C ontentsIntroduction

One Minute Slice

Banana Bread

Nut Free Chocolate Cookies

Lemon Balls

5 Ingredient Chocolate Mud Cake

Not Quite Kingstons

Introduction

Perhaps it all started many years ago when my journey into clean eating began. Perhaps it was much later than that, when I had a baby of my own and noticed how many children were eating processed and packaged foods. Or maybe it was not so long ago, when I mentioned to those around me that I wanted to show people that there was another way.

I suspect there were many roads that led me here.

Today, my aim is to make things a little easier for those who are embarking on the real foods path.

I am not entirely sure how Wholefood Simply came to be.

Bianca

I want to help families who live with intolerances and allergies. I want to put fun and simplicity into what can sometimes be a daunting and dull experience. Ultimately, I want to create food that is enjoyed by all.

This is the essence of Wholefood Simply, and Wholefood Simply would cease to exist without the amazing community that supports it.

I sincerely thank you for being here and I hope you enjoy the recipes. Be sure to let me know. Enjoy.

One Minute Slice

Multiple times a day my son comes up to me and takes my hand. He says “I show you Mum”. His voice is gentle and his look is filled with love and anticipation. I get the sense he feels as though he has found a new way of communicating with me, that through showing me his little discoveries we again connect. He feels, I am sure, that each of these discoveries makes me proud of him. If only he knew that I am always proud, that I don’t need to see the spider, or the fly, or him standing on a pillow. I just look at him and I feel proud.

Each time he takes my hand, each time I hear those gentle words or see that loving expression my heart melts. It truly does. I feel like it melts and runs all through my body, warming me from the inside out.

He has my hand before his words come out, before I can say “Just wait a minute” or “Let Mummy finish this”. Before I can think, I am walking along behind him.

I hope his hand never grows too big for mine. I hope he can always see the fun in standing on one leg and be fascinated by watching an insect. I hope I can always take a minute to revel in whatever it is that matters to him.

One Minute Slice6 tablespoons peanut butter*

3 tablespoons coconut oil (mine was somewhere between soft and liquid)

3 tablespoons honey**

2 tablespoons cacao or cocoa

1/2 teaspoon concentrated natural vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup cashews, crushed (I placed them in a snap lock bag and crushed them with my rolling pin)

Place all ingredients except for the cashews into a medium sized bowl and mix until well combined and looking deliciously chocolatey. Stir in the cashews. Pour the mixture into a silicon loaf tin. Place in the fridge to set.

This slice only takes a couple of hours to set. However, the longer you leave it the firmer it will become. I like it best the day after making.

Store in the fridge as it will melt at room temperature.

Enjoy.

*You can sub the peanut butter with almond butter if you prefer.**You can use rice malt syrup if you prefer.

Banana Bread

Rainy, cold, wintery days. For as long as I can remember such weather has made me want to make banana bread. I have lived through a lot of winters and consequently I have made loaves and loaves and loaves of banana bread. I would seldom use the same recipe twice, until I came up with this one.

3 ripe bananas

8 medjool dates, seeds removed

3 tablespoons of hulled tahini or nut/seed butter of your choice

juice of 1/2 a lemon

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 cup coconut flour, sifted

1 teaspoon bicarb soda (baking soda)

4 eggs

Pinch of salt

Preheat your oven to 175°C (350°F). Grease and line your loaf tin (mine is 19.5cm x 9.5cm).

Blend the bananas and dates together until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until well combined. Pour mixture into the prepared tin. Bake for 45 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out cleanly. Enjoy!

Banana Bread

Nut Free Chocolate C ookies

Simple, delicious and perfect for snacks, treats and school lunch boxes. I hope you family enjoys them as much as mine.

Nut Free Chocolate C ookies2 cups desiccated coconut

12 medjool dates, seeds removed

2 tablespoons cacao or cocoa

1 tablespoon coconut cream (optional)

Preheat your oven to 175°C (350°F). Line a tray with baking paper.

Place the ingredients into your food processor and blend at high speed until the mixture resembles a fine crumb that sticks together when pressed. You may not need the coconut cream if you are using a high speed processor.

Press and shape spoonfuls of the mixture into cookies and place them onto your prepared tray. I made 16.

Bake for ten minutes, turning the tray half way through the cooking time.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes before gently gently transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Enjoy.

Lemon Bal ls

Lemon slice in a bite! These bliss balls only take a minute to make and are truly divine. Be sure to try them out.

1 cup raw cashews

1 cup desiccated coconut

Zest of one large lemon*

1/2 teaspoon concentrated natural vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

2 tablespoons maple syrup

Extra desiccated coconut for rolling in

Place the ingredients into your processor in the order listed above and pulse at high speed until the mixture is smooth and the nuts and coconut have broken down. Using your hands shape the mixture into balls. Roll in coconut and place in the fridge to firm up a little. Eat and enjoy!!!

Note: Try not to over blend the mixture if you are using a high powered processor or you may end up with an oily butter as opposed to a mix you can roll into balls.

*Double the lemon if you like a bit more tang.

Lemon Bal ls

5 Ingredient Chocolate Mud Cake

I sometimes give my little girl a topic to go and write about. We might do this if she is at home from school for the day or looking for something to do on a rainy Sunday afternoon as her brother sleeps.

Her latest subject was “Something I don’t understand.”

Twenty minutes after I assigned the topic my six year old daughter gave a page to me that said “Something I don’t understand is why it takes so long to be grown up. I guess we just have to be a kid and be pachent.”

I asked her why she would like to be an adult, “Because then I wouldn’t have so many jobs to do.”

This is not the reply I expected. I would have understood wanting to drive a car, getting to buy things at the shops, being able to cook at the stove or having babies. But this answer threw me.

My precious Lulu, stay young little one.

So much of adult life is jobs, a constant stream of jobs, intersected only by decisions before going back to your jobs. There are few places more perfect than a loved and adored six year old body and mind.

Yes, you need to put the dishes away, but as an adult you will also need to wash the dishes. Yes, you need to open the blinds, but as an adult some days the brightness will not filter through. Yes, you need to be kind to your brother who loves you, but as an adult you will need to be kind to people who are not kind to you. Yes, you need to go to school, where you love your teacher, friends and all that you learn. But when you are an adult you will need to go work, where although there may be aspects you enjoy, there may also be aspects you despise.

Embrace your young mind little one, your imagination, your freedom and creativity. Treasure the spring in your step, the joy in your voice and the simplicity you have in being present. We adults long to be back there. What we wouldn’t give to be six again!

Have you noticed that adults don’t get piggy backs, or balloons when we go to the dentist, or bedtime stories, or tickled until tears of laughter run down our cheeks? Imagine life without piggy backs and tickles! It doesn’t sound near as grand as being six, where you can still make cubbies under your bed and hide under the kitchen table.

Do you know what I don’t understand my precious baby girl? I don’t understand why we have to grow up, why can’t we just be kids? I wish I’d been more patient.

Decisions. Decisions. Decisions. Jobs. Jobs. Jobs.

1 cup full fat coconut milk

400 grams dark chocolate, roughly broken into pieces

4 tablespoons honey

6 eggs

2 cups almond meal

5 Ingredient Chocolate Mud CakePreheat your oven to 150°C (300°F). Grease and line a round 18cm cake tin. Fill a kettle with water and boil.

Place the coconut milk, chocolate and honey into a medium sized saucepan over low heat. Stir continuously until chocolate has melted and the mixture is well combined. Keep the heat low as you do not want to burn the chocolate.

Once melted and well combined remove from the heat and set aside.

In a medium sized bowl whisk the eggs until the yolk and whites are well combined. Whisk in the almond meal.

Stir the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture. Once well combined pour the mixture into your prepared cake tin.

Place the cake tin into a roasting dish. Pour the hot water into the roasting dish until it reaches half way up the sides of the cake tin. Place into the oven and bake for 70 minutes. Remove from the oven. Remove the cake from the water. Leave the cake in the tin and allow it to cool to room temperature before placing in the fridge to cool completely. I typically leave it overnight.

Serve. Eat. Enjoy.

Note: I run hot water over my knife prior to cutting the cake.

Not Quite Kingstons

Coconut biscuit – check.

Chocolate cream filling – check.

Delicious – check.

I hope you enjoy our Kingston inspired cookies. Be sure to let me know.

Preheat you oven to 175°C (350°F).

Line a tray with baking paper.

Place the biscuit ingredients into your food processor and pulse until the mixture is completely broken down and sticking together.

Shape the mixture into small balls and place the balls onto the tray. Flatten the balls. I would suggest not making them too thick as you will be sandwiching two biscuits together (speaking from experience).

Bake the cookies for 10 minutes or until nicely golden. Turn the tray half way through cooking.

Not Quite Kingstons

1 cup desiccated coconut

1 cup raw cashews

3 tablespoons maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon concentrated natural vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

Biscuits

10 medjool dates, seeds removed

3 tablespoons coconut cream

1 tablespoon cacao or cocoa

Chocolate Cream

Remove from the oven and leave the cookies on the tray for 10 minutes before gently moving to a cooling rack.

To make the cream place the ingredients into your food processor and pulse, scrap the mixture back onto the blades and pulse again. You may need to repeat this one more time for the chocolate cream to resemble something like the one in the picture above.

Once the biscuits have cooled sandwich them together with the chocolate cream.

Enjoy.

Thank you!

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Free Tasters eBook by Bianca Slade Published in May 2015 by Wholefood Simply

Author, Cook and Photographer: Bianca Slade Graphic Design and Artwork: BarrySkeates@gmail.com

©2015 Wholefood Simply. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, in any form or means without the prior consent of the copyright owners.

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