Yeast Free Hot Cross Buns

I am not quite sure if I should call it Hot Cross Buns or Scones! As it does not have any yeast in it, it has a heavier consistency. Nevertheless, they are delicious!
I chose to use Spelt flour and oats as they are lower in the gluten content. These are so called your grains from the past.* 

I did this in a great hurry (sorry of my life!), so I really hope that everything I wrote here make sense!

Ingredients: (makes 20)

1 to 1 1/2 cup of almond milk
3 cups organic unbleached spelt flour 

1/2 cup organic rolled oats
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tbsp raw honey
1 tsp Himalyan salt
3 tsp baking powder
1 cup organic dried sultanas

1 egg

1 tsp organic vanilla essence

1/4 organic butter

1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate 

Zest of an orange

Glaze

Egg

Flour paste
Spelt flour
Filtered water

Method:

Preheat oven to 190°C or 170˚C fan-force.

Combine flour, oats, spices, salt, chocolate and sultanas in a large bowl. Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Once melted remove from stove and add honey, orange zest and vanilla essence to the butter. Stir to mix them. Add to the dry mixture. 

Add the egg to the combined mixture. 

You may need to add a small amount of almond milk if your mixture is too dry, but do this slowly. Add 10-20mL at a time. The mixture should be sticky, but not running. (See picture)

Mix with spatula until everything is evenly distributed. 

Line a large baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Divide into 20 even portions. Shape each portion into a ball. Place balls onto lined tray, about 1cm apart. 

Make flour paste: Mix flour and water together in a small bowl until smooth, adding a little more water if paste is too thick. Spoon into a small snap-lock bag. Snip off 1 corner of bag. Pipe flour paste over tops of buns to form crosses. Glaze with egg

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until buns are cooked through.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

We do not consume a great deal of gluten at home, but when we do, I tend to try to choose the more ancient grains. 
*Gregor Mendel was an Austrian monk and was best known for his experiments with pea plants Pisum sativum. Mendel noticed plants in his own garden that were not a blend of the parents. For instance, a tall plant and a short plant had offspring that were either tall or short but not medium in height. Observations such as these led Mendel to question the blending theory. The experiments conducted by Mendel were "re-discovered" in 1900, this started the field of genetics that led to the "genetic improvements" of plants and animals of nutritional interest. 
This is the time when the Italian agronomer Nazareno Strampelli, "the magician of grains" provides dozens of new grain varieties to farmers worldwide. This is the first "Green Revolution".

Healthy Treat - Immunity Booster Herbal Jelly

Diary Free Chocolate Milk alternative

All ingredients apart from the Almond milk are available from Nowra Mall store

Tricolour Quinoa Porridge

By Alvina

Ingredients:

1 cup of Tricolour Quinoa

2 cups of filtered water

1/2 cup of pitted dates (soaked in some of the filtered water)

Zest of 1 lime

Juice from 1/2 a lime

1 grated pear

A pinch of sea salt

1 tbsp of raw honey

Blueberries

Toasted sunflower, pumpkin seeds and almonds

Instructions:

Soak Quinoa in water overnight and rinse well to remove the bitter soap like substance called saponin

before cooking.

Pour water, quinoa, dates, lime juice, pear, salt and honey in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until quinoa is soft. 

Serve with blueberries and toasted seeds and nuts. Sprinkle some lime zest over the top of the porridge.

Serves 4

Super Nutritious Bliss Balls

Ingredients:
1/2 tsp Psyllium husk
1 tsp organic Chia seeds
90mL of filtered water
1/2 cup raw Almonds
1/4 Sunflower seeds
1/4 Pumpkin seeds
1 vanilla pod
1/2 cup Cacao powder
1/4  cup dessicated Coconut 
2 tbsp plant based protein powder
1 tsp Camu or Kakadu plum powder
1 tsp green tea powder
1/2 tsp super Green or Spirulina powder
A good pinch of sea salt
1/4 cup Sultanas
3/4 cup dates
(Makes about 30 small size bliss balls)

Method:

1. Soak the psyllium husk and chia seeds in water for at least half an hour. 
2. In a food processor or a good quality blender (I use BioChef blender), grind the almonds, sunflower and pumpkin seeds until you get a meal. 
3. Transfer the nut/seed meal into a large mixing bowl. 
4. Scrape the contents of a vanilla pod, and together with dessicated coconut and all the powders, add to mixing bowl. Use a spatula and mix well. 
5. Blend the dates and sultanas, until it forms a lumpy paste. 
6. Transfer the paste into the mixing bowl.  
7. By now, the psyllium husk and chia seeds would have formed a gel-like mixture. Add the sea salt into the gel mixture and stir well. 
8. Transfer the gel mixture into the mixing bowl.
9. With clean hands, mix the ingredients well and roll them into balls.
10. Refrigerate for at least three hours before serving.

Comment:

• If possible, try to use organic. All the ingredients I used were from our pharmacy Blooms The Chemist Nowra Mall. We do not normally carry organic vanilla pods on the shelf, but if you have trouble getting them, we can always order them in. 
• See my previous recipe on sprouted seed spread about soaking nuts and seeds. 
• I use a variety of superfood/anti-oxidant powders because I really want to "inject" as many nutrients as possible into this snack/treat. You don't have to use all the powders if you don't want to. Simply use more Cacao powder. 
• You can easily turn this into a nut free bliss ball by substituting the almonds with  1/2 cup Sunflower and 1/2 cup Pumpkin seeds.

Protein pancakes (Shared by Alvina Foo)

Ingredients:
1 cup of steel cut oats
1 cup of almond milk
Extra almond milk
1/4 cup of tapioca flour or arrowroot flour 
15mL maple syrup
5 eggs
1 heaped tbsp spoon of plant based protein
1/2 tsp baking soda
a pinch of salt
Coconut oil

Toppings:
1 cup of dates soaked overnight in 100mL of filtered water
Bananas

About the oats...You can use rolled oats too. I prefer steel cut oats as it is nuttier and more flavoursome. 
Almond Milk substitute: In the past, I have used plain greek yoghurt, homemade yoghurt, coconut water and butter milk. They are all fine to use. You may even choose to use water with perhaps a squeeze of lemon juice. That's perfectly fine too.
Tapicoa flour…This is not the same as arrowroot flour. I remembered buying some from a local supermarket because it was labelled "Arrowroot flour", but I soon realise that in Australia, the term tapicoa and arrowroot flour are used interchangeably. Anyway, I managed to source some from one of our suppliers. (See below if you're interested in why I choose arrowroot flour.)
Maple syrup…this is after all a protein pancake recipe, so I tend to limit the amount of sugar I use. If you have a sweet tooth, you can always drown it with maple syrup when serving!
Coconut oil substitute: macademia oil, rice bran oil, butter or ghee. Do you know that butter contains minimal amount of lactose and casein? Of course, if you're extremely sensitive, don't use it. Ghee is clarified butter. This is the top layer of the melted butter, ghee does not contain the milk solids, so this is better tolerated by many. Ghee originated from India and has been used for thousands of years in cuisine.  

Method:

• Soak the oats in almond milk overnight or for at least 6 hours. It is fine leaving it on the kitchen bench top. 
• Next morning, add baking soda, salt, maple syrup and plant based protein powder into the oat mixture. 
• Add tapicoa or arrowroot flour to almond milk and make up 1/3 cup of mixture. Stir well and pour this into the oat mixture. 
• Pour the eggs into the BioChef blender (or high powered blender).
• Pour the oat mixture into the blender.
• Set blender on high and blend for about 1 minute or until you get a batter.
• Using medium heat on stove, lightly brush frying pan with oil or butter. I try not to use high heat in my cooking, as it reduces and destroys nutritients in our food. 
• Pour batter into the frying pan. I prefer my pancakes to be thin, so pour and swirl to cover base. 
• Cook for 1 minute or until light golden brown. 
• Flip the pancake and cook for another minute.
• Transfer to plate and repeat with more oil and remaining batter.

About arrowroot flour

Arrowroot is a rhizome that originated from native tropical American.  The flour is made from drying and powdering the root. It is easily digestible and was once used in baby formula. The demulcent property made it favourable for bowel complaints. Apart from containing calcium ash, it also contains potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium, iron and other trace minerals. 

Toasted Coconut Flakes

Simple Snack…

Available at Nowra Mall store

Spread coconut flakes on a baking tray, put it on low heat and grill for 15-20mins.

Once it turns light brown, they're ready!

Warning…they're highly addictive!

Chia Porridge with Goji Berries (shared by Alvina Foo)

Ingredients:

3 tbsp Goji Berries

3 tbsp Honest to Goodness organic sultanas

2 tbsp organic cacao powder

2 tbsp raw honey

4 cups of organic almond milk ( may substitute with other milks)

3/4 cup Organic chia seeds

Toppings:

Any kind of berries eg strawberries

Goji berries

Toasted flake coconut 

(You can get most of these ingredients from our Nowra Mall's store, apart from the fruit and milk!)

Method:

• Blend all the ingredients apart from chia seeds in a blender for 1-2 minutes. 
• Pour in the chia seeds. Briefly mix it with a fork for 15 seconds. 
• Blend the mixture for 30 seconds to 1 minute or until chia seeds are thoroughly mixed. 
• Pour the mixture into a container. 

I generally prepare this the night before, because you need to give the chia seeds some time to "swell". In this case, at least 30-45minutes. Before serving, top the porridge up with berries, goji berries and lightly toasted flake coconut. And enjoy!!!

Homemade Chocolate - Dinosaurs and Stars (Shared by Alvina Foo)

Homemade Chocolate - Dinosaurs and Stars

Ingredients:
1 cup of organic cocao nibs or cocao powder
1 cup of organic apricots
1/2 cup of organic coconut oil
1/2 cup organic dessicated coconut
15mL of organic maple syrup (depending on the level of sweetness you prefer)
A handful of organic inca berries

You do not have to use organic if you don't want to. The reason I prefer to use them is because some of these products would otherwise contain sulphur dioxide (E220). My son is asthmatic and any asthmatics should avoid this additive as it can trigger breathing difficulties. It is also found to cause stomach upsets. Even though I'm not asthmatic, whenever I consume products with E220, I start getting wheezy. Therefore I try to avoid them. 

In regards to the maple syrup, 15mL is a very modest amount. Personally, I find that the apricots and the inca berries are going to add to the sweetness. You may prefer to use 20-25mL if you prefer your chocolate to be sweeter. 

 If you are using cocao nibs, pop them in a high powered blender and set it on High to reduce them to powder. The blender I used is Bio Chef Blender, this is 950W. Love it as it's not as expensive as some of the other ones and works as a food processor as well. If you're in the Nowra region and keen to get one, let us know as we can order one for you. 

Place the dessicated coconut in the grill and put it on low heat until it turns light brown. Keep an eye on it as it doesn't take long to toast them. They smell delicious when toasted!

Chop up the apricots.

• Heat up a small amount of water in a saucepan to create a water bath. Place the coconut oil in a glass container and melt the oil over the water. 
• Once the oil is melted completely, remove from the stove.  
• Mix in the cocao powder and maple syrup with the oil. Mix well. 
• If you do not have molds, line baking trays or any containers with grease paper. 
• Spread the chopped apricots and dessicated coconut on the baking trays or molds. I put an inca berry in each mold, as I like its tanginess. 
• Pour the chocolate mixture into the molds or tray. 
• Stick them in the freezer for 30 minutes to harden. If you're using anything else other than the molds, I recommend that you remove them from the freezer after about 15 minutes where it is still soft enough to break them into pieces before popping them back in the freezer again. 

And the results...

Chocolate Spread (Shared by Alvina Foo)

Chocolate Sprouted Seed Spread

Available at Blooms The Chemist Nowra Mall store

Ingredients:
1 cup of dates + 100mL of water
1 cup of sunflower seeds 
1 cup of pumpkin seeds
Half of the flesh from fresh coconut
1 cup of sultanas
1 1/3 cup of cacao powder
1 vanilla bean
A pinch of sea salt
3/4 cup of water



Method:

• Soak the seeds in water for 6-8 hours. 
• Soften the dates by soaking in 100mL of water. 
• Drain the water from the seeds and give them a rinse. Pour the seeds and 1/4 cup of water into the Blender.
• Set it to "high", blend till you get a gritty texture. Transfer the seed paste into a large mixing bowl. 



Coconut Flesh

• Add the coconut flesh, dates (and the water that the dates were soaked in), sultanas, salt and the remaining water into the blender.
• Use a small sharp knife to split the vanilla bean lengthways, then scrape the seeds from inside the bean into the blender.
• Blend until it becomes a paste, transfer it into the same mixing bowl as the seeds.
• Add the cacao powder and mix with a wooden spoon until well blended.

Chocolate Sprouted Seed Spread

A word about sprouting…

Just in case you were wondering why I soaked the seeds. 

Seeds and nuts contain enzyme inhibitors, these enzyme inhibitors allow the seeds to be in hibernation. Otherwise, we'd be buying potplants rather than seeds! 

By soaking the seeds, we start the germinating process. This process changes the composition of the seeds:

• It increases nutrients especially Vitamin B groups.
• It produces Vitamin C.
• It unlocks various minerals and make it available for the body to absorb. 
• It releases digestives enzymes such as proteases and papaine. 

The Dinosaur Smoothie (serves 5)

The Dinosaur Smoothie

This is named by my daughter.


Blend the following in 2 batches. You need a high powered Blender for this. I use BioChef Blender.

1/2 pineapple
2 Lebanese cucumbers
1 zucchini
1 apple
1 lime
2 handful of spinach
2 tsp organic super green powder
1 banana
1 avocado
8 ice cubes