Sago, Coconut Cream and Banana

Sago

Oh sago… Where have you been all my life? Seriously a simple, delicious dessert that everyone will love. Sago is made from the starchy pulp of a specific type of palm tree. Yup, starch. That makes sago about 90% carbohydrates, so be careful, diabetics.

[ Serves: 4 | Time: 60 Minutes | Cost: $4 ]
[ Joes Rating: 4.5 / 5 | My Rating: 5 / 5 ]

Ingredients

100 g dry sago
400 ml coconut cream
½ teaspoon stevia or 2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons coconut, shredded and toasted
2 tablespoons almonds, chopped and toasted

Method

1. Put the stevia, sago and coconut cream in a pot and cook over a moderate heat for 5 minutes, stirring continually.
2. Remove from the heat and place in the fridge until chilled.
3. Serve with toasted nuts and coconut.

Yum, give me extra nuts and coconut!

Observations

• I adore sago. No, I mean I REALLY adore it. I could eat it all day long. It’s so easy and so delicious. Ahh sago……. *drool*
• Diabetic Note: Banana is always bad for me. When it comes into the equation, my blood glucose levels get crazy. Having said that though, my bloods handled this dish exceptionally well.
• Ethical Note: I want to do some research about sago. I am not sure how sustainable the crop is. Many south-east Asian rainforests are torn down to make way for crops such as palm sugar. For now, the jury is out until I can find the time to research this further.

 

Related articles

• Banana and Coconut Cream Custard (mizrhi.wordpress.com)

 

Banana and Coconut Cream Custard

I stumbled across this wonderful recipe by Real Food Forager and was very eager to try something similar. I don’t know why I waited so long, to be honest. It should now be a part of our regular diet – it was just that good!

Silky, creamy and smooth – a perfect dessert.

[ Serves: 4 - 6 | Time: 30 Minutes | Cost: $4 ]
[ Joes Rating: 4.5 / 5 | My Rating: 5 / 5 ]

Ingredients

2 ripe bananas - puréed
1 can coconut cream – well incorporated ¹
4 free ranged eggs
2 tablespoons agave ²
2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 teaspoon stevia

Method

1. Mash and purée the banana in a blender until it is smooth and creamy.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until well aerated.
3. Pour the mixture into a tart tray and bake at 180°C for 30 minutes.
4. Serve hot or cold ³.

Creamy and delicious.

Observations

• Note 1: The original recipe called for coconut milk and gave instructions on how to convert coconut cream into coconut milk. I opted to just use a tin of coconut cream and the results were delicious. If your coconut cream is solid in the tin, warm it until it melts and becomes incorporated.
• Note 2: The original recipe uses four tablespoons of honey, however, I was concerned about the glucose content. I’ve altered it to be half agave and a little stevia to make up the sweetness required. The dish didn’t suffer for the substitutes. If you don’t have agave, you can use sugar, honey or just stevia as desired.
• Note 3: The original recommended refrigerating the custard and serving it cold. We had some hot to taste test it (for research, I assure you!) and found it was moist and not all that appealing. When we set it in the fridge, the moisture seems to disappear and the texture and taste strengthens. Although it can be eaten hot, it is our opinion that served chilled is the only way to enjoy it.
• Diabetic Note: There is always something about bananas that sets my blood glucose levels screaming. This dish, however, even when served with some low GI ice cream (Bulla lite brand) was ok. Watch the fat content of your coconut cream (I use a lite variety), the sugars (see note 2) and serving size as there is plenty of sugar in the bananas.
• Ethical Note: These bananas were well past their prime and were due for the compost heap. Even so, they were perfect in this dish.

Served chilled with low Gi Ice Cream – a diabetics dreams come true.

Related articles

• Coconut Custard with Strawberries and Balsamic & Honey Sauce (veggiezest.com)
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Banana Muffins

This is a little bit of an experiment so I was weary of the results. To my astonishment, what results is nothing short of bananary goodness.

[ Makes: 12  |  TIME: 30 MINUTES  |  COST: $2  ]
[  JOES' RATING:  4  / 5  |  MY RATING:  3.5  / 5 ]

Ingredients

3 ripe bananas
1 cup sourdough starter
½ cup wholemeal flour
½ cup chocolate chips
1 free ranged egg
1 tablespoon chia seed
1 tablespoon agave
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon stevia

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Mash the bananas with a fork until smooth. Add the egg, stevia, agave and starter and mix gently.
   
3. Add the wholemeal flour, baking soda and chia seeds and mix gently.
4. Stir through the choc chips.
   
5. Fill your muffin trays or liners until ¾ full.
6. Bake in a moderate oven for 18 minutes.

Observations

• It is really important not to over work the batter. A gentle hand is needed for lighter, fluffier muffins.
• If you are after a more refined, fluffier texture, use white flour instead of wholemeal. Wholemeal gives you a much denser body.
• If you are not a convert to the joys of agave, just use ordinary honey.
• When baking, put a bowl of water in the oven so it is moist with steam. This will stop your muffins from drying out.
• There is a fine line with this recipe between deliciously moist to overcooked and dry. Test it with a knife tip or a skewer from 15 minutes and adjust cooking time to suit your oven. I found the 17 minute mark to be ideal for me.
• Originally, I used 2 tablespoons of chia bit it sort of over dominated the other flavours. In this case, more is not always best.
• The choc chip and banana combination was made of winning!
• Diabetic Note: Agave is the nectar of a cactus and has a lower glycemic index than other sweeteners such as refined sugar and honey. I use it when I can’t use stevia which had no effect on my blood glucose levels. Agave is also a strong choice for vegans who don’t eat honey. It is also 1.5 times sweeter than honey, so is used sparingly. Just as well, really, because it is expensive!
• Ethical Note: I used way over ripe bananas in this instead of throwing them away. YAY for reduced waste!

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Banana Chia Muffins

Recently I had the good fortune to be introduced to the wonders of Chia seeds. It is a member of the mint family and the small oval seeds of the chia plant are a rich source of omega 3 fatty acids. The seeds may be eaten whole, ground or crushed. Personally, I love their crunchy texture, especially in muffins! I knew I had was on a winner when I noticed that Veggie Mama had Banana Chia Muffin recipe on her blog, and I wasn’t wrong. This is my variation on her original recipe. It is full of win and must be tried!

[  Makes: 14 muffins  |  TIME: 1 hour  |  COST: <$5  ]

Ingredients

1 cup wholemeal flour
½ cup self raising flour
3 mashed ripe bananas
¾ cup raw sugar
¼ cup butter, melted
1 egg
2 tablespoons baking powder
1½ tablespoons chia seeds
1½ tablespoons flax seed

Method

1. Preheat oven to 220°C
2. Add the beaten egg and melted butter to the mashed banana and mix well.
3. Add all the dry ingredients and stir briskly until well incorporated.
4. Fill the muffin tray until about ¾ full. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes until brown.

Observations

• These were a delicious hot treat with a cuppa tea for my lunch guest today. They were particularly “more’ish” and would do well served cold with a banana icing.
• My variations on this recipe make a heavier, heartier, moist muffin. The muffins don’t rise much because of the wholemeal flour. If you want a lighter fluffier muffin, use all self raising flour and less seeds.
• Diabetic Note: This isn’t very diabetic friendly at all. I have to admit, I didn’t test my BGL’s after this afternoon’s tea. I suspect they would be quite high, given the ingredients. I did cut back on the sugar and butter requirements from the original recipe, but my BGL’s always react quite poorly to bananas so I can only imagine……………
• Ethical Note:  Although a native of Mexico, Australia is the largest producer of chia in the world. Please look for an Australian brand when purchasing your seeds.

 

Homemade Muesli

Joe has been a muesli lover for a long time. Recently, he started to compare the ingredient compositions of the more popular brands, as well as some of the more upper market varieties. The ingredient composition, sugar content and additives in then left him quite disgruntled. I decided to see if I could make my own that would compare well with some of his favourites.

[  Serves: 30+  |  Time: 15min  |  Cost: $18 - 25  ]

Ingredients

750g rolled organic oats
750g Weetbix (wheat, sugar, salt, malt)
500g Rice Bran (Nu-vit brand made from rice flour, rice bran, purne juice)
250g Cornflakes (Sunsol brand made from Maize, sugar, salt, corn, glucose)
2 x 350g Fruit & Nut Mix (Aldi brand made of nuts (42%), raisins (15%), Sultanas (15%), seeds (28%))
500g Diced Apricots
250g Shredded Coconut
250g Dried Cranberries
250g Diced Dates

Method

Mix well and store in air tight containers.

Observations

• The mix I make lasts Joe and me about one month or so, and different things get rotated in and out as I see things on special. The composition doesn’t always remain the same, and I alter it to our own tastes. (For example, Joe noted two weeks ago that it was getting too nutty for him, so I added some more fruit and grain.) Play around with this to taste
• I was putting in wheat meal, but we decided to used up an open box of weetbix by crumbling the weetbix into the mix. Works well! But be warned, it does contain sugar and salt.
• Joe prefers toasted muesli normally, and I have offered to toast this for him on several occasions, but we always seem out of time. You could easily give this a dry fry to toast off the grains and oils (such as in the coconut) for a delicious alternative.
• I have fresh fruit on my breakfast every single morning. I change it regularly – sometimes mango, sometimes blueberries, sometimes banana and sometimes strawberries. I have been known to add random fruit at times like passionfruit and kiwifruit. Whatever I have on hand.
• Brand plug: I try to use Sunsol products for my grains and fruit. The company is of a high ethical standard. The products are usually quality (with limited salt and sugar) and are often competitively priced for health food products.
• Diabetics Note: I try to have ½ to ¾ cup only. With the soy milk and fruit, I am breaking the carbohydrate budget. It is, however, a fantastic start to the day, so I persist. I now have the serve size down to a fine art and my BGL’s thank me for it. Just a word of caution: bananas hate me. If I add banana, I expect my BGL’s to be crazy high later. STOP PRESS: This time around I added weet bix for fibre and have found that my sugars are higher than they were with just wheat bran added.
• Ethical Note: We have searched and searched and searched for quality Australian apricots without success, and had to relent and buy Turkish apricots. Potential radio activity aside, we try to buy locally when possible. Finding quality dried apricots grown in Australia is our ongoing mission.

 

Happy Birthday!

Today is my birthday, and I will be 41. To celebrate, the day was spent in happy occupation with my family and friends. I awoke early to go for a walk with Joe. Its the first time we have had opportunity to go for our daily walk in weeks; weather, morning sickness and then baby loss all conspired to ensure we turned into couch potatoes over the summer. Nevertheless, today was a wonderfully sunny day, and the walk was enjoyable. When we returned home, I had a very yummy breaky treat waiting for me. Brittany had made us a short stack of pancakes with mango, ice cream and maple syrup! I am fairly sure, though, that my diabetes educator and dietician would not approve, but oh my!! They were good!

Joe has been a busy beaver, squirrelling money away and has totally spoiled and surprised me with a new computer chair. Oh wow – such luxury!! Leather, gas lift, padded, roller luxury! So much comfort. I feel very lucky. Brittany also was exceptionally generous with her birthday love, and bought me the most gorgeous dinner set ever. The eight place dinner set consists of an entrée plate, dinner plate, and deep bowls. It also has two serving platters that are just so sexy. I am SO very happy with this dinner set and cant wait to bring you lots of photos of divine food on it!

I was lucky to catch up with a friend for lunch at a the Henry Rous Tavern here in town. I had a chicken burger with mint garlic yoghurt sauce that was sublime. Really an awesome selection of flavours that although simple, really worked wonderfully. I may have had an apple cider or two with lunch which just went down so well on such a hot day. Later, the heat got the best of us and we ventured to a local beach for some fun in the surf. I thorougly enjoyed spending quality time with Joe as the huge waves pushed and pulled us every which direction.

I share my birthday with quite a few friends, and as is our custom the last several years, we go out for dinner at a mutually convenient time to celebrate Matt’s & my birthday (6th) and Joe’s birthday (13th). This year that day falls on a Wednesday, and we are going to a local Mexican restaurant. The choice of nights left me kinda free to enjoy something quick, easy and yummy at home tonight. Our shopping day isn’t for another day or two, and our fresh vegetable delivery isn’t until tomorrow so the cupboard is a little bare. Traditionally, we would have a vegetarian dish on Monday’s, but as there was some things defrosted in the fridge that didn’t get cooked last night, we decided this week meat free will be Tuesday. That left us to enjoy an old fashion fry up (another common dish that we rarely have due to my diabetes). Tonight’s dinner featured pork sausages with apple, sage and rosemary, onions, tomatoes and eggs. Such simple things that everyone thoroughly enjoyed.

Dessert was a little bit of cheating, as it was something I made last week for the murder mystery party (our actual birthday party) but have decided not to serve now, as they are a little fiddly to eat. Even given the difficulties in eating them and the messy fingers, they are delicious! The recipe for these frozen choc covered bananas is below.

Ingredients

½ cup cooking chocolate

½ cup smooth peanut butter

3 bananas cut into bite size pieces

desecrated coconut

toothpicks

Methods

1. Create a double boiler by placing a metal bowl over a pot filled with boiling water. Keep the water on a slow simmer and melt the chocolate and peanut butter in the bowl until melted and running.
2. Using a skewer to secure the banana, drizzle the chocolate mixture evenly over the banana pieces. Place it upright on a baking paper covered tray. Once all bananas are coated, you can sprinkle with coconut, insert a toothpick for easy handling later and freeze.

Observations

• Be very very careful not to over heat the chocolate mixture, as the burnt taste will ruin your dish.
• Try not to dip your banana directly into the chocolate, as it will make the banana difficult to handle.
• As an experiment, I mixed the coconut into the chocolate for one batch. The one on the left is of that batch, while the one on the right is of the standard directions above. I think I actually like the coconut in the chocolate better!
• It makes it a LOT easier if you use slightly under ripe bananas. Once they get ripe, they are softer, and much more difficult to work with.