Chocolate muffins the clean way

The girls have been bugging me to make cupcakes for the past week so I finally gave in this morning and we got to work. I wanted to have a go at making something more like a muffin as I felt it would be easier to make it "clean". I had a quick look around at some recipes but everything required either things I didn't have in the pantry or had added sugar, which I wanted to avoid. So i thought what the hey, I'll make something up. We just had a taste test and they are delicious. The girls have given them the double thumbs up to even though they didn't have icing or sprinkles.

So here's my recipe:

1 large zucchini grated and excess liquid squeezed out {2 cups} then put in the food processor with
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
4 eggs
6 whole pitted dates
8 walnut halves
1/3 cup natural yoghurt
1 tablespoon honey
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract

I just blended the whole lot up until smooth and then put into cupcake papers inside a muffin tin and baked at 180C for 30mins or until a skewer came out clean

They we very moist so maybe I could have added a touch more coconut flour or taken out some of the yoghurt, but they were definitely yummy as is.

Enjoy

Shan x

Guilt free banana icecream

Super quick and easy and soooo good... We are all loving this banana icecream recipe

Simply cut up ripe bananas and put them in a container or snap lock bag in the freezer. Once frozen add to blender and blend until thick, smooth and creamy. I added a little water to get it going

The result is really delicious and my girls think they are having icecream. I think it's an awesome substitute if your craving something sweet and cold





Let me know how it goes

Enjoy
Shan x

Protein pancakes

These pancakes are a staple in my kitchen for breakfast. The thought of having eggs first thing in the morning often makes me feel ill. Don't get me wrong, I do love them, just not every morning. I also seem to do better having a higher protein breakfast.

So onto the recipe...

You'll need

1 scoop of vanilla protein powder
1 scoop of coconut flour (which can be bought in health food shops)
4 egg whites or 1/2 cup of egg whites

Mix together with a whisk
The mixture will thicken quite quickly. Thin if out a little with milk or water if needed but it does need to be thicker than regular pancake mixture as I find it too hard to flip. Spray a non stick pan and cook 2 pancakes. Cook until just brown on each side as they do dry out if cooked to long.

I love to serve these with fresh strawberries, natural yoghurt and a sprinkle of flax meal. Other fan topping include mango, and other berries {defrosted frozen berries are just as delicious and super easy}




Another variation is to replace the vanilla protein powder with chocolate and serve with raspberries... So delicious

Hope you enjoy them. Don't be disheartened if they don't work out the first time. You'll get it right quickly and they taste awesome even if they look like a disaster the first few times.

Let me know how you go

Shan x

Better than icecream...

... According to my girls

This simple and delicious dessert is a huge hit with my little ladies

It's simply one ripe or over ripe mango and 3 heaped tablespoons of Greek yoghurt blended until smooth and creamy in my magic bullet or blender

The consistency ends up like a mousse and needs to be eaten with a spoon

This mix we also put into icy pole molds and freeze for a healthy cold treat on these hot summer days

Would love to know if you make it for your little ones and what they think?

Shan x

Clean Drinking

With clean eating must come clean drinking and while I don't intend on giving up my old faves the margarita, some delicious bubbles or a refreshing GnT I do want to clean things up most of the time. On these HOT Melbourne days something icy cold and bubbly is essential to unwind after the kids have gone to bed and recently I can up with this yummy drink

So quick and easy to make:

1/4 pomegranate - squeeze the juice and seeds into a tall glass
1/4 of a fresh lime squeezed into too
2 or 3 big ice cubes
Then top up with ice cold sparking mineral water

I love that it is tart, cold, refreshing with little bursts of sweetness from the pomegranate

This is definitely now one of my favourite drinks

Enjoy

Shan x

New year, New me

At the beginning of last year I would have never imagined what I would have achieved health and fitness wise during 2012. My goal was to lose 20kg but to be honest I never thought I would actually achieve it. My goal was to run 5km and again never thought I would achieve it. I am blown away by what I’ve done over the past 12 months and now am feeling amazing and alive again. 2012 saw me lose 31kg, run 12km, join the gym and actually use it, go from a size 20 jeans to size 10 and get the REAL me back. It saw me make changes for my family, especially my girls. As their mum I am their major role model and that was the driving force behind getting my health under control again. I didn’t want them to look at me, fat and unfit, and think that is what it’s like to be a woman. Now I want everyone to feel as good as I do. Weight loss has been one thing but my new goal for this year is to clean up my diet and life. Get rid of the things that aren’t working for me. Bad food is one of them. I know I can keep losing weight and not have a great diet. I don’t want that. As I’m pushing 40 I want my inside to be healthy too. So this is where I’m at. I’m embarking on new challenges for the year, new goals, new successes and I’m going to share them all here. This won’t just be about food and health. I’m looking at ways of becoming happier too.

I’m excited, are you? Are you struggling with your health?

I hope I can help you a little and thanks for reading along

Shan x

MY health kick

So today marks the day I have officially lost 25kg and over a 1/4 of my body! I have had several friends, work colleagues, strangers ask me how I did it. So this is MY story. Of course everyone is different and we all choose our own ways to make things work, but after a lifetime of yo yo diets I've finally found my groove.

I had to stop saying it was baby weight as my babies were were 4.5yrs old!! So I signed up to Michelle Bridges 12WBT but to be honest I didn't use it at all. I had a quick look and didn't really like it so went on my own. Saying that several of my friends have done it religiously and have had amazing results, but I guess I needed to find something for me that was going to be doable for the rest of my life not just 12 weeks.

I decided to calorie count and start moving more. I downloaded the app "myfitnesspal" to my iphone and started adding up everything i ate each day. I put myself on a 1200 cal restriction for the first 6 weeks and then changed it to 1200-1400 as I wanted to be able to do this forever. I also started to move every day. 30 min walks to start with but increasing to an hour 6 days a week. I bought a heart rate monitor and aimed to burn 400-500 cals per day 6 days a week. I did this strictly for 6 weeks to to get going. Several of my friends and work colleagues have used this app and as long as you stick to it they have lost weight. Saying that a few of them use most of their calories on unhealthy foods which in the long run will come back to bite them. It does go to show though that you can lose weight while still being unhealthy.

I then downloaded the app C25K which is the couch to 5km running program and started doing that. I couldn't do week one for several weeks and that was only running 30secs at a time. But I persisted and did each week as many times as i had to and made sure I ran all the sections they asked before going up to the next week. Eventually I ran my first 5km and now am running 10km. I also joined the gym and started doing body pump classes as I knew I had to increase my muscle mass. 

Now I do walking/running/swimming or something cardiovascular twice a week, weights twice a week and yoga or body balance once. So I don't do anything 2 days a week. Some weeks I do more and some I do less, but I stick to my caloric intake most of the time.

I have lost 25kg and have 5 more to go. When I get to that goal I will try and keep the exercise going and increase my calories slowly til I find a balance

So that's it in a nutshell. This has not been easy but it has been doable. I cannot described to you how awesome i feel and how much better life is now. My little girls notice it too and their attitude towards healthy foods and exercise has changed dramatically already. 

Shan x