Monday 1 August 2016

LAST DAY Dessert Challenge - Flour Less Chocolate Chip Cookies and Ready to Go Peanut Butter Truffles



Hi!

After one of those kind of weekends, you know, in between of rest and being so busy that the time is not enough, I’m finally potentiated to give you those two last recipes that we need to complete the challenge. I don’t know about you, but the last week has been so rich in content for me and I pretend to keep applying much of what I’ve learned on my normal life too.


Saturday was MY last day of eating Low Carb and by Friday I already knew that I would have to change some things around here. I had to do a few changes to keep in my life some good habits from now on, for example, I made in my kitchen certain kind of Healthy corner where I’m storing all my seeds, my cinnamon, my whole wheat bread, my green tea and other teas,  my dark chocolate, my oats and my raw honey, so hey are easy to reach in any moment of weakness or just in any moment.


I also decided to go to the market to explore my options and came back with more veggies, more seeds, more yogurts and some things that I haven’t try yet in case that I can keep discovering after. During this week I certainly had my low moments but nothing you can’t solve by giving a quick view to Pinterest…Reason why, since I came out with this idea I have been fatten a board on my account bakebypatricia with every recipe or ideas that I find potentially useful and delicious as an alternative to my normal meals.


I’m not saying I will keep a diet for ever, but I realized that loving yourself and caring about what you do with your body is more a way to live than a diet to follow, everything flows better without pressure, that’s why I decided to keep it simple and try to think a little bit more on what I eat. Below there is a list of the things that I personally learned this week and I want to keep applying from now on:




  • As Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, make it worth! Add some adrenaline to it by changing ingredients that not only are good for you but are also pretty tasty like berries and seeds.
  • Seeds, yes, seeds. We are not birds but what an easy way to boost any meal by adding a few tablespoons of seeds. I’ve been sprinkle them everywhere, I almost see them in ‘pastel colors’ since I learned how amazing they are. Try Chia, Line and Sesame, they are almost flavorless so you can blend them into almost anything or use them for a crunch as well..
  • So, you probably don’t know it yet but I discovered that some nice Belgian Doctors did the research and found out that workout before breakfast is the best to loose weight, so I’m kind of taking that in consideration the next time I feel the ‘W’ bug is coming.
  • You can always be creative and swap, swap, swap (rhythm) some meals that you are used to. One week ago I took a piece of bread every time I felt like a little whole in my belly without even knowing why, now I know there’s other options I just swap it for something closer to the fiber-protein way. Come on, don’t be lazy! You can also make any of my bites and “Keep Calm”.
  • Don’t freak out at night! Take a Spoon of Peanut Butter with a piece of dark chocolate and lick it without guilt! It will even help you to burn that fat while you sleep and it will make you feel so much better about yourself!
  • Try shakes! They are amazing, you can blend virtually EVERYTHING. I tell you a secret, once upon a time I got a very time-consuming job and I was getting even skinny by not having time to eat very well (oh golden times!) but that actually wasn’t so good, I was getting tired and sick for it. So I started making shakes in the mornings before I went to work, but I wasn’t the Trendy Smoothie that you would purchase in a shop. I chuck into that blender from carrots to oats, oranges, passion fruit or anything that I would have in my fridge that morning and wasn’t too bad, plus it kept me strong and alert the whole morning without taking time on preparing a meal and sitting to eat it. The best part? 0 fat, 0 simple carbs and fiber, Oh fiber!
  • Kids also can love this! Teach them to appreciate good food and you will notice how even their behavior is going to change for better. When younger the better! Kids are like sponges, if you want to teach them something good, start NOW!
  • Don’t ever sub-estimate a Lettuce wrap. I mean, what? They, so work! (please don’t wrap any lettuce around your body, keep reading!). They can take you out of a difficult moment too. If you hungry, if you don’t know what to do, if you are freaking out, grab a piece of lettuce and roll it up with some ham and cheese, you will see that you will feel much better after that, is better to decide when you can think clearly! (I know what you are thinking, DON’T dip it in mayonnaise, control!)

Back to the post from today, we are going to make up for the weekend, two recipes today, one will help you to satisfy that craving issue but the other… The other! Is just one of those pleasures you take when you go further. I have been looking forward to post this recipe the whole week, but I wanted to leave it for the last day of course. This time, the best is last!




Hello Peanut Butter Truffles! because I have been talking about peanut butter so much and haven’t come out with anything interesting yet, I hope someone took their time to read about it so I don’t have to say it… Ok, ok, you didn’t come here for me to send you somewhere else, did I? Peanut butter is heavy in calories, yes, but in a portion of it i more important the content of protein and fibers that will actually are going to melt your fat away while keeps you full for much longer and also helps you to feel much better when you eat something you enjoy. My favorite combination is with chocolate, of course, but make sure you go for some dark or pure chocolate, low sugared but enough to get you some endorphins.




These bites are filled up with Choco-Chips and rolled in Sesame Seeds. They are ready for a fast breakfast before work or school, you only have to grab one and spread it over sliced Apple, Banana, or both maybe! Keep them refrigerated all the time because they melt down very fast becoming on a really sticky but delicious mess. It’s your choice to add sweetener or not, I opted for loading them already with honey so they are really ready to go!!


And for the last recipe of the Challenge I brought these, nice chewy, crunchy, tasty, HEALTHY!! Flour-Less Chocolate Chips Cookies that I love so much! Oh my God, make sure you keep this ones on your pantry for a while! Sweetened with honey and pinch of cinnamon. Just be kind with them, please! Remember that almonds, as all nuts, are pretty dedicated in the heat and they can burn so easily!! (I wish I wouldn’t know this so good -.- ). So, keep an eye on them while they are in the oven!

I almost get a violent attack from some cookie criminals in the surroundings...

Something else that I want to add, is that I just realized that in around one month I passed from 30 followers on My Instagram Account to almost 130 and I’m just very happy about that. It’s true that it’s not much at all, but just letting you know that each one of you is important for me and I really makes me feel honored and really each person that is interested on checking out what I have been cooking makes a huge difference for me.


Ok it’s time for chocolate cake… Um sorry, I haven’t gone to Spain yet hehe. In a few weeks better!!

Lua's favorite pattern (designed by herself) Cookie-Milk-Cookie-Milk...



Da daaa...


Peanut Butter Ready-to-Go Truffles

Ingredients

1/2 c Peanut Butter
1/4 c Bitter Chocolate Chips
1 tbsp. Raw Honey
Pinch of Cinnamon


Sesame Seeds and Cocoa to roll them


Procedure

Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl.

Refrigrate until gets a firm consistence.

Make little balls with two teaspoons and carefully place them in one of the 'rolling' ingredients.


Cover all the surface and form rounder balls with the hands, not for long, only to get a bit of shape.

Place the balls in a cold plate and keep refrigerated.

Serve with apple sliced, Banana or both. Also works nice with whole wheat bread.





Flour-less Chocolate-Chip Cookies



Ingredients



1 1/2 c Almond flour
1/2 Dry Coconut processed or Coconut flour
3 tbsp. Honey
1/4 c Bitter Chocolate Chips
1 Egg Yolk
1 tbsp. Olive Oil
1/4 tsp. Baking powder
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
Pinch of Salt
Pinch of Cinnamon



Procedure


Preheat the oven to 170 C° (my oven is too strong so I decided to preheat mine to 160 C°)

Place together in a bowl the almond flour, the dry coconut and the chocolate chips.

In another bowl mix the egg yolk, the honey, the olive oil, the salt, the cinnamon and the vanilla.

Pour the liquids on the dry ingredients and work it as a dough until everything in integrated.

If is too dry add a tablespoon of milk or water until the dough unifies.

Form little balls and place them on a baking sheet covered with wax paper or a silicon mat.

Flat the balls to get cookie size.

Bake until the sides are golden. Stay next to the oven after the first 5 minutes, I'm traumatized!

Let them cool down before you eat them.