healthy snack ideas Archives - Beta Me Nutrition by Danielle Lamb

March 15, 2018July 23, 2018

Fudgy Choc-Banana Brownies (flour free)

These deliciously easy to make flour free fudgy brownies require just 4 ingredients!

At approximately 100 calories per flour free brownie and a whole lot of goodness including:

magnesium
antioxidants
potassium
healthy fats
low GI carbohydrates
protein

These sweet treats are the perfect 3pm pick-me-up…
Find that spring in your step when the afternoon slump hits!

It is important to snack smart. Foods that support and regulate healthy blood sugar levels will ensure you continue on your way feeling content, headache free and full of the kind of energy that lives on throughout your busy day.

A good quality snack should not be high in refined carbohydrates and saturated fats but it should contain a healthy balance of quality healthy fats, carbohydrates and proteins.

Simple Fudgy Choc Banana Protein Brownies (flour free) Recipe

3 medium, overripe bananas (the riper they are the sweeter they are)

1/2 cup smooth pure almond butter, or any other pure nut butter (no added salt, sugar or nasties)

2 tablespoons cacao powder

¼ cup Prana Chocolate Protein

How to prepare and cook your brownies

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius, line and grease a small loaf pan.

In a microwave friendly bowl or small saucepan on the stovetop, melt the almond or other nut butter. In a large glass or metal mixing bowl, add banana, nut butter and cacao powder and mix well with a beater (if you have a kitchen aid use this to mix for a smooth consistency).

Transfer the brownie mixture into the pre-greased pan. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 20 minutes or until cooked through. Remove the brownie from the oven and allow to cool before slicing into pieces (this will ensure it holds together).

Cut into approximately 12 slices and store in the fridge for later enjoyment.

Why else are these brownies so awesome?

They:

contain no added sugars, refined sugar free (all the sweetness come from the natural sugars in the bananas and the stevia in the protein powder)
have no nasty additives
contain no added saturated fats (just the healthy fats contained in natural nut butters)
are dairy free, meaning they are vegan friendly
gluten free, meaning they are perfect for coeliac and gluten intolerant (ensure that you select only products that are labelled gluten free if coeliac)

February 22, 2018July 23, 2018

Adrenal Health: Constantly Snacking or Drinking Multiple Cups of Coffee?

Does Your Adrenal Health Need Assessment?

Snacking habits can be caused by a range of factors, which may be as simple as confusing hunger for thirst, boredom or habit or a reflection of your adrenal health.

But there may also be an underlying biochemical and physiological reason.

When our blood sugar levels spike and slump rapidly after a meal or drop too low due to a period of fasting, our body signals an alarm to tell us we need to eat again and fast. Often, we reach for fast fuel items such as sugary, carb rich, salty or high fat foods. We can also find ourselves gorging at the next meal for similar reasons. These persistent peaks and troughs in blood sugar can lead to insulin resistance and can become dangerous to our health.

Other reasons may include adrenal depletion and fatigue.
We may be under a lot of stress or anxiety from:

work
illness
study
family
finances
a traumatic event
over exercise
and other lifestyle factors

With this stress our adrenal glands (tiny little glands that sit above our kidneys), release the hormone cortisol and other fight flight hormones that give us the energy we need to get through a stressful situation. These hormones direct our liver to release glycogen as glucose and glucose floods our body in response to the stress. We then crash as our body tries to bring the glucose within normal range. When we crash we fatigue and our brain and organs reach for carbohydrates to rapidly increase energy supply again. Our adrenal glands and the hormones released were not designed to cope with the persistent stressors of today’s society and this often results in the depletion of the cortisol secreted from our adrenals, which is required for releasing glucose from the liver and muscles.

The vicious cycle, causes us to continuously reach for snack items.
There are ways to find out if your adrenals are depleted on or their way.

Speak with me to find out how and what we can do to assist in preventing adrenal fatigue, persistent snacking habits and blood sugar dysregulation.

February 21, 2018July 23, 2018

Clean Orange, Poppy Seed & Pistachio Muffins

We all love muffins and they are often a convenient and yummy snack option. However, they often come with a hefty, less than nutritious caloric profile and this can impact both our waistline and overall health. Thankfully, there are raw ingredient options available to us to boost their nutritional profile and reduce poor quality calories.

Clean Orange, Poppy Seed & Pistachio Muffins

Ingredients

100g pistachios (unsalted), & an extra 1 ½ tbsp. chopped (for decoration).

100g almond flour/meal (if you don’t have any on hand, put 50g almonds in a food processor and grind down)

50g coconut flour.

60g rapadura sugar (or xylitol if you are looking to cut down on sugar)

1 tsp baking powder

1 pinch sea salt or Celtic salt or Himalayan salt

Zest of one orange + juice of 1 fresh orange.

1 tbsp. poppy seeds, plus 1 tsp additional for decoration

60mL almond milk

4 lightly beaten large eggs

3 tbsp. walnut, hazelnut or almond oil (or olive oil if neither are available to you)

1 tsp vanilla bean paste/extract

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Method

Preheat oven to 180⁰C. Line 10 spaces of a muffin tin with muffin cases.

Place 100g of pistachios in a food processor or blender and process until fine.

Place ground pistachios into a large bowl and stir in other dry ingredients as well as the orange zest.

Squeeze orange juice into a measuring cup and add almond milk up to 175mL. Pour mixture over dry ingredients and add eggs, oil and vanilla. Stir until smooth.

Spoon mixture into prepared muffin cases, top with designated decorative pistachios and poppy seeds.

Bake for 25-30 mins or until a fork or skewer comes out clean.

Leave to cool.

Transfer into an airtight container for storage in the fridge or freezer if left for more than 4 days.