Banana Oat Cookies (Healthy!)

My Japanese friend Yuko prefers cookies that are not as sweet as we often make them in Australia, and so for those who don't like too much sweetness in their cookies, these are made without any sugar.  They are also flourless (using only almond meal) and rely on the banana and choc chips to sweeten.  If you really want to be good, use dark chocolate.

Ingredients

3 large, ripe bananas, well mashed 

1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/4 cup coconut oil, barely warm - so it isn't solid (or alternately, olive oil)
2 cups rolled oats
2/3 cup almond meal
1/3 cup coconut, finely shredded & unsweetened
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup chocolate chips or dark chocolate bar chopped

Method: 

Preheat the Oven to 180 Celsius

1. Mash the bananas and stir together with the vanilla essence  and oil (I used olive oil)

2. Mix in another bowl the remaining ingredients.

3. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture, stirring well to mix

4. Roll into golf ball size balls and put onto a baking tray, squashing slightly.

5. Bake for just under 15 minutes and allow to cool.

Note that when rolling into balls, the mixture may be slightly crumbly. This is okay.

Easy Potato Salad

Perfect for taking to a BBQ, this potato salad is easy and quick to whip up in the kitchen.

Ingredients:
1kg Potatoes, peeled and cubed in 2cm
mayonnaise (approx 1/4 - 1/2 cup)
1 small lemon, juiced
1 small red onion cut finely
four slices of ham chopped into squares
3 spring onions, chopped finely
some fresh basil leaves, finely shredded

Method:
1. Place the potatoes in a saucepan and bring to the boil, cooking until done.  Soft but still able to hold their cube shape.
2.  Drain and transfer to a bowl.
3. Add the remaining ingredients, adding the mayo slowly until there is just enough (nothing worse than having too much mayo and you may even use less than this recipe outlines)
4. Season with salt and pepper. Serve

Delicious!  Even served semi warm this salad is lovely.

Options:
Add things like pineapple, left over chicken or salami for a twist.