Food Archives - Mami To Five

Going Gluten Free on a Budget

Going gluten free, whether it be for medical reasons or purely as a lifestyle choice, can be daunting. But once you get the hang of reading ingredients labels, you will soon realise it is actually relatively straight forward. You will also realise that a gluten free diet is far from cheap. Food manufacturers have caught on to the fact that gluten free foods are a big thing nowadays, which on one hand is a good thing because the choices are far more varied than they were even 5 years ago. But on the other hand they also know they can charge a lot of money because people have no option but to pay it.

But fear not, there are ways to go gluten free without costing the earth!

Handy Hints for Going Gluten Free on a Budget

Frugal tips for feeding a family on a budget

Feeding a family can be expensive. When that family is larger than average costs can quickly escalate! Because we have teenagers it means that I am now basically feeding five adults and two children at every single meal. I also try and make extra so there are leftovers for lunches etc too.

We have been trying to make our finances look a bit healthier this year and I am trying to be a bit more frugal. For the last month I have also been keeping a closer eye on our weekly budget.

At the moment, our weekly shop averages around £120. Which at first glance sounds a lot, but when you break it down it only equates to just over £17 per person for the week, so less than £2.50 each a day. I’m not usually one to toot my own horn, but when you take into consideration that our youngest has to have the more expensive gluten/wheat, dairy and soya free foods I’m actually quite impressed with myself!

From what I’ve seen online, lot’s of people seem to want to be trying to be frugal and save some money this year so I thought I would share some tips on how I shop to try and help save you some pennies too!

Frugal Tips for Feeding a Family on a Budget

Gluten and dairy free gingerbread men recipe

Gingerbread Men are a very popular biscuit for children any time of the year. But if you think about all things winter, Christmas in particular, gingerbread has to be right near the top of your list along with snow days, hot chocolate and candy canes.

Being gluten and dairy free needn’t mean you have to miss out either. This recipe has been in the making for a couple of years now but I think I finally perfected it! These gingerbread men are everything you want them to be, crunchy, packed with flavour and not as dry and grainy as many gluten free products tend to be. They are also firm enough to withstand small children decorating them(this has been put to the test by my three year old).

They do go soft within 48 hours, but lets be honest that is actually quite good for gluten and dairy free cookies which usually need eating within 24 hours!

Ingredients

175g plain gluten free flour (I use Doves)
25g besan/chickpea flour
25g arrowroot/tapioca starch
1 tsp xantham gum
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1 1/2 tspn ground ginger
3/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
60g granulated sugar
60g soft light brown sugar
3 tbls golden syrup
20g vitalite (or your preferred margarine)
50g Trex (vegetable shortening)
1 egg

Method

Preheat your oven to gasmark 4/180°C/350°F.

cut some non stick baking parchment to the size of your baking trays

1. Add all of the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl (flours, arrowroot, xantham gum, bicarb, spices, salt and sugars). Stir together to ensure it’s all mixed evenly.

2. Make a well in the centre of the flour mix and add the wet ingredients (syrup, fats and egg).

3. using an electric whisk beat all of the ingredients together until fully combined. Your mix should feel soft, shiny and a bit sticky.

4. Lay your pre-cut parchment down on your surface and place some of your dough in the centre. sprinkle with some flour and place another sheet of parchment or some cling film over the top.

5. Roll your dough so it fills the parchment and is about 1/4 an inch (approx 5mm) thick.

6. Dip your cutter into flour and cut your shapes into the dough about 2″ apart as you want them on your baking tray. Give your cutter a bit of a jiggle to make sure the dough is fully separated.

7. Remove all the excess dough around your cut out cookie shapes.

8. Cook for 15 – 20 minutes, or until golden brown, you may need to turn your trays around half way through cooking for an even bake.

9. When cooked remove from the oven and leave to cool on the tray for 5 minutes.

10. gently move the gingerbread men from the tray to a cooling rack with a spatula and leave to fully cool.

11. When cooled, put them back on the baking tray and bake for a further 10 minutes. Twice baking ensures a firm crisp cookie.

Repeat steps 9 & 10

leave to cool fully before decorating.

Hints and Tips

Besan flour has quite a strong, nutty taste. Don’t panic if you taste the dough raw, it mellows when cooked and goes well with the spices.

If you find your dough breaks while rolling out try pushing flat with your fingers first, patching up any tears and then using the rolling pin just to give it a smooth, flat surface.

This dough freezes really well. Because the baked biscuits don’t keep as long as a gluten based biscuit you might be best freezing into smaller batches. Once it’s defrosted give a good kneading before rolling out.

Let me know if you give these gluten and dairy free gingerbread men a go, I’d really love to hear how you get on. I’d also love to see your creations, you can send me a picture to my Facebook page, or tag me on Instagram (@mami2fiveblog) and Twitter (@mami2fiveblog).

Review ~ Noom Coach Healthy Weight Program

A few weeks ago I was asked if I wanted to test out Noom Coach, the updated version of the Noom Weight App that I tried out just over two years ago. I really enjoyed using it the first time round and was excited to try this newer, updated version.

What I liked about the original app was the fact it kept me accountable for what I ate. I found I was less likely to eat something unhealthy, like two chocolate bars in one sitting, because I didn’t want to have to log it in my food diary. It also made me aware of how much I move during the day and kept me wanting to exercise just so I could log it.

The new app has been given a fresh new look and is even easier to use than before! Everyday you will find articles on your home page offering helpful advice on staying motivated and ways to keep you calorie intake down, like planning ahead and managing portions. The side bar pops out with everything you need right there at your finger tips.

The Healthy Weight Program

The Noom Coach app itself is free to download on your Android or ios device and this gives you the ability to log your your meals. There are then two paid programs available, each offering specific coaching for your needs. There is the Healthy Weight Loss one I am on and the Diabetes Prevention Program. Each program is a 16 week long course and leads you from the learning stage, right through to reinforcing everything you have learnt for those healthier choices to become a natural habit.

The costs for the Healthy Weight Loss Program is a monthly payment of $44.99 or an overall payment of $199 for the whole course. At first glance this does seem quite pricey to me, but as well as being able to log your meals and have access to the groups you get a real life coach who is there to help you along the way. So when you take into consideration how much personal coaches are to see in real life, just for an hour a week, this cost works out at just pennies per hour!

Your personal coach really is there for you too, they even call you personally to find out more about you and learn the best way they can support you. Don’t worry if you are uncomfortable talking on the phone, this step can be done by messaging too.

The Groups

Your Noom coach chooses the right group for you to join. Which takes a little time but is much better than the last time I used it where I struggled to find an active group. Your coach also facilitates your group, setting activities and challenges so everyone really gets to know each other and gets a little push in the right direction to meet their weight loss needs. Having a tailored group of like minded individuals to support you along your weight loss journey is always a help and my group seems to be a nice active one. They reach out for support when they are struggling as well as being eager to offering advice, anything from ways to curb snacking to recipe suggestions.

Logging Meals

It’s really easy to log your meals, most food are pre-programmed in to the app and there is a much wider variety of meals available now so you can get an approximate calorie count. I would be wary of using the ‘serving’ size when you are choosing the amount you have eaten if you are at all unsure, because the chances are you will underestimate exactly how big a serving is. I tend to use the cups or weight options so I know I’m logging it right.

All of the meal information you input into your dashboard is fed back to your coach which means they can help you pipoint issues with your diet. So, for example, if you are on the Diabetes Prevention Program and your coach notices you need to decrease your total carb, and sugar, intake they can help steer you in the right direction to making healthier choices.

If you are forgetful, you can set the reminder function to remind you to log each meal. This is also helpful as a reminder to actually eat, not just log it!

In conclusion, I really like the updated Noom Coach app. Its a simple and effective way of keeping track of what, how how, you eat. Before I started I thought I was a big snacker. What I actually realised was that I was skipping meals, usually breakfast and lunch, then replacing them with unhealthy options, like crisps and biscuits, just to get a quick fix because I was starving!

I think I will continue to use the free version of the app, with just the ability to log my meals, so I can see exactly where I am going wrong with my daily food choices!

Have you used a weightloss app like Noom? How did you find it helped you?

***Disclaimer: This post has been sponsored by Noom, but all thoughts and opinions about the app is honest and my own***

Gluten and Dairy Free Welsh Cakes

Last year I shared my Welsh cakes recipe and I’ve had many compliments about them. If you have never heard of these tiny pieces of heaven, I strongly urge you to take a peek at the post to find out more about them and their history. Of course, I now have to alter most of my favourite recipes to make them safe for my gluten free, dairy free and soya free toddler. So after many alterations and plenty of taste testing, just in time for Saint David’s Day, here is my gluten, dairy and soya free Welsh Cakes recipe.

Crunchy Potato Skin Crisps Recipe

If you hate food waste as much as I do and also want to save yourself some money this recipe is perfect for you.

These potato skin crisps are not only super simple to make, they are using up potato peelings that you would be otherwise throwing away. The fact that most of the nutrients of a potato are found just under the skin is purely a bonus!

These make a great little snack on their own or you could even serve them as a starter with salsa or any type of dip you fancy. We make ours with garlic and onion salt and smoked paprika but they are just as nice simply with salt.

Here’s how to make these delicious potato skin crisps.

Ingredients:

Potato peelings
1 tablespoons of oil (any type)
seasoning of your choice

Method:

Preheat your oven to around gas mark 5, 190 centigrade, 375 fahrenheit if you are already cooking something at a different temperature these will cope just fine but remember to keep an eye on them if its much hotter as they will burn quickly.

Collect your potato peelings into a bowl and add the oil. Mix up with your hands until the skins are evenly coated with the oil.

Add your seasoning, we add onion salt, garlic salt and smoked paprika, I can’t give you exact amounts as your quantity of potatoes will be different every time but keep in mind you don’t want to add loads, just a good shake. Remember you can always add more after they are cooked.

Lay onto a baking sheet and spread out as much you can manage, don’t fret too much if they overlap but they may take a little longer to cook.

Flip over and move around every 10 minutes or so to avoid burning. The potato skin crisps will be ready when when they have puffed up and are nice and crispy.

For extra flavour: When they are cooked, pile into the middle of the baking tray and sprinkle with grated cheese, leave for another 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, let me know if you try it 🙂

Gluten free, Dairy and Soya free Lime and Coconut Cupcakes Recipe

I have been on the hunt for a springy, tasty cupcake recipe ever since we switched our youngest to a gluten free diet a few months ago after already being dairy and soya free. Having to omit butter and wheat flour (the main staples of a cake recipe) made everything I baked either very dry and crumbly, or extremely wet after an hour or two and either way, everything had a grainy, dusty after texture. All the recipes seem overly complicated too, adding random ingredients which to me seemed unnecessary.

So after a little bit of playing and going back to the basics of cake baking ratios of 2:2:2:1 I learnt as a child (2oz each of butter, sugar, flour to every egg used) I think I have created a gluten free, dairy free and soya free cupcake that is light and springy and holds just like a wheat flour cupcake.

I have also been desperate to find a dairy free frosting that doesn’t split and go oily and can hold up to piping without collapsing into a soggy mess. I have tried numerous methods, both from following recipes as well as from experimenting but nothing really looked or tasted how I wanted. Until now!

So here I give you my gluten free, dairy free and soya free cupcakes:

The Summer Days Linky ~ What a Week!

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Welcome back to the Summer Days Linky with myself and Karen from Stopping at Two. You can read more about it HERE. You can link your summery posts at the bottom of this post.

The start of this week was beautiful. It was so lovely we even had to wear suncream, which has been a rarity this summer!

You may have already read about LV’s very eventful birthday on Saturday, if not you can read about it HERE. We also managed to get a couple of days work in the allotment, with LV and O being the main ‘helpers’. FYI, if your trying to get rid of stones having a toddler around is NOT going to result in stone free vegetable patches! Although he did give it a good go, as well as helping me break pallets apart.

We Have a New Allotment!

On Sunday I hinted upon the fact that I had some news! Even if you haven’t seen that post, I’m pretty sure the title of this post gives it away!

This is our 3rd allotment now. Sadly we had to give up the other two for various reasons but the land this one is on is owned by a friend, so we should be pretty safe to stay here unless she moves house, or has enough of me pottering about!

This new allotment is miles better than our old two it is extra spacious, easy to get to, is facing south west and gets sun pretty much all day! It doesn’t look like much, apart from the mountain side field that it is, but hopefully by next summer it will be filled with lots of pretty, and tasty, fruits and vegetables!

I have so many plans of what I want to grow. I’ve already ordered some seeds from the Real Seed website for vegetables I can plant over the next few months, including beans, onions, radishes and cabbage. It will take a lot of work to get the ground even a bit ready for planting, but the work has already started. Lee and I did some strimming today. FYI a strimmer harness is not the most flattering of accessories when you have big boobs 😉

Summer Days Linky ~ Raspberries

Welcome back to the Summer Days Linky with myself and Karen from Stopping at Two. You can link your summery posts at the bottom of this post or read more about the linky HERE.

Last week I shared some pictures of our garden. Obviously it isn’t the type of garden you can just sit out in and enjoy, unless you like the jungle come junk yard look of course!

But we are quite lucky that my parents live less than a mile away and have a lovely big garden that we can enjoy (especially as they both work full time so don’t have to worry about disturbing them!)

They also have raspberry bushes that I was given a few years ago from one of LM’s friends grandfather who has a massive raspberry patch, but obviously I had nowhere of my own to plant them. So as usual Mam and Dad’s garden came to the rescue.