About me

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I've changed my life around and now I am enjoying The Lighter Life. I love cooking and especially baking lovely desserts, but I wanna stay away from little no-no's like too much sugar and fat. I live in Belgium where the 'low-carb and low-fat movement' is just starting to begin so I found myself looking for recipes with easy to find ingredients and metric cooking measurements. Since they were hard to find, I decided to make my own! My desserts may never win beauty contests, for baking with bio ingredients will mostly give you flat cakes and pies. But lord will they win over your taste buds and still have you fitting into your skinny jeans. I invite you all to try out some recipes, adapt a couple where you see fit and above all, learn to enjoy the lovely taste of freshly baked, healthy goods.
Posts tonen met het label banana. Alle posts tonen
Posts tonen met het label banana. Alle posts tonen

zaterdag 9 november 2013

Moist Chocolate Cake

A cake so moist, it sticks to your fingers and everything it touches. That's my latest quick and simpel recipe!


It was late, I was watching a movie and I suddenly just needed something sweet, something gooey. This moist chocolate cake was the result. I didn't really think about it. I just threw some ingredients in a pot, whisked them together and voila.

I love it when my weird impromptu kitchen adventures turn into something yummy and lighter than store bought desserts. 

Ingredients:

1 ripe banana, mashed
3 medium sized eggs
100 ml low fat cream cheese
1,5 tbsp dark brown sugar
50 gr milk chocolate, melted
50 gr almond flour

Way to do it:

  1. I can't make it any easier....just whisk all the ingredients together!
  2. Put the batter in a pie dish and bake for about 20 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees.
  3. After 15 minutes of baking, you can poke the cake with a skewer. If it comes out clean, take the cake out. We want it to be as moist as possible.
  4. Let cool or give into your urges and eat it while it's warm. 

I enjoyed my first piece with some light vanilla ice cream. The warm chocolate with the cold ice cream was just heaven. In the morning, I enjoyed my second piece with a cup of breakfast tea. If possible, it was even better due to the overnight time of letting the cake set.

No added fat, but low fat cream cheese,
         A ripe banana for the sweetness, making the addition if sugar minimal,
                                                    No white flour but a little bit of almond flour for body,
                                                                                               And some milk chocolate for the taste....

Enjoy
xx

zondag 7 juli 2013

Soft serve banana and peanut butter ice cream

This one is a quick and easy way to deal with overripe banana's (which I sorta always seem to have) and to fulfill your cravings of ice cream on hot summer days. With 25 degrees outside (don't laugh, for Belgium that's insane) this soft serve banana and peanut butter ice cream hits the spot on all levels.

And a big plus, you don't even need fancy tools for it. Forget expensive ice cream makers, all a girl really needs is her blender.

Ingredients:

2 frozen banana's, peeled and cut into small pieces (peel them before you freeze!)
A dash of soy or regular milk to help your blender move things around
Half a tablespoon of peanut butter

Way to do it:

  1. Combine all ingredients in the blender and blend to a thick, ice cream texture. If too dry, add a little more of milk. Because the banana's are so ripe, you don't need to add extra sweetener.
  2.  
And it's just that simple. You can whip this up in under 5 minutes. This is a generous serve for one so just multiply the ingredient's if you want to let other people enjoy this delicious, low fat, summer treat.


Feel free to add extra ingredients but make sure the mixture doesn't get too liquid. Because it's a soft serve, the ice cream melts very quickly so eat right away.

Enjoy
xx
     

    maandag 1 juli 2013

    Healthy Banana Oatmeal Cookies

    Cookies, again...I know. But these are so delicious and healthy, I need to share.


    I've been wanting to make oatmeal cookies for some time now, but after browsing the internet, I just couldn't find a recipe I liked...so I set shop in the kitchen and just went for it. It's amazing these worked out so well, because I just sort of winged it. And thank god for that because this recipe is amazing.


    My new favorite cookies...until the next batch of crazy improv baking comes along :D

     

     Ingredients:

    70 gr soft butter
    50 gr grated coconut (coconut flour, coconut flakes, it's all the same thing)
    1,5 tsp baking powder
    1 ripe banana
    2 tbsp red fruit jam
    1 tbsp liquid sweetener
    2 eggs
    70 gr buckwheat flour
    150 gr oatmeal

    Way to do it:

    1. Put the soft butter in a bowl and mix in the grated coconut. Add the buckwheat flour and baking powder.
    2. Add the eggs and mix well.
    3. Add the ripe banana and mash it. Then add the jam and the sweetener. You could choose to add more sweetener and omit the jam or the other way around, depending on which you prefer. I prefer to keep it as natural as possible to I went with more jam.
    4. Mix everything well until the batter becomes kind off fluffy and then fold in the oatmeal.
    5. Divide on a tray lined with baking paper and put in a preheated oven and bake at 170degrees C for about 12 minutes.

    6. While they are cooking, these babies will make your house smell amazing. The aroma of the baked banana is just...mmmm. You'll have husband and kids running for the kitchen.

      The cookies do have some fat because of the butter, but you've gotta give a little to get a lot! And in this case, it's taste. What's a little bit of butter when you get the healthy benefits of banana, oatmeal, coconut and buckwheat all in one bite? I'm telling you, keep this recipe in your favorites bar because you'll be making them a lot.

      Enjoy
      xx


       

    zaterdag 1 juni 2013

    Chocolate cake with avocado and banana

    May I just say...wow! If I was a religious girl, I would thank the lord. Instead, I'm going to thank nature for blessing us with the combination of chocolate and avocado.

    We have to get serious...you can't make a decent cake without butter. It just wouldn't taste right. So if ever we want to indulge, we'll have to settle for a little bit of fat. NOW, that's so not true anymore! Substituting butter with avocado is genious, delicious and healthy. Avocado is fat, yes, but good fat!


    If you are looking for a chocolate cake that won't make you feel like a cheater, then look no more. Yummy, rich, healthy and a definite hit with the entire family...my chocolate cake with avocado and banana.

    And oh, did I mention this cake is so easy to make?

     

    Ingredients:

     

    2 ripe avocados
    2 ripe bananas
    3 eggs
    3 tbsp liquid sweetener
    100 gr almond flour
    100 gr dark cacao powder
    100 gr of assortment of nuts (I used almonds, peanuts and cashew)

    Way to do it:

    1. Cut the avocado's in two and spoon out the flesh. Add with the mashed bananas in a bowl and stir.
    2. Add the eggs and whisk until smooth.
    3. Add the remaining ingredients (liquid sweetener, almond flour and cacao) and whisk again.
    4. Finally gently fold in the nuts.
    5. Transfer to a baking tin lined with baking paper and bake for 35mins in a preheated oven at 180degrees C.
    6.  
    Let the cake cool before you take it out of the baking tin. You don't need to top the cake with any icing, it's packed full of flavor and it's very moist. However, adding some maple syrup or honey can never go wrong.

    A good movie, a cup of great coffee in my new favorite mug (I got it at a second hand store and I'm just so in love with it.) and some home baked deliciousness. Yes...my life is pretty perfect.

    Some of you may have already noticed, I'm a baker who loves simple and easy recipes. I don't like to huff and puff in my kitchen and I definitely don't like doing the dishes. So, you can expect many more recipes like this chocolate cake with avocado and banana, easy, yummy and healthy.

    If you want to make a cake lower in carb, leave out the bananas and add a little more almond flour. I promise you, it'll taste great. Now if only I would stop myself from taking another piece....

    Enjoy and till next time,
    xx