Quinoa Banana Choc Chip Muffin

 

Adapted from: http://www.onecooktwokitchens.com/gluten-free-banana-quinoa-muffins-and-the-grains-giveaway-continues/

Ingredients (modified to my tastebud):

3 cups quinoa flour 

1 cup almond meal

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (1/4 teaspoon if you have fresh)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips

 1 cup walnuts broken into pieces

2 large egg

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

6 large mashed ripe bananas (approximately 1 1/2 - 2 cups)

12 tablespoons canola oil

2 teaspoon vanilla

Method:

1. prepare the dry ingredients first. I used the Thermomix to made my quinoa flour and almond meal.
I measured 3 cups of quinoa grains and blend in Thermomix on Speed 10 for 1 minute. Pour mixture into large bowl
2. Next place raw almonds into Thermomix bowl (I used the same bowl from the quinoa flour). Blend for 40 seconds on Speed 10. I turn the dial slowly up to Speed 10 as the almonds are quite hard and can cause quite a fright in the house.
3. Pour the almond meal into the bowl and whisk them together.
4. Add in baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Whisk them and blend them together. Add in the chocolate chips and the nuts and mix them slowly.
5. In another Thermomix bowl, I add in all the wet ingredients. eggs, brown sugar, bananas (make sure the are really ripe, mine was really brown all over), oil and vanilla. Blend on Speed 4 for 10-15 seconds.
6. Preheat oven to 180C
7. Mix the dry and the wet ingredients. DO NOT over mix. Muffins just need to be barely combined. I stir from bottom up and big folds.
8. I managed to get 24 muffins out of this batter. I used an ice cream scoop to get them into muffin cups.
9. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Use the toothpick to check if it is cooked. Toothpick will come out clean when it is cooked.
10. These muffins are really good. They are soft, moist and not tough. So this time the mixing is right.

My batter ready to be bake

 large scoops for a good wholesome snacks for my kid's lunch box.

after baking them. Nice straight out from the oven.

They are healthy, packed full of good stuff. Please do try it

Aussie Meat Pies



Adapted from:
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/recipes/aussie-meat-pies/69279

I did not make my own pastry but I promise I will when I am given more time in the future.

Ingredients for Pie Filling:

2 garlic cloves minced
1 brown onion minced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp cornflour
500 g minced beef
3 stalks of celery minced
1 large carrot minced
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 small teaspoon of Thermomix vegetable stock diluted with 1/2cup water (can omit and replace with salt)
1 tbsp Vegemite
1 tbsp. of mix dried herbs of choice (I used dried parsley)
100 g button mushrooms, , thinly sliced
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
a squeeze of tomato ketchup

Method:
1. Sautee the garlic and onions until fragrant
2. Add in the beef, season with pepper, soy, Worcestershire sauce and vegemite
3. Next add in the mushroom and continue to cook the mixture down
4. Add in the vegetables together with vegetable stock and cornflour. Add in pepper and continue to add seasoning until taste suits.
5. I let the filling cool in the fridge overnight
6. To bake the pies, I used store bought shortcrust and puff pastry. Shortcrust goes to the button and puff is to line at the top of the pie.
7. I used the 12 muffin tray to make the pies. I cut a large circle to ensure I am able to fill the muffin hole with the shortcrust pastry. Fill them up with the filling and cut a smaller circle to cover the top. Use some water to seal the sides
8. Mine pies exploded as I did not seal them properly. Also the shortcrust pastry is really hard to handle.
9. Bake for 20 minutes at 175C