The Bacon, Egg, Spinach and Beef Burger

If there was a burger that could legitimately be eaten for breakfast, this would be it.

 

There’s bacon and eggs, grass-fed beef and spinach leaves wilted in a little chopped garlic. It all works together beautifully – the salty, smoky bacon; the rich beef; a soft tangle of earthy spinach leaves and then the silky yolk running down the lot. Made you hungry yet? 

Feel free to enjoy this in a bun if you want to – I just pile the whole thing up on a couple of little gem leaves for crunch instead. And it’s autoimmune-friendly if you leave out the egg. 

The Bacon, Egg, Spinach and Beef Burger

Serves 4

Ingredients

8 rashers streaky bacon, smoked

cooking fat of your choice

1 small onion

400g beef mince

200g fresh spinach

1 chunky clove of garlic

salt

4 eggs

Method

First, fry the bacon in a dry pan, until crisp – lift it out of the pan and leave to one side. 

Finely chop the onion and fry in the bacon fat you have left in the pan (add a little more fat if you need it) with a pinch of salt. When the onion is soft, transfer to a bowl and allow to cool. 

Once cooled, add the minced beef and mix until just combined. Form into patties and then place into the now empty pan, to cook. Cook for around 5-6 minutes, or until fully cooked through so no pinkness remains. 

Next, dump the spinach leaves into the pan you cooked the burgers in, along with a chopped clove of garlic and a pinch of salt. It’ll wilt down fairly quickly. In a separate pan, heat some fat and fry the eggs. 

Serve, piled up, in a bun or on lettuce leaves. 

My New E-Book – AIP and Paleo Snacks and Quick Lunches

The autoimmune protocol is a really restricted diet. It’s designed to reduce the symptoms of autoimmune disease, based on the premise that to heal your body, you first have to heal your gut. 

And it works. After more than 20 years on conventional Western medicine for my psoriasis, it’s almost gone – and not because of steroid creams – but because of me managing yoga, stress-relief and a healthy diet. Added to this, I’m suddenly (quite accidentally) free of the anxiety, depression and worry that plagued me up until now. I wish I’d found out about it sooner. And it’s not just me, lots of other people have found it works, too. 

To start healing on AIP, you go on an elimination diet and then start reintroducing foods to see if you tolerate them. And – in the beginning – it’s very restricted. No eggs, dairy, gluten, grains, nuts, seeds, refined sugar… 

Main evening meals and breakfasts are easy: desiccated coconut ‘porridge’ with coconut milk and berries. Bacon and avocado. Smoothies. Minced meat hash. Stews. Roasts. Fish and seafood. Soups. 

But snacks?

There was a snacking problem for me when I started the AIP. I’d be so good for breakfast, but if I got hungry at 10am I was stumped on what I could eat. Added to this, there were cupboards full of non-AIP treats (that belonged to the rest of my family) waiting for me if I went looking around the kitchen. I was soon tempted by other things – biscuits, cookies, slices of cake. Not good. And when I was being good, I soon got bored of handfuls of leftover chicken and salad. So I started coming up with my own ideas for snacks that were AIP-compliant and wouldn’t therefore leave me red and itchy (or worse) the next day. 

Thinking that other people might be experiencing the same, I put all my snacking ideas and recipes into an e-book. There are over 40 recipes and ideas for AIP compliant snacks and quick lunches – those dishes where you want something a bit more substantial than a sweet potato slice and some guacamole. There are ideas for packed lunches, quick nibbles you can put together and eat at the kitchen worktop – also fries, soups and salads – and savoury foods you can serve (or take to) parties. A few of the recipes are from the blog – but there are lots of new ones specially created for the book, too. 

I hope it helps. Let me know what you think!

You can download AIP and Paleo Snacks and Quick Lunches worldwide, from the Amazon Kindle store.  

AIP and Paleo Snacks and Quick Lunches – UK Store
AIP and Paleo Snacks and Quick Lunches – US Store

Free School Meals for Primary School Children From September PLUS 2 Recipes!

Do you have a Primary School-age child in Reception, Year 1 or Year 2 in September? Then you may know that the Department of Education has now made a daily free school meal available for kids in the UK aged 4-7 years old. 

It’s thought that this may save the average parent around £400 a year (per child), as well as providing important nutrition for them during their busy day at school.

And before you start thinking of stodgy custard puds, pies and gluey mash, school dinners aren’t like they used to be, either. My six-year old loves lasagne days – and fish fingers, veggies and chips on a Friday, too. I’ve noticed that there are roast dinner and curry options, too, on certain days – much more choice than we ever had. And dinner ladies are serving up foods like enchiladas, moussaka and fruit cobblers. Kind of makes you wish you were back at school, right? 

They’ve asked me to share a couple of the recipes that will be on offer to the children starting from this term, in case you want to recreate them yourself at home. There’s a recipe for Mexican Chicken Enchiladas and for pudding, an Autumn Fruit Cobbler. Lovely.

Mexican Chicken Enchiladas

 

Ingredients

• 1.6kg canned chopped tomatoes

• 60g tomato purée 

• 12g garlic, peeled and crushed (3 cloves)

• 9g chilli powder (3tsp) 

• 20ml vegetable oil (1tbsp)

• 300g onion, peeled and chopped

• 1.2kg chicken breast, diced

• 80g red pepper, deseeded and diced

• 80g green pepper, deseeded and diced

• 400g courgette, diced

• 6g coriander, ground (2tsp) 

• 6g cumin, ground (2tsp)

• 400ml water

• 700g tortilla (12 x 50g tortillas or 16g x 45g)

• 75g reduced-fat cheese, grated

• 50g mozzarella cheese, grated

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6.

2. Combine the chopped tomatoes, tomato purée, garlic and chilli powder in a mixing bowl.

3. Heat the oil in a large pan. Fry the onions for 10 minutes until soft. Add the chicken and cook for a further 5 minutes until browned.

4. Add the peppers and courgette and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the ground coriander and cumin, then fry for 1 minute.

5. Add half of the tomato mixture to the chicken and vegetables and cook on a low heat for 10-15 minutes. Add some of the water if required.

6. To assemble the enchiladas, lay the tortillas onto a board and divide the chicken and vegetable mixture between them, folding over the ends and rolling up to seal.

7. Lay in an ovenproof dish with the seal side down. Cover the enchiladas with the remaining tomato sauce and sprinkle with the grated cheese.

18. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Serve with a side salad.

Autumn fruit cobbler

 

Ingredients 

• 500g plums, stoned

• 500g apples, peeled and cored

• 500g pears, peeled and cored

• 100g dried apricots, chopped

• 10g cinnamon (3tsp)

• 650g self-raising white flour

• 100g wholemeal flour

• 150g caster sugar

• 150g soft margarine

• 470ml semi-skimmed Milk

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6.

2. Slice the plums, apples and pears and arrange in the bottom of a large ovenproof dish. Sprinkle the dried apricots and cinnamon over the fruit.

3. Mix the flours, sugar and margarine spread until they resemble breadcrumbs, then gently add 450ml of semi-skimmed milk until it forms dough.

4. Gently work the dough into a ball but try not to overwork the mixture.

5. Roll out until it is 2cm thick and cut out scones using a 6cm diameter cutter.

6. Arrange the scones on top of the fruit, leaving a little space for them to expand in all directions.

7. Place a thumbprint on each scone forming a slight dip.

8. Use the remaining 20ml milk to glaze the scones.

9. Bake for 30 minutes until the fruit bubbles and scones are brown.

The recipes are provided by the Children’s Food Trust to celebrate the launch of free school meals in primary schools, for four to seven year olds, this September. The change will ensure that kids in reception, year one and year two have a healthy and nutritionally balanced lunch every day, and will help parents save an average of £400 per year, per child. Find out more at www.childrensfoodtrust.org.uk  

This is a sponsored post. 

What Sugar Does to The Brain

Did you know that sugar is in many processed foods these days? And I’m not talking about cookies and cakes. It’s in many of our crisps, barbecue sauces, breads, oven chips, chicken nuggets and breadcrumbed fish, too. Look for things like sugar, dextrose, corn syrup – it’s all sugar at the end of the day – and you’ll find it listed in the coatings or in the actual meat itself. A bit weird, right?

And what does all this do to the brain? 

This video explains how eating sugar triggers the ‘reward’ system in the brain, called the nucleus accumbens, into craving more and more of it, for pleasure. Eventually, because of the way our brain is wired, if we eat enough of it, we start to need more and more of that food to get that same pleasure ‘hit’ – eating too much makes our dopamine receptors go wonky. So whereas for someone not used to very much sugar a small caramel sweet will be enough – for someone who eats it every day, they’ll need a few chocolate bars before they get that same feeling of pleasure and satisfaction. See what’s happening there?

What’s worrying, is that scientists have only discovered in the last five years that sugar can have the same effect on the brain as other addictive drugs like nicotine, alcohol, cocaine and cannabis. 

Have a look at the video here: 

Don’t get me wrong. Some sugar is important, and we need small amounts of it for energy. But most of us probably wouldn’t expect to see sugar in our shop-bought savoury foods. Which could mean that by the time you decide to treat yourself to that afternoon slice of cake in the coffee shop, you could already have eaten more of it than you think. 

What do you think? Are you surprised by this video? Is there too much hidden sugar in our foods? 

Nutty Paleo Apple Muffins with Speculaas

Speculaas. 

Ever heard of it? 

It’s a blend of spices, originating in the Netherlands, and it includes tasty ingredients such as cinnamon, cloves and ginger. It’s warm and sweet and has a cosier, more rounded flavour than if you’d just used cinnamon on its own. 

Steven Dotsch from The Speculaas Spice Company sent me a little packet of his own speculaas spice blend to try out. He missed the speculaas biscuits his mother baked when he was growing up in Amsterdam, and set about trying to recreate that flavour using his own blend. Happily, he cracked it, launched his own range – and I was only too happy to give it a try. And it seemed natural that my first adventure with its cosy, sweetly-spiced scent would involve apples. And nuts. Well, it is nearly autumn, after all.

These muffins are paleo and gluten and dairy-free – although Steven informs me that not all the spices in his secret blend are AIP compliant, just so you know.

I’ve adapted a recipe of one of our favourite paleo muffins, from the blog Bravo for Paleo. I’ve tweaked it – adding less salt, subbing in maple syrup for honey and obviously including the speculaas, apple and hazelnuts, too. I hope you love them as much as we do. 

Nutty Paleo Apple Muffins with Speculaas
Makes 12
Ingredients
250g ground almonds
1 tbsp coconut flour
a pinch of salt
half a tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp van Dotsch speculaas spice blend
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tablespoons coconut oil (in its liquid state)
3 tablespoons runny honey
3 tablespoons coconut milk (give the can a shake so the fat layer is absorbed into the rest)
2 eggs
2 eating apples, peeled, cored and cut into small squares
handful of roasted, chopped hazelnuts for sprinkling

Method
Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180ºC/350ºF and get out a silicone muffin tray. 

In a bowl, mix together the almonds, coconut flour, bicarbonate of soda and the speculaas spice mix. 

In a jug, mix together the vanilla extract, coconut oil, honey, coconut milk and the eggs. Whisk together until well combined. 

Pour the now deliciously-scented egg mixture into the almond mixture, and stir well, until you get a firm but uniform batter. Tumble in the apple pieces and lightly stir again. 

Divide the mixture between the holes of the muffin tray, making sure every muffin gets about the same number of apple pieces, and then scatter the chopped hazelnuts over the top. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until the muffins are golden and set. 

I find it’s easier to remove these from the tray if you leave them to cool thoroughly first. 

Thai Inspired Turkey Meatball and Coconut Curry

This is probably one of the most beautiful dinners I have made myself since starting AIP. 

Honest.

It’s dairy, nut, seed, gluten and nightshade-free. 

Imagine a creamy coconut Thai green curry but without the heat. You just get the creaminess flecked with fragrant ginger, coriander leaf, basil and lemongrass. And THEN there are the light, aromatic turkey meatballs just seasoned with a pinch of salt and finely chopped spring onion. 

I know, you want the recipe. Of course you do. 

 

Here it is:

Thai Inspired Turkey Meatball and Coconut Curry

Serves 4. 

Ingredients

2 sticks of lemongrass, sliced

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

big handful fresh coriander leaf 

handful fresh basil leaves

juice of half a lime

1 cm thick slice of ginger

400g turkey thigh mince

1 tsp coconut oil

2 spring onions (green onions), finely chopped

pinch of salt

2 courgettes (zucchinis), trimmed and peeled into strips with a vegetable peeler

400ml coconut milk

quarter tsp turmeric

Method

First, make the curry paste. Put the lemongrass, garlic, basil and ginger and lime juice in a small food processor. Cut the stalks off the coriander bunch and add these in too, reserving the leaves for later. Blitz it all up until you get a citrus-smelling, greenish paste. Put to one side. 

Gently fry the sliced spring onion in a little coconut oil until slightly softened. Put to one side to cool. Once cooled, combine with the turkey mince and the pinch of salt in a bowl until just mixed and form into small bite-sized meatballs. Brown them in the pan for about 5 minutes, turning regularly and then transfer to a baking tray and bake in the oven at 200ºC/gas mark 6/400ºF for about 10-15 minutes, or until cooked through. 

To make the sauce, tip the curry paste into the frying pan (I use the same frying pan all the way through) and fry gently until aromatic and sizzling. Pour in the coconut milk and then add the courgette/zucchini strips and then the turmeric. Simmer for a few minutes, until everything has warmed through and the courgettes are soft. Taste and season with a little more salt if you need to.

Serve the meatballs with the sauce, with freshly-chopped coriander leaves sprinkled on top. 

29 Autoimmune Paleo Barbecue and Grilling Tips

It’s only the beginning of August, but there’s still time to light the barbecue a few more times before autumn starts to sneak in. 

If you’re on a gluten, grain or dairy-free diet then barbecues are quite a good option. If I’m invited to one I find there’s always something for me to eat, especially if I can bring along some home-made (AIP-legal) burgers for everyone too. A handful of meat, some salsa, salad dressings and a few salad leaves and I’m sorted. 

Here are a few tips I’ve put together after a lot of practice – I love barbecues!
Try some of these:

• Spatchcocked chicken or poussin – marinate with garlic, parsley, lemon and coconut oil. Cooking it in the crisp skin keeps the bird juicy and flavoursome – just make sure it’s cooked all the way through.

• You can barbecue whole squid. It’ll take just a few minutes. Grill it until you can see the barbecue lines and then turn over. Toss the hot, cooked squid in garlic, parsley and olive oil. 

• Marinated chicken wings – easy, handy finger food. Try the Paleo Mom’s Honey and Garlic Marinade. 

• Burgers – pork, turkey, beef or lamb burgers (without egg or breadcrumbs) and wrapped in a crisp lettuce leaf with a rasher of crisp, cooked bacon

• Artichokes are heavenly when barbecued. Try this recipe but you can use coconut oil instead of the olive oil. 

• Sausages – while hot dog franks are safely out on AIP, good-quality sausages are possible. However, even paleo ones (with no breadcumbs) still often contain nightshade spices and black pepper. If you can find AIP compliant sausages (or if you can make your own), they’re beautiful with some chimichurri salsa (leave out the pimentón in the recipe).  

• Offal will barbecue too. Try grilling liver and hearts, which can also be made into kebabs. You can also cut the liver up and add it to the standard burger mixture.

• Sweet potato slices – cut them thinly and bbq – or wrap whole sweet potatoes in foil lightly and bbq in the coals/on grill – lovely with lime and coriander leaf. 

• Lamb chops – grill for a few minutes per side.

• Grill half an avocado until the dark stripes of the grill appear. Oil the bars of the grill well. This will give a lovely smokiness to guacamole, salads and salsas. 

• Palm hearts from a tin can be placed on the barbecued and cooked until lightly golden. Eat them with meat and you’ll get a creaminess that is (sort of) similar to cheese. 

• Salmon kebabs – squeeze with lime and sprinkle with cilantro before cooking – spear boneless salmon onto a skewer. 

• Try barbecuing salmon fillets or the whole fish – either wrapped in foil or on the grill itself. Other good fish to try are tuna, or any firm-fleshed variety. 

• Sardines work brilliantly on the barbecue, as do mackerel. Try with a beetroot and grated horseradish dip.

• The BBQ favourite – steak. Cut into thin slices and grill for a few minutes or until done to your liking, turning a few times. Don’t forget the chimichurri! 

• King prawns in their shells grill very well. Cook until the shells are pink and slightly golden.

• Mussels in their shell can be barbecued – just make a little pouch out of foil and add a slosh of wine (it’s ok if it’s cooked) or a splash of water. Seal up the packet and place on the barbecue until they’ve all opened up. You can also sprinkle in some chopped garlic, parsley, coriander leaf or other AIP-compliant spices and herbs if you like. 

• Kebabs – try lamb and artichoke hearts together and pork with slices of apple.

• Bananas – grill on the BBQ in their skins. They turn mushy and sweet and are wonderful with whipped coconut cream. Ripe bananas work best. 

• Grilled plums with whipped coconut cream – half them and remove the seed and place directly on the bars of the grill. 

• Grilled pineapple slices on bbq – try with squeeze of lime afterwards and some AIP-compliant toasted coconut ice cream. 

• Strawberries and raspberries can also be warmed in a foil packet placed on the BBQ. 

• Salads – add figs and strawberries for a special summery treat. 

• Dressings – try ones with pomegranate molasses or a vinaigrette of lemon juice, olive oil and salt – this one would be good with fish. 

• AIP puds are eaten in moderation only but if it’s a special occasion and a hot day, an AIP-compliant ice cream can be a blessing. Make up a stash of these lollies if cooking fruit on the barbecue is too much. 

• AIP tacos – using the upturned leaves of little gem lettuce – add cucumber, avocado, red onion and add shredded meats or fish. 

• Crockpot pulled pork – take the pressure off the barbecue if you’re feeding a lot of people and have a pork shoulder cooking in the crockpot or slow cooker. Once it’s done (about 4-5 hours) shred it with a couple of forks and pile up on plates for everyone to eat with salad.

• For a different flavour, try rubbing pomegranate molasses into chicken strips and then grilling for a tart-sweetness.

• Where you previously would have served something on a bun, think about serving it either on a stick (kebabs, sausages – corn dog style) or wrapping it in a lettuce leaf. No plates (and less washing up and fiddling with cutlery!). 

10 Minute Buttery Garlic Mushroom Pasta

Carluccio’s do this gluten-free pasta dish with mushrooms. And when I find myself anywhere near there I always consider ditching my (mostly) grain-free diet and tucking into a bowl of it. It’s AMAZING and I LOVE it. 

If you like a meal that doesn’t take long to cook, you love garlic – and mushrooms – and a good healthy dose of butter, you’ll love this. And it’s on the table in just 10 minutes. 

You could opt for some Parmesan to grate over at the end, but I think a nutty, sweet hard cheese like Västerbottensost works really well – if you can get your hands on it.  

If you didn’t want to use pasta, you could try making some courgette strips and add that to the buttery mushrooms, instead.  

Nowadays, I like to make a bowl of this for my six-year old, while we sit together and watch Frozen. And yes I do know all the words. 

Buttery Garlic Mushroom Pasta
Serves 2
Ingredients 
100g pasta (gluten-free or not)
2 tsp olive oil
150g chestnut mushrooms, trimmed and sliced
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon butter
salt and pepper to taste – and cheese for grating over at the end

Method
Put the pasta on to cook in slightly salted boiling water. 

In a small frying pan, drizzle in the olive oil and then fry the mushrooms and garlic until just beginning to soften. Add the butter. 

Drain the pasta, reserving about half a mugful of the starchy cooking water, and tip it into the mushroom mixture. Add a little of the water to make a loose sauce and have a taste, adding a little more salt if you think it needs it. Serve hot, with a sprinkling of grated cheese and some black pepper.