Peanut butter – guilt free cookies

I found this recipe in a magazine, and thought: “yeah right! This will never work.” I was very sceptical, but tried it.

It worked! I couldn’t believe it. It is hearty, filling and best of all guilt free! Well mostly guilt free… See one cookie, counts as 1 portion of fat. The best part is, it is so rich you can’t really manage to eat more than one cookie at a time.

Peanut butter is a good source of healthy fats and could lower your risk for diabetes type two. It is also a good source of protein. It will make you feel fuller for longer. As everything in life, enjoy in moderation. My gran used to say whenever there is a "too" in front of a a phrase it's not healthy (too much chocolate, too much running, too much make-up), keep it simple.

Peanut butter – guilt free cookies

1 cup of natural peanut butter

1 cup of Castor sugar or sugar replacement

1 egg

Mix it all together, it will form a dough. Roll little balls and press them flat on a prepared baking tray. Bake at 200 degrees Celsius for about 10 minutes. Leave to cool on the baking tray before removing it.

You get about 20 – 30 regular sized cookies out of the mix. I made small cookies and served it as dessert with some nice filter coffee. YUM! 

(1 cookie = 1 fat serving)

Pineapple meringue

Yesterday we celebrated woman’s day in South-Africa. It was a glorious sunny day! We had a family braai, and made some chicken burgers and salad. The culinary star of the day? Pineapple meringues. 

I found this recipe on weighless facebook page, thank you weighless!! I must admit, if been on weighless for a few months now, and just by eating a healthy programme I’ve already lost 6kg. I’m taking it slow, and really trying to incorporate the vallues I learn on this programme into my lifestyle.

As you can see, it was a great success! It looked so pretty, and tasted divine.  I tweaked the recipe a bit, because I don’t like sugar replacements. This recipe made about 12 small meringues.

Yes I used Pink, it was woman's day :)

Pineapple meringue

1/4 cup Castor Sugar
1 tbsp butter
3 eggs (separated)
1/2 cup corn starch
2 tsp vanilla essence
225g Canned Crushed Pineapples with juice (weighless has a nice range of products, check it out)
1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
6 tbsp castor sugar

Pinch of salt

1. Cream together the sugar, butter and egg yolks. Add 1 tsp of vanilla essence, salt, the corn starch and stir well. Now add the pineapple. Wisk the ingredients in a pot over a low heat until the mixture thickens.
2. Cup the mixture into 12 brightly coloured cupcake holders. Set aside to cool.
3. Next take your egg whites (make sure there is no yolk in this otherwise it won’t work), whisk with an electric whisk until the whites start to foam.
4. Now add the cream of tartar and castor sugar slowly while whisking.
5. Whisk until soft peaks form (do not over whisk your egg whites)
6. Spoon over the cooled pineapple and bake in a 200 degree oven for about 5-7 minutes or until the meringues start to brown.

As you can see it is easy and simple to make. It was cheerful and beautiful, just what we needed on such a lovely public holiday.

I hope you enjoy making these.

Fresh Pasta

I love pasta, especially fresh homemade pasta. That’s why we’ve invested in our own little pasta machine. No you don’t really need a machine to make your own pasta. You can take time to roll out the dough paper thin, and cut it into strips, but I am far too impatient for that. 

The life saver!! Thank you @Home!

Every time I show a friend how to make pasta I get the same response: “Wow, I didn’t know it was so easy!” Making your own pasta really is extremely easy.

There are however a view things to remember.

1. Always use bread flour.
2. If you halve the recipe always use more eggs. (e.g. 5 eggs /2 = 3 eggs to be used in pasta)
3. Always knead your dough for about 10 minutes.
4. Always rest your dough for 20 minutes in the fridge.
5. Always have extra flour available when you roll out your pasta.
6. Never leave your dough uncovered, it dries out fast.

If you keep these simple rules in mind, your pasta cannot flop.

Basic Pasta Recipe

Serves 10-12 people

Ingredients

450g White bread flour

5 Eggs (whisked)

15ml Olive Oil

2,5ml Salt

Directions

• Add the salt and flour in a big mixing bowl.
• Add the 5 Eggs and Olive Oil and mix until it forms a dough.
• Dust your working surface with some flour and knead your flour for about 10 minutes. This helps to activate your glucose in the flour, and helps with the elasticity of your dough.
• Wrap the dough in cling wrap and let it rest in the fridge for about 20 minutes. (It can be left for no more than two days in the fridge)

Making pasta

• Take small pieces of dough at a time, making sure the rest of the dough is covered with the cling wrap.
• Lightly dust the dough, and put it through the pasta machines widest setting.
• Dust the dough as necessary, you don’t want to over dust it or it will dry out, just enough not to stick to the machine.
• Work the dough from the widest setting, one setting down until you reach the smallest setting. I like to roll it twice through a setting before I start on a smaller setting.
• The pasta will become thinner and longer every time you put it through the machine.
• Lastly cut it into spaghetti/lasagne/ravioli strips.

Cooking fresh pasta

• Cook the pasta in salted boiling water.
• It does not take long to cook, no more than 5 – 7 minutes. When the pasta starts to float, it’s an indication that it is cooked.
• Add a small amount of olive oil over the cooked pasta.

I like to add spices in the dough like some basil, or you can even infuse your pasta with some tomato paste by kneading the paste into your dough. I sometimes use half white bread flour, half whole wheat bread flour. This pasta is extremely filling.

You can make ravioli by cutting it into blocks inserting a filling, and sealing it. You can use it for cannelloni or make lasagne sheets. You can even air dry the pasta and put it in an airtight container for later use. (You can use it for up to 3 months.)

Be creative, try something new and enjoy your meals :)