Dessert Number 2: Cheat's 'Cheesecake'

I really wanted to create a healthy version of a cheesecake with the ingredients we had in the house. This is the only idea I've had so far, if anyone has any better ideas for the base, I'd love to hear from you.


Cheat's 'cheesecake'
Photos to follow


Wildebeest's comments
Sumptuous and tasty. Petite yet satisfying.


Penguin's comments
I think I'll play with the recipe a  bit, but for a first attempt it wasn't bad. I'm quite pleased with my base, it made it really crunchy. Although the topping was light and fruity, it was a bit too thin. 


Scores on the (cheese) board
                                                Stephen              Laura
Appearance                                 5/5                   4/5
Taste                                           4/5                   3/5
Ease                                            4/5                   5/5
Affordability                                5/5                    5/5
Total                                         18/20                17/20


Ingredients
40g low fat cream cheese
20g low fat yoghurt
10 drops low calorie liquid sugar (if I'd had Splenda, I'd have used that)
Juice and rind of half an orange
30g chopped almonds (I want to use ground almonds next time)
10 drops almond essence
Cinnamon to finish


Recipe
1. Add the almond essance to the chopped almonds and place in a cup cake sized dish/bowl
2. Beat the cream cheese, yohurt and liquid sugar together (add the rest of the nut mixture if there was too much for a base)
3. Mix in the orange juice and some of the rind then pour on top of the nut base
4. Sprinkle with orange rind and cinnamon
5. Place in the freezer for 20 mins and take out about 10 mins before eating


Notes
Next time, I want to try blending some fresh dates with the chopped almonds to see if that makes a better base. 

New Year, new start...dinner number 5

Notes


With three weddings to attend this year and after a rather indulgent end to 2011, we're starting to take a different approach to food. We're not eating carbs after 6pm and cut out the typical baddies, increased exercise and started to feel better. No carbs after 6pm (small wimper) means evening meals have had to become quite inventive. This recipe is probably our favourite so far, it's so filling that we didn't even miss those potatoes (much).



Fish dish
Picture to follow...technical problems arising from internet on one laptop and photo software on the other


Wildebeest's Comments
Quite an expensive dish  but really easy to make. Fresh fish is expensive in Germany. Lots of flavour, no carbs but I still felt full afterwards.


Penguin's Comments
I'm not a huge fan of fish, so I had the tuna and just tried a little bit of the salmon. I really enjoyed it, I thought Stephen did a good job of choosing things that went well with the fish. We'd better find a cheaper alternative to fresh fish if we want to eat it every week though.


Scores on the doors
                                Stephen          Laura
Appearance               5/5                   5/5
Taste                         4/5                   4/5
Ease                          5/5                   5/5
Affordability              3/5                    2/5
Total                        17/20                16/20


Ingredients
Fish steak per person (we used tuna and salmon)
Frozen spinach 
8 mushrooms
8 fresh olives
8 fresh sun dried tomatoes
Juice of half a lemon
Oil, salt, pepper, chilli, herbs


Recipe

1. Bake the fish in tin foil with salt, pepper and slices of lemon
2. Boil the spinach
3. Coat mushrooms in some olive oil, chilli and herbs then bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes
4. Arrange olives and sundried tomatoes on a plate, add spinach, fish and mushrooms.