American style pancakes get a scrumptious, lacy gluten free and dairy free makeover!

Yield: at least a dozen pancakes
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes

Gluten Free & Dairy Free "Lace" Pancakes - #GBBOGlutenFree

Let's start with a bit of a lesson: American style pancakes > crepes. Any day of the year. Now that we've gotten that out of the way ... :) I'm back with my version of last week's Technical Challenge on the Great British Bake Off. Paul Hollywood (ever pushing the boundaries and insisting contestants on a baking show don't actually bake) set the task of making beautiful lacy French pancakes. Or crepes.

Personally, I hate crepes. Can't stand them. I'd much rather prefer a thick American style pancake. So when it came time to do this challenge, I stuck to my guns and made the type of pancake batter I'd normally make, with sugar and eggs and pancake mix with baking soda in it. You can take the girl out of America, but you can't take the American pancakes out of the girl. But these aren't your ordinary pancakes; these babies are made with gluten free pancake mix and are completely dairy free as I've used delicious cashew milk instead.

Start your morning with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice with no added sugar!

Yield: 1 250ml glass
Prep time: 5 minutes

Fresh Squeezed Valencia Orange Juice

I cannot resist freshly squeezed orange juice. What used to be a luxury when staying in hotels or dining in restaurants is now a task I can complete in a matter of minutes with my Nutri Ninja. Plus, there's no added sugar, no preservatives; no nasties at all. Nothing but pure, pulpy orange juice just the way God intended.

Gluten Free Dampfnudel - #GBBOGlutenFree

These sweet German dumplings served with a rich and tangy plum sauce get a gluten free makeover!

Yield: 9 Dampfnudeln dumplings
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

Gluten Free Dampfnudel with Plum Sauce

Last week was bread week on the Great British Bake Off and it was a week I was dreading. Gluten-free cooking and baking can be tricky at the best of times, but the one thing that always makes me nervous is bread. Bread relies on gluten to make it what it is. Without it, it's difficult.

Spurred on by my Gluten Free Viennese Whirls from last week, I was determined to have a good go at these Dampfnudel - German sweet dumplings and to make them gluten free. I scoured the internet for recipes for a gluten free alternative but could only find one. In German with no translation. My limited German was no match for that recipe. So back to the drawing board, I sought out my Larousse Gastronomique. Of course Larousse had a recipe for Dampfnudel! While reading it, I came across a revelation: Dampfnudel can be made in the oven! No steaming for me!

Gluten Free Viennese Whirls - #GBBOGlutenFree

These crumbly, buttery gluten free biscuits are sandwiched with strawberry jam and vanilla buttercream!

Yield: 2 dozen individual biscuits or 1 dozen sandwich biscuits
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 9 to 12 minutes

Gluten Free Viennese Whirls

Viennese Whirls -- crunchy, buttery cookies sandwiched between creamy vanilla buttercream and fruity jam. They're bliss and last week's Technical Challenge from the Great British Bake Off. I love watching Bake Off, but it always makes me frustrated that there's rarely any mention of gluten free alternatives or even gluten free baking, so I've decided to challenge myself to trying every technical challenge but making them suitable for coeliacs. It'd be great if you joined in! Just use the #GBBOGlutenFree hashtag to share your bakes and spread the word about gluten free baking!

These biscuits are easy to make, guys. So simple. In fact, I got a little bit too cocky whilst making them and allowed my first batch to burn. Don't do what I did. Keep an eye on your oven, because they'll turn fast!

An Engineer for a Day: #DysonChallenge

We took the #DysonChallenge & spent the morning learning how to be engineers with Dyson & Currys!

Taking the #DysonChallenge with Dyson & Currys

One of Callum's hobbies is using blocks to construct and engineer impressive structures--from complex hospitals to lofty medieval castles; he's an extremely hands-on kid. Naturally, I leapt at the opportunity to take him along to an engineering workshop hosted by Dyson and Curry's.

Two weeks ago, we joined the company of a dozen or so other would-be engineers and enrolled in a day-long Dyson bootcamp. Sheltered against the constant Manchester rain, we met in the perfect venue for a morning of engineering: the MOSI, the site of the world's first ever passenger train station, a natural homage to the beauty of industry and engineering.

A Gluten and Sugar Free Lunch with #HartleysYourLunchbox

Take lunch to the next level and keep it healthy with the #HartleysYourLunchbox Challenge!

Yield: 1 super fun, healthy kid's lunch
Prep time: 5 minutes + time for the jelly to set

A Gluten Free and Sugar Free Lunch with #HartleysYourLunchbox

When you're gluten free, lunch can be one of the most challenging meals of the day. Especially if you're 4. But, having a few go-to products that you know are gluten free, don't taste horrible and aren't laden with sugar is the key to creating quick, gluten-free lunches your child will devour!

I'll admit, in our gluten free lunch battles, I completely overlooked jelly. When he was younger, Callum was completely freaked out by the texture of jelly and wouldn't touch the stuff. Somewhere along the way, he's grown to love it (that was news to me!) and couldn't get enough of these Hartley's No Added Sugar Jelly Pots!

Health Benefits of a Berry and Rainbow Chard Smoothie

Raw Swiss chard and berries blitz to form a nutritional smoothie bursting with goodness!

Health Benefits of a Green Smoothie

If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you'll probably notice that I do love a good smoothie - I even wrote a breakfast smoothie ebook, once! You can download it for free! Smoothies are like gold dust for me, whether they're traditional out-of-the-glass types or smoothie bowls like this one or this one, I just can't get enough of them.

Gluten Free and Vegan Boozy Watermelon Granita

Summer is juicy watermelons and this easy semi-frozen treat is the perfect way of enjoying them!

I originally shared this watermelon granita with lime recipe two summers ago, and every summer since, I've spent a few days scraping semi-frozen watermelon to make this delicious treat. Keeping up with the spirit of revamping old favourite recipes, I've added in a tiny, adults-only twist: booze!

Gluten Free Nutella and Peanut Butter Microwave Cookie

My peanut butter and Nutella microwave cookie has been given a gluten-free makeover!

Kick start your morning with sweet fresh mango, superfood pumpkin seeds and gluten free corn flakes all in an icy and refreshing smoothie bowl!

Yield:  2
Prep time: 10 minutes

Gluten Free Raspberry Mango Smoothie Bowl

I mentioned in my very first smoothie bowl recipe (this is my second, so clearly, I'm an expert) that I had been skeptical, but with one slurp from my spoon, I was converted. And it's true! And what that conversion has done is given me the courage to step outside the smoothie bowl box, to chuck more ingredients in the blender and to sprinkle more goodies on top with wild abandon.