe is 40 grams, depending on brands used. If the small loaf is sliced into 8 slices, which is a good size for a snack, each serve will be 5 grams of carbs.

Gluten Free / Low Carb Almond Flour Short Bread Cookies

Ingredients:

  • 200 grams Almond Flour (10g carbs)
  • 75 grams Coconut Oil (0g carbs)
  • 4 tbsp Natvia Sweetener (0g carbs)
  • 1/4 tsp Salt (0g carbs)
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract (0.5 g carbs)

Directions:

  1. Mix together all dry ingredients
  2. Add in the liquids and melted coconut oil and mix together
  3. Remove 1″ (2.5cm) ball of dough and place on parchment paper on baking tray
  4. Use a fork to flatten each cookie to 1/4″, or 1/2 cm thick
  5. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes until they start to turn golden brown on top
  6. Let cool on baking tray for 10-minutes before transferring to a cooling rack

Maple Walnut Cookies (Amazing!)

Extra Ingredients:

  • 2 tsp Cinnamon (2g carbs)
  • 4 tsp Maple Syrup (18g carbs)
  • 1/2 cup (60 grams) crushed walnuts

Directions:

  1. Add the Cinnamon in dry ingredients in step 1 above
  2. Add the Maple Syrup with the liquids in step 2 above
  3. Toss in the nuts between step 2 and 3 above and combine with the dough using hands

The Maple Walnut version of these shortbread cookies is amazing, and a huge favorite in our family. Using this recipe, depending on the brands used, is only 32.5 grams of carbs for the whole batch.