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!

Easy Cheesey Vegetable Slice with Buckwheat (includes Thermomix instructions)

Put together in minutes, a tasty versatile dish which is good hot or cold, for dinners or snacks

This is essentially a crustless quiche, with the flour in the egg mixture instead of in a pastry base making it extremely simple to put together, healthier, and easier to hold if you're having it as a snack - perfect for snacks, lunchboxes and picnics!

Courgettes, peppers and spring onions are favourites in this household which I always have to hand, and there's always a tin or three of sweetcorn in the cupboard so this is very convenient for us and it's meat free too. Using a food processor means the whole thing is ready to go into the oven in just a few minutes, making it incredibly convenient. It was inspired by Jo Whitton's mini impossible quiches which were suggested to me when I was wracking my brains for nutritious snacks to put into my daughter's packed lunches (found in 'Quirky Cooking' which is an excellent Thermomix cookbook, particularly for those with food allergies - and you can find her fantastic blog here), but this is a quicker (read lazier and more in a rush?!), more budget-friendly, vegetarian version without grains. I use buckwheat in mine but there's no reason you can't use plain gluten free flour, or even just plain (or wholemeal) wheat flour if you're not cooking gluten / grain free.

I baked this specifically to be gluten free and lunchbox friendly - and it will make a good 20 portions at 77 calories each (in case you're tempted!) as a side / with other savoury things to eat (I cut 10 rectangles from each dish - but then cut some of these in half to fit into lunchboxes, two a portion). If you're making this for dinner, it's more likely to serve 6-8 people with sides.

One Minute Banana, Date and Buckwheat Loaf (includes Thermomix instructions)

A deliciously moist and filling fruit loaf, perfect with a mug of tea, or in packed lunches for a wheat free, gluten free refined sugar free treat.

So, recently I've been trying to come up with filling yet healthy savoury and sweet snacks that I can make, bake and freeze in portions to add to my childrens' lunchboxes to sustain them throughout the day at school. Of course, that's not to say that this isn't also a great treat for grown-ups too... (It is, it is!!)

I'm not the world's biggest fan of bananas or dates on their own, but this was really tasty with the addition of a couple of spices - and also, most people would be hard pressed to guess that it wasn't made from wheat (there's no reason you can't substitute wheat flour, or spelt if you're not cooking gluten free and you want to, you may just need to slightly adjust the amount of liquid added. If cooking gluten free, ensure your buckwheat flour is certified gluten free).

Having an abundance of dried fruit in the cupboards, and several bags of buckwheat flour (which I'd put into a cheese and vegetable quiche/flan-type thing that had turned out nicely the day before - recipe to follow, of course), when I noticed three bananas starting to go a bit freckly, I decided to wing it, and see if I could actually bring them all together in cakey unity - and as luck would have it, it turns out I could so I'm sharing the recipe with you too! (And also so I can make it again - or even better, give the recipe to someone else not a million miles away to make, when we run out!).

So, without further ado, the recipe. If you're using a normal food processor, just blitz all the ingredients (except for the raisins) together until combined with the dates being relatively finely chopped, and then fold in the raisins by hand until evenly distributed throughout the mix. It will probably just take a bit longer than 30 seconds to combine and chop everything for the first stage.

Makes 12-16 slices (I cut each slice into two halves for lunchboxes, to give 24+ portions - I might even work out the calories later to see how it lies in the land of treats!)

Canapés, Party Food and Lunchbox Treats the Healthier Way (includes Thermomix instructions)

Do you despair of party food being a sea of bloat-inducing pastry and breadcrumbed, bread-based foods, and yearn for delicious treats and nibbles that aren't going to induce an attack of indigestion?

Well, here are some of my favourite recipes for entertaining, including some completely grain-free tasty nibbles, plus additional links to more of my recipes which make great party food and canapés, and ideas for even more!

And the best thing of all - most of them can be made the day before, so no need for last minute panic - you can spend the day pampering yourself, then throwing a few fresh bits together and setting it all out for your guests to enjoy.

So, pictured above are (from left to right, in traditional fashion) smoked salmon and cucumber cups, crab and tarragon stuffed baby tomatoes, celery and blue cheese barquettes with walnuts and red pepper canapés with a Greek salad topping - recipes below, and more!

Scroll down below the first four canape recipes for a whole host of ideas that won't upset your stomach, including skewers with salads, lettuce cups, gluten free finger foods and even sushi!