Healthy Living in Singapore

3 Ingredient Fibre Packed Nutella (Refined sugar free and vegan!)

Nothing makes me happier than a REALLY good breakfast. I can’t think of anything better than waking up to The Works. Even better if it comes with copious amounts of chocolate.

Today I’m sharing a recipe that I used extensively when I was trying to stop binge eating. The trick to really stopping is giving your body plenty of fibre and water to balance the crazy blood sugar fluctuations caused by extended periods of binging and restriction. 

This nutella is power packed with lots of good fibre and good fats from the hazelnuts to slow the release into the bloodstream.

Also did I mention that it has only 3 main ingredients? Hazelnuts, dates and unsweetened cocoa powder! Take that store bought sugar filled Nutella!

As a way of comparison, let’s look at what’s in the a usual nutella bottle:

Ingredients are placed on a label in order of their quantity used in the product. And in store bought nutella, the first two ingredients are sugar AND palm oil then hazelnuts! All store bought producs have copious amounts of refined sugar and unhealthy fat in them because sugar and fat together act as addictive agents to compel you to eat more of the product. When companies have got you hooked, you buy more!

Here’s how to make a healthier alternative at home:

You’ll need:



1 cup of hazelnuts (I bought it from a shop at Kovan heartland mall on Level 1 near the escalators. You can also find it at Phoon Huat or shops selling nuts and dried goods along Bugis street. Hazelnuts are extremely expensive so I suggest buying them only when they are on discount- like now! )
5- 10 pitted dates  (use more if you have a sweet tooth)
1/2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder ( I used Hershey’s)
1/2 cup + Water or unsweetened milk ( I used almond milk)

Optional:
1 tablespoon coconut oil ( I highly recommend Cocos Extra virgin cold pressed coconut oil- support local!)
3 drops of vanilla extract
Other kinds of sweeteners if you need; such as honey etc.

Steps:

If you have time, you can roast the hazelnuts first. It doesn’t really do much actually. I’ve tried both non roasted and roasted versions and I feel that the roasted one just has a nicer ‘roasted’ smell. So when I make a portion for myself, I can’t be bothered to roast. But when I’m making for friends and family as gifts, I roast them. Haha

Leave to cool after roasting. By this time it would smell amazing and be a beautiful golden brown. Try not to eat all of it now. We need them for the Nutella!

Over here I’m using 7 honey dates I bought from the same store. If you buy them fat like that, there is no need to soak them. But if you are using the dried out ones you’ll have to.
 
I use a smaller, more powerful blender like my darling shimono to blend the dates with a tablespoon of water first. If you have a powerful blender, you can skip this step. My food processor is really small and previously when I tried this recipe, there were bits of dates in the nutella (fibre!)because my food processor couldn’t handle both dates and hazelnuts at the same time. If you have a vitamix or equivalent, I’m sure it would not be a problem at all. 

Next, place the hazelnuts, date paste, cocoa powder into the blender. I did my hazelnuts first because that was all that could fit. Haha.

 
Once you start blending, the nuts will go from powdery to smooth and buttery. Exactly like how normal nut butters are made.

I used vanilla essence and a tablespoon of coconut oil in this recipe because it makes it smoother. But entirely optional of course.

     

When you see that most of it has been incorporated, it will look like that texture above. Now is the time to pour in your liquid of choice. The smoother and creamier you want it, the more liquid you put in. Start with 1/4 cup and then work your way up. I ended up using about 3/4 cup for this batch. Constantly taste your nutella to see if it needs more dates to sweeten. If you want a darker colour, it’ll need more cocoa powder and consequently, more dates to sweeten because the cocoa is bitter.

Blend till you are happy with the texture! I love it when it turns gloriously creamy and fudgy!

This recipe makes 1 mason jar full. I like to add additional hazelnuts on top for that added crunch. It can store in the fridge for a month. Unfortunately it always disappears in my household within a week. Even though this recipe is made from whole foods, it’s still a treat though so don’t think you can whack it all in in one sitting! Two tablespoons is a decent amount to have in a day 😀

I’ve served it to my friends with breadsticks ( they said it’s like a less sweet version of nutella!) but my favourite is to dip my fruits in it and indulge! Such breakfasts always make me so excited to wake up to!

 Try it yourself today! 😀

 P.s- now you can save the recipe cards below in a folder on your computer for easier reference! 😀

Introducing the Veg Smoothie!

Yes, those are vegetables you see in my jug 🙂

Allow me a moment here where I pause and bask in the joy that is a green smoothie.

I absolutely love green smoothies because they are quick, easy and FUSS FREE.

but firstly! What’s the difference between a smoothie and a juice?

Picture taken from google images

Basically, juice is when you remove all the fibre, skin and seeds etc from the fruit and veg, leaving behind only the juice. It is a great way of taking in a high level of nutrients without having to munch your way through a dozen fruits.

However, I’m not a very big fan of juices especially pure fruit juices as I find their sugar levels way too high to tolerate. I would rather consume the whole fruit rather than the juice but juicing is still a great way to hydrate and nourish the body. It’s also great for giving the digestive system a break so the body can redirect its energy to self healing. Check out Joe Cross’ film ‘Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead’ for his amazing story of healing and transformation with just juicing!

Blending, on the other hand, is my absolute favourite because it leaves the fibre and slows the sugar release into the body. This is especially important to me because (pardon me, I don’t know the proper medical term for this) I’m extremely sensitive to sugar and fast release carbs which spike my insulin levels and crash, causing me to crave and go food-crazy-gimmegimmegimme.

ALSO– WASHING A BLENDER IS THE EASIEST THING ON EARTH.

Anyone who’s ever tried washing a juicer will know just how difficult it is to dig out the bits of pulp.

Yes, I know, I’m just lazy like that. 🙂

Anyway! On to the veg smoothie! It’s really simple! For beginners, i recommend using neutral tasting veg like spinach and blending it together with a banana or mango. Throw in a couple of ice cubes and you wouldn’t even know you’ve got any veg in there.

In the meantime, here’s a quick infographic on how to make a green smoothie:

I wouldn’t recommend using the sweeteners shown at the end of the infographic because the fruits will be really sweet already and I really don’t recommend eating artificial sweeteners! Also as you drink more of it and your body gets all the nutrients it needs, it will stop craving and your tastebuds will change! Soon, having more than one kind of fruit in your veg smoothie might be too much for you! Hurray!

Do have fun making them! Be creative and share your creations with everybody. Upload your creations on instagram/ fb and hashtag #vegsmoothiebunny and tell us what your smoothie is made up of!

Coconut Flour Chocolate Cupcakes with Avocado- Chocolate Frosting

Coconut Flour Chocolate Cupcakes with Avocado- Chocolate Frosting
Carb/ Sugar/ Gluten Free. Vegan optional. Paleo
30 minutes

Recipe:
Makes 24 mini muffins/cupcakes (using wilton’s mini muffin pan)

Preheat oven to 180degc.

For the cake:
Ingredients (dry):
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cacao powder
1/2 tsp baking powder 
Pinch of salt

Ingredients (wet):
3 eggs/ flax eggs
1/8 cup honey/ maple syrup
1/8 cup coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla essence

Combine all dry ingredients together. Whisk eggs then combine all wet ingredients. Whisk together till cake batter is formed. Coconut flour is very fibrous and absorbs A LOT of water so if after machine whisking the batter looks like cake crumbs, add in 1/2 cup water and whisk again still smooth.

Spoon/ pipe into mini muffin tin. Place in oven for 10 min or till bamboo skewer comes out clean.
Remove from tin and leave to cool.

For the frosting:
1 avocado
6 pitted dates
1/4 cup unsweetened cacao powder.

Blend together till a smooth paste forms. Fill piping bag and to decorate muffins/ cupcakes.

*Note: I use coconut flour/oil because it is more nutritious than normal flour/ oil. It also does not act like a carb so it’s great for people who are gluten/ sugar sensitive or on a low carb diet. Because of the high fibre content of coconut flour, you can taste the bits of fibre in the cupcake 🙂 I like it though, makes me happy thinking of all the added fibre I’m getting . And fibre is vitally important to me to stabilize my blood sugar levels to prevent binges. Also uhm, if you are suffering from constipation, the combination of coconut flour and coconut oil would soon set things in uhm, motion for you again. 😉

Today was one of those days. Too much work and too little time Everybody laying their demands on you and insisting that you get things done because their arms were being twisted too by somebody higher up. I’ve learnt that I cannot lie life dictate my mood. That just because life is tough, does not mean that my mood has to sour. That just because I’m going through a rough patch, does not mean I have to go through it unhappily. No matter how tough life gets, no matter how much work there is to be done, there will always be something beautiful- people and things worth being grateful for and cherishing.

So it took me by surprise when last night I was besieged (no other word for the moment) by a terrible urge to binge. And it wasn’t just a usual binge. I was craving cupcakes. Nutella, chocolate cupcakes. In the middle of the night, I lay in bed mentally sashaying down the mall’s corridor at Bugis to lay my hands on ALL TWELVE of Twelve Cupcakes. Did I even like cupcakes? Not really. But last night I couldn’t stop thinking of them. I wanted to chomp down on not one, but all twelve different flavours. I am ashamed to say I almost planned to hurry down the next day when the shop opened to buy a large box and hurry home to devour them, maybe together with a McDonalds meal. I envisioned the first bite- soft cupcake meeting lusciously creamy frosting. Chocolate. It had to be chocolate and I wanted nothing else. I didn’t even want to stop the urge. I knew the influx of refined sugar would be too much for me to handle and it would cause me to binge after but I just wanted it so badly, so irrationally.

Unfortunately, when I woke up this morning, the urge had not in the least bit subsided. I wanted chocolate. And I wanted it now. And it couldn’t just be any chocolate. I wanted it with a cake like texture drowned in the fudgiest, creamiest, thickest chocolate ever. I wanted to drown in sugar, health be damned.

But I have come far enough in my journey to know that that one irrational action would scar me and it would take too long to heal. Everything I had worked so hard for would be for nought if I gave in to that urge. I had to compartmentalize and work through the urge. Craving chocolate or anything wasn’t the issue per se. Were there healthier ways to do it? I knew from experience that when a binge urge arises, it’s usually from boredom or stress or my body crying out for nutrition. I knew that I had to give myself fibre and nutrition. (It always works, trust me) Usually I eat an apple. But today, I wanted chocolate and nothing else would do. So I ran into the kitchen, opened doors and slammed drawers and dumped a concoction of things into a bowl and mixed it all together in a mindless frenzy I am not proud of.

But 15 min later and the smell of chocolate wafted into the air and I cautiously peeked into the oven and there they were. Gorgeous, moist and so small, perfectly sized. I gingerly poked a bamboo skewer into one. It came out dry, ready. I blended, frosted and there it was, ready to be eaten. I devoured the first one still hot from the oven, and another, my mind easing at the fact that I could eat ALL of them and it wouldn’t be a problem because all of these were perfectly healthy and actually good for me.

But the strange thing was, I was satisfied after just 3 mini ones (they were no bigger than a 50cent coin).(The fibre and lack of refined sugar + nutrients really help curb binges, trust me!!)

I smiled to myself. Happy. Happy that I’ve come far enough to deal with my urges, happy that I now know to not let circumstances affect my mood and could keep my mind on what’s important- my health. But mostly happy that there I was, licking the last of the creamy luscious chocolate frosting from my fingers and experiencing no more urge to binge after, no self hate. 🙂

The next time you are craving something horribly sugary and unhealthy, I hope these little babies – totally sugar free, vegan, carb free, paleo coconut flour chocolate muffins/ cupcakes with an lusciously creamy avocado-chocolate frosting packed with loads of nutrition save you as well.

No. I hope you know that you have the power to save yourself as well and you can have your cake and eat it too.

Enjoy 🙂

In health and happiness
xoxo.

Raw Vegan Mini Avocado- Banana Chocolate Tarts

I absolutely adore this creation! It’s simple and fuss free- totally no bake! Made from wholesome, natural ingredients and vegan! Good for the environment, good for you! Best of all, it’s so FUDGYYYYY, I WANT TO DIE (and go to chocolate heaven)

Was inspired by the Raw Chocolate Ganache Tart by Sheryl over at Eatgreencake but didn’t want a WHOLE tart because it’s really hard for portion control and sharing. The original recipe calls for coconut sugar as well which is great but I can’t deal with that much sugar and I had some left over juice pulp from that morning’s juice so I sneaked it in as well. Kudos to my cell for being absolutely brave people and eating up whatever strange concoction I dish out to them each time! They are getting better and better at guessing the ingredients I’m using though! Was really surprised they could taste the sweet potato and celery I used in the previous no sugar brownies. Thought I masked it really well. Tastebuds getting sharper I see! 😉

Anyway! Here’s the recipe for this one:
(Makes 12 mini chocolate tarts)

For the base:
Slightly more than 1/2 cup almonds
5 Medjool dates
Pinch of salt
1 tsp cold pressed coconut oil
Optional: Dried Juice Pulp (I used leftover carrot, celery and apple)

Using a food processor or blender, blend all ingredients together. I suggest pulsing it for 5-8 times till they are well mixed but small and grainy. I was too enthusiastic with my first batch and accidentally over blended it into fine almond meal. Oops.

Using your hand, mix the coconut oil into the mixture.

Place a spoonful of the mixture into a mini muffin pan and use a bottle cap to press down firmly to make a base. Freeze overnight.

For the filling:

3 ripe avocados (should be slightly soft when pressed and a dark brown-blackish)
3/4 cup pure unsweetened cacao/ cocoa powder

1/3 cup coconut oil
100g coconut/ brown sugar (substituted for 2 very ripe bananas in this recipe)
1 tsp vanilla essence (omitted for the recipe)
Pinch of salt

Blend everything together in a food processor. DO NOT use a blender. I tried and it was horrific 🙁 Nothing at the top could be blended and I had to whizz hot water and soap after to remove all the chocolate gunk from the bottom of the blades after.  Pulse in a food processer till creamy and smooth. Taste- test it and add more salt if needed to bring out the chocolate taste (I didn’t need to). If you are not used to a sugar free diet yet, add some unrefined sugar and whizz again till preferred taste. Try not to eat it all.

You can spoon the mixture on top directly but I found it easier to place the filling in a piping bag and pipe it on the base. Don’t put too much. The chocolate is very rich and fudgy and can get overwhelming.

Freeze for 2 hours or more.

Enjoy!

*Note: If you are using bananas instead of sugar, refrigerate instead of freeze. If you freeze and thaw, the bananas will become a dark liquid and seep all over your base and make it soggy. 🙂
If attempting for the first time or making it for a party on a different day, it’s easier to use sugar instead of fruit as you don’t have to deal with the water content. It’ll be easier to pipe and can keep its shape better as well. Hope this helps! 🙂

MCT Power Workout Green Smoothie!

This MCT Veg Smoothie is the smoothie I always drink for
breakfast when I’m in a rush and just need a grab-and-go breakfast for
the busy day ahead! Medium Chain Triglycerides are found mostly in
coconuts and butter etc. While MCTs are a type of fat, they are handled
very differently in the body from normal fat. They are lower in calorie
content than the usual Long Chain Triglycerides and are not stored as
fat deposits in the body as much as LCTs. Scientific studies have shown
the MCTs enhance thermogenesis (i.e. fat burning) So MCTs seem to offer a
triple approach to weight loss –
1. they have a
lower calorie count than other fats
2. they are minimally stored as fat
3. they contribute to enhanced metabolism to burn even more calories.

Basically,
MCTs act like a carbohydrate rather than a fat store. Other than
weight loss and fat burning, they offer a host of other benefits such as
improving nutrient absorption of calcium and magnesium, mitigating the
effects of Alzheimers in the elderly and epileptic seizures in young
children.

Personally I don’t really take it for weight
loss or anything but I find that it makes a perfect breakfast because
it’s such a power packed, high energy drink. Because it’s a fat and not a
carb, it doesn’t spike my blood sugar levels leaving me hungry and
craving by mid morning. It makes me feel really good and gives me loads
of energy whether or not it’s to hit the gym or tackle a full day’s work
ahead.

I’ll probably do another post on the benefits
of FATS in a person’s diet (yes, you read that right! I’m a huge
proponent of a high fat diet 🙂 ) But for now, let’s move on to…

I try to get organic produce for my smoothies because i eat them raw and I’m trying to cut down on added chemicals and stuff but organic produce is really hard to get in Singapore! (or heart- stoppingly expensive) Zenxin Organic is one of my favourite organic veg suppliers to buy from because they can be easily found in Cold Storage all across the island. Although their New Zealand Spinach tastes rather waxy :/ However, I’m willing to overlook that because so far, it’s the only supplier that supplies organic kale in Singapore at convenient locations. (Available at selected Cold Storage outlets in Singapore like the Compass Point branch!) NTUC does a couple of organic produce as well but mostly fruit and only a few varieties of the green leafy types.

SO there you have it! Let me know what you think! For bodybuilders and gym bunnies, you can add in a scoop of your usual protein powder or for an au natural protein fix, some coarsely milled almonds etc!