Tag: healthy blogging

Making Healthy Brownies (80 Cal Each)

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We’ve just come out of Easter and I’m sure everyone has spent the weekend enjoying lots of chocolate and other yummy, indulgent dishes. Whenever I’m trying to get back on track, I always bake some healthy desserts or I risk going to healthy and then just binging on all the leftover Easter chocolate…

Healthy dessert recipes mean that you can enjoy sweet treats whilst avoiding the sugar high that usually accompanies them. Whilst a sugar high (i.e. insulin spike caused by an overload of glucose) might sound fairly harmless in the short run, excessive sugar intake can have negative impacts in the long term. See here for information about how excess sugar affects your teeth, joints, skin etc.

To avoid these complications, I try to reduce my sugar intake whilst still enjoying great desserts. It all about everything in moderation!

This recipe has substitutes from the usual brownie recipe that we all know and love, that not only make it lower in calories, but also provide some wonderful health benefits with the same delicious taste.

Sweeteners

Bananas – These delicious fruits provide a wonderful texture to the brownies whilst also giving a subtle fruity undertone. Banana’s are rich in vitamin B6 which helps your body metabolise carbohydrates and fats and remove unwanted chemicals from your body. Banana’s also provide a healthy source of Manganese which helps your body produce collagen to boost your skin.

Sugar Free Maple Syrup and Chocolate – Sugar free alternatives are great ways to enjoy sweet, sugar-like flavour whilst avoiding cane sugar. It is important to note that some no-calorie sweeteners may upset your stomach. If this is the case opt for a natural sweetener like Stevia.

Healthy Fats

Coconut Milk – Coconut milk is rich in healthy fats and antioxidants, which help to protect you from harmful radicals that are produced when your body breaks down food.

Flours

Oat Flour – Oat flour is a naturally gluten free, whole grain flour, which provides an excellent source of fibre to help your digestion whilst keeping you satiated. If you enjoy the taste and texture, oats are a powerful substitute in creating a healthy recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 2 ripe bananas
  • 3/4 cup canned LITE coconut milk
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats or Oat Flour
  • 1/3 cup cacao powder
  • 3 tbsp sugar free maple syrup (or real maple syrup if you prefer that).
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 90g Chocolate – I like to use Well Naturally Sugar Free Chocolate
  • Optional: 5 drops of MyProtein Chocolate FlavDrops

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 200 C
  2. Put rolled oats into blender and blend. Then, add bananas, coconut milk, cacao powder, syrup, vanilla extract, and baking powder into blender and BLEND.
  3. Pour mixture into a bowl and stir in salt and chopped up chocolate. Add FlavDrops if you desire a richer chocolatey taste (the sweetness of this batter will subdue when it bakes, so aim for a mixture that is slightly sweeter than you desire).
  4. Bake for 15 minutes or until fudgy brownie comes out on skewer inserted.
  5. Allow to cool a little bit and then cut into 16 slices!

ENJOY! Let me know how the recipe goes! X

Veggie-Packed Frittata to get Your Greens in

Posted in ALL POSTS, FOODTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 4 Comments

Frittata’s are one of those dishes that look super complex but are very easy to whip together.

They are also super versatile – they can be served hot or chilled, and taste good with just about any combination of vegetables.

The rainbow vegetables in this dish provide several vitamins and nutrients, whilst making it filling but low in calories. The eggs are a vital source of healthy fat and protein.

You can choose different veggies depending on what you feel like. My favourites are in the recipe below, but other options are capsicum, regular tomatoes, pumpkin, mushroom & asparagus.

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For a touch of sweetness I use sweet potato as the base of the Frittata. This can be substituted for baby potatoes if you prefer a more savoury taste.

You will need:

  • 8 eggs
  • 1/2 cup almond milk
  • 2 medium sweet potatoes
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • Sprinkle of Paprika
  • 4 spring onions
  • 2 cups baby spinach
  • 1/3 cup feta
  • 1 zucchini
  • Pinch of salt
  • 6 of cherry tomatoes
  • 1/4 cup fresh basil

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 200˚C.
  2. Chop up the sweet potatoes and zucchini into cubes and fry in fry-pan with turmeric, paprika and olive oil, until golden brown and cooked through.
  3. Chop up the cherry tomatoes, spring onions, feta and basil. Also loosely chop the baby spinach.
  4. Whisk the eggs, milk and salt in a large bowl until smooth. Then stir through the basil.
  5. Put the sweet potatoes and the zucchini fry into the base of a cake tin. Cover with baby spinach, tomatoes and sprinkle with spring onion.
  6. Pour egg mixture over all other ingredients in the cake tin, making sure to cover everything.
  7. Cut up feta into small blocks and place on top.
  8. Cook for 25 minutes, or until egg looks bouncy and cooked through (I check by inserting a skewer – make sure the egg has cooked through).

Voila! Homemade and delicious.