Friday Fare – Cashew Pesto

March 14, 2014

Cashew Pesto

So if you are like me, then you loooove Italian food. And by default you looooove pesto! Pesto is actually quite a healthy creation to begin with, although it is quite high in calories and fat. This cashew pesto is a fun twist on pesto using cashew nuts which are lower in calories and fat, and have more protein. This recipe also uses coconut oil instead of olive oil, and although both are fine, I am always a fan of using coconut oil when I can.

The best thing about this recipe is how easy and absolutely deeeelicious it is! All you need are the following ingredients and a food processor. So that being said, let’s go make it 🙂

1. Get all of your ingredients out and ready.

2. Start by firstly putting your garlic cloves into the food processor and giving it a whizz. Then add your basil, 1 cup at a time until they are chopped up.

3. Next, add your coconut oil, cashew nuts and parmesan cheese (you can omit this if you are vegan or try using a vegan cheese, let me know how that works). Give it another good whizz until the texture starts to become creamy like.

4. Now add the lemon juice and your 1/2 tsp of salt and pepper. Whizz all the ingredients one final time until the texture is thick and creamy. Done! Now it is time to eat it mmmm…

This recipe makes approximately 6 tablespoons worth.

There are a variety of ways to enjoy this delicious cashew pesto. I tried it this way, with shrimp and some whole grain pasta and egg noodles.

Good lord, I am drooling at the memory of this meal .. so .. effing .. good. I baked it with some chicken breast too and that was also very, very good.

Hope you all enjoyed this edition of Friday Fare! As always, if you liked the post please leave a comment or like and share this recipe via Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram or whatever other social media you use. It would mean so much to be, although I am continually thankful for everyone’s support.

Till next week!

Honestly yours,
Alice

Friday Fare, Health

Friday Fare – Healthified ice-cream with toffee sauce

March 7, 2014

Woooow, it’s Friday already?? Umm, the weeks pass by too fast for me. And I have a lot of work due next week for uni, so that’s not necessarily a good thing lol.

Anyway, I thought I would show you all how to make a healthier and clean version of everyone’s favorite dessert: ice-cream! And since I loooove toffee, I thought I would show you how to make a healthy version of that, to drizzle on top of the ice-cream.

Healthified ice-cream with toffee sauce

I was inspired to do this, because a) I freaking love ice cream, and b) I am in LOVE with banoffee pie. Read bananas and toffee in a pie. Together. Heaven in a pie. And because this ice cream is made out of bananas, I thought it would be delicious to pair it with a healthy and raw toffee sauce 🙂

This recipe was also inspired by recipes featured on Blogilates and The Detoxinista 🙂

And note, before you can do ANYTHING, make sure your bananas are ripe and sweet and then slice it up and freeze the banana slices overnight. This is a crucial first step, as the frozen banana slices is what gives you a deliciously sweet and creamy texture to the ‘ice-cream.’

Also PLEASE USE NATURAL PEANUT BUTTER and not just any old peanut butter 🙂

Alright, banana slices all frozen? Excellent, let us move on.

Healthified Ice-Cream with Toffee Sauce

Alice Williams

Healthy 'ice-cream' that literally tastes and has the exact same texture as ice-cream!

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Ingredients

For the Ice Cream
2 bananas sliced and frozen
1 tbsp Peanut Butter
For the Toffee Sauce
12 pitted medjool dates
3 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

To make the ice cream
1. Throw your banana slices (or you can gently guide them) into your blender, and whizz it until the consistency becomes smooth and creamy. This will be done very quickly if you have a Vitamix or Ninja blender and unfortunately will take longer with a less high powered one. I found that a food processor actually worked very well in getting a very ice-cream like texture, but perhaps that has more to do with the fact that my housemates food processor is perfect ..
2. Then add your peanut butter to the mixture. Blend for another 30 seconds – 1 minute.
To make the toffee sauce
1. Make sure you soften the dates by soaking them in hot water for a few minutes (3-5 is fine) first.
2. Once the dates are soft, add the dates in first and blend them for a bit until adding in your milk and vanilla extract.
3. Blend until your desired consistency (I wanted to leave mine a bit gritty and thick) and then either add to the ice-cream, on top or by swirling it in orrrrr just eat it. Hehe, it is really good.

Notes

Adapted from Blogilates and the Detoxinista

I hope you like this recipe as much as I do!! I normally like to add some unsweetened cocoa powder to my ice-cream mix, or I stir in some unsweetened coconut flakes and dark chocolate chips. Experiment, the possibilities are endless!

If you make this delicious dessert and post it on Instagram, Facebook, or any form of social media, please tag me and hashtag it with #fridayfare and #honestlyfitness so I can find you 🙂 My name on all social media outlets is just ‘Honestly Fitness’.

Love you all so much, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend. And remember to indulge once in a while! I had a ridiculously decadent little dessert last night and plan to go out for Indian food with my good friends tomorrow night. Although health and fitness is important, it is all about balance. Don’t deprive yourself, and don’t go too crazy 🙂

Honestly yours,
Alice

Friday Fare, Health

Friday Fare – Honey Lavender Oatmeal with Blueberries

March 2, 2014

Ahh, what could be more sweet than honey and lavender? I’ll tell you what … honey and lavender combined with hearty oatmeal and fresh blueberries!

After making the Green Post’s delicious Apple Butternut and Lavender pancakes a few weeks ago, I have been thinking of ways to use the lavender that I bought. It has such a beautiful smell and taste, and I knew there had to be a way to incorporate it in a novel way into a recipe. Et voila: my honey lavender oatmeal with blueberries was born!

I don’t have oatmeal as often as I did when I was in England (I was SO cold in England, I needed all the warmth I could get) but I love it because it is a filling, delicious and healthy breakfast meal. Oatmeal is a funny one though because you have to be careful about what type of oats you buy. I recommend you buy traditional rolled oats, or steel cut oats. I would advise you to stay away from instant oatmeal, because apart from the fact that most are flavored (and thus have loads of sugar), instant oatmeal has been highly processed to make it quicker to cook so it is also broken down more quickly by your body resulting in a higher glycaemic index. It isn’t the end of the world if you buy PLAIN instant oatmeal, but if you can, try and buy traditional rolled oats or steel cut oats as they have a lower glycaemic index 🙂

Alright, let’s get down to business!

Honey Lavender Oatmeal

Alice Williams

Melt in your mouth oatmeal with sweet honey and notes of lavender

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Ingredients

1/4-1/2 cup oatmeal
1 cup whole milk
1 cup blueberries
1 tbsp raw honey
1 tsp dried lavender
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Pour the milk and lavender into a pot. Heat the milk and the lavender on a low heat for 5 minutes to allow the lavender to infuse into the milk. Do NOT boil the milk. After 5 minutes is up, pour the milk back into the pot using a sieve to catch the lavender buds.
2. Now add your oatmeal; as you can see I am using steel cut oats so the time I have to cook these for is longer than traditional rolled oats. Heat the lavender infused milk and oatmeal on a medium-high heat for 15-20 minutes.
3. Once the oatmeal is cooked, transfer it to a bowl and then drizzle 1 tablespoon of honey onto it. I use Eco pollen's raw honey as it is one of the best honey's I have ever tasted.
4. Wait about 5 minutes, or until your oatmeal has cooled slightly, and then add your blueberries.