Leftover Porridge Biscuits

Somehow there always seems to be some leftover porridge on mornings when i make it for the boys (with their green smoothies on the side) and i hate throwing it out, so today i made some yummy biscuits from the leftovers:

Oatie Porridge Biscuits (adapted from the Veggie Buntch website recipe)

Ingredients- makes 12 biscuits

Roughly 1 cup of cooked porridge (or whatever you have left)
1 egg
1/2 cup of ordinary/Gluten Free flour (you should add more if your oats are not stodgy already. If you want them to be more fluffy use self raising flour)
2-3 tablespoons of honey (or brown sugar).
2 tablespoons of raisins (or other dried fruit).
Good sprinkling of sesame seeds and dessicated coconut.
2-3 teaspoons of ginger powder or a knob of fresh ginger grated instead.

Instructions

Mix the porridge, egg and flour together. Add the dried fruit, seeds etc and the ginger. Now add the honey and taste to see if it is sweet enough for your liking. The consistency should be quite sticky, NOT runny.

Use a tablespoon to dollop onto a greased tray and press down with a fork to make each biscuit. Or you can put them in individual muffin cases. Place in the oven at 180 C until done (+/- 20 mins)


Alternative Ingredients 

Green pumpkin seeds, cranberries, grated apple, coconut, figs etc 

For Raw vegan style Oatmeal Raisin cookies see Megan Elizabeths recipe here 

Sweet Potatoe and Courgette Scones

Scones are my comfort food, they'te totally delicious and remind me of home and the wonderful steaming scones of my childhood spread with my grandmothers homemade raspberry jam- mmm yum! While i'm breastfeeding i find that i am constantly ravenous and in a bid to eat something healthy rather stuffing myself with more chocolate i have adapted the 'Savoury herb Scones' from Barbara Cousins book "Vegetarian Cooking Without" ( a book i found invaluable when first starting to make gluten and dairy free food) by among other things, adding grated courgette and sweet potatoe, to delicious effect.

Sweet Potatoe and Courgette Scones

Makes 16 scones 

8 oz/250g Gluten free flour  

2 tbsps/good sprinkling of oregano

1 peeled and grated sweet potatoe (small)

1 grated courgette

120g/4 oz dairy free margarine (or coconut oil)

1 tbsp baking powder

2 eggs

250 ml/ 8 floz / 1 cup soya milk or enough to mix 

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C/ 400 degrees F. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl to form a wet doughy mix. Spoon into a greased muffin tray and bake for roughly 15 minutes or until risen and golden brown.

Lunchboxes

I adore this robot lunchbox from Hocusadabra but wonder if i would be getting it for Theodore or for me!?

It acts like a mini cool box, so it keeps things better than the usual tin or plastic lunchboxes.

Here is the full range, aren't they cute!

Visit the Hocusadabra website if you would like to take a further look at these or any of their other products.

Inspiring ideas for lunchboxes

Whenever my son goes off to barnehage, which at the moment is 3 half days a week, i need to think of some delicious healthy things to pack in his lunchbox. Thankfully i've discovered a blog post that has done much of the thinking for me, with it's huge range of contributors placing their recipes for inspiring lunchboxes on show. It is a brilliant resource and i may see if i can print out each contribution so that i have inspiring recipes to use every day. See these great ideas here and also some others here.

Great ideas for adults too

Getting those greens in where you can

The idea of dulse seaweed  in your scones, or for that matter courgette may not seem appealing, but trust me these are delicious, especially with a soya cheese (or cream cheese) spread on top. My son usually rejects anything green but he gobbled these down like there was no tomorrow.

 Dulse and Vegetable Scones

(adapted from the same recipe in Daphne Lambert and Tanyia Maxted-Frosts book "The Organic Baby and Toddler Cookbook)

12 oz Self raising wholemeal flour ( or gluten free flour like rice)

1 oz vegan spread

2oz Butternut squash (or carrot) optional- both versions are delicious.

1/2 pint Soya or rice milk

1tsp baking powder

1 tbsp chopped dulse ( i only had nori in the cupboard so used this instead finely chopped)

2oz courgette grated ( or 4 oz if not using butternut squash or carrot)

My additions: sprinkling of extra herbs like oregano, 

           one spring onion finely chopped and 2 eggs to bind the mixture.

Perfect for lunch boxes

Fruity Flapjacks

These are so delicious that a tray of these yummy flapjacks don't last more than a day or so in our house. They are perfect for lunchboxes and in my case just munching at home with a big mug of tea while i work.

Fruity Flapjacks

(adapted from Annabel Karmels recipe)

200g oats

30g raisins

30g sultanas

30g dried cranberries

(For the dried fruit i used half raisins and half apricots, chopped)

30g dessicated coconut (i used 60g)

85g butter (or Vegan spread)

4 tablespoons of golden syrup ( i used 4-5 tablespoons of honey)

110g brown sugar (which can be omitted and they taste just as good, only better for you)

Quarter teaspoon of vanilla essence

and i also added 1-2 handfuls of the Linwoods milled flax,sunflower,pumpkin,sesame seed and goji berry mix

Method

1)Set oven to 150 degrees C/300F and line a large tin with baking paper.

2)Melt butter, syrup (or honey/dates*) and the sugar if you are including it, together in a pan. Add this mixture to all the other ingredients that you have prepared in a mixing bowl and mix together.

3)Press down firmly into the tin and bake for 35-40 mins until golden and a little crispy.

N.B To prevent crumbling:

a) Don't cut them into squares until they are almost cold (chilling them in the fridge first can help), particularly if you've only used honey to sweeten them or b) Add a handful of dates* (destoned and chopped) when you heat your butter and honey as it makes the perfect syrup and keeps the flapjacks together perfectly.

MMMMMMMMMMM !