Best Ever Spag Bol

This bolognaise is so delicious, and you could be fooled into thinking that it is made with real mince!

It is super quick to make, and can last in the fridge for a few days to make another easy meal.

The mince replacement is something called TVP (textured vegetable protein) which is completely additive free, and a really healthy and cheap alternative to mince. You really have to try it once, to see how lovely it is to work with. You can buy it from health food stores, and 500g will cost you about $8, but once you have prepared it for use, it will make 1kg of mince, which would roughly compare to 2kg of meat mince, because the TVP is a lot lighter.

Ingredients:

Dash of olive oil

1 onion, diced

1 garlic clove, crushed

1-2 cups of vegetables, chopped (I used eggplant, but you could use carrot, zucchini, peas, the list goes on)

2 cups of TVP, prepared as per package instructions.

1 jar Aldi's organic pasta sauce

1 can Aldi's organic tomato

2 dashes of Kikkoman naturally brewed soy sauce

1 cup Cambell's real vegetable stock

Pinch of salt and pepper

Method:

In a large and heavy saucepan sautée the onion and garlic in the olive oil until onion is clear, add the 1-2 cups of vegetables and allow them to cook for about 5 minutes, stirring. Add in the rest if the ingredients, and bring to the boil, and then simmer for around 20 minutes, stirring. Serve over pasta, or use in a lasagne. 

Additives- where do I start?

The curiosity surrounding additives is overwhelming. Almost every mother I speak to wants to know more, and wants to know how to cut these nasties out of their families diets. I wish I could go through everyone's pantry, or go grocery shopping with you, but unfortunately I just can't. So here are the ABCs of becoming additive free. 

A. Decide what you want for your family. Why do you want to do it, and what will you be looking for? Is it your son who is showing ADHD symptoms, or your daughter with athsma? 

These nasty additives can cause a myriad of nasty reactions, from tics, to anxiety, rashes, to tantrums, so your list could end up being quite long, but if you don't know what you are looking for, you won't know if it has worked. 

B. Choose when you will start your two week trial. 

Two weeks without any additives is long enough to see the difference (if any). You will have to plan for it, by letting grandparents and carers know what you are doing. Make the transition as easy on everyone as possible, by having meals and shopping lists planned, and plenty of back up foods.

Cutting everything out at once, instead of changing one thing at a time, will find you more success.

C. Time to memorise! 

Knowing what to look out for when reading ingredients will become easier as time goes on. In only a few weeks of being additive free I became an ingredient list speed-reader! I could point out a nasty from 20 feet away! Really. The first step is the hardest, it gets much, much, easier as the days go on. 

Below are the ingredients to watch out for. 

Flavours: 

Flavours are unregulated. Anything could be used to flavour a food. Steer clear of them, as usually they are nasty.

Flavour enhancers:

620-625 glutamic acid and all glutamates, MSG mono sodium glutamate

627 disodium guanylate

631 disodium inosinate

635 ribonucleotides

Yeast extract (most common) HVP HHP, hydrolysed vegetable/plant protein (most common)

Artificial sweeteners:

951 aspartame (found in diet and sugar free foods/drinks)

Maltodexrin

Colours:

102 tartrazine

104 quinolone yellow

107 yellow 2g

110 sunset yellow

122 azorubine, carmoisine 

123 amaranth

124 ponceau, brilliant scarlet

127 erythrosine

128 red 2g

129 allura red

132 indigotine, indigo carmine

133 brilliant blue

142 green S, food green, acid brilliant green

151 brilliant black

155 brown, chocolate brown

160b annatto, bixin, norbixin

Preservatives:

200-203 sorbic acid, potassium & calcium sorbates

210-213 benzoic acid, sodium, potassium & calcium benzoates

220-228 sulphur dioxide, all sulphites, bisulphates, metabisulphates

249-252 all nitrates and nitrites

280-283 propionic acid, sodium, potassium & calcium propionates

Antioxidants:

310-312 all gallates

319-321 (most common) TBHQ, BHA butylated hydroxyanisole, BHT butylated hydroxytoluene

D. Bonus round!

Don't worry if you mess up. If the kids eat something that slipped past your fingers, well, tomorrow is another day. But it gets easier. And as you begin to notice the difference in your children, you and the people around you will want to avoid these nasties, and then it doesn't seem so hard. 

Please email me your questions. I will also publish FAQs in a blog post to come... Leesa@cosentino.com.au. 

Lx

Busy Mama's enchiladas

Becoming additive free means so much cooking, that by the time it comes to my meal, I can't be bothered cooking anymore! I just want something for lunch that I can whip together. 

These enchiladas are spicy, and tasty and filling. They are perfect for grabbing a quick lunch that it still nutritious. 

I prepare the enchilada mixture on the weekend, and keep it in a container in the fridge, and assemble the enchilada and cook it when I am hungry. It is as quick as making a toasted cheese sandwich! 

**please note that the mission tortillas contain preservative 282, I am still searching for a tortilla that is safe**

2 cans of kidney beans, drained 

1 jar of Aldi salsa

Rice crumbs (or your own homemade bread crumbs)

2 tablespoons nutrional yeast (you can get this from your local health food shop)

Mission whole meal tortillas

Spinach leaves

*for best results prepare the enchilada mixture the day before.

Mash in a bowl the kidney beans, then add the jar of salsa and nutritional yeast. Stir in about a tablespoon of rice crumbs to dry the mixture out a bit.

Assemble the enchilada as follows:

Place in a snap lock bag to take to work if you like, 

And grill in your sandwich press when you are ready to eat.

Dessert cups

I put together these dessert cups using Pura Veda coconut yogurt and a few things lying around the kitchen. A clean, tasty and of course healthy dessert that the kids (and adults!) can have anytime.

Simply layer:

Banana,

Coconut yogurt,

Chia seeds,

Strawberry,

Maple syrup,

Shredded coconut,

In that order,

And top with a cherry.

You can prepare these ahead of time, and the banana won't go brown, as long as it is under the coconut yogurt. 

Lx

Some of my favourite safe products

Becoming additive free can be really daunting. I know that when I realised that we would become an additive free household, I stood back and looked at my pantry- feeling overwhelmed. Where would I start? 

I threw everything that had additives in the bin. I didn't even question it. The products, no matter how expensive, tasty, or useful had become a poison that was killing our son. 

Drastic? Maybe. But if you knew what we had been through with our son, then you would do it too. But really, should we be throwing our money at companies that put this crap in our foods, and then market them to our kids? I'd much rather support a company that has wholesome foods, even if it does cost more.

So below I have taken a quick series of photos of random products in my pantry that are additive free. As I find more great products, I will create new posts.

I'm also very interested in knowing about the great products that you have found. There is nothing better than a recommendation from a friend!

Jam. Good ol' raspry jam. You can get this from Aldi. 

Kidney beans and pears in juice. A great base for meals. These are also Aldi.

Fruit wise fruit straps, these are from Woollies, and only cost $5 for 10.

Rice crumbs. Next time you go to the shops pick up the "ordinary" bread crumbs and read the ingredients. It's like a novel. A novel written in another language. By a dyslexic author. These are from Coles or Woollies. 

Coconut water is great for smoothies and an alternative to juice for the kids. The natural sweetness means that you don't have to add a sweetener to your smoothie. This brand is available at Aldi, and is about half the price of coconut water anywhere else. 

Pure maple syrup, well this is really a no- brainer. It's so delicious. We have it everyday on our oats with a spoon of butter and some rice milk. You can buy pure maple syrup anywhere, but the cheapest is from Aldi.

Thickened coconut cream. I just discovered this in Woolies. I haven't used it in anything yet, other than my infant daughter's apple purée. I can't wait to try it on pancakes with jam. 

BBQ sauce. Of course, when you become additive free the first thing you throw out is all of your sauces. Which is a shame, because who doesn't love sauce? This BBQ sauce has a really lovely natural flavour, that is different to what I am used to, but I am really enjoying it. I have been using this in my cooking to add flavour. You can get this at Woolies or Coles.

The peanut butter is from Aldi and the soy sauce is from Woolies/Coles. Make sure you purchase the Naturally Brewed soy sauce. 

Our kids don't have cordial, but my husband and I love to have something sweet to drink from time to time (we don't have soft-drinks in the house), but the only cordial that I have been able to find without Aspartame has been Ribena. Until now. Not only is this lovely cordial aspartame free, but it is also additive free. It is sweetened with stevia, which I find has a strange aftertaste, but I am getting used to it. I got this from Woolies.

Well, there is my quick little pantry run around. I hope that you find this useful. Please let me know how your additive free journey is going, or for any blog requests!

Lx

Weetbix Slice

I made a weetbix slice this week, and the kids loved it, and friends are now asking me (little ol' me!) for the recipe, so here is it. 

Ingredients:

100g butter

1 cup coconut sugar

1/2 cup rice malt syrup

A handful of chia seeds

A handful of shredded coconut

2 weetbix, crushed

3/4 cup sultanas

1 cup rolled oats

3/4 cup self raising flour

Extra almond milk

Method:

Preheat oven to 170'c. Line a square cake tin with baking paper.

Place the butter, sugar and syrup in a saucepan over low heat, stirring, for 2-3 minutes or until the mixture is smooth and the sugar has dissolved. Set aside to cool slightly. 

Combine the remaining ingredients, except the almond milk, in a large bowl. Add the butter mixture and combine. If the mixture is too dry, add a little bit of almond milk until it is wet enough. 

Spoon the mixture into the tin and smooth the surface. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Set aside in the pan for 30 minutes to cool completely before cutting into slices.