Marmalade Breakfast Muffins - Gluten Free

We make a lot of home made jam and marmalade at my place. 

The next best thing to my gluten free muesli is my Marmalade Breakfast Muffins.

As I have said before my husband is a marmalade addict. Can't tell you how many dozen jars of it we have in the cupboard. This recipe was developed so we could use some of the marmalade we made and give me something new to eat for breakfast. Since going gluten free a month or so ago, I am really feeling the difference. But, eating muesli every morning, plus the odd egg or two is pretty tedious so these muffins are a real godsend.

I have made a few muffins for breakfast before but they always seem a little dry (sorry Jamie Oliver) This time I have incorporate two different fruits to try and keep them as moist as possible. Try them out and let me know what you think. You can certainly add some extra butter, margarine, jam or marmalade to them or eat them as the are with even more fruit. Haven't tried to toast them yet, but I am sure my husband will - but that's another story.

GLUTEN FREE MARMALADE BREAKFAST MUFFINS

Ingredients

200g gluten free plain flour
1½ teaspoons gluten free baking powder
few teaspoons of your favourite marmalade
1½ teaspoons baking soda
110g apple sauce or 2 green apples peeled, cored, cooked and mashed
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons rice malt syrup
1½ teaspoons cinnamon
60g oats
2 eggs
1 banana mashed
150 ml plain yoghurt/coconut yoghurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons mixed seeds flax, pepitas, sunflower
50ml oil, sunflower, grapeseed oil
butter or margarine to grease muffin pan or use paper cases


Pre heat your oven 180º/160º FF/325F

Put flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and oats into a big bowl and mix thoroughly.

Now in another bowl beat two eggs, add mashed banana, yoghurt, vanilla, honey, rice malt syrup, oil, apple sauce. Mix thoroughly. Now add all the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until you have completely incorporated one into the other.

If you use paper cases, place them into your muffin pan. You will need 10 -12, or grease the pan to make it easier to tip out the finished muffins. 

When you have done this, make a small hole in the top of each muffin using the end of a wooden spoon. Using a teaspoon fill the holes with marmalade.

Sprinkle the top with seeds and bake in a preheated oven 180º/160ºfan forced/325F for 25 - 30 minutes until golden brown. Take out of the tin and cool on a rack.

Can be eaten straight away or frozen for a couple of weeks.

These muffins are deliciously moist and the marmalade really adds a lovely twist.

This is my last post before the Christmas break. Here is wishing you a very Happy Christmas and a safe, healthy and adventurous New Year. Thanks for all your kind comments and welcomed suggestions - see you on the other side.

If you do not celebrate Christmas then I hope you have a wonderful few days with your family and friends.

Turmeric

Do you say Turmeric (as in Tuesday) or Turmeric (as in turtle) - one of those words which always confuses me. Does it matter as long as we are talking about the same thing? It's latin name is Curcuma longa and has been associated with Southern Asia for a very long time.  A wonderfully exotic spice, amazingly delicious, colourful, anti-inflammatory root, full of antioxidants and purported to stave off cancer and Alzheimer's.

Whether the claims are true or not, I'm convinced I need more of it in my diet.

Turmeric has been part of traditional medicine, or alternative Siddha, for thousands of years in southern India. It is used in savoury and sweet dishes and as a dye for clothing for Saris and Buddhist's robes. 

In India a marriage ritual sees bunches of turmeric tied around wrists or in Sri Lanka it is often tied with string and hung around the neck as an offering to the gods. So many uses for what looks like an insignificant root. I think it's one hell of a good thing to have in your life.

I don't have any recipes to pass on for using turmeric as a dye. Many of my curries and Tagine recipes contain it, but I can honestly say that one of the easiest ways to get it into your system is by adding it to milk. Sound strange?

Milk with turmeric or 'Golden Milk' is becoming very popular in the USA. The milk can be drunk by itself or added to your Bircher Muesli for breakfast. The initial paste preparation takes 5 minutes and will keep for 1 - 2 weeks in the fridge.

Firstly you need to make a paste which will be the basis of your milk.

Turmeric Paste

1/4 cup of turmeric
1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper
1/2 cup filtered or rain water
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Mix all ingredients together in a small saucepan and on a low heat, mix until a thick paste is formed. This will take just a couple of minutes. 
Take off the heat and cool then place in a container and store in the fridge. It 
can be stored for 1 -2 weeks.

Turmeric Milk

1 cup almond milk
1/4 teaspoon turmeric paste
1 teaspoon coconut oil
honey to taste

Add milk, turmeric and coconut oil to a small saucepan and heat on low until the all the ingredients are mixed together. Don't allow the mixture to reach boiling point. Add honey and stir until melted, then take off the heat. Cool.

How to Use Turmeric Milk

As you can see, Bircher Muesli takes on a whole new dimension! You can use your favourite Muesli, whack it into a jar and steep in the milk over night! Top with some fresh fruit and yoghurt and you have a breakfast that will keep you going well into the day. I find this so filling that I don't generally need to have lunch.

I added some plain yoghurt and a few raspberries and enjoyed breakfast in the garden.

Turmeric milk can be drunk by itself. Once you have made it, addd a little extra honey and drink while still warm.

Just remember, like everything else, take small doses of turmeric to see how your body responds to it. It is good for you, there is no doubt about that. I don't advocate taking it everyday, but a couple of times a week should be fine for most people.

Breakfast Muffins

I was watching Jamie Oliver on TV one evening and saw him make some delicious Breakfast Muffins. I didn't take down his recipe but based on his ingredients and my own muffin recipes I concocted a version of muffins to try. Once they were in the oven the kitchen began to smell so sweetly I couldn't wait for them to finish baking and the end result was great; colourful, fragrant, tasty and very healthy.

Celebrity Chefs are becoming a regular on Australian TV. It's not just on the cooking programmes but promoting various supermarkets and competing heavily for everyone's dollar. There's also the branding - the cake mixes, frozen desserts and spice mixes which celebrity chefs, or ex Master Chef contestants are now flogging.  I'm not sure I agree with all this commercialisation. There is nothing wrong with healthy, home cooked, seasonal food prepared well. It doesn't need frozen or pre prepared vegetables sold in plastic or cardboard; just adding fresh herbs and spices will bring out the best flavours in everything you cook.

Jamie's doing a good job in encouraging people to try something a little healthier and giving a heads up on how to prepare a meal with little fat and sugar! Can't be all bad! I honestly think you can eat these muffins at any time of day and if you are running late for work grab one to eat on the way.

BREAKFAST MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS

600 grams peeled, grated sweet potato
3 - 4 large eggs
250 g wholemeal plain flour
4 spring onions finely sliced
1 red chilli finely sliced
200 g low fat cottage cheese
100 g parmesan or cheddar cheese grated
a large handful of parsley chopped
salt and pepper
Oil for greasing

For the topping

1 red chilli finely chopped
few sprigs of parsley

Grab your large muffin pan and some baking paper. Cut squares of baking paper that will fit nicely into the pans. Grease them using oil and a pastry brush and set aside.

In a large bowl add grated potato, spring onions, chilli, parsley and mix. Add the beaten eggs and the flour and mix again. Season with salt and pepper and mix in the cheeses.

You will need to use a large spoon to spoon the mixture onto the baking paper and into the muffin pans. I found the easiest way to do this was to take the paper in my hand, fill it and then drop it into the muffin pan. It made 12 nice sized muffins.

Finely slice the second chilli and sprinkle on the top with a little parsley and place in a pre heated moderate oven 180º/ 350 F for around 30 minutes. They should be reasonably firm and slightly browned on the top. Eat them warm or cold - delicious either way.

Breakfast Eggs with Basil and Avocado

Back home after a fantastic 5 weeks walking the Thames Path in southern Britain and I'm happy to be able to share some amazing photos, ideas and new recipes over the coming months. 

It was lovely to wake up in my own bed, listen to the sounds of the cockatoos and smell the eucalyptus! Home!

Although walking was the main reason my friend Stephanie and I went to the UK, we teemed this with eating; sampling delicacies from Spain and India, vegetables from the Middle East and delicious cheeses from France; croissants, bread, nuts and salads and anything and everything that looked interesting. Plus a whole lot of summer fruit, grown in the heart of England. 

We've eaten in some pretty interesting restaurants too, Rick Stein and River Cottage Canteen  (more about these later) and tried a great mixture of wines, beers and ciders, hic!



Enjoying some of the best food that Britain has to offer comes with one drawback - extra kilos! And while the main purpose of this trip was to WALK, we had to keep the body fuelled and herein lies the problem!

To be able to get into a pair of bathers over summer, without looking like a beached whale, my eating habits have to change and now! Hopefully with some great low calorie recipes, fasting on 2 days a week, reducing portion sizes and increasing exercise I may stand a chance. I need will power!!!!

I'm looking forward to experiencing appetising salads and vegetable dishes and sharing them here, and where possible I will include the calorie count. (If you are in the northern hemisphere - think of this as preparing yourself for next summer)

Some of my worst experiences in England centred around breakfast. Feeding large numbers of people in pubs/hotels must be a bit of a nightmare, but day after day of being offered the same food became tedious.

Eggs, bacon, beans, sausage; a range of pastries, toast and packet cereals. In Winchester, the hotel had tried to make a bit of an effort by  adding a 'smoothie' but the combination of flavours was uninspiring and after one mouthful I left it alone.

I love breakfasts, its a great way to fuel up your body for the day ahead and it's in our best interest to find recipes we can keep going back to; low calorie, easy to make, but damn delicious. 

What's your favourite breakfast food? I hanker after porridge, fruit and yoghurt and now I have bought a Ninja Pro, some great combinations of smoothies.

But wait - I'm beginning to sound really boring - here's something new to start with! Its a quick easy recipe that will have you bursting with energy and your friends green with envy!

 Avocado Eggs with Pesto and Spinach

Ingredients

This recipe is for one person

2 free range eggs

2 tablespoons pesto, home made or shop bought

1/2 avocado, peeled and sliced thinly

Turkish bread

50g baby spinach

1/2 bunch of asparagus sliced vertically

knob of butter

1 teaspoon olive oil

salt and pepper


I buy Turkish bread and slice it into 4 or 5 piece and freeze it, then I'm not tempted to eat too much.
You have to multi task and get all of these elements going at the same time so everything is ready to eat as soon as it is assembled

• Take an average slice of Turkish bread and cut into 2 and toast it
• Take a large pan and fill with boiling water for poaching eggs
• In a non stick fry pan heat a very small knob of butter and olive oil and
• Saute the asparagus for a few minutes and set aside. Now add the spinach and cook until it is wilted
• Crack eggs into the boiling water and cook for around 3 minutes
• Place the wilted spinach on top of the toasted bread,  add slices of avocado 
• Remove the poached eggs from the water with a slotted spoon and put on top of the avocado
• Give a good helping of salt and pepper
• Place a tablespoon of pesto on top of each egg then finish the whole dish off with asparagus spears
• Check seasoning and eat!

This is the yummiest breakfast I have eaten for a very long time.