Budget Friendly Meals

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Almond flour cake

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 50 mins

Servings: 12 pieces

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups almond flour

4 large eggs (separated)

1/2 cup sugar

1TBSP vanilla essence

1/4 cup sliced almonds (optional)

Methods:

Pre-heat the oven to 180c. Line and grease an 8-inch cake pan and set aside.
In a bowl beat together your egg whites until a stiff peak forms.
In separate larger mixing bowl, combine your almond flour, egg yolks, sugar and lemon zest and mix well.
Fold through your egg whites until combined. Transfer the cake mixture into the greased cake pan and top with sliced almonds.
Bake the cake for 50 minutes, or until tender on top. Remove the cake from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes, before carefully invert onto a plate and sprinkling with powdered sugar.

Nutrition: Serving 1 slice, Carbohydrates 3g, Fibre 2g, Protein 5g, Fat 9g, Sodium 24mg

Black Bean Brownie

Source: Nakia Lim recipe

Serves: Makes 25 pieces

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 20-25 minutes

Ingredients

melted butter or coconut oil (DF) ¼ cup
honey 4 tablespoons
best quality dark eating chocolate 100g (at least 70-80% cocoa, check it is DF if you need to)
black beans 1 x 400g can, rinsed and drained (or you can use canned red kidney beans)
baking powder 1 teaspoon
free-range eggs 2
fresh berries 1 cup (or 1 cup frozen and defrosted) e.g. blueberries, raspberries, boysenberries etc

Methods:

Preheat oven to 150degC/300 Fahrenheit. Lightly grease and line a roughly 18-21cm square cake or baking dish with baking paper.
Place coconut oil/butter, honey and dark chocolate in a medium pot and gently heat over medium heat, stirring frequently, until chocolate is melted. Allow to cool slightly.
Transfer to a food processor or blender with black beans, baking powder and eggs and blend until smooth and well combined, scraping down the sides of the food processor/blender with a spatula a few time to make sure all the ingredients get well blended together.
Spoon mixture into prepared tin. Scatter berries over the top (see note below) and bake for 20-25 minutes (20 minutes if you prefer it more fudgey, 25 minutes if you prefer it slightly firmer – I go in between!) until it is mostly set around the edges, but still slightly soft/fudgey in the middle. Allow to cool for 5 minutes or so on the bench, before placing in the fridge for about 20 minutes to set. Cut into 25 pieces with a large sharp knife. Delicious eaten warm or cold, stores well in the freezer.

*If using defrosted frozen berries, make sure you drain as much liquid off them as possible before scattering over the brownie mixture

Nutrition per serve: carbohydrate- 6.8 g, total fat, 3.9g

Peanut Butter Oatmeal & Chocolate Chip Cookies

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 10 mins

Serves: 18

Ingredients:

1 cup natural creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup or 2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar

1tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

3/4 cup rolled oats

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup or 2/3 cup chocolate chips

Methods:

Preheat oven to 175 degrees. Line a baking sheet with baking paper.
In a small bowl mix together the oats and baking soda, set aside.
In a large bowl mix together peanut butter, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Mix in dry ingredients with a wooden spoon, then gently fold in chocolate chips.
Roll cookies into 2 inch dough balls and place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet.
Bake cookies for 9-12 minutes and remove when edges barely begin to turn a golden brown. The cookies may look a little underdone, but they will continue to cook once you remove them from the oven.
Cool for 5 minutes on the cookie baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Nutrition facts: serving 1 cookie, carbohydrates 17.4g, sugar 13g, fibre 1.8g, protein 4.8g, fat 10.2g.