Apple and Almond Cake (gluten free, dairy free)

These school holidays came and went in a whirlwind of park visits, skateboarding, basketball, soccer, play dates, bush walks, camp fires and bike rides.

It is my pleasure and joy to be raising three gorgeous humans who need enormous amounts of physical activity each day. It’s like constantly moving is their oxygen and absolutely essential for their survival. 

I am a slow learner, however, and always start off school holidays in the exact same, girly way.

“Boys, lets stay in today. Let’s have a PJ day, watch movies, play with toys, sip hot drinks and catch up on how each other is going. It’s been such a busy term, let’s just go slow today.”

This works NEVER.

And I am declaring it publicly so that you will remind me before the next holidays roll around NOT TO DO THIS AGAIN.

By 9.30am on Day 1 of holidays, I have ordered all cushions back on lounges instead of being used as weapons, I have yelled things like “please get off your brothers head/please take the ball outside/please stop yelling at each other/the house is not a gymnasium/get that skateboard outside/no, you cannot have WIFI yet/you can’t shoot water guns inside/stop swinging on the chair/I asked you to get off your brothers head.”

And then, we all get promptly dressed, pack the car with bikes, skateboards, RC cars, basketballs and soccer balls and head to the park. 

Peace at last. 

After a couple of days we did get into our holiday rhythm and enjoyed time with extended family and friends amongst many activities.

As exhausted as I am at trying to keep up with them during holiday time, I realise these years with our boys are precious as we make memories and experience stuff together. I know I will look back on them with fondness, remembering the time spent together more than how tired I felt. I hope so anyway.

One of our favourite days was spent with friends picking apples at an orchard. I felt like a real country bumpkin in my cowgirl boots, carrying my red bag and filling it with all types of apples, while recipe ideas swam through my head. Meanwhile the boys ran, climbed the trees to get the best apples, jumped on tractors, ran some more and picked as many apples as they could.

11 kilos in total.

Yes folks, this is the first of a few recipes coming your way with apples as the star ingredient. 

I think Apple Picking may indeed become an Autumn school holiday tradition in our house. 

This very simple, one bowl cake from the Healthy Chef, Teresa Cutter, has minimal ingredients and is a moist, almost friand-like cake. It’s beautiful warm, and if you can have dairy, served with cream or custard.

As school went back today, I thoroughly enjoyed making it, eating it slowly, still warm from the oven and then opening my computer and writing about it. And I did all of that without uttering one word. 

I feel better already. 

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Apple and Almond Cake (dairy free and gluten free)
Serves 8
An apple and almond, friand-like cake, with a hint of orange and honey.
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Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
50 min
Total Time
1 hr
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
50 min
Total Time
1 hr
Ingredients
  1. 2 cups (200 grams) almond meal, (or hazelnut meal)
  2. 1 teaspoon baking powder, gluten free
  3. 1/4 cup light olive oil
  4. 1/4 cup honey
  5. zest of 1 orange
  6. 2 eggs
  7. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
  8. 1 large apple, peeled, cored and finely diced
  9. flaked almonds to garnish
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees celsius.
  2. Line a 16cm or 20cm round baking tin with baking paper, on the bottom and sides.
  3. Combine almond meal, baking powder, oil, honey, eggs, zest and vanilla in a mixing bowl and stir to thoroughly combine.
  4. Fold in the apple.
  5. Press into the tin and scatter with a handful of flaked almonds.
  6. Bake for approx 50 minutes, or until golden and the middle springs back when pressed lightly.
  7. Let stand in the tin for 30 mins to cool.
  8. Enjoy warm or at room temperature.
Adapted from The Healthy Chef
Adapted from The Healthy Chef
cook fast eat slow https://www.cookfasteatslow.com/

Ann’s Silver beet Pie (vegetarian)

There’s a story in our family that goes something like this…..

My parents were away and I was at home alone with my older sister, while my young brother was staying with friends. 

I would like to think I wasn’t very old when this took place, but the family reminds me that I was in my mid-teens. 

In my attempt to keep the normal home routine going (and probably a little because I was missing them), I went about the jobs that I thought my mum did each day. I remember wearing her apron and sweeping the floor a lot, but I can’t remember much more than that. 

Other than soak silver beet.

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In my mind, there always seemed to be a sink full of silver beet soaking, so I took it upon myself to keep this important tradition going in my mother’s absence. 

Apparently after a few days, with a bit of an odd smell emanating from the kitchen, my sister discarded the over-soaked silver beet. 

This story makes me smile. A little with embarrassment, as I clearly had no idea what I was doing. But also because it reminds me of the power of food in our lives and stories. In my mothers absence, there was obviously something comforting about doing what she did that made me feel just a little closer to her, even though we were apart. 

My mother’s Silver beet Pie was a simple staple in our home and we all loved it. 

I was therefore a little shocked when I served it up to my boys, with the story of how loved it was in my home growing up, that they didn’t feel the same way. 

This is the first recipe I have posted on cook fast eat slow that my boys don’t like, but I decided to post it anyway.

Because I love it. Because I loved it as a little girl. And so did my brother and sister. 

This simple, cheap, vegetarian dish is so easy to make and highlights a wonderful and nutritious leafy green vegetable that we often don’t know what to do with. A relative of the beetroot family, silver beet often gets confused with spinach. The distinctive white stems of silver beet help tell it apart from English Spinach or Baby Spinach. Where english or baby spinach can be consumed raw, the leaves and stems of silver beet need to be lightly cooked by steaming or sautéing, before eating. 

Ann's Silver beet Pie
Serves 6
A filling of silver beet and cheese in between layers of puff pastry.
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Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
30 min
Total Time
40 min
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
30 min
Total Time
40 min
Ingredients
  1. 2 sheets of frozen store-bought puff pastry, thawed
  2. 1 bunch of silver beet (also known as swiss chard)
  3. 1 tablespoon olive oil
  4. 1 brown onion, peeled, finely diced
  5. 1 clove garlic, peeled, finely sliced
  6. 2 eggs
  7. 3/4 cup grated tasty cheese
  8. 1 teaspoon of grated nutmeg
  9. 1 egg yolk, extra, for brushing the pastry
  10. 2 tablespoons of sesame seeds
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.
  2. Wash the silver beet and roughly chop the stems and leaves. You may find it easier to soak it in a sink full of water and then drain.
  3. Put the silver beet in a saucepan and add a tiny bit of water.
  4. Place the lid on and over a medium heat, steam the spinach gently until lightly wilted. This will only take a few minutes.
  5. Drain, pressing down on the silver beet to remove as much moisture as possible and set aside to cool slightly.
  6. Using the same saucepan, heat the olive oil and gently sauté the onion and garlic over a medium heat until soft.
  7. Add to the silver beet and stir through the eggs, grated cheese and nutmeg.
  8. Line the base of a 20cm pie dish with one sheet of pastry.
  9. Add the silver beet mixture.
  10. Place the remaining piece of pastry on top, at a different angle to the bottom piece, to form a star shape pattern.
  11. Fold the edges of the pastry back on top of the pie, so that the filling is enclosed.
  12. Using a pastry brush, brush the egg yolk over the pastry and then sprinkle with sesame seeds.
  13. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until puffed and golden.
cook fast eat slow https://www.cookfasteatslow.com/

Bung-In Chocolate Cake (To Love and Feed Them)

It has occurred to me that when it comes to raising children, nothing can actually prepare you for each new season.

I don’t like this.

If at all possible, I would prefer 12 months notice on All Issues That Will Arise with each of my children. Then I could plan, research, study, hold focus groups and interrogate All Those Who Have Gone Before and demand their wisdom and insights. I could search for the people who have experienced the exact same thing that my kids will and ask them “What do I do?”

But alas no. Reality is more like at 9.45pm at night or as we are running out the door to school late, again, BAM, I’m blind-sided by New Issue that I am totally unprepared for.

I don’t think this feeling of being unprepared is specific to any one season. Whether it’s trying to feed a new baby, or help them learn to sleep, or navigate relationships and technology with teenagers, it’s almost impossible to prepare for how it will look for your kids and your family.

I don’t like this. As I previously mentioned.

So, as I often tell my kids, I am learning to embrace the things I Don’t Like and work out how to get through anyway.

It’s looking a lot more like thinking on your feet, getting it wrong, getting it right the next time, rolling with the punches, counting to 10, walking away, keeping my mouth shut, smiling in front of them and crying once they’re in bed, pretending I’m an expert in said issue while inwardly hoping they can’t see through me, telling them I don’t have all the answers, letting things that don’t matter go, going to sleep thankful a bad day is over and waking up thankful each new day starts with new grace and mercies for myself and for my kids.

Recently I did receive a beautiful text message from One Who Has Gone Before, who has/is raising boys older than mine. Not only is she surviving, but she seems to be doing it with bucket loads of grace and humor. I want to be just like her.

On a particularly discouraging day, as we had started to navigate the tween and teen years, she sent me this advice. Simple but Gold.

1. Keep a sense of humour.
2. Don’t take them too seriously, or take their “moods” personally.
3. Give them space and independence when you can.
4. Encourage good friendships.
5. Above all, keep loving them (NOT always easy)
6. Never stop praying.

I have considered getting it written on a canvas and placing it somewhere I can see it each morning.

And on the days when I seriously don’t know what to do, I try and focus on what I can do.

Love them and Feed them.

Sometimes that has to be enough.

Kate Bracks Bung-In Chocolate Cake
Serves 10
an easy one bowl plain, moist and fluffy chocolate cake.
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Prep Time
30 min
Cook Time
40 min
Total Time
1 hr 10 min
Prep Time
30 min
Cook Time
40 min
Total Time
1 hr 10 min
Ingredients
  1. 2 cups self raising flour
  2. 1 cup caster sugar
  3. 1/3 cup cocoa powder
  4. 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  5. 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  6. 1 1/3 cups milk
  7. 150 grams butter, melted
  8. Icing
  9. 1 1/4 cups icing sugar mixure
  10. 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
  11. 30 grams butter, melted
  12. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  13. 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.
  2. Grease a 20cm round cake tin with baking paper, on the base and sides.
  3. Place all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk with a hand balloon whisk to combine (this replaces having to sift all the ingredients)
  4. Make a well in the centre, and add the wet ingredients.
  5. Whisk gently until the mixture is smooth and combined.
  6. Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 40-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.
  7. Cool into the tin for 10 minutes and then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.
  8. To make the icing, sift the icing sugar and cocoa powder together in a small bowl.
  9. Add the melted butter and vanilla and enough milk to get it to a smooth, spreadable consistency. Add more milk if it's too thick.
  10. Spread the icing over the cooled cake.
Notes
  1. This cake will keep for 3-4 days in an airtight container.
Adapted from The Sweet Life
Adapted from The Sweet Life
cook fast eat slow https://www.cookfasteatslow.com/

Chewy Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Sea Salt (gluten, grain and dairy free)

When you read the ingredient list for these cookies, you can’t possibly believe that they turn out as good as they do. 

A weekend baking treat for those who live on restricted diets for health reasons, or for anyone who wants to try a different method of baking, without using flour or grains of any kind. 

The sugar used in this recipe is coconut sugar, but if you wanted to make them and you don’t have it, you can substitute raw sugar. Coconut sugar is currently trending as a sugar that is ‘not refined’ and therefore better for you than refined or processed sugars. At the end of the day, it’s still sugar and we shouldn’t be eating heaps of it. If you have blood sugar problems, then these biscuits are still probably not the best thing for you.  However, compared to store-bought biscuits and other recipes, these are overall lower in sugar.

To make these dairy free, you just need to use a good quality 70% – 85% dark chocolate or a dairy free chocolate that is available in most supermarkets these days. 

They are loved by all in this house…the only issue is this recipe makes approx 13, which means they don’t last long for a family of 5!

This recipe is from www.slimpalate.com 

Chewy Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Sea Salt
Serves 12
A chewy chocolate cookie that is gluten, grain and dairy free
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Prep Time
5 min
Cook Time
12 min
Total Time
17 min
Prep Time
5 min
Cook Time
12 min
Total Time
17 min
Ingredients
  1. 1 cup almond butter (this can be purchased in the supermarket in the Health Food section or speads isle)
  2. 3/4 coconut or raw sugar
  3. 1 egg
  4. 1 egg yolk
  5. 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  6. 1 teaspoon baking soda (bi-carb soda)
  7. 1/4 teaspoon salt
  8. 100 grams good quality dark chocolate, chopped into small chunks
  9. sea salt for sprinkling
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.
  2. Line 1 large baking tray with baking paper, or 2 smaller trays. The biscuits need room to spread.
  3. Place the almond butter in a medium size bowl.
  4. Whisk together the egg and egg yolk in a separate small bowl.
  5. Stir the sugar into the almond butter, then add baking soda, salt and vanilla and stir until thoroughly mixed.
  6. Add the egg mixture and stir again.
  7. Fold through the chopped chocolate.
  8. Place a heaped dessert spoonful of mixture into the palm of your hand, roll into a ball and place on tray. Lightly flatten.
  9. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes. They will be ready when they are slightly golden, firm on top and have spread.
  10. Remove from oven, lightly sprinkle the top of each cookie with sea salt and leave to cool for 10 minutes on the trays.
  11. These will last a couple of days in an airtight container.
Notes
  1. The Almond Butter I use for these cookies is the Macro brand from Woolworths and is called Almond Spread. The ingredients is 100% raw almonds.
Adapted from Slim Palate
Adapted from Slim Palate
cook fast eat slow https://www.cookfasteatslow.com/

Slow Cooker Massaman Beef

If there is a dish my husband almost always orders when we indulge in Thai takeaway, it is Massaman Beef Curry. 

So that we didn’t only enjoy it on the odd occasion we had takeaway, I gave myself the challenge of finding a good recipe we could make ourselves at home, and ideally, one the boys would eat too.

I have played around with a recipe I found on TASTE.com

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What I was looking for was a recipe that wasn’t too spicy for the kids, that didn’t have a whole lot of palm or brown sugar (most Thai restaurant dishes do), a sauce that wasn’t too runny and a dish that had more veggies than the one you normally get in a Thai Restaurant. Also, a one pot, slow cooker version was essential too!

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Happy to report, this is the winner right here.

Enjoy x

 

 

Slow Cooker Massaman Beef
Serves 6
A mild beef curry, slow cooked, with carrots, potato and cauliflower
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Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
5 hr 30 min
Total Time
5 hr 45 min
Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
5 hr 30 min
Total Time
5 hr 45 min
Ingredients
  1. 1kg gravy beef, fat trimmed, kept in large pieces (the meat stays more moist like this)
  2. 1 brown onion, peeled, thinly sliced
  3. 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  4. 1 cinnamon stick
  5. 6 cardamon pods, (bruised with the back of a knife to open up)
  6. 1/4 cup massaman curry paste
  7. 2 kaffir lime leaves
  8. 400ml can coconut cream
  9. 1/4 cup fish sauce
  10. 2 large carrots, roughly chopped
  11. 1/2 head of cauliflower, roughly chopped
  12. 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and roughly chopped (this will go all mushy, thickening and flavouring the sauce)
  13. 3 medium potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
  14. juice of 1 lime
  15. fresh coriander and chopped cashews or peanuts to serve
Instructions
  1. Place all ingredients, except lime juice, in the slow cooker.
  2. Cook for 5 hours. If using a low setting, cook for about 7.
  3. Remove the lid and cook for another 30 minutes. This will thicken and reduce the sauce.
  4. Remove the cinnamon stick and cardamon pods.
  5. Stir through the lime juice.
  6. Using a fork, roughly shred the beef into smaller pieces if you wish.
  7. Serve with Basmati rice, coriander and nuts.
Notes
  1. This dish freezes really well. Just leave the coriander and nuts out before you freeze.
  2. This is a very mild, kid friendly, version of a traditional Massaman curry. Add more curry paste if you would like it more spicy.
Adapted from TASTE.com
Adapted from TASTE.com
cook fast eat slow https://www.cookfasteatslow.com/