Banana Cake recipe suitable for Specific Carbohydrate Diet - sugar free cake

Dry ingredients
2.5 cups of ground almonds/almond flour
3 ripe bananas mashed
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

0.5 cup chopped hazlenuts
0.5 cup raisins
Wet ingredients
1 egg
Squirt of pure honey (or maple syrup)
1 tsp Vanilla essence

Mix the dry ingredients together first then mix in the egg and mashed bananas. Then add the honey and vanilla essence. Divide into two bread tins using grease-proof liners (bread tin ones can be bought as Asda stores) which means you get more crispy edges and it works better being thinner we believe. Cook for 50 minutes in an oven at 190 C.

More tweaks soon as we are perfecting this one and had a power cut in the middle so got confused with how long it had been in for.

Result nonetheless is delicious and quickly became an addiction. A healthier cake that is satisfying with good texture.

In case you are wondering the Specific Carbohydrate Diet removes most grains and even potatoes. It can help those with Autism, Crohn's Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, Diverticulitis, Celiac Disease, Cystic Fibrosis and Chronic Diarrhea. Some celiacs for example find that they continue to have issues after eliminating gluten from their diet and following this for a while and gradually re-introducing illegal foods can really turn things around. For more information I recommend reading this book - Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet.

How to make a Cafe Leche Leche

When Kevin told me he also liked holidaying in Lanzarote I told him to try Cafe Leche Leche which my hubby very much enjoys. After coming home and discovering you can buy squeezy tubes of condensed milk (the magic ingredient) Kevin has perfected his own version:
- 1 shot Fortissio Lungo coffee if you have a Nespresso or otherwise a double espresso
- 1 shot hot milk
- 2 dessert spoons condensed milk (a squeezy tube of it lasts 3 weeks in the fridge so you need not worry about opening up a tin you won't finish)

Thanks for sharing the love KC!

Which alternative to refined sugar is best?

After much research, aka googling, we found this helpful page http://www.raw-living-food-success.com/natural-sweetener.html to guide us what to use in making raw chocolate and settled on coconut palm sugar. I can't say that any sweet stuff is good for you but they are a whole lot better than having refined sugar so the key is moderation. Favourite bought raw chocolate (note we like dark chocolate best) is this one - 72% pitch dark, but we reckon making it ourselves will halve the cost.

Another interesting article about new research saying agave is not good for you.

A great little film about Nature, Beauty and Gratitude

I loved this and will want to watch it again - http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/louie_schwartzberg_nature_beauty_gratitude.html

I cycle as if I am balancing scones on my head apparently

Husband has finished working off 325 calories on the exercise bike while listening to indie post hardcore aka 'Funeral for a friend' and watching a video of road scenery captured while someone else was cycling somewhere not in the pouring rain. This is his first non-walking exercise in months and yet he scoffs at me for doing the bike on level 1 like "a vicar cycling over to a ladie's house while balancing a tray of scones on their head".