Glimpse into Passion Pleasers

My mantra for baking is if it is healthy enough to eat for breakfast yet tastes deliciously naughty, you are on a winner! These cake squares fit this motto, and are super easy and quick to make!  

 All you need is:

 

1/4 cup nut butter (I used almond, brazil and cashew butter)

1/4 cup tahini

1/3 cup rice syrup

2 large bananas

1/3 cup coconut flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

*170 g passionfruit pulp

 

All you  need to do is: 

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Line a baking pan with baking paper. Any size you have will do, but one about 20cm x 20cm will make a good thickness.
3. Pop all the ingredients into a blender or food processor; hold back with half of the passionfruit pulp and save it for later. Blend until smooth.
4. Pour the mixture into the pan evenly.
5. Top with the leftover passionfruit pulp.
6. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until firm and golden. Keep an eye on the topping, as it will burn. If it starts to catch, cover the pan with a piece of foil.
7. Let it cool and slice into squares.

************************************************************************************
The fun part...alternative additions:
 
*Instead of passionfruit pulp, use about 100g of one or two of the following:

• chopped dark chocolate or choc chips
• berries (frozen or fresh)
• drained, crushed pineapple
• dried blueberries, cranberries or pineapple
• crushed nuts
• quinoa flakes or gluten free oats (you may need to add a little water if your mixture becomes dry when blended)
• chopped pumpkin seeds, poppy seeds or toasted sesame seeds

*You could also try:

• 1 tablespoon of raw cacao
• 1 teaspoon of ginger powder
• 1 teaspoon of fresh ginger
• 1-2 tablespoons of vanilla extract
• 4 tablespoons of LSA -linseed, sunflower seed and almond meal (you may need to add a little water if your mixture becomes dry when blended)
• Whole round slices of pineapple at the bottom of the tray, and then pour mixture over the top for a pretty and fruity pattern.

I hope you enjoy these nutritious treats, any time of the day! And they keep getting better...only the blender and pan to clean!! Winner!!

Glimpse into the ultimate bowl of quinoa goodness

I very often talk about the fantastic breakfast I eat daily (and sometimes twice a day!), and have mentioned the basis of it on this blog before. Hence, I can't believe it that I haven't actually gone into detail about it on the blog!! So here it is; you are in for a treat!
This bowl of amazingness has converted yours truly from the ultimate non-morning person, who has always resisted breakfast and only eaten it as a necessity, to someone who pulls their heavy body out of bed with one thing in mind: GET A BOWL OF THAT AMAZING, ULTIMATE BOWL OF GOODNESS...NOW!!!!

                                             

Glimpse into choc banana quinoa cookies

You can probably tell, I love to bake, and I love the ease of cookies! This week, I wanted to make a treat that is packed with nutrition, so healthy that I could eat it for breakfast without guilt, and that was super easy to whip up! This is what I developed...a choc banana quinoa cookie!

Glimpse into green pudding

Happy Hump Day! You have made it to Wednesday; the weekend is on its way! This, of course, has no relevance to me, as I have been too unwell to work since November, but I know a lot of you will be celebrating that you are over halfway!!

 

With my body at the level of health that it is, I need to eat regularly. Even if I am not hungry or being active, if I do not eat every 2-3 hours, I plummet quickly, and it takes me quite some time to recover. So I have learnt to eat, whether I am feeling physical hunger or not. So this means, a lot of snacks!! I love coming up with new things for my morning and afternoon teas! I have been loving the ease and chocolatey goodness of my choc nut smoothies this week, but today I was in the mood for a change!

I have seen a few blog posts of people eating their chunky green smoothies rather than blending them further into a drink, and I thought I would work on that idea today!

Glimpse into choc nut cookies and choc nut smoothies

Cookies make me think of my little (well, not so little, but younger) brother, who lives in France, who has the nick name, among several others,  the Cookie Monster. He is the family's sweet tooth, but I am finding that I am also developing quite the sweet tooth these days, which is ironic now that I eat a low fructose diet!
I made up a batch of these cookies last week as a last minute, quick throw together for a treat for friends. This week, I have been in short supply of sweet treats, so this morning, my energy was dedicated to making another batch of these cookies.
I was not feeling fantastic this morning though, so to help me to power through while I made the cookies, I whipped up my latest favourite smoothie. I am absolutely a green smoothie convert, and love the additional serve of greens it gives you in the day. However, I have also discovered recently the wonder of adding nut butter to a smoothie! So my recent fav does not have greens, but is packed full of goodies; perfect for those moments when you want to trick your tastebuds into thinking you are having a decadent, naughty treat, but it is actually filled with great things to make your body happy!

Glimpse into nut & seed, banana power bread

Last night, as I lay wide awake with my usual night time companion, insomnia, I brainstormed ideas to make a cake/bread which contained healthy ingredients. I wanted to create something that I didn't need to feel guilty about eating, but tasted good, and would give me a hit of nutrition, energy and keep me feeling full, which is important to everyone, especially those with chronic fatigue issues. This morning, I woke with enough energy to hit the kitchen and experiment. A friend who doubted the flavour potential has taste tested, and he has given the tick of approval!

I think it would be nice toasted, with some dairy free butter or nut butter for breakfast or a snack.

Glimpse into gluten free & vegan fruity waffles

On the weekend, I treated myself to a waffle machine (and a dehydrator...posts on that to come!). I could probably count on one hand the times that I ate waffles before I had to restrict my diet, however, the idea of creating something yummy, crunchy on the outside and soft inside, and a winter meal change from my usual delicious quinoa porridge, made me excited to get my hands on a waffle iron and create! I sieved through multiple recipes and came up with a combination of ingredients which I can tolerate, and what I had in the kitchen. This is what resulted! (And I had to make them again this morning; they were so good!).

 

Glimpse into low FODMAP power balls

I am sure that on your quest for healthy recipes, you've probably come across nutritious balls made of an assortment of good ingredients. Most of these contain sticky, dried fruits however, and when you have fructose malabsorption, dried dates, apricots and the like are a big no no. So I decided that I wanted to come up with a mixture that is fructose friendly, delicious and provides the nutritious energy hit of these powerful super balls!

Glimpse into low FODMAP/fructose berries

I have always loved fruit. Having to avoid it was one of the major blows that came with a diagnosis of fructose malabsorption. Even more so than having to skip chocolate! Luckily, there are some of these yummy and nutritious treats that remain available to us Fruct Mals, or those avoiding fructose for other health benefits.
Bear in mind as always, that what works for me may not work for you, but this list of fruits that I still enjoy may give you an idea of what you can trial. This post will cover berries, another will cover other fruits, so stay tuned!

Glimpse into breakfast treats

I woke up this morning inspired, and hungry for pancakes!! What transpired where more like hot porridge cakes, and were delicious! To top it off, they are nutritional and guilt free! What could be better?!

To make these gluten free, dairy free, egg free, fructose friendly breakfast hot cakes, this is what I did!

Mash one banana into a puree. Add a few dashes of cinnamon, a teaspoon of rice syrup, four tablespoons of cooked quiona and mix it til well combined. Fold in some fresh blueberries.

The mixture at this stage is quite wet. Slowly add in almond meal until you have a batter-like consistency.

Put a splash of coconut oil in a fry pan. When it is hot, add a spoonful of the mixture into the pan, and fry until brown on both sides. (They are difficult to flip, so take care!)

Eat warm, topped with rice syrup and raspberry puree*. Delicious!!

Enjoy. I recommend you choose a slightly cooler day than I did to make them!



*Raspberry puree: Combine 1.5-2 cups of frozen raspberries, 1-2 tablespoons of rice syrup, grated rind of one orange, the juice of one orange, and a teaspoon of grated fresh ginger in a pan. Cook until it is a puree.

Glimpse into being prepared

I have just made packs up for the freezer so that I am ready for a green smoothie anytime the craving hits for about a fortnight! It is so easy to do when you have a spare half hour, and saves you the time and energy each day.
I put all the fresh ingredients I wanted into bags, plus chia seeds, labeled with the date, and now I will just throw it all in the blender when I am ready, add water and coconut oil and blast!
The freezer is getting quite a collection of frozen meals now to prevent running out of intolerance friendly foods when I am hungry!

Glimpse into the green smoothie

I am an absolute green smoothie convert. They are delicious and pack so many nutrients into a quick drink. With my food intolerances, I find that they are awesome for breakfast or for afternoon tea (or both!). They give me something fresh and tasty, that isn't processed and full of sugar but is easy to prepare, and it can also be made to be a dairy free, egg free, wheat free, nut free and low in fructose meal!
My favourite fructose friendly smoothies so far are:


GREEN GOODNESS

Handful of spinach
3-4 big leaves of kale (choose the softer leaf; I find the curly kale doesn't blend too well)
1/4 big cucumber
A few sprigs of mints
A handful of blueberries or 4-5 strawberries
Juice of half a lime or lemon
Water
Ice


TROPICAL ZING

1-2 handfuls of spinach
1/4 big cucumber
A few sprigs of mint
A small handful of raspberries
A few chunks of fresh pineapple
Juice of half a lime
A tablespoon of melted coconut oil
A tablespoon of white chia seeds
Water (If you add rice milk -or whichever milk or milk alternative you prefer, instead of water, it makes this smoothie into a fresh sorbet style drink!)
Ice


BASIC BERRY

2 handfuls of spinach
2 handfuls of blueberries
Juice of half a lime or lemon
A tablespoon of melted coconut oil
A tablespoon of white chia seeds
Water
Ice

Throw all your ingredients into a blender, add more or less water depending on how thick you like it, and voila! A delicious hit of energy-giving nutrition! Since adding the chia seeds and coconut oil, I find that I am full for hours, and it really gives me extra bounce.
Remember to not drink it too quickly, as your body won't digest it as well because it doesn't involve the chewing process. :-)

You can place all your dry ingredients in a single serve in a zip lock bag or sealed container and put them in the freezer, then all you have to do is grab the bag, add your liquids and blend!

If you blend up your drink for on the go, you can put it in the freezer for a little while, and by the time you're ready to drink, it will be cold and fresh (and won't have splashed and spilled its ways round your car!).

Also, once you blend the beautiful, fresh vegetables and fruit, they begin to lose their nutrients, so if avoidable, don't blend them up hours and hours in advance. But that being said, they do keep, and if the alternative is grabbing a quick processed vending machine snack, then of course a green smoothie blended before work is a much better alternative for when 3 o'clock-itis sets in!



Happy blending! x