Protein Power

Lately I've been trying to get that protein in, which has lead to deciding to bake protein cakes (I mean, who doesn't love cakes right?). I had a huge stack of brown bananas, and so I got out a cookbook, and decided to have a fiddle with the recipes to see what I could come up with. I made a batch of chocolate-cranberry protein muffins and a chocolate banana loaf cake (one of the NICEST cakes I've ever made....and grain and (pretty much) sugar free).

The recipe for the loaf cake as is:

175g ground almonds
2 eggs
Big dollop of honey
125g butter
4 mashed bananas
3 tablespoons of cocoa (I use green and blacks)
1 teaspoon each bicarb and baking powder
85% chocolate chopped into chunks.

Melt the butter and add the honey, eggs and bananas. Stir, then add everything else and give a good old mix until combined. Pour into a loaf tin and bake at 180 for around 40 minutes. That's it!

The muffins were taken from Nigellas 'Kitchen' and modified. Here is the recipe

3 mashed bananas
125ml oil (I used olive oil, coconut would be ace)
2 eggs
Big dollop honey
175g ground almonds
2 scoops of vanilla whey
3 tablespoons cocoa (Green and blacks)
1 teaspoon bicarb
I also added dried cranberries and a handful of chopped 85% dark choc chunks.

Scoop into muffin cases and bake at 200 for around 15 minutes. I use an ice cream scoop to put into cases, makes life easier :)

Ive also been enjoying more cauliflower rice with various things. It went delicious as faux 'cous cous' with these delicious meatballs (http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1814684/moroccan-kofte-and-chorizo-stew)

And it always goes well with thai red curry

I also had a go at making an omelette recently that a friend cooked for a Halloween party I went to. It was a chilli and halloumi one, the recipe was also from Good Food (http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1577637/pumpkin-halloumi-and-chilli-omelette). I also added bacon to mine to make it a nice heart brunch, and used sweet potato as it was what I had in at the time. It was lovely, and I'd like to try it again with pumpkin (or squash).

Finally, an easy dessert. I LOVE pancakes, and finding non-grain flours to make them with is always a challenge, but almond pancakes, especially as a dessert, are amazing! I mix a couple of tablespoons of ground almonds with an egg and some lemon zest, and fry until golden. They're lovely served with yoghurt, though I've also soaked them in limoncello and used them to make the base for a trifle. Give them a go, they're bloody lovely.

Love life, love foods.