My recipe for a yummy scrummy “birthing bar”!

Getting prepared for labour I watched a doco where the mum-to-be ate a massive feast of low GI foods in her early stages of labour so she had the energy to make it through to the end. I loved this idea, and combined it with stuff to generate healthy breast milk production, and some nice gentle fibre to aid that first post-baby poo.. They are soooo yummy, I have had lots of postive feedback from everyone who has tried them!

They have a massive amount of ingredients in them but don’t let that daunt you!! (But if it does, I make them fresh to order so send me a message via facebook and I can whip some up!!)    The best thing about them, is that you can be flexible with these ingredients: if you don’t have almonds, add pistachios.etc..

First Taste of Life “Birthing Bar”

1/4cup each puffed brown rice, puffed amaranth, chopped up brazil nuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, goji berries, dates, prunes, and currants.  1 cup each of quinoa flakes, GF SR flour, and maple syrup.
 1 Tbsp each maca powder and brewers yeast                                                                        1 pinch each cinnamon and vanilla.
 1/2 cup melted cocnut oil
  1/8 cup each chia seeds and linseeds                                                                                        1 cup each brewed raspberry leaf tea and nettle leaf tea

1. Soak the linseeds and chia seeds in cold raspberry leaf overnight.
2. Soak the dried fruit in nettle leaf tea overnight. Puree smooth.
3. Mix everything together. Press into a lamington tray.
4. Bake 170c for 20mins or so..until golden brown.
5. Cut into bars. Makes about 16-20 depending on how big you want them!
6. They freeze well, and are actually really yummy straight from the freezer..

Make a batch leading up to your due date, and as soon as things start happening, eat up!! Keep eating them for the next few days after birth (they are actually great to eat ANYTIME, but perfect for that specific time!!!)

Gluten free, vegan, dairy free, awesomeness!

 

 

Trio of sorbets. Three yummy frozen treats that toddlers can eat.

Having Bailey has made me adjust lots of recipes so we can all eat the same foods. Rather than eat loads of crap over Christmas (which may have been OK for us to do in the past), I tweaked some recipes and we all enjoyed some yummy, nutritious treats. The dessert was the standout for her, it was her first try of sorbet or ice cream, and first taste of chocolate.. Needless to say, she enjoyed it!!

To make the sorbets-

CHOC-ALMOND> 1 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup xylitol, 2 cups water, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 Tbsp beetroot powder + 1 cup almond meal. Bring everything to boil except almond meal. Cool. Churn in ice cream maker 25mins, add almond. Churn 10mins. Freeze.

BANANA-NECTARINE> 2 bananas, 1 nectarine, 1 Tbsp coconut butter, 1 Tbsp vital greens, squirt of stevia, 1 tsp yakon syrup, 2 cups rice milk. Blend til smooth. Chill. Churn. Freeze.

MIXED BERRY> 2 cup frz mixed berries, juice of 1 lemon, 1/4 cup xylitol, 1 cup water. Puree til smooth, pass through a sieve, churn, freeze.

They go quite hard when frozen, so take out 10 mins before you want to serve so they soften a bit. To make nice smooth balls, dip your scoop into boiling water between each ball. Enjoy with some fruit on the side. (I made mango and peach “christmas trees”) For the adults, there was a rum and raisin puree underneath the choc sorbet.

And of course, you don’t need to eat all three together to have a special treat, they are amazing all by themselves!

Another tasty (and healthy!) cake to feed baby.

It seems like when you reach babies first birthday the mum’s are divided into two groups. The ones that are fine with giving their bubs party food (cos it’s a party!!), and one’s that want to continue giving their bub healthy nutritious food regardless of the event. I fall into the second group. We had a few celebrations for Bailey’s birthday, and even though the first cake I created was tasty, healthy, and looked great,  I wanted to try something different for party number 2. So I twigged the recipe and here we have option number 2 for baby friendly party cakes.

Baby-friendly Mini cheesecakes.
250g cream cheese                                                                                                                          500g ricotta cheese                                                                                                                        1/2 cup mashed pumpkin                                                                                                              2eggs                                                                                                                                                          2 good squirts stevia

Flavour  #1
1 cup frozen berries- thawed and pureed.                                                                             Lemon rind and juice of 1 lemon.

Flavour #2
1 cup tinned peaches (no juice)                                                                                                      4 passionfruits.    Puree together, keep 1/4 aside to garnish with.

Have everything at room temp. Use a stickblender to blend the cheeses with the pumpkin, eggs, and stevia until smooth. Divide the mix into two. Add the two different flavours into the two seperate bowls. Mix another few minutes to combine well. Pour it in lined cupcake moulds. Bake at 180c for 30mins. Cool in oven. Refrigerate overnight.                                                                                             Garnish and serve cold. I garnished the berry ones with diced strawberries and kiwi fruit, and the peach and passionfuit ones with a little peach and passionfruit puree.

This was the best pic before they all were eaten up!!

Recipe for a Healthy, Yummy, and Amazing First Birthday Cake.

What’s a birthday party without a cake?? A one year old wouldn’t know the difference, but all the adults would think something is missing! Not wanting to give Miss Bailey something sugary, I was wondering what to do about the big ONE coming up.  SO- I came up with a healthy version! I decided on a cheesecake because at this age they should be eating lots of dairy food, and all the other ingredients would be eaten already by most babies at this stage. It was so easy to make, and turned out delicious!

Healthy and totally baby friendly!

Baby-friendly cheesecake.

Base-                                                                                                                                                                     1 cup dates                                                                                                                                               Juice of 1 orange.                                                                                                                                 1 Banana                                                                                                                                                  1 cup oatmeal                                                                                                                                         2 cups water

Cook the dates with banana, orange juice, and 1 cup water. Puree til smooth. Add 1 cup water and oats, stir to combine. Put in a lined springform cake tin and place in 180c oven for 10mins.

Filling-
250g cream cheese                                                                                                                          250g ricotta cheese                                                                                                                        Small tin pineapple pieces- pureed in juice                                                                           1/2 cup mashed pumpkin                                                                                                                1/2 cup carrot puree                                                                                                                      1/2 cup stewed apple                                                                                                                    good pinch mixed spice                                                                                                                    2 eggs                                                                                                                                              grated rind of 1 orange                                                                                                              stevia- 2 good squirts!

Have everything at room temp. Use a stickblender to blend the cheeses with the pumpkin until smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients. Mix another few minutes to combine well. Pour it on top of the warm base. Bake at 180c for 45-55mins. Cool in oven. Refrigerate overnight. Garnish and serve cold.

With the simple garnish (still just as yummy!)

DECORATE-  Add some squirts of apple and blueberry puree to garnish. OR smear a thin layer of yoghurt on it, and then place cut fruit all over it!

All that was left after 10 bubs!

Please credit me for my original recipe if you decide to use it anywhere!!

And let me know how your bub (along with the mum’s and dad’s) like it!! ENJOY!

Happy Birthday Bailey-cake!