No Weird Stuff Gluten Free Bread

So as a regular gluten free bread consumer it finally occurred to me to make my own. It concerned me, often when reading the ingredients list on bought breads, that there were lots of weird additives gums and preservatives and i thought: "Surly it can be done without this stuff..." And it can! 

The key ingredient? Psyllium Husk! Who woulda thought!? Well here it is. It really is a beautiful bread that keeps well out of the fridge, is springy and soft in the middle, crunchy on the outside and great toasted. What is more, there is no kneading needed! (pun ashamedly intended).

Please comment if you try it with successful variations, I'm keen to know! Like any good bread base you could add dried fruits for a sweet bread or olives and rosemary or seeds- anything!

I have also made double the mixture for a larger loaf so if that's your thing - go for it.  

Enjoy

x River

Apple, Beet n' Mint Juice

I love love love beetroot in juice. It is so grounding and mellow and what an amazing colour!

Avocado n' Kale Green Smoothie

So here we go! Breakfast on the first day. I woke up pretty hungry so i thought i'd have a nice filling smoothie. This made about two glasses full so i will save one for later in the day. Nom nom nom...

Juice Cleanse!

Every couple of months I do a bit of a detox/cleanse. It helps the digestive system to repair and gives it a little break from all its hard work "Good Job Digestion!". It also helps to clean the toxins out of the skin - that's us, wine and coffee lovers.

So i went to the vegie store and stocked up on all my favourite juicing ingredients. Green apples, oranges, ginger, kale, celery, cucumber, beetroot ect. And for the next three days i'm going to be juicing and smootherising like crazy. 

I also just got delivered from The States, a great Green Superfood powder Vitamineral Green, that a good friend of mine recommended. It sounds amazing and I can't wait to get it into my system.  

Lots of love

River

Date Balls

I love a little something sweet especially at around three thirtyitis but finding the thing that hits the spot but which is also good for you is hard. 

These date balls are a great answer to that predicament. They are completely natural, raw and so easy to make.

I buy a date paste in bulk and have used it here but it is just the same with whole dates.

Variations: add some goji berries and nutmeg... Or replace cashews with almonds. Cocoa nibs are great for choc-heads. Experiment and have fun!

Love

River

Mushroom n' Fennel Salad

A good salad is quite an art. I have been disappointed so many times eating out at cafe's that think they can throw any vegetable together with some oil and balsamic and us vegetarians will be happy.

There are three main things that need to be thought about when making a salad.

1. Texture
2. Acidity VS Sweet
3. Dressing

There must be a variety of textures... something soft, something crunchy. 

There must be a good level of acidity and a back flavour of sweet

And the dressing must bring all the flavours together harmoniously.

Quite a task indeed!!

Well here is the first salad... with a crunchy nut, a soft mushroomm; an acidic lemon and a sweet dressing and; a nutty dressing that brings is all together.

Love

River

Butter Bean Veggie Burger

This is a really easy veggie burger concept. In theory you could combine any vegetables you have lying around with the butter beans and besan flour. Here I've used carrot, mushroom and celery. 

It's super quick to make, filling, and a sure fire winner even for the carnivores.

Enjoy!

x River

Hummus

Hummus hummus huuuumus. How i doth love thee. 

I eat so much hummus it's bazaar this is my first time making it. I was pretty darn excited and the result is so good, and so very cost effective! For about the same cost of a little tub in the store you can make about four times that. The levels of acidity and so forth took a little playing around with but that is half the fun.

Well enough banter, here it is!

Love River

Spicy Tomato Relish

Tomato relish is one of my favourite condiments. It brings to life so many things. Great on sandwiches, burgers or  eggs n' toast. I love chili so i made a spicy one with some red jalapeno peppers on our tree. But if you don't like heat, just leave it out. Be careful also because different chilies have a relative heat ratio. My advice is to put in a little, try it and then add more.

This makes a whole pot full so bottle it in some sterilised jars and keep it for latter or give it to friends. It just keeps getting better and better with time as the flavours settle too. Mmmmmm... 

I've noted that most, if not all relish brands on the market have a heap of sugar in them. I'm trying to stay away from refined sugar so this uses the natural sugar in apples to sweeten, helped along with a table spoon or two of honey.

I also like to roughly puree my relish to give it an even consistency but if you like the bits omit this step. I would advise however to grate the apples instead of chop.

Have fun!

Love River

Freedom Pear and Almond Cake

This is the easiest, quickest cake I've ever made and it's totally gluten free (yey for happy tummies!) Not only that but it is also diary free and refined sugar free. 

It's no mess because you only use one pot and it looks and tastes divine.

Enjoy

Love River

Coconut, Rockmelon and Rosepetal Pudding

I whipped this up in about 5 minutes spontaneously and was mighty pleased with the result!

I love going to specialty food stores and finding interesting, fancy-pants ingredients to be creative with. I had these rose petals that i hadn't used yet and thought they would go lovely with a creamy desert. The great thing about this is that you don't need to cook it or put it in the fridge for hours but the texture is really puddling-like. Plusss psyllium husk is a great fiber addition that helps with digestion.

If you don't have rockmelon you could easily use pineapple or strawberries or any kind of berry for that matter. Oh goodness it would be great with fresh blackberries... 

Enjoy this desert you can feel good about!

x River