Sharabelle bakes

Tomato and Pesto Tart Was back at the Pantry today, was glad to get back to my normal routine.  Todays dessert was Peach Torte, basically a fancy name for a cake.  Except it uses a lot more sugar, which is probably why it was so popular. At least they got one of there 5 a day....  Got home and had to bake a batch of ice cream cone cupcakes. My nieces birthday is tomorrow.  It's also the day my brother is un-wiring my cooker, as my new one arrives sometime Friday.  I really don't think things through when I plan!!!!  (Doesn't matter when they deliver my new cooker, I still need my brother to wire up the new one.) So after Tortes, Cupcakes came my dinner of Tomato Tart.  Was in Sainsbury's yesterday for a few Free From Supplies. I found there now stocking  Meridian Pesto Wheat Gluten & dairy free, which is reasonably priced at £1.75.  Iv only seen it before at Real foods in Edinburgh and in Holland and barretts.  I love pesto, but try

Have a cake in the oven and Iv just finished licking  bowl clean.  Yup more baking therapy. Would normally be at the Pantry today but had my medical this morning. So pretty much didn't sleep well last night.  My mum went with me, so afterwards to calm me down we went to the nearest Aldi  in Kircaldy.  Well spaced Isles and not too busy, just the way I like to do my shopping.  They have a great deal on fresh fruit and vegetables at the moment.   Mushrooms, butternut squash, mixed peppers, vine tomato's, fun size apples and clementines are all 69p for a pack.  Perfect for budget cooking.  There was no way either my mum or I would use that much vegetables, so we tend to split the packs between us.  That way we both get a wide variety of veggies to eat with out wasting any food.  The only problem  I normally have with shops that Aldi's is they are usually in locations that are only accessible by car.  So it was great to find one open not far from kirkcaldy rail way st

My friend L is on holiday this week, so she came round for lunch.  Nothing better than food and a good blether with friends.  As usual I had to bake for the occasion, her Halloween party this week was a great excuse.  Did go a little OTT again though.  By 9am the baking was done and by 10am my homemade tomato and basil sauce was gently cooking away.  We saintly ate pasta with tomato sauce for lunch, so we could splurge on muffin tin mini apple pies and custard for pudding.  I personalised her cookies, by breaking up and folding through some caramac.  Your not going to find any of these to buy in the shops. I also made some Chocolate cupcakes.  I cheated a little I bought some pre-made butter cream. Made sense since, the cakes are going to be frozen till Wednesday.  I was pretty confident making real dairy cookies and Cakes but there was no way I could taste test butter cream.  Morrison's have started doing there own brand of pre-made butter cream.  They have 3 flavours,

 Orange zest chocolate chip cookies I used my base cookie/biscuit recipe yesterday (on my recipe list).  I added zest from 1/2 an orange and non dairy chocolate chips.  Kept some out to eat and froze the rest.  If you look at my blog it might seem I do eat alot, lol.  I just cook and bake my own foods from scratch rather than buying from the shops.  It's the best way I’ve found for controlling my IBS. The problem I had with shop bought products is that they often have hidden ingredients that you don't expect to find in them. Artificial Sweeteners Artificial sweeteners are used in a lot of diet and low calorie drinks, biscuits and cakes.  When I started weight watchers a few years ago, I thought I was being good by watching the number of calories that I ate.  However these sugar substitutes are actually worse for my IBS than normal sugar made from cane or beets. Some sweeteners are worse than others but as with IBS itself, it depends on the individual. 

Mixed pepper and mushroom DF Quiche It's not pretty but it was pretty tasty.    I know most of my recipes don't use egg's, but when your limited to eating veg, fish and egg's I'd rather they took the starring role in a recipe.  I also prefer to use local free range eggs. This is more for the idea of well cared for Chickens, the fact they taste better is just a bonus.  (Iv always bought  free range eggs, I watched a  Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall program a few years ago showing ba ttery hen living conditions.  It just re-enforced the reason why I do) Since I'm becoming more confident with making short crust pastry, i decided to have a go making a dairy free Quiche.  In an attempt to keep my meals interesting, Iv started to do a lot more savoury baking.  What better than Dairy free Quiche.  I don't have a pie plate, so I used the top lid of my Pyrex casserole dish.  Sometimes you've just got to improvise.  I oiled my Pyrex pie lid,

 Creamy tomato Soup  In the kitchen today..... The Pantry canteen is shut over the weekend,  so perishible food stuff's have to be binned.  I hate any food going to waste so when I found a lot of sliced tomato's where going out,  I decided to liberate them.  (With permission off course) One of my main principles when I'm budget cooking, is to waste less food.  It's better for the environment and it's better for my bank account.  I had one lonely carrot left in the fridge and  plenty store cupboard ingredients. From this I was able to rustle  up a tasty pot of Tomato soup Waste less food soup Fresh Tomatos - chopped 1 carrot - chopped A handful of red lentils 300 ml Vegetable stock - yeast free tomato puree salt and pepper I cooked the chopped tomato's and Carrot in a pan for 5 -10 mins before adding the lentils.  I continued cooking these for another 1-2 mins, before adding the seasoning and vegetable stock. Then Brought the soup up to

Strawberry Eton mess For today's lunch at the Pantry We made Eton mess with home baked meringue.  Another hit dessert and best of all it's easy to make.  You can easily buy meringue to make this a no cook dessert.   I came up with this variation for it when I was on the weight watcher diet.  A girl still needs some treats xxx Dairy Free, low fat Eton Mess - Makes 1 serving 1 Meringue nest - broken up small tub Plain Yogurt Your favourite soft fruit. e.g. Strawberry, raspberry etc In a traditional Eton mess, cream is whipped to a firm peak. Then the broken meringue and soft fruit are folded through it.  Fresh fruit is best, but de-frosted frozen fruit works just as well.  The juice also gives a lovely rippled effect to the cream. Iv yet to find non dairy whipping cream, though you can use canned coconut milk as a replacement. Leave a can of coconut milk in the fridge for several hours.  Once open scoop off the thick cream, and pour the milk off

Question of the day, Dairy free Quiche or Gingerbread cake? Not what most people would think of first thing in the morning, then again I always joke that my brain is wired differently.  Which is why this was my first thought when I got out of bed this morning. Wednesday is supposed to be a relaxation day for me, as I do work experience on Tues and Thurs at the Pantry.  I love being there, but the travelling is hard going.  I'm not great on buses at the best of times and having to take 2 for a single journey is stressful. Having a day's off between really helps.   So when i want to relax, I bake....... I didn't want to go to the shops, so it had to be something I could make from things i could find in my cupboards and fridge.  The Gingerbread cake won.  I'd helped make a normal one at the Pantry yesterday.  With many cakes they are best eaten on the day there baked or soon after.  Fully iced cakes will last longer.  However gingerbread cake is one o

After making my Oatmeal & Raisin cookies on Monday I couldn't stop baking once I got started.  When I get an idea in my head I tend to want to try it straight away. I'd picked up some marked down blueberry's from Morrison's Seconds shelf.  Nothing wrong with them, they just weren't picture perfect.  De-frosted a banana I'd frozen whole in the skin last week, before they became over ripe.  They don't take long to de-frosted and you hardly need to mash them once you get the skin off.  My idea was to add the blueberry's instead of raisins to my Banana muffin recipe.  And since I wanted to test one of my new baking tins, lets see if they work as a single cake. I love trying out new things in the kitchen, however I don't recommend testing 2 different things in the same recipe.  When I get hyper I find it hard to edit myself.  An Anxiety disorder side effect, and the reason I no longer drink caffeine.   Me on caffeine is like a kid after eati

Monday madness Does any one really know the way to San Jose?  When did wearing leggings with holes in them become fashionable?  and why can't i get this photo to rotate??????? It's not really my day, first the Doctor Surgery mucked up my repeat prescription this morning which means I can't collect it now till tomorrow afternoon.   Due to the damp weather from walking to afore mentioned Doctor Surgery, my hair now looks like Shirley Temple's.  Ringlets are not really me.  I then dropped a stitch in my knitting, so decided to un-ravel it and start the whole project again.  When everything else goes wrong I know it's time too bake............ There's something really comforting about Oatmeal and raisin cookies. I had a two rail track dental brace a few years ago. (Long Story)  So every time I survived another brace tightening session at the Dental hospital, I used to treat myself to a hot chocolate and Oatmeal & Raisin Cookie from Millie's C

Baking therapy I don't just bake as a form of  IBS self preservation, I bake because i find it relaxing.  The kitchen is one of the few places I feel in control.  I'm not scared of trying out unfamiliar  techniques, recipes or foods.  Lol, which is a total contradiction to my anxiety disorder.  Where the idea of going some where Iv never been before fills me with panic.  But who said anxiety was logical... So cooking and baking all my food from scratch, helps both my physical and my mental health.  I can understand why people can panic about cooking and baking, especially when a recipe has a long list of ingredients and steps required to make the finished product.  That's why I try to keep mine as simple as possible.  There are days when even I get stressed, on these days I follow some basic CBT  cognitive Behaviour techniques IV been taught to control my anxiety.  CBT is about splitting a task down it too its individual steps.    Look out and measur

TOP 5 FAVOURITE THINGS  Was swapping recipes with a friend last week and in the middle of  the conversation she said " You eat really well" And when I thought about it, I do.  When you have IBS sometimes the focus is on what you can't eat , but there's a long list of foods that I still eat.  I just make my own versions more IBS tummy friendly.  So channelling Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music, here's a list of my favourite things.   1. Corn Popcorn, corn on the cob, corn off the cob, polenta, corn flour. corn tortilla etc. I love corn it's such a versatile food, especially in the form of popcorn.  Morrison's have started doing there own sweet and salty popcorn mix mmmm.   Quick polenta is the ultimate fast food, ready in minutes. 2. Banana's Natures self packed snack.   Au natural, mashed, baked in cakes or sliced in cereal.  One of my favourite desserts, is too roast a whole banana in it's skin for 20 Min&

Muffin tin Meat-less loaf with BBQ sauce Iv been testing more savoury recipes lately.  There are only so many way's that you can eat veg, grains and pulses after all !!!  Iv seen a lot of meat less loaf recipes, but the list of ingredients required always put me off.  For me the simplest recipes are often the best.  While reading one of them I realised that the majority of grains and pulses needed could all be found in good old Scot's Broth Mix.  Why buy 5 products, when you can buy 1..... I adapted a recipe I found and made some mini muffin tin meat less loafs, then covered them in homemade BBQ sauce before baking in the oven.  To be honest Iv only ever eaten meat loaf once, while on holiday in New York.  It was probably not my best idea to made a veggie version of a meat recipe, especially when I couldn't remember what the original version was supposed to taste like.   Because my meat less loaf sure tasted a lot like haggis.  Not to big a problem I

Another day at the Pantry today.  We needed to make a quick dessert, so what else do we do but pick one we've never made before!!!! The Pantry has a library of traditional cake and pudding recipes, we decided to make Peach Sponge Pudding.  It's basically the same as Eve's pudding, except the apples are swapped out for tinned peaches.  Today I learnt that Traditional = small portions.  I'd doubled the recipe, but it still wasn't enough.  We had to turn round another batter quick so it had enough time to cook in the oven for lunch.  We needed to up the recipe by x  6 to make enough.  It was worth it in the end, the dessert was a hit.  I've surfed the net looking for a similar recipe and this one is the closest I could find.  Eve's Pudding .  Being an old fashion thrifty pudding it uses less eggs than a normal sponge pudding, which makes it easy to adapt to a dairy free version.  To make it Egg free just use an egg substitute instead.  The version w

Found myself wondering round the drinks aisle of the supermarket this week, looking for a beer to make a Chocolate Stout cake for my dad's birthday.  I had planned to use some of my dad's own, craft brewed Real Ale but the next batch wouldn't be ready in time.  I used to be a member of the Campaign for Real Ale along with my dad, however I had to give it up as Alcohol is one of my IBS triggers.  I may not be able to drink anymore, but I still know the best Ales for Cooking and Baking.  My father and I share a warped sense of humour so using Theakston Old Peculier appealed to me straight away.  It's a Rich Dark Ale much better than an ordinary  generic stout.  The best thing about this recipe is that's it's also dairy free.  I also made it egg free (Oops forgot to buy eggs) A very Peculier Chocolate Cake 1 1/2 Cups     Flour 1/2 Cup         Caster Sugar 1/2 Cup         Cocoa Powder 2 tsp.             Baking Powder 1/2 Cup         Vegetable Oil 1

Veggie pot Pie I refused to be beaten by the pie crust, so since I had some filling left I had another try.  With a little research on the web and help from the Rachael Ray , I finally succeeded.  Found a few recipes using a muffin tin, it's a lot easier than trying to free form a pie.  I used veg oil to grease the tins, and rolled out my shortcrust pastry.  Most recipes suggest cutting the pastry into a circle and using a smaller one for the top.  However Rachael Ray  comes up with an easier way.  I cut my pastry into large squares and lined my muffin tin.  Once I'd spooned in the filling, I pulled the corners across the top towards the middle of the pie.  Then crimped the edges together.  Why didn't I think of this!!!! I baked 4 mini pies, I had 2 for my supper.  I must admit the pie bottom did split when I took them out of the tin when they were warm. However the 2 I left to cool completely in the tin came out OK.  Will definitely be using this trick a

HOW NOT TO MAKE PIE!!! Sunday dinner Veggie Cornish pasty We all have our cooking kyrptonite, mine has been pastry.  Iv never attempted to make it for years and if I did I'd buy it pre-made.  After getting some pastry making tips at the Pantry last week, i decided to give it another go.  From the above picture you can see it wasn't a total success..... Making the pastry was the easy part, I made it dairy free by using TREX  as a substitute. (Got mine from Asda)  Rubbed it into the flour, then added a little water just to let it bind.  Then wrapped it in a plastic bag and rested it in the fridge for 1 hour.  Was pretty chuffed with myself so I got on with making the filling.    I found the recipe on a great website Vegan Society . My main problem is that I still haven't mastered the skills to assemble both pastry and filling yet.  My first mistake was attempting to use a betterware pie making aid.  The next was placing warm filling on my lovely chilled pastry.

Soup glorious soup As the weather turns colder I start switching too soup for lunch, it's warm, filling and healthy.  It's also much cheaper to make your own than buying it from the chill section of the supermarket or in tins.  I'd made a big pot of soup for lunch, before my brother G came round to visit.  We ended up having a conversation on the subject.   Our mum is a great cook, so sometimes we find it strange that not everyone cooks.   Basically, someone had asked him what you could use to make a pan of soup.  The answer - anything you want or have on hand .  Soup is a great budget watching recipe.  I always make a large pot so I can freeze it into portions.  All I have to do is take it out of the freezer in the morning and by lunch time it's defrosted enough to nuke in the microwave or reheat on the stove.  Today i felt like adding......... BASIC SOUP Recipe 1 chopped large potato, 2 chopped carrots and 2 chopped parsnips. Salt and peppe

Part 2 - EATING OUT Eating out when you have a food intolerance is a pain in the bleep.  Friends and family no longer ask where do you want to eat?  instead its now Where can you eat?  It's coming up for the festive season so I thought I'd do a little research so I could give them a few more choice's to pick from.  Talk about complicated and confusing.  Your okay if your only lactose intolerant or Gluten intolerant.  However I'm lactose and yeast intolerant, which makes it hard to work out exactly what on a menu I can eat.  No two people with IBS are the same so it seems a bit daft to me that the websites assume you only have one group of foods your intolerant too!!!! TOP TIP :  If your lactose intolerant try looking for Vegan friendly restaurants.    Useful websites:    http://cookingforvegans.co.uk/eatingout/chainrestaurantinfo.html  http://urbanspoon.com/t/354/2/Scotland/Vegan-Friendly-Restaurants Bella Italia   has both Gluten