Why are you craving what you are craving?

Want to know why you're craving what you're craving?

It's much easier to listen to your body if you are cutting sugar, reducing flour and limiting processed foods - once you are eating real foods, your body can tell you what it needs!

Download this list and keep it on your fridge to help you work out your cravings!

Flapjacks

Not those highly processed, odd tasting, chocolate flavoured topped things you can buy at petrol stations.  Not the packets of flapjack bites you can buy in the supermarket that just encourage you to munch mindlessly until the box is gone.  No.  Healthier flapjacks made with only 3 real ingredients.

200g butter
1 cup honey
2 cups oats

Melt butter and honey.
Add to oats.
Spread and press hard into a square pan lined with baking paper.
Bake for 20 minutes.

Leave to cool totally before cutting into squares.  They are a little more crumbly than shop-bought ones but who cares when they taste this good and you know what's in them?

You can add anything else you like to these, like raisins, grated apple, dark chocolate chips, nuts, grated orange rind etc.

Again this is not a calorie-free treat so should still be eaten in moderation.

Enjoy x

Sticky Toffee Pudding

This is possibly the most successful paleo alternative I have ever made.

My client is trying to steer clear of wheat and sugar.  The reason behind this is that most things made from wheat are generally high in sugar and unhealthy fat.  By avoiding wheat, you are avoiding just about every product that contains unhealthy fat, meaning that the fat left to you is all good!  Some research seems to suggest that wheat and sugar have an inflammatory reaction in the body - not just in the stomach but also smooth muscle (arterial walls for example) and joints.

Avoiding sugar reduces the over the top insulin response your body has to a sudden, sharp rise in blood glucose levels.  This evens out your energy and mood levels over the day.

One day my client came for a meeting and told me she had spent most of her previous pregnancy eating sticky toffee pudding and custard.  She blames the weight gain she experienced in her previous pregnancy on sticky toffee pudding!

She needed a fix.  She needed it now and she needed it to be as clean as possible!

This dessert took literally ten minutes to make.

For the toffee sauce:

60g salted butter
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup coconut cream

Boil furiously for the time you make the cake mix

For the sponge mix:

200g creamed coconut (also known as coconut butter or coconut manna)
1 tsp baking powder
a squirt of honey
4-6 eggs

Add the honey, then the eggs one at a time to the melted coconut and baking powder
Add enough eggs so that it is a slightly runny cake batter consistency
Once the toffee sauce is boiled, share out between 6 cup cake cases
Add spoonfuls of cake mix on top until it nearly reaches the top of the cases
bake until golden and the cakes spring back when pressed.  Do not overbake.

Turn out upside down so the sauce covers the cake and serve with chilled coconut cream.

While this recipe is by no means calorie free, it is a better alternative to shop-bought, wheat and sugar-rich sticky toffee pudding!

Enjoy!

First Trimester Cravings - Lemon and Sultana Scotch Pancakes

...those processed, sugar-filled, wheat-based Scotch pancakes you can buy in the supermarket.

Here is the alternative recipe I came up with that is high in fibre and protein and healthy fat without the starchy carbs and processed sugar.  They fill you up much more than the shop-bought variety, making them an excellent snack to keep you and your baby going.

They are a great freezer stand by for times when you need a sweet treat.

Ingredients

500g creamed coconut (the stuff that is solid at room temp)
1 tsp baking powder
6-8 eggs
grated rind and juice of 1-2 lemons (depending on how lemony you like it)
a handful or two of raisins

(Lisa substituted oranges for lemon to give an orange and raisin pancake)

Method

• Melt the coconut in its packet in boiling water for 5 minutes until it is liquid
• Pour the packet contents onto a bowl
• Add tsp of baking powder
• Add grated rind and juice of lemons
• Add one egg and whisk in.
• The mixture will begin to seize but will loosen up as you add each subsequent egg, one at a time and whisk in.
• Once the mixture is at dropping consistency (if it is too thick, add another egg or a bit of water) add the raisins.
• Drop small dollops onto a non stick griddle or frying pan.
• Once bubbles begin to appear, it's time to turn the pancakes over.

The pancakes will keep for a couple of days in an airtight container or for a couple of months in the freezer.

If you are new to cutting sugar, you may find you need to add a little honey to the mixture or spread with a little honey once they are cooked.

Otherwise, they are delicious toasted with butter.