Macadamia muffins – gluten free, sugar free, keto, paleo or whole food

I’m keto at the moment, so the way I make them these bite size morsels are effectively a fat bomb in the form of cake. But I think they would adapt fine for other whole food diets. I made a blueberry version of these for Xmas, but previously I’d been making them with choc chips. So I’ll start with that version. First off, 150 grams of macadamias go into my mini food processor. They will […]

Revisiting my versatile Christmas cake recipe for special diets

I have previously posted about this cake here, but now seems like a good time to put all the versions together in one place. This is a beautiful dark cake, but because it’s a boiled cake, you don’t need to mature it for a month. If you want to use the brandy version and store in the bottom of the fridge for a month, it will improve with maturing, but can be eaten the same day, […]

Christmas Gummies

Yes, I know, I know. It’s too late for this Xmas. But never mind, the recipe will be here ready and waiting for you next year. Once again, it’s not my gummy recipe, I’m sending you to somebody else’s website. But I thought these were very cute gummies and perfect for the festive season. Thanks to Becky from Whole Life Cooking for this recipe. Though I would use a natural sweetener instead of white sugar. […]

Real Food Christmas Menu

I first posted about real food / GAPS Christmas menu ideas a few years back, so it’s time for an update with lots of new ideas. Most of these recipes are from this recipe blog, but some are from other people’s blogs and we may not have tested them. I may post new ideas to my Pinterest Festive recipes board, even if I don’t have time to try them out or post them here, so check […]

Chocolate Mousse or Cheesecake special occasion desserts

If you’ve seen my last few posts, you’ll have noticed I’ve been hanging out on Steemit a bit recently. This is a new blogging platform, where you have the potential for being paid for your posts. It’s still in Beta, so still in development, but the advantage of getting in early is that you can start to build your audience. Mostly when I come across new recipes I like the look of, I pin them […]

Fruit & Nut bar (grain free)

Suitable for GAPS, SCD, Paleo, gluten free, dairy free, sugar free, low carb or other whole food diets. This recipe is a new variation on my Real Food Chocolate and Fudge recipe. The focus in that recipe is the chocolaty or fudgy texture. But this one is more about all the other goodies in it, and the creamed coconut base is just to hold it all together. Everything-but-the-kitchen-sink Fruit and Nut Bar I’m calling it […]

Chocolate-mallow Protein Bars

Plus fruit gummies and other variations. Suitable for Paleo, GAPS, Clean Eating, low sugar We first started making this protein slice a few years ago, as a way to make cod liver oil a more palatable supplement. One of our customers came up with the prototype recipe, and I’ve tweaked it a few ways since. Here’s the original recipe complete with cod liver oil. If you leave the cod liver oil out, it becomes a […]

Healthy Real Food snacks – Chocolate and Fudge

Suitable for GAPS, SCD, Paleo, gluten free, dairy free, sugar free, low carb or other whole food diets. I first discovered creamed coconut (also known as coconut butter) in a faded orange box, in the international section of our local supermarket, many years before it became trendy. It made the most amazing sugar free date or apricot fudge, and was very popular in our house. It wasn’t always easy to find, so when one of […]

Easy banana cashew bread or muffins

Suitable for GAPS, SCD, Paleo, gluten free, dairy free, sugar free or low carb diets After posting my recipe for Pumpkin Cashew bread, and writing about the possible variations, I had a hankering for banana muffins. So one night I whipped up a batch while making dinner, and now have some more precise instructions and photos for you. Ingredients: 500gm raw unsalted cashews 6 large free range (pastured) eggs 2 cups mashed banana Optional whole food […]

Gummy Bears

Stacey from New Zealand blog “My Kids Lick the Bowl” posted some fabulous fruit Gummy Bear recipes yesterday. There are six different recipes, so you can create a rainbow of bears (or whatever other molds you might already have) – white, green, yellow, orange, red or purple. Go check them out! And while you’re there, check out her other kid friendly recipes. If you’re on GAPS or another special diet, not all of the recipes […]

AIP-Friendly Mousse

This is suitable for most diet types, but I originally developed it for someone doing AIP. 1 x 400ml can coconut milk or cream (choose one with as few additives as possible. In NZ, we use TCC or Ayam brands) 1/4 cup collagen hydrolysate eg Great Lakes green can (if you don’t have hydrolysate, see gelatin version below) Flavourings of choice Shake the coconut milk can well. Put the coconut milk, then everything else, in a blender […]

Watermelon “slushy” (Serves 2)

This takes a bit of forward preparation but the actual making is close to instant. Chop and deseed your water melon. Even if pips don’t usually bother you, take the time to get rid of them for this recipe. Freeze 2 cups at a time. When you’re feeling hot and in need of cold refreshment, take a container out of the freezer, zizz it up and serve straight away. Optional, add a sprig of mint, […]

Berry (coconut flour) sponge pudding

This is like a sponge topped pudding.  If you wanted to make it more like a clafoutis, you could try with an extra egg. We like it for breakfast or dessert after dinner. It can be served hot or cold. Grease a glass pie plate, and cover with a layer of frozen blackberries, or other berries of your choice. Beat together: 4 eggs 4 Tbs (2oz) melted butter or coconut oil 2-5 Tbs honey or […]

Custard

At our Wellington Xmas GAPS group meeting, I asked what foods people would miss at Xmas, and someone said that being dairy free, she missed custard. So here are three different custard recipes. The first one is RUSSIAN custard, from the GAPS book. The Healthy Home Economist has the recipe HERE. This is a raw dish, made from just egg yolks and honey. It is usually used as a cream substitute on GAPS. But if you added a […]

Gummy Stars

This is a Mommypotamus recipe, which I found  posted on the Auckland Mums: Super Nutrition for Babies and Beyond facebook page. I’m in the mode of thinking of Xmas recipes at the moment, and these would be a great recipe for GAPS kids who are ok on honey. 1/3 cup lemon (or lime) juice (about 3 large lemons) 3 Tbs gelatin 3 Tbs honey Mummypotamus added some natural food colouring, but I didn’t and they still came […]

Fruit Jelly and Fruit Mousse

Another gelatin recipe we’ve been having quite a bit lately is real fruit jelly. To get a consistency more like commercial jelly, you can use fruit juice, but we’ve been using the whole fruit. 2 cups blueberries 1 cup black currants 1 1/2 cups room temp water 3 Tbs gelatin 1 tsp vanilla essence small amount of natural sweetener of your choice If your berries are frozen, get them out a couple of hours beforehand […]

Chocolate “butterfly” cakes

Perfect for a birthday party. If you have a child with special dietary needs, you can make something that looks festive enough that their friends won’t know the difference, but will be safe for your child to eat. Make a batch of Chocolate macadamia muffins or other muffins or cupcakes of your choice (suitable for your diet) Whip up some cream (if you’re using raw cream, you will need to plan ahead) Slice the tops off […]

Fruit crumble

For each serving: A small ovenproof bowl A sliced apple, pear or peach; a handful of frozen berries; or other fruit of your choice 3 Tbs crispy nuts, finely ground (almonds or macadamias are best as they‘re a mild flavour) ½ Tbs butter or coconut oil 1 tsp rapadura, maple syrup or honey Pinch of spice such as cinnamon, ginger or allspice Put the fruit in the bottom of the bowl. Blend together the nuts, […]

Dairy-free Coconut Custard

1 ½ cups coconut cream 3 egg yolks pinch Celtic sea salt 1 Tbs honey ¾ tsp vanilla essence This makes a hot, runny custard. Heat up the coconut cream to just short of boiling. Meanwhile, if you have a double boiler, beat the egg yolks and salt together in the top part. Otherwise, find a bowl that will sit on top of a pan of boiling water, and use that. Pour the hot coconut […]

Coconut quinoa pudding

For those people who long for rice pudding, but can’t have dairy or can’t have rice. 400ml can (1 ½ cups) coconut cream 1 cup cooked quinoa (Or other cooked grains. Or for grain-free, use dessicated coconut) ½ to ¾ cup sultanas or raisins (or other chopped, dried fruit) ½ cup shredded coconut or coconut chips 1 tsp vanilla essence (extract) ½ tsp mixed spice or cinnamon Mix the first 4 ingredients together in a […]

No bake apple walnut tart (Serves 6)

Crust: 1 ¼ cups crispy walnuts ½ cup desiccated coconut 3 oz coconut oil 2 oz (4 Tbs) raw honey ½ teaspoon vanilla essence ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt Filling: 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled*, cored & chopped roughly (*optional, unpeeled is fine too) 1 red apple, peeled*, cored & chopped roughly 2 Tbs raw honey ¼ tsp fine sea salt 1 tsp cinnamon 2 fresh medjool dates, pitted (or used dried dates, soaked for […]

Strawberry Fool (Serves 4 people)

A traditional fool is made from fresh or stewed soft fruit (eg. berries, poached stone fruit or stewed rhubarb or gooseberries) folded into whipped cream. This version also adds a thick Greek or European style yoghurt. 250ml (1 cup) cream 250ml (1 cup) plain, unsweetened yoghurt (preferably thick, like Cyclops) 200g strawberries natural sweetener of your choice, to taste grated chocolate (optional) Beat the cream till thick (if your cream is raw, see here for […]

Fudgy coconut date pudding

This is a variation of the strawberry fool recipe. It doesn’t need extra sweetener, as the dates give a nice flavour plus sweetness. 4 fresh dates, chopped 250ml (1 cup) coconut cream 1-2 Tbs creamed coconut (optional) 250ml (1 cup) plain, unsweetened yoghurt (preferably thick) – if you want this to be dairy free, use coconut yoghurt Chill the coconut cream for a couple of hours. Beat till it starts to get thick, then add […]

Individual fruit jellies

Although fruit juice isn’t a recommended whole food, the occasional jelly made with real fruit juice and diced fruit, is a much better children’s treat than a commercial jelly. This makes 6-8 individual bowls of fruit and jelly. 200ml (4/5 cup) filtered water 750ml (3 cups) red fruit juice eg. grape, or apple and blackcurrant, diluted with 250ml (1 cup) water 8 tsp gelatin a punnet of strawberries, sliced about 1 cup watermelon, cut up […]

Pavlova

The quintessential Kiwi dessert, but can we convert it to whole foods? It’s a tricky one, and this is my best shot. Most whole food sweeteners don’t work for pav, as they have too high a liquid content, and also go very brown. The pav is likely to be rather sticky and chewy. But if you can find palm sugar, made from coconut, you get a better result. Not as melt in your mouth as […]