Thursday treat: "Bounty"

I know one thing - if I deprive myself totally, I will fail. Fact of life. What I will strive to do is to go for the healthier option when I allow myself a treat. Like these sugar free "Bounty" choccies. Simple to make, low carb, and totally delish.



RECIPE:

1 tin of coconut milk
2 tbsp cocosa (virgin coconut oil)
Desiccated coconut
Sukrin (Erythritol) or stevia to taste
Dark and/or sugar free chocolate (I love the Cavalier brand)

Use only the solid bit from the tin of coconut milk (use the liquid in a sauce later, if you don't want to waste it) and melt it in a pan with 1-2 tbsp of cocosa and sukrin or stevia to taste. Stir in desiccated coconut until the mixture has a porridge consistency. Shape the micture in one of the following ways:

• Put it in silicone moulds and place in the freezer for half an hour.
• Put the mixture in the fridge to set, roll into balls and place in the freezer for a while.
• Put the micture into a lined cake tin and place in the freezer for a while. Once set, cut into bars.

Dip them in some melted chocolate. Leave to set in the fridge. Enjoy! Try not to scoff them all in one go though... They may be a healthier option, but they're not totally innocent!

(Note: if you have a low fat, rather than low carb, approach to weight loss - these might not be ideal for you. They do contain a fair bit of fat from the coconut milk and -oil.)

---

LOW-CARB BREAD RECIPE

No weigh-in today as my scales have a flat battery. Either that or I have gained 80 kilos in the last week and have gone above the weight limit for the scales - highly unlikely ;)

I baked bread yesterday. Yep. Low carb bread:



It is pretty yummy, so I want to share the recipe. The original recipe isn't mine though, I found it on a norwegian low-carb forum and modified it a tad - and here it is:

300 g cottage cheese
8 eggs
100 g wheat bran
100 g sesame seeds
200 g linseeds
100 g sunflower seeds
1 tbsp psyllium husk fibre
50 ml rapeseed oil
1/2 tsp salt

1. Place the cottage cheese and the eggs in a bowl and whizz with a hand held blender until smooth
2. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well
3. Pour into a bread tin
4. Bake for approx 2 hours at 190 °C
5. Leave to cool on a wire rack, then enjoy!

This makes a pretty dense loaf which is very very filling. It has a yummy nutty flavour, and surprisingly you can't taste the eggs at all! I'd recommend this to people who aren't doing low-carb too. Two small, thin slices with loads of salad, ham and cheese kept me full for hours!

SOME LOW-CARB RECIPES

As promised in the previous post, here are a couple of low-carb recipes.

Low-carb waffles:


4 eggs
100 ml sour cream (full fat)
100 ml double cream
1 tbsp locust bean gum (also known as carob powder)
1 tbsp psyllium husk fibre
1 tsp baking powder
100 ml water
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp of ground cardamom (optional)
2 tbsp splenda (or equivalent sweetener)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well - I use a hand held blender. Leave the batter to rest in the fridge for 20 minutes - after this it will be quite thick and rather fluffy, almost mousse-like. Cook like normal waffles in a waffle iron. They tend to come out a bit "flat", but they taste divine. Serve with butter, or maybe some whipped cream.

Low-carb crackers - great alternative to crispbreads:


2 eggs
2 tbsp melted butter
2 tbsp psyllium husk fibre
2 tbsp linseeds
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp sunflower seeds
1/2 tsp baking powder
100 ml water

Combine ingrediants well in a bowl and leave to rest for 20 minutes. Spread thinly onto a greased baking sheet. Bake at 225 °C for 20 minutes, then lower the heat to 150 °C and bake until they're nice and crispy - about another hour or so. Allow too cool on a wire rack. Yummy with cheese, or maybe with smoked salmon... loads of options here!

Stir-fry with courgette:


Not really a recipe as such, but more to give you an idea of how I use courgette as a substitute for pasta and noodles. Here, I stir fried strips of pork with florets of broccoli and cauliflower and a few slices of red pepper. I seasoned it with ginger and chili powder, added half a courgette that I had cut into strips using the V-slicer, and a dash of soy sauce. Sprinkled a few sesame seeds over. Yum!