Sugar-free, dairy-free energy balls - aka Totes Amaze Balls

 

Yep, all the cool kids are saying it, so these are called "Totes Amaze Balls". 

I have seen various recipes for energy balls and here is my version. It sounds a bit weird but they are yum. They are also dairy-free, sugar-free and can be made gluten-free. A really great, healthy snack.

Ingredients:

1/2 small sweet potato, diced, steamed and mashed

1/4 sweet pumpkin variety, diced, steamed and mashed

1 cup of rolled oats (or gluten free alternative)

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/4 coconut plus extra for rolling

hand full of mixed nuts - I used pecans, macadamias, sun flower seeds, walnuts

hand full of mixed fruit - I used chopped apricots, sultanas, goji berries, chopped dates

teaspoon of chia seeds

tablespoon of flax meal

2-4 tablespoons of honey 

2 teaspoons of vanilla

Method: 

1. Mix all the dry ingredients. 
2. Add in the mashed pumpkin, vanilla and half the honey. 
3. Mix in well (I used my hands). 
4. Add more honey if needed. 
5. Add more oats if the mix is too wet. Add a little water if the mix is too dry. You should be able to roll a ball in your hands.
6. Roll into balls, then roll in coconut. Refrigerate.

These can be frozen. And yes, you can add choc chips if you really want to!

I reckon a dash of baileys would make these a great Christmas treat! 

Stuffed Bell Peppers | Preserved Bell Peppers

My bell pepper bush has exploded with these gorgeous bright red gems. The question I had was... what do I do with them? I have been asking my foodie friends and experimenting and here's what I've found out...

Stuffed bell peppers

1. Cut the top off and deseed the bell peppers. 
2. Place right side up in a large saucepan and just cover with olive oil. Make sure each one is filled with oil.
3. Poach the bell peppers for about 15-20 minutes until softened, but still in shape. Don't let them fry.
4. Let them cool in the oil, then remove. (Keep the oil for future use. It's got a good kick to it). 
5. Mix about 100 grams of soft goats cheese, 2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese, 4 tablespoons of flat leaf parsley and a drizzle of the oil you used to cook the bell peppers.
6. Put the stuffing mixture into a piping bag (or a plastic bag with the corner cut off) and fill each bell pepper with the mix. 
7. Serve with a nice cold beer or a glass of Pinot Gris.

My friend Amy, who gave me this recipe says...

"Just use your instincts on the filling. Truthfully, I use whatever I've got and have been known to add any number of stuffings:
- basil pesto and half a bocconcini ball sitting in the top (massive crowd pleaser)
- parsley, anchovy, feta
- olive, parsley, chunky breadcrumbs"

Thanks Amy - these are a winner!

 

Preserved bell peppers

 I have also preserved the bell peppers with success. This takes a bit longer to make, but it also lasts longer than the stuffed ones (the stuffed ones get eatten pretty quick!), they are nice to have on hand for cooking.

1. Place the peppers on a grill or bbq plate and grill until the skins are blackened and the peppers are soft.
2. Place the peppers into a paper bag and close, to allow them to steam. 
3. Once cool, peel, deseed and slice the peppers (yes, it gets messy!)
4. Place sliced bell peppers in a medium saucepan, with a couple of sliced garlic cloves and a few spigs of thyme, and cover with olive oil.
5. Bring to the boil, and then spoon into steralized jars and seal immediately.
6. Once opened keep the jar in the fridge. You can use the oil, as well as the peppers, in all sorts of dishes.

 I had about 600grams of bell peppers and it made one medium sized jam jar worth.

 Other uses for bell peppers...

You can also simply de-seed and freeze them to use in cooking later on. I also give them away to neighbours and friends. There's nothing better than sharing your crop for others to enjoy... it also sweetens the deal when you ask them to feed your dogs when you go on holidays!

Blogs and Websites I love

There are so many blogs that I love and visit all the time, and there are so many blogs that I love ... and forget what they were called! Here's my 'to-remember' list. You should check them out too! Please let me know of any you think I I should add to my visit-list.

http://mynewroots.blogspot.com.au/ - Sarah is a holistic nutritionist and vegetarian chef. In her award winning blog you will find one-of-a-kind recipes, amazing nutritional information and mouth-watering photography.

http://www.missfoodieaus.blogspot.com.au/ - Kirsten is Miss Foodie! You will find her blog filled with beautiful photography, delicious recipes and restaurant critiques.

http://sensiblespice.blogspot.com.au/ - Amy is an inspiration. In her blog she shares her thoughts on parenting, food, some great recipes and other things that come her way.

http://www.sarahwilson.com.au/ Sarah is an Australian beauty - we need more personalities like her! She is a blogger, journalist, TV personality and social commentator. Her views on food, life and health are inspiring.

http://www.karenmartini.com/ Melbourne chef, restaurateur and food writer Karen Martini has been cooking professionally for more than 20 years. Great recipes and truly wonderful videos!

http://crafterholic.blogspot.com.au/ So many things to add to my 'to-do' list on this blog! 

Home Made Healthy Dog Bikkies

My friend Sal brought these dog bikkies over for Sunnie and Peppa to try and they love them. I love them too because they are full of healthy oils for their nails and coat and I know I'm feeding my dogs something good. The only one time Sunnie didn't try bowl me over for these treats was when we were at the beach, and unbeknowns to us had drunk about 2L of sea water... let's just say she was like a water pistol (from both ends) for about 4 hours! Poor puppy!

Anyway, Sal's thinking she'll make these with Sascha's blend mixed in next time for her older dog Bundy (as she turns the corner into middle age) and also to make them seem less appetising to her.... they're actually quite tasty!

Sal's Healthy Dog Bikkies

 

1. Into a large bowl mix

• 2 cups wholemeal SR flour
• 1/2 cup polenta
• 1/2 cup crushed linseeds (I just wizzed mine in the blender for a couple of minutes which didn't 'crush' many of them just kind of stirred them around really fast so maybe bashing them would be better... could also be therapeutic)
• 1/4 cup quick-cooking rolled oats

2. In a smaller bowl stir together

• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup water

3. Combine wet and dry ingredients

4. Mix into a firm dough (like a biscuit dough). If too dry add water...too soft add more flour.

5. Roll out to 1 cm thick and cut into pieces.

6. Bake in oven 170'C for approx 30mins. Allow to cool slowly.

Thanks Sal!

Home made crunchy breakfast granola with chia seeds and goji berries

Home made crunchy granola

This is really easy, delicious and healthy!

2 cups of wholegrain rolled oats
1 cups of mixed nuts and seeds (I used walnuts, cashews, pecans, almonds, hazelnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds)
3 tablespoons of honey
3 tablespoons of golden or maple syrup
2/3 cup dried fruit, chopped (I use apricots, pears, apples, peaches and goji berries.You could you figs, saltana's or dates)
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1 tablespoon flaxmeal



Mix oats, seeds, nuts and flaxmeal in a bowl (not chia seeds). Microwave honey and syrup for about 20 seconds until runny. Pour over the oat mixture and stir to combine until the oat mixture is coated. Tip the mixture into a lined baking tray and bake for 180 degrees for about 10-20 minutes (mine took 10 minutes, but my oven is a piece of sh*t!). Leave to cool. Once cool sprinkle with fruit and chia seeds. Store in an airtight container.

I serve with berries and soy milk, or yogurt. Yum!

I have been trying to cut refined and processed foods out of my diet. I think. I mean I am tying to eat whole foods. Foods that are still in their natural form. Sugar and refined flour is something that I'm trying to kick. When I say sugar I don't mean natural sugar from fruit and honey, I mean refined sugar.

Breakfast is the hardest meal of the day to this for. Everything has so much sugar, and if it doesn't have sugar it has processed wheat! Cereal is especially high in sugar.

So, enter home made crunchy granola. This is something I've been wanting to do for a while but for some reason though it would be hard. But, it's really easy

It does have golden syrup in it, but at least I know how much and what's going into it.

Bestest Yummiest Healthiest Peach, Banana & Berry Smoothy

This morning I went to the Rocklea markets with my dearest friend Kate and her bubby, Lily-Rose. We got so many yummy fruit and vegies including fresh picked apples from Stanthrope, potatoes from Far North QLD (where I'm from) and delicious ripe peaches. By the time we'd walked arounnd the markets I had managed to squash the peaches into semi-smoosh in my bag. Smooshed peaches = delicious smooties!

Bestest Yummiest Healthiest Smoothy
Serves 2

Blitz together:
1 frozen banana
1 peach
1 handful of frozen blue berries
1.5 - 2 cups of milk (depending on how thick you like it)
1 teaspoon of chia seeds
1 tablespoon of flaxmeal

I was going to add honey at the end but didn't need to as the peach added so much natural sweetness. Flaxmeal and Chia Seeds are high in Omega-3, plant lignans and dietry fibre and just add a bit of substance to the smoothy.

Easy Eggplant and Ricotta Lasagna

I looooove ricotta so much that whenever I go to the markets I buy a full round of it. It's like six bucks and goes a long way. I make baked ricotta with herbs, sweet baked ricotta with blue berries and almonds, spinach and ricotta pie...

Last night I made Eggplant and Ricotta Lasagna. I don't really use recipes for savoury dishes... I kinda just shove everything in. But this was delicious and really healthy so I'll attempt to recreate the recipe for you and myself for future making!

Ingredients

• 2 large eggplants
• drizzle of olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic, finely diced
• 2 stems of garlic chi, finely chopped
• 1 red capsicum, diced
• 1 carrot, grated
• 1 zucchini, grated
• quarter of a large sweet potato, grated
• 1 tin of diced tomatoes
• handful of basil leaves
• ricotta (I used about 300g)
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Method

1.  Preheat oven to 180.
2. Slice eggplant into 1 cm rounds. Put in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil then cook on the BBQ hot plate until brown and slightly soft, then transfer back to bowl. 
3. Cook onion, garlic, capsicum and garlic chi in a large saucepan until all ingredients are soft.
4. Add carrot, zucchini and sweet potato and stir to soften. 
5. Add tomatoes and basil and simmer while eggplant is cooking.
6. In a lasagna dish (I used medium size) pour half the tomato mix, then layer with half the eggplant. Sprinkle / dollop / spread half the ricotta on this. Then repeat with the rest of the tomato, eggplant and ricotta. 
7. Top with cheddar cheese and bake until the cheese in golden and bubbling. 

 Serve with a nice glass of red.

I didn't put any salt, pepper or sugar in this and it really didn't need it. Even my husband (who usually adds salt to all my cooking) didn't add salt.I used to add sugar to all my dishes that were tomato based but I'm moving away from this now.

You could put thyme and oregano in with the basil (it was raining last night so I didn't venture into the garden to get any) and you could add other vegies such as grated potato, diced squash, corn, anything in your fridge that needs using up basically!

I will definitely be making this again. Great mid-week dinner!

I made a sugar-free, dairy-free, egg-free chocolate slice!

Yes, a sugar-free, dairy-free, egg-free chocolate slice. Oh my, it is delicious!

I love reading my friend, Amy's blog The Spice Of Life and recently she shared her dairy-free, sugar-free chocolate slice recipe

I wasn't sure if I'd like it as Amy says "If you are a normal, chocolate eating person, you will hate this..." but I am one of these people and I loved it!

Here is the recipe. Please try it.

Amy's "I Can't Believe it's not Chocolate" Slice Recipe

Ingredients 

200g raw cacao
80g goji berries
150g raw mixed nuts
120g sultanas
50ml Manuka honey
80ml coconut oil
1tbsp boiling water

Method

Process dry ingredients as finely as you can.
Add honey, oil and water.
Process to combine and pour into a 20cm, lined, cake tin.
Refrigerate 4 hours to set and cut into bite sized pieces. Keep in refrigerator.

I used normal honey, and I didn't have any raw cacoa so I used powdered cocoa (I just used less). Mine looked a bit different to Amy's but I think this came down to my food processor. Whatever - it was delicious!

Thai Basil Pesto Recipe

I love basil! Currently I have an abundance of Sweet Basil and Thai Basil.

In my garden in Brisbane it grows really well considering I water it occasionally but other than that it gets neglected.

Yesterday I cut back my Thai Basil. I kept the flowers and put them in a vase in the kitchen. Apparently Basil is a fly repellent but I just love the sight and smell of them. Makes washing up tolerable!

With the leaves I made Thai Basil pesto.

Thai Basil Pesto Recipe 


I found this recipe on www.myrecipes.com

The deep, toasty notes of dark sesame oil enhance this Asian version of the classic Italian sauce. Toss with rice noodles, or dollop on fish or chicken. You can also stir a few tablespoons into a simple meat and vegetable stir-fry. Freeze small portions of the pesto in ice cube trays; transfer to a zip-top plastic bag, and store in the freezer for up to two months

Ingredients

2 cups fresh Thai basil leaves
2 tablespoons dry-roasted peanuts
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 garlic cloves


Preparation

Place all ingredients in a food processor; process until smooth. Press plastic wrap onto surface of pesto. Store in refrigerator up to 1 week.

I started off in the food processor, but quickly changed to the mortar and pestle. I found this much better and will do this next time.