Recipe: Cinnamon Streusel Topped Banana Bread (Gluten Free!)

Banana Bread gets an upgrade with this Cinnamon Streusel Topped recipe! Crunchy, delicious and gluten free too, you may not be able to make homemade banana bread without a cinnamon streusel topping again!  A melt and mix family fave recipe that will have your house smelling divine!

The lockdown days just keep stretching on here in Sydney, but we're trying to make the most of it. 

Our weekends are spent ticking off to-do lists with projects around the house and we're making the most of extra time spent at home by trying out new recipes and baking yummy treats. 

This banana bread is one of those treats.

As it bakes away in the oven, your house will be filled with the buttery, cinnamony scent of this delicious banana bread.... but be warned!

The delicious smell will having you pacing in front of the oven, waiting for it to bake. Tummy rumbling, you'll be counting down the seconds til you can try your first piece.

But let me share the recipe with you >> 

Recipe: Croque Monsieur Strata (Gluten Free!)

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Have you ever eaten a Croque Monsieur? 

Gooey, melted cheesy. A creamy bechamel sauce. The zing of dijon mustard. 

It is seriously delicious.... but if you're making it at home, it's also a bit of a mess. You've got one pot for the bechamel, grated cheese flying everywhere, another pan heating up to toast the sandwiches - way too many dishes to wash when you have a kitchen with no dishwasher (as we currently do!).

So I decided I needed to come up with an easier version... and this Croque Monsieur Strata was born. 

It has all of the flavour of a Croque Monsieur, with so much less mess - what's not to love? 

Let me share it with you! >> 

Recipe: Gluten Free Chocolate Cherry Baked Oatmeal (Vegan!)

Chocolate for breakfast? This Vegan and Gluten Free Chocolate Cherry Baked Oatmeal Recipe is a great meal prep staple that will ensure you have a healthy breakfast to enjoy all week long. Clean eating friendly, healthy, gluten free, dairy free, egg free, nut free, HCLF and low sugar/sugar free! This recipe can also be frozen for the perfect make ahead freezer friendly breakfast.

It's no secret that oats are a controversial topic in the gluten free community in Australia.

Whilst almost every other country can label uncontaminated oats as gluten free, they can't be labelled as such in Australia and even the simple mention of oats in a coeliac forum can spark a heated debate.

But what's the truth? The truth is actually pretty simple. 

Coeliac Australia actually says "Evidence shows that uncontaminated oats are well tolerated by most people with coeliac disease" - but the problem is that a very small percentage of coeliacs will have a reaction to uncontaminated/gluten free oats. 

Let's unpack the science behind it (and there's a recipe to share below!) >>

Recipe: Roasted Pumpkin Beet and Feta Frittata (Gluten Free!)

Gluten Free Roasted Pumpkin Beet and Feta Frittata Recipe | Healthy but seriously delicious, this Pumpkin Beetroot and Feta Frittata can be adapted to use whatever you have in the fridge and makes a great breakfast, lunch or light dinner option. Healthy, gluten free, low fat, high protein, clean eating friendly and seriously yum! A perfect meal prep recipe for lunchboxes and work lunches.

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Soooo, we may all be stuck at home - but I've been finding myself meal prepping more than ever. 

Whilst you're at home, it's easy to find yourself eating not so well. Those chips in the pantry? Devoured. That chocolate block? Gone. Pizza delivery after a day spent wrangling children? Yes please.

But it can also be easy to whip up some healthy dishes for those moments you just don't feel like cooking.

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Whilst I'm also at home right now, I'm working full time and work has been crazier than ever - so a little bit of meal prep in my free time (or whilst I'm cooking dinner!) is the difference between me madly stuffing something convenient (and generally disappointing) in my face between Zoom calls and eating something that's delicious and nutritious. 

This Pumpkin, Beetroot and Feta Frittata was a random combination I threw together a few months ago that I've been making ever since.

It's packed full of flavour and nutrients and is seriously delicious too - and it does a double duty because I usually roast a big batch of pumpkin and beets and use half for this frittata and the other half for salads. 

So let me share this recipe with you! >> 

Recipe: Tater Tot Crusted Quiche (Gluten Free!)

Gluten Free Tater Tot Crusted Quiche Recipe - Tater Tots/Potato Gems form a hash brown crust for this delicious egg casserole recipe. Perfect for meal prep, this healthy breakfast, lunch or dinner option is the perfect way to pack in extra veggies in a dish kids and adults will love. High protein, low fat, gluten free, nut free and so delicious!

Life is weird right now. Almost everyone is at home, so many people have lost their jobs either permanently or indefinitely, kids are doing school from home and everyone is stuck inside. 

But some things still remain the same. You still have to eat and you've still got to work out what you have to eat. 

And I'm hear to provide you with new ideas! 

This Hash Brown Crusted Quiche is one of our current favourites - and Jesse's go-to lunch.

It's super simple to make and packed full of veggies without feeling "healthy" or boring. I make a batch almost every week, freezing individual slices for a quick and easy lunch.

And I mean... can you go wrong with potato gems/tater tots?!

Here's what's in the recipe >> 

Recipe: Savoury Ham and Cheese Cornbread Muffins

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Cornbread was the first "Southern" recipe I ever tried making. 

Jesse was in Sydney on his second trip to Australia and this time he was here for Christmas. Since it was his first time celebrating Christmas in Australia and our first Christmas together in the same place, I desperately wanted to make some of his family's traditional Christmas foods to really blend our traditions together. 

One of those recipes? Southern style dressing. 

Made with cornbread and herbs and veggies, it was a dish completely foreign to me and I had no idea what I was doing. 

Luckily the recipe had room for error because the first batch of cornbread I made was flat and dry - but since it was going to be cut into cubes and used in the dressing, it did the job.

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From then on, I was determined to perfect cornbread and got to work on making batch after batch after batch. 

Once I perfected my basic recipe, however, the obsession didn't end there. In fact, I became totally hooked on cornbread and began trying to incorporate it into everything possible. 

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These ham and cheese cornbread muffins were one of those recipes. The perfect snack or lunch option, they're quick and easy to make and a great way to use up leftover ham. 

Eat them hot or cold, on their own as a snack or tucked away in a lunch box for morning tea. You can even mix through some corn or chopped veggies for something different! 

So let me share the recipe with you! >>

Recipe: Healthy Tiramisu Baked Oatmeal (Vegan!)

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My mornings always start with tea and breakfast. 

Some people start with caffeine, others start with food - I start with both... and this recipe is the best of both worlds too. 

Inspired by the flavours of a traditional tiramisu, it combines delicious coffee oatmeal with swirls of chocolate oatmeal for the ultimate breakfast treat. 

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It's a super simple recipe that looks impressive and doesn't taste healthy whatsoever.

I've been enjoying these slices cold with my favourite almond butter and fresh fruit - whilst Jesse likes his hot and enjoyed on it's own. 

The possibilities are endless and you can make the coffee flavour as strong as you like by using more/less coffee - or leaving it out altogether if you just want a chocolate vanilla swirled baked oatmeal.

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But however you make it, it's a delicious recipe - and the perfect one to make in advance as you can bake, slice and freeze or keep your baked oatmeal in the fridge to eat and enjoy later.

So let me share the recipe with you! >>

Recipe: Healthy Vegan Pineapple Upside Down Cake Baked Oatmeal

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Friends, I have a pineapple problem 🍍

Well... some may say it's a problem, but I tend to disagree because it's actually a pretty delicious "problem" to have. Let's call it an obsession, shall we? 

You see, after not being able to eat pineapple for years, I've found I can eat it again and eat it I have done. The pineapple industry must be booming at the moment because I'm going through pineapples like it's my job (and it should be) and I even bought a fancy pants pineapple corer/slicer/thingamabob to make eating pineapple faster and more convenient. 

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You'll find me adding pineapple to savoury dishes (and yep, I've fallen in love with pineapple on pizza which I always thought was gross), devouring piece after piece on it's own - and of course, you'll find me baking with it too. 

On my mission to try ALL THE PINEAPPLE THINGS, I decided I really needed to make a pineapple upside down cake... only, I also really wanted to use pineapple in my baked oatmeal. 

So, as the cute little Old El Paso girl says; Porque no los dos? 

Why don't we have both? 

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Thus, my friends, this recipe was born. I've included two options - an upside down version and a not upside down version because we were torn as to which we liked better. 

The upside down version is more traditional - but the not upside down version gives you the best of both worlds as you have the soft bits and juicy fruit bursts as well as crisper edges.

So let me share the recipe with you! >> 

Recipe: Vegan Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal

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If you've been reading Southern In Law for a while, you'd know that I'm obsessed with baked oatmeal.

I make multiple batches each week. 

I eat it for breakfast most mornings. 

And I have a gazillion recipes for it in all sorts of flavours 😜

But it's all for good reason - because it's seriously, ridiculously delicious.

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I started making this baked oatmeal last year a few weeks after we'd been on our apple picking adventure. 

Why? Because my husband decided that two people could get through a ridiculous amount of apples on their own before they started to go soft and bleh. 

And when I say ridiculous, I'm talking 8 kilograms which equals 17.6 lbs. 

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Naturally, I needed a way to use up some of those apples and thus this recipe was born - only, it was so good I have been making it ever since. 

It's perfect for kids and fussy husbands and a delicious breakfast that's made without any refined sugars. 

Make it up in a big batch and all you have to do in the morning is smother it with your favourite toppings and you're ready to eat! For Jesse that means warming it up and adding a drizzle of maple syrup whilst for me that's eating it cold with whatever nut butter my heart desires that morning. 

So let me share the recipe with you! >> 

Recipe: Vegan Christmas Pudding Baked Oatmeal

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Do you ever feel sorry for foods?

Okay, so now you think I'm totally nuts - but let me explain.

I was thinking about "Christmas Foods" and realised that Fruit Cake and Christmas Pudding that would probably be the last picked if the Christmas foods were choosing a battle team. 

There's two kinds of people in this world - fruit cake lovers and fruit cake haters (and I feel like they also accordingly love/hate Christmas pudding too) and I feel like most of the world falls on the hating side.

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Me? I'm definitely a fruit cake lover. 

Two weeks ago I shared my Healthy Paleo Fruit Cake Recipe for Christmas and today I'm back with another fruit cake inspired recipe. 

I feel like it's one that even fruit cake haters could fall in love with. If you like raisins or dates or figs or dried fruit - stay with me! This baked oatmeal recipe is naturally sweetened and just waiting to be smothered in nut butter and I bet you won't be able to resist it either. 

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Lightly spiced with Christmassy spices (or not, if you're not into that kinda thing), it makes your house smell incredible whilst baking and works for Christmas breakfast or brunch all over the world as you can enjoy it hot or cold. 

Or if you're like Jesse and I - make a big batch up in advance, slice it up into individual slices and then decide what temperature you want to eat it. Jesse likes it warm whilst I can't get enough of it cold - but thankfully it works for everyone. 

So let me share the recipe so you can decide for yourself >>