Planning ahead: mushroom sauce with spinach

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating

I started planning meals for the first two weeks of January as my work schedule is completely crazy then and I know that finding even 20 min to prepare a meal is a luxury that I might not be able to afford on many days. During these days I want to make sure we have something healthy on hand, ready in a few minutes, so we do not need to resort to packaged food that we try to avoid as much as possible.

I made a batch of mushroom sauce with spinach, which can be served with potatoes, kasha, barley, pasta, or kopytka, to add some variety.

Ingredients:

680g fresh mushrooms

100g fresh spinach, you add more or less

1 onion, chopped finely

2-4 garlic cloves

4 tbsp butter

2 tbsp dried thyme

1 tbsp dried majoram

3-4 tbsp whipping cream (you can use soft goat cheese instead)

1-2 tbsp lemon juice

Salt, pepper

1. Melt the butter and cook onion and garlic on a low heat for about 5-7 minutes.

2. Add finely chopped mushrooms and spinach, cook for another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

3. Add remaining ingredients, lower the heat to 1.8 and cook for another 40 minutes.

4. Enjoy!

Polish Christmas: Gingerbread Cookies

#easyfoodcreations #cookies #Polishchristmas

I made gingerbread cookies for the first time this year. I used a recipe that my mom gave me years ago; I believe it came from some Polish cooking magazine she was ordering.

I timed making cookies just right for Christmas, as they develop taste over time. We found that they tasted really good after 3 days; they tasted a little bitter right after baking. They were so good that they were all gone a day before Christmas Eve... nothing left for your guests. But I can promise to make them again next year, probably a larger batch.

Ingredients:

1.5c all purpose flour

4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa

1 inch fresh ginger, grated (or 1 tsp ginger powder)

200g melted butter

2 egg yolks

0.5c brown sugar

Pinch of grated nutmeg

Pinch of salt

For icing:

1.5c icing sugar

3 tbsp lemon juice

1-2tbsp water

1. Mix flour, cocoa, ginger, nutmeg, butter, sugar, egg yolks, salt.  

2. Flatten the dough on the parchment paper and put in the fridge for about 1 hour, or 15-20 min in the freezer.

3. Roll the dough to about 3-4 millimetres thick. Cut shapes with cookie cutters.

4. Place in the preheated oven to 175c for 10 minutes.

5. Prepare icing by heating icing sugar with lemon juice, add water as necessary.

6. When cookies cool down, decorate them with icing.

7. Enjoy! Keep in mind they taste best after 3 days resting uncovered in the room temperature. 

Home made pasta

Pasta is one of the food ingredients that we do not consume often. I find it almost impossible to find any kind of pasta that taste good and truly complements the other ingredients. 

In Poland for years we used to make pasta at home and since it takes more time to make it, it's not an ingredient often featured in the Polish cuisine. At Christmas it used to me by dad's job to make pasta dough, roll it, cut it. I remember it as a very labour intensive activity. However, with today's kitchen gadgets the whole process is a lot less labour intensive and amazing pasta can be produced in just a fraction of the time.

To make pasta I use my Cuisineart food processor with a dough insert. Mixing takes about 5 minutes. Within this time I have a pretty elastic dough with well developed gluten. 

Ingredients:

3 cups of all purpose flour (about 450 g)

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

2 tbsp whipping cream

150 ml warm water

1 tsp salt

Dried herbs (optional)

1. Mix all ingredients in the food processor for about 5 minutes. You will see them all coming together, if they don't you may need to add a little bit more water.

2. On a board sprinkle some flour and roll sections of the dough at a time. With this quantity I do it in 5 batches. Rolled dough should not be thicker than 1 millimetre. 

3. Cut rolled dough into strips of your preference.

4. Sprinkle with more flour, separate each pasta string and let them dry. Once they are dried they can be stored in containers. Fresh soft pasta can be cooked.

5. Cook for about 5 minutes to you liking.

6. Enjoy!

Polish Christmas Eve: Barszcz (vegan beet soup)

#easyfoodcreations #Christmas #healthyeating #PolishFood

Barszcz takes a little bit of time to cook that is why we always make a big batch; It never lasts too long.
I love anything with beets - soups, salads, smoothies, juices, cookies - but peeling beets is one of my least favourite activities as it severely stains your skin and it is extremely difficult to remove. Hence when handling beets I use latex gloves which effectively solve the problem.

Important note - never cover beet soup while cooking it as it will become brown; you want to maintain beets beautiful ruby colour.

Ingredients:

4 carrots

2 parsnips

0.25 large celery root

9 medium sized beets

1 leek

1 onion

3 garlic cloves, peeled and cut in half

3 whole allspice

10 black pepper corns

3-4 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice (helps in preserving the colour)

10 dried mushrooms

1. Peel and clean carrots, celery root, parsnip, leek, onion. Cut into large chunks, it will be taken out later and used in a Polish Vegetable salad.

2. Soak dried mushrooms for about 15 minutes.

3. Place carrots, celery, parsnip, leek, onion, dried mushrooms, and all spices (other than garlic and lemon/vinegar) in a large pot, add 2-3 litres of water. Bring to boil then lower the heat to gas mark 2.4 and cook for about an hour.

4. Peel beets, but into 6-8 pieces each. Set aside.

5. Take out all vegetables from the soup leaving mushrooms in. Set them aside to cool.

Add beets, vinegar and garlic. Cook on a low heat 1.8 - 2.0 for another 3-4 hours. Add more water if needed. If you use too high heat you will lose the ruby colour of beets. 

6. Take beets and all other spices and vegetables out. Since we don't like wasting food we keep the beets and use them in salads.

7. Serve clear soup in a cup or a bowl.

Beet soup can be served with uszka - Polish dumpligs with mushrooms. This way it would be served in a bowl.

Other alternatives are pasztecik - yeast cakes, or kulebiak - cabbage cake. This way we serve it in a cup as a drinking soup.

8. Enjoy!

Polish Christmas Eve: Traditional Vegetable Salad (Saladka Jarzynowa)

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #leftovers #PolishChristmas

This is a Polish traditional salad that we eat for Chistmas. It is made of vegetables used in the cooking of the vegetable broth used in the Christmas Barszcz. Quantities of ingredients are quite flexible and each household might have a slight variation. I usually make a big batch so you can easily cut it in half or even quarter. 

Celery root can be quite bitter to some people so you may want to adjust the quantity to your taste.

Ingredients:

Cooked carrots, I had 7 on hand

Cooked celery root, I used 0.25 of large one 

Cooked parsnip, I used 2

0.5 kg of potatoes, cooked

4 medium dill pickles

3 hard boiled eggs

2 apples peeled, core removed

1 small can of peas (you can cook frozen peas and use that instead)

4 tbsp mayonnaise (you an also make a lighter version using greek yoghurt)

2 tsp yellow mustard

Salt, pepper

1. Chop all vegetables and fruits into small pieces.

2. Mix mayonnaise with mustard and salt and pepper. Add to the salad, mix everything carefully so all pieces are covered in the mayonnaise sauce. 

3. Serve as an appetizer or for breakfast.

4. Enjoy!

Note: the salad has to be stored in the fridge; it stays good for up to 7 days.

Christmas: Caramelized Beets

Beets are a very common ingredient during Christmas time in many countries around the world. In Poland we eat a lot of beets in form of soups, salads, juices, and even main dishes.

In this dish we are using leftover beets from barszcz/borscht/beet soup or whatever else you might call it.

Food waste has always been on my mind as I grew up during communism time and back then food was very valuable, many ingredients were scarce which contributed to our economical living.  We used almost as much as possible of each ingredient throwing out very little. This type of economical cooking is quite evident in our Traditional Christmas dishes. We use leftovers from one dish in another - vegetable salad is a great example of it.  

Important note: when cooking beets do not cover them as they will become brown. Even though I knew that I put them in the oven to reheat - the result were delicious beets but they did not look too appetizing so no photo this time.

Ingredients:

0.5 large onion, sliced very thinly

2 pressed garlic cloves

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

3 tbsp brown sugar

1 glass red wine

around 300 g of beets left over from Barszcz/Borsch

2 tbsp butter

1. Sauté onion and garlic with butter for about 3-4 minutes.

2. Add vinegar, sugar. Cook for another 2 minutes, then add wine. Cook on a low heat, gas mark 2.2 for 20-30 minutes.

3. Add beets, glaze them in the onion and wine reduction. Cook on gas mark 2.2 for 15 minutes.

4. Serve warm.

5. Enjoy!

6. If you made this recipe share it and tag it @healthywithjoanna

Memories from the Island: Conkies

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #desserts #pumpkin

When I was in Barbados I had a chance to try Conkies, which is a traditional dessert Bajan's eat to celebrate their independence in November. This treat had quickly become my favourite dessert of all times. These cakes are so nutritious and filling that they can be served for breakfast.
And what is better on the weekend than a dessert for breakfast that is actually good for you.

Ingredients:

1 small pumpkin or squash (about 0.5 kg)

1 sweet potato

1.5 very ripe bananas

1 can coconut milk

1.5-2 c cornmeal 

0.5 c grated coconut (I use unsweetened organic brand, but if you use sweetened you may want to adjust bananas, coconut sugar, and raisins)

2-5tbsp Coconut sugar (optional. I find all other ingredients sweet enough but if you like sweet food you may want to add some sugar)

0.5 tsp grated nutmeg

1.5 tsp grated cinnamon

0.5 tsp allspice

3-7 tbsp raisins

5 tbsp melted butter

1. Bake pumpkin and sweet potato for 40-50 minutes at 220c.

2. In the blender add peeled and cut pumpkin and potato, cut banana, and coconut milk. Blend until smooth.

3. Move pumpkin mix to the bowl and add all remaining ingredients, mix well. The consistency should be fairly dense, you may need to adjust cornmeal quantity.

4. Make packets from banana leaves (gives a superior taste, but this time I could not find them anywhere) or aluminium foil (it sticks a little bit) by putting the mix on the cut out pieces and folding it. I heard that you can also use parchment paper but I did not try it.

5. Put packets in the oven preheated to 180c for 50-60 minutes.

6. Enjoy warm or cold.

Winter time: chicken pie

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #chickenpie

Here is an easy chicken pie with one of my top secret ingredients - Boursin Cheese. I often use Boursin if I need a quick sauce for some veggies and pasta. Minimal effort, maximum taste!

Unprocessed goat cheese works well as an alternative. 

Ingredients:

5 chicken thighs, cut into small pieces

1 medium carrot, grated

6 small potatoes with skin on, cut into small pieces

0.5c peas

1tbsp dried thyme

1 garlic Boursin (or you can use goat cheese with pressed garlic)

2tbsp butter

Crust:

1.5c all purpose flour

8tbsp butter, cut into smaller chunks

5-6tbsp ice cold water

1. Preheat the oven to 220c.

2. To make crust, put all ingredients in the processor and pulse until it start sticking together. Divide into two. Roll one part, fill the pie dish. Place in the fridge for 30 min or so. Roll the other part and place in the fridge.

3.  Melt the butter, add chicken and vegetables. Cook for about 20 minutes. Add Boursin, still well until melted. Cook for another 10 minutes.

4. Take the pie crust out if the fridge. Add the chicken filling. Prepare the top layer of pie crust with your own designs.

5. Bake for 40-50 minutes.

6. Serve warm. Enjoy!

Breakfast Dessert: Rice Apple Cake

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #leftovers

This recipe is inspired by one of my childhood favourite dishes and probably most Polish kids  favourite dish - rice baked with cinnamon apples.  I put my own spin on it and it ended up being a great success. 

Typically we eat it as a dessert or a last evening meal; I like serving it for breakfast.

Ingredients:

1.5 c leftover rice (it is an estimated quantity), you can use whatever you have left

0.5 c milk

4 tbsp butter

2 ripe bananas

3 apples

1 tsp cinnamon

0.5 tsp vanilla powder

2 tbsp ground flax 

Grated nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 180c

2. Grate apples on a large eye grater

3. Mix flax with 2 tbsp of water, let it sit for a couple of minutes (you can substitute with 1-2 eggs)

4. Melt half of the butter

5. Mix all ingredients together

6. Spread butter in the baking form 

7. Put mixture in the baking form, level it by pressing firmly

8. On top place few slices of butter

9. Place in the oven for 45-50 minutes

10. Serve warm or at room temperature

11. Typically we serve it with fruits, jams, yoghurt, cream, or whipping cream

Have a break: Oatmeal banana pumpkin seed muffins

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #muffins

Banana muffins are probably the most popular muffins, yet I find most recipes are using regular flour and tons of sugar which is not necessary when cooking with already very sweet bananas. I decided to make the oatmeal variety with pumpkin seeds. I chose pumpkin seeds as they go so well with honey and oatmeal, which we often add to our morning oatmeal. 

I aimed to make 6 large muffins as more than that is too many for the 3 of us. With the quantities below I produced 7 large muffins.

Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas

1-2 tbsp raw sugar (optional) depends how ripe are the bananas you are using

2 tbsp honey

3-5 tbsp raw pumpkin seeds

1.5 cup traditional oats

1 tsp baking powder

0.5 tsp baking soda

Pinch of salt

Pinch of cinnamon

Pinch of vanilla powder

1 egg

1 tbsp butter, melted

1. Preheat the oven to 177c.

2. Put all ingredients except pumpkin seeds in a blender. Blend for a few minutes until smooth.

3. Mix in pumpkin seeds with a spoon.

4. Scoop muffin dough into muffin forms filling them to about 2/3. 

5. Bake at 177c for 17 minutes.

6. Let them cool.

7. Enjoy!

Fresh Fig Salad

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #figs

Figs are one of my favourite food that I could never get bored of. Figs are very rich in fiber and potassium, which make them a perfect match with my food needs. As some of you know by now my diet is very high in fiber that averages 40g per day vs recommended 28g. If anyone wants to know why send me a message and we can discuss it. After doing a number of food assessments I determined that our potassium intake is consistently low, on average not meeting recommended daily intake. So figs just as beans and lentils are appearing more frequently on our plates. 

Ingredients:

5 fresh figs

250 g Mixed salad greens

2 handfuls of walnuts, soaked for about 30 minutes

Handful of raisins

100g goat cheese

Dressing:

1.5 tsp olive oil

1 tsp black cherry vinegar

Salt and pepper



1. Place greens, add walnuts broken into smaller pieces, raisins, and figs cut into 4-8 pieces each.
2. Add crumbled goat cheese to the salad.
3. Mix olive oil, vinegar and salt and pepper. Splash over the salad.
4. Enjoy!

Fishes Friends: Fresh Hake with Garlic Lemon Butter Fennel

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #hake

I discovered that the best days to find fresh local fish in the local market are Wednesdays and Fridays. Yes, I live in the port city yet it is not that easy to find a fresh local fish if you don't have an insider information. Putting flavour and freshened aside; I support local food as I want local businesses to thrive, local food is more economically sustainable, and also local fish is usually much cheaper than any kind of "travelling" fish. Cost of today's dinner for 3 people came to about $7 total; that includes everything you see on the plate times three.

Serves: 3

Ingredients:

1 large fillet of fresh hake, cut into 3 pieces

1 small fennel

Juice from 0.5 lemon

5 tbsp butter

5 garlic cloves

Salt and pepper

1. Melt 4 tbsp butter with pressed garlic on a gas mark 2.8, cook for 1-2 minutes.

2. Add fennel cut into thinner stripes, cook for 5 minutes.

3. Add lemon juice and cook for further 15 minutes.

4. In the other pan melt butter and place hake pieces. Add salt and pepper as desired. Cover and cook on a gas mark 2.8 for 10 minutes or until fish looks done. There is no need to turn.

5. Serve hake pieces with fennel garlic lemon butter on top.

6. Enjoy!

2 minute delicious tuna filling

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #tuna

Here is one of my favourite tuna fillings creations that goes well with most kinds of breads or wraps. 

Ingredients:

1 can of tuna (I use chunk tuna in water)

1 apple

1 stalk celery

handful of raisins

handful of pine nuts

1-2 tbsp mayonnaise (you can use full fat Greek yoghurt instead, it works well)

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp mustard 

Salt

Pepper

1. Take tuna, discard the water, and chunk it into small pieces

2. Finely chop the apple and celery

3. Toast pine nuts for a couple of minutes

4.  Add raisins and toasted pine nuts to the tuna mix

5. Make the dressing by mixing mayo, mustard, lemon juice, and salt and pepper

6. Mix everything together

7. Enjoy on you choice of bread!

Spiced zucchini and celery soup

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #soup

Here is an easy everyday soup that will satisfy all tastes.

Ingredients:

1.5 litre of chicken stock (you can use any kind if stock you like)

1 tbsp butter

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

4 small zucchinis

3 celery stalks

7 small potatoes

1 cup cream

1 tbsp garam masala

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp paprika

1. Melt the butter and add finely chopped onion and crushed garlic. Cook on a gas mark 3 for a few minutes stirring occasionally. Add spices and cook for another minute.

2. Add chopped into smaller pieces potatoes, add stock and cook for 15 minutes.

3. Add chopped celery and zucchini, lower heat to gas mark 2.8 and cook for another 10-15 minutes.

4. Take off the heat and let it stand for a few minutes, add cream.

5. You can cook it on a low heat (gas mark 1.8) if want to have a piping hot soup or can serve it at this point.

6. Serve with cheese toast or by itself.

7. Enjoy!

Island Delight - Coconut Muffins

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #coconut #muffins

Serves: 12 large muffins

Ingredients:

1.5 cup oat flour

2 tbsp oat bran

2 tbsp ground flax

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup shredded coconut

1 cup coconut milk, unsweetened

0.5 tsp cinnamon 

0.25 cup honey or coconut sugar or brown sugar

1 egg

3 tbsp melted butter

1-2 handfuls of raisins

1. Mix all ingredients together with a spoon

2. Place in large muffin forms

3. Place in a preheated oven at 177c for 25 minutes

4. Enjoy!

Easy peasy - Green Pudding

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #raw

This is a healthy pudding that easily replaces popular desserts packed with chemicals and sugars. My son is not a big fan of any fruits so the only way is to turn them into a smoothie or a pudding. This one is one of his favourites, one serving is hardly ever enough. 

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 avocado

2 bananas

1 orange

5 prunes

1c water

1 handful of spinach leaves

1 tbsp ground flax (optional)

1. Mix all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.

2. Serve cold or at a room temperature.

3. Enjoy!

Healthy on the Go - Quinoa Salad

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #quinoa

Here is one of my favourite lunch salads.

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked chick peas (you can use canned, it is a lot cheaper to buy dried and cook it. It cooks for about 50 min if soacked for at least 4 hours), cooled

2 cups cooked quinoa, cooled

1.5 fresh peppers (red, orange)

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

1 bunch of fresh parsley, finely chopped

Dressing:

3 tbsp olive oil

Juice from 0.5 lemon

2 garlic cloves, pressed

0.5 tsp powdered mustard

Salt and pepper

1. Mix all vegetables and grains together

2. Add dressing

3. Mix well

4. Serve at room temperature or cold

5. Enjoy!

Lazanki with cabbage

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #PolishCooking

Today I made a Polish village food -lazanki. Cabbage is everywhere and is one of the cheapest food items you can find in Polish markets. My grand mother learnt how to make lazanki during the war when she was staying with one of the Polish village families. During the war they used just cabbage and pig fat but I made a more luxurious version by adding a local sausage, dried mushrooms, and onion.

Pasta lazanki is so quick and easy to make that I would never be able to justify buying it.

Ingredients:

1 small head of local green cabbage 

0.5 large local onion

2 sausages (I used chili, garlic and rosemary sausage made by our local butcher)

1 tsp whole caraway seeds

2 tbsp butter

For lazanki pasta:

2 cup all purpose or bread flour

2 eggs (you can go anywhere between 1 to 3 eggs depending on your preference, or you can use egg substitute of your choice)

4-6 tbsp water

1.  Chop onion and sausage and fry them with caraway seeds for a few minutes.

2. Chop cabbage and cook with butter on gas mark 3.

3. Add fried sausage and onion to the cabbage pot, stirr every 10 minutes. Turn heat to gas mark 2.8.

4. Set pot of water with salt to boil for lazanki.

5. Mix flour with eggs and slowly keep adding water to make a dough. The dough should be fairly smooth - it takes about 5 minutes of kneeding by hand.

6. Split into 2-3 parts and flatten it. If you have a pasta making machine you can use it or you can use rolling pin. Cut flat dough into squares or any other shape and size you like. To cut dough I use pizza cutter, but you can use pasta knife or regular knife, even cookie cutter.

6. Place cut lazanki in a boiling water and cook only to the point when they float up, it is almost instatenious. They should be still slightly hard when taken out. You don't want to overlook ithem as we will be cooking them for additional few minutes with cabbage. You don't have to cook them right away, you can store them for later. Just let them dry and then place them in the air tight container.

7. Add cooked lazanki pasta to the cabbage mix and let cook for another 3-5 minutes. Serve warm.

8. Enjoy!

Break-fast: raw granola bar

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #seeds

Sometimes I need a quick snack - something small yet nutriticious and I feel this bar fits the brief perfectly.

This recipe makes 8 bars. 

Ingredients:

1c traditional oats

4 Tbsp nut or seed butter ( I used peanut butter, but you can substitute with sunflower butter, hemp butter, or almond butter)

0.5 lemon, juice

2tbsp raw honey (you can substitute with a very ripe banana)

1tbsp flax seeds, whole

2 tbsp sunflower seeds

3 tbsp pumpkin seeds

0.5tsp cinnamon.

1. Mix everything well.

2. Flatten on a parchment paper and cut into 8 pieces.

3. Pack individually and store in the fridge. I left them overnight in the fridge before eating. 

4. Enjoy!

You should be able to store them for 2 weeks in the fridge; 1 week if you used a banana instead of honey.

Wholesome seed muffins

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #muffins #seeds #vegan

Ingredients:
5 tbsp sunflower seeds (pumpkin would work well too)

1 tbsp sesame seeds

1 tbsp flax seeds

2 tbsp chia seeds

1 tbsp poppy seeds

2 tbsp flax meal

0.5 c water

1 c milk (I used coconut milk)

2 tbsp olive oil (you can use butter or coconut oil)

1 c all purpose flour

0.5 c coconut flour

0.75 c oats (I used whole but you can grind them)

5 tbsp honey

2 tbsp baking powder

0.5 tsp Salt

1 lemon, juice and zest

1. Preheat oven to 177c

2. Mix flax with water and let it sit for a few minutes.

3. Mix all wet ingredients

4. Add dry ingredients and mix well

5. Place muffin dough into muffin containers to 2/3 full

6. Bake for 35-40 min

7. Enjoy

Fibrous Bean Cakes

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #beans

Ingredients:

540 ml canned beans, I used Lima 

0.5 medium onion

1 clove garlic

0.5 red pepper

1 egg

1 tbsp milled flaxseeds

3 ryvita or wasa bread

3 tbsp oats

0.5 tsp turmeric

0.5 tsp salt

O.5 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

Handful of finely chopped fresh parsley

1-3 tbsp check pea flour (if needed)

Oil for pan frying

1. Take onion, garlic and pepper and process until smooth

2. Mash beans (I used potato masher)

3. Add all ingredients to mashed beans and mix well.

4. Form into balls then flatten forming small cakes.

5. Shallow fry on a medium low heat (gas mark 3) for up to 5 min per side.

6. Enjoy!

Banana Cheesecake

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #cheesecake

Today we are celebrating our 16th wedding anniversary. It is incredible how fast time goes.

When we are celebrating we typically have a dessert, which breaks the everyday routine by adding something sweet and special. 

As usual making a regular cheesecake would not be a challenge if I did not try to incorporate some healthier ingredients - today we have oatbran in the thin layer of crust.

Ingredients:

500 g white pressed cheese (unsalted or with minimal salt added). This is a key ingredient so it is important to get good quality stuff or even better making your own. I will show how to make it in a separate blog

150 g butter, leave it outside the fridge for about 20-30 min so it is a little softer

4 eggs

3 bananas, I used 2 overripe bananas and one ripe banana. Ripeness of bananas controls the sweetness of the cake so if you like it sweeter you may want to use 3 or even 4 overripe bananas. 

1 packet of vanilla sugar

8 arrowroot cookies (you can use other low sugar cookies)

2 Tbsp oatbran

0.25 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 150c

2. Spread a little bit of butter in the baking dish

3. Grind cookies and oatbran. Spread it evenly over the baking dish

4. Blend all remaining ingredients until smooth

5. Pour blended mix into the baking dish

6. Bake for 45-50 min
7. Enjoy!

Zucchini and lentil pancakes

To celebrate the Pancake day this year I decided to try something different. After all no one said that pancakes have to be sweet.

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #pancakes #zucchini

Ingredients:
1c red lentils, washed and soaked for about 30 min
3 zucchini, grated
0.25 medium onion
1 tsp cumin seeds
0.5 tsp turmeric (you can use curry paste)
2 tbsp flax meal mixed with 5 tbsp water (you can use 2 eggs instead)
0.25 - 0.5c coconut milk
0.5 c oats
salt, pepper
oil for frying


1. Blend all ingredients together into a smooth consistency.
2. Fry over a medium heat.
3. After all pancakes are fried, place them in a dish with a lid and place in a preheated oven on 150-177c for about 20 minutes.
4. Serve warm.
5. Enjoy!

Pasta with veal and zucchini tomato sauce

Over the last couple of months I had been investigating what types of food are appealing to my 2.5 year old son who refuses to eat any fruits and vegetables. The hate for all colourful food items is relatively new and is not caused by true dislike but a simple refusal to put them in the mouth. Faces made out of tomatoes, cucumber and corn did absolutely nothing, in fact they made a matter worse as he would refuse to eat anything after seeing them on a plate. I knew a different approach was required. I found the secret, it lies in finding those few accepted ingredients and building an increasingly healthy food repertoire.

#easyfoodcreations #toddlerapprovedrecipes #healthyeating

Ingredients:
500 g canned chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste
5 prunes, chopped
1 tbsp dried oregano
2 chopped zucchini
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
500 g ground veal
3/4 medium onion, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic (optional)
3 tbsp oat bran
3 tbsp flax meal, mixed with 6 tbsp water
1 tbsp ghee, butter, or oil
1 -2 tsp allspice
Salt, pepper
4-5 dried wild mushrooms rehydrated and finely chopped

1. Melt butter in a sauce pan and add onion and garlic. For a few minutes until softened.
2. Add meat and dried mushrooms and cook for another 4-5 minutes.
3. Add remaining ingredients and let them cook on a gas mark 2 for 30-40 minutes. If you want you can hold off with adding meat and blend all other ingredients after about 15 minutes of cooking.
4. When the sauce is almost ready cook pasta.
5. Serve warm with some sprinkled cheese (optional) of your choosing (I used naturally smoked cheddar in this dish).
6. Enjoy!

Cabbage Soup

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #cabbage

With the new year's resolutions one of the goals is to eat certain foods more frequently - cabbage is one of them.
Cabbage is a great source of fibre, vitamin C, iron, vitamin K, folate, and potassium.

Ingredients:

1 small head of green cabbage, finely chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crashed and chopped
2 lean sausages (I used lean beef sausages)
1 can of tomatoes
1 litre of stock (I used chicken stock)
2 tbsp of butter
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp caraway seeds
2/3 tbsp dried origano
2/3 tbsp dried thyme




1. In the large pot melt butter and add fennel and caraway seeds. Wait for them to start popping.
2. Add onion and garlic  and cook for another couple of minutes until translucent.
3. Add sausage and cook for another minute.
3. Add carrots, celery, and cabbage, and remaining ingredients. All ingredients should be covered in liquid. You may need more stock or water. Cover and cook on gas mark 2.8 for about 40-50 minutes.
4. Serve hot.
5. Enjoy!

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #muffins

I love lemon poppyseed muffins; they are probably my favourite. Unfortunately too often they are  too soggy, too sweet, too unhealthy. I created a healthier version of the muffin and it turned out to be a bit hit.

I make only 6 muffins instead of 12 as there are only 3 of us. So if you want 12 muffins you will need to  double the ingredients.

Ingredients:

0.5 c spelt flour (You can use whole wheat. I prefer the taste of spelt but it is up to you)
0.5 c all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
0.5 tsp baking soda
0.25 tbs vanilla powder
0.25 c raw brown sugar/honey mix (I prefer to use more honey than sugar but it is up to you. You can use other sweetener if you want to.)
1 tbsp poppy seeds
1 tbsp of flax seed mixed with 1tbsp of water (you can use 1 egg instead or additionally)
0.5 lemon, juice and lemon peel
0.25 c butter or oil (I used grapeseed oil)
0.5 c coconut milk (nut/seed milk, or regular milk)

1. Mix all ingredients well.
2. Pour into muffin forms and let stand until oven is preheated to 177c.
3. Bake at 177c for 20 minutes.
4. Enjoy!

Baking Basics: Rye Bread Starter

I did not post any recipes for a while so I have some catching up to do. Over the last few months I have been experimenting with "real" bread making using bread starter. To my surprise I discovered that it is a lot easier than expected. My first starter turned out great except that I needed to wait a little longer than some people claimed in their recipes. I made the starter again based on what I learned what works, how it works, and if something is out of balance how to know that and how to fix it. Today I am going to share with you how to make it by showing pictures day by and explaining what is going on.

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #breadstarter

Rye Bread Starter

DAY 1

0.5c cooked, room temperature water

0.5c dark rye flour (from Bulk Barn)

Place ingredients in a plastic or glass container with a lid (not air tight). For mixing use plastic or wooden spoon. Cover the container with a lid and place near the heater in winter or leave it on the countertop in summer to ferment.

For my first starter I used 1c of each and it took a long time to ferment. Using smaller quantity cut the time significantly. Also each feeding strengthens the starter so it is a lot better faster.

DAY 2
Today we are feeding the starter for the first time. It is best practice to do it at the same time of the day. This allows the starter to have enough time to ferment. This is especially important at the beginning when starter is not very strong. Once it gets stronger you can feed it twice a day; I will explain in the following days when you may want to do that.

At day 2 you will not see any bubbles yet nor you will smell anything - it is too early yet.

1tbsp dark rye flour

Add flour to the starter and mix well using plastic or wooden spoon.

DAY 3
We are anticipating that we will be making a bread within next 2-4 days hence we need a little more starter. We want to wait until we start seeing first bubbles to double the starter. If you do it too early you may lengthen the time required for fermentation.
Today we can see some small bubbles on the surface and it is starting to smell of rotten apples.

2 large tbsp dark rye flour
0.5c cooked, room temperature water

Add ingredients to the starter and mix well using plastic or wooden spoon.
Note: I made a mistake here on purpose to explain how to fix it. The perfect mix should be the same amount of water and flour.

DAY 4
Today we can see more bubbles but some separation of water and flour occurred. This is an indication that our starter is too watery and requires more flour.
The smell of the starter today is a mix of rotten apples and dirty laundry - we are getting close to a perfect starter.

2 large tbsp dark rye flour
Add flour to the starter and mix well using plastic or wooden spoon.








DAY 5
The starter is ready to be used; it is full of bubbled. It looks like a sponge and has a smell of fresh yeast.














Notes:
1. If you are not planning to use your starter within next few days you can store it in the fridge. When it is in the fridge you do not need to feed it. You will need to take it out and feed again 3 days before you want to make your bread.
2. You can keep your starter outside all the time but remember to feed it once a day.
3. If your starter is becoming too strong (too sour) you may want to dilute by:
a)  by adding more flour and water
b) by feeding it twice a day for a couple of days
4. Wait at least half a day after last feed before using the starter. Usually I wait one day when I have a new starter and half a day when starter is more sour.
5. When you are making bread with fresh starter you need to add proportionally more starter (usually I add 5 -6 tbsp). When your starter is older and stronger you will need to add a lot less (at times I use only 2 tbsps).

Good luck in making your starter. Please let me know if you have any questions.