Millet pudding

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup of millet

• 1 and 1/2 cups of plant based milk of choice

• 1 table spoon of ghee or coconut oil (fat will make it creamier as millet it pretty dry and powdery)

• optional: whey protein powder, 1 banana, 1 tablespoon of nut butter or tahini, cinnamon, toppings of choice

Instructions:

1. Rinse the millet groats thoroughly in a sieve under warm water and place in a pot with 1 glass of milk. Cook over low heat, covered, until the liquid is completely absorbed and the groats are soft (about 15-20minutes).

2. Place the soft millet in the blender, add the rest of the milk, a fat of choice and alternatively protein powder. It is best if the milk has been preheated. Optionally, you can add 1/2 ripe banana and/or nut butter or tahini. Blend until perfectly smooth.

3. Place in individual dishes like ramekins or bowls and store in the fridge for a couple of days.

   It can be topped with a sweetener of choice and cooked fruit like berries.

Peach and mango sorbet pops

Ingredients:

• 500ml peach juice without added sugar (it is naturally very sweet)

• 1 ripe mango, peeled and roughly chopped (frozen is also fine, most supermarkets have it)

• Optionally, juice of 1/2 lime - it will help to balance the flavour

Instructions:

1. Process the juice and mango using a high speed blender.

2. Place in ice cream moulds (i.e. Ikea or Amazon) and freeze for 3 hours before serving.

Frozen yoghurt two ways

Ingredients for forest fruit frozen yoghurt:

• 350g frozen forest fruit mix (most supermarkets)

• 2500g full fat Greek yoghurt (you can use plant based if you like)

• xylitol / erythritol / stevia / monkfruit sweetener (honey or maple syrup will change the flavour)

• optional: 2 servings of collagen protein powder

Instructions:

1. Put the berries in a pot, defrost and cook on low heat until most water has evaporated. You can also skip this step but your ice cream will contain more ice crystals.

2. Place the fruit puree with the remaining ingredients in a high speed blender and process until smooth.

3. Pour into ice cream moulds (e.g. Ikea, Amazon) or a container like a Pyrex dish or an old ice cream box.

4. Freeze for a minimum of 3 hours before serving.

   If you used a container, wait for a couple of minutes until the ice cream softens before serving.

Ingredients for raspberry-rose frozen yoghurt:

• 300g of frozen raspberries

• 300g of Greek yoghurt

• xylitol / erythritol / stevia / monkfruit sweetener (honey or maple syrup will change the flavour)

• 5 drops of rose water (selected food shops and online, e.g. Amazon)

• optional: 2 servings of collagen protein powder - for more satiety and nutritional value

Instructions:

1. Put the raspberries in a pot, defrost and cook on low heat until most water has evaporated. You can also skip this step but your ice cream will contain more ice crystals.

2. Place the raspberry puree with the remaining ingredients in a high speed blender and process until smooth.

3. Pour into ice cream moulds (e.g. Ikea, Amazon) or a container like a Pyrex dish or an old ice cream box.

4. Freeze for a minimum of 3 hours before serving.

   If you used a container, wait for a couple of minutes until the ice cream softens before serving.

Peanut butter ice cream two ways

Ingredients:

• 3 small or 2 big bananas, very ripe (brown skin)

• 2 heaped table spoons of peanut butter

• 2 egg yolks (egg yolks, next to cream, is the key ingredient in classic ice cream. They make it creamy due to the presence of lecithin which is a fat emulsifier) but you can skip them if you´re not convinced

• Splash of full fat coconut milk - enough to make the ingredients combine well without getting stuck, using a high speed blender

• pinch of salt

• maple syrup, to your liking (ice cream taste less sweet after freezing it so keep that in mind) but it is optional, especially if you are watching your waist line

• optional: 2 servings of collagen protein powder - for more satiety and nutritional value

• for the chocolate variety, add 2 table spoons of cacao or cocoa powder. Once blended, you can stir in cacao nibs for for some crunch

Instructions:

1. Combine all ingredients using a high speed blender.

2. Pour into ice cream moulds (e.g. Ikea, Amazon) or a container like a Pyrex dish or an old ice cream box.

3. Freeze for a minimum of 3 hours.

   If you used a container, wait for a couple of minutes until the ice cream softens before serving. Scoop out and sprinkle with chopped toasted peanuts.

Peanut butter treats and snacks

After dinner:

If you´ve just had a meal and feel like something sweet, wait for 15 minutes and see how you feel then. By this time, glucose from food should reach your cells and the craving often goes away. If still craving a dessert (perhaps because of insulin resistance), try the options below. The fat in peanut butter will make you want less sugar. Do not have these as a replacement for a snack or meal. This can be used as dessert replacement only.

• Max. 2 dates stuffed with a flat tea spoon of peanut butter, can be topped with an additional nut. Alternatively, you can stuff the date with ghee and top with a nut.

• Max. 2 pieces of dark chocolate (min. 70% cocoa) topped with a flat tea spoon of peanut butter.

Between meals:

The options below make wonderful snacks if you get peckish between meals. It´s better to eat rather than letting glucose drop too low as this stimulates inflammation.

• Apple quarters with 1/2 tea spoon of peanut butter on each.

• Celery stick cut into three and filled with peanut butter. You can also top it up with hard cheese like cheddar.

Avocado mousse

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe avocados, the hass variety

• 2 egg yolks

• 5 table spoons of cacao or cocoa

• 6-8 table spoons of maple syrup

• 1/8 tea spoon of unrefined salt

• optional toppings: pomegranate seeds, fresh berries, cacao nibs, toasted nuts, salted peanut butter cream (2 table spoons of peanut butter, 4 table spoons of freshly boiled water, pinch of salt - blend until smooth. Keeps well in the fridge)

Instructions:

Place all ingredients in a food processor or high speed blender and blend until smooth.
Makes 4 small portions but you can make it visually bigger by adding toppings. I don’t recommend more because after all, it’s fat mixed with sugar. 1/2 avocado per serving is sufficient.

Avocado brownie

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs, whisked well

• 100g coconut oil

• 300g dark chocolate, min. 70% cocoa

• 200g ground almonds

• 2 mashed ripe hass avocados (should feel lightly soft to touch - not mushy)

• 200g coconut sugar / panela / rapadura

• 1 heaped tea spoon baking powder

• Pinch of salt

• Optional: 1 tea spoon vanilla extract

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170 C degrees

2. Put saucepan over low heat; pop in coconut oil and chocolate

3. Once melted, add the sugar. It may not dissolve completely but that’s ok.

4. Turn off the heat, let it cool and add the remaining ingredients.

5. Pour the mixture into a tin lined with parchment paper and pop in the oven for 30 mins.

6. Let it cool for 20 mins and enjoy.

Salted caramel ice cream - dairy free

Ingredients:

• 1 tin of full fat coconut milk

• 3 egg yolks (to make vegan ice cream, simply don’t add them)

• 120 grams of cashew nuts or cashew butter

• 150 g of dates

• Generous pinch of sea salt

Tools:

Blender or food processor

Method:

1. Add cashews to coconut milk. Set aside overnight and blend well in the morning. Skip this step if using cashew butter.

2. Soak dates in hot water for at least 30 minutes. Drain. You can let them sit overnight, too.

3. Beat egg yolks.

4. Blend in the remaining ingredients.

5. Pour into a container or ice cream moulds, and freeze for 2-3 hours before serving.

   If you want to make scoops, wait until the ice cream thaws a little.

Serving suggestion: with toasted cashews or pecan nuts and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Mango lassi style smoothie

A smoothie that is supposed to replace a meal, such as breakfast, should always contain ample amounts of complete protein, quality fats and fibre. A well composed smoothie will support blood glucose balance throughout the day which will positively impact your stress response, weight loss hormones, metabolic performance and energy.

Smoothies are also a convenient way to include many functional foods in one meal, from probiotic foods and collagen to raw egg yolks.

Ingredients:

• 1 small ripe mango or 1/2 large

• 5 table spoons of full fat Greek or coconut yoghurt

• 1 serving of protein powder like whey isolate or vegan, ideally together with 1 serving of collagen

• 2 egg yolks (read here why I recommend raw egg yolks)

• Optional: pinch of ground cardamom and / or a few drops of rose water

Instructions:

Blend and enjoy.

To feel fuller for longer, use crunchy toppings like almond flakes or toasted coconut chips. This will stimulate chewing, which plays a big role in satiety signalling and smooth digestion.