Perfect Protein Bar

A few Saturdays ago I got together with my mum and sister, and we put our heads together to come up with something that so many of us often struggle to find. The perfect afternoon snack.

This was our checklist:

• healthy
• satisfy chocolate craving
• protein loaded
• low sugar
• high fibre
• nutritious
• delicious

I'm happy to say we ticked all of these and created the perfect protein bar from the very heart of my mum's kitchen. We could hardly wait for the bar to cool so we could taste test it. When we did, we all nodded in agreement that this was the best we've tasted. Heck, even the boys that were watching rugby upstairs gave it the tick of approval. If I can get my husband to say "that doesn't taste healthy at all" - it is probably the best complement he can give to my healthy creations!

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Ingredients:Makes 12 slices

½ cup almond meal
⅓ cup protein powder (I like Sunwarrior Brown Rice Protein)
2 ripe bananas
¼ cup shredded coconut
¼ cup chia seeds
¼ cup hemp seeds (or pepitas/sunflower)
3 tablespoons cacao powder
3 tablespoons almond butter (or nut butter of choice)
1 teaspoon vanilla paste
15 drops liquid stevia
2 tablespoons raw honey

Method: Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Combine all ingredients in a high power blender. Blend until well combined. Line a bread pan-sized baking tin with baking paper and press mixture firmly into the tin. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely before slicing. Makes 12 slices.

Nutrition Info per slice:

470 kJ or 112 kcal
6 grams protein
9 grams carbohydrate
4 grams fibre

It is delicious with a dollop of yoghurt and some warmed berries!

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The Life-Changing Bread

I love bread. It is definitely one of my weaknesses. If I didn't know better and didn't have all the nutritional knowledge from studying for 6 years, I'd probably eat french bread sticks and sourdough from my local baker with lashing of butter at every meal. But unfortunately (and fortunately for my health and yours!) I do have the knowledge.

By no means am I saying that bread is bad for you. There is definitely a place in a wholesome, well-balanced diet for bread that has been made from good quality ingredients in small amounts. But unless you're willing to fork out $8-$12 for a good quality bread these days (or have the skills of a Danish bread maker) you're stuck with the mass-produced loafs from the supermarkets. These are often laden with processed wheat products, soy flour, colours, preservatives, sugars and syrups. If this is news - learn to read your labels.

One of my passions is to create healthy versions of everyday foods and dishes, and to encourage others to do the same. I simply had to look for a healthy alternative. These sorts of pursuits don't often stop until I find what I look for and it has ticked all my nutritional boxes. It didn't take me long though, to find this life-changing bread that was geniusly invented by Sarah at My New Roots. When I saw it, I simply had to try it. The end result was a very impressed dietitian with a huge smile on her face holding a piece of life-changing bread in her hand. With lashings of homemade jam (my treat).

The best thing about this bread? It actually is HEALTHY for you. And it is REALLY easy to make, with minimum kitchen mess. You the combine ingredients, stir, soak, and bake all in the one dish - perfect!

Here is the recipe from the My New Roots blog

Ingredients:

Makes 1 loaf

• 1 cup / 135g sunflower seeds
• ½ cup / 90g flax seeds
• ½ cup / 65g hazelnuts or almonds
• 1 ½ cups / 145g rolled oats ( contains far less gluten than bread)
• 2 Tbsp. chia seeds
• 4 Tbsp. psyllium seed husks (3 Tbsp. if using psyllium husk powder)
• 1 tsp. fine grain sea salt (add ½ tsp. if using coarse salt)
• 1 Tbsp. maple syrup (for sugar-free diets, use a pinch of stevia)
• 3 Tbsp. melted coconut oil or ghee
• 1 ½ cups / 350ml water

Directions:

1. In a flexible, silicon loaf pan combine all dry ingredients, stirring well. Whisk maple syrup, oil and water together in a measuring cup. Add this to the dry ingredients and mix very well until everything is completely soaked and dough becomes very thick (if the dough is too thick to stir, add one or two teaspoons of water until the dough is manageable). Smooth out the top with the back of a spoon. Let sit out on the counter for at least 2 hours, or all day or overnight. To ensure the dough is ready, it should retain its shape even when you pull the sides of the loaf pan away from it it.

2. Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C.

3. Place loaf pan in the oven on the middle rack, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove bread from loaf pan, place it upside down directly on the rack and bake for another 30-40 minutes. Bread is done when it sounds hollow when tapped. Let cool completely before slicing (difficult, but important).

4. Store bread in a tightly sealed container for up to five days. Freezes well too – slice before freezing for quick and easy toast

Breakfast Crepe with Protein Berry Filling

Ohhh yes...

This is too good to be true. Surely you can't eat something that looks this good for breakfast, can you? Yes you can, and you should!

Another addition to my dessert-like breakfast recipes. Think of it as the sister of this one, the cousin of this one, and the obscure relative of this one.

Nutrition Perfection: - Loaded with protein and fibre - Sugar-free - Gluten free - Great for blood sugar stabilisation - Provides sustained energy release

Ingredients:

- 3 medium egg whites - 1 tbsp greek yoghurt - 1 tbsp ground chia seeds - 1 tsp cinnamon - 1/2 a tsp vanilla

Filling

- 1/2 cup frozen berries - 1 tbsp protein powder - 1 tbsp greek yoghurt

Method: Combine egg whites, yoghurt, chia, cinnamon and vanilla in a bowl and mix well. Spray a non stick pan and cook on a medium heat for 2-3 mins with the lid on or until mixture is no longer runny on top. Slide it onto a plate.

For filling: Blend the berries in a blender to form a berry "paste". Add the protein powder and yoghurt and blend well until it forms a nice and creamy texture.

Fill the crepe and flip it on both sides so that it looks like a crepe. Top with berries and if you feel like some extra indulgence - pour a little agave or maple syrup!

Question of the day: What is your favourite dessert-like breakfast food?

Link of the day: Creamy Almond Milkshake

Sprouted Buckwheat Granola

ooohhhhh granola...

...there's something about the crunch that makes you want to go back for more. And why wouldn't you? This one is super duper nutritious with loads of flavour!

 

Buckwheat is a wonderous little grain-like seed that is not related to wheat at all so its naturally gluten-free and wheat-free (yay for all our gluten intolerant friends)!

It is really high in fibre and has a low Glycaemic Index (GI) which means you have sustained energy throughout the day and you'll feel fuller for longer - great for weight loss or maintenance!

 

Ingredients: 2 cups buckwheat groats (soaked and sprouted) 2 bananas 1/4 of a cup chia seeds 2/3 of a cup almonds 2 tbs acai berry powder (optional) 2 tbs agave syrup 1/2 cup of shredded coconut 1/3 of a cup goji berries 1/2 cup macadamia nuts 1/4 cup sultanas

Method: Soak 2 cups buckwheat groats and let them do their magic by sprouting! There is a really helpful tutorial on how to sprout buckwheat here.

Next, combine the chia seeds, almonds and acai berry powder in a blender and blend to a fine consistency. Add the banana and agave syrup and blend until a paste is formed. If the mixture is too thick you can add a little water to make it thinner (you dont want the consistency to be too thin, but it needs to be thick enough to hold together when mixed with the buckwheat to form clusters when dried). Scoop mixture into a bowl and add sprouted buckwheat, shredded coconut and goji berries. Mix well.

 

Spread evenly onto an oven tray and dehydrate the mixture in a food dehydrator or in an oven (set at the lowest temperature) for around 8-10 hours or until the mixture is dry to touch. Let cool and add the macadamia nuts and sultanas. You're done!

 

You're set for breakfast for the next 2 weeks! Hooray!

 

These little clusters are of course delicious with some fruit and yoghurt for your morning food! A perfect start to the day.

 

How much do you want to dig into this? yummmm

 

What is your favourite morning food?

Creamy Almond Milkshake

What is better than a milkshake?

A milkshake that is GOOD for you of course!

My husband has a thing for dairy. He especially LOVES ice cream and milkshakes. Being married to a dietitian though, he doesn't get much approval for it and has to deal with sideways glances from me when he arrives home with a tub of ice cream. It probably has more to do with the fact that now I'll have to exercise self control because I know it is sitting in the freezer waiting for me. So I've had to come up with another plan to satisfy both of our sweet & creamy tooth cravings. And this one does a fine job at that.

Ingredients:

- 1 tsp chia seeds - 1 tsp cinnamon - 1 tbs vanilla protein powder - optional (I like Sunwarrior vanilla protein powder) - 10 almonds - 1 tsp almond butter - 1/2 a tsp vanilla bean paste - Half a frozen banana - 1 cup almond milk (I like Australia's Own Almond Milk) - Slivered almonds - Agave syrup

Method:

1. Blend together chia seeds, cinnamon, protein powder and almonds to make a powder. 2. Add almond butter, vanilla paste, banana and almond and blend until smooth and creamy. 3. Top with slivered almonds, cinnamon and a dash of agave syrup if you feel the need for some sweetness :)

Super Snack Balls

These balls are amazing - in fact I was really tempted to call them "amaze-balls" - at the risk of sounding like a teenage girl. But I didn't. Instead they are super snack balls because they're pretty much made up of SUPERFOODS!

They're great for a morning or afternoon snack or a pre- or post-workout bite. They're pretty good crumbled over yoghurt too for a healthy dessert.

They work out cheaper than buying a pack of muesli bars and is also much better for you. If you have a look at muesli bars of late you'll notice that almost all of them contain glucose syrup made from wheat - a.k.a. rubbish for your liver.

But these little beauties will have you jumping up with energy and your liver giving a you a hug (for once).

Ingredients:

1 cup oats 1 cup shredded coconut 1/2 cup nut butter 1/2 ground chia seeds 1/2 cup goji berries 1 Tbs acai berry powder 1 Tbs raw cacao powder 3 Tbs raw honey or agave syrup

Mix together well and make into bite-sized balls!

Makes ~20 balls at 117 calories per ball.