Lime and coconut macaroons...great treat and healthy to boot!

Wow, wow, wow. I'm going to keep this short and sweet (excuse the pun) I've only just made these but they were so great I had to post straight away. In the search for gf and dairy free treats I remembered the old fashioned coconut macaroons that my nan used to love and decided to give them a go with the updated twist of lime. They taste great, very pleased with the chewy but crisp texture and the lime zing lifts them perfectly. The best surprise though was that I checked the nutritional value and they're perfect for a healthy treat too! 80 cals, low in carb and high in protein and fibre with moderate healthy fat from the coconut. They'd make a great gift for a friend on a diet. Pile 5-6 up and tie with a pretty bow. 

So here goes:

Ingredients:

Makes 9

100g unsweetened shredded/desiccated dried coconut 

2 large egg whites 

1 tbsp coconut sugar or soft dark brown sugar or your choice of sweetener (the state are based on sugar) 

1 lime (or two if they aren't very juicy!) 

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180C

1. Place the egg whites in a bowl and add the sugar. Beat well until incorporated. 

2. Add the coconut, zest and juice of the lime and stir until fully combined

3. Form the mixture into 9 rough balls and flatten onto a greased baking sheet 

4. Bake for 15-20 mins until golden brown

Enjoy! 

Lemon and Ginger Tea

I drink a lemon and ginger infusion every morning. I even take a lemon away with me when I'm working away.

It's so simple to do and has great health benefits as this article explains.

I try to drink it as soon as I get up and if possible about half an hour before I eat my breakfast.

The method can be found in my guide.

Check out How to Make Lemon and Ginger Tea #Healthyeating by Sarah's Kitchen Diary on Snapguide.

Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese on Rye Bread

As everyone I'm trying to get back to normal eating after Christmas. I try and eat clean during the week and then have an evening off during the weekend where I enjoy whatever I want.

Over the next few weeks ill be trying to share some healthy but easy recipes with natural ingredients - minimum processed food, low sugar, unrefined carb and so on.

Today, I came back from the gym earlier and was starving, but still wanted to eat healthily, so this was a perfect quick lunch. It's more of an assembly job than a real recipe but gave me chance to try out Snapguide and hopefully will give you a new lunch idea.

Here is the finished article.




The full recipe can be found here.

Check out How to Make Smoked Salmon on Rye #Healthyeating by Sarah's Kitchen Diary on Snapguide.

Enjoy!

Steak with peppers, onions and spinach

This is another super quick dinner. I tend to cook the veg first and then flash fry the steak as I like it to be served medium-rare.

This is a made up recipe and I intensified the depth of flavour by dusting the steak in porcini mushroom powder before cooking it. The first time I heard of porcini mushroom powder is when my mum bought me some for Christmas last year, but not it's a staple in my kitchen. It is great in obviously things like a mushroom risotto but also adds depth of flavour to stews and steak.

The spinach was spinach beet from my garden







And I served it with salad, also from my garden.







Recipe to follow

Lamb Tava

I love any dishes that you can throw all of the ingredients in a pan, leave them for a few hours and they become more than the sum of their parts. Tessa Kiros' Lamb Tava is one of these dishes. It is all about great flavours and ingredients.

It is a Cypriot dish from her book Falling Cloudberry's and became a firm favourite after it's first outing.




Recipe to follow