Ginger Snap Biscuit Cookies - Free from wheat, gluten, dairy and soya

My favourite, favourite biccy with a cuppa is a good old fashioned ginger snap.  I love the crunch and the sweetness and the gingeriness.  So I thought I would inflict my love of the ginger one on the Wee Man and make him his own version.

Of course I had to change it's name from ginger nut to ginger snap as there really is no nut in it and I wouldn't want the Wee Man to think he was eating nuts.  That would be disastrous.  I wonder why they are called ginger nuts if there aren't any nuts in them.  Anyone know?

What you'll need

4oz Gluten free self raising flour ( I use Doves Farm)
1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum
1 tsp heaped ground ginger
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 1/2 oz caster sugar
2 oz Dairy free and Soya Free spread ( I used Pure Sunflower spread)
2 oz Golden Syrup

Firstly sift and mix the flour, xanthan gum, ginger and bicarbonate of soda.
Then add the sugar and butter and rub until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Next add the golden syrup and mix until you get a smooth paste.
Using oiled teaspoons (oiling them means the mixture is less likely to stick), spoon teaspoon fulls onto a lined baking sheet.  Be sure to keep them well apart as they do spread.  Flatten the top of the mounds.
Bake in a preheated 180C/ 350F oven for 10 mins - 15 mins.  For a soft chewy texture bake for 10 mins and for a more crunchy texture bake them for 15 mins.

The Wee Man gave them a big thumbs up and has asked to make more today.

This recipe is shared on Momnivore's Dilemma, Cowgirl Up 

The Wee Man's Millions

I've been having yet another clearout.  No matter how often I do it, it seems to just keep piling up.  Toys, toys and more toys.  Where does it all come from and why after five years am I still tripping over that stupid plastic quacking duck?!  I blame myself.  The Wee Man has inherited my hoarding collecting instinct and it's well and truly biting me on my bum.  Look at all the money boxes he has for his savings?  And these are the ones that have survived the many culls.

He likes counting his pennies

All of them are filled to the brim with pennies he's literally picked up here and there.  The Big Man has an annoying habit of emptying his pockets and leaving little piles of coins everywhere.  It use to really annoy me until I had a brainwave and told the Wee Man he could keep any coins he found around the house.  So now my house is free of little piles of coins, instead I have six  money boxes to contend with.

So I've decided to open a savings account for him.  He already has a few to his name.  There's his Child Trust Fund account, his university account and his gifted money account.  He tells me regularly not to worry about paying for the house as he has money saved up(!)  I'm not really sure his pennies will cover our extortionate mortgage but it's the thought that counts.

But another savings account is required and we shall call it his "I've-got-too-many-money-boxes-so-I'm-keeping-my-money-in-the-bank-before-Mum-has-another-strop!" account.

Anyone know what the hell this is?!

I was going to post this photo as a "Silent Sunday" post but really it needs words to express me exasperation.

The Big Man "made" this creation and it's been in our downstairs loo since Tuesday.  I have no idea why he did it or what it's purpose is and I have no intentions of clearing it away.  I want to see how long it stays there.

Are there any male behavioural experts out there that can explain this to me?

Silent Sunday

Advent Swap Catch Up

I haven't been able to show the lovely goodies I got in the Advent swap from the lovely Jill as it's been a wee bitty hectic here.  But now the Wee Man is at school I've had time to photograph all the lovely goodies I got and lovely they are!

Lookey, lookey see what I got!

Jill is so talented!  All the crocheted goodies has spurred me on to try crocheting again.  I remember enjoying crocheting when I was at school and could still vaguely remember how to do it.  So I picked up a crochet needle and gave it a go.  I'm struggling to find the "hole" where the needle should go into for each stitch so it's coming out a wee bit wonky, but I am getting there.

Thank you Jill for all the lovely goodies and for inspiring me.

Week 1 - Corn Bread (Free from wheat, egg, dairy, soya, gluten)

Here goes with the first recipe in my Allergy Free Recipe Challenge.

The Big Man and I love watching "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" on the Food Network Channel.  Always  dangerous as we tend to drool and raid the biscuit tin, (not the most intelligent thing to do at 10 o'clock in the evening).

It was on there I learned about cornbread and saw how easy it was to make since it's yeast free.  So here's my version of allergy free corn bread.

Ingredients

1 cup Gluten Free Plain Flour (Doves Farm)
1 cup fine cornmeal
2/3 cup caster sugar
1tsp salt
3 1/2 tsp baking powder (wheat free)
1 tsp Orgran No Egg whisked with 2 tbsp water
1 cup Oatly Oat Milk (dairy and soya free)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum

1. Preheat oven to 200C
2. Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, baking powder and xanthan gum in a bowl
3. Stir in the oat milk, vegetable oil and the egg mixture. 
4. Pour the batter into a small greased loaf tin and a muffin tin*
5. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until a skewer comes out dry. 

* I decided to make little corn bread rolls using the muffin tins and poured the remaining batter into a small loaf tin.  You could just pour all the batter into a large loaf tin.

The Wee Man gave it a bug thumbs up and has happily gone to school today with a cornbread "roll" in his lunch box.   I found the end result to be more of a muffin/ cake texture than a traditional bread texture.  It was more crumbly despite the use of the xanthan gum.  Maybe it is suppose to be more cakey than bready.  But the Wee Man loved it and the recipe is going in my recipe book.

The "rolls" can't really be filled and used as a bread roll as it is so crumbly.  So my quest for the perfect allergy free bread roll continues.

52 Week Allergy Free Recipe Challenge

I've been toying with the idea of setting myself a recipe challenge for a while.  Now with the new year here, I've decided to jump in with both size 6s and see where it takes me.

The Wee Man pretty much eats the same food on a rota system.  I tend to stick to the things I know he's safe to eat and prepare them the way I have done for the past four years.  So to expand his and my repertoire I'm setting myself a challenge to try out one new recipe/ food product each week.

The rules I've set myself are:

1. Each recipe will be free from wheat, dairy, egg, soya, nuts, beef, citrus, berries, gelatine and chestnut mushrooms.   
2. By "food product" I mean shop bought mixes e.g. bread mix, gravy mixes.  There are a lot of products out there that should be ok for the Wee Man to eat but I tend to  steer clear of them for fear of the unknown.  There are usually a lot of mystery ingredients in them whose origins can only be found with an extensive google search.  
3. I will try something new each week and post about it
4. Sometimes life will get in the way of my Challenge so if I ever do miss a week or two then I have to make up for it in the following weeks.  So if I miss a week then the following week I need to do two recipes. 

I think that about covers it.  If anyone wants to join in please do.  I would love to get ideas and recipes from other allergy cooks.  Just write a comment and I can visit your blog.  I think it's such a minefield out there and any help and support is always welcome.