Glimpse into Lamingtons

This weekend in Australia is a long weekend, because on Monday, January 26th it is Australia Day. On this day in 1788, the arrival of the First Fleet of the British Ships occurred. It is now a celebration of our diverse country, our history and this beautiful land.

As with all celebrations, iconic food is a must! One such treat is the humble Lamington. Typically, this is a square of sponge cake, covered in chocolate sauce and desiccated coconut. I decided that I must create a grain/gluten/egg/dairy free version, which is also low in FODMAPs, and simple to make. Here is what I came up with, and from all accounts, it is reasonably close considering the limitations!

Glimpse into choc chip banana bread

When you are grain free and gluten free, bread and cake textures are a distance memory! A recent discovery I made in a local health store was green banana flour. I have been experimenting with it, and it makes quite fluffy, baked treats.
This recipe is also dairy and egg free, so it can be a little dry once it has cooled. I find that it is yummy toasted or microwaved, and topped with mashed banana, strawberries or coconut butter.

Choc chip banana bread

1 cup green banana flour
1/2 cup almond meal
1/4 cup coconut flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
1 cup choc chips
1/4 - 1/3 cup maple syrup
1 cup banana, mashed
1 cup coconut milk
1/4 coconut oil
1 gelatin egg (1 tablespoon of gelatin dissolved in 2-3 tablespoons of boiling water)
1 chia egg (1 tablespoon of chia seeds dissolved in 3 tablespoons of water)



Preheat oven to 200 degrees celcius. Line loaf pan with baking paper.
Combine dry ingredients well.
Combine wet ingredients well.
Stir the two mixtures together. Pour into the lined pan.
Cook for 40 minutes, or til inserted skewer comes out clean.

Glimpse into healthy icecream

An important part to our special Christmas recipe, which will be revealed in its entirety this Foodie Friday, is this amazing and delicious recipe...

 

Banana ice cream

Basically, this recipe is: FROZEN BANANAS! All that needs to be done, is slice up a banana for each serve, and freeze. When ready to serve, simply blend the slices in a powerful food processor.

It is delicious in this simple form, but of course, you can add healthy extras for different flavours. Here are some of my favourite combinations:

Glimpse into Foodie Friday - week 47 - banana

Today's Foodie Friday ingredient is the humble banana!!

These delicious fruits are a quick and easy hit of carbohydrates, which normalise blood sugar levels, and so are great for sustained energy, workout fuel, and maintaining a good mood and a clear and effective mind. Bananas are a great source of fibre, antioxidants and some important vitamins, such as B6 and C. They can even help prevent and fight some cancers. Due to their no fat, low salt and high potassium combination, they are a fantastic food for maintaining a healthy blood pressure. Bananas also have a pretty neat trick up their sleeve. Due to their low calorie content combined with their ability to be very filling, they have a high satiety index. This means it is fairly impossible to get fat on bananas! In terms of fructose content, bananas are safe for most of us on a fructose restricted diet. This is because the fructose and glucose content is fairly equal.

I use bananas in a lot of my baked treats and smoothies as they are a delicious thickener and a great egg replacement. They are also awesome by themselves, or sliced up with a few shakes of cinnamon on them. It is great to keep some sliced bananas in the freezer so that you always have some to use. Frozen bananas can be used in recipes such as "icecream", smoothies, or defrosted for cakes.


Here is a very simple recipe for you which you can knock up when 3:30-itis hits!!

Choc dipped bananas

1 tablespoon of coconut oil
1 tablespoon of maple syrup
1 tablespoon of cocao
1 banana

Mix the oil, syrup and cocao til combined well. You may like to adjust the ratio to suit your taste preference.
Dip the banana into the mixture. The banana can be whole or sliced.

You may like to eat it as is, runny and straight out the bowl. Otherwise, try setting the chocolate by placing the dunked banana into the fridge or freezer til set to the desired firmness. Keep in mind that the banana may brown slightly. If you are not on a nut or seed free diet, you may like to also smear the banana with your favourite nut butter or tahini too!


Here are some other recipes on my blog which contain banana.

Choc banana quinoa cookies
Nut and seed banana bread
Spicy banana slab
Quinoa pancakes
Choc nut smoothie
Green smoothies