Pumpkin Loaf aka Spicy Golden Loaf

Having a child who is fussy about food is incredibly frustrating at the best of times.

And at the worst of times? It's a bit of a nightmare.

My now 6-year-old hasn't eaten a good dinner since before he was 2.

Let that fact sink in a little.

That's approximately 1500 nutritious dinners prepared lovingly by me that have NOT BEEN TOUCHED.

If we can get him to the table, he will eat plain pasta with extra virgin olive oil, homemade pizza (no sauce and topped only with cheese, olives and tinned pineapple) and takeaway fish and chips.

The list of foods he will eat is incredibly small and shrinking by the week.

We've done feeding therapy sessions with an occupational therapist and speech pathologist, and seen a GP, naturopath, dietician and psychologist.

So where does that leave us?

Well, it leaves us trying to pack in nutrition wherever and whenever we can.

At the moment breakfast is the only decent meal he will consume in a day.

It is usually a smoothie which I cram to the brim with good stuff like avocado, chia seeds, oats, yoghurt, protein powder, nut butters, berries, greens and more. Something like My Favourite Green Smoothie but with organic full cream milk.

Lunch usually comes home completely untouched so needless to say he is STARVING when he gets home.

So that leaves afternoon tea.

I try to make it a good one!

Hiding vegetables in cakes and muffins etc is not new, but it is definitely my favourite way to increase their nutrition. These have been some of favourites:

'Apple' Crumble Slice (without any apple!)
Chocolate Beetroot Cake
Pumpkin Fruit Cake
Chocolate and Zucchini Muffins
Sweet Potato Brownies

Pumpkin, zucchini, carrot, sweet potato and beetroot all work beautifully in baked goods. Add in a good unrefined sweetener and some sweet spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla and you have a delicious sweet treat that will fill them up and give them some much need veggies.

Today I had a lot of pumpkin to use up so I whipped up this pumpkin loaf cake which I am calling a 'Spicy Golden Loaf'. It is beautifully moist with lovely warm flavours of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, ginger, orange and molasses.

A slice of this with a glass of milk will happily fill up even the fussiest tummy.

Spicy Golden Loaf

100g butter, at room temperature
100g coconut sugar
2 large eggs
1 ts vanilla extract
1 ts blackstrap molasses
zest of 1/2 orange
1 cup mashed pumpkin
1 2/3 cups wholemeal spelt flour
1 tbs baking powder
1/2 ts bicarb soda
1 ts cinnamon
1/2 ts nutmeg
1/2 ts ginger
1/4 ts cloves

Beat together the butter and coconut sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time beating until smooth.

Add the pumpkin, vanilla, molasses and orange zest and mix until well combined.

Add the dry ingredients and fold through until just combined.

Pour mixture into prepared loaf pan and bake for 45-55 minutes, or until golden brown and the middle springs back when pressed gently.

Turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Delicious warm from the oven or at room temperature. Serve with butter.

Do you have a fussy eater?

What are your strategies? Let me know below!

Susan

My pre-Christmas Bake-a-thon and the Best Ever Gingerbread

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you all had a fabulous day. We enjoyed a lovely relaxing Christmas at home which was perfect as there is no way the boys would have wanted to leave their brand new trampoline behind.

Did anyone else have a Christmas Eve bake-a-thon? I spent most of the day in the kitchen and then crashed in the afternoon before heading out for the evening. Don't get me wrong I really enjoy the baking and cooking (I wouldn't be here otherwise!) it's just the cleanup that gets me down. I am so grateful to have a dishwasher, we couldn't get by without it.

I was trying not to leave everything to the last minute but some things can really only be made the day before, and other things I sort of forgot about so ended up doing those too!

I know you are probably all totally over Christmas food but I wanted to post at least this one recipe so I can keep track and make it again next year (and probably before that too) because it was totally amazing.  

I didn't have much cooking to do this year but I did lots of sweet things.

On Christmas Eve I made 2 types of custard to take to my mother in laws house (the pudding was already prepped thank goodness). Then for our trifle I made a lemon and orange curd, a spelt genoise sponge, more custard and a mango and coconut jelly. Yum! I also made a double batch of this pumpkin gingerbread for our Christmas breakfast, a batch of my dairy-free rum balls and a batch of gingerbread men so the boys would have something yummy to leave for Santa. Whew!!

For me this gingerbread was the absolute highlight of my Christmas baking. It was everything you want in a gingerbread - packed with warm spicy flavour, incredibly moist and tasted even better the next day when you can't be bothered cooking anything. We had it Christmas morning with some homemade peach and chia jam.

While I think it would be more suited for our Christmas in July celebrations rather than a hot summertime Christmas, I would happily eat this any day and am glad to have half a loaf still stashed in the freezer.

Apologies for the less than stellar photo - cake for breakfast waits for no man! Had to snap one quickly and then get it on plates for the hungry horde. 

Best Ever Pumpkin Gingerbread 
Adapted from Simply Recipes

400g white spelt flour
1 1/2 ts bicarb soda
1 tbs ginger
1 tbs cinnamon
1/2 ts nutmeg
1 1/2 ts salt
2 cups pumpkin puree
225g melted butter
2/3 cup coconut sugar
1/2 cup rice malt syrup
1/2 cup molasses
4 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup water

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C / 160 degrees C fan forced. Grease and line 2 loaf pans (mine were pyrex) and set aside.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, bicarb, salt and spices.

In a separate large bowl or jug, whisk together the remaining ingredients until smooth.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold through until just combined.

Pour the mixture evenly into the prepared pans and bake for 45-60 minutes (mine was done at 45 minutes so start checking then). It is done when a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Leave in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

Delicious served warm with butter but it's even more amazing the next day if you can wait that long.

Pumpkin Banana Bread

I'm beginning to think I have a bit of an obsession with banana bread. I was too scared to check just how many variations I've posted over the years but I know I've never made a Pumpkin Banana Bread before!

We bought a whole pumpkin last weekend for just $2 and we enjoyed it roasted last night, mashed for lunch today and now baked into a cake. There will also be pumpkin soup made in a few days when it cools down again after a few days of unseasonably hot weather.

Mr Fussy 4yo loves cinnamon and was willing to taste some pumpkin roasted with cinnamon last night (it got a screwed up face) but even he couldn't resist this Pumpkin Banana Bread still warm from the oven and spread with lots of butter. It was the perfect afternoon tea for the kidlets and I can vouch for the fact that it is just as good if not better toasted the next day.

The original recipe had 1/2 cup honey AND 1/2 cup sugar which I replaced with just 1/2 cup rice malt syrup and an extra banana and it definitely sweet enough for us. You may want to increase it a little.

This was incredibly moist, lightly spiced and absolutely delicious. We will be making it again!

Gotta love hidden veggies!

Pumpkin Banana Bread
adapted from allrecipes

3 ripe bananas, mashed
2 large eggs
1/3 cup olive oil
1 1/3 cups pumpkin puree
1/2 cup rice malt syrup
2 1/2 cups plain flour
1 ts baking powder
1 ts baking soda
1/2 ts salt
2 ts cinnamon
1/4 ts nutmeg
1/4 ts cloves

Preheat oven to 175 degrees C / 350 degrees F. Grease and line a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.

In a large bowl, stir together the mashed banana, eggs, oil, pumpkin and syrup. In another bowl combine the dry ingredients and then stir these into the banana mixture until just combined (don't over-mix).

Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes (mine took 50 - it was huge!) or until the top springs back when touched and a skewer comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Serve warm or cold. Suitable to freeze.

TMX - place bananas, eggs, oil, pumpkin and syrup into the mixing bowl and blend for 10 seconds / speed 6. Add remainder of ingredients and blend 6 seconds / speed 6. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and proceed with baking instructions above.

Pumpkin Fruit Cake

{Wheat Free, Dairy Free, Sugar Free}

It isn't often I find a recipe one day, bake it the next and am already planning when to make it again! But this Pumpkin Fruit Cake from The Healthy Chef was calling my name the moment I saw it.

I was looking for something sweet but healthy to bake for after kindy, that was also nut-free to include in Oscar's lunch box the next day. This recipe was not only easy but I already had all the ingredients.

I adore pumpkin baked goods but unless I happen to have leftover steamed pumpkin already in the fridge I can never be bothered to make them. This recipe however, just calls for grated raw pumpkin. Genius! The end result was identical to cakes that use pumpkin puree. It was mixed and in the oven in about 5 minutes.

The taste test ...

YUM. Incredibly moist, subtly spiced and filled with little bursts of extra sweetness from the sultanas. We ate half the loaf warm from the oven and stashed the rest for snacks. I will be making it again next week!

Excuse the bad photo. It's a dreary grey day here, not great for photos but perfect for cake.

Pumpkin Fruit Cake
Adadpted slightly from The Healthy Chef

250 g grated raw pumpkin (2 cups)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
zest of 1 orange
¼ cup coconut oil
¼ cup rice malt syrup
¾ teaspoon bicarb soda (baking soda)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 big handful organic natural sultanas
1 cup (150 g )wholemeal spelt flour

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C/ 150 C fan forced. Grease and line a loaf pan (mine was pyrex).

Combine the raw pumpkin, eggs, vanilla, oil, zest, rice malt syrup, bicarb, baking powder, spices and sultanas in a mixing bowl. Fold through the spelt flour.

Spoon into a prepared tin and bake for 1 to 1 1/4 hours, covering the top with foil if necessary (mine was done in exactly 1 hour, no covering required). The cake will spring back when pressed lightly.

Allow to cool in the tin for 30 minutes before turning out.

Pumpkin, Banana and Date Muffins

I've been on a real pumpkin kick lately, it's just such a versatile ingredient. Coming into summer here I foresee lots of roast pumpkin and feta salads, while from the northern hemisphere there is sure to be an abundance of pumpkin pie and cake recipes. Bring it on!

Ever on the hunt for healthy lunchbox ideas for hubby and the boys, I came across these muffins in a healthy lunchbox post on Fig & Cherry. I made a few small changes to the original recipe - using all wholemeal flour instead of half and half. I also added a mashed banana simply because I didn't have quite enough leftover pumpkin and wasn't keen to cook any more.

All my boys loved these. I think the banana upped the sweetness a bit and helped them to not be quite so pumpkiny (a bonus for my pumpkin-hating husband).

We took these for morning tea on our day trip to Underwater World last weekend and they felt like a real treat! Definitely made me feel better about the fish and chips we had for lunch later that day :-)

Pumpkin, Banana and Date Muffins
Adapted from Weight Watchers via Fig & Cherry

2 cups (300g) wholemeal self-raising flour (or 2 cups plain flour plus 4 ts baking powder)
2 ts ground cinnamon
1/3 cup (80g) brown sugar
1/2 cup (125ml) oat milk (or any milk)
1/4 cup (60ml) rice bran oil
1 egg
1 cup (250g) cooked mashed pumpkin
1/2 cup (100g) mashed ripe banana
1/2 cup (80g) dried dates, chopped
1 tbs raw sugar (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (160 degrees fan forced). Line a 12 hole muffin tray with paper liners and set aside.

Whisk together the flour, cinnamon and sugar in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the milk, egg and oil together. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and stir until just combined. Fold through the pumpkin and dates being careful not to overmix.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tray, sprinkle the tops with raw sugar and bake for 18-20 minutes or until cooked. Stand in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

Makes 12 muffins.

Pumpkin Spice Waffles

Brinner (aka breakfast for dinner) has become a regular feature on our weekly meal plan. And why not?! This week I decided to make waffles, and having a lot of pumpkin to use up, went searching for pumpkin waffles. I think I've said it before but pumpkin based sweet dishes really aren't popular in Australia which is such a shame as they're so good!

I actually felt great about the boys having these for dinner. They're dairy free, low in sugar, use wholemeal flour, eggs for protein and of course pumpkin for veggies. Topped with a little crispy bacon and a generous slug of maple syrup they were the perfect dinner for all of us. You could of course leave off the bacon to make them vego.

Pumpkin Spice Waffles
Adapted from Food.com

1 cup plain flour
1 cup wholemeal flour
2 ts baking powder
1/2 ts bicarb soda
Pinch salt
2 tbs brown sugar
3 ts cinnamon
1 ts ginger
1/8 ts ground cloves
1/8 ts nutmeg
3 eggs
2 tbs melted butter (I used nuttelex)
1 1/2 cups milk (I used oat milk)
3/4 cup mashed pumpkin
Maple syrup to serve

Preheat waffle maker.

Combine the all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and whisk together. In a separate bowl whisk the eggs, milk, pumpkin and melted butter. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and mix well to combine.

Place 1/3 cup mixture into the waffle maker at a time and cook until firm and crispy, about 2 1/2 minutes. Keep warm in a low oven until ready to serve.

Makes 8 waffles.

We will definitely be making these again!