Recipe: Lemon, Lime and Orange balls {of happiness!!}

I have been on a baking frenzy of late. 

It seems every single night I make something different, try something new, and invent more recipes of the healthy kind. I just  cant get enough!!  My love of experimenting is in my genes!  

Lately all my recipes have been of the chocolate kind. I love using the  sublime and so good for you Cacao.  I love its taste and the decadence that comes with eating this healthy chocolate.  Yet I was searching for a lighter, more refreshing treat! Something that would cleanse my palate. So I came up with these little beauties. They remind me of the lemon slice that my mum would sell in her old cafe. Lots of nostalgic memories of  downing a lemon slice and that tart cirtrus lemon flavour, but so much better for you!

For these balls I added some lime and orange for an all round citrus twist! Darby loved helping me make them and rolling them into little bite size balls!
 

Its a pity that he can't take any to school (due to the nuts and seeds). They would make a great snack to get him through the day, so we have to save them for an after school treat!  I love it when he gobbles them up with such gusto.

You can mix and match any of the ingredients really to suit yourself. I like to be generous with the lemon/lime/orange to give that real burst of fresh flavour! 

They truly are delicious - super easy,  and adjustable to your taste buds. Throw in anything you love... why not give them a go! 

Recipe

1 1/4 cup of nut meal (I make this myself and used a mix of almond, cashew, Brazil nut and sunflower seeds) 

1 cup of desiccated or shredded coconut

1/4 cup of coconut flour

2 tbs of quinoa flakes 

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla powder (I use the Loving Earth one) 

2 tbs of chia seeds

2 tbs of lemon juice

2 tbs of orange juice 

1 tbs of lime juice

1tsp of lemon, orange, lime rind combined (only if you are using organic fruits)

2 tbs of rice malt syrup, coconut sugar or honey

3 tbs of coconut oil 

1tsp of Maca and Mesquite Powder (totally optional)

Extra Coconut, sesame seeds, or chia seeds to roll them in. 

 

Mix the dry ingredients together until all well combined. Juice the lemon, lime and orange, add then rice malt syrup to it. Add the juice and syrup to the dry mixture and stir well. Melt the coconut oil and pour into the mixture and stir again. It should be sticky but easy enough to roll balls in your hands. Roll the balls in  either coconut/chia/sesame seeds. The mixture should make around 40 smallish balls. Once you have rolled them all, refrigerate or freeze for 1 hour and then you are able to enjoy!!

Enjoy
xx 

Recipe: My go to cake of the moment

I am always on the lookout for lunch box ideas for Darby, especially those of the healthy kind. I have tried many things this year, and this recipe seems to pass the ultimate test. It actually gets eaten!

More often than not some or most of the lunch comes home at the end of the day untouched, so when I realised this cake was working some magic and catching his attention for just a moment from playing, I knew I was on to a winner! 

I found this  Quinoa, Sweet Potato and Chocolate cake recipe on Hope for Healing's blog, here is my take on the recipe with a few adjustments, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. 

Quinoa, Sweet Potato and Chocolate Cake 

2/3 cup of Kamut Flour
2/3 cup of Spelt Flour - really any flour is ok, go nuts on what you want, especially if you want to make the recipe gluten free,
1 1/2 cups pre-cooked quinoa
1 cup of sweet potato puree (In this instance it was sweet potato, pumpkin and carrot!)
1/2 cup of Rice Malt Syrup  
1/4 cup of coconut oil (melted) 
1/2 cup of non-dairy milk (I used almond milk, but you could use rice or coconut milk) 
3 TB of cacao powder (today I used 2 TBs of cacao and 1TB of Carob powder for a different take on it) 
1 1/2 ts. of baking powder
1 ts. of baking soda
1/2 ts. of sea salt
1 ts. of ground cinnamon
1/2 ts of vanilla powder 

Note - If I could make the cake just for me, I would add some Chia Seeds or Brazil nut powder, but as I am sending it to school it has to be seed and nut free.  This is hard for someone who adds Chia seeds to everything!

Mix all of the above ingredients together for 1-2 minutes to create a smooth and creamy cake batter. Then pour into a 9x9 circle pan that has been greased with coconut oil.
Bake in a 175 degree oven for  about 50-55 minutes, until you can stick a knife in  the middle of the cake and no gooey-ness comes out. It should be pretty crispy and brown on top, like a brownie (mmmm) . 

 Let cool for 10-15 minutes and then transfer from pan to a plate. On the original recipe there is a wicked Avocado icing, which I haven't  made, but by all means go for it! Who cant resist a layer of yummy chocolate avo icing!  I'll be making it next time.
Cut the cake in slices and store (for me that means the freezer so i can grab them out for our lunches)

It really is a simple cake, but it is full of so much goodness and perfect for these cool nights ahead!  I can see Darby and I sitting all rugged up, munching on this!

Until next time

The joy of the ANZAC biscuit!

At this time of year I crave comfort food... The warm days, followed by the crisp evenings are one my favourite things about Autumn... as well as my favourite holiday; Easter.. 
Although this year, please, please, please tell the Easter bunny to come and go already!! 
I am hating the chocolate temptation every time I walk into, well just about anywhere... Those Eggs have some kind of magical power ... saying "buy me buy me, eat me, eat me !!" Why oh why does Easter chocolate taste so much better than regular chocolate! It must be a nostalgic reminder of our childhoods... thats all I can think of anyway! 
Makes me think the Easter bunny does exist after all and he likes to punish me every year.. 
So to curb my egg eating frenzy, I have turned to the beloved Anzac biscuit to save the day! They are my favourite biscuits. They have so much going for them!  So easy to cook, so fast and so god damn tasty!  This weekend  seemed like the perfect opportunity to get my Anzac on .. so I got all domestic and decided to cook numerous batches of them... My house now smells like a biscuit factory!! mmmmm Least it doesnt remind me of the chocolate eggs!! 

With my Anzacs this year  I am" trying to be healthy"(except for the eggs)  so have changed up the ingredients a tad... and I was more than pleasantly surprised with how they tasted... They were lick your lips delicious !! I will definitely be  making  them again! And I dont feel so bad as they are relatively low in sugar.. and have healthy oil as apposed to regular butter!! 

Ingredients 

Makes about 30 medium sized

1 cup of Wholemeal or Spelt Plain Flour

1 Cup of Rolled Oats

1/2 Cup of Coconut Sugar 

1/2 cup of Desiccated coconut
2 Tablespoons of Chia Seeds

125gm of coconut oil

1-2 tablespoon of Rice Bran Syrup 

1/2 teaspoon of Bicarb soda 

2-3 Tablespoons of water 

Method
Preheat Oven to 175 degrees. 
Mix Flour, Oats, Sugar, Coconut and Chia Seeds. 
Heat the Coconut oil over the stove or microwave (or if you are lucky and live in the tropics you won't need to heat the oil at all as it will already be a liquid). Add the Rice Bran Syrup and 2 tablespoons of water. Lastly add the bicarb soda, and stir until well mixed. Stir the liquid mix through the dry ingredients, if still crumbly add another tablespoon of water. Note: If the ingredients are too dry the biscuits will fall apart.. so more wet is best!  Also you can cut down on the sugar or syrup as they were very sweet... 
Roll into balls and place on lined tray. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Once out, leave on the tray for 5 minutes, and then transfer to a cooling rack! 


Then all you have left to do is get stuck into one (without burning your tongue of course!!)

Go ahead, give them a go ... you won't regret it.. and you just might never  go back! 

I am linking up with the adorable and gorgeous Son at Life Love & Hiccups.... 

Until next time , life is too short  to drink crappy coffee...