Recipe: Sugar-free Banana Bread

Who doesn't love a good ol' slice of banana bread, the sweet goodness that goes perfectly with an afternoon cup of tea. If you don't, then, well frankly, you're missing out on something pretty special.

The usual recipe isn't too kind on the waistline, so I've adapted it to create this paleo and sugar-free version of the teatime treat to be enjoyed without any trace of guilt. The sugar-free purists among us will say that this isn't entirely free of the sweet stuff because of those two little bananas, but hey, I'm not one of them. This is still damn good for you.

Ya with me? Here goes.

What you'll need:

• 1 cup ground almonds
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp melted coconut oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/4 cup rice malt syrup

1. Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 4/180C/350F

2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together your dry ingredients; ground almonds, coconut flour, cinnamon and sea salt.

3. In a separate bowl mix your wet ingredients; oil, eggs, bananas and rice malt syrup (I got a bit mix-happy here and forgot to take a shot of all wet components together).

4. Add wet ingredients to dry and then mix away using a hand whisk, so you're left with a smooth banana batter.

5. Line a loaf tin with baking paper and pour the batter in, smoothing to even out on the top.

6. Into the oven she goes for 40 minutes until golden brown, or until a skewer comes out cleanly.

7. Once baked to perfection, leave to cool.

Super healthy, super tasty, and gluten-free, sugar-free and paleo to boot! You are welcome.

I'm now going to try and not eat this bad lad all at once.

What other sweet treats have you turned into sugar-free masterpieces? I'd love to hear your recipes. 

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Le Tour

This weekend, we headed over to the Lake District for some glamping, beverage drinking and general relaxation.

When we realised Le Tour de France was calling by a lovely little village around an hour away from where we were staying as part of the first UK leg, we absolutely couldn't miss it. We're off on a cycling holiday around France next summer, so seeing these guys making hill-climbs look like an utter breeze was just the thing I needed to spur on my training.

Here's a few snippets, taken from when the race passed through Hawes.

The town (along with every other calling point throughout the three UK stages) had really embraced Le Tour fever, with decorated shop fronts and some token French goodies.

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July: What's going down

What a bad blogger I've been of late. So, for something to whip my butt back into blogging gear, here's a look at what I've got planned for this fine sunny month.

Chillin'
Slowing things right down and giving myself some much needed R&R is kick-starting this July.

This weekend, I'm escaping to the Lake District to indulge in a bit of glamping and some spa treatments for a much-needed rest. An obligatory Lakes walk is top of the list, along with re-fuelling at pubs off the beaten track. Oh, and I'm extra excited about having a device-free few days. See ya, 3G.

We're staying at the fabulous Sunny Brow Farm, in one of their three woodland yurts.

Image credit: Sunny Brow Farm

We found this secluded spot over at Canopy and Stars, a site which I can highly recommend for cool places and spaces to camp out in the UK, France, Spain and Portugal. There are some seriously brilliant places to stay - you could literally trawl the site for hours planning adventures.

During our time in the Lakes, we'll also be hitting up The Langdale Hotel for some spa treatments, which I am insanely excited about. I'm booked up for a Detoxifying Spirulina Wrap, which I'm mildly terrified at the prospect of but love the idea of toxins being stripped from my skin. I'll report back on how it goes...

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Stretchin'
Having heard loads about the Yogalilies studio in Newcastle, I've signed up for a five-class taster using one of the studio's birthday offers. Easy to hot-foot too after work, I'm heading to Barre and Hot Yoga to bring a new dimension to my training schedule.

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Trainin'
July is the month to take training schedule up a notch. The Great North Run is just around the corner, so I'm upping the miles and to compliment the cardio, I'll be weight training, heading to classes like Metafit and eating super clean. I'm chasing a sub-1.55" for the GNR, so hopefully all of the extra activities I've got planned in will help me achieve this big result.

Have you set any goals for July?

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Recipe: Raw Cacao Nib Cookies

I'm on somewhat of a sugar-free tip at the minute thanks to the quite brilliant Sarah Wilson and her I Quit Sugar programme.

Ever since I first discovered Sarah's philosophy in January, I've been all over her way of sugar-free thinking, and trying out her recipes and ideas has been high on my agenda.

I'm going to full a post on things I've learned on IQS and how it's helped my training and general wellbeing, but in the meantime, here's a killer recipe for sugar and gluten-free cookies.

They are super-sweet (without any of the bad, bad, white stuff in there) and are a great fix when all you can think about is chocolate. Oh, and quick and easy to make to boot.

Cacao Nib Cookies (Makes 16 small cookies, or about 9 big cookies)
(adapted from Love & Lentils recipe)
What you'll need:

• 1 1/4 cups ground almonds
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 3 tbsp rice malt syrup ( I used Clearspring Organic Rice Malt Syrup)
• 1/2 desiccated coconut (I actually used coconut flakes, blitzed in the food processor)
• 1/4 cup raw cacao nibs
• 1/4 tsp vanilla powder
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped almonds
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder

1. Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 4/180C/350F

2. In a small mixing bowl, mix the melted coconut oil and rice malt syrup. In a larger bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients; ground almonds, desiccated coconut, cacao nibs, vanilla powder, chopped almonds, sea salt and baking powder.

3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix, mix, mix until you have a cookie dough consistency.
4. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Form cookie dough balls from the mixture, and spread these out evenly on the tray.

5. Pop 'em in the oven for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.
6. Cool on a wire rack. I highly recommend you try one whilst they're still warm. Dreamy.

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Recipe: Baked Eggs with Chorizo

I can't get enough of baked eggs at the moment. After a bit of a heavy night at a wedding last weekend, gooey, baked eggs were only thing to sort out our hungover heads.

As we both thought they were so damn good, they were top of the request list for Bank Holiday Sunday brunch this weekend. And to boot? They ain't too bad for you.

Just to make them a bit more special this weekend, I added the Spanish flavour powerhouse that is chorizo. So, if they sound like the perfect brunch to fit the Bank Holiday bill...Get. On. This.

Baked Eggs with Chorizo (serves 2, generously)

• 1 medium white onion, chopped finely
• Quarter of a good-quality chorizo ring, diced
• 2 x 400g chopped tomatoes
• 4 large handfuls of baby spinach
• 4 eggs (I used the beautiful Old Cotsworld Legbar by Clarence Court eggs)
• 1 tsp dried chilli flakes / half a fresh chilli
• Salt and pepper
• Handul of strong cheddar cheese
• Salted butter, olive oil

Method:

1. Melt a small amount of salted butter and a teaspoon of olive oil in the pan. Add your chopped onion and sweat for 5 minutes until soft.
2. Add your diced chorizo to the onion and fry until the pieces started to crisp and release their lovely paprika oil.

3. Add the chopped tomatoes to the pan, stir and season. Cover and let simmer for 15-20 minutes until the mixture starts to thicken.

4. Add your spinach to the tomato sauce mix and cover for 2 minutes.

5. Remove the lid and the spinach will have wilted down. Give the mixture a good stir.

6. Crack your 4 eggs into the pan (I also seasoned the eggs further here with a twist of pepper) and cover for 5-7 minutes.

7. After a few minutes, remove the lid and they will have poached/baked in the tomato mixture. 

8. For a final bit of indulgence, top the eggs with a sprinkling of cheese and let this melt down for 2 minutes.

Voila! Perfect Bank Holiday brunch, non?

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