Twelve Weeks Of Christmas Cookies: Week Eight

I promise this is my last installment of Christmas Truffles.  To recap, on week six I made a traditional Christmas truffle made from a ganache.  On week seven I made a Christmas truffle from New Zealand's favourite cookbook "Edmonds Cookery Book".  This week is a healthy twist on truffles.  It's made with dates, nuts, oats and spices.  It was inspired by The Vegan Table and Oh She Glows.

Do you have a friend that is a health freak but also enjoys their sweets?  These truffles would make the perfect gift!  That is if there is enough left after you've sampled them *wink*

Christmas Truffles (The Healthy Version)

1 1/2 cups almonds

30 dates, soaked in hot water*

1/2 cup oats

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp sea salt

2 Tbsp cocoa powder

For decorating

shredded coconut

cocoa powder

sesame seeds

*I used dried dates, but if you use Medjool dates, then only use 20 and do not soak in water.

Place oats and almonds into a food processor and process until fine.  Add in dates (drained from water), cinnamon, nutmeg, salt & cocoa and process until it forms a ball or has formed a consistency to form small balls when rolled.  Using your hands, roll mixture into small balls and then roll into coconut, cocoa powder or sesame seeds.  You can use other decorations if you wish but remember to use something healthy (or else it will ruin the name ha-ha!).  Place in refrigerator to chill and harden.  These should keep for quite a while!

Week 8 Twelve Weeks of Christmas:

Almost-Vegan Banana Chocolate Mousse Tart

The Crust

2 Cups LSA (1 cup flax seeds, 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, 1/2 cup almonds)

1 cup cashews

1/2 tsp sea salt

6 large Medjool dates

1 Tbsp honey

2 Tbsp vanilla extract

The Filling

2 medium ripe avocados, peeled and seeded

4 Tbsp cocoa

1/2 cup honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp sea salt

1 1/2 banana

Add LSA mixture, cashews, vanilla extract, medjool dates, 1 Tbsp honey, 1/2 tsp sea salt into a food processor and process until the crust starts to rise on the sides of the bowl. 

Press crust crumbs onto the bottom and sides of a pie pan to form the crust.  Place a layer of sliced banana evenly on the top of the crust.

Place avocados, cocoa powder, honey, vanilla, cinnamon and 1/4 tsp salt into a food processor and process until completely smooth and creamy. 

Spread the chocolate filling on the top of the bananas, then add a top layer of banana slices.  Chill at least one hour prior to serving.  Can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.

The Result:

The Verdict: 

Yum!!  The chocolate mousse was so good!  The creaminess obviously comes from the avocado.  Although avocado has around 14g of fat per 100g, it also has a good amount of fiber which you will not find in regular pudding/mousse. I did think the crust was a little salty; not real salty but just a little bit too prominent.  Next time I'd probably half the amount of salt in the crust. I was surprised the crust held up so good.  It slices really easy and stays together nicely when transferred to a place.

source: adapted from Renata Holicova's original recipe http://fromgreytogreen.co.nz

Green Bean & Artichoke Salad

.....inspired by 4 Ingredients, Fast Fresh & Healthy

Photo credit

1 can of artichokes, drained

250g fresh green beans

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon chili flakes

dash of balsamic vinegar

1/3 cup pistachio nuts, chopped

handful of parsley, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Place artichokes in a bowl and add olive oil, vinegar and chili flakes.  Set aside to marinate, at least 1 hour.  Chop beans into 2" pieces and place in boiling water about 3-4 minutes.  Drain and place in bowl with artichokes.  Add the rest of the ingredients and toss to coat.  Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Sportsgirl's Sooper Vegetable Soup

I love soup and as it's getting colder here, I made one of my favourite vegetable soups today.  As the recipe says, the first half of the recipe is the "base" (onion, garlic, ginger, pumpkin, potato, sweet potato) and the second half you can add whatever vegetables you like.  I sometimes make this soup whenever I have a lot of vegetables in my fridge that I need to use before they go bad. Today I added carrot, parsnip, spinach, mushroom, tomato, broccoli and red cabbage.

1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
some ginger, finely chopped
bit of olive oil
1 cup lentils (I've used brown and red)
1/2 buttercup or pumpkin
2 small-med potatoes
1 med-large sweet potato
couple of bunches of spinach
1/4 cabbage
1/2 broccoli
6 mushrooms
1 capsicum (pepper) - or 2 halves of diff colours
1 generous teaspoon of red curry paste
salt to taste

Brown the onion, garlic and ginger with the olive oil. Put in the lentils and stir with the mixture for a little bit. Add water - about 1/3 of the pot. Put in the pumpkin, sweet potato and potato (which you have cut up into pieces) and boil for about 30-45 mins. Once the pumpkin etc are all soft, mash until the mixture is a pulp. Add a bit more water. Stir in the red curry paste and add salt to taste. Chop up the broccoli, spinach, cabbage, mushrooms and capsicum finely and add to soup. Simmer for about 10-15 mins. Add more water if needed. You can add more water to adjust the thickness of the soup, but add more curry paste and salt to taste. This soup is quite thick. Feel free to add whatever veggies you like!! When I first made it, I put in whatever leftover veggies I had in my fridge.

Chocolate Brownie Cake

This is a good one. I found it on a fitness forum almost a year ago and have only just made it now! I modified it slightly to suit what I had in the pantry.

No flour, a good amount of fiber and a rich chocolate taste. Using coffee accentuates the chocolate taste, so even if you dislike coffee do not omit it! Using Splenda cuts down on calories and carbohydrates but if you're wary of using artificial sugars you can substitute with regular sugar.

1 can of black beans

1.5 cups of Splenda (or sugar if you wish)

1 Tbsp baking powder

3 Tbsp Baking Cocoa

3 Tbsp espresso or strong coffee

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

3 Tbsp nut butter

1 handful of chopped nuts

Rinse the black beans well in water and set aside.

Separate the eggs and place the yolks in a food processor. Add baking powder, coffee, cocoa, vanilla bean paste and nut butter (your choice - I used cashew butter as that's what I had in the pantry). Blend until smooth. Add the black beans and blend again until smooth. Transfer the chocolate mixture to a clean bowl.

In a clean, dry bowl, beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks.

With a clean metal spoon, fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture.

Pour cake batter in a greased cake tin and cover with chopped nuts (your choice - I used macadamia nuts, but walnuts would also be good). Place in an oven @ 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 35 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. Wait until slightly cooled before cutting and serving.

Voila!

Happy Guy Fawkes Day

Curried Lentil Soup

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

150g (5.3oz) red lentils

1 tablespoon red curry paste

Spinach (amount can vary, I used about 80g (3oz))

Salt to taste

Pour olive oil in large saucepan and heat. Lightly brown onions and garlic then add red lentils. Stir mixture in heat then add 2 cups of water. Simmer for several minutes until mixture thickens then add red curry paste (use more or less to taste). Add 3 more cups of water and simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes. Add spinach and about 1-2 more cups of water and salt to taste. Simmer on low heat for another 5-10 minutes. Let cool for a 5-10 minutes then serve. As with most soups, it tastes great the next day!

Had a great day at the gym today! I'm working on my bench/board pressing a lot lately as I have a goal to bench 200lbs/91kg by the end of the year.

Roast Rosemary Pumpkin

I love pumpkin and I tried something new today!

Roast Rosemary Pumpkin

Cut 1/2 a small pumpkin into thin-ish slices and place on tray. Drizzle with olive oil and season with sea salt and cracked pepper. Scatter sprigs of rosemary and halved garlic cloves on the pumpkin and bake in the oven until soft (about half an hour).

The result:














I had it with grilled chunks of lean lamb - yum!