Nut-free Bliss Balls

So I was feeling really organised - I'd chosen a handful of favourite recipes to prep and freeze for school lunches and was all set to start. Then I remembered that my youngest is starting kindy and all the food we provide has to be nut-free. *face palm*

At least I remembered now and not on the first day!

So back to square one with the recipes.

I whipped up these nut-free bliss balls to go in the freezer and will add 1 to his lunchbox every day. I got 16 out of this batch so they should last us about 6 weeks as long as sneaky fingers don't sneak them out of the freezer!

If your child will notice and freak out about the visible green from the pepitas, by all means, roll the bliss balls in coconut to cover them up. Mine don't care luckily as I had run out of desiccated coconut!

With the dates, these are definitely not a low-sugar option but they tick lots of other boxes and will be a great high energy snack for my very active 4-year-old.

Enjoy!

Nut-free Bliss Balls

1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup pepitas
1 cup dried dates (soaked in boiling water for 5 mins and drained)
1 heaped tbs raw cacao
1 ts vanilla extract
pinch salt
5 drops Wild Orange essential oil (optional - I only use and recommend doTERRA)
2/3 cup desiccated coconut (optional - extra to roll the balls in)

Place the dates in a small heat-proof bowl, cover with boiling water and leave to soften for 5 minutes. Drain and place into your food processor or Thermomix bowl.

Add all remaining ingredients and process until the mixture is sticky and clumps together (TMX SP 5 / 30 secs).

Roll mixture into balls and if desired, into desiccated coconut.

Store in fridge or freezer.

Makes approx 16

What are your favourite nut-free school snacks? Please share some recipes below as I need a refresher!

Susan xx

The BEST wholemeal spelt bread

Hello dear readers!

I've been taking some time away from the computer these past few weeks and am now refreshed and ready to jump back into things.

My big boys have just finished their first week back at school (in grades 1 and 3) and my priority at the moment is keeping their lunchboxes packed with nourishing and tasty food.

I don't know about your kids, but mine are always STARVING on the holidays and tend to graze a lot more. So it's always a bit of a shock to their systems to have nothing between breakfast and 11.10am when lunch starts!

I actually don't mind the boys having sandwiches for lunch as long as they are made with good quality bread and decent fillings.

For me, the ingredients on a loaf of bread should read flour, water, yeast and salt, with maybe some honey for sweetness and a high quality oil for a soft crumb.

If you haven't actually read the label on the bread you purchase you are probably in for a shock - most of them have numbers galore, vegetable oils, unpronounceable preservatives and additives to keep it fresh on the shelf for way longer than it should be.

I Quit Sugar did a post on the 5 healthiest breads at the supermarket but even those contained canola oil and a few other sneaky ingredients.

Baking your own is definitely the best option and my wholemeal spelt bread is the one I make for the kids that always gets eaten.

It's easy and pretty forgiving (my husband can make it on his own!) and it freezes well. I make a loaf most weekends, slicing and freezing it as soon as it has cooled.

If you have a Thermomix and haven't made your own bread yet, what are you waiting for?

The aroma of freshly baked bread is one the best smells in the world and the taste is better than anything you can buy. It's also far cheaper as a loaf of spelt bread will typically set you back at least $6.

I buy my spelt flour in bulk 12.5kg bags through my co-op and store it in the freezer.

The best wholemeal spelt bread that kids actually like

420g water
2 ts instant dried yeast
2 ts honey
600g wholemeal spelt flour
2 ts salt
2 ts apple cider vinegar
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil

Place the water, yeast and honey into the Thermomix and heat for 2 minutes / 37 degrees / SP 2.

Add the flour, salt, vinegar and oil and mix for 10 seconds / SP 3.

Lock lid and knead for 8 minutes.

Leave in the bowl for 20 minutes to rest.

Turn out onto an oiled surface, punch down and shape into an oblong.

Place dough into a large/jumbo/900g bread tin.

Cover and place in a warm, moist place to prove until it rises to the top of the tin (I do mine in the just emptied dishwasher!)

While the dough is proving, preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius / 180 degrees fan-forced.

Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped underneath.

Remove from tin immediately and leave on a wire rack to cool.

Do you bake your own bread?

Susan

Back to school baking

The last 2 weeks have flown by and here we are on the official last day of the holidays. Which means there are only 10 weeks until Oscar has finished grade 1 and Charlie has finished kindy and then it will be Christmas! Wow. So much to do before then though which is why I made a kickstart today with a marathon of baking.

Today I made:
1 x big batch Chocolate Granola
1 x Banana Bread
1 x Grain free Banana Cupcakes
1 x Almond and Chia Protein Bliss Balls
2 x Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I find having a stash like this in the freezer makes life so much easier. I can quickly grab something sweet to pop in lunchboxes for a treat, there is always something for afternoon tea even if we are home late and I can take a snack for myself if I am going to be out and about (saves buying something!).

Only half the banana bread actually made it to the freezer though as it smelt so good while it was baking and the kids needed morning tea so lucky things enjoyed it still warm with lots of butter (delicious!).

Then later I also prepped some savoury meals to help with lunch and dinners. The back to school routine is always a bit of a shock to our systems and I find dinner ends up getting pushed back later and later which then affects bedtime. So I love having dinners either completely prepared ahead of time, in the slow cooker or half-prepped because it just saves so much time.

For lunch today I cooked some chipolata sausages and saved 6 for Oscar's school lunches. My tip is to always separate out the leftovers you want to keep first before you dish up the meal because that way it's there ready to go and doesn't mysteriously get eaten!

Next I made a huge double batch of meatballs using 1 kg of beef mince, a tin of mixed beans and loads of veggies and herbs. Shape them into balls and place on a tray lined with baking paper and then pop them straight into the freezer (seal them in a bag once they are frozen). We will have some for dinner tonight, have leftovers for hubby and the boys lunches tomorrow and then still have another full dinner's worth in the freezer for another night. I like to bake my meatballs as it lets me cook the whole batch at once and saves on the mess.

Anyone else doing some back to school baking? Do you have any tips for make-ahead cooking and baking?