Baking Without Baby - Coffee & Walnut Swiss Roll - dairy free, gluten free, soya free

Sometimes you have an itch you've just GOT to scratch - that's me with this coffee and walnut swiss roll.

YUM!

The coffee swiss roll recipe originated from 'Lainey Bakes' recipe (see here).

All I added was some walnuts!! I also swapped espresso powder for coffee essence. I *may* have upped the amount of coffee, as I like my coffee!

Oh, and I upped the quantities, because I had a larger swiss roll tin!!

Ingredients:

4 Eggs (as fresh as you can get them)
100 g Caster Sugar
100 g Doves Farm Gluten Free Self Raising Flour
4 tsp Coffee Essence (to make it caffeine free, for kids, you could sub with 2 tsp strong instant decaf coffee, mixed with a little boiled water and cooled)
50g Walnut Pieces (for the cake)
Betty Crocker Ready Made Coffee Icing
or 
Betty Crocker Vanilla Buttercream Style Icing, with coffee essence to taste
6 Halved Walnuts (for the decoration)
1 tbsp Icing Sugar (to sprinkle)

Method:

1. Line your swiss roll tin with parchment paper or grease proof paper and warm your oven to 200 degrees (fan) or Gas 6.

2. Whisk eggs and sugar together, until light and frothy.

3. Mix in your coffee essence.

4. Sift in the flour and fold it in.

5. Break up the walnut pieces into small pieces and gently combine with the mixture.

6. Empty the mixture into your swiss roll tin, taking care to spread to the sides and corners. 

7. Put it in the oven to bake for 10-12 minutes, until it is golden brown and bounces back again when you press it firmly with your finger - by this time it should be coming away from the sides.

8. Spread some grease proof paper over a clean surface (I weight mine either side with knives, to stop it rolling back again). Empty the swiss roll from the tin, and peel off the grease proof paper.

9. Trim about one and a half cm of each side of the swiss roll and cut a line about 2-3 cm from one end of the swiss roll. You don't want to cut all the way through, just about halfway.

10. Tightly roll up the swiss roll in the grease proof paper until is has mostly cooled, you can clip the ends if you like, to help it stay rolled together. (See this post for visuals.)

11. Unroll the swiss roll and spread the butter cream-style icing over the surface, then use the grease proof sheet to help roll the swiss roll tightly together again.

12. Pipe six generous blobs along the top of the swiss roll and top each with half a walnut. Dust with icing sugar, if so desired.

I find that placing the Swiss roll in the fridge, in a plastic container, helps the cake to keep 4-5 days, and in hot weather, helps to firm up the icing.

Slice to serve

Please note: 

This post is not an advert. I have not been paid to write this post. I am not sponsored in any way, even by advertising. I do not receive products free to review, although I have often been offered them. This is to try and maintain an unbiased approach. Any products listed in this post are here purely because they genuinely are the products we have used and enjoy consuming. They are included here merely to point people who are new to suitable products that they too may enjoy. All views expressed are my own (unless I've asked for The Hub's or Kiddo's). I try to tell is 'as-it-is'.

Simple Stir Fry with Coconut Aminos - Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Soya Free

One dish I used to love preparing, in the days pre-Baby, was stir fry - very quick, very easy and can be made in a multitude of ways, according to whatever ingredients you have available. It's made even easier, when you can whack in a ready made sauce! 

It was off the menu for a while in our house, because although we managed to find rice-based noodles, ready made stir fry sauces can be harder to obtain, if you are gluten and soya free!

However... thanks to a relative newcomer to our store cupboard - Coconut Aminos, stir fry is back on the menu - just so long as we use veggies that Kiddo will eat.

So here's how we do it:

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts/pack of kind size Prawns 

Olive Oil

Sesame Oil (if you can't use sesame, just use Olive Oil)

2 carrots or 2 handfuls of mixed frozen veg.

3 spring onions

2 packets gluten free rice noodles (we use Amoy - specifically labelled 'gluten free') OR 

2  packets pre-prepared rice (we use Tilda, as it is labelled gluten free)

2 eggs (optional)

2 tbsp Coconut Aminos (I get mine from Amazon, but you can find them in Holland and Barrett and Ocado)

You will need a large frying pan or wok, to cook this dish.

Method:

1. Clean and chop veggies, fairly finely, so that they are easy to cook - carrot cooks easily when sliced into ribbons with a peeler - not so much when in big chunks. 

2. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 of sesame oil in a pan. Add the raw chicken/prawns and cook on a medium heat, until they are cooked. Whilst cooking keep stirring and turning meat/prawns, to ensure that they are evenly cooked. 

3. If you want to add egg, clear a space in the pan, break them into the pan, and stir them into a scramble. Then remove meat and eggs into a bowl.

4. Replenish oil, before adding in your veggies. Cook for a further three-five minutes, or so before adding the noodles, and keep stirring for another three minutes or so!

5. Add the meat/prawns back in and a couple of tablespoons of Coconut Aminos. Make sure everything is mixed together well, before serving, into bowls. 

Perfectly easy and great for swift summer dining!

Then Enjoy!

Please note: 

This post is not an advert. I have not been paid to write this post. I am not sponsored in any way, even by advertising. I do not receive products free to review, although I have often been offered them. This is to try and maintain an unbiased approach. Any products listed in this post are here purely because they genuinely are the products we have used and enjoy consuming. They are included here merely to point people who are new to suitable products that they too may enjoy. All views expressed are my own (unless I've asked for The Hub's or Kiddo's). I try to tell is 'as-it-is'.

Related Posts:

Simple Sausage Pasta







What shall we have for dinner?






A pud would be good!

Simple Sausage Pasta Bake

Quick disclaimer: just so you know, if you're expecting Cordon Bleu food, you'll be sadly disappointed. This post is for those of us who need something more 'low maintenance'! 

I've been meaning to add this recipe to the blog for a while. It's a simple recipe to make and I love simple! It basically involves one dish, and a saucepan in which to cook the pasta, so less washing up... and what's not to like about that?

Quick, easy, simple and delicious!

I may have mentioned before that Kiddo can err on the fussy side. 

Well, in actual fact she's getting a lot better about these things, but we still need to find ways to disguise the veg. in her life, which is where this little pasta bake comes in quite handy. 

At the moment, Kiddo says this dish is her favourite!

Little does she know, that's she's eating far more veg. than she realises!

You see we make it with the Dolmio hidden veg sauce - any other extraneous veg I try to include gets left behind in her bowl (unless its her good old favourite - carrots). 

Just to give you an idea of quantities in terms of persons this dish could feed, now that Kiddo has a good appetite, this serves us three with very little left over.

Ingredients:

1 pack of 6 sausages 

250g dried pasta 

1 tablespoon of cooking oil

1 jar of tomato-based pasta sauce 

A couple of handfuls of fresh or frozen mixed veg. of your choice.

A couple of handfuls of grated cheese

Method:

1. Put a pan of water on to boil (for the pasta) and preheat the oven according to the instructions on the sausage packet. 

2. Cook sausages according to packet instructions (I usually use Heck Pork Sausages, or Rankin's or Tesco Finest). If you use the dish you want to eventually contain the whole bake, it saves on washing up!

3. Pour the dried pasta (I usually use Tesco or Sainsbury's free from pasta - usually Fusili, but Penne also works well) into a pan of boiling water. Cook according to instructions, then drain.

4. Once sausages are cooked, drain off any excess oil, and chop them into bite-sized pieces.

5. Add the drained pasta, the jar of tomato-based pasta sauce (Dolmio hidden veg in our case) and a few handfuls of frozen or fresh chopped veg. of your choice. I often add sweetcorn, peas, chopped carrot or pepper. Use two forks to 'toss' the ingredients together, ensuring that you achieve an even mix of the ingredinets.

6. Top with grated cheese (I use Daiya shredded mozzarella-style cheese - see here).

7. Return dish to the oven for another ten to fifteen minutes - to melt the cheese.

8. Serve into bowls and Bon Appetit!

Please note: 

This post is not an advert. I have not been paid to write this post. I am not sponsored in any way, even by advertising. I do not receive products free to review, although I have often been offered them. This is to try and maintain an unbiased approach. Any products listed in this post are here purely because they genuinely are the products we have used and enjoy consuming. They are included here merely to point people who are new to suitable products that they too may enjoy. All views expressed are my own (unless I've asked for The Hub's or Kiddo's). I try to tell is 'as-it-is'.

Related Posts:

Lamb Casserole

Simple Shepherd's Pie

Sausage Casserole

Yes you can!! Skiing with food allergies - Gluten Free, Dairy Free

"Oo! Look! You can get a ski-through Mc Donald's in Sweden... and they do gluten free!" 

It was something that I saw on a friend's Facebook news feed.

Little did I know it, but that was all the encouragement The Hub needed! Before I knew it, he'd done some research and booked the entire trip!

I know! Close my jaw for me, why don't you??

We flew in via Oslo, Norway (because that was the nearest airport), and hired a car. A two to three hour drive and we were there!

The Ski Lodge lit up for Christmas

The Ski Lodge in which we stayed, is run by Ski Star, who run the entire resort. We stayed in Salen (pronounced Sollen), but they have other resorts elsewhere.

Now, normally I don't blog about places we have stayed - usually I just head straight to Trip Advisor and post them there, but for this trip, I have made an exception. This is partly because travelling abroad can be fraught with difficulties, and worry, but this place was so great, I'd really recommend it. However, also, I think that this post illustrates how you can still do things that you loved doing before life with allergies took over.

Comfy apartment.

We stayed in an apartment that was in a large complex. However, on the inside, it's all very cosy and tasteful.

The kitchen is bijoux

The kitchen is small, but contains enough for a week, including a dishwasher. You might decide against using the cast iron frying pan as you can't guarantee who's used it and what is therefore in the patina. There's no oven, in these particular apartments, but there is a hob and a combi microwave. Although there isn't a freezer space in the apartment itself, there is a freezer in the ski and boot room.

Loads of space for dairy free ice cream!

We made sure we wrapped our freezer food in an extra bag to avoid any cross contamination and placed it in the top drawer to avoid anything else that might potentially drip down. In actual fact, not many people seemed to use it.

Padlock obtainable from Reception for the boot locker

Food was very easy to come by! The supermarket was just across the car park from the Ski Lodge. Although 'out in the sticks' it contained a good range of dairy free and gluten free food, including Oatly ice cream (unavailable in the UK). For further detail on this, read this post).

Bit like the Tardis, the supermarket holds more than you'd think!

The Free From aisle was bigger than some UK supermarkets! There was also a Free From section in the freezer, and the chiller!

Free From aisle!

One of the things I loved about the ski lodge, was the fact that The Hub and I could have a cheeky Apres ski refreshment in the Ski Lodge bar, as just across from the bar was a small children's play area. Staying in the lodge, meant that once we had set up an ipad baby monitor, we could also sneak down once Kiddo was asleep!

Cheers!

There was also: 

• a pool complete complete with slides, jacuzzi, heated outdoor pool, toddler pool & wave machine
• sauna
• a shopping arcade
• a bowling alley
• a coffee shop
• restaurants (not that we tried them out)
• a spa
• a laundrette
• ski hire
• ski parks 
• a cinema... 

I could go on, but if you've ever been to Centre Parcs, just imagine THAT with snow and mountains... right outside your back door, because that's where the green runs started!! 

Ski school starts right on the doorstep!

In terms of skiing, for me and Kiddo it was perfect. The Hub, who is a much more adventurous skier, might have preferred more challenging runs, but as we went early season, they weren't all open. However, that said, there was certainly enough there to keep us occupied for a week. This was helped along as more slopes became available as the week progressed - due to the piste keepers continually working on opening more slopes, whilst snow cannons constantly produced more snow.

There was an extra special bonus element to skiing in Sweden, in the early part of the season. As it gets darker much earlier in the day, there's a whole series of lights to keep you skiing until around 6pm, which was great fun. In fact, the green slope at the back of the lodge is covered with kids right up to the end of the day and beyond! Once the ski lift stops, out come the sledges (you can borrow one from Reception)!!

Sledges are great for transporting worn out Kiddos!!

The Swedes are very friendly and great with kids. There's no snobbery - everyone hangs out with their kids on the slopes (they encourage them to ski/snowboard from a VERY young age - think toddlers), and there are warm rooms (Varmestuga) with picnic facilities, microwaves and clean toilets.

I've tried skiing a few times since food allergies hit and for me, this was the best place I've been, so far, in terms of time on snow and catering. Okay, the scenery wasn't Matterhorn-esque, but we were there for the snow and the skiing, and we did far more of that than we had in other places, because it was all so convenient and close, so it was all good! 

Just by way of comparison, the first time we tried skiing with food allergies, we stayed in a catered chalet, in France. In those days, we were 'just' dealing with dairy. The chalet staff were young and inexperienced and although they had a folder to give them ideas, it was all a bit hit and miss, and I really relied on the bank of food supplies that I had I taken 'just in case'. So we left it for a few years, until Kiddo was a bit older, before trying again. 

Our second attempt involved self-catering with family in Switzerland. We did find some good food options, however, the resort was spread out over a wide area, so we spent most afternoons wondering around trying to find the best places to source food. Whereas, in Salen, because everything was so close together, we were able to self-cater really easily, which maximised our time on the snow (as did the close proximity to the runs). In fact, we loved it so much, we can't wait to go back!!

Oh yes, and in case you're wondering, ski-through Mc Donald's, complete with gluten free burger, was ace!

Please note: 
This post is not an advert. I have not been paid to write this post. I am not sponsored in any way, even by advertising. I do not receive products free to review, although I have often been offered them. This is to try and maintain an unbiased approach. All views expressed are my own (unless I've asked for The Hub's or Kiddo's).

Related Posts:

Travelling with the Dairy Free Baby

Self-catering in Switzerland

Super little Swedish Supermarket

The Proof is in the Pudding!! Plum Upside-down Pudding - dairy free, gluten free, soya free, free from

Anyone who knows me and my Kiddo will know how often I've groaned about her inability to enjoy the simple things in life - such as fruit and veg. It really does not come naturally to her to eat the stuff, so often I've had to resort to various methods to get her to eat it. 

Carrot cake works (see here), as does chocolate beetroot cake (see here). 

Cake in fact, seems to be the way to go. 

Take for instance The Hub's recent bumper crop of plums...

Just a few of The Hub's crop!

Would Kiddo eat them raw, fresh from the tree?? 

No!!

Would she eat them in a crumble??

No!!

Upside-down cake??

Yup!!

It's a bit maddening, but anything to get her to eat fruit!!

Now upside-down pudding isn't something that normally inspires me - it conjures up too many images of school dinner puddings made with tinned pineapple slices... 

BUT!! Trust me - the plums give this dessert a much needed lift. AND I could see myself taking this dessert along to a family get-together, as I think it would travel a lot better than something like Banoffee Pie.

The pudding recipe I used was one I found online from Morrisons (link to original recipe here). It's super easy. The hardest bit was probably extracting the stones from the plums! 

We made a few modifications (Who doesn't?), in that we used a large over proof Pyrex dish rather than a baking tin, we used more plums than the recipe said (our plums were probably smaller than theirs), I left out the flaked almonds (we didn't have any in the cupboard), exchanged almond essence for vanilla (for the same reason) and exchanged normal flour for gluten free flour (Dove's Farm). 

Following about 35 minutes of baking, at 180 degrees, and the judicious use of a knife round the edge of the dish (to help release the cake), we ended up with this:

Straight from the oven...

What's not to love about this? 

Kiddo took one look at it, and fell in love straightaway. But, of course, the proof of a pudding (as we all know) is in the eating.

'All it needs,' thought I, 'is some of that Nature's Charm whipped coconut cream and we're good to go...' 

You can get this online!

....except that the pudding didn't last that long!! 

Proof, if needed, that this recipe is a good 'un!!


Look! Kiddo even came back for more!!

Can you tell she helped herself??? 

Please note: 

This post is not an advert. I have not been paid to write this post. I am not sponsored in any way, even by advertising. I do not receive products free to review, although I have often been offered them. This is to try and maintain an unbiased approach. All views expressed are my own (unless I've asked for The Hub's or Kiddo's). I try to tell is 'as-it-is'.

Other pud posts you may enjoy:

Banoffee Heaven

Easy Peasy Banana Custard

Autumnal Apple Crumble

Seven steps to Banoffee Pie Heaven - dairy free, gluten free and soya free!!

What!!! You've put bananas in it?!?!

Banoffee Heaven!

Kiddo was truly outraged! 

Like why on earth (in her humble opinion) would anyone ruin something so tasty sounding, by adding something as healthy as FRUIT??!!

But she, of course had never had Banoffee Pie, and the last time I ate one, was... well before she ever came along, for sure. If only I had known then, what I know now... well, I think I would have made sure I ate a whole lot more... whilst I still could!!

It's taken me a while, but finally, I have got 'round to making my own - dairy, gluten and soya free - thanks to a few key ingredients, which up until now, were not available to me!

Et voila!

Lookee here!

A while back, I noted, in a Free From magazine, that a Chinese Supermarket which also sells its products online, was now stocking dairy free condensed milk made from coconut. I was chuffed at the time, because I had been researching recipes online, so I could make dairy free condensed milk, so I could make my own caramel. BUT... anything that you can buy ready made... well why wouldn't you??

I took a while to get 'round to actually purchasing some, but by the time I did, I noticed their range had extended - to include some vital Banoffee ingredients: caramel sauce and whipping cream. 

Job's  a good 'un!! 

Thought I, and I promptly ordered some (from here, in case you're wondering*)!!

I then ordered my fave (and only suitable) digestives - Barkat's gluten free digestives (see here), which are also dairy free and soya free, then set to work!

Ingredients:

I pack Barkat digestive biscuits (150g)

65g Pure Sunflower margarine

2 large bananas

1 jar of coconut caramel sauce

1 tin of coconut whipping cream (chilled in advance)

1 bar Moo Free Chocolate

You will also need:

20 cm round non-stick tin with lift out base (greased)

Method:

1. Use a wooden rolling pin to take out your aggression on the packet of digestives, until you're left with fine crumbs. You can use a food processor, of course, but I find bashing biscuits rather therapeutic! 

2. Melt the margarine in a small saucepan, then combine with the breadcrumbs. Ease this mixture into the base of your tin. Use the back of a spoon, to pat it into place. Cover with cling film and leave in the fridge to chill for around 1/2 hour.

3. Take the base from the fridge and spread the contents of the jar of caramel sauce across the base.

4. Chop the bananas into even slices and spread across the layer of caramel.

5. Take the can of chilled whipping cream and whip at full speed, as per the instructions on the tin. You really do need to chill the coconut cream first. I left it in the fridge overnight. Alternatively, you could try making your own cream, using chilled coconut milk. I have done this in the past, and had variable results with other coconut milks, but this one did work.

6. Use a spatula to gently spread the cream over the layer of banana. Then grate some sprinkles of chocolate over the top. Job done!! Now you can either leave in the fridge to chill, or...

7. Remove from the tin, by placing the tin on an upturned dessert bowl, and gently, pushing the sides down, before lifting the base. Then just serve straight onto plates and tuck in! Of course, you could also just eat it straight from the baking tin, if you're desperate, but only if you're intending to eat it all yourself. However, I wouldn't advise the second approach. A pud like this, needs, nay deserves to be savoured in measured pieces - take it from me, you really can have too much of a good thing! ;)

* Oh and just to add, other places, besides the Chinese supermarket are also beginning to stock Nature's Charm. Ocado have had the evaporated milk and condensed milk on their system for a few weeks, but up until now, they didn't appear to be in stock. They now seem to be available and are on special offer, so what are you waiting for? Hopefully, these will prove so popular, that they'll soon add the caramel sauce and whipping cream to their range. Another place to look for these ingredients is Ethica - an online Vegan store.

Please note: 

This post is not an advert. I have not been paid to write this post. I am not sponsored in any way, even by advertising. I do not receive products free to review, although I have often been offered them. This is to try and maintain an unbiased approach. All views expressed are my own (unless I've asked for The Hub's or Kiddo's). I try to tell is 'as-it-is'.

Other pud posts you may enjoy:

Easy Peasy Banana Custard

Autumnal Apple Crumble