Notella - A Nutella alternative

You may have seen lots of articles in the press of late about how Nutella is potentially Carcinogenic (cancer causing). If you missed it read more HERE.

Whether the claims are true or not the fact is Nutella contains Palm Oil. This is a highly processed, unnatural and cheap oil that is used in many processed foods. Cheaper than olive oil and other natural fats, vast areas of rain forests in South America and Asia have been destroyed so multi billion dollar corporations can get even cheaper ingredients to make even unhealthier foods. Cancer or not AVOID PALM OIL like the plague. Even if it says 'Sustain-ably sourced Palm Oil' it just means they replant the trees but still wildlife and natural habitats are being destroyed.

Palm oil or not Nutella is so laden with sugar it should be avoided regardless. I myself have been known to eat it by the spoon full, spread it thickly on crackers, pancakes and bread as a treat and we all know once the jar is open...it needs to be finished. Even though judging by the sugar content I don't think this spread would ever go off. Even decades later!

So this news lead me to think about how you could make a more natural, just as tasty substitute without breaking the bank. Here it is my Notella recipe. Simple, quick and tastes so good. You can make a batch in advance and keep it in the fridge if you like the texture hard or at room temperature if you want it more spreadable.

Now don't be fooled this recipe should also be treated as just that, a treat. Try not to eat this by the spoonful (this is where I struggle!) as it is high in fats (good fats but still high!) and calories. However, I would want this over Nutella any day!

Ingredients:

2 heaped tea spoons of Nut butter of choice (I use Merian as it is Palm Oil free!)

1 dash of Olive Oil/Coconut Oil/Oil of choice (try and always get cold pressed, extra virgin oils)

1 teaspoon of honey (more if you don't mind the calories and want it sweeter), use Mayple Syrup to make it vegan

4 squares of 85% + Coco chocolate.

Method:

Using a small pan on a very low heat add the dash or oil (if you want a thicker consistency don't us any oil, providing you have a non stick pan). Add the rest of the ingredients and stir well until the chocolate is fully melted. 

Transfer into a clean jar or eat directly from the pot (No I have never done this I swear...)

Prep time:

1 minute to gather ingredients

Cooking time:

2-3 minutes to melt and stir

Dietary Information:

Refined Sugar free

Dairy free (if you use high % chocolate)

Gluten Free

Wheat Free

Vegetarian

Vegan

Paleo (if you don't use peanut butter)

Dark Chocolate is high in antioxidants and good fats

Local, organic honey can lessen effects of hayfever 

Nuts are high in EFA (essential fatty acids)

Better than Nutella!

Storage Instructions:

If it lasts then it can be kept in a sealed container in the fridge or at room temperature ready for spreading! I don't think this will ever last the time it would take it to go off!

So there you have it Jeanies! Hopefully you have been inspired to check ingredients on the packets of processed foods you eat (If it's in a packet and has ingredients then yes it is processed!) and avoid any more suffering for forests, wildlife, local people, extra weight from eating this sugary goodness and also potential carcinogenic effects.

The Great British Bake Off - Healthy Treats

The Great British Bake Off is back on our TVs and although no one can come close to last year's winner Nadja (who I love as a person and a baker!) I'm excited to watch this show each week. If you're like me however, you need something nice to eat while watching as the cakes, biscuits, buns and breads are all just too tempting to sit and watch empty mouthed!

So here are some of my healthy yet tasty and sweet recipes that won't send you into a carb loaded, sugar coma and keep you on track while still having a treat. 

Breads - Oat Bread I recently made this with rosemary and sea salt and it was delicious!

Chocolate - Chocolate Mousse, Peanutbutter Cups, Chocolate Bark, Chocolate covered fruit

Cakes - Lemon and Bluberry Loaf, Mango Drizzle Cake, Carrot Cake Muffins

Peanutbutter Cups - A healthier version!

So my Facebook and Instagram news feed went crazy when I posted a picture of a home made Peanutbutter cup that I made. I was inspired by the popular brand available in America. However, I wanted to make one that was healthier, tastier and all round better for you.

As always I didn't follow a recipe but just experimented in the kitchen and came up with this. I have had rave reviews from those lucky enough to try them so I'm hoping you will enjoy them too!


Ingredients:
Makes 12-15 cups
300g of Dark Chocolate (ideally 75% plus)
1 dash of Olive Oil or teaspoon of Butter (real NOT margarine) or Coconut Oil
1 tablespoon of Raw, Organic Honey/Mayple Syrup or leave this out for a lower sugar version.
1 teaspoon of Cinnamon
1 dash of Vanilla Essence or some real Vanilla bean
2 Tablespoons of organic nut butter with no sugar (don't use peanut if staying Paleo) 
Sprinkle of Pink Himalaya Rock Salt (you can read all about the benefits of this here)

Method:
Melt the chocolate gently in a pan with the fat of choice (Oil, Butter or Coconut Oil). You can do this in a glass bowl over a pan with some water or directly in the pan. I find the bowl over water works best and you can keep it melted for longer without burning.
Once it is melted add the vanilla, cinnamon and honey and stir well.
Line some muffin tins with paper cases.
Add a thin layer of chocolate to the bottom of each case, you can shake the tray to evenly spread the chocolate.
Allow these to cool and set in the fridge for about 5 minutes. 

 

Please excuse the state of my muffin tins. They are inherited from my mum and about 20 years old. They have served me well over the years!

Meanwhile leave the bowl of melted chocolate over the hot water (but with no heat from the cooker) and begin to make the filling. 
Take 2-3 heaped tablespoons of your nut butter of choice and place in a bowl. 
Add in a dash of olive oil/coconut oil/melted butter.
Add in some freshly ground pink salt (taste as you go as some nut butters come already salted so add according to taste) and mix well. 
Once the chocolate base is relatively set place a teaspoon or so of nut butter mix onto each base. Spread out and flatten down without touching the side.
Using the still warm and melted chocolate mix fill the paper cases until the nut butter is adequately covered. They will be more shallow than the case.
Again shake or tap the tray to flatten out the chocolate. 
Place in the fridge to chill. 
Eat straight from the fridge or at room temperature depending on your preference!

It really is that simple. It takes minutes to make and I often make a double batch and keep some in the fridge for when I'm feeling like a treat (if they last that long!)


Prep Time:
5-10 minutes

Cooking Time:
None! Just leave to harden in the fridge.

Dietary Information:
Paleo (ish!) the higher % chocolate the better with this
Good fats - from the oil and seeds/nuts/coconut
Full of antioxidants from the high chocolate content
Full of natural sweetness from the honey
Vegetarian
Vegan (if you use coconut oil and dairy free chocolate)
Gluten Free
Wheat Free

Storage Instructions:
I keep this in a sealed container and it will last weeks in the fridge - provided you don't eat it all.

For similar chocolate, no bake treats check out my Choocolate Bark recipe here

Enjoy Jeanies and as always feel free to comment, share and send me pics of your creations!

Chocolate Bark - Paleo (ish!)

So last week I made this chocolate bark for a party I was having. It's coming up to the Christmas Season and so I wanted to have nice and tasty nibbles that weren't going to be leaving people feeling stuffed, over indulged or sick.

I have seen chocolate bark on lots of blogs and recipe sites but never actually made it. I didn't follow any recipe for this and, like most of my recipes, just made it up as I went along using items I had in my house!

For once this actually worked out perfectly first time and it was a massive hit at the party! People couldn't get enough of it. In fact I'm having another dinner party this Thursday and I'm making it for dessert again.

Here's how you can make it too:

Ingredients:
400g of Dark Chocolate (ideally 70% plus)
1 dash of Olive Oil or teaspoon of Butter (real NOT margarine) or Coconut Oil
1 tablespoon of Raw, Organic Honey
1 teaspoon of Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper
1 dash of Vanilla Essence or some real Vanilla bean
Toppings which can include - Dessicated coconut, dried fruits (no added oil or sugar - I used Figs), chopped nuts (I used sliced almonds), seeds (I used chia seeds), freshly ground sea salt (I used Pink Himalaya Rock Slat)

Method:
Melt the chocolate gently in a pan with the fat of choice (Oil, Butter or Coconut Oil)
Once it is melted add the vanilla, cinnamon and honey and stir well.
Using a flat tray line it with some greaseproof paper.
Spread the chocolate mix evenly on the paper using the back of a spoon or spatula.
Sprinkle on your selected toppings - Fruit, nuts, seeds, salt etc
Allow to cool and place in the fridge to set.
Break into pieces and enjoy!

It really is that simple. It takes minutes to make and I often make a double batch and keep some in the fridge for when I'm feeling like a treat.

I must say it's the combination of the figs and salt in this that really make this. It's almost like salted caramel.


Prep Time:
5-10 minutes

Cooking Time:
None! Just leave to harden in the fridge.

Dietary Information:
Paleo (ish!) the higher % chocolate the better with this
Good fats - from the oil and seeds/nuts/coconut
Full of antioxidants from the high chocolate content
Full of natural sweetness from the fruit and honey
Vegetarian
Vegan (if you use coconut oil and dairy free chocolate)
Gluten Free
Wheat Free

Storage Instructions:
I keep this in a sealed container and it will last weeks in the fridge - provided you don't eat it all.


OK now I need to publish this post fast as I've eaten 4 pieces already writing this as it keeps reminding me of how good it is!

Enjoy!

Tuesday's Change Week 26 - Chocolate

Yes, yes you did. You heard that right. This week's Tuesday's change is to eat chocolate. Now woah there boy, before you get too excited have a good read below.

There are many benefits to dark chocolate and it is often considered a bad food. It is bad when it's milk or white chocolate but anything above 70% can contain the following.

A 100 gram bar of dark chocolate with 70-85% cocoa contains:

• 11 grams of fiber.
• 67% of the RDA for Iron.
• 58% of the RDA for Magnesium.
• 89% of the RDA for Copper.
• 98% of the RDA for Manganese.
• It also has plenty of potassium, phosphorus, zinc and selenium

It is also a powerful source of anti-oxidants which trap nasty free radicals in the body and prevent them from damaging cells and causing illness.

It may also help improve blood flow and lower blood pressure as a result of the flavanols in dark chocolate which stimulate the endothelium, the lining of arteries, to produce Nitric Oxide (NO), which is a gas and causes them to relax.

Other studies have shown it can lower LDL Cholesterol (bad) while helping to increase HDL Cholesterol (good).

It can also help protect your skin from the sun! The flavonols can protect against sun-induced damage by improving blood flow to the skin and increase skin density and hydration.

Finally it can help improve brain function by increasing blood flow to the brain. Cocoa may also significantly improve cognitive function in elderly people with mental impairment. It also improves verbal fluency and several risk factors for disease.

Please refer to this link here to see all the scientific research that lead to these claims.

So here's the fun part. How can you increase the amount of high quality Cocoa in your diet? One easy way is to ditch the regular, sugar filled chocolate bars and replace with 70% cocoa bars or higher. You may feel you need only 1 or 2 squares to get your chocolate hit!

Add some 100% Coco to your plain yogurt or any baking you are doing. I use Green and Blacks 100% Organic Coco and you typically can find this in most large supermarkets.

Also here are some recipes on the blog that contain tasty 100% cocoa.

Click here for Chocolate Pancake Recipe

Click here for Chocolate covered fruit

Click here for Paleo Chocolate Mousse

Click here for Choco Berry Granola

Enjoy! I knew you would all love this one!

Sweet Summer Treats

Since moving to Germany I decided to join a book club. It is with the ladies I work with and we keep it relatively casual and as an excuse to get together, have some nice food and chats away from the work environment. We also actually talk about the book!

Each person brings a food dish and it makes for the most lovely evening. This week I decided to bring dessert. The weather is warm here and there are so many strawberry farms near by I thought Chocolate covered strawberries would be perfect. Cheap, easy and healthy to boot. They went down an absolute treat with all in attendance! Here's how you can do the same:

Ingredients:
60%+ Dark chocolate (I usually use 75-80%)
Strawberries
Desicated Coconut
Chia Seeds
Drop of Olive Oil

Method:

First you need to prepare your strawberries. Wash them well, leaving the stalks intact. Allow them to dry completely or pat dry with kitchen paper or a towel. Any moisture will prevent the chocolate from sticking.

Using a metal pan on low heat break the  chocolate into pieces and melt with 2-3 drops of oil. The oil allows you more time to work with the chocolate and also gives it a lovely sheen.

As the chocolate is melting stir every few seconds to prevent it burning. You can also melt the chocolate in a glass bowl over a metal pan with the base covered in water this is known as the bain marie method.

As the chocolate is melting prepare a tray or plate with some grease proof paper. Have the strawberries near by and get two small bowls filled with your toppings. Here I used dedicated coconut and chia seeds. Other options are crushed nuts, ground goji berries, almond flakes, crushed pistachios or orange zest. Equally you can just serve them with plain chocolate.

Using the green stalks as a hand hold dip the chocolate into the pan of melted chocolate covering as much as possible. Immediately dip the berry in the topping of your choice. Place on their side on the greaseproof tray and allow to cool.

These are best served from the fridge on a warm summers day.

The perfect quick, healthy and tasty end to a summer's meal.

Prep Time:
Less than 5 minutes!

Dietary Information:
Gluten Free

Wheat free

Sugar Free 

Paleo 

Vegetarian

Nuts are packed with good fats, omega 3s (brain food) minerals and vitamins.

Chia seeds are full of protein, antioxidants and make you fell full for longer.

Dark Chocolate is packed with anti-oxidants and helps lower LDL cholesterol (the bad kind).

Storage Instructions:

These can be made in advance and when cool stored in a sealed container or frozen. 

You don't have to use just strawberries. Sliced Banana is also good and looks wonderful with lots of different toppings.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Pancakes

I'm a big fan of pancakes. They are quick and easy to make, fill you up with slow releasing energy and taste so good too. I have these as a healthy treat. Maybe on a weekend for breakfast where you have time to sit and savour them with the morning papers or even a good book.

Check out my other recipes here for Paleo Pancakes and here for Oat Pancakes.

Ingredients:
100g of oats
1 large free range egg
250ml of water or milk
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
2 tablespoons of Chia seeds
1 tablespoon of Honey
2 teaspoons of 100% Cocoa Powder e.g. Bournville or Green and Blacks Organic

1 teaspoon of Coconut oil for cooking

Optional: replace some of the oats for the same quantity of Protein Powder.

Method:
Blitz the oats in a blender (or handheld) until they form a coarse powder.
Beat the egg, honey and milk/water together and fold in the oats until they are well mixed. 

Add in Chia seeds and 100% Coco and mix well.

I did all this in my hand held blender in the one jug which saves on wash up!

Fry in a ceramic pan in Olive Oil or Coconut Oil on a medium heat and flip once the underside is cooked.

Enjoy with a variety of healthy toppings!

Prep Time:
Less than 5 minutes!

Dietary Information:
Wheat free

Sugar Free (option to also leave out honey)
Can be made gluten free using gluten free oats
Good fats
Vegetarian
Oats are proven to lower cholesterol, be a good source of energy and high in fibre.
Eggs are full of protein, high in vitamins and minerals and great for your hair, skin and nails.

Chia seeds are full of protein, antioxidants and make you fell full for longer.

Cinnamon helps to lower your blood sugar and burn fat more effectively. 

100% Pure Cocoa Powder is packed with anti-oxidants and helps lower LDL cholesterol (the bad kind).

Storage Instructions:

These can be made in advance and when cool stored in a sealed container or frozen. These are a handy, high energy snack that can be enjoyed on the go with no mess or sticky fingers!

Serving Suggestions:
Enjoy sweet or savoury with your favourite healthy toppings such as:
Melted dark chocolate
Butter and lemon
Coconut cream
Fresh fruits
Cinnamon and raisins with a drizzle of honey
The world is your oyster. Get creative!