Dinosaur Biscuits. Gluten Free, Refined Sugar Free, Nut Free, Egg Free.

Dinosaur Biscuits

Gluten free, Refined Sugar Free, Egg Free


My little miss 4 is a funny little thing. While she belts out Frozen songs as much at the next girl and does ballet and loves barbie dolls she also absolutely LOVES dinosaurs, dragons, bugs, crocodiles, sharks and trucks and motorbikes.
Myself and my miss 9 often just look at each other mystified as we are both very much girly girls.
Violet's bedroom greets you with dinosaurs and dragons. her favourite colour is green and when she grows up, she wants to be a DRAGON.
Yep.

For her fourth birthday of course it was a Dinosaur Party - you can see the food and party ideas for that one HERE 

These biscuits both my 4 and 9 year olds can make and they both love! Though my 9 year old often makes hers with a love heart instead.

Ingredients

100 grams butter

½ cup coconut sugar or Natvia stevia

1 & ¼ cups gluten free plain flour or spelt flour plain – note spelt is not gluten free only low gluten)

1 teaspoon vanilla paste or essence

¼ teaspoon baking powder (gluten free)

3 tablespoons almond, coconut, soy or dairy milk

¼ cup jam with no sugar added. You will find many of these at supermarkets and health food stores or better yet, make your own yummy jam!

2 tablespoons water

1 potato (or very clean dinosaur)

Method

Pre heat oven to 180’c or 160 if it is fan forced.

Line a baking tray with baking paper, I use non bleached If You Care brand.

Heat jam in a saucepan with the water, stir and set aside.

Cut a large potato in half. Then take one half and score/cut a dinosaur shaped foot print into one side so that it sticks out.

Beat butter, sugar and vanilla until it looks fluffy and well together.

Gently fold in the flour and baking powder with a wooden spoon.

Once mixed well roll into small balls and place on the baking tray.

Flatten down slightly.

Use the potato (or dinosaur) to put a footprint indent into each biscuit.

Fill indents about ½ to ¾ with the jam.

Bake for around 12 minutes or until nice and golden looking and firm.

Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

Notes

You can of course swap the dinosaur foot print for a love heart, star, circle etc have fun with it! 

Triple Chocolate Icecreams. Refined Sugar Free

There is some things that just never get old, like creamy, chocolate ice creams.
Just before our school holidays started and the gorgeous Sunshine Coast Spring weather hit, I started to play around with some different healthy ice-cream ideas for my kids.
They have already had so many times my Mango, Macadamia Honey Ice-Creams, Dairy Free Blissed Out Banana Splits, my smoothie icy poles and my many versions of banana ice creams.
So I wanted to do something different, new and exciting for them these holidays.
My oldest does not take to sugar well at all, in fact when she has some it takes her at least half a day to recover and she literally becomes like Hammy from over the hedge!

Image Source

So sugar, is not her friend. And for me, on a healing journey of my own, its not my friend either so bringing together elements of things I already make and cook I put together these triple chocolate ice creams - and made many of them complete with a hard choc top too, and they are soooooo good!

And being on my own healing journey - a major part is living refined sugar free, as cane sugar is very inflammatory for everybody - mummy might have been seen on occasion not just having one with the kids in a family fun moment of an afternoon but also sneaking one of these out of the freezer to enjoy in a quiet moment in the garden too shhhh hehe ;)
They are really lovely - give them a go. Trust me Xxxx

Triple Chocolate Ice Creams

(refined sugar free)

Ingredients
Note: These ice creams have three components - I promise, all are easy and pretty quick to do. I got all three ready at the same time with a bowl and whisk, blender and a saucepan. X
Chocolate ice cream
3 cups of a good cream (here on the sunshine coast I use Maleny Dairies)
1 teaspoon organic vanilla paste
2 teaspoons cocoa (I used dutch processed but you could use normal, cacao or even carob)

2 tablespoons stevia (or coconut sugar or raw honey if your prefer)

Choc fudge flavour layer

2 bananas

2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons nut butter (I use nut butters from my local health food shop, supermarket ones will contain sugar)

1 tablespoon stevia (or honey)

1 tablespoon cocoa (see earlier note)

Hard choc

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/4 cup cocoa

Tiny pink Himalayan salt

1/4 cup rice malt syrup

ice cream moulds

paddle pop sticks (food grade)

ALSO - see notes!

 

Method

• Have some clean ice-cream moulds or plastic cups ready to go and clear a good space in the freezer.
• In a large bowl whip the cream with the stevia, cocoa and vanilla until nice and fluffy and whipped, set aside.
• In a blender place all the choc fudge layer ingredients and process until nice and smooth, depending on size and ripeness of bananas you may want to use a little more or less water to get a nice consistency.
• To make the hard choc you need melted coconut oil, so either your lucky and its warm enough that it is already runny or you will need to gently melt some like you would chocolate.
• I like my coconut oil to be melty but slightly still a little whipped looking, so from runny coconut oil I place it in the fridge for a little while until it is still runny but very lightly crystallised around the edges, it just seems to blend better for chocolate like that and you need the coconut oil cool to touch for the ice cream creating step as well.
• Mix your (cool) coconut oil with the rice malt syrup and cocoa and salt very well. It needs to be well blended.

• In your moulds arrange the 3 components in layers as desired. My kids loved the ones I made that had a hard choc bottom, for these I just started with a small amount of the hard choc, then choc ice cream, then choc fudge then hard choc for a surprise centre then topped with choc cream. But you could do as many layers in any pattern you like, have fun with it!.
• Cover the exposed tops with aluminium foil or cling wrap or similar.
• Freeze until completely set.
• To serve run the bases under warm water or sit briefly in a bowl of war, water until they are easy to remove.
• Enjoy!

Notes

• With some I also used a butter knife to mix the layers just slightly, running the knife back and forth through the mixture just a little.
• TIP to make the ice creams look really pretty, make sure after each layer you wipe down the sides so once frozen you get a very defined layered look.
• If you wish you can also alternatively simply use a good quality melted bought dark chocolate for the hard chocolate parts of these ice-creams.

Tiddler Tips

• I would probably use less cocoa and a mild, organic one and not something as strong as cacao or dutch processed cocoa personally. You could also try carob versions.

Eat beautiful. Live Well. Be Happy. Stay Calm.
Bek XXX
PS if you make these - I would love to know! So please share your picture with me on facebook, twitter, Instagram or simply hashtag on social media #cookingwithbek or #beautifulfoodwithbekRecipe and food photography copyright RebeccaMugridge2014

Macadamia & Goji Delight

Macadamia & Goji Delight
Sometimes sweet cravings come at the worst times, or you want something gorgeous for when friend are coming over so you NEED recipes that are quick, easy and delicious!

• 1 cup coconut oil (I use JT's Coconut Essence)
• 1 cup rice malt syrup (can use less if too sweet for you, I use Pure Harvest)
• 1 cup nut paste (use a pure nut paste i.e. just nuts! I use Nutworks and the Chocolate Factory macadamia paste)
• 2 tablespoons Nutra Organics vanilla protein powder (I love this stuff, all organic and it is also high in vitamin D, you get this HERE and enter codeword nutrafriends for 10% off for the next few days too!) {OPTIONAL}
• 1/2 cup goji berries
• 1/2 cup semi smashed raw macadamias

Method

• Add runny coconut oil to a bowl, stir in rice malt syrup and mix together with a wooden spoon until it looks lovely and mixed.
• Stir in nut paste and vanilla powder.
• When well mixed add in nuts and goji berries.
• Pour into a container and put in the fridge to set.
• Leave for 1- 2 hours.
• Remove, cut up and enjoy!!

Toddler Tip

• Cut into small pieces as a little healthy treat, great fun for an afternoon tea party!

Tips

• I take runny coconut oil and put the bowl in the fridge for about 10 minutes or until I just see a light crystallization around the edges and then mix, it seems to blend together much creamier!
• we found this beautiful but also really sweet so you only need a small amount to satisfy those sweet cravings!

Eat Beautiful!
Bek xxx

Marigold Biscuits - Gluten Free, Refined Sugar Free, Easy and Delicious

Marigold Biscuits

As a child my mother use to make calendula biscuits and there was something so enchanting about them, like they had come straight out of my favourite book, The Lord of The Rings.

As a horticulturalist I love combining gardening with cooking and these biscuits are so incredibly easy to make and marigolds are such a delight to grow, so I just love these biscuits. We always have marigolds on hand, of all different kinds, I just love their vibrant beauty and they are an important inclusion in our organic plantings for their ability to repel nematodes in the soil and many other garden pests.
Companion planting partners include eggplant, strawberry, leafy greens, tomatoes, potato, pumpkin, squash, chili's, capsicums but not too close to legume crops.
Marigolds grow easily with a nice compost rich soil, good drainage, plenty of sunshine and some regular liquid fertilizer like seasol. They grow very easy from seed and most nurseries have seedlings in punnets.

Ingredients

• 125 g butter
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar (or brown sugar if you have sugar)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 & 3/4 cup cup almond meal
• marigold petals, removed from flower, trim ends if needed, washed and let dry (about 4 flower heads)

Method

• Preheat oven to 160ç
• In a bowl combine the butter and sugar together, add in vanilla
• Mix in the almond meal and about half the marigold petals
• Roll the mixture into small balls - note - it should be fairly dry not too moist or the biscuits wil spread when you bake them, if it feels to moist add a little more almond meal
• Place the balls on a tray lined with baking paper, press each one down slightly and then press a few petals on top for a decorative look
• Bake the biscuits gently, they do not take that long so stay close by.
• Once they are gently browned on top and have a golden hue, around 12 minutes in my own take them out and let them cool on the tray or on a wire rack
• Enjoy!

Happy Cooking!
Bek XX

Eat beautiful - Live Well.
Recipe and photography (c) Rebecca Mugridge 2014

Persimmon & Passionfruit Spelt Cake & Jeffers Market Beautiful Persimmon Farm

Persimmons are a fruit that not everyone is familiar with, or even has eaten and yet they have a long and vibrant history and have been used in places like China for over 2000 years.
Really high in antioxidants like catechins and gallocatechins (both anti inflammatory and anti hemorrhagic) and phyto-nutrients and anti tumour compound betulinic acid. Persimmons are said to help neutralize free radicals that cause degenerative diseases like cancer and even macula degeneration.

They are also said to be an excellent fruit to eat when wanting to lose weight as they are extremely low in calories while still being a good source of fibre and nutrients like vitamin c and b complex vitamins. Even manganese, copper and potassium.

Persimmons or kaki trees are grown worldwide, extensively in Asia and have an exciting flourishing industry in Australia too, in particular the stunning persimmon farm I recently had the delight to visit nestled near Nambour run by the Jeffers family, owners of the absolutely gorgeous Jeffers Market stores, what an absolute jewel for the Sunshine Coast and Australian seasonal produce.

On the lovely farm I met Stephen Jeffers, an inspirational advocate for real food, local and seasonal produce. What an amazing family the Jeffers are, not just successful business owners on the Sunshine Coast but also farmers from this area since 1954 through the generations with such strong links to the region and great Australian seasonal produce. When you hear Stephen talk you are taken in by his passion and dedication for real, fresh produce and his knowledge. One visit to the Jeffers market stores and you can see instantly their passion for organics, pesticide free produce, seasonal produce and local products and even natural and healthy living products and ingredients.

I had the absolute pleasure to listen to Stephen talk about Persimmons, a subject close to his heart and one that he is an expert on. Stephen has traveled the world talking about and studying Persimmons and how they are eaten, grown and loved around the world.
Persimmons have strong roots in many cultures including French, Italian, Japanese, Chinese and Spanish cooking and were used as food and as medicine by many cultures including the Native Americans and early European Colonists and during the American civil war.
Persimmons are either astringent or non astringent and the variety the Jeffers grow are a non astringent variety called FuYu, and they are absolutely delicious!

For some reason these stunning fruits have been a little overlooked by shoppers in these modern times but they are fast making an exciting splash onto the seasonal, fresh produce scene and for good reason, not only are they vibrant and delicious but they are a really exciting ingredient for many sweet and savoury dishes.

Like my beautiful persimmon, passionfruit and pineapple spelt cake below!
You can find the gorgeous Jeffers persimons at either their Yandina or Maroochydore stores on the Sunshine Coast, Qld or in Brisbane at IFruit Kenmore, James st market or Ferry Rd Market.
 

Persimmon, Passionfruit and Pineapple Spelt Cake  

Ingredients
125 grams butter

2 very ripe large persimmons

4 passion fruit

1 pear, grated

1 cup fresh pineapple, chopped into small pieces
1 free range egg

3/4 cup dark coconut sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups wholemeal spelt flour

1 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 very ripe persimmon

1 &1/2 cups Natvia stevia icing sugar

1 tablespoon butter, soft

Fresh sliced persimmon to serve

Method

Preheat oven to 180ç

Cream the butter and coconut sugar together

Beat in the egg and then the vanilla

Scoop out the ripe persimmon flesh, it should be ripe enough to look like orange jelly.

Mix this through and then the grated pear and passionfruit.

Combine the flour and baking powder together.

Mix all together and pour into a well greased cake tin.

While cake is baking make the refined sugar free icing.

In a bowl blend the Nativa icing sugar and butter, gradually adding in the half jelly persimmon until you have a smooth icing mixture.

Set aside.

Remove cake from oven and allow to completely cool.

Top with the icing and then slices of fresh, crunchy persimmon for texture and flavour contrast (trust me - it goes beautifully)

Enjoy!

Notes

• My kids called this the letter P cake! So much fun to make with kids who are learning their alphabet and the older ones at school with all its P's with persimmon, pear, passionfruit and pineapple!
• Nice served with fresh whipped cream.
• Make a dairy free version by replcing butter with a suitable alternative and making a persimmon drizzle by placing the half jelly persimmon in a saucepan with a tablespoon of coconut sugar and stirring over a low heat until dissolved or tweaking the icing as described above.
• Pour this mixture over the cake while it is still warm and serve.
• This cake needs to be kept in the fridge, it is very moist and fudgey so is best eaten within 1-3 days.

Toddler Tips

• This is a rich cake so I serve just a small piece to my toddler with lots of chopped up fresh persimmon, pear and pineapple and drizzled with passionfruit.

Bek XX

Eat beautiful. Be Active. Live Well. Be Happy.
AND
Eat Seasonal! 

Little paleo chocolate cakes and a MerryMaker sisters workout

Exercise we all know is important for a healthy, happy body but it can also be fun and a great way to socialise, spend quality time with our kids, make friends, challenge ourselves and find our inner strength and love for our bodies as well.

Putting the FUN and the planning back into fitness for 1 week thanks to Fitness First I swapped my unstructured and untimed long pram walks and swim laps at the pool, for a very exciting, very specific and wonderfully challenging routine created by the dynamo duo The MerryMaker sisters

Do you do the exact same exercise routine each week?
Have you ever tried changing it up a bit? Challenging yourself? Adding specific structure? It feels amazing, even if you think you are pretty fit, a new routine or exercise feels so energising and motivating.

I was a little bit worried at first about fitting it in completely and space wise as a single mum of two kids and all that, as the Merry Maker sisters are two young, child free ladies with that thing called spare time!
BUT I already am pretty good at fitting in a hand weights routine and some great deep stretching at night after the kids go to bed so I made it work (maybe not the best time of day to be working out, but it sure is the easiest and quietest!!) It would have also been a great one to do at the gym like in a Fitness First Gym's functional area and you could even combine it with a great gym class to make a fantastic session and also so you have the added safety of experienced personal trainers on hand to make sure you are doing everything correctly, which is so important.

What the girls put together was fun and very motivating.

I used to go to the gym a lot before my second baby, ok I almost lived there! And this routine made me (and my body) remember how good it really feels to take part in a structured work out, a work out that challenges you and makes you want to do more, be more, feel empowered in your body as well as doing exercise for mood and health like walking.

So I have had a great exercise week, OK except for one particular component I have to be honest, the pull ups! I seriously need work to get them happening properly!

What was my work out?
I am sharing it's outline with you, fellow mummy readers so you two might be inspired to shake up your routine a bit. I do highly recommend always seeing a personal trainer and your medical professional prior to undertaking and new exercise and it makes such a difference if you can learn a new routine under their watchful eye, ensuring correct posture and of course because you feel so much more motivated!!.

DIRECTIONS this is a functional fitness based regime. High intensity for a short amount of time. This would be for intensity level 8-10, though it could also be for lower intensity with lighter weights. Use weights that you feel comfortable with. These workouts can be completed in the new Fitness First functional area. We’ve added a yoga/walk for recovery.

Day 1
4 rounds for time (25 minute cut off)
10 shoulder push Press
30 skips
10 pull ups (assisted if required)
30 skips
20 push ups
30 skips
20 kettle bell Swings
Day 2
24 minutes, as many rounds as possible:
3 push ups
4 pull ups
5 box Jumps
Day 3
4 x 3 minute rounds of:
500m row sprint
Maximum amount of back squats in remaining time
3 min rest
*each back squat takes 1 second off your row time.
Day 4
20 minute cut off:
400m Run
21 x pull ups
21 x kettle bell swings
400m Run
15 x pull ups
15 x kettle bell swings
400m run
9 x pull ups
9 x kettle bell swings
Day 5
Every 2 minutes for 20 minutes complete:
5 x deadlifts
10 x weighted sit ups
Maximum amount of pull ups in the remaining  time
Day 6
Flow yoga/ Body Balance class at Fitness First OR leisurely walk.

NOTE: I didn't have a kettle bell handy over the week and couldn't make the gym due to a hectic schedule so modified with hand weights and the pull ups well, keeping with honesty were a bit of a challenge....
I am yet to master pull ups well, ok really at all in sets if I am being honest, and actually even when I was training in taekwondo and boxing and the fittest shape of my life  before baby number 2 I had trouble with these so achieving them and achieving them well is something on my goal list and something I know I need to get coaching for specifically in the gym to get there with an expert trainer that gets me and my body and what I need to do to get there, that can teach me, guide me and make it happen. This is what I plan to do as my youngest starts kindy soon and I will be hooking up with experts like Fitness First to get me back into my fittest body ever - hello Summer bikini's this Christmas!

And on top of the workout to soften all the sore muscles from the week I also made a delicious little recipe by these gorgeous girls, one I had to make twice as my kids swiped the first one, I tweked it a little - as you do right! I reduced the cacao - because it makes my kids hyper! Used coconut sugar and increased the liquid as we found it just a teensy bit dry. The Merry Maker sisters one pot paleo chocolate cake  which we enjoyed with lovely fresh strawberries from our garden.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon cacao 

1/2 tablespoon of coconut flour

1 free range egg

1/2 tablespoon of coconut sugar

1/4 cup /coconut/almond/dairy/soy milk

Method

Mix all the ingredients together and then very quickly (because it is that sponge like coconut flour) pour into ramekins and bake in the oven (we do not use or recommend microwaves at all which is what the sisters use in this, but you can do it which way you prefer, though I strongly discourage use of microwaves)
Don't leave the room as they bake super quick! You will know they are done when they have a lovely baked smell and a crunchy top, depending on oven and size of ramekins could be 1-5 minutes. 

Notes

• Another version we made (but didn't exactly measure - sorry) we doubled the recipe and added natural yoghurt which really amped up the moistness and made it even more palatable than before :)
• This does only make a small quantity.
• Swap the coconut sugar for stevia or raw honey.

Thank you Fitness First for shaking up my routine and putting the challenge, motivation, precision and FUN back into my workouts, not to mention finishing it off with healthy chocolate!

#lifeisgood #changeforethebest #Fitnessfirst #beahealthyhappymum #sponsoredpost

BEK XXX

Mango Macadamia Honey Ice Cream and a visit to Maleny Dairies

Nestled in the green mountains of the Sunshine Coast Hinterland is a beautful local producer and farm, Maleny Dairies

A family run farm with strong ethics and care for their animals and a factory that is at the heart of its community. They believe in what they do and in quality products. As a cook I have never used a cream as real, rich and thick as the Maleny Dairies cream.

It is so natural it is almost yellow and it whips in seconds.

It truly makes the best ice cream, my kids know if they see Maleny Dairies cream in the fridge there is a good chance ice - cream is on the menu!

Coffee Ice Cream

Chocolate Macadamia Ice Cream

And my latest creation!

Mango, Macadamia & Honey Ice-cream!

Ingredients

• 1 x 600ml container of cream, (I always use Maleny Dairies rich and natural cream)
• 2 ripe mangoes
• 2 tabelspoons raw honey (or to taste)
• 2 droppers of sweat leaf vanila stevia drops ( you can get these from most health food shops and many supermarkets, I know the Maleny IGA stocks them OR use a good vanilla paste in its place and increase your honey to taste if needed.
• 2 teaspoons dark coconut sugar (optional you could also you raw cane sugar) 
• 1/2 cup raw macadamia's

Method

• Pour the cream into a large bowl, add the honey, liquid stevia drops ( or vanilla paste/essence), coconut sugar.
• Carefully whip the cream, making sure not to over-whip it.
• Taste it for sweetness. Drizzle carefully with some extra honey.
• In a blend blend both mangoes worth of flesh until it smooth and runny.
• Arrange some ice-cream moulds, plastic cups or a tub for your ice-cream on a bench.
• Pour into each mould a layer of the cream.
• Drop in some loose macadamia's.
• Top with a layer of mango, then  more cream, nuts and mango again etc until containers are filled.
• You can now either freeze as is OR use a paddle pop type stick to swirl the flavours together a bit for effect and flavour.
• Place a paddle stick into each one.
• Freezer covered with cling wrap or similar for at least 4 hours.
• Enjoy!

Notes

• You can also make this tub style and pour the ingredients into a tub on top of each other and then use a spoon to swirl them into each other and top with a drizzle of honey and macadamias.
• If you have a dairy allergy but still want to make these swap the cream for:
  the equivalent in Coyo coconut yoghurt (do not whip), Sanitarium vanilla ice-cream (allow to soften slightly at room temperature so easier to work and do not whip) or with a tin of full fat organic coconut cream (yum) - still absolutely delicious, may take a little longer to set, still give a light hand whip and chill in the fridge for 2 hours before using. 

Visiting Maleny Dairies.
I have always believed it to be very important that kids get to know where all foods come from that they are going to eat, so whatever your chosen diet for your children they should become familiar with where everything they put into their bodies comes from, I think it gives them a more down to earth appreciation for food and their bodies.
I recently took the kids for a fun filled day out to the dairy to do their farm tour.

 The kids had the best time! What a fantastic day out and so much for kids to do. They get to feed baby animals, ride the toy animals, see the cows coming in from the field to be milked, see all the amazing machines filling the milk bottles and even watch a hilarious Moovie!

It is a fun and also peaceful day out and after your tour everyone gets to taste some dairy deliciousness, buy goodies farm direct and relax on tables and chairs while the kids run around on the green, green grass with happy chooks cruising around, a giant chess set and toy animals they all race to ride.

Bek's Sweet and Healthy Strawberry tart

I love strawberries. Always have, they are a burst of colour and healthy deliciousness. I have even worked as a strawberry planter and picker when I was young. They are also one of my absolute favourite plants to grow and fruit to cook with.
Wherever we live we always have hanging baskets and pots of strawberries growing, just as my mum did when I was a child. I am so delighted that picking fresh delicious, organic strawberries are as much a part of my two daughters childhoods as it was mine. I can still clearly remember my school friends always marveling at the growing jewels and especially at her alpine strawberries.

Recently I took part in a very exciting opportunity for me, a 6 part fresh local food column in a fantastic local magazine, WHY Fitness. WHY Bfresh with Rebecca Mugridge.

This delightful deliciousness was one of the recipes I created for them using local gourmet deli and store Bfresh's beautiful local strawberries.

Bek’s Sweet and Healthy Strawberry Tart

Ingredients

Pastry

·         2 cupsNutworks macadamia meal (this is a great local producer I like to support, you could also use almond meal)

·         2 cups rice flour

·         ½ cup coconut oil

·         1 free range egg

·         1 teaspoon pure vanilla paste

·         1 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt

·         ½ cup Rapadura sugar (see notes)

Filling

·         ½ cup coconut oil

·         ½ cup Rapadura sugar

·         5 free range eggs

·         Finely grated rind of 1 orange

·         Juice of 2 oranges

·         1 tablespoon tapioca flour whisked in an equal amount of water

Topping

·         1 punnet fresh strawberries

·         1 packet Tortengus ( natural fruit glaze available from supermarkets)

·         250 mls fresh orange juice

·         Extra rapidura sugar

Method

·         Pre heat oven to 180’c

·         Grease 1 large or 6 small spring form tins.

·         In a large bowl combine the macadamia meal and rice flour for the base.

·         Add the vanilla paste and rub into the flour mixture the hard coconut oil until the mixture resembles bread crumbs.

·         Mix in the rapadura sugar and the egg, gently mix it all together until it resembles a smooth dough. If needed you can add a little extra water.

·         Press pastry evenly into the prepared tins.

·         Bake blind for 10 minutes by covering with a layer of baking paper and spreading with a layer of rice or baking beans.

·         Then remove baking paper and rice and cook for few extra minutes until lightly golden brown.

·         Remove from oven.

·         Filling. Melt the coconut oil in a saucepan. Add in the finely grated orange rind, stir through and remove from heat.

·         Sift the sugar into coconut oil mixture, add in the eggs and whisk it all together.

·         Add in the tapioca flour and the orange juice, whisk.

·         Bring it to the boil and then remove from heat and pour into a shallow dish and refrigerate for around 10 minutes or until cool.

·         Pour the cooled egg mixture on top of the pastry bases; sprinkle each evenly with the extra rapadura sugar.

·         Cover all pastry edges with alfoil and put the tarts under a medium hot grill to caramelise, and they will visually firm up.

·         Remove from heat and allow to completely cool.

·         Combine 1 packet of the fruit glaze with 250 mls fresh orange juice in a medium saucepan.

·         Bring to the boil, stirring and then remove from heat.

·         Cut up the fresh strawberries and arrange them on top of the tart.

·         Cover with the fruit glaze.

·         Allow to set.

·         Serve.

Notes

·         Rapadura sugar is a much healthier, whole foods alternative to refined sugars. It isn’t processed under hot temperatures or spun so it retains its many mineral and vitamin qualities.

·         Macadamias are not just an exciting Australian native they are also full of health benefits and loaded with important nutrients including healthy proteins, minerals, vitamins, monounsaturated fats, dietary fibre and phytochemicals. They also have no trans fatty acids. Here on the Sunshine Coast we have locally processed macadamias and macadamia meal (much like almond meal) as used in this recipe here from Nutworks in Yandina.

·         Coconut oil is a great healthy alternative to butter with many health benefits.

·         The fruit glaze used here is a natural product made from seaweed.

·       Fab Slabs schopping boards  (pictured with the tarts) are a local Sunshine Coast ethical company making beautiful chopping boards from Camphor Laurel trees which are a pest species in this area.

Strawberries

Strawberries, as a garden plant, were said to be being taken from the forests to the gardens in France in the 1300’s and are even mentioned in ancient Roman literature. They have vast become a beloved fruit. 

At BFresh on the Sunshine Coast and when in season people can find a locally produced variety of strawberry that has been grown here for over 20 years, right here due to a special relationship between the grower and BFresh. These strawberries are all about taste, you know the ones, bright red and they taste and smell amazing, they are not ones that are bred to travel and store well, rather they are the kind you remember from your childhood.

Strawberries don’t just taste wonderful; they are a great source of vitamin C, flavanoids and anti oxidants. And as a snack they are guilt free with 1 cup of fresh strawberries being generally less than 50 calories!

Strawberries are also easy to grow and are beautiful looking plants; they make a gorgeous hanging basket.
They can be grown from seed or runners, I prefer to grow mine from runners, their natural way to reproduce. Give them plenty of sunshine, really good drainage ( they do not like soggy feet), if growing in pots, do not scrimp and buy only really good quality potting mix, in the ground a slightly acidic soil with composted material is best and a good thick layer of mulch makes strawberries happy. Companion plant with marigolds, borage, basil, spinach, silverbeet. Remove dead leaves, water in the morning if you can and keep a big watch out for aphids, easily removed with soapy water.

Recipe and photography © RebeccaMugridge2013

Chocolate Raspberry Goji Slice (No Baking needed)

I love chocolate, I do and I came to the realization that because I do, let's face it I am going to be eating it a lot and for most likely the rest of my life! Soo I decided that on top of store bought chocolate delights I would like to have some chocolate recipes up my sleeve that had some nutritional benefits in them!

This slice was such a surprise hit with my kids and taste testers I really liked it but thought the unsweetened fruit layer would be too sour but everyone, especially my kids (who whenever I make it I find sneaking bits out of the fridge and leaving tell tale crumbs on the floor) love it!

Chocolate Raspberry Goji Slice

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup cacao butter ( I get mine from health food shops, maleny iga, Kunara (used to be known as The Natural Foodtsore on the Sunshine Coast)  You can also buy it online.
• 1/4 cup cacao powder
• 1/4 cup dark coconut sugar (it should be nice and rich and brown not the processed white stuff, again health food stores, baking shops, good supermarkets)
• 1/4 cup rice malt syrup (I actually got mine from my local Coles but also from health food shops etc)
• 1 &1/2 cups dried, unsweetened raspberries. (You can do this yourself with a dehydrator or you will most likely need to go to a health food/bulk dried food and ingredient type shop for these, you could also use other dried unsweetened fruit of choice)
• 1/2 cup goji berries
• 1 cup coconut oil ( I use coconut essence )
• 3 & 1/2 cups desiccated coconut
• 1/2 cup rice malt syrup
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup almond milk
• pinch pink himalayan salt

Method

• Grease a slice tray with a little coconut oil and line with baking paper. 
• Place the raspberries and goji berries together in a bowl and cover with water, allow to sit and swell.
• In a large bowl combine the desiccated coconut, rice malt syrup, 1/2 cup of the milk. Mix together well. It should be a thick, sticky consistency. If it is too dry you can add a little more milk or rice malt syrup but you do not want it too runny.
• Press the desiccated coconut mixture firmly into the tray, pressing it down evenly.
• Chill in the fridge for at least 10 minutes.
• In a saucepan place the cacao butter and put it on it's lowest possible setting, let it very gently melt to a liquid. Do not leave.
• Remove melted cacao butter from heat and allow to cool slightly.
• Add in the rice malt syrup stir together.
• Add in pinch of himalyan salt and cacao, stir together.
• Lastly add in the coconut sugar and stir it all together well, it should be nice and still have a liquid consistency to be able to pour it on top of the slice and not come into a clump.
• Drain the berry mixture and spread them out evenly over the coconut layer in the tray.
• Pour the cacao chocolate mixture even over the top, use a spatula to ensure it is evenly covering the slice.
• Cover and place the slice in the fridge for at least 4 hours, best left overnight.
• Remove and slice up.
• Store in the fridge.

Notes

• For taking in lunchboxes place in a container on top of an ice brick to keep it from melting. It does not melt as fast as coconut oil chocolate but will still be effected by heat.
• Great for entertaining, after school treats and late night choccy foxes

Toddler Tips

• Cut into small pieces, as toddlers can take awhile sometimes to eat things this can get a little messy on a hot day so I would recommend some wipes handy ;)
• Toddlers really like the sweet with the sour fruit combo!

(C) RebeccaMugridge2013

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Bek XXX