Tarted Up

Happy New Year, y’all.

To the 3 or so of you that regularly read my blog (Hi Mum!), apologies for the absence of posts over the holiday period; I have been tripping around Oz and Mangawhai, and have been blissfully technology free for most of that time.

SO much happened whilst I was away, one of the most important and amazing of which is that my team won the CrossFit New Zealand Spring Clean Challenge! Super Bad Long Sock Killers kicked some serious ass. Woot woot!

 

Super Bad

Saw some mind blowing results in the before and after pics, and the team spirit was kick ass (also helped that we had none other than Super Bad CrossFit Killer Pat Barber as our coach. Boom!)

I relished the chance to get my Chef on in the Primal Cook Off Challenge right before I flew out.

My desserts were a bit of a winner, and for those who’ve been waiting to get their hands on the recipe for my Primal Strawberry Banana Cream Pie and Strawberry Cheesecake Pie, here you go.  As always, these are only approximate measures as I kinda go by feel and taste, but should be pretty close to the mark. Sorry bout the delay.

BTW this pie crust is one of the tastiest I’ve used so far, and super quick to throw together.

Cavegirl Pie Crust

1 1/2 Cups Ground Almonds

6-10 Dates (if you don’t like dates, don’t worry, it just adds sweetness and helps the dough stick)

Little squeeze of fresh lime (or lemon if you like)

Sprinkle of shredded coconut

Cinnamon or nutmeg to taste

Drizzle of pure maple syrup, or raw honey if you’re hard out Paleo.

*I tried this both with and without the maple syrup, and the one with the syrup produced a much more pliable dough, and a more palatable crust for sweet tooths. Or teeth.

1. Pre heat oven to 180 C

2. Smush up your dates by hand into a paste. You could use a food processor, but this is much quicker.

3. Rub in other ingredients and work into a ball. Refrigerate for about 1/2 an hr if you have time; this just makes the dough easier to roll out.

4. Roll out your dough and cut into desired size for tart. You could make a big pie, but I used a wine glass to cut circles and plopped into a muffin tin for mini-tarts.

5. Bake for about 10 mins then add delish fillings of your choice.

For the Dessert Challenge winning pie I added this filling, which could easily be used for a no-bake cheescake:

I made this one up on the spot, and because I’m a fool, I didn’t write down what I put in there, but from memory I’d say this is pretty darn close. Note to self: start measuring stuff!

 

Love love love fresh strawberries

Super Bad Long Sock Strawberry Cheesecake Filling

Package of mascarpone cheese (I used Tatua farms fresh pack from the supermarket: had no added crap)

Package of cream cheese

Fresh cream

Lemon rind

Lemon juice

Tiny drizzle of maple syrup

TO FINISH St Dalfour Strawberry Jam (sugar free, all fruit)

1. Mix all ingredients (except cream) to your own personal tastes. I used the juice of 1 and a bit lemons, and quite a bit of rind.

2. As far as the cream goes, add till you have a consistency and flavour you’re happy with.

3. Spoon into pastry cases.

4. Warm some jam, and swirl little dollops throughout the creamy filling.

5. Top with sliced strawberries, and glaze with a little melted jam.

 

A little bit tarty

EXTRA FOR EXPERTS : If you’re Zoning, or watching what you’re putting into your body, Calorie Count will analyse your recipe for you. When I’m figuring out new recipes this is an indispensable tool. Fit Day is also really useful for figuring out your 40/30/30 when Zoning.

Each one of these puppies has about 8 blocks of fat, 1 protein, and 1.5 carbs, which means if you’re smashing out those WOD’s daily you can treat yourself to a couple of these little sweeties on occasion without dessert guilt.

And for more Cavegirl Ninja-ness, check out my GF Lana’s new blog http://kitchenninjadiaries.blogspot.com/

“I made no resolutions for the New Year. The habit of making plans, of criticizing, sanctioning and molding my life, is too much of a daily event for me.” Anais Nin