Tag Archives: meal ideas

Bangers & Mash

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I developed this recipe for my husband, who is English, and my daughter, who loves sausages and is very proud of being half English! My daughter thinks no sausages are good enough for her to eat unless they are PORK.  This recipe serves 4 people.

Ingredients:

  • 8 Pork Sausages (you could use beef, chicken or even turkey sausages)
  • 1 kg of potatoes
  • 2 Tbs Sunflower oil
  • 2 Tbs Margarine
  • 1 brown onion
  • 1 tsp caster sugar
  • 1 tsp balsamic vinegar or apple cider vinegar (or any vinegar suitable to your dietary needs)
  • 700 ml stock (I use my bone broth recipe, you could use chicken, lamb or beef broth)
  • 4 tsp tapioca/arrowroot flour
  • 4 tsp cold water
  • Salt and pepper (I use Himalayan salt)
  • Rice milk and margarine to add to the mash potatoes to make them yummy and creamy
  • Frozen peas (enough for 4 people)

Method:

  1. Cook the sausages until cooked through and lovely and brown. I cooked them in an electric frying pan with baking paper under them. When the sausages were finished I just lifted them in the baking paper into a baking casserole dish and put them in the oven (180  degrees Celsius) to keep them warm.
  2. Peel and chop the potatoes and cook them ready to mash (I cooked them in the microwave)
  3. I then put the amount of peas I wanted into a microwave dish and covered them in water so they were ready to steam at the last minute before serving
  4. The gravy sauce is a bit more involved but so yummy and makes this dish like proper Bangers & Mash. Start by chopping the onion in half and then into crescents. Melt the margarine and oil together in a large saucepan. Add the onion and stir. Cover with a lid and cook slowly over a gentle heat for 10 minutes (onion should be translucent when cooked). Add the sugar and vinegar and stir well. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add the stock and cook uncovered for 5 minutes. In a heatproof dish or jug mix the flour and cold water into a paste and then add a few large spoons of the hot gravy mixture. Once combined pour the flour mixture into the saucepan with gravy and stir well. Heat on high heat and boil for 10 minutes to thicken the gravy.
  5. Meanwhile, drain and mash the potatoes and add a dollop of margarine and mash together. Then add the rice milk until to turns into the creamy mash consistency you desire.
  6. Quickly steam the peas and drain.
  7. Plate the sausages, mash and peas; then pour the gravy sauce over it all to serve.

If you give this recipe a try please let me know how it turns out. I’m happy to troubleshoot or discuss how you could substitute these ingredients if some of the ones I’ve used aren’t suitable for your family’s sensitivities. I can be contacted through this blog or via email: freefromfamily@gmail.com

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Oriental Honey & Lemon Chicken

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We have been missing Chinese and Thai foods so I decided to create our own Honey & Lemon Chicken. I thought it would be nice served with coconut rice and some Chinese style vegetables. My husband has reserved the left-overs for him and wants it again asap! This quantity serves 4 people.

Ingredients:

  • 8 chicken legs or thighs
  • 2-3 Tbs honey
  • The rind and juice of 1 lemon (medium to large sized lemons)
  • 3-4 Tbs Olive oil
  • Salt & Pepper to taste (I use Himalayan Salt)
  • 1 cup Basmati Rice
  • 1 tin of coconut milk (400ml)
  • Extra water if needed to cook the rice
  • 2 Florets of Buk Choy

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (fan forced)
  2. Spray oil the baking dish (I used rice bran oil)
  3. Place the chicken pieces in the dish
  4. Mix up the marinade in a bowl and stir together (honey, olive oil, lemon & rind, and salt & pepper)
  5. Pour the well mixed marinade over the chicken
  6. bake for 45minutes-1 hour (I turned them about 3 times throughout the cooking)
  7. About 20 minutes before the chicken will be ready get the rice and vegetables organised
  8. I cooked the rice using the absorption method using the rice milk and some extra water. I then rinsed the rice using boiling water before draining and serving (this gave the rice a hint of coconut milk but it wasn’t overpowering
  9. I chopped the Buk Choy and steamed it lightly
  10. To serve plate the meat, rice and vegetables; then drizzle the remaining sauce from the baking dish over the meal before serving (the flavours of the sauce work well with the meat, rice and vegetables!)

If you give this recipe a try please let me know how it turns out. I’m happy to troubleshoot or discuss how you could substitute these ingredients if some of the ones I’ve used aren’t suitable for your family’s sensitivities. I can be contacted through this blog or via email freefromfamily@gmail.com

Roast Chicken – French Country Style

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I love two things about this meal. Firstly, it is very rustic and reminds me of a wonderful French summer I shared with some dear French friends in Brittany. Secondly, it is so quick and simple! I can’t remember where I read about putting a lemon inside the cavity of the chicken when roasting, but since I have tried it, I have never roasted a chicken any other way. The lemon makes the chicken deliciously succulent and flavoursome. We have this meal weekly, and I can then make a weekly batch of our chicken bone broth.

Ingredients:

  • 1 whole chicken
  • 1 lemon (holes pricked with a sharp knife all around the lemon – this allows the flavour to be released)
  • Margarine
  • Spray oil (I used rice-bran oil)
  • Salt & pepper (I use Himalayan salt)
  • Fresh herbs (I used rosemary, sage & tarragon)
  • Mixed root vegetables (I used carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes and butternut pumpkin)
  • 1 brown onion
  • 4 cloves of garlic – crushed
  • Your choice of a side of green vegetables to serve (peas, green beans, broccoli, buk choy, etc)

Method:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius
  2. Spray the roasting tin or casserole with oil
  3. Insert the pre-picked lemon into the chest cavity of the chicken and fold the skin over the opening to secure the lemon
  4. Place chicken in the middle of the casserole dish
  5. Place chunks of margarine over the chicken (see first picture – I used 5 chunks)
  6. Salt and pepper the chicken
  7. Chop the root vegetables and arrange around the chicken
  8. Chop onion into crescents and arrange with the root vegetables
  9. Add garlic to the casserole
  10. Spray vegetables with spray oil
  11. Sprinkle herbs, salt & pepper over the vegetables
  12. Roast in oven for 1 1/2hrs – 2hrs
  13. Serve with a side of steamed green vegetables. I cover the chicken with any juices from the casserole
  14. After the meal I strip the chicken carcass and use any leftover chicken and/or roasted vegetables to make sushi, or add to salads, etc. I then use the carcass and any leftover onion and garlic pieces to add to my bone broth (see previous recipe)

If you give this recipe a try please let me know how it turns out. I’m happy to troubleshoot or discuss how you could substitute these ingredients if some of the ones I’ve used aren’t suitable for your family’s sensitivities.

Sausage Casserole

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This is one of my favourite meals . It is so quick and hearty and makes great left-overs in a salad or as a spare ready meal. I used to add a splash of balsamic vinegar to it but now leave that out for my very sensitive children- you could easily add some when you splash the olive oil over the casserole before it goes in the oven.

Ingredients:

  • 6-10 Sausages (whatever sausages suit your diet)
  • 1 can of chick peas (rinsed and drained) [I buy organic with no preservatives]
  • 1 can of chopped tomatoes [I buy organic with no preservatives]
  • 1 red onion chopped into moon crescents
  • 3 cloves of garlic – crushed
  • 2 sweet potatoes [chopped into rough 2cm cubes and pre-steamed]
  • Salt  & pepper to taste [I use Himalayan salt]
  • A sprinkle of dried herbs of your choice [I used Oregano]
  • A splash of olive oil over the dish once assembled
  • Baby leaf spinach
  • Basmati rice

Method:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius
  2. Spray the casserole dish with a spray oil [I used rice-bran oil]
  3. Separate sausages and place in the casserole
  4. Add to the casserole: chopped tomato, chick peas, sweet potato, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, dried herbs and olive oil.
  5. Mix together and place in the oven for 45 min-1 hour
  6. Cook rice
  7. Serve the casserole on a bed of rice and baby spinach leaves

If you give this recipe a try please let me know how it turns out. I’m happy to troubleshoot or discuss how you could substitute these ingredients if some of the ones I’ve used aren’t suitable for your family’s sensitivities.

BBQ Glazed Drumsticks & Quinoa Salad

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So, it’s still midweek and I wanted to mix things up a bit and try something new… but I wanted it to be quick and easy. I decided to use my BBQ sauce (from a previous blog post) as a glaze and then made up a quinoa salad that I thought would work alongside it – et voila! My husband was a bit surprised to come home to such a delicious looking meal that was totally new. We were pleasantly surprised with how yummy it was and this will definitely become one of our regular go-to meals.

This Quantity serves 4 people

Ingredients:

  • Chicken legs (8-10)
  • BBQ sauce (‘Dark Sauce’ from my blog)
  • Sweet potato (I used 4)
  • 1 cup of quinoa
  • 1/2 red capsicum
  • Several handfuls of baby spinach
  • 1-2 green apples (I used 1)
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • Salt and pepper (I use Himalayan Salt)
  • Spray oil

Method:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius
  2. Spray a casserole dish with oil (I used rice-bran oil)
  3. Place the chicken legs in the dish and then coat them in the BBQ sauce
  4. Peel and roughly chop the sweet potato into 2cm cubes
  5. Arrange the sweet potato around the chicken legs. Spray them with the spray oil and give them a dusting of salt and pepper
  6. Bake in the oven for 45min-1 hour
  7. Meanwhile, assemble the salad and dressing so when the meat and sweet potatoes are cooked it can be dished up.
  8. For the dressing: add the olive oil, apple cider vinegar and salt and pepper to a jar and shake well. This will make more dressing than you will need. You could halve the amount if you wanted to; I like to make up a jar of it so I can keep it in the fridge for my next salads during the week.
  9. For the salad: cover the base of a salad bowl in baby spinach leaves. Add the red capsicum (I sliced them length ways, then halved them). I cooked the quinoa next (I used the absorption method on the stove top and just followed the instructions on the packet). I chopped the apple just before serving and then added the quinoa and roasted sweet potatoes. Give it all a toss together and either drizzle over the salad dressing or allow people to add their own dressing.
  10. Serve the chicken legs and salad together for a light but filling meal.

If you give this recipe a try please let me know how it turns out. I’m happy to troubleshoot or discuss how you could substitute these ingredients if some of the ones I’ve used aren’t suitable for your family’s sensitivities.

I Love Broth!

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I have been wanting to get into bone broth for a long time…I have made the step, and, I can safely say…I love it! We tend to have a roast chicken once a week in our house and have a nice roast meal out of it; we also make a bonus meal of sushi. It is so nice to then look forward to a whole pot of bone broth made from the bones of the roasted chicken.

I have been freezing the broth in different containers:

  • Mugs- for a quick pick me up instead of a coffee
  • Starter dishes- that can be defrosted and heated as a starter or soup for lunch (adding extra meat or veg into it to pad it out)
  • Jar- to use as stock or to defrost and drink/eat

For something different this week, I made a lamb bone broth that was very hearty and yummy too. I have booked a place on a fermented foods and broth making workshop next month and I look forward to learning more and sharing more ideas with you about these foods. My main motivation with wanting to learn more about fermented foods and broths is that my daughter is so reactive to things I haven’t been able to find a suitable pro-biotic. Even the pro-biotics that should be okay still seem to make her react, so, I am hopeful that I can get some digestive system goodies into her in other ways.

Ingredients:

  • Chicken bones of a whole roast chicken, plus any left-over juices, etc (or to make it a lamb bone broth the bone from a roast leg of lamb)
  • 4 carrots washed and roughly chopped
  • 2 brown onions, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 2-3 smashed garlic cloves
  • 4 celery stalks washed and roughly chopped
  • Any other extra vegetables that you want to add (e.g. I save the ends of Buk Choy, or if baby leaf spinach is starting to go off I freeze it and then add to this)
  • 2 Tbs apple cider vinegar
  • Ground salt (I use Himalayan salt)
  • 4-6 litres of water (depending on how big your largest saucepan is)
  • Bunch of fresh herbs (like rosemary,  thyme, and sage)

Method:

  1. Add everything into a large saucepan
  2. Place the lid on and cook over a medium to low heat for 4 hours
  3. Strain through a fine strainer and serve or store in fridge or freezer (depending on what you intend to use it for)

If you give this recipe a try please let me know how it turns out, I’m happy to troubleshoot or discuss how you could substitute these ingredients if some of the ones I’ve used aren’t suitable to your family’s sensitivities.

Cottage Pie

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We have Cottage Pie once a week. It can easily become a Shepard’s Pie if you use lamb mince instead of the beef. It is such a great meal that works well for left overs or frozen ready meals. My daughter has not been wanting cooked carrot recently so we just had it with peas this time and had the carrots steamed on the side and served the pie on a bed of baby spinach. It is a great meal as you can load it up with lots of vegetables and adapt it to suit different likes and dietary requirements.

Ingredients:

  • 500g beef mince
  • 1kg potatoes
  • 375-500ml stock
  • 1-2 tbs tapioca flour
  • 1 carrot
  • ½ cup frozen peas
  • Ground pepper
  • 1-2 clove garlic (minced)
  • Oregano (or other safe dried herbs)
  • 1 onion
  • Margarine (up to 3 Tbs)
  • Suitable milk (as much as needed to make a creamy mash potato)

Method:

  1. Peel and chop the potatoes so these can steam (microwave or stove top) while the beef mixture cooks.
  2. Finely dice onion and mince garlic
  3. Heat oil of choice in frying pan (I used spray rice-bran oil)
  4. Add onions to the pan and soften/brown. Add garlic for 1 min before adding beef mince.
  5. Fry beef mince until cooked
  6. Grate carrot or finely chop (depending on your preference). Add to pan, cover and steam for a few minutes
  7. Add frozen peas and stir
  8. Add tapioca flour and coat the beef mixture (I added about 1 Tb this time)
  9. Add stock (I added about 500 ml this time)
  10. Simmer until desired consistency. Add more stock or tapioca flour to achieve a nice gravy sauce consistency so the pie isn’t too dry. A tip if adding flour after the liquid is added, mix flour with a small amount of water to make a paste before adding it.
  11.  Drain and mash potatoes, add margarine (I used about 3 Tbs) and milk (coconut milk or rice milk) until a creamy mash has been achieved
  12. Add beef mixture to a casserole dish, layer and spread mashed potato over the top. I used a fork to scrape a texture on the top of the pie – I find this makes the pie top brown and flavor nicely.
  13. Bake for 45 minutes
  14. Serve with steamed vegetables or a side salad
  15. This recipe is great portioned up and frozen as ready meals. I make sure I send one each day to my daughter’s daycare as her hot meal of the day.

If you give this recipe a try please let me know how it turns out, I’m happy to troubleshoot or discuss how you could substitute these ingredients if some of the ones I’ve used aren’t suitable to your family’s sensitivities.

Mid-Week Italian Inspired

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So it was the middle of the week last night, but I fancied trying a new dish! I have found that since we have been on an allergy diet we haven’t eaten as many Italian foods – usually there is so much wheat and dairy involved! But I am doing more research into  Italian dishes that could be adapted. I was interested to learn that the Cannellini bean in Italian foods originated in Tuscany; so this dish is inspired by that region of Italy. I adapted several recipes to make this safe and still yummy – the husband gave it 9/10. I served this meal with basmati rice, but it would work with quinoa or pasta as well. It was nice with some green vegetables on the side, we had Buk Choy (just lightly steamed), but green beans, steamed asparagus or broccolli would work nicely too. I have saved some leftovers to add to salads. I’m looking forward to adapting more Italian recipes in the future.

Ingredients:

  • Approximately 8 chicken thighs
  • 1 can of cannellini beans (rinsed and drained)
  • 1 can of chopped tomatoes
  • 1 punnet of cherry tomatoes
  • 1 cup of stock (I used frozen chicken stock that was very hearty)
  • 1 red capsicum (sliced)
  • 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary (of substitute with suitable dried herbs)
  • 2 sprigs of fresh thyme (of substitute with suitable dried herbs)
  • 2 cloves of garlic (finely minced)
  • Grated zest of 1 lemon
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and Pepper (I use Himalayan salt)
  • 1 Tb arrowroot/tapioca flour and enough water to make it into a paste (to use if the sauce needs thickening)

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius
  2. Add the cannellini beans, chopped tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, capsicum and stock to the roasting pan
  3. Place chicken thighs in the roasting pan
  4. Drizzle the chicken thighs with olive oil, then sprinkle the herbs, salt and pepper, and lemon rind on them
  5. Add extra herbs and garlic to the bean mixture if desired
  6. Cook for 45 minutes
  7. I thickened my sauce with the arrowroot flour and water mixture
  8. I served this meal with steamed basmati rice and lightly steamed Buk Choy

If you give this recipe a try please let me know how it turns out, I’m happy to troubleshoot or discuss how you could substitute these ingredients if some of the ones I’ve used aren’t suitable to your family’s sensitivities.

Saturday Night Burgers

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It was burger night in our house tonight and EVERYONE was happy! I had to whip up the BBQ sauce first (Please see that recipe before beginning this one) but then the meal was very quick and easy. We tend to serve our burger patties in lettuce cups (iceberg works best for this), with a side salad, and either a jacket potato, hot chips or crisps/chips.

Ingredients:

  •  500g beef mince
  • 1/4 cup rice crumbs
  • 1 egg replaced (I mixed 1 portion of  ‘no-egg’)
  • 1 Tb of my BBQ sauce (see other post)
  • A sprinkle of garlic granules and onion flakes
  • A sprinkle of suitable dried herbs (oregano is safe for us all so I used that)
  • Salt & pepper to taste (I use Himalayan salt)

Method:

  1. Place mince and all ingredients into a mixing bowl (I mix up the ‘no-egg’ before adding to the mix)
  2. Using your clean hands, mix all the mixture together until well combined
  3. Divide the mixture up into six medium sized portions
  4. Form a ball with each portion and mould it into a pattie shape
  5. Place the patties on a plate and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (I find this helps them retain their shape during cooking)
  6. Cook the patties in an oiled frying pan, electric frying pan, or on the BBQ
  7. Serve with a drizzle of the BBQ sauce
  8. Refrigerate any leftover patties – they are great as leftovers or chopped up cold in salads the next day

If you give this recipe a try please let me know how it turns out, I’m happy to troubleshoot or discuss how you could substitute these ingredients if some of the ones I’ve used aren’t suitable to your family’s sensitivities.

Crispy Chicken – A Saturday night treat

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Crispy Chicken

Ingredients:

  • Chicken legs (I do 1 per child and 2 per adult, plus enough for lunch the next day or to slice up and make sushi with)
  • Rice crumbs (3/4 cup for about 8 legs)
  • Egg Replacer (I use Orgran’s ‘No Egg’)
  • Water to mix up the egg replacer with
  • Salt & pepper (I use Himalayan salt)
  • Suitable herbs and spices that your family tolerates (I find here in Australia that the Coles brand of herbs and spices are trace free. I use garlic powder, onion flakes, and dried oregano leaves)

Method:

  1. Prepare a baking paper lined tray by spraying it with oil (I use Rice Bran Oil)
  2. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C
  3. Set up a production line  with the tray at the end for chicken to go straight onto when crumbed. From left to right: chicken legs, egg replacer bowl, rice crumb bowl, tray.
  4. Mix up your egg replacer into a bowl that can be dipped into with a chicken leg. I tend to mix up 2 eggs worth, which for ‘No Egg’ is 2 tsp powder mixed with 4 Tb water
  5. In another bowl that chicken can be dipped into, start with 1 cup of rice crumbs, mix salt and pepper and any herbs or spices into the rice crumbs
  6. Start by rolling each leg in the ‘No Egg’ (cover them well), then roll in the rice crumb mixture (again, cover well), then place on the tray.
  7. Repeat for all the legs. Then spray the legs with oil before baking (I use rice bran oil)
  8. Bake in the oven for 45 Minutes (jacket potatoes need longer than this so pop them in ahead of time)
  9. I make a jacket potato or potato (or sweet potato) wedges that bake at the same time, then serve with a salad.

If you give this recipe a try please let me know how it turns out, I’m happy to troubleshoot or discuss how you could substitute these ingredients if some of the ones I’ve used aren’t suitable to your family’s sensitivities.