Green Parks and Keto Bowls, Chocolate Truffles and Cheesy Balls!


It’s now been about 6 weeks since I restarted the Low GI way of eating and it’s finally getting easier. Of course starting each day weighing a little less than the day before (most days, at least) helps. I’m still averaging about 1kg weight loss a week which is great and although I doubt it shows yet, I’m already starting to have more energy, and feel more comfortable which is great. My weight this morning was 6.4 kilos (or just over a stone for those working who know that way better) less than on day one.

Yesterday I checked out a new coffee shop, set in beautiful surroundings. Coffee B is still in soft opening mode, and they are clearly going to be a popular place to hang. With delicious options including a Keto Bowl, crammed with avocado, salmon, radishes, and much more.  Really fresh and healthy as well as delicious. Great to have this option!



Set in the gardens of Green Park Boutique Hotel, it’s a fabulous location.



But enough of the really healthy eating! I need snacks. This has been especially true over the last few weeks as we've been making nearly 100 gingerbread houses, so from first thing till bed the house was filled with the smell of ginger and cinnamon mingling with the butter and brown sugar. It's hard to resist. So I've planning ahead. I’ve found three main snacks that keep me away from temptation. Individual seedless grapes washed and frozen make a perfect after main course snack. My taste buds are convinced I’ve had a sorbet, whilst my system has only had one (sometimes a couple…) little grape. Perfect. The other snacks are chocolate truffles and cheesy balls.



70% dark chocolate still has around 23% sugar so I can’t have too much but a little is well worth it. I melt 100 grams of dark chocolate in a bain-marie, then stir in 100ml of whipping cream, a pinch of salt and sometimes some flavourings (orange oil, mint extract, a drop (or two) of whisky) for variety. We then leave this in the fridge overnight and roll the mixture into balls which we then coat in cocoa powder. This makes about 24 little balls so around 1 gram of sugar each.

For the cheesy balls, we whip up some cream cheese (I buy this at Phonphet or the Singaporean Wholesaler whose name always escapes me, as it’s heaps cheaper than anywhere else I’ve found in town) and whip it up for a short while with cream – just to soften and combine them. I then stir in some chopped roasted almonds and roll these into balls. I add an apricot to the rest of the chopped almonds and roll the whole thing in the almond/apricot mix. The tiny addition of apricot makes it seem like a sweet treat while not adding too much to my sugar intake.



With these options, I’m able to resist the other potential temptations that cross my path.

 


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