Category: Lunch

Chicken Noodle Soup

This meal is based on leftovers from the night before’s roast – which for us usually includes an organic / free range chicken, potatoes, kumara, pumpkin, parsnip, broccoli, cauli, mushrooms, roast garlic and carrots. I use the bones to make broth and the leftover veggies in the soup – so it only takes about 10 mins to put together!

serves 4-6

Ingredients

5-6 cups chicken broth or stock*

Oil (coconut or olive oil)

200g rice noodles (about half a standard size packet) – check ingredients to make sure GF (best is rice flour, water)

leftovers from roast chicken and veggies

Some extra greens if you have some handy – parsley, spinach, kale or silverbeet

what to do

*When you have removed all the meat from your roast chicken, simmer the bones in 1.5L water for around 3-4 hours. During the last hour you can add some garlic, tumeric, onion and veggie scraps like carrot tops, celery leaves, parsnip peels – whatever you have handy. Strain the liquid into a container to store in the fridge, and add a generous pinch of salt. Store your leftover chicken and veggies in a container in the fridge. Sometimes i save my veggie scraps, onion and garlic skins and freeze them to put in the broth.

In a deep pan or pot add a decent dollop of coconut oil or olive oil, add the leftover chicken and veggies – and some garlic and / or ginger if there wasn’t any with your leftovers.

Brown everything up a bit, then pour over the broth.

Bring to the boil. Add the rice noodles and simmer for 10 mins, or until cooked.

Stir the greens through last and season well with salt and pepper. If your broth tastes a bit lifeless, chances are it needs more salt!

This is one of my favorite breakfasts and when pulled together from the leftovers, doesn’t take any longer to make than a bowl of porridge!

Kayla

Zucchini Cheese – Dairy free, melty delicious cheese

I am a lover of all things cheese. Cheese is life. When cheese and life begin to clash, in my world, this is quite a problem. I am 99% dairy free, as my body does not love me eating dairy. The 1% allows for me to sometimes, eat cheese. I save my cheese eating for special occasions, like when we are at a function, event or family gathering and someone brings out the cheeseboard! I allow myself some cheese, and my body seems to be ok with this (and so i sternly tell it). But at home, when life calls for cheese, i am totally happy for this replacement.

Sincerely Yours,

A fellow Cheese Lover

Recipe Notes

coconut free

Use light olive oil instead

Vegan

Replace gelatine with an equal measure of agar-agar

Cheesy Flavour

I brought nutritional yeast to try in there because apparently it tastes cheesy, i’m more than happy to leave this out, it is not to my taste! So if you like nutritional yeast then some of that too.
Half a teaspoon onion and / or garlic powder can also make this next level, or sometimes I use garlic salt instead of regular. But i don’t always have these and it’s fine without. A pinch of smoked paprika can give a subtle smokey depth and a more yellowy colour. 

Gelatin

This ‘cheese’ is set with gelatin, make sure you choose a good quality, setting gelatin (I personally use Great Lakes Beef Gelatin) cheap supermarket gelatin can sometimes have a nasty flavour. I have tons of recipes on my blog that use good quality gelatin so you will have no trouble using it up! 

Storage

It stores in a sealed container in the fridge for about 5 days to a week. You can Freeze, but on defrosting it can be a little watery, so is best used for melting and adding to meals after that, rather than snacking. 

If you are after a delicious, cheesy dairy free meal, then my Mac and Cheese  is inspired by this recipe, I highly recommend you check it out! 

You could also use this cheese sauce recipe to make your cheese instead – (a few more ingredients but the flavour is next level!)  Use 2 Tablespoons gelatin to every 1.5 cups of cheese sauce. Heat the sauce, sprinkle the gelatin on and whisk through (or blitz in blender) until melted. Then set, as below in the recipe. 

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Dairy Free Zucchini Cheese

Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time10 mins
Keyword: AIP, allergy friendly, dairy free, easy recipe, egg free, grain free, paleo, SCD

Ingredients

  • 1 generous cup peeled diced raw zuchinni 2 small – med sized ones
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil i use refined coconut oil here because i don’t want my ‘cheese’ to have lingering notes of coconut!*
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice this makes it quite lemony but i like it this way, you could reduce slightly
  • 2 tablespoons gelatine**
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • Good shake of white pepper

Instructions

  • Steam the zucchini until tender (about 5 mins if its diced small) drain all water off, and keep in the hot pan.
  • Add the coconut oil to melt. Sprinkle the gelatine over the top and let it melt and dissolve in while stirring.
  • Add the rest of the ingredients.
  • blend up everything in your blender, food processor or stick blender. I have a taste and adjust seasoning accordingly.
  • I set ours in a mini silicone loaf pan so it make about 2 mini blocks of ‘cheese’. But set in a lined container of choice, that your are happy to store and slice your ‘cheese’ from that shape.
  • Takes a couple hours to set in the fridge. Stores in there in a sealed container for about 5 days to a week.

Notes

*coconut free? – use light olive oil instead
**vegan? You can replace gelatine with an equal measure of agar-agar

Kayla

Veggie Nachoes

Nachoes without meat OR beans! I’m not a huge fan of beans, i’d rather just eat veggies, so this is how we created our veggie nachoes, which came along well before we had kids, and has been a recipe I can easily adapt to suit the ever changing allergy needs of the family. Win!

 

Ingredients

Some in season root veggies – Carrot, pumpkin, kumara, potato (or whatever is in season – other veggies that work are capsicum, eggplant, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower)
Natural corn chips (ingredients corn & oil) or kumara chips

Sauce:
1 T chopped garlic
1/2 diced onion
1 diced capsicum (red, orange or yellow or a combo)
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp ground corriander
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 jar tomato puree
optional – chilli powder or fresh chilli
salt & pepper

Cheese or dairy free cheese
Sour cream / coconut yogurt / avocado

what to do

Dice veggies (carrot, pumpkin, Kumara, potato) into small cubes and roast them in olive oil until crispy.
Dice garlic, onion, capsicum and fry off in pan. Mix up equal parts cumin, smoked paprika and ground coriander (2tsp each) Add half to each the veggies in the pan and the veggies roasting in the oven and plenty of salt and pepper.
Add a jar of tomato purée to the onion capsicum mix on the stove and blend everything until smooth to make a tomato sauce (you can also leave chunky, but my small people would no doubt try and pick out the bits!)
Can also add some chilli, we prefer to so this at the table so the kids don’t moan in-case I make it too spicy!
Serve the roasted veggies on top of corn chips, covered in the tomato sauce, cheese and sour cream. – make dairy free by using zucchini cheese or dairy free cheese, and use coconut yoghurt with a squeeze of lemon and / or mashed avocado on top (pictured: zucchini cheese & coconut yoghurt)

Kayla

Waffles – Free from gluten, dairy, egg, nuts

So if you have been following me for a while, you will know that I’ve spent a good part of this year trying to create the perfect gluten, dairy, soy free but also egg and nut free waffle. And a month or so ago I finally cracked it. Well actually, that’s kind of a lie, I found this fantastic pancake recipe from one of my favourite real food blogs and decided to try and turn it into a waffle. Low and behold, it turned out perfect! there is nothing I could have done to make this recipe any better. So i really can’t take any credit for the everything free waffle recipe I spent so long trying to create, but I’m totally cool with that because it found me in the end!

All the credit goes to Buffy from Be Good Organics who created this stunning pancake recipe which I then turned into waffles. Here is the original pancake recipe, and below I will outline how I make it into waffles! The best part is I can serve this to the whole family and everyone loves it, gluten eating Dad and egg eating Chef Ashton included, and the best part is that our little guy Felix can enjoy the same breakfast as the rest of the family! He thinks its pretty cool and loves to partake in ‘build your own’ waffle Sunday when I lay out a bunch of condiments on the table and you can choose what to top your waffle with. (think blueberries, banana, kiwi fruit, maple syrup, seeds, dark chocolate, whipped coconut cream, coconut yoghurt, homemade chia jam, honey).

This makes 4 waffles and feeds our family of 4, with toppings.

Ingredients

1c buckwheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp himalayan pink salt
1 large ripe banana
1c + 1/4c coconut milk (or milk of choice)
1/4 lemon (juice & flesh)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 dates

Oil – for the waffle iron (this is the one and only place I use an oil spray)

what to do

Turn the waffle iron on and set to preheat. Grease the waffle iron, grease it real good, like i said this is the one time i use an oil spray instead of coconut oil because you really need to get into all the crevices. Trust me, you don’t want the waffle to stick!

Add all the ingredients into a blender or food processor, except the 1/4 cup milk – i put them all into a 1 litre glass jug and use my hand held blender. If it’s too thick add at the 1/4 cup milk. The consistency works best if its thick, but pour-able, with the help of a spoon.
Blend until all the ingredients are combined.

When the waffle iron is heated set it to your desired doneness (i like it a little brown, but not too much – which is about a 4 or 5 on my machine). Pour 1/4 of the mix in and close the lid. Obviously your waffle iron might be a different size to mine, so be the judge over whether that will be enough or too much. You don’t want it to overflow! I’m always so greedy and pour too much in the first two then the second two end up kinda stingy (the kids get those ones haha).

Remove each waffle with a spatula when done and place in a low temp oven until the others are cooked. While they cook, I chop and assemble the toppings (see above for suggestions) also some nice suggestions in the original recipe you could check out.

So there you have it, the most delicious egg and nut free (and all the other stuff free) waffle! I’m generally not a hue fan of a strong buckwheat flavour, but I don’t find the buckwheat flavour over powering at all in these.

If you are like us, and need options for egg free baking, you should definitely check out Be Good Organics, why reinvent the egg free baking wheel when you can just go there! Some seriously yum stuff, using good, quality, real food ingredients that I’m happy to feed my family.

Kayla

Meatballs – 4 ways

Ingredients

500g mince (lamb, beef or pork or a combo)
1 grated carrot
1 grated courgette (i use the ‘fine’ side of the grater)
Salt and pepper
Fresh herbs (whatever you have on hand)
1 Tbsp Finely chopped garlic

what to do

The grated veggies is what helps to hold the meatballs together in the absence of egg, if you can have egg however, by all means add one, it does help to bind the mix a bit extra.

Put all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and use your hands to combine everything together.

Meatballs and patties

Using a teaspoon to measure, roll into meatballs or shape into patties to your desired size.

Fry on medium heat and flip/turn when browned on one side. When I’m cooking meatballs I sometimes add
a ladle of water and pop the lid on the pan, to help cook them through, I let it evaporate then continue to brown them on all sides.

Meatball slice

Press the mixture into an oven dish and cook (fan-bake 180, 15 -20 mins) as one giant slab of meat! Then slice it to your desired size when its done.

 Meatloaf

Add ½ cup quinoa flakes to the mixture and
press into a loaf tin. If you are feeling fancy, line the loaf tin with bacon first then press the mix on top!. Fan bake 180 deg for 30 mins or until cooked through.

Kayla

Homemade Coconut Yoghurt

This makes just under 1 litre of coconut yoghurt, You might need to make sure your coconut cream is chilled, so you can scoop just the cream from the can. We don’t have to worry about that in Stratford, we have solid coconut cream and coconut oil pretty much all year round!

Ingredients

3 tins ‘essentials’ brand coconut cream (from countdown) or any coconut cream that lists only one or two ingredients: coconut extract, water.

1L glass jar or container (washed well with very hot water)

2 teaspoons probiotic powder (from a capsule or from a powdered probiotic)

1 Tablespoon sweetener (I use maple syrup)

what to do

Scoop the cream from the coconut cream and put into a small saucepan. Heat gently just to remove all the lumps and make it all smooth.

Take off the heat, make sure its only just luke warm. pour it into your jar or container. Then add the sweetener and probiotic.

Put the lid on and shake it. Place the jar in the oven with the oven light on, for 12 hours or overnight, this keeps it at a nice steady temp that’s not too hot or cold. (Make sure you tell the other family members about this or you might get up in the morning to find your coconut yoghurt has spent a long lonely night alone, in a cold, dark oven, when a well meaning spouse turns the light off before bed!)

Take it out and put straight in the fridge, it is ready to eat in another 6 or so hours when its properly chilled. Enjoy!

If you don’t have an oven light that works well (it turns out i might be quite privileged to have one of these?) then a hot water cupboard or a yoghurt maker will also work. With the yoghurt maker you need to make sure the water isn’t too hot and might need to change it once, after 6 hours in the winter.

Kayla

Crispy Hash browns |2 ingredients | egg free

These delicious crispy homemade hash browns are so easy to make. Only 2 ingredients (and one of them is salt!) These hash browns are made in the waffle iron, which makes them super quick, easy and fuss free. They are also gluten free, egg free and vegan, as well as free from all the other allergens.

I have no idea what inspired me to try and make a hash brown in the waffle iron, my first test I did, I used an egg to bind them, it worked ok but my fussiest child said it was ‘too eggy’ and one of my kids who was allergic to egg at the time, couldn’t have one. So I tried really squeezing the moisture out, and doing them without egg – and low and behold, it worked!

Nightshade / potato free?

If you are avoiding nightshades then you can make them using Kumara. You may not need to squeeze the Kumara as it doesn’t carry as much moisture as potatoes.

Type of potatoes

The type of potatoes you use also makes a difference, I always use agria potatoes, or any potato that has a yellowish flesh and floury texture. Don’t use the ‘white washed’ potatoes from the supermarket – they tend to go a bit gluey in the middle.

These make a fantastic breakfast or lunch. A great substitute for toast, and even go nicely instead of bread with soups! You can serve on their own or with fried mushrooms and spinach, poached eggs, or crispy bacon, tomatoes and avocado.

You can find more easy, nourishing breakfast ideas here.

If you make this don’t forget the tag me on Facebook and Instagram, and use the hashtag #chefashtonnz

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Crispy Homemade Hash Browns | Vegan | gluten free | 2 ingredients

These delicious crispy homemade hash browns are so easy to make. Only 2 ingredients (and one of them is salt!) These Gluten free hash browns are made in the waffle iron.
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time20 mins
Course: Breakfast, lunch, lunchbox, Main Course, Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: coconut free, dairy free, egg free, gluten free, grain free, hash brown, hash browns, hashbrowns, nut free, waffle hash brown, waffle iron
Servings: 4

Equipment

  • Waffle iron

Ingredients

  • 4-8 large Potatoes
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

  • Finely grate the potato (I use the smallest size on by box grater) and place into a large bowl.
  • Sprinkle with salt and leave to sit for a few minutes. The salt helps to draw the moisture out.
  • Preheat your waffle iron to high.
  • Place the grated potato into the middle of a muslin cloth, a cotton cloth, or old cotton shirt, a nut milk bag, or a clean tea towel.
  • Bring the edges up and around the potato, and squeeze like you’ve never squeezed before! Until all the liquid and moisture is squeezed from the potatoes.
  • Tip the mix back into your bowl and season with a little more salt, and pepper if desired. Grease the waffle iron with a little olive oil on the bottom.
  • Scoop ¼ of the mix out and pack into the waffle iron. Lightly swig some olive oil over the top. Close the lid tightly and leave to cook for about 5 minutes, or until the hash brown is brown and crispy.

Kayla

Paleo Waffles | Easy recipe only 4 Ingredients

These delicious paleo waffles only require 4 healthy ingredients and are so quick and simple to whip up. Thick, fluffy and perfect for weekend brunch! They freeze great and can be pulled on out busy mornings to reheat in the toaster. Also great to make ahead for lunchboxes too.

All you need is bananas, peanut butter, eggs and a smidge of coconut flour. That simple!

This makes about 3 – 4 waffles – depending on the size of your waffle iron, how much you spill from overfill and how many children you had helping to throw ingredients all over the bench (the struggle is real!).

Can you make them nut free?

Yes. You can omit the peanut butter and the waffles still turn out nice.

How do you grease a waffle iron without using non-stick oil spray?

Most non stick oil sprays contain hugely refined and processed vegetable oils. We try to avoid these types of oils as they are not good for our health. Though that sometimes comes at the cost of convenience! If you are looking for a way to grease a waffle iron with out non-stick spray you can use whatever healthy oil you like (olive oil, melted coconut oil, butter) melt it in a little ramekin and use a silicone pastry brush to brush the oil on.

We love these paleo waffles, but due to increasing food restrictions of my family, I had to develop another recipe too. If you are after a nut free, gluten free, dairy free, and egg free waffle, I totally have you covered on that, you can find that recipe here.

If you make any of my recipes don’t forget to tag me on Facebook or Instagram. And if you have any questions about the recipe, or anything else don’t hesitate to ask!

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Easy 4 Ingredient Paleo Waffles

These delicious paleo waffles only require 4 healthy ingredients and are so quick and simple to whip up. They freeze great and can then be pulled on out busy mornings to reheat in the toaster. Great for making ahead to go in lunchboxes too.
Prep Time10 mins
Course: Breakfast, celebration, Dessert, Main Course, Snack, treats
Cuisine: American
Keyword: coconut free, dairy free, easy recipe, gluten free, grain free, paleo, quick, soy free, waffle, waffles
Servings: 4 Waffles

Equipment

  • Waffle iron

Ingredients

  • 2 medium bananas
  • 2 Tablespoons peanut butter
  • 3 Tablespoons coconut flour
  • 3 Eggs

Instructions

  • Preheat your waffle iron following the manufacterers instructions.
  • Combine all the ingredients in your blender, and blend.
  • Let sit for 5 – 10 minutes to let the coconut flour do its thing.
  • Grease your waffle iron. Carefully pour into your waffle iron making sure not to overfill it.
  • Cook until waffles are golden brown and crisp. Top with your choice of toppings, our favourites are chia berry jam, berries (fresh or frozen) and whipped coconut cream.

Kayla

Hummus |The Best Easy Homemade Hummus

This hummus recipe is not only fast and easy, it’s creamy and delicious. Its gluten free, dairy free, egg free and nut free, and an all round allergy friendly dip.

Hummus from the supermarkets often have added sugar, vegetable oils and preservatives. Not to mention the homemade version tastes way better, and avoids any cross contamination issues with wheat or nuts.

This hummus goes perfectly in wraps and with crackers . You can add flavours to suit whatever occasion or taste you are making it for, or eat it plain – which is just as delicious. I often whip up hummus to serve on shared platters, as a quick, allergy-free and budget friendly snack to serve when we have guests coming over, and for the kids birthday parties, again for all the reasons listed above!

Here are some flavours you can add to this hummus recipe:

  • Roasted Kumara – add 1/2 cup roasted kumara when blending. 
  • Roasted pumpkin – add 1/2 cup roasted kumara when blending.
  • Roasted carrot – this combination is lovely and sweet – add 1/2 cup when blending.  
  • Beetroot – add 1/2 cup cooked beetroot when blending
  • Sundried tomatoes – dice 1/3 of a cup of sun-dried tomatoes and add when blending. 
  • Mexican twist – add 1/2 teaspoon of each cumin, paprika and chilli.
  • Red pepper – add 1/2 cup roasted red pepper (capsicum) and 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika. 

Hummus Tip

If the hummus is a little thick or still has chunks in it, add a little water – 1 Tablespoon at a time, until it can run freely through the blades (who doesn’t want to run free, right!?) , which will allow it to blend up super smooth.

If you make any of my recipes don’t forget to tag me on Facebook or Instagram. And if you have any questions about the recipe, or anything else don’t hesitate to ask!

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Easy Homemade Hummus

This hummus recipe is not only fast and easy, it's creamy and delicious. Its gluten free, dairy free, egg free and nut free, and an all round allergy friendly dip.

Ingredients

  • 1 400g can chickpeas drained and rinsed
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ cup lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon garlic (I prefer the garlic cooked – you can pan fry or roast it first)
  • 1 Tablespoon tahini (you can omit this to make it sesame free, or if you dont have any, or are avoiding seeds)

Instructions

  • Place all the ingredients together and blend! Add some water if it's too thick, 1 Tablespoon at a time until it's the consistency you like.
  • Once you have made this as a base you can add different flavours, see the notes below for ideas.

Notes

Some of our favourite hummus flavours are:
Roasted Kumara – add 1/2 cup roasted kumara when blending.
Roasted pumpkin – add 1/2 cup roasted kumara when blending.
Roasted carrot – this combination is lovely and sweet – add 1/2 cup when blending.  beetroot – add 1/2 cup cooked beetroot when blending
Sundried tomatoes – dice 1/3 of a cup of sun-dried tomatoes and add when blending.
Mexican twist – add 1/2 teaspoon of each cumin, paprika and chilli.
Red pepper – add 1/2 cup roasted red pepper (capsicum) and 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika. 

 

 

 

Kayla