Flourless Chocolate Cake

This cake is perfect for any gluten-free friends or family members

 

Ingredients

• 500g chopped dark chocolate
• 6 eggs, at room temperature
• 2tbsp Frangelico or brandy
• 165g ground hazelnuts
• 250ml cream, whipped
• Icing sugar to dust, and cream, to serve

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/Gas 2. Grease a 20 cm (8 inch) round cake tin and line the base with baking paper.
2. Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Half fill a saucepan with water, bring to the boil, then remove from the heat and sit the bowl over the pan (don’t let the bowl touch the water or the chocolate will get too
   hot and seize). Stir occasionally until the chocolate melts.
3. Put the eggs in a heatproof bowl and add the Frangelico. Put the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water — don’t let it touch the water. Beat the eggs with electric beaters on high speed for 7 minutes, or until light and foamy. Remove from the heat.
4. Using a metal spoon, quickly and lightly fold the chocolate and ground hazelnuts into the eggs. Fold in the whipped cream and pour the mixture into the cake tin. Put the cake tin in a roasting tin and pour enough boiling water into the roasting tin to come halfway up the side of the cake tin. Bake for 1 hour, or until a skewer comes out clean when poked into the centre of the cake. Remove the cake tin from the water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
5. Turn out the cake onto a plate, remove the paper and cut into slices.
6. Dust with icing sugar and serve with cream.

• Serves: 10
• Prep time: 20 mins
• Cooking time: 1 hr
• Total time: 1 hr 20 mins
  
  
    
  Nutritional information
  Guideline Daily Amount for 2,000 calories per day are: 70g fat, 20g saturated fat, 90g sugar, 6g salt.
  

GrapeFruit Smoothie

I love grapefruit in the morning :) Grapefruit speeds up your metabolism and helps you lose weight.

Grapefruit Smoothie

Ingredients
1 1/3 Cup Fresh Red grapefruit juice
8 Large strawberries
2 Medium bananas
1 (8oz) container strawberry yoghurt
2 tbsp Honey
1 cup Crushed ice


How to make it:

Place the grapefruit juice, strawberries, bananas,yoghurt, honey and ice into a blender and blend until smooth.

Nutritional Information:

Calories: 361
Total fat: 1.8g
Cholesterol: 5g

A bit of Protein

If you are lacking some energy and your muscles feel a bit tired this s a good smoothie for you and its really good for men and even the ladies who are doing a bit of weight training.

AND if you enjoy the Kuai one this one you will really love because it tastes the same and is slightly lower in calories than the Kuai one.

Strawberry Banana Protein Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 Banana
1 1/4 Cup Sliced fresh strawberries (yuuuum)
10 Whole almonds
2 tbsp Water
1 Cup Ice cubes
3 tbsp Chocolate flavoured protein powder ( yum yum)


How to make it:

Place the Banana, strawberries, almonds and water into a blender. Blend to mix then add the ice cubes and puree until smooth. Add the protein powder and continue mixing until evenly incorporated, which is about 30 seconds.

Nutritional Information:

Calories; 349
Total fat: 8.1
Cholesterol: 0mg

Pilates Exercise of the Day!

Hamstring Pull

This is a great ab workout plus a very nice stretch for tight hammies.


Muscle Focus:

Abdominals

Objectives:

Strengthen abdominals
Develop pelvic stabilisation
Increase hamstring and hip flexor flexibility


Starting position:

Lie on your back and bring your legs up to table top position and then pull yourself up into a chest lift and straighten your legs.

Movement:

Place your hands behind your one legs knee and lower the other leg down hovering off the mat.

Exhale: Pull your leg closer in to your chest deepening your core contraction doing two pulses...Exhale two small puffs on each pulse.
Inhale: change legs still keeping in a chest lift position.
Exhale: Pulse leg twice towards yourself still exhaling small puffs on each pulse.


so Its Exhale(pulse)exhale(pulse) Inhale (swap), exhale(pulse)exhale(pulse)

 Try 6-8 on each leg

Remember: 
Keep your hands behind your knees if your flexibility will allow it.
Keep lumbar spine in the mat on the changes
Keep your neck and shoulders relaxed even though they are up in a chest lift position.

Watermelon Smoothie

Every weekend someone pops by here with a watermelon and no one really gets through these large watermelons so whats better than a watermelon smoothie??

Plus 

This is so far the best smoothie because its the one that is the lowest in calories!!!!!!! Who would have guest that??

Watermelon Smoothie

Ingredients

4 Cups Cubed seedless watermelon
10 Ice cubes
1/3 Cup fresh lime juice
1/4 White sugar
1/8 tsp Salt

How to make it:

Place the watermelon and the ice into the blender. Pour in the lime juice, sugar and salt. Blend until smooth.

This recipe does make 5...made for the whole famdamaly!

Nutritional Information:

Calories: 82
Total fat: 0.5g
Cholesterol: 0g

Hmmmm Honey and Mango

Honey and Mango Smoothie again but a tad bit different and a few more calories than yesterdays one.


Honey Mango Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 Mango- Peeled, seeded and cubed
1 1/2 Cups Milk
3 tbsp Honey
1 Cup ice cubes

How to make it:

Place the mango, milk,honey and ice-cubes into a blender. Cover up and blend until smooth. Serve Immediately.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 225g
Total fat:3.9g
Cholesterol: 15mg


I must say I loooove the milk in this one!

Pilates Exercise Of the Day

Something more challenging today... Its the roll up... but on a foam roller! A foam roller is really worth buying... its great on your back for stretching it out and relaxing your muscles. When you look at the image you wont think so but it is just one of those things that you must just try out to believe it.

Roll-up on the foam Roller

Muscle focus

Abdominals ( 1 roll-up = to 6 crunches so great abdominal work)

Objectives

To strengthen the abdominal muscles
To develop spinal mobility and stability
To stretch the muscles of the back
Increase balance


Starting position:

Lie on the roller with your head on one end of the roller and your tail bone on the other end of the roller.
Pull your navel to spine and imprint your pelvis into a neutral postion.
Arms straight up at 90 degrees

Motion

Inhale: Lift your head, neck and shoulders taking your arms down to just above your waist.
Exhale: Pull into your abdominals and sit up nice and straight.
Inhale: Prepare
Exhale: Roll all the way back down onto the roller, 1 vertebrae at a time.

Remember:

Maintain a C curve rolling up
Keep your head in line with your spine
do relax your shoulders and not pull them up to your ears.
Nice and easy? I would say it is. If this is too hard for you and you find that you are lifting your feet you can move your feet slightly away from your body...the closer your feet are to your body the harder it is.

A foam roller can be pricey if you shop in the wrong place. At dischem they are the cheapest at R110 instead of R400 to R550.