Vegetable Spaghetti Pasta

Going on gluten free diet meant giving up most of my favourite dishes. Including Italian. I know there are plenty of gluten free pastas on the market, but mostly their ingredients are not good. I don't really like the idea of xantan gum. However, I do sometimes use ready gluten free mix when baking. Never mind as it is not about flour but about pasta without flour...

I was seriously concerned about Little Girls eating as she was (and still is) a pasta lover. My sister advised me to make a courgette pasta and that was it! For the first time it was rather tagiatelle as I used vegetable peeler. But then we decided to get a vegetable spiralizer. I've done my researches and chosen the best one for us. Since then I can eat our favourite spaghetti which maybe is far from Italian one, but for us - even better:)

Usually I use courgette to make my spaghetti pasta and carrot to make a broth noodles. But the spiralizer is perfect for making chips. And if you have a dehydrator you can go raw :D Perfect for apple, parsnip or beetroot chips!

So, the recipe is very simple. You only need a spiralizer and courgette. After spiralizing your courgette you have some options. You can boil it, you can steam it or you can leave it raw. It's entirely up to you. I boil mine in a tiny amount of water for just couple of minutes until it's warm and tender. Then serve it with a sauce. If you eat dairy you can use Italian style cheese. As we are dairy free we don't use it (well, hubby does). What you will see in pictures is actually almond meal.

It was definatelly worth buying it! I got my spiralizer from here. I love kitchen gadgets, but this one is particularly good!

Coconut pancakes - gluten and dairy free

I have tried many of coconut pancakes, those with flour and those with shredded coconut. All of them were far from my tastes. Their were either to dry or to eggy in taste and did not want to keep their shape. That is why I started trying to find my best solution for recipe. And I think I have made it. At least it is what me and the rest of us (apart from Little Boy obviously) find as not only edible, but yummy :D

The rest of recipe is very easy - just mix everything together like for ordinary pancakes. My hint is to use coconut oil for frying - it must be hot enough but not burnt. Use a table spoon, or a bigger one to place your mixture on a pan. It is better to keep the rather small.

 As You can see I am using Raw Virgin Coconut Oil by Optima. For my personal taste - this one is the best. Not only fo cooking.

Yeeeeaaaahhh :) Little Girl is always helping:D

 

 A bit of fruit of your choice...

 ... some honey, maple syrup. coconut cream or homemade peanut butter...

...and it is ready to serve.

 I love them with coconut cream ( The best I have found is by Sainsbury as it has got not bad ingredients.) then a splash of maple syrup and some donut peach chunks*. Yuuummmmyyy! 

*It also tastes great with blueberries!

Gluten Free&Dairy Free Pistachio Macaroons and about those pictures which will last forever.

Each year at Christmas time at my family home we baked Christmas cookies. There was no other option than taking that tradition with me. I dreamt that one day I will stand in the kitchen with my daughter and bake cookies just like my mum with us - me and my sister. That dream came true. I've got my Little Girl, and now also a Little Boy, and before each Christmas we bake cookies. This year even with my mum...

So there were three generation of women, of which the youngest was not even 3 years, standing in the kitchen, laughing, chatting and baking. And yes, I did take some pictures. Even my husband took, but unfortunately I deleted the from the camera before downloading them... But the picture of my mum and my daughter mixing all the ingredients will always stay in my heart. Just like that one from over 2 years ago when mum was holding Little Girl and dancing with her. She was fighting breast cancer... I don't have picture of that moment either, but it will last in my heart forever.

 This year's cookies are very special. First time gluten  & dairy free, and first time baked altogether. Feel free to try that gorgeous recipe that we really loved as the three of us trully love pistachio nuts!

Pistachio macaroons recipe:

55 g skinned pistachio nuts

40 g icing sugar

1 tbsb rice flour

2 egg whites

55 g caster sugar

55 g desiccated coconut 

 Preheat the oven to 350F/ Gas mark 4. Process pistachios, icing sugar and rice flour in a food processor until finely ground. Whisk egg whithes until stiff and gradually add caster sugar still mixing. Fold in the pistachio mixture and coconut. Place spoonfuls of the mixture onto baking trays and bake for about 20 minuts or until slightly brown. Cool & serve!

 

Why gluten & dairy free?

I was thinking about changing the diet to gluten free over a year but each time I thought about freshly baked bread, ciabattas, cinamon swirls, quiches or tarts I have heard that voice in the back of my head saying "forget about it"... I decided not to go on gluten free diet as I did not really have to. 

Until....

Little boy had bottom issues almost since he was born. We couldn't treat it with anything as nothing helped. I have found that honey was great to treat my son's severe nappy rash but it did not solve the problem. So I started searching, looking for advice as I did not wanted to go on formula. A friend of mine advised me to cut out gluten (all grains actually) dairy and sugar to clean my body. In that way I got to the point that Little Boy had got dairy intolerance. He had the same symptoms* as his sister had over 2 years ago so that led me to conclusion that Little Girl also has dairy intolerance but not detected for all that time. 

That is why I put all my effort now to change the diet in our family for dairy free - as I have to, and gluten free (or almost gluten free) - as I want to. 

Since I cut out the dairy  Little Boy's skin got better and he finally started sleeping! Now my biggest worry is how to convince Little Girl and Mr Dad (who in fact also has intoleracne and I give my head for that) to not eating favourite cheddar and butter... Any ideas?

There is also a big challenge in front of me... preparing gluten free and dairy free Christmas! That will be FUN!

So please, keep your fingres crossed for us! And, of course, stay tunned for recipes!

Love

xxx

* severe nappy rash, seborrheic dermatitis, rash all over the body, muscous poo