party Archives - Well Nourished

Turkey, lemon and feta mini meatballs, baby burgers or sausage rolls

This delicious Turkey, lemon and feta combination can be made into meatballs, sausage rolls or hamburgers. Both adults and kids love this recipe - its my go to for parties and celebrations.

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Total Time45 mins

Course: Main Course

Servings:

Ingredients

500 g turkey mince (you can substitute chicken mince)
1 clove/s garlic -finely chopped or crushed
1 red onion/s (small) peeled and finely diced
2 tbsp fresh mint leaves (finely diced) or parsley leaves
1 carrot/s -finely grated
1 zucchini/s -finely grated
1 free-range or organic egg/s -lightly beaten
1 lemon/s -zest
30 g fresh breadcrumbs (¼ cup) see below for gluten-free
100 g feta cheese -crumbled or cubed (see below for dairy free)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl or food processor, simply mix all of the ingredients together until they are combined well.
Then choose your preferred dish from the options below.
Sometimes, I'll use half of the mix for sausage rolls and the other half, is made into meatballs for the next day's lunch boxes.

Thermomix Method

If you need to, make your breadcrumbs from a frozen slice of bread, 10 seconds, speed 6. Set aside.
Add your garlic, onion (halved), mint or parsley, carrot and zucchini (chunks) and chop, 10 seconds, speed 5.
Add the mince, breadcrumbs, egg, lemon zest, feta and seasoning and combine on reverse, 20-30 seconds, speed 3 (you may need to scrape the sides to help it along).

Mini-meatballs

Preheat your oven to 180℃/350°F (fan-forced).
With damp hands, roll small balls and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
Bake for 20-30 minutes or until cooked through and browning on top. Serve warm or cold.
I love these for the kids lunch box; either with a salad or vegetable sticks or as a wrap or fresh spring roll filler.
Alternatively, you could add a lovely tomato puree and serve over pasta - spaghetti and meatballs!

Baby Burgers

With damp hands, roll small balls and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper, then flatten with the back of a fork.
Place on a preheated BBQ or grill pan to cook.
Serve in little dinner rolls with the salad and sauce of your choice. They can be held together by running a toothpick through the centre if need be.
For a grain-free option, serve in lettuce cups, san chou bow style.
These make a delicious, healthy party food or a fast weekend lunch.

Sausage rolls

Preheat your oven to 180℃/350°F (fan-forced).
Beat one egg in a cup with a tablespoon of milk.
Take a sheet of all-butter puff or short crust pastry and cut it in half (or better still make your own pastry). Careme brand have a fabulous wholemeal spelt puff pastry that is my personal favourite.
Place the mince mixture along the centre of each half. Brush one edge of the pastry with the egg wash and fold the pastry over the mince.
Place on a baking tray (seam side down). Top with a little more egg wash and sprinkle over sesame seeds.
Cut into approximately 5cm long rolls and bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Serve warm.
Perfect party food or for a picnic or weekend lunch.

Tip

For green phobic kids, peel the zucchini and omit the parsley/mint (or just process it very finely so it can't be detected).

Make-ahead

Allow to defrost fully before re-heating/ cooking. Re-heat in a low oven until just hot.

Store

Store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer. All options can be frozen either raw or cooked.

Notes

Gluten-free

Use gluten-free breadcrumbs, rice crumbs or quinoa flakes to bind. Use a gluten-free pastry for the sausage rolls and gluten free buns or lettuce cups for the baby burgers.

Dairy-free

Omit the feta or replace with chopped cashew nuts and/or a tablespoon of nutritional yeast.

Egg-free

Omit the egg altogether (they just aren't as firm).

Sesame-free

Omit the sesame seeds in the sausage rolls (you can sprinkle with poppy seeds instead)

Onion and garlic-free

Replace the onion and garlic with finely diced fennel (from half a small bulb) and a pinch of chilli flakes.

Chicken or pork

Also delicious with chicken or pork mince.

Like these? Why not post a comment below or rate this recipe.

These healthy and nutritious grain, gluten, nut and sugar-free vanilla bean cupcakes are light and moist and will fool gluten lovers any day. Packed with fibre and protein, you simply can’t go past these beauties for a nourishing guilt free treat. Better still, they are so quick and simple to make and being nut-free, they are perfect for kids parties and school lunch boxes too.

This recipe also makes a fabulous ‘big’ cake too. Perfect for birthday parties (it’s been my kids cake every year since they were little). One batch makes one cake. I generally make a double batch and bake two cakes with cream or ganache in between.

Take a look at the variations (below the main recipe) for suggestions to alter the recipe to suit your specific dietary requirements.

If you’re looking to save money across pantry items such as nuts, seeds, flours and more, I personally shop at The Wholefood Collective – great whole foods at heavily discounted prices (all home delivered), click HERE to check them out.

Vanilla bean cupcakes - These vanilla bean cupcakes are gluten free, grain free, nut free and fructose free. They are the perfect lunch box or kids party food treat too.

Print Recipe

5 from 9 votes

Vanilla bean cupcakes

One of my most popular recipes, these Vanilla bean cupcakes are just delicious and you'd never guess they are made with beans.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time20 mins

Total Time30 mins

Course: Snack

Servings: cupcakes

Ingredients

425 g can cannellini beans -drained and rinsed well
5 free-range or organic egg/s -large (or 6 small eggs, see note below)
1 tbsp vanilla -powder, extract or essence
50 g butter -softened at room temperature
85 g rice malt syrup, honey or maple syrup (¼ cup)
40 g coconut flour please weigh this, as it really needs to be exact
¼ tsp sea salt
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder (gluten free)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180℃/350°F(fan forced).
In a powerful blender or food processor, puree the rinsed beans, eggs, and vanilla until very smooth and set aside.
Without rinsing your food processor, mix together the butter and honey or brown rice syrup until very well combined.
Add back the pureed bean/egg mix and mix until well combined.
Now add the coconut flour, sea salt, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder. Mix until combined and spoon into paper-lined cupcake moulds immediately. The batter does have a slightly thick but airy consistency that is unusual if you've never worked with coconut flour before.
Bake for 20 minutes for large and 15 minutes for mini cupcakes, or until lightly brown on top and springy to touch (like a regular cake).
Cool and top with your preferred icing (recommendations below).

Thermomix Method

Preheat the oven to 180℃.
Mix the beans, eggs, vanilla, butter and sweetener for 1 minute, speed 7.
Add the coconut flour, sea salt, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder and mix 10 seconds, speed 4.
As per above method.

Note

Don't scrimp on the eggs or let the batter sit for too long. Not enough eggs and delaying getting it in the oven will result in a much heavier batter and cake.
I usually like baked goodies straight out of the oven, but these are actually best eaten the next day, especially if you think you can taste the beans or egg.

Store

They are best stored in the fridge and can also be frozen in an airtight container or snap-lock bag.

Notes

Low-fructose

Choose rice malt syrup as your sweetener (optional pinch of stevia if you like also).

Coconut-free

Substitute the coconut flour for 100 grams of almond meal (though now obviously not nut free). I have also substituted for 40 grams of wholemeal spelt flour with success (no longer gluten-free if you substitute with spelt).

Dairy-free

Substitute the butter with ghee or coconut oil.

Lemon or lime cupcakes

Add the zest of one large lemon or lime to the egg/bean mix.

Orange cupcakes

Add the zest of one large orange to the egg/bean mix.

Blueberry cupcakes

Add ¼ cup of fresh or defrosted blueberries, mixed through the batter very gently at the very end.

Chocolate chip

Add a ¼ cup of dark chocolate chips (I love the Green and Blacks 85% cacao chocolate). As I'm a bit of a stooge when it comes to my kids eating chocolate, I often just push a square of chocolate into the middle or place on top of the cupcake (this also saves me the effort of icing)!

Icing suggestions

Remember to make sure the cupcakes are completely cold before icing.

Fructose-free vanilla icing (gluten free too)

50grams of butter, softened at room temperature
A pinch of pure stevia powder
1 tablespoon brown rice syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla bean powder
Beat together until light and fluffy.

Cream cheese icing

50 grams cream cheese or quark
20 grams butter, softened at room temperature
1 tablespoon brown rice syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
Beat together until light and fluffy.

Cashew nut cream (dairy and gluten free)

½ cup raw cashew nuts
¼ cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon brown rice syrup or maple syrup (optional)
Soak the cashews in water for 3-4 hours. Strain and then process with the rest of the ingredients until smooth. You can add more or less water to the nuts to achieve the desired consistency. If you aren’t organised enough to soak the cashews, then boil them gently for 5 minutes, then process.

Vanilla cream

Carton cream whipped until light and fluffy
1 teaspoon vanilla
Beat ingredients together and place on top of the cupcake. You can also slice the top of the cake off, top with cream and replace the cake top with a slice of strawberry (like a butterfly cake).