Healthy Heart

Healthy Food Recipes

Pumpkin or sunflower seed butter
1/2 cup pumpkin or sunflower seeds
2 - 4 tablespoons rice bran or olive oil
Blend until texture is smooth

Home-made muesli bar - nut free
Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line a slice tray (mine is 31 cm x 22cm) with baking paper. Combine honey, sugar and butter in a sa
Serving Size:Makes 24

Special Info: Egg free, Nut free

Ingredients:

• ½ cup (125mL) honey
• ¼ cup caster sugar
• 125g butter
• 3 cups rolled oats (see note for GF)
• 1 cup rice bubbles
• 1 cup sultanas
• ½ cup chopped apricots or dates or choc chips
• ½ cup desiccated coconut
• ¼ cup pepitas (pumpkin seed kernels), sunflower or sesame seeds

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C
2. Grease and line a slice tray (mine is 31 cm x 22cm) with baking paper.
3. Combine honey, sugar and butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
4. Cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes until butter melts and sugar dissolves.
5. Bring to the boil and cook for 2 minutes or until syrup thickens slightly.
6. Remove from heat.
7. Combine remaining ingredients in a large bowl.
8. Pour over the hot syrup and stir to combine.
9. Spoon into prepared pan and press firmly to make sure the mixture will stick together.
10. I wet my fingers with a bit of cold water and press the top to get a smooth finish.
11. Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden.
12. Cool and then refrigerate until well chilled and cut into 24 slices (about 2cm x 6cm).

Notes:

• To make these muesli bars gluten free, use 2 cups of crushed cornflakes and 2 cups of rice bubbles.
• The mixture has a total of 1½ cups of dried fruit – use whatever combination you or your kids prefer.
• I have to put some obvious choc-chips on the top so my son will tolerate the sultanas.
• And let’s not mention the sunflower seeds.
• You could use half honey, half smooth peanut butter in the ‘syrup’ or add nuts to the mixture, but as most schools are nut-free now I have omitted these from the basic mix.
• Recipe created by Melissa Hughes for Kidspot.

Savory Zucchini Bread

Ingredients

• 325 grams zucchini (about 2 medium zucchinis)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups flour - all-purpose
• 1 tablespoon sugar - granulated
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 3 large eggs
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 sprigs thyme - fresh stems removed and leaves minced
• 80 grams Cheddar cheese cut into 1.25-centimeter cubs

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175C). Spread a thin layer of olive oil evenly onto every inner surface of a standard 9"x5" loaf pan. Dust with flour to coat evenly. This will keep your loaf from sticking to the pan once it's baked, so make sure you don't miss any spots. You can also line the inside of your pan with parchment paper.
2. Remove the ends of the zucchini, then shred it into a colander using the large side of a box grater. Add the salt and toss to distribute evenly. Leave the colander in the sink or over a bowl and allow the excess water to drain from the zucchini for at least 15 minutes.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, and paprika together.
4. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, olive oil and water together until the mixture has emulsified (combined) and it's light and frothy. Add the drained zucchini and thyme in with the egg mixture and stir to combine.
5. Dump the egg mixture into the flour mixture and use a spatula to fold everything together until the mixture is just combined. Be careful not to over-mix the batter or the bread will become tough.
6. Spread half the batter into your prepared loaf pan then add half the cheese. Add the rest of the batter and smooth off the top. Stick the remaining cheese on top, and then place the pan in the oven. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean (about 45 minutes in a convection oven).
7. When the zucchini bread is done, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, and then transfer it to a wire rack and let it cool completely.

Recipe retrieved from http://norecipes.com/recipe/zucchini-bread-recipe/