Chocolate and peanut butter muffins | Healthy cakes #1

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I truly believe I’ve finally unlocked the Awesome Gluten Free Muffin achievement with this recipe. What a winner! 🏆

These Chocolate and Peanut butter muffins are super fluffy and moist as a cake should be.

They are also dairy free and packed with fibre and good stuff. Perfect for those days you need a treat or just want to have a healthy cake option with your cup of coffee! 🙂

Ingredients
  • ⅔ cup of sesame seeds
  • 6 medium eggs
  • ½ cup of coconut oil, melted
  • ⅓ cup of honey (or any sweetener you like)
  • ⅓ cup of coconut flour
  • ¼ cup of cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon of psyllium husks
  • 2 teaspoons of baking powder
  • A pinch of salt
  • ¼ cup of unsweetened peanut butter
Directions
  1. In a food processor add the sesame seeds and mix for 4 minutes.
  2. Then, add eggs, coconut oil, honey and mix them for more 5 minutes.
  3. Next, let’s add the coconut flour, baking powder, psyllium husks, cocoa powder, and salt. Mix just enough to incorporate all ingredients.
  4. Grease your muffin tin and pour the batter in, filling only half of it.
  5. We are going to use peanut butter as a delicious filling, so add 1 teaspoon of peanut butter to each and cover with the remaining batter.
  6. Preheat oven at 180C (350F) and bake it for 30 minutes.
  7. It’s done! 🎉

Tip #1: for a lower carb version, replace honey with an artificial sweetener of your choice.

Tip #2: be aware that many supermarket brands of peanut butter usually include unwelcome ingredients in their composition such as salt, a sweetener such as sugar, and an emulsifier or vegetable oil. As usual the list of ingredients is your friend, make sure to read it carefully.

The best ramen in Japan! (Tokyo and Kyoto)

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While in Japan 🇯🇵 I had the opportunity to try so many yummy places! Which now makes very hard for me to pick just one, so in this case … I’ll pick TWO Ramen restaurants in Tokyo and Kyoto (each) that you must not miss. You can also find more details about them by clicking their titles. Shall we start?

Tokyo

Menya Musashi Ramen | Shinjuku
Menya Musashi - Ramen in a broth with tender pork and egg.
Menya Musashi – Ramen in a broth with tender pork and egg.
Ippudo | Ginza (and Shinjuku)
Ippudo ramen: Shiromaru Classic
Ippudo ramen: Shiromaru Classic

Kyoto

Ramen Sen no Kaze
Yamato no Miso with gyoza - miso-based broth, with veggies, minced pork and spices, topped with three chased pork slices.
Yamato no Miso with gyoza – miso-based broth, with veggies, minced pork and spices, topped with three chased pork slices.
Gogyo | Nakasujicho
Kogashi Shoyu-men simple (Burnt soy sauce ramen)
Kogashi Shoyu-men simple (Burnt soy sauce ramen)

Cheese bread | Low Carb Breads #8

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I must admit that at first glance these Cheese bread buns might not look thaaat enticing, but oh boy, they are extremely delicious! Don’t judge a book by its cover! 😜

Each bite comes with the saltiness and crunchiness of cheese, which makes the idea of eating only one pretty much impossible. 🙂

But on the flip side you don’t need to feel guilty as each bun has only 3 grams of net carbs! Yes, another winner in the low carb bread world!

Ingredients
  • ½ cup of coconut flour
  • 5 tablespoons of psyllium husk
  • 1 and ½ teaspoons of baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 2 and ½ teaspoons of apple cider vinegar
  • 4 eggs
  • 7/8 cup (a little less than a full cup) of boiling water
  • 2 cups of mozzarella, shredded
Directions
  1. In a large bowl combine all dry ingredients making sure to mix them well.
  2. Then, add the eggs, vinegar and mix them until you have a thick dough.
  3. Now it’s time to add the boiling water, mixing everything until nicely combined and there is a dough consistency.
  4. Next, add the shredded mozzarella. Mix it until well combined.
  5. Split the dough into 8 equal balls and place them on a baking tray covered with parchment paper. Bake them in a preheated oven at 180C (360F) for 40 minutes.
  6. It’s done! 🎉 They are perfect warm, fresh from the oven.

Engadine Street Festival – Sutherland Shire

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This weekend we had the annual Engadine Street Festival, here in the Sutherland Shire.

The first edition happened in 2015, so as you can expect, this year followed the traditional “bigger and better“. 🙂

Amongst the attractions, here are my highlights:

  • Baby animals (such as baby sheep or piglets) that kids can pat, feed and play;
  • Collection of carnival rides, including some exciting enough even for thrill-seekers (see images below)
  • Market and food stalls
  • Reptile exhibition

As I was feeling particularly inspired to take photos on the day, here is a collection of the photos I took:

The location of the event this year was set to be held in Engadine Town Square, around Old Princes Hwy and on Station St, from 10am to 4pm.
Of course, road closures apply so it is always better to use public transportation (it is just two blocks away from Engadine station). 🙂

Food-wise – if you know me at least a bit, you know that was the only reason I was there 😛 – the event did not offer much in terms of healthy food. 😐

As an event attracting a number of kids and teenagers, it would be nice to see a between balance between more real food options, rather than mostly fast food.

But I am not here to be a party pooper; the organisation did a fantastic job putting together all these businesses and attractions, so I can honestly say it was great and enjoyable day out there.

An interesting suggestion I have for the next year would be to start a bit earlier (maybe 8am?), so people can have their breakfast there as well.
In a culture where good morning coffee has such a strong appeal like the Australian, I believe that would be the perfect starting kick off. 🙂

I am also constantly posting things to do in the Sutherland Shire, in addition to the delicious and healthy recipes, so feel free to follow me on Facebook or Instagram too!

Cauliflower buns | Low Carb Breads #7

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These Cauliflower buns are super light and perfect for having on that occasional burger night!

Yes, once again cauliflowers proving how versatile they’re! I honestly believe cauliflowers are working their way to conquer the world and make us their slaves. They already got me!

Jokes apart, these lovely buns are also a great low carb bread alternative, with only 5 grams of net carbs in each bun! How about having a guilt-free burger tonight with these buns? I’m quite sure your family will love the idea.

Ingredients
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 cups of cauliflower rice (364 grams)
  • 2 tablespoons of psyllium
  • 4 tablespoons of coconut flour
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
Directions
  1. In a large bowl combine all ingredients.
  2. Split the dough into 4 equal pieces. Give each piece a gentle squeeze to extract any liquid excess.
  3. Then, shape each one of them in a ball, like a burger bun.
  4. Place buns in a baking tray covered with parchment paper.
  5. Bake them in a preheated oven at 180C (356F) for 1 hour or until they are set through and golden brown.
  6. It’s done! Time to assemble that monster burger everyone would die for. 😂

Did you know? According to the Better Health channel, from the Australian government, cauliflower is a great food to be consumed with relative frequency. Naturally fat-free and low in sugar, cauliflowers are an excellent source of vitamin C, also high in dietary fibre and folate.