Fat Fat Fat

Recipe of the Month

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The past few months I have been eating to my heart’s content. Anything that was put in front of me I ate, and loved every mouthful. I really hit a high, or should I say full note when my folks were over and I ate and drank like I was on holidays for a month. In fact I wasn’t on holidays for a month and I ate so much that I knew I had to make some changes! Perfect timing really with this month’s same but different. I knew what I had to do. Cut out the crap, but given the state I was in I knew that wasn’t going to be enough.

A friend introduced me to something called a Ketogenic Diet so off I went to do some research. Now I’m not one for diets and we all know there are a million out there but I say, do whatever works for you. In this case, I am happy to say a keto diet is working for me. Initially it all seemed rather technical. Tracking, measuring, macro nutrients and fat. I’m supposed to eat fat?! But now, two months on, having tried it, experimented with it and adapted it to suit me and I am glad to say I have seen the benefits. I am by no means an expert or would never recommend a diet of any kind but the reason I’m telling you about it is because I have come across some delicious recipes in my new ‘way of eating’ and diet or no diet, these dishes are staying put. Anything good enough to stay in my recipe collection is well worth sharing and that is why I want to share this month’s recipe of the month.

That’s what it’s about for me: Tasty, healthy food that allows me to function at my best. Sometimes this takes a little experimenting and what works for one won’t always work for another but the experimenting has been fun. Thanks to my experimenting, I have two recipes in one for you this month. First a Cream Cheese Pancake that I use for so many things, (pancakes, wraps etc) and this forms part of my Courgette Lasagne which is this month’s recipe of the month. This is how I make it.

Cream Cheese Pancakes

2 eggs

1 tablespoon of cream cheese

Sprinkle of salt

*Note: When I make these for breakfast I add cinnamon to the mixture or for a savoury version I add herbs to the mixture.

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Courgette lasagne – serves 2

Tomato sauce:

1 tin tomatoes

1 clove of garlic

Salt and pepper

A few leaves of fresh basil

Sprinkle of sugar to taste (or sugar substitute)

Lasagne:

1 serve of tomato sauce (see recipe above)

1 – 2 medium courgettes cut into thin slices

1 serve of Cream Cheese Pancakes (see recipe above)

Parmesan and Mozzarella to taste

To start make a tomato sauce. My version is really simple. Put all the ingredients in a saucepan and cook. The longer the better. You will need the sauce to be a bit thicker for this recipe as the moisture from the courgettes can make it all a bit sloppy. If you are hard-core and having zero sugar you could use a sugar substitute like Stevia or in my case, I don’t like any sugar substitutes so I sprinkle a little cinnamon in it and that does the trick.

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While that’s simmering away, make the Cream Cheese Pancakes. I initially made them as a substitute for traditional pancakes but they are more crepe-like than thick fluffy pancake and for this recipe they are the perfect thickness for what would be a sheet of pasta. I make the pancake mixture in a Nutribullet. so mix all the ingredients together and whizz away. Once the mixture is whizzed up, put either butter or coconut oil in a pan (matter of preference really), pour out enough mixture to make a full circle, basically the shape of the pan and repeat until you have used all the mixture. Depending on the size of your fry pan your quantity will vary but for this recipe I get three-four pancakes. Once cooked set them aside until you are ready to assemble the lasagne. With the sauce simmering and your pancakes made, thinly slice the courgettes and then it’s time to put it all together.

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In a baking dish, (I use this silicone love-heart dish for fun) layer it all up. Tomato sauce, one cream cheese pancake, courgettes, mozzarella and parmesan. Repeat until you have used all the ingredients. Put it in the oven until the courgettes have cooked and the cheese is melted and crispy and then eat. If you have a bit more time you could grill the courgettes before assembling the lasagne but I have tried it both ways and the first way is the quickest and still super tasty. You can really play around with this recipe and the quantities. I have worked out exactly what I need so it is nice and snug in this love-heart dish so depending on what you are using, make changes accordingly and of course have fun doing it!

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