Sharabelle bakes

10 Ways to Cook Sweet Potato - Dairy free Sweet potato's are a very versatile vegetable, as they can be used to make both Sweet and Savoury dishes.  There also not really a potato, while a potato is seen as a carb a sweet potato is a vegetable.  Which means they can count towards the recommended goal of  eating 5 fruit and veg a day.  1. Baked sweet potato Baking sweet potato's has got to be the easiest way to cook them. You don't even need to peel them.  Just place them in your oven and bake till soft on the inside.  No need to par boil them before baking.  - Cook whole and serve as you would a baked potato  - Cut into wedges and toss in a little veg oil, along with some herbs or spices for seasoning. - Cut into Chips or Fries , then toss in oil with salt and pepper. 2. Fried Sweet Potato Oily food is a major trigger for my IBS, so I pretty much stay away deep fried fo...

Chocolate cocoa cola cake topped with Chocolate Ganache It's the start of the local school Easter holidays, which means 2 weeks of keeping the kids entertained.    Normally in April all you need to worry about is rain showers, however we've been getting a lot of unseasonal snow lately.  So it's always good to have a few back up plans, for when there stuck in the house.  Hungry Girl - Soda cake recipe Funny thing is I discovered this recipe a few years ago when I was on the weight watchers diet.  I never made it as diet soda is made with artificial sweeteners.  It isn't really great for my IBS, as there one of my triggers.  Last time my niece and nephew had an in service day (Teachers training) we had a bake day at my house. I love teaching the kids to bake, talking them through the recipe and letting them do the work themselves.  The only thing off limits is the oven, that I take care off myself...

Thank Banana's it's Friday It's good Friday and it's snowing....  So Iv needed my favourite Tropical fruit more than ever this week.  In cold weather all I crave is filling comfort food.  So I couldn't resist this recipe for Butterscotch Self Saucing Pudding  on all recipes.co.uk, and the only way to make it better was too add Banana's. Confession time :  Iv developed a non standard eating routine due to my IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) My stomach just can't handle 2 or 3 course meals.  So I sometimes have a main meal at lunch time, so I can eat a dessert for my evening meal.  If not dessert I have breakfast cereal instead.  After the jaw surgery I didn't have much appetite. Well I was drinking my meals threw a straw for 2 weeks,  then progressed onto navigating soft food through the bands locking my upper and lower jaw together.  Kind of took the joy out of eating.  The best advise I ...

Orange Cake with Chocolate Ganache Iv been recipe testing theppk - Post Punk Kitchen  Chocolate Ganache recipe.  It's from one of my favourite cook books - Vegan Cup cakes take over the world. Id promised the guys at the Pantry Chocolate Cupcakes, which gave me the perfect excuse to make the ganache.   Since I need to watch my sugar due to my IBS (ohh and the little factor that it makes me hyper, not great for my anxiety disorder) there is no way I can eat the whole lot myself.  Rather than cook it in a saucepan as the recipe suggested, I used a double boiler.  I prefer to melt chocolate in a glass bowl over a pan of simmering water.  It makes the chocolate less likely to split.  As an added bonus if you have any extra left over you can chill in the fridge and turn the rest into chocolate truffles.  This is a great base recipe that you can easily change. - Add Orange zest, to make chocolate orange Ganach...

Misson:  Baking Pretty I've just spent the last 3 nights sleeping in my bed, instead of the couch.  Which is a big thing to me.  I normally end up sleeping there due to my IBS, It's just easier to get into a comfy position that's enables me to sleep better.   If it's not the IBS, then it's due to my Anxiety Disorder and depression.  I don't like sleeping in bed when I'm having a bad day, I'm always afraid I wont want to get out of it the next day.   Where I know I will get off the couch, because the blanket and pillows will annoy me.   Lol it's my own form of anxiety management, I try too use my negative traits in a positive way.   After a few years of really bad insomnia, it's not where I sleep that counts.  My Doctor told me, it's getting sleep that really matters.  No matter where I sleep I'm usually awake between 5 am or 7 am.  Since I was up early I decided to practise my b...

10 Ways to cook onions dairy free Onion's are used as an ingredient in many recipes, as they add a wonderful flavour.  Iv tried to find recipes and cooking techniques where the Onion is the star, rather than part of the supporting cast.  Vegetable recipes are easy to find, on the Internet.  Only problem is there mostly vegetarian and include dairy or cheese.  It's the same with TV chef's, It would be great if for once someone made a cooking show focuses for people with food allergy's or food intolerance's.   Until then I'll just keep up my own cooking & baking experiments.  1. Onion Soup Due to the Baltic cold weather over the last few days, I had to start my list with Soup.  Perfect for warming your bones on winter days.  It's usually served with a toasted cheese crouton on top.  If your not intolerant to yeast, you could try using your favourite Vegan Cheese.  Yea...

Or rather Pasta for Breakfast Cous Cous pudding recipe    If you can use rice to make both sweet and savoury dishes, then why not pasta.  I had a vague memory of eating tinned creamed macaroni years ago. After searching the Internet I discovered the one above using cous cous, a grain type of pasta.  I wanted a change from my normal breakfast, so used the recipe as a guide.   Iv tried making a sweet version of Cous Cous before but wasn't successful.  As I'd used water, instead of dairy free milk to cook the pasta.  It was a pretty tasty alternative to my normal porridge. Sharabelle's Cous Cous pudding - Breakfast for one 1 1/2 Cup of Dairy free milk 1/3 Cup Dried Cous Cous 1 tsp Sugar 1/4 tsp Mixed Spice A handful of raisins Warm the milk in a saucepan along with the sugar and spice.   Reduce to a low heat and add the raisins and Cous Cous.  Cover with a lid and leave for 10 Min's....

This weeks star recipe - Savoury Jamaican Rice In my search for global vegan recipes using Banana's,  I now have a large pile of random recipes and notes. Among them the recipe for Jamaican Banana rice, my problem is I can't remember where I found it.... The original recipe was to be cooked on the stove.   Cooking rice this ways is my personal Achilles heals, never works no matter what technique I try.  I find baking rice in the oven a lot easier and it tastes a lot better.  Using fruit in savoury dishes isn't a new thing. Iv just never personally tried it with Banana before, so I had to give it a go. The finished dish has a lovely sweet and savoury taste.  Baking it in the oven leaves the top nice and crispy, while the rice underneath is soft.  The flavours all work well together with just a hint of coconut.  Only problem it looks kind of drab, which is why Iv added Spring onions to the recipe.  It will add colour to the...

Working on pretty Iv got a good selection of basic recipes now that I can tweak depending on the season or friends personal tastes.  I really needed a new challenge, so I gave my self one.  To start making my home baking more pretty.  I normally cook dairy free or vegan versions of traditional home baking, I just love the nostalgic look of them. Brings back wonderful childhood memories for me.  However not every one likes the nostalgic look. Last week I road tested my vanilla and chocolate wacky cup cakes on the guys at the Pantry.  They loved the light texture of the cake and really enjoyed the dairy free butter cream.  After much debate, it was decided I'd cook them my lemon soda cake for this weeks taste test.  I had an extra cup cake on Monday after baking for my niece, so kept it for my mum.  I cut it in half and spread raspberry jam in the middle.  It looked so cute,  like a mini Vi...

Finally a cake bowl I can lick clean... Didn't get the best sleep last night due to the rain and gale force winds. It was still raining this morning, but i had to look on the positive side.  I'd picked a perfect day to stay in and bake my nieces birthday cake.  My youngest niece is on a dairy free exclusion diet at the moment to see if it helps her tummy problems. There's a tradition at her school, where the children's family send a cake to school.  This way the kids can celebrate there birthday with there friends.  Since Iv yet too see a dairy free cake in the shops, I offered to bake one for her.  Her mum then asked if I could make a cake that looked like a castle!!!!  Unfortunately being a fan of Ace of Cakes and Cake Boss, does not make me an expert on cake decoration.  The baking part no problem, that I could do.  Her mum would have to decorate it herself. Once I sat down and thought about it, I came up with a ...

 Potato In honour of St Patricks Day, today's blog is all about the spud.  I always link potato's with Ireland, probably because I was learnt about the Irish Famine at School. There most traditional recipes using potato are, Colcannon and boxy pancakes. 1. Potato Dumplings Globally you can find different versions of Potato Dumplings.  Iv been able to find vegan versions of a few.  Italy has the Gnocchi Norway has the Klubb Germany has the Kartoffelkloesse Czechoslovakia has the Knedlicky Poland has the Polish Pierogi's  - I'd seen these made on Diners, Drive ins and Dives and really wanted to make my own dairy free version.  Luckily I found a recipe On the Post Punk Kitchen Blog.  Making Pierogi's are a labour of love.  They take a long time to make, but the taste is worth it.  I didn't have any Apple sauce to go with them, so I made some dairy free vegetable gravy.  Brilliant comfort food.  ...