Dairy free milkshakes and ice creams

2 ripe bananas
1 cup of rice milk
Few cubes of ice

Use thermomix or blender to combine ingredients until smooth.
I find by using ripe bananas, there is no need to add any extra sweetners as the bananas are sweet enough.

So delicious! I put the smoothies into travel bottles with straws for my girls. Great as a quick, nutritious and easily portable snack. I find they are especially good for long car trips to keep them quiet(for a while at least!)

To make ice creams, simply freeze some of the smoothies in ice block moulds and enjoy as a dairy free alternative to normal ice cram.

Rice crusted quiche with pumpkin and ham

I was left pondering after xmas what should I do with all the leftover ham. There is only so many times you can have ham sandwiches! This quiche is really simple to put together and the rice base apart from the benefit of being gluten free is a much healthier alternative to a pastry base. My husband who is brutally honest when it comes to my cooking, said it was the best quiche he has ever had!

Base:
500g cooked brown rice
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Filling:
1 onion, finely chopped
200g ham or lean bacon
5 eggs, lightly beaten
0.3 cup of soy milk or low fat milk
150g grated reduced fat cheese
500g cooked pumpkin, diced

1. Preheat oven to 160 (fanforced) and lightly grease a pie dish or cake tin with removable sides.
2. To make crust, mix cooked rice and eggs until well combined. Press mixture into base of dish and bake for 15-20 mins until crust is firm.      
3. Meanwhile, make the filling by cooking the onions in a frying pan over medium heat until softened. Then add bacon/ham and cook for a further few minutes.
4. Combine milk, cheese and eggs in a bowl. Place cooked pumpkin and onion/ham into the egg mixture and stir together.
5. Pour into rice crust and bake for ~50 minutes or until set and golden.

Gluten free almond cookies

These are the simplest cookies to make and are so yum! (just ask my toddlers!) We made these on Christmas eve for Santa and let's just say hubby was very happy with his midnight snack!

300g almond meal
75g macadamia nut oil
75g honey
2 tsp vanilla essence

1. Preheat oven to 160C. (fan forced)
2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Roll tablespoonfuls of mixture into cookies and then press down onto a tray lined with baking paper. (If you have trouble keeping the mixture together add a little more oil or honey.)
4. Cook for 15-25 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool completely on tray before divulging.

This makes a big batch of cookies but still they don't last very long at my house. Who would of thought a cookie that was so healthy would taste so good!