Cheaty Cheesy Cupcakes

I love cheese. Of course, since I love cheese, I also love cheesecake. Cheesecake is actually one of the cakes that usually turn out pretty decent, even when you’re only using low carb ingredients. The other day, I had an epiphany: What if I use peanuts as a crust for cheesecake? Unfortunately – there was not a peanut in sight in my house. But I did have a jar of peanut butter, so I gave it a try anyway.

This is what I used:

❤ Almost a jar of sugar free, organic peanut butter (depending on how thick you want the crust to be)
❤ 125 g/4.5 oz plain cream cheese
❤ 1 ½ tablespoon of gelatin powder
❤ 150 ml/5 fl.oz water
❤ 1 egg
❤ 300 ml/10 fl.oz heavy whipping cream
❤ 2 limes (zest + juice)
❤ 1 ½ teaspoon of stevia powder
❤ 3 tablespoons of erythritol
(I also used some lemon juice from a bottle – I only had 1 lime, and it wasn’t quite enough)

The first thing I did was to put peanut butter in cupcake trays – I got six huge cupcakes out of this recipe.

While these were hanging out in the freezer (I don’t know why – but I did put them there), get started on the gelatin mix. Bring the water to a boil, add the gelatin powder, and stir like crazy. When the gelatine is completely dissolved, add the erythritol (this should melt – unless you want extra crunchy cheesecake), and let this dissolve as well. In the mean time, zest your limes and squeeze the juice out of them. Make sure you don’t get any of the white stuff from the limes while you’re zesting. It tastes pretty terrible.

When your gelatin and erythritol-mix has cooled off a little while, add the lime zest and juice. Then get started on whipping the cream. Whatever you use for whipping is completely up to you. I like adding the stevia powder while whipping it.

When the cream looks like this, add the egg and cream cheese. This should be mixed on low. When this is thoroughly mixed, add the gelatin mix, a little bit at a time, while mixing on low. If the gelatin starts working it’s magic before you get to this point, just reheat it a little bit, but it shouldn’t be too warm when you add it either.

Pour the cheesecake mix into the cupcake trays (on top of the peanut butter), and leave them in the fridge for at least 4 hours. Voila! Your very own cheaty cheesy cupcakes.

Enjoy! ❤

Avocado Brownies

After I discovered dark chocolate, I’ve been a chocoholic. Milk chocolate doesn’t tickle my fancy at all, but that barely sweet, dark, rich chocolate with an almost bitter aftertaste can make my day. A friend of mine swears to making banana brownies every time she has company, and they’re delicious! Unfortunately – bananas, sugar and wheat flour doesn’t go hand in hand with a LCHF lifestyle. Flour and sugar can be replaced with almonds, protein, coconut and other sweeteners, but the banana is still there. I’ve had tons of success in replacing bananas with avocados in smoothies, so why not in brownies? These were amazing. Yes. I’m that good. Unfortunately, I forgot all about taking pictures, but the recipe is fairly easy to follow without pictures as well.

Here’s what I used:

❤ 1 ripe avocado
❤ 1 egg
❤ 100 g/1 stick of butter (melted)
❤ 2 tablespoons of water
❤ 3 tablespoons of almond flour
❤ 1 scoop of baking protein
❤ 2 teaspoons of vanilla powder
❤ A pinch of salt
❤ 6 tablespoons of cocoa powder
❤ 2 teaspoons of stevia powder
❤ 3 tablespoons of erythritol
❤ 150 g/5 oz of 86 % chocolate

Start by mashing your avocado. Add the egg and butter, but make sure the butter has cooled off for a while first. I usually add the water to the butter to help it cool faster, but it doesn’t make any difference. Mix well, and add the baking protein, almond flour, stevia, erythritol, salt and cocoa powder while you’re mixing. Chop up your chocolate, and add that as well.
You can pretty much use whatever you have to bake it – I used a bread pan. 320 degrees F/160 degrees C for 25-35 minutes, depending on your oven. Let it cool off before cutting it, and store it in the fridge.

Enjoy! ❤

Be Kind To Your Body

To me, health is about taking care of my body. Of course, that means exercising, eating mostly healthy and taking care of myself. Eating right is about more than calories and carbs. It’s about refueling, recovering and recharging. Depending on your do’s and dont’s, you may or may not need an extra nutrition boost. I have this little thing that I make that I call a “power juice”. It’s all natural, and tastes super delicious. Typically, I drink it after a workout.   

It’s a pretty easy mix – I like it with bubbles, so I usually give the water a fizz using my sodastream before adding the other ingredients. 

• A fistful of raspberries (I used frozen ones)
• A pinch of himalaya salt 
• Two wedges of lime
• A few mint leaves

Give it a quick stir, and drink up! 

Now, one may question why I add the salt. Because I’m a runner, I lose a lot of salts and minerals when I sweat. This needs to be replaced. Most people get enough salt through their food, but since I don’t eat foods that are processed I usually end up with less than the recommended amount. This is also the reason why I take Magnesium supplements. 

I also take iron supplements on a regular basis. Because I donate blood every three months, this is something that they ask me to take to replace the iron I lose when my body suddenly loses 10-15 percent of it’s blood volume. 

On occasion, I also take a vitamin C supplement. Especially if I need an extra boost to fight off a cold. But normally I try to get my vitamins and minerals from eating healthy. 

Why am I telling you this? Well… When every person you meet has a different opinion on what supplements you should and shouldn’t take, it’s easy to listen more to everyone else than you listen to your body. I can’t tell you if you need iron or magnesium supplements. Of course, you can get some blood work done to find out if you need some sort of supplements, but be critical to whose advice you buy. 

There are doctors and dietitians who are experts on how your body works. But more importantly; you’re the only one who’s an expert on what works for your body.