Recently I confessed my love of food, and my obsession with cooking. I've always loved baking too, but I have a problem with baking, it's yummy, so yummy that Adam and I would eat an entire cake in 2 days, which being full of chocolate and sugar didn't help my thighs much.
A moment on your lips a lifetime on your hips.
Paleo Poached Pears with Dark Chocolate Sauce
It was ok for Adam, he runs about 50kms a week, and when he's training he cycles twice that. However, even though he was burning it off, he would still refuse it. It makes me feel sick. He'd say, fair enough, it makes me feel sick too, but god does it taste good! So I got out of the habit of baking, I couldn't work out a way to bake, and eat and not feel sick, or gain weight. When I put on weight I am a pear shape, so that phrase up there sang true to me every time I indulged in cake, it stuck to my hips.
It wasn't until we found Paleo that I can finally bake and eat and still lose weight. In the past few weeks I have been experimenting with coconut flour, ground almonds, coconut oil and stewed fruit to make the most amazing cakes and cookies that don't have any gluten, sugar or dairy in them.
"Wins" for me are few and far between. I am proud of the life Adam and I have made for ourselves, proud of our achievements and proud of our experiences but in my day to day life, I don't have much to shout out about. Until recently, I can't believe how easy Paleo baking really is. If you have a blender, you're set. Not even a Thermomix, I use a very simple smoothie blender, the one that you screw the lid on, flip it over and push down. Granted sometimes I dream about a Kitchen Aid but who has £700? I spent £30, and I use it every day.
The first thing to learn in Paleo baking, is what foods go well together, what flavours and what textures. Below are a list of delicious flavour combinations that might seem like common sense, but when you're not adding any sugar, the sweetness needs to be well matched.
FLAVOURS I LOVE
- Chocolate and Banana
- Orange and Ginger
- Apple, Raspberry and Coconut
- Coconut and Chocolate
- Almond and Apple
- Pear and Almond
- Orange/ Lemon and Almond
- Apple, Ginger and Cinnamon
- Sweet Potato and Chocolate
- Pear and Chocolate
- Peach and Coconut
To get the most flavour out of the fruits, I stew apples with cinnamon and lemon and a splash of water. NO SUGAR. I grate the orange rind, then juice the oranges and blend it with freshly grated ginger, before adding to the mix.
There are little tricks like this that make the flavours so much stronger, and make it so much easier to enjoy sugar free baking.
We've been Paleo for more than a month know, and we don't miss anything. Sometimes we talk about the good old days - what we used to enjoy, but couldn't imagine eating now. I have lost more that 10 pounds in the past month, with not really any exercise. I started running earlier this year, and I walk at least half an hour most days. Plus I work in hospitality, so I am constantly moving.
Poached Pears with Dark Chocolate Sauce
Serves 2
This was so good, Adam licked his plate clean.
Ingredients:
- 2 Conference Pears - (not sure what we call them in Australia, the browner ones, not the soft yellow ones)
- A Cinnamon Stick
- 100 g of super dooper dark chocolate - I like the 90% (when I eat it with something sweet, like pears).
- A Heaped Teaspoon of Solid Coconut Oil
Method:
Boil about 3-4 inches of water in a medium saucepan, when boiling, turn to simmer and add the 2 pealed pears, leave whole with the stalk in. Add the cinnamon stick. It will take about 10 minutes for them to cook through, use a sharp knife to test, they should be soft all the way through when ready.
Remove from pan and place in separate bowls.
In a clean saucepan, add chocolate and oil, melt over low heat until almost melted. Remove from heat, stirring consistently.
Pour over prepared pears and enjoy.
No comments:
Post a Comment