Banana Ice-Cream with Banana Whipped Cream

It's Aidan's 1st b'day next month and I've been searching for a healthy birthday cake idea for him.  I haven't introduced any sugar to him yet and am trying to give him the healthiest meals I can.

Well, I just couldn't find a cake that met my criteria - either they had sugar in them, or I tried to substitute the sugar for something else healthier and it didn't work out, or I tried a sugar-free cake and it didn't turn out good, so I was disappointed that I couldn't find a healthy b'day cake!

Then I found someone online who made banana ice-cream - I tried it and it turned out really well. :D  And then elsewhere I found another recipe for banana cream - all I changed here was to sub stevia for sugar and leave out vanilla essence because I didn't have one without some nasty ingredients in it, and it's so tasty. :)

So here's my practice round for Aidan's b'day "cake" . . .

How cute is that? :D

All you do is freeze a ripe banana - just don't use an overly ripe one whose skin has already gone black - the ice-cream will taste bitter (I used such a banana 'cause I was so impatient to try out this ice-cream to see if it works, that I used the only banana I had on hand).  The recipe also said not to use a green banana, because it will make for a "green" tasting ice-cream.

• peel banana, chop banana into bite size chunks (I used 1 1/2 banana for this single size serving)
• freeze for 2 hours
• put in a food processor and blend until it turns creamy

When you start blending it will look all crumbly, but eventually (less than a minute) it suddenly turns creamy and ice-cream texture-y.  If it sticks to the sides of the food processor, just scrape it down back onto the blades and keep blending.

Then it's basically ready to eat!  It's so creamy, and really good actually.  This must be one of the healthiest ice-creams ever!

I put the ice-cream into a mini silicone mould though, 'cause I wanted something that looks more like a "cake" with some shape instead of a bowl of ice-cream, so I froze it for another few hours - I accidentally forgot about it and so don't know how long it was in the freezer for, but I froze it until it was quite hard.

To get it out I loosened the edges of the mould and ran the bottom of the mould under warm water to get it loose, and it came out easily.

Next time I'll just make sure to press the ice-cream down nicely into the mould, but it doesn't matter, it's getting covered by cream. :)

As for the cream, here's what you need (this is WAYYY more than you need for a little baby dessert, so use less if you don't like to eat the cream throughout the day). :)

1 cup fresh cream
15 drops liquid stevia
1/2 banana, mashed REALLY well until it's almost liquid with no chunks in it (add more banana if you want it more banana-y)

• add stevia and whip until stiff - make it as stiff as you like it
• mix in banana by hand, or for just 1 second mix it with your blender - you don't want to over-whip the cream
• scoop into ice-cream

Serve immediately.  Hope it turns out this good on his b'day!

A cute little "cake" that baby can make a yummy mess with. :)  You'll probably have to feed the ice-cream to him with a spoon though.

Colourful Coleslaw

This is my new favourite version of coleslaw salad. :)  Not only because it tastes yummy, but also because it's so colourful and pretty. :D

I didn't measure the ingredients this time, but it went something like this: (it doesn't really matter how much of what you put in...)

2 1/2 cups chopped purple cabbage
2 cups grated carrot
1/2 large green pepper, chopped (add more if you like, this is just all I had in the fridge)
+- 1 cup tangy mayonnaise mixed with 20 drops liquid stevia (add more if you'd like it sweeter)
handful raisins
handful chopped walnuts

1.   Mix all ingredients (except mayo mixture) together in a large bowl.  Pour over mayo and mix until everything is coated.
2.   Refrigerate until ready to use. 

I forgot about sunflower seeds, so you can add a small handful of those as well if you wish - it's always nice to cram as many beneficial nutrients as you can into a dish. :)

This salad is also very alkalizing (besides the mayo and the walnuts).

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Banana Choc-Chip Muffins

These muffins are really soft and spongy...and of course yummy. :D  These little delights are necessarily very healthy because of the flour used here, but at least they're basically sugar-free (provided you cut out the chocolate chips and use oil instead of apple sauce).

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/8 tsp stevia powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 medium very ripe bananas (mashed)
1/3 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup + 2 heaped tbs plain greek yoghurt
1 tbs ground flaxseeds mixed with 2 tbs water & left to stand for 5 mins before adding
2 tbs apple sauce (or oil if you wish)
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla essence

1.   Preheat oven to 350 F / 160 C, & coat a muffin pan with non-stick coating
2.   Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, stevia & salt in a large bowl
3.   In another bowl, whisk together bananas, peanut butter, yoghurt, flaxseed mixture, vanilla & apple sauce
4.   Stir banana mixture into flour mixture until combined
5.   Fold in chocolate chips and divide mixture into muffin pan.
6.   Bake for 20 minutes, or until testing stick comes out mostly clean
7.   Let cool in muffin pan before removing from pan.

Notes:
1.   once the muffins are baked, they'll feel very soft and you may think they're not yet done, but they are done as long as the inserted stick comes out mostly clean - you don't want to bake it until the stick is entirely clean because then you may lose a lot of the softness of the muffin.
2.   if you want to make a bread out of this, pour mixture into a bread tin and bake for about 40-50 minutes or until testing stick comes out mostly clean.
3.   they freeze really well also, and once defrosted, they're just as fluffy and soft as before.

I ran out of whole wheat flour so I used white flour instead, that's why it's so light in colour.

Gluten-free Cinnamon Sweet Potato Muffins

I think I now love baking with sweet potatoes, because of the 2 different sweet potato muffins that I've tried out, both of them always turned out so soft and moist and spongy and yummy!  :)

1 cup oats, uncooked
1 cup buckwheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
300 ml mashed sweet potato (the original recipe actually called for 450ml, but due to a mistake on my part in converting ounces to cups, I ended up with 300ml....but it seemed to work out perfect!)
1/4 tsp stevia powder
1/2 cup plain greek yoghurt
1/3 cup oil
1/4 cup rice milk
1 tbs ground flaxseed mixed with 3 tbs water, let stand for +- 3 mins before adding to rest of ingredients
1 tsp vanilla

1.   Preheat oven to 200 C / 400 F and grease muffin tin.
2.   In a large bowl, add oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and stevia - mix well.  Then add sweet potatoes, oil, milk, flaxseed mixture, yoghurt and vanilla and mix until just well moistened.
3.   Divide into 12 muffin tins and bake for about 15 mins (or until tester stick comes out mostly clean).

I actually prefer if there is still some doughy-ness on the end of the tester stick, because then I know my muffins aren't too dry - but they're never still uncooked inside.

Also, I froze them for a day or 2 to test 'em out, and they freeze well - they're still soft and moist after defrosting.

Linked to these tasty blogs:

Rook No. 17         Be Different, Act Normal
Sugar Bananas       Muffin Monday
I Heart Naptime     .

Alkalinizing Coleslaw Salad

It's important that your diet consists mostly of alkalinizing foods, since your body fucntions better and is more resistent to disease when it is overall in a more alkaline state, as opposed to acidic.  It is now well known that a body that is predominantly acidic is far more prone to things such as arthritis, cancer, heart disease and many, many more ailments.

Almost all the ingredients of this salad are generally considered alkaline (with the exception of the mayo) and the yoghurt, which is more or less neutral:

3 cups finely sliced/chopped cabbage
2 cups finely grated carrot
1/3 cup raisins
3 tbs sunflower seeds
1 apple, diced (optional)
3 rings pineapple, diced (optional)
1 celery stick, chopped (optional)
5 heaped dessert spoons plain greek yoghurt
1 heaped dessert spoon tangy mayo
20 drops liquid stevia

Mix the first 7 ingredients together.  For the "dressing", mix the yoghurt, mayo and stevia together well.  Mix into the rest of the ingredients.
I usually add whatever ingredients I happen to have on hand, so if I don't have apple, pineapple and celery, I don't add them - it's great tasting either way.

If you would like the dressing more tangy, just use less yoghurt and more mayo.  I like to use as little mayo as I can because of all the additives in there.  I also like to sweeten it a little with some stevia - if you prefer it more tart, then leave this out.  Also, if you're going to be using more mayo, then you may want to add more stevia for sweetness.

Incidentally, stevia is the most alkalinizing sweetener there is.

Also, it's best to eat this salad on the day you make it, so that the apple and celery don't get "old" - it's nicer when they're still fresh and crispy.

Foods with Benefits: Stevia

• it's a natural healthy alternative sweetener 
• it's 70-400 times sweeter than sugar
• safe to use by diabetics and hypoglycemics as it does not adversely affect blood glucose levels (in fact it has been shown to regulate blood sugar and bring it towards a normal balance)
• it has zero calories
• it has anti-bacterial properties that helps with tooth decay and gum disease (adding 2 drops of liquid stevia on your toothpaste before brushing, or using a mouthwash made up of a small glass of water and 5-8 drops of stevia, has been shown in improve oral health)
• may assist with healing of skin conditions such as blemishes, acne, rashes etc
• studies show that it may lower high blood pressure
• it decreases hunger sensations, so it aids in weight loss
• it's the most alkaline sweetener there is (which is a good thing)
• there are no known negative effects related to the reasonable use of stevia

Whenever possible I substitute any sugar in a recipe with stevia.  I use the following stevia/sugar conversion: 1 tsp stevia (powder) = 1 cup sugar.  Powdered stevia often leaves you with a slightly bitter aftertaste in your food, so what I've tried is using 1/2 tsp powdered stevia for every 1 cup of sugar and that has worked fine for me.

When you substitute stevia for sugar though, you're losing some moisture in the recipe, so you need to replace that lost moisture with something like yoghurt or apple sauce or whatever will suit your recipe.  In recipes containing bananas, I just add an extra banana to make up for the moisture loss, otherwise I usually use plain greek yoghurt.  It has been suggested that for every 1 cup of sugar that is replaced with stevia, 1/4 to 1/2 cup of moisture ingredients should be added.

If you live in South Africa, you can buy this at Dischem.

Strawberries & Stevia-Sweetened Cream

I like to sweeten my cream a little when I eat it with strawberries, and I sweeten it with stevia extract (I use the liquid form here).

1/2 cup cream
5 drops liquid stevia extract

Add stevia and beat the cream as usual until it's thick.  Serve and enjoy. :)  You can add more drops of stevia depending on how sweet you like your cream.

Not only is stevia calorie-free, but it also has a host of other benefits as well, so you can enjoy your strawberries and cream with less guilt now!  ;)