Wholefood Simply Banana Bread

I did it! I made a more healthful version of banana bread which will become a family staple, this is the stuff I will be bringing my kids up on!

INGREDIENTS

3 medium to large ripe bananas

8 dates, seeds removed

3 tablespoons of tahini or nut/seed butter of your choice (I used peanut butter as that is all I had at the time)

juice of 1/2 a lemon

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 cup coconut flour, sifted

1 teaspoon bicarb soda

4 eggs

pinch of salt

METHOD

• Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celcius 
• Grease and line your loaf tin
• Blend the bananas and dates together until smooth
• Add the remaining ingredients and mix until well combined
• Pour mixture into the prepared tin
• Bake for 45 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out cleanly

TIPS

• I let my bananas turn truly black (even leave them out on the balcony table for a few extra days!) then store them in the freezer
• I was worried that without alot of flour there would not be enough mix but it fills the loaf tin perfectly! 
• I decorated the top of my banana bread with some 'scrap nuts' and coconut I had in my baking cupboard, it did not burn at all during cooking, just went nice and toasty.

Adapted from: https://wholefoodsimply.com/banana-bread/

Low Sugar Cupcakes for Kids!

So my little bean is turning one! I want to her to celebrate with her baby-friends, of course. But as my day job is Primary School Teaching I have seen first hand what too much sugar does to kids...(and I learned this the hard way from giving my 9 month old one 'milk-chocolate' Easter Egg at Easter... just one!)
So I thought I'd seek out a recipe that minimises the sugar... hopefully it will be good for years to come!  

INGREDIENTS  
Makes approx 30 mini cupcakes

3 really ripe large bananas (the blacker, the better!)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 lightly beaten egg
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 cup wholemeal self raising flour 
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
1/3 cup melted butter 
Splash of milk (to help create a consistent cake batter) 

Date Glaze

6 large medjool dates, pitted
6 tablespoons boiling water
4 tablespoons melted butter or coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

METHOD

• Mash up bananas
• Add the cinnamon & beaten egg
• Sift in the dry ingredients
• Add the melted butter
• Mix together until all combined - if you feel you need a slightly 'runnier' cake batter, I suggest adding a few splashes of milk at this step.
• Place into muffin tin or patty cakes and then place in an oven at 180 degrees (or about 170 for fan forced) for about 15-20 minutes. 

For Glaze: 

• Add the dates and boiling water to a small bowl Let soak for about 15 minutes. 
• Then pour mixture into a container that you can whiz mixture with a hand held blender / mini food processor. 
• Add the remaining ingredients. Blend on high until ultra-smooth and creamy. This only took me 20-40sec.
• Spread the glaze onto the warm cupcakes using a pastry brush, sprinkle with coconut. Add a decoration if you like - I buy mine (yes they have sugar, but they are tiny and if your diet is strict you can remove it easily before eating) from Patrick's Sugar Box on eBay.  

I really like this recipe as it is quick and requires no beating - so no need for a Kitchenaid or 20min standing there with a handheld beater :)
Overall I find that the cakes rise well and turn a pleasing brown colour - the date glaze helps to get things looking really golden, and give it a slight toffee-buttery taste. The cupcakes have a muffin-y texture and would probably benefit from cooking with unsalted butter (or even coconut oil!).
If you become hooked on making them sweeter I'd suggest to add some date paste or rice malt syrup to the cake batter - I'm yet to do this but I am going to keep trying this recipe with a few tweaks and will update as I go along.

I adapted the cake recipe from one I found on the Sweet Poison Forum
The original Date Glaze recipe can be found here.

No Sugar, High Protein Lemon and Blueberry Cake Slice

After I had my little one my Mother-In-Law made me this Blueberry and Yoghurt Loaf by Donna Hay, and I was obsessed with it!
Here is my adaptation of the recipe to make it more healthful for me - I have to say this smells gorgeous while it is baking. It also forms a lovely glossy crust once cooked and the greek yoghurt give the texture a softness, I'd say it is my most successful sugar-free baked treat to date!

INGREDIENTS
1.5 Cups of Protein Pancake Mix
2 punnets blueberries
1/2 cup sultanas
handful of craisins (Optional, I just had some in the pantry so thought I would try)
1/2 cup chopped dates
3/4 cup flaked almonds
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup hazlenut meal (or just whiz hazlenuts using a handheld food processor)
4 eggs
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 cup greek yoghurt
3/4 cup milk (or substitute of your choice)
1 tablespoon of lemon rind
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla

METHOD
- Preheat oven to 160 degrees
- Line a lamington tin with greaseproof paper
- Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl
- In a seperate bowl, whisk together eggs, coconut oil, yoghurt, milk, vanilla and lemon juice
- Combine all ingredients together in one bowl
- Pour mixture into lined lamington tin
- Bake at 160 degrees for 20min, then turn oven up to 180 degrees, bake for a further 35min
- Allow to cool in tin resting on a wire rack, once cool cut into squares and enjoy!

These also benefit from 20sec of warming up in the microwave if eaten after baking day.
Fine for freezing, too - again, just warm up in microwave and munch away!

Pat's Christmas Cake Muffins

Here is a 'paleo-diet' version of Christmas cake muffins. My trainer Joe would be oh-so happy to know I'm making these, even though I'm doing plenty of naughty eating and drinking this Christmas - it's been a great year.

Cheeky thing I'm doing with this recipe is I'm soaking the fruit in a little brandy, it is Christmas after all :)

INGREDIENTS
4 Tbsp butter, melted
1/3 cup honey
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup unsweetened crushed pineapple
1-1/2 cups almond flour (I used coconut flour as I could not get almond flour)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (NOT baking powder)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried currants
3/4 cup dates or pitted prunes, chopped
1-1/2 cups sliced blanched almonds
1 cup chopped walnuts

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Preheat your oven to 135 degrees celcius.
2. Line muffin pans with paper cupcake liners.
3. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, mixing well.
4. Fill each cupcake liner almost full with batter.
5. Bake for 45 minutes.
6. Allow to cool before removing the paper liners.

From: http://cavemancuisine.blogspot.com/2009/06/pats-christmas-cake-muffins.html

Stewed Rhubarb and Custard

I have never cooked rhubarb until recently, never. I remember my mother cooking it when I was small and I wondered what the fuss was about, I never really bothered with it. This recipe is not fantastic if you are watching your weight, but I figure it sure as hell beats reaching for the chocolate cake or pastry, like I once would have done! Furthermore, I have made this with wild honey, courtesy of my friend Jesse and Amanda's backyard beehive in Islington, Newcastle. It IS delicious!


INGREDIENTS
1 x bunch of rhubarb, sliced into 3-5cm pieces (a bunch is approx 5 sticks)
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup wild honey
1 tsp vanilla
3 x cardamom pods
1 x tsp grated lemon rind

METHOD
1. Place rhubarb, water, honey, vanilla and cardamom in saucepan.
2. Mix well and bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20min.
3. Take off heat and remove cardamom pods and stir through lemon rind.
4. You can add some extra honey if you like at this point, depending on how sweet or tart you like the rhubarb to taste.
5. Serve with lite custard or low fat organic yoghurt. Yummy!

NUMBERS (Approx)
Stewed Rhubarb with honey (70g Serving)
Carbs: 10.8g
Protein: 0.8g
Fat: 0.1g
Fibre: 1.7g

Dairy Farmers Lite Pouring Custard (100g serving)
Carbs: 13.8
Protein: 3g
Fat: 0.9g

Barambah Organics Low Fat Natural Yoghurt (50g serving)
Carbs: 2.4
Protein: 2.95g
Fat: 0.1g

Obviously, the yoghurt is the go but sometimes you just gotta have custard!