Easy Apple and Hazelnut Frangipane Tarts

I’m very happy to share this recipe, which I have made several times over the last few months. These apple and hazelnut frangipane tarts are quick to make and tasty. I find it hard to stop at one, so it’s best to make them while other people are around too. 🙂 I think a nectarine variation will be nice in summer!

Although these use only a small amount of rice malt syrup instead of refined sugar, I should clarify: they are definitely still a treat! I’m pretty sure that puff pastry doesn’t really qualify as a ‘whole food’. Feel free to change up the frangipane mixture – use all almond meal or all hazelnut meal if that’s what you have. Sometimes I make a double batch of frangipane and keep the leftovers in the fridge to make another round later in the week! Continue reading →

#5: Review of the I Quit Sugar 8 Week Program (Jan – March 2015)

This is a review of my second round of the I Quit Sugar 8 Week Program, which I completed between January and March this year. I did the program again to ‘reset’ my body in the new year, and to have two months of nutritious recipes laid out for me. My Mum did the program for the first time, so we did many of our Sunday cook-ups together and had fun comparing our experiences of the meals.

I didn’t do the program to ‘quit sugar’ again, as I had continued living a low-fructose lifestyle since first completing the program in July last year. However, doing it again allowed me to realise how much easier it has become to live a low-sugar life, and to enjoy other aspects of the program that I was less focused on last time, while in the midst of sugar cravings: learning new ways to cook, cutting down on caffeine – a surprising outcome – and thinking about new ways to use leftovers. I realised too, that I really do feel my best during the program, when I am planning and eating nutrient-dense meals with loads of vegetables, and making food a priority, instead of letting it slide in favour of all the other things that need to get done. Continue reading →

Gallery of the I Quit Sugar 8 Week Program: January – March 2015

Just photos of the food (because isn’t the food what it’s all about!?) from the January round of the I Quit Sugar 8 Week Program. For more information on my experience of the program, click here. Continue reading →