Banana Soft Serve with Cacao hot fudge sauce

I'm obsessed with banana ice cream. If you haven't heard of it before it is ice cream made out of bananas that have been chopped up and placed in the freezer and then blended with a food processor or hand stick blender. I've now taken this further and bought a Yonanas machine which makes it even better as it makes it smoother and you can add things like dates and nut butters.

I've made banana ice cream a few times before and it has always been delicious but this time I wanted to make a healthy chocolate sauce to go with it. I saw one on Powercakes blog which looked amazing and decided to adapt it.

I ended up making it twice with 2 different ingredients for the chocolate and both were good so I'll give you both recipes.

Hot Fudge sauce with Cacao
Servings: 1, Serving size: the whole batch, Calories: 40 Calories

Ingredients:
5g Raw Cacao Powder
1 Tbs Water
1-2 drops stevia

1. Combine the cacao, water and stevia in a microwave safe bowl or mug.
2. Heat for 30 secs, stir and enjoy on top of banana ice cream.
3. If the mixture isn't thick enough return to the microwave for 20 seconds.

Hot Fudge sauce with Chocolatte
Servings: 1, Serving size: the whole batch, Calories: 20 Calories

Ingredients:
5g Chocolatte (low calorie drinking chocolate)
1 Tbs Water

1. Combine the Chocolatte and water in a microwave safe bowl or mug.
2. Heat for 30 secs, stir and enjoy on top of banana ice cream. (or as I did in the picture banana and berry ice cream)
3. If the mixture isn't thick enough return to the microwave for 20 seconds.

To add some extra crunch and delicious flavour to your ice cream try adding some coconut flakes for garnish. Both are good, I preferred the chocolatte one as it is sweeter but I'm going to experiment more with the Cacao.

Healthy hommus

I had friends coming over and needed a low calorie dip to serve with vegetables so made a classic hommus but without all the calories.

The picture isn't very good as it was so delicious it was nearly all eaten before I could get a good shot but I promise it is worth making!

Healthy hommus
Servings: 6, Serving size: 50g, Calories: 42 Calories per serve

Ingredients:
1 x 400g Can chickpeas drained
1 bunch Coriander
2 Lemons, juiced
1/2 Tbs Ground cummin
1/2 Tbs Tahini
1 Tbs Crushed garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Using a food processor or hand blender as I use, blend the chickpeas and lemon juice.
2. Add the coriander and blend some more.
3. Add the tahini, cummin, garlic and salt and pepper to taste and blend further.
4. Add additional lemon/garlic to taste and if the dip is too thick you can add a bit of water depending on how thick you like it.
5. Serve with carrot sticks and vegies.

Carrot, ginger and orange soup

I'm really loving my soups at the moment as it is a dish that freezes really well and can be taken for lunch each day as a very quick and healthy meal especially when it is cold.

Carrot, ginger and orange soup
Servings: 5, Serving size: 2 soup ladels per serve, Calories: 98 Calories per serve

Ingredients:
500g Carrots, diced
1 Medium Onion chopped finely
1 Leek, chopped
2 Oranges, juiced
Ginger, fresh
Garlic
Olive oil spray

2 x Campbells stock pots
1L Water
1/4 tsp Coriander seeds, ground

Salt

Pepper

1.In a medium pot lightly spray some oil and add the onions, garlic and ginger, cook for about 5 minutes until the onion is soft. Add the carrot and leeks and cook for a further 10 minutes.

2. Whilst the carrot is cooking make up the stock pots by adding 1 litre of boiled water to a bowl and adding the pots and stirring until dissolved. You could also use stock cubes or real stock but the flavour in these I find really adds some punch to soups and dishes.

3. Add salt, pepper and coriander seeds. Add the orange juice and stock to the pot and bring to the boil.

4. Then turn down to a simmer and leave for about 30 minutes stirring occasionally.

5. Check that the carrot is soft and then use a barmix or hand blender to blend up the smooth until it is thick and smooth.

6. Serve immediately. This soup is freezer friendly and tastes just as good reheated as it does the first time.

Low calorie cauliflower and blue cheese soup

I had this soup a couple of months ago from a soup shop and it was a combination I hadn't heard of before but it was delicious. I thought I could make a version that was low on calories but still creamy and with lots of flavour particularly because blue cheese is quite strong you don't need a lot to taste it.

Cauliflower and blue cheese soup
Servings: 8, Serving size: 2.5 soup ladels per serve, Calories: 95 Calories per serve

Ingredients:
1 Medium Onion chopped finely
Garlic
Olive oil spray

1 & a 1/2 heads of Cauliflower, chopped into small pieces

1 Small potato, peeled and chopped

100g Danish Blue Cheese, finely chopped

4 x Campbells stock pots
2.5L Water

Salt

Pepper

In a large pot lightly spray some oil and add the onions and garlic, cook for about 5 minutes until the onion is soft. Add the potato and cook for a further 5 minutes. Whilst the potato is cooking make up the stock pots by adding 2 litres of boiled water to a bowl and adding the pots and stirring until dissolved. You could also use stock cubes or real stock but the flavour in these I find really adds some punch to soups and dishes. Add the cauliflower and made up stock to the pot with the potato and onion. Add salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and then turn down to a simmer and leave for about 30 minutes stirring occasionally. Check that the cauliflower and potato are soft and then use a barmix or hand blender to blend up the smooth until it is thick and smooth. Add the blue cheese and mix very quickly so that it combines with the soup and doesn't sink to the bottom. Serve immediately. This soup is freezer friendly and tastes just as good reheated as it does the first time.