What started as a 30-day experiment on 2 August 2018 has escalated into a full-blown 90-day no sugar challenge. This is the story about the before and the after, and how much sugar I ended up not eating by changing my sweet-tooth, chocolate-loving ways. In the recent posts, you can read about the start of the 30-day no sugar challenge, and how it turned into a long-term project once my cravings only stopped after 28 days. BEFORE Basics Chocolate = necessity of life Sweets = treats Meals = sweet/savoury (half/half) Cravings per day = 5 (usually in the morning, during long afternoons & after dinner) Attitude = sugar will solve…
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Delicious & Healthy Brownies (Less sugar, More walnuts)
Delicious, moist brownies chock-full of bitter-sweet walnuts. There’s wholegrain flour in the batter and deliciously crunchy almond flakes on top. I baked a batch this morning and I won’t lie to you – had 3 pieces as breakfast. Yum! Less sugar and more walnuts make this recipe the perfect alternative to traditional unhealthy desserts. These brownies are diabetes-friendly due to high fiber content and a lower glycemic index (making your blood sugars not raise as fast). Recipe inspired by Gaia’s Kitchen Cookbook, here’s Gaia’s cookbook on Amazon! Print Recipe Delicious, Healthy Brownies with Walnuts and Almonds Cuisine Healthy Prep Time 10 minutes Cook Time 20 minutes Servings pieces Ingredients 140 grams…
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Seasonal Groceries List: Spring (Free Printable)
SUPERMARKETS offer so many fruits and veggies all year round, but there is nothing that will make you feel as good as buying seasonal. SEASONAL IS… BUDGET FRIENDLY. Cheap is in season, and in season is cheap. Use this wonderful economic advantage. LOW IN CALORIES. Chips is not seasonal, mayonnaise is not seasonal. Blueberries, pumpkin, zucchini and swede are. DELICIOUS. Stuck eating pasta pesto all year round? Who wants that? Mix up local, seasonal ingredients to discover new flavors. FRESH & JUICY. Let’s face it: fresh tastes better! GOOD FOR YOUR FACE. Beta-carotenes from fresh green, orange and red fruits & veggies will give your face a healthy glow. STABILISING…
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Healthy Chocolate Recipes I found on the Internet + Music
There’s hardly a feeling more brilliant than dancing around the kitchen while making healthy chocolate snacks. On that note, I’d like to share my current favorite song with you: “Ties” by Years & Years. Heard of them through my ‘hip&happening’ prodigy Olivia, thanks girl! Also, these three great chocolate snack recipes I found on the internet. With(out) few added sugars, dairy-free and even gluten-free! Dark Chocolate Coconut Bites Bounty’s healthy alternative? Yes, please! I just love these juicy coconut bites. Thinking of taking some to my colleagues at the new workplace… maybe they’ll get lucky 😉 (I have a feeling some of them are reading the blog 🙂 ).…
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Chocolate & Dried Apricot Cake
HELLO THERE! IT HAS BEEN A TOUGH & BUSY WEEK. Since I’m somewhat of an emotional eater (who can resist a sweet bar of chocolate in times of stress? ), I was definitely craving a big old creamy, fudgy chocolate cake to stuff my face in by the time it was weekend. Just as I was about to buy a (definitely unhealthy) cake at the supermarket (what a no-no!), a great friend of mine agreed to meet up for a bake session and save me from myself. EATING THIS CAKE REALLY HIT THE SPOT. It’s a very rich cake, filled with almond flour, real apricots, cinnamon & cocoa powder. You…
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Beetroot & Ginger Chocolate Fudge Brownies
ONE DAY AFTER YOGA, a friend treated us to chocolate beetroot brownies with a hint of ginger. They were delicious! Here’s the recipe. Print Recipe Chocolate Fudge Brownies with Beetroot & Ginger Course Dessert Prep Time 1 hour Servings pieces Ingredients 500 g beetroot cook your own & peel it, or buy pre-cooked and warm it up200 g dark chocolate minimum 70% cocoa content100 g unsalted butter use melted coconut oil for a dairy-free brownie100 g wholegrain or spelt flour50 ml maple syrup25 g cocoa powder3 cm ginger2 eggs Course Dessert Prep Time 1 hour Servings pieces Ingredients 500 g beetroot cook your own & peel it, or buy pre-cooked…
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Foods to Eat to Maintain a Healthy Weight + Prevent Obesity
The holiday season might be a strange time to write about limiting calorie intake but, you don’t want to wake up in January 20 pounds heavier than you were last year. Obesity is a dangerous future for all of us unless we take active steps in maintaining a healthy weight. I like to start every year fresh with some good New Year’s Resolutions. What about you? For those of you who are into detox during the holidays, I found a cool and tasty way to do that here. BMI & OBESITY The World Health Organisation definition of obesity is based on a person’s Body Mass Index, which is the…
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Zucchini Cocoa Cake
Welcome to the world of zucchini cocoa cake. It’s fluffy and it’s healthy! It is a chocolate cake that packs incognito veggies and makes your indulgence that much more awesome. Apparently zucchini & chocolate is a famous combination in the world of cakes. I decided to try it out, but gave it an even healthier spin (no dairy and no sugar). The zucchini makes the cake wonderfully moist, and gives it the texture of any old fashioned cake (where a ton of butter is used to achieve the same effect). I love making this cake as a healthy snack that I can have for a couple of days. A healthy…
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Feeling stressed? Eat this!
“A nutrient-dense diet may help amp down stress” – writes a blogger at National Public Radio today, in collaboration with Harvard School of Public Health, and I am loving what I am reading. Feeling stressed and need to eat to feel better? No problem! Just, instead turning to unhealthy fats and carbohydrates, turn to these amazing foods to help ease your stress: 1. Eggs 2. Dark, leafy greens 3. Pumpkin seeds 4. Fish rich in omega-3 5. Flax seeds 6. Dark chocolate The article is called Food-Mood Connection: how you can amp up or tamp down stress, you can find it on the NPR website.
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Best Ways to Stop Using Chocolate for Solving All Your Problems
THIS IS A POST FOR ALL EMOTIONAL EATERS, chocoholic and non-chocoholics alike. If you, in times of sorrow, feel like the only thing to do is drown in chocolate (or ice cream, or bacon), you should know that I used to feel the same way. BUT, I WANTED A MORE CONSTRUCTIVE WAY TO DEAL WITH MY MOOD. Although chocolate does help (as of course ice cream and bacon do too), I’ve realised that I no longer wanted to be someone who relies on food for fixing emotions. That is why I looked up all sorts of ways to stop using chocolate for solving all my problems. I was surprised to…
