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Chia Raspberry Cacao Nib Peanut Butter Slice

Peanut Butter Slice

This peanut butter slice is adapted from the original Degustabox The Chia Co recipe. I had to make some changes to it as my kids wouldn’t eat cranberries if they were the last food on earth, and human survival depended on them. So I went for the freeze dried raspberries in the cupboard, and filled them out with some cacoa nibs for a raspberry and chocolate flavour to this ‘slice’ which could also quite easily be called a flapjack, except it has no sugar or butter and isn’t baked.Peanut Butter Slice

So, if you want a sugar free, butter free, no-bake flapjack, congratulations. You’ve found it in the form of a peanut butter slice.

I must then immediately caveat that by saying that in the 0 – 4C temperatures we’re having at the moment, these hold really well straight out the fridge. It’s likely that in hot temperatures, you could end up with a delicious peanut butter muesli. Try it and let me know?

Here’s the original recipe from Degustabox:

And here’s the adapted peanut butter slice version.

Chia Raspberry Cacao Nib Peanut Butter Slice
 
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Recipe type: Snack
Cuisine: Healthy, Free From
Serves: 20 bars
Ingredients
  • 70g whole almonds, roasted
  • 150g oats, toasted
  • 75g raisins
  • 50g desiccated coconut
  • 50g cacao nibs
  • 5g freeze dried raspberries
  • 2½ tbsp chia seeds (about 15g)
  • 105g honey
  • 100g smooth peanut butter
Instructions
  1. Pre heat the oven to 160C (320F)
  2. Place the oats on a baking tray and toast for 15 - 20 minutes. Keep an eye on it so that it doesn't burn. On a separate tray, toast almonds for 10 - 12 mins, allowing to cool slowly.
  3. Add the almonds to the Thermomix®, pulse quickly twice.
  4. Add oats, raisins, coconut, cacao nibs, raspberries, chia seeds, honey and peanut butter.
  5. Mix reverse/speed 4/ 2 minutes
  6. If you're not using a pan with a removable base, line a 20cmx20cm tray or pan with baking paper, tip the mixture in and press down into the corners, flattening the mixture to make it even.
  7. Cover with cling film or plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
  8. Once it's set, remove, slice and cut into bars or bites.
  9. Store in the fridge.

These are easily adaptable and are very tasty. They make fabulous breakfast bars on the go and can hold a plethora of hidden healthy foods that might not otherwise go down well. They are very filling and they freeze well too, so  you can make a huge batch, and keep some in the fridge and some in the freezer, so they’re ready when you need them.

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Chewy Goji Energy Bliss Balls

Do you sometimes reach mid-afternoon and feel like you could fall asleep where you sit? Even though you have and thought you had slept well? That mid-afternoon slump is generally blood-sugar related, and for me, come 3pm and I could fall asleep where I stand or sit.

That’s when it’s so easy to reach for a bar of chocolate, or a bag of crisps, but obviously these provide only temporary blood sugar spikes and don’t solve the problem long term.

There are a few things you can do to help keep your blood sugar levels steady – getting enough rest, drinking plenty of water, and eating regular small meals  will help keep those cravings at bay too.  All that said though, there are times when having a supply of healthy snacks on hand can make all the difference.Goji Gogo

I love bliss balls – a raw food snack – for this purpose. They are quick to make, and keep well, so you only have to make them once a week or two, and will find that you only need one or two at a time to boost your energy and curb the cravings too.

These snacks are from the eBook Bliss Balls For Beginners, and while eating your way to feeling better is very much a temporary solution, it’s a better way than an excess of sugary snacks!

These ‘bliss balls’ don’t really have a way to go ‘wrong’. If you add a little more or a little less of something, it won’t hugely affect the outcome, but be careful of adding too much liquid (like the coconut oil or lemon juice) as it’s harder to form the balls if it’s too wet.

Chewy Goji Energy Bliss Balls
 
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Serves: 12 - 15 balls
Ingredients
  • 1 cup (250ml) Goji berries
  • 1 cup (250ml) dates
  • 1 cup (250ml) cashews
  • 1 cup (250ml) almonds
  • ¼ cup (60 ml) lemon juice - more if mix is too dry
  • 1 teaspoon (5ml) coconut oil
  • A pinch of rock or Himalayan pink salt
Instructions
  1. Blitz the Goji berries finely in a food processor, then remove a quarter of the mixture and set aside. Add the dates, cashews, almonds, lemon juice, coconut oil and a pinch of salt, and process together till the mixture is moldable.
  2. Shape into balls or bars and roll in the remaining Goji berries.
  3. Keep in an airtight container and they'll last for ages.

In terms of nutritional value, between the berries and the dates there is quite a bit of fruit sugar, so of course, this is still a treat, but at least the release seems to be slower (my totally unscientific experience!) Each ball holds roughly 2g of protein and 4g of (mainly coconut oil) fat too, which seems to work well for giving me the boost I need.

Everyone who’s tried the goji berry bliss balls has agreed that they hit that ‘sweet spot’ and that just one or two balls is sufficient, which in my view makes the calories worth it. And they’re tasty too – so that’s an added bonus!

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Honey Cookies

Honey Cookies

It’s national Winnie The Pooh day on Monday the 18th of January and we love Winnie the Pooh in this house. We’ve visited the real 100 Acre Woods and we’ve had a Winnie The Pooh birthday party and my kids have been playing Pooh Sticks since they could stand up straight, so really it’s only obvious that we’d have to do something to celebrate Winnie the Pooh’s special day!Honey Cookies

I’ve made this recipe a few times, because they’re honey cookies, and bears love honey! And so do my children. They are really tasty on their own, but my little ones love them with chocolate chips on top and my personal favourite is with glacé cherries on top. It’s just deliciousness all round.Honey Cookies

The original recipe from the 1979 The Pooh Cook Book You suggests you can top it with almond slivers. I’ve reduced the sugar too, with no ill effect, though that’s probably because we eat them before they can go stale, which is what the sugar helps slow down.

Honey Cookies
 
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Serves: 40 cookies
Ingredients
  • 230g self raising flour
  • pinch of salt
  • 115g salted butter
  • 80g brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 45g honey
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • almonds (optional)
  • choc chips (optional)
  • glacé cherries (optional)
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F
  2. Add flour, salt, butter, sugar, egg, honey and vanilla essence to the food processor and mix till it's all well combined (Thermomix®: speed 5/30 seconds)
  3. On a well floured surface, and with well floured hands, shape balls the size of large marbles and space them out evenly on a tray. They will expand in the oven.
  4. With your finger make a dent in each ball and fill it with the optional extras or leave it as is
  5. Place in the oven and bake for 13 - 15 minutes depending on your oven
  6. They will still be really soft when they come out the oven, so leave them to cool entirely before transferring to a biscuit tin

Isn’t it funny

How a bear likes honey

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

I wonder why he does