With the official month of indulgence being well and truly underway, I have been on the prowl for festive treats. Unfortunately for myself and many others these days, dairy is strictly off the menu. But as one never to shy away from a culinary challenge, I have been working on ways to recreate some of my milky based favourites.

Enter my (no) Eggnog. Yes, in itself eggnog is a pretty bizarre concept. Often made using raw eggs and thick cream, this is a beverage for those whose digestion is made of stronger stuff than mine. Almost like a cross between a milkshake and a drinkable custard, eggnog is rich in Christmas spices and so creamy you are left feeling like you've just drunk your dessert.

This alternative is so rich and creamy and puts eggnog firmly back on the festive table for anyone following an AIP or low FODMAP diet.

Serves 2

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of sifted tiger nut powder
2 tablespoons of coconut oil
3/4 cup of tiger nut milk plus a separate 1.5 cups
1/4 teaspoon of vanilla powder (see below for an AIP compliant version)
1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of ground mace
Pinch of Himalayan sea salt
1 tablespoon of maple syrup
1/4 teaspoons of great lakes gelatin (see link below)

You will need:
A food processor with blender attachment
A fine sieve

Method:
To make your tiger nut 'cream', add the sieved tiger nut powder and coconut oil to the food processor and blend on a high speed to form a very smooth nut butter. Transfer this nut butter to your blender and add the 3/4 cup of milk a little at a time. Blend until a rich cream forms and reserve to one side.

To a medium saucepan add the remaining milk, vanilla powder, cinnamon, mace, salt and maple syrup. Whisk the ingredients together over a low heat before adding in the cream. Continue to whisk until all ingredients are combined and the liquid is beginning to simmer. You will know it is ready when the mixture begins to thicken slightly. Do not allow this to boil!

Remove from the heat and pass through a fine sieve into a large glass or serving jug. Sieving the mixture just ensures it is silky smooth.

At this point add the gelatin and whisk immediately into the mixture - this thickens it further.

Leave to cool or briefly refrigerate and serve with a pinch of mace or cinnamon.

The perfect treat to enjoy whilst wrapping the presents!

For me Christmas has always been about food. The unnecessarily over sized roasted bird, eating so many potatoes cooked in goose fat I could barely breathe, sampling every dessert as if they were tapas (but full size portions), after dinner chocolates that you absolutely must eat, even though your stomach reached capacity two courses ago. And then sleep. The kind of sleep induced by your entire body shutting down as it tries to fathom how to process everything you've just consumed. Then an hour later (while grandad is still snoring) the kettle goes on, the turkey sandwiches come out and round two commences.

Since being diagnosed with coeliac disease and embarking on multiple elimination diets, I  have missed this experience entirely. In writing my blog, I have realised that I am not the only one.

With this in mind, I have created an eBook of recipes based on the Christmas classics. All the recipes are gluten free, grain free, nut free, egg free, dairy free, AIP and low FODMAP compliant. Please note that I use a lot of tiger nut powder in my recipes as I do not tolerate any other flour. I believe that in many of my recipes you could adapt/substitute this for other flours that you tolerate.

I won't lie, producing this eBook has pushed me to the brink of insanity on a few occasions. I've lost my kitchen beneath mountains of dishes and clouds of arrowroot powder, I've taken my frustrations out on the sofa cushions when my photos won't upload, I've forgotten to take showers because I haven't moved from the kitchen for hours on end and I've appointed my husband as sous chef when the to-do list began to drown me. BUT it is completely worth it to feel I can be a part of the festivities on Christmas day, just like everybody else.  I hope that my recipes allow you to do the same.

I am not a chef, doctor or dietician. These recipes are simply my creations, taking the classics and adapting them to fit specific dietary restrictions, photographed by me, and tirelessly edited by my husband and family. Before embarking on any kind of elimination diet it is always advisable to consult with your doctor or a nutritionist.

I really hope that these recipes allow you to enjoy Christmas alongside your family and help you get into the festive spirit! I'd love to hear your feedback and thoughts on the recipes too.

I am currently selling the ebook here via blurb.co.uk, which includes a 10% discount code to use when you purchase any tiger nut powder from the lovely people over at The Tiger Nut Company! 

Emma x

Making my own bread has been a long time coming. With so many dietary restrictions in place I often find that with most AIP bread recipes, I will tolerate one ingredient but not the other. But I hands down refused to accept that there was not a bread out there for me. A little while back I had experimented with water chestnut flour to create a warming bowl of porridge adapted from a traditional Indian recipe, and recalled seeing the flour also used to make traditional flatbreads. After a good googling, I stumbled across a few recipes for water chestnut flour breads and pancakes calling for little more than water chestnut flour, water and oil. How delightfully simple, I rejoiced. Now, you may have come across these recipes already. If you have tried them and successfully made them, I salute you. In fact I am in awe. As to how you achieved this I cannot even begin to comprehend. After several attempts at these my entire (and not all that cheap) bag of water chestnut flour ended up in the bin in a hideous gloopy, gungy mess. I've seen the evidence and I've seen the photos. I do not doubt that people are able to produce these gloriously fluffy, light breads with a mere few ingredients, but alas, I am not one of them.

Determined, I continued my search for something a little more robust. That's when I discovered Poori - a puffed Indian flatbread made from water chestnut flour and potato. Potatos are an AIP no no, so my thoughts turned to the humble swede (rutabaga) Surely anything a potato can do a swede can do better? Taking a traditional recipe for water chestnut Poori and applying my own adaptations, my little flatbreads were born. Cue tears of breaded joy.

Water chestnut flour can taste a little bitter but I think these work perfectly as a gluten free bread alternative for anyone on a limited diet.

Makes 8 flatbreads

You will need:

A food processor

Ingredients:

2 cups of water chestnut flour plus extra for dusting (Please see link below)
2 tablespoons of fresh finely chopped rosemary (or any other herbs you fancy)
1 cup of cubed, soft boiled swede
A generous pinch of Himalayan salt
2 teaspoons of water
2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil or melted coconut oil plus extra to grease the pan

Method:

Add the flour, rosemary, water, swede, salt and 2 teaspoons of oil to a food processor and blend on high speed until a ball of dough is formed.

Remove the dough from the food processor and split into 8 chunks. With your hands, flatten the dough to form 8 flatbreads around half a centimeter thick. Dust these lightly on both sides with more flour.

Heat a little coconut or olive oil in a large frying pan over a low heat. You want enough oil to lightly coat the pan and fry the bread, ensuring it doesn't stick.  You do not want so much oil that it entirely saturates the bread.

You will need to cook the breads in batches. I fry mine on a low heat for 4-5 minutes on each side until golden brown. I prefer to keep the heat low as this cooks them more evenly and prevents the outside from burning.

Suggestions:

Add dried coriander and serve with carrot soup
Add Italian herbs and garlic oil and serve with gluten free pasta
Add spices and dessicated coconut and serve with curry

The bready possibilities are now endless...enjoy.

As the evenings get darker and the days get colder, there's nothing quite like a warming bowl of nourishing soup. What baffles me is how simple it is to make with only a few tasty ingredients.  If I were to stroll into the supermarket and try to pick one off the shelves it would have more ingredients than you can shake a stick at, most of which I can't eat. Making it yourself is so easy though, it almost seems too good  to be true. What's more you can batch cook it and freeze individual lunch portions or even have it for dinner and chuck a few meatballs in (yes that is a thing).

This soup is sweet, spicy, nourishing and full of digestive healing goodness.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

750g of organic carrots, washed and sliced into quarters lengthwise
3 heaped teaspoons of ground ginger
1.5 tablespoons of dried coriander leaf
Himalayan sea salt
5.5 cups of water or bone broth
Tablespoon of coconut oil
Fresh coriander

You will need:

A blender

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees for fan assisted - 200 degrees conventional.

Place the carrots on a large roasting tray with the coconut oil and a good pinch of salt. Roast these until very soft and slightly caramelised - this will take about an hour.

Allow the carrots to cool and transfer to your blender. Add the ground ginger, dried coriander, a good pinch of salt and your liquid. You can use bone broth but I choose to use water as I struggle with the histamine in broth (It still tastes just as good with water  though).

Blitz the ingredients on a high setting in your blender until you have a thick rich, soup.

Transfer to a large saucepan and warm through over a low/medium heat.

To serve stir through fresh coriander.

How easy was that?

I absolutely adore my AIP diet, and I shall never tire of consuming copious amounts of meat and vegetables. But there comes a time every now and then when you think/scream, MY GOD WILL SOMEBODY PASS ME SOME CEREAL. But what generic cereals lack in terms of nutrition, this granola makes up for tenfold. Yes, it's the humble tiger nut once again - is there anything these little guys can't do?

This cereal is sweet, crunchy and oh so nourishing, even more so when doused in home made tiger nut milk. You can follow the recipe to make the crunchy tiger nut base and then pretty much add in any other ingredients that take your fancy!

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

2 cups of soaked organic tiger nuts ( I soaked mine for 24 hours)
1 tablespoon of  melted coconut oil
1 tablespoon of maple syrup
1.5 tablespoons of chopped dried cranberries
1 tablespoon of dried blueberries
Zest of half a large orange
A pinch of Himalayan sea salt

Optional:

1 Teaspoon of cinnamon

You will need:

A food processor with slicer attachment blade

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees fan assisted. 220 degrees for conventional.

Line a large baking tray with baking parchment.

Drain and rinse the soaked tiger nuts. Take a half cup of the tiger nuts and chop them roughly into small chunks.

With the remaining 1.5 cups, add these to the food processor and use your slicer attachment to create thin slivers.

Add both the slivers and the chunks to the baking tray with the maple syrup, orange zest, melted coconut oil and pinch of salt. Give this a good mix with your hands to ensure that the maple syrup and oil is evenly coating the tiger nuts. At this point you can also add a teaspoon of cinnamon for extra sweetness.

Place the tray in the centre of the oven for 25-30 minutes. Every five minutes give it a good mix to ensure it is baking evenly. You will know they are ready when they are a golden brown colour and perfectly crunchy.

Remove the granola from the oven and allow to cool completely. Stir through the chopped cranberries and blueberries and you're good to go!

This is delicious served with ice cold tiger nut milk.

Transfer to an airtight container to store.