food swaps

Banana ‘Nice’ Cream (vegan)

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Craving ice cream but not the guilt that comes with? This recipe is definitely for you. ‘Nice’ cream is a great low calorie, vegan option that takes little time to make. The best part is you can adapt this recipe to your taste so that you don’t even taste the banana.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup Frozen Banana (I used sliced ripe bananas)
  • 1-2 tbsp plant-based milk (I used almond)
  • 1 tbsp cacao powder

Optional

  • 1tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp cacao nibs
  • liquid stevia or agave syrup

STEPS

  1. Using a powerful Blender (I used a Nutribullet) blend the frozen banana until smooth. Add 1-2tbsp of almond milk to ease the process and pulse it at first.
  2. Once smooth, add any spices, flavourings and cacao nibs and blend further. The cacao nibs reinforce that chocolate flavour.
  3. Spoon the Nice cream into a bowl and top with granola and fruits or any nuts and seeds of your choice.

Other good flavour combos are Acai and frozen blueberries, coffee and cacao nibs, strawberries and coconut flakes. I hope you try out this recipe and let me know how it goes. This is great for dessert or even for breakfast! Thank you for reading and please like and follow for more delicious recipes, xoxo.

Gluten Free Bread Recipe

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This delicious bread recipe took time to perfect, but it was definitely worth it. Now a basic necessity in my day to day life, I feel like no one should have to give up on bread. Unfortunately, sometimes bread isn’t the best thing for our nutrition or fitness life, which is why I decided on the alternative; a gluten and dairy free option. So here’s how to make it…

First of all it is important that you have the gluten free flour blend; I used a wholefoods’ gluten free all purpose flour which contained rice flour, potato flour, tapioca flour, chickpea flour and xanthum gum. However any blend of with similar ingredients should work the same.

INGREDIENTS

  • 500g flour mix
  • 10g yeast/ 2tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt (I used pink Himalayan)
  • 2 tbsp sugar or xylitol (I used coconut)
  • 365ml milk (I used almond)
  • 1tsp vinegar
  • 2 eggs
  • 60ml olive oil

STEPS

  1. Combine flour, salt, sugar, and yeast
  2. Mix together the eggs, milk, vinegar, and oil.
  3. Fold in the flour, use a mixer on low for a few minutes or until there are no lumps.
  4. Place the dough in a loaf tin lined with baking paper or oiled and leave it to rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
  5. Optional: Add any seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, chia…) on top of your loaf) for extra taste and healthy fats.
  6. Bake the dough for 40-45 minutes at 220ºC or until a fork comes out clean.
  7. Leave to cool on a rack and store in the fridge before slicing.

I hope you try out this bread recipe, it is one of the easiest ones I have ever tried. Please like and follow for more recipes like this one, thank you for reading, xoxo.

How I Feel About Diet Plans

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If you’re like me, you might find it pretty hard to follow meal plans or recipes, which makes eating healthy way more difficult than it actually is. I am currently gluten free, dairy free, soy free, nut free, and seafood free! Not to mention, I avoid high folate foods.  This means I can’t follow just any meal plan, especially with those green smoothies flying around all the time. However, I have come up with a few substitutes to help ease the process and how you should concentrate on what you can eat.

Here are some of my suggestions:

  • Unsweetened Rice Milk (instead of almond or soy milk)
  • Coconut sugar or honey (instead of stevia or maple syrup)
  • Vegan chocolate (instead of milk chocolate)
  • Raw cocoa powder
  • Chia seeds (for fibre)
  • GF corn crackers ( I like Schar Crispbread)
  • Dates (as a sweetener in baking)
  • Unsweetened dries coconut chips (I like Neofoods)
  • Quinoa
  • Cauliflower rice
  • Coconut oil (in baking instead of butter)

These are only a few of the substitutes you can find. Meal plans are great, but they’re not for everyone. What’s important is to design one for yourself, according to your tastes and food limits. Remember to take your daily calorie needs, and protein/carbs/fat ratio into consideration. It all depends on your body type, activity level, age and gender; some people need more protein while others need more fats. I like to follow a 1200 calorie, high protein meal plan, but this won’t suit everyone, so make sure to research about what you need, instead of the latest diet trends.

I hope this was helpful in any way possible and to see you next time. Follow and like for more posts! Xoxo.