Healthier Malva Pudding

One of my most precious memories as a little girl was coming home from church, the house filled with aromas of the Sunday roast my mum had put in the oven that morning. The whole family sitting down for a long lunch with lots of laughter and jokes, us kids playing under the table and making fun of the mung beans in mum's salad (little did I know about their nutritional value). The moment we were all waiting for finally came at the end of lunch and mum would reveal a perfectly baked Malva pudding from the oven. We could hardly wait for her to evenly divide it so that everyone had their fair share, and then of course with a big scoop of ice cream on top. Back then, you didn't have dessert every night, you had a treat once a week. The desserts weren't low fat, sugar-free, or gluten-free but man did they taste good! Every now and then I will have a craving for this kind of pudding. If you're South African (like me) or if you have any South African friends, I am sure they would've told you about this pudding before. It really is heavenly in taste, but unfortunately being laden with sugar, butter and cream, not so heavenly for your health. So here is my best recreation of a healthier version. Remember that any dessert, whether healthy or unhealthy, is still a treat and should only be enjoyed occasionally.

Ingredients:

Pudding 1 tablespoon coconut oil 1 tablespoon coconut sugar* 2 tablespoons rice malt syrup* 1 egg 3 tablespoons no-added-sugar apricot jam (I use Charles Jacquin jam) ¼ cup milk (almond/rice/soy/cows) 1 cup wholemeal spelt flour 1 teaspoon bicarb of soda

Sauce 1 cup coconut milk (or full cream cows milk) 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract Sweetener to taste*

* coconut sugar can be substituted for any other unrefined sugar such as rapadura * rice malt syrup can be replace with honey or maple syrup * sweetener can be rice malt syrup, stevia, honey or maple syrup

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2. Combine all pudding ingredients except the flour and bicarb in a bowl and whisk until well combined.
3. Add the flour and bicarb little by little as you continue to whisk.
4. Pour into a baking dish (20 x 15 x 4 cm)
5. Place in oven and bake for 20 to 25 min or until golden.
6. Meanwhile, combine all sauce ingredients in pan over low heat until small bubbles form.
7. Remove from heat and set aside.
8. Remove pudding from oven, cool for 5 to 10 minutes and cut into squares. Pour the sauce over the pudding and allow to absorb. Serve with extra sauce and/or whipped coconut cream - yum!

Healthier Malva Pudding

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• Pudding
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon coconut sugar*
• 2 tablespoons rice malt syrup*
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons no-added-sugar apricot jam (I use Charles Jacquin jam)
• ¼ cup milk (almond/rice/soy/cows)
• 1 cup wholemeal spelt flour
• 1 teaspoon bicarb of soda
• Sauce
• 1 cup coconut milk (or full cream cows milk)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Sweetener to taste*

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2. Combine all pudding ingredients except the flour and bicarb in a bowl and whisk until well combined.
3. Add the flour and bicarb little by little as you continue to whisk.
4. Pour into a baking dish (20 x 15 x 4 cm)
5. Place in oven and bake for 20 to 25 min or until golden.
6. Meanwhile, combine all sauce ingredients in pan over low heat until small bubbles form.
7. Remove from heat and set aside.
8. Remove pudding from oven, cool for 5 to 10 minutes and cut into squares. Pour the sauce over the pudding and allow to absorb. Serve with extra sauce and/or whipped coconut cream - yum!

Notes

* coconut sugar can be substituted for any other unrefined sugar such as rapadura, rice malt syrup can be replace with honey or maple syrup, sweetener can be rice malt syrup, stevia, honey or maple syrup

3.2.1284

Lime & Sage Cashew "Blue Cheese"

I absolutely love entertaining at home and serving up new food and drink creations to friends and family  (using them as my guinea pigs). They don't seem to mind most of the time. Sometimes my creations don't always come out looking and/or tasting very glamorous, but at least it lends itself to some interesting dinner conversations. This one (thankfully) did turn out to be a success and a wonderful substitute for blue cheese if you struggle with the thought of mould in your cheese (me). If you're stuck for an appetizer at your next dinner party, this cheese compliments any kind of seasonal fruit and is heavenly on a fresh piece of sourdough.

Ingredients:

2 cups cashew nuts 1 handful fresh sage Juice of 1 lime

Method:

Add cashew nuts to a high speed blender and blend until a fine powder. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until a soft "cheese" consistency. Spread on freshly baked sourdough with fresh fig slices.

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 :)

Food prep for the week!

I recently showed you (here) part of my food prep and organisation that I like to get done on the weekend so that I’m ready to go for the week. Part of that routine is to go to the fruit and veg markets to get all my supplies for the week at a reasonable price. I also like to prepare a few foods on the weekend to make the process of creating meals easier. Here are a few of my favourites! Breakfast: It’s a real treat to wake up in the morning without having to think what you’re going to make for breakfast. That’s why I like to make a big bowl of homemade granola to last us a week or two. I like to do gluten-free sprouted buckwheat or an oat-based granola mixed in with various goodies. Perfect with almond milk and fresh chopped banana. Watch this space - recipes to follow!

Dips/sauces/spreads: I get so much use of out making these and they are so versatile! They’re perfect as a spread on a lunchtime sandwich, a dip with veggies or a few wholegrain crackers for a snack or to mix through quinoa or steamed veg for a main. - Hummus - Tahini Yoghurt - Chargrilled capsicum relish - Pesto

Here I made a baked sweet potato, radish and tahini yoghurt lentil salad topped with chargrilled capsicum relish.

Poached chicken: It works really well to poach a few pieces of lean chicken breasts, shred them and flavour them with lemon juice, pepper and herbamare. This can be kept in the fridge for up to 2 days, or I like to freeze them in portions. When you make your salad for lunch in the morning you can take it out of the freezer, pop it on top of your salad and it will be thawed and ready to eat by lunch time!

Quinoa: This is my absolute favourite staple as mentioned before. It behaves like a grain (so you can substitute it for rice/couscous/pasta) but it is actually a seed and a complete protein source. This beauty is perfect tossed through salads or to bulk up soups and curries. I also like to make quinoa pilaf and use it as a foundation for my meals. Here I mixed quinoa with pesto and brocolinni.

Frozen fruit: I love to freeze ripe bananas and mangoes. Whenever I feel like a healthy frozen treat during the week I throw them into my thermomix to make 100% fruit ice cream! They’re also really handy for making smoothies. I love to freeze grapes for a cool summer snack.Frozen yoghurt blocks: I take this as a perfect opportunity to use up the last bit of my yoghurt from the week before it goes off. I like to combine it with honey/agave/maple syrup and any kind of chopped fruit.

Snacks: Trail mix - I like to combine raw almonds, walnuts, goji berries, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and some chopped dried apple. You can leave this in a jar and grab as you go, or you can make them into little snack packs.

Super snack balls – these are one of my favourite snacks. So easy to make and very tasty!

Remember, 80% of your success is going to be nutrition - whether it is to tone up, bulk up, maintain or improve your general wellbeing. Exercise is vital, but eating the right foods is going to be the secret key to unlock the door to that level you're aspiring to! And being organised forms part of the key.

Question: What kind of foods do you like to prepare to be organised for the week?

Maple Peach Brown Rice Pudding

Need new inspiration for breakfast, late-afternoon snack, or dessert? Look no further than here!!! This is quick, healthy and delish.

Fruit is my favourite food on earth. If I could I would have it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Although as a dietitian and a foodie, I feel it is my duty to try other foods as well…*sigh*…tough life! But today I didn’t feel any such obligation when I started to think about my afternoon snack.

I let my love of fruit guide me to the way of a Maple Peach Brown Rice Pudding! Even if you don’t love fruit…you will love this!

Maple Peach Brown Rice Pudding Ingredients ½ cup cooked brown rice ¼ cup coconut cream* 1 tsp pure vanilla extract 1 peach Maple syrup to taste – I used 1 tsp

Combine all ingredients and ¾ of the peach in a blender and blend until smooth. Serve with remaining peach and a drizzle of maple syrup.

*for low fat version use reduced fat coconut milk/soy/almond/oat milk instead.     

If you feel you want something creamy and luscious on top...I recommend this vegan cream recipe! It's the perfect accompaniment!

This pudding is also great for our vegan friends and those that need a gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free or soy-free option!

And for those interested in the nutritional info, here it is:

Energy: 974 kJ Fat: 5.3g Carbs: 39.7g Fibre: 3.8g Sugar: 13.9g Protein: 4.1g

Fill in the blank: My favourite food is ________

Maple Peach Brown Rice Pudding

Need new inspiration for breakfast, late-afternoon snack, or dessert? Look no further than here!!! This is quick, healthy and delish.

Fruit is my favourite food on earth. If I could I would have it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Although as a dietitian and a foodie, I feel it is my duty to try other foods as well…*sigh*…tough life! But today I didn’t feel any such obligation when I started to think about my afternoon snack.

I let my love of fruit guide me to the way of a Maple Peach Brown Rice Pudding! Even if you don’t love fruit…you will love this!

Maple Peach Brown Rice Pudding Ingredients ½ cup cooked brown rice ¼ cup coconut cream* 1 tsp pure vanilla extract 1 peach Maple syrup to taste – I used 1 tsp

Combine all ingredients and ¾ of the peach in a blender and blend until smooth. Serve with remaining peach and a drizzle of maple syrup.

*for low fat version use reduced fat coconut milk/soy/almond/oat milk instead.     

If you feel you want something creamy and luscious on top...I recommend this vegan cream recipe! It's the perfect accompaniment!

This pudding is also great for our vegan friends and those that need a gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free or soy-free option!

And for those interested in the nutritional info, here it is:

Energy: 974 kJ Fat: 5.3g Carbs: 39.7g Fibre: 3.8g Sugar: 13.9g Protein: 4.1g

Fill in the blank: My favourite food is ________

Sweet sweet potato bites

I don't like to eat the same thing for lunch everyday. Salads can be nice - but not if it is the same day in day out. Also, why would you have the same thing everyday if there are a bizillion combinations out there for yummy lunches!? I don't. That is why when I opened the fridge today, I looked at my leftovers for inspiration. I dreamed up a rather satifying and absolutely delicious feast from some left-over baked sweet potato I had in the fridge! And then I made it...

 

Are you drooling yet?

These are so visually appetizing and filling that you can have it for lunch, dinner or even appetizers for your next dinner party.

The best part about these guys...they're 100% healthy! They are also vegan, dairy free, soy free, nut free and gluten free!

This is how you make them:

Sweet Sweet Potato Bites

Ingredients:

1 large sweet potato 1/2 mashed avocado seasoned with salt & pepper Mustard Caramelised Onions Sundried tomato Hommus Lemon

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees celcuis. Wash the sweet potato and place whole onto baking tray and bake for around 30-40mins depending on the size of your sweet potato. Before you take it out you can prick with a scure/fork to feel if the inside is completely soft. Allow to cool.

Cut sweet potato into slices an top with these combinations:

1. Mashed avocado, mustard and sundried tomato 2. Mashed avocado and caramelised onion 3. Mashed avocado and hommus

Finish with a squeeze of lemon and garnish with greens. Voilla!

You're ready to gobble up a delicious meal or entertain your guests!

Question:

What is your favourite dish to entertain guests with?