American-style Fluffy Sourdough Discard Pancakes with Blueberries

These are soooooo good!

There's no need to throw any of your sourdough starter away, you can make lots of other delicious things with it!

Try these with a drizzle of maple syrup over the top, they are sooooo good! And they freeze well too! If you're using frozen blueberries, don't add them to the batter mix, as your pancakes will turn out a very strange colour! Just drop the frozen ones onto the batter when you've put it into the pan, so they sink in.

Easy Sourdough Crumpets (from discard)

Forget doughy mass-made crumpets, and make your own, easily and quickly!

There's almost nothing to making these, and you just use your inactive starter straight from the fridge - give them a go, they're delicious!

Although it's tempting to double the quantity, I've tried this, and unfortunately the rise on the second batch just won't match the first batch, so if you want more than four, then it's best to make each batch seperately (unless you have two pans and eight crumpet rings!)

Cheese and Bacon (or Sun-dried Tomato) Savoury Muffins

Delicious warm, or toasted with butter just melting on top, maybe on the side of some tomato soup...

A nice treat during the colder months. Or the warmer months. Or any time really, breakfast, lunch, dinner or supper!!!

Best eaten warm, either split and toasted, or even microwaved, with butter on top! Even Marmite (other yeast extract condiments are available), if you're a lover!

Decidedly Delicious Blueberry Muffins - Gluten Free

These are indescribably delicious freshly-baked and warm from the oven!

In fact, I'd say they're impossible to resist eating warm and moist after the fragrance of them baking has filled the house!

Not only that, they're gluten free - but you'd never guess! Only one of us in the household has to be gluten free, but when a batch of these come out of the oven there's a mad scramble for them!

This recipe makes 12 muffins, and I would say it's a very easy recipe to make - you just need to mix wet and dry ingredients together and combine.

Perfectly Gluten Free Pancakes or Crêpes

These delicious gluten free pancakes are completely indistinguishable from normal English pancakes or French Crepes!

Unbelievably, they were actually the best pancakes I've ever made - and I've been making them for many years. This year, I made them gluten free, as my daughter was diagnosed with Coeliac disease last year, and after a bit of tweaking, they were the most delicious, light, laciest pancakes I've ever made!

Well, having perfected them, it would be selfish not to share with other people cooking gluten free (and of course for my daughter, when she needs the recipe!), so here it is. I hope you love it as much as we did - I've never seen pancake mix disappear so quickly - and I actually had three rather than my usual one, which is a first!

Makes 6-8 pancakes, easily doubled for more.

Traditional English Pikelets - Gluten Free

If you're a fan of crumpets, then you will love pikelets - they're very similar in taste and texture, far less faffing about, and a bit bit lighter and less stodgy!

You can make a batch of these, then either keep warm or store them in a resealable bag or container in the fridge or freezer, and toast lightly as needed.

They are delicious with a smear of butter, and your topping of choice - some like jam, some like golden syrup or honey, and some go for savoury with melted cheese and a splash of Worcerstershire sauce - me? I like to rebel against convention and have a smear of cream cheese, some smoked salmon and freshly snipped chives on top, a bit like large blinis!

I developed this recipe because my daughter and I had tried all the gluten free crumpets we could find on the market, and frankly we didn't like any of them, so I had to come up with something myself! If you want to make crumpets rather than pikelets, you can use this recipe and use greased rings to cook them in, and cook for a bit longer on each side. I just prefer pikelets, and of course less faffing about!

This amount of batter will make 20 small-ish pikelets (the same diameter as your average crumpet), and you can fit three or four in a large frying pan at once, so not too much time spent at the stove, as they only take a few minutes to cook!

Approximately 51 calories per pikelet (if yield is 20).

Chocolate, Banana and Walnut Porridge with No Added Sugar

OK, so as you can see, I'm adding to the 'oats arsenal' with healthy breakfasts - I figure most people like chocolate, right?

Seeing as I've been quite inventive with oats the last few days, I decided to start keeping a record of what I've been making. Especially as it's what I consider to be pretty healthy breakfasts (especially in comparison to a lot of cereals 'out of the box' marketed at children).

Now, chocolate porridge is never going to be the most attractive-looking food, but this really does taste good! Plus, you can always try and pretty it up by scattering on a few toppings.

Serves two, 363 calories per serving - to reduce the calories, leave out the walnuts and dates, and it will go down to 244 calories per serving.

Pear and Orange Porridge with Sunflower and Poppy Seeds

Here's a little quickie which was thrown together whilst waiting for my children to get up - but it tasted so good (even with no added sugar!) that I had to write it down so that I can make it again!

Also, it's rather healthy stuff because as well as having no added refined sugar, is made from wholegrain cereal with a nutrient boost from the seeds, and if you use almond milk it's dairy free!

Sorry, no photo of the finished article as it got scoffed down before I had a chance, so here's a quick one of the ingredients - but it does look quite pretty for porridge with the little flecks of orange zest in it, and smells absolutely divine!

Serves two, 280 calories per serving using almond milk. (If you want to reduce the calories further, skip the seeds and dates and this will reduce it to 216 calories per serving). N.B. If you use 350ml semi-skimmed milk, this raises the calories to 343 per serving.

Easy Indian Masala Omelette (includes Thermomix instructions)

A spiced omelette from India with tomatoes, onions coriander and spices - great for anytime from breakfast to supper!

This is a really delicious version of omelette, which is both full of fresh flavours, and surprisingly light. It's great if you fancy a quick savoury breakfast, light lunch or supper, Indian style. 

This is good on its own, or you can serve it with Indian flatbread (e.g. a roti or chapatti), or a bread roll or toasted bread (also served as accompaniments in some places in India, believe it or not!).

I like to serve scattered with some fresh chopped tomato, onion and fresh coriander - you could serve a little mango chutney on the side with it, if you wanted to, or your favourite raita.

This serves one, for those of us fending for ourselves and needing a quick and easy solution - but of course it is very easily doubled.

Calories per portion for those counting: 237 - 257 per serving. (Lower if you only use 1/2 tsp oil to fry the omelette in - or use oil spray). 

Easy Baked Eggs with Spinach, Tomatoes and Ham

Perfect for breakfast, brunch or even supper, choose whether to ramp them up with a splash of cream and a light grating of parmesan cheese for an indulgent treat, or stick to the virtuous version...

Not only is this a delicious and healthy dish, it also only take a couple of minutes to put together, and you can quickly wilt the spinach by pouring hot water from the kettle over it in a colander!

Use your favourite ham as a base (or if you're vegetarian, substitute some sliced, lightly pan-fried mushrooms), and pile the other ingredients on top. For a bit of a change, substitute a slice of Italian mortadella sausage for the base, or even a slice of smoked salmon for a luxury treat! Delicious served with a slice of your favourite crusty bread, toasted - or enjoy on its own for a low carb treat.

Serves: As few or as many as you like, provided you have enough dishes! I make this for my family of four, but I've put the ingredients down for a two person serving, so it's easy to double or halve them, for four people or one person.

Calories: 179 calories per person for the 'regular' version with a thick slice of ham (or as low as 146 calories if using a slice of generic supermarket ham) - and add another 90 for the cream and parmesan 'luxury' upgrade! See the notes below for different calorie counts of hams etc. if you're counting. Want more protein? Throw in another egg for around 88 calories.

[Calories in square brackets]

Healthy Granola - to suit you!

Everyone loves a healthy, tasty and filling breakfast...

...and the great thing about this granola recipe, is that you can tweak it to suit your own tastes and diet!

Your choice of seeds, nuts and dried fruit - you can switch around the ingredients every time you make it, so it's a little bit different.

Makes 30 portions (approximately 50g each), around 259 calories per portion. Easily halved. Keeps well in an airtight container or re-sealable sandwich bag. Very easy to make!

Healthy Raspberry Yoghurt Ice, with Oatbran

Like ice-cream, but healthy...?

And takes seconds?

Well, count me in! Also delicious with blueberries, mangoes, strawberries, or whatever your favourite frozen fruit is...

So simple, just blitz - most run-of-the-mill food processors and hand blenders will cope with this easily, made in seconds.

Serves one (easily doubled etc.), 158 calories.