Easy Gluten Free Ginger Bread Christmas Biscuits (GF)!

Ingredients

• 2 cups of Gluten Free Plain Flour
• 125g of butter, softened
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp of bicarb soda
• 1 tsps of ground ginger
• 2 1/2 tablespoons of golden syrup 
• 1 tablespoon of milk

Method

1. Put the golden syrup into a bain-marie and heat til soft.
2. Cream butter and sugar in mixer until creamy and light.
3. Add egg yolk into sugar, butter mixture and beat well.
4. Gradually add the flour, ginger, bicarb soda, and warm syrup and mix well.
5. The mixture will be the consistency of bread crumbs, start kneading and sticking the mixture together. Add the milk to the dough to make it stick together and knead into a better consistency.
6. Wrap the dough in glad wrap and leave to cool in the fridge.
7. Heat the oven (fan forced) to 180 degrees Celsius.
8. When dough is cool, roll out onto a bench dusted with flour (gf) and roll with a rolling pin in an even approximately 5mm thick dough. Use cookie cutters in whatever shape you like and place biscuits onto greased trays.
9. Bake gingerbread in oven for 15minutes. 
10. Leave to cool on trays for 5 minutes.
11. Feel free to decorate the gingerbread with icing or serve as is.

Sweet and Sour Style Chicken (GF)

Ingredients

• Chicken breast fillet, sliced
• 3 egg whites
• 2 1/2 table spoons of corn flour (gluten free)
• 1 red capsicum
• 1 cucumber or zucchini 
• 1 white onion
• 1/2 a pineapple, chopped
• Chilli, finely chopped
• 1 Garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tsp of ginger, crushed
• 1 cup of oil
• Juice of 1 lemon

Method

1. Chop up chicken into small cubes
2. Make a paste with the egg whites and corn flour, mixing together making sure there are no lumps.
3. Chop up all the other ingredients. 
4. Heat up the oil in the wok or deep frying pan.
5. Deep fry the chicken until crisp and place in oven to keep warm. 
6. Take out all the oil except a table spoon and fry the onions, chilli, ginger and garlic. 
7. Add the pineapple first and cook until starting to soften.
8. Add the rest of the vegetables and and stir in hot wok until tender. 
9. Add lemon juice to wok and add the chicken back into the wok. Serve with rice.

Gluten Free Double Choc Chip Cookies (GF)

Ingredients

125grams butter, softened
1 cup of Brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup GF plain flour
3/4 cup GF self raising flour
1/4 cup of Cocoa
250grams choc chips/ chocolate sliced

Method

1. Cream butter and sugar together and add the egg until light and fluffy
2. Gradually add the flours and the cocoa and mix together 
3. Add the chocolate and stir til evenly spread through the mixture
4. Make teaspoonfuls of mixture onto greased trays
5. Bake in a 180 degree oven for 12-15minutes or until cracks form on the biscuits.

Gluten Free Pancakes (GF)

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 1 cup Gluten Free Self Raising Flour
• 1 cup of Milk

Method

1. Place flour in bowl and make a well in centre
2. Mix together the milk and egg and gradually add mixture to the well of flour and whisk in to remove lumps
3. When mixture is completely combined heat a pan and add a tsp of butter until melted
4. Add a ladle full of mixture into the pan, when bubbles form flip pancake over
5. Once both sides are cooked serve with favourite topping. I have topped mine French style with Nutella and fresh strawberries

A Tip From The Garden

Having caterpillar trouble with your brassicas (cabbage family) and don't want to lose your organic pride? Place netting to cost-effectivley stop the butterflies from laying their eggs on your plants.

Spencer and Elise's Colour Crunch. *(GF)

Ingredients:

Salad:
2 small carrots
1 small red capsicum
1/2 small green capsicum
2 large tomatoes
1 stick celery
1/2-1 cucumber (whatever suits you, I like a whole one)
1 medium red onion
salad leaves (optional, we use baby spinach and rocket)
1 avocado
1 small pumpkin (optional, we used butternut)

Dressing:
1/2 lemon or lime
drizzle of olive oil
salt and pepper (to taste)
1 small chilli
2 small cloves garlic
small nob ginger
(cut everything finely and add to salad)

Method:
dice all salad ingredients, (except leaves and avocado) place in a large bowl and toss through; pour dressing over salad and toss once more before adding the avocado and lightly mixing it through.

Serve on pile of leaves (if using them), and if using pumpkin trickle over the top.

Vegetarian Paella* (GF)

Ingredients

• 1 cup of white rice (or brown rice)
• 1 litre (4 cups) of Gluten free Vegetable stock 
• 1 onion (finely chopped)
• 1 tablespoon of Paprika (mild)
• 1 tsp of Turmeric
• 2 garlic cloves (crushed)
• 1 small red chili (finely chopped)
• 1 red capsicum roughly chopped
• A handful of small cherry tomatoes roughly chopped
• A handful of pumpkin roughly chopped
• 1 carrot finely chopped
• 3-4 button mushrooms roughly chopped
• Bunch of parsley finely chopped
• Seasoning to taste

Method

1. Heat stock in saucepan
2. Fry onions, chilli, garlic, paprika and turmeric with olive oil in large saucepan.
3. Add pumpkin and fry for a couple of minutes, then add capsicum, carrot, and tomatoes.
4. Fry vegetables for a couple of minutes til a bit softened and then add rice and stir through.
5. Pour 3/4 of hot stock over the vegetables and rice and stir through.
6. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes occasionally stirring so rice doesn't stick to the pan.
7. After 20 mins stock should be absorbed and rice expanded, add the chopped mushrooms and remaining stock and stir through.
8. Leave to simmer for another 3-5 mins and add some finely chopped parsley and seasoning to serve.