RAW Salted "Fantales" - get in my belly now!

OH. WOW! I believe the only expression for these is... Totes amazeballs!

I've been fascinated by clean eating lately. As much as I love a good heavy meal, clean eating really speaks to me. I much prefer simple proteins and loads of veg on a day to day basis. Give me a bowl of brown rice and I'm like a pig in mud! Thinking back, I've been like this ever since I was a tiny kidlet.

I've been scouring the Internet for fun and interesting recipes and playing with some ideas of my own... And this was born!

Gluten free, sugar free, vegan and dairy free - depending on the chocolate you use.

Enjoy in moderation!

Ingredients for salted caramel

1 cup fresh dates, seeds removed

Big teaspoon of nut butter, I used cashew

Seriously good pinch of sea salt

Ingredients for choc coating

1/2 cup of broken chocolate pieces

1 teaspoon of coconut oil

Do it...

- Using a food processor or high powered blender, pulse the dates, nut butter and salt until smooth.

- Scrape the caramel onto a sheet of baking paper and place in freezer for around 10 minutes.

- Once chilled, wet your hands and roll the caramel into 20 balls. Pop back in the freezer to firm up.

- While waiting for the caramel balls to firm up, melt the chocolate and coconut oil. (20 second bursts in the microwave work best for me)

- Roll the balls in the melted chocolate (I found stabbing a caramel ball with a toothpick helpful for this step) and place the finished "Fantale" back on he baking paper to set.

I prefer these at room temp but they are still great straight from the fridge... Or even the freezer!

Strawberry chia jam - it's berrilicious!

Lately, everyone is jumping on the "sugar is evil" train. Whilst I agree for the most part, some sugar (ie: fruit) was put on this planet to be enjoyed! Moderation is my mantra.

In recent weeks, we've made the decision as a family to drastically lower our consumption of processed foods due to certain health issues. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to say goodbye to Nutella yet though... Yes I know I could make my own... Yes I know it's 50% sugar... But it's sooooo yummy!!!

Quite a few foods we used to eat, now either need to be tweaked or made from scratch. Thankfully I enjoy a good food challenge!

Challenge one - a spread for toast!

Commercial jam is basically sugar and wheat with a touch of fruit in it. Even making jam from scratch, will require an equal ratio of fruit to sugar. DaddyJ loves his strawberry jam on toast, so let's get this sorted asap.

Here's an easy 3 ingredient version which is fresh, fruity and full of goodness!

The only downside, it doesn't keep longer than a week (maybe two if your fridge is extra cold) and you can't can it like regular jam. But you can freeze it!

Most importantly, make sure you purchase the best, ripest, juiciest berries you can as all the flavor comes from the fruit.

You'll need...

500g strawberries, washed and stems removed (any berries will work)

Liquid sweetener of choice - agave, honey, maple syrup, etc.

2 tbsp white chia seeds

Make it!

- first, roughly chop the strawberries and be sure to get rid of any icky bits.

- heat the berries and the sweetener in a saucepan over medium heat. Start with a tablespoon or two of sweetener, you can add more at the end.

- gently mash with a fork or potato masher until you get it as smooth or as chunky as you like.

- once the mix is rich and gooey, take off the heat and stir in the chia. Be sure to mix thoroughly so the seeds don't clump.

- let the jam sit for 10 minutes then adjust the sweetness if needed.

- if you don't like the texture of the seeds, you can use a blender or food processor.

- pour into smallish jars and refrigerate or freeze... ENJOY!

Gooey Choc Lava Cake

Need a reason to try this recipe? Watch the choc lava flow out of the centre...

Now that I have your attention, let's bake! You can get this on the table in 15 minutes, it's that easy!

Ingredients for 2 serves

50g quality chocolate - dark is preferred, around 70% is my favourite.

50g butter

50g plain flour

20g sugar

2 small eggs

Dash of vanilla

Pinch of salt

How to...

- Preheat your oven to 180 C.

- Grease 2 small ramekins or teacups and dust with cocoa powder. Tap out excess powder.

- Melt the butter and chocolate together. I use a microwave safe bowl, in 20 second bursts. Don't over heat.

- Mix in the salt, vanilla and sugar.

- Whisk the eggs in a separate bowl to combine.

- Mix the flour and eggs into the melted chocolate. It should be smooth, thick and glossy.

- Pour half the mixture into each ramekin and place the ramekins onto a plate - this makes it easier to get them in and out of the oven.

- Bake for 12 minutes. You really need to adjust the time for your oven, 1 minute too long and it won't ooze. The cakes are done when the edge is cooked but the centre still wobbles.

- Use a butter knife to loosen the edges and invert on a serving plate.

- Dust with icing sugar and don't forget the ice cream!