Pumpkin smoothie

"One little pumpkin smiling smiling. One little pumpkin is happy." 

Every year I look forward to fall to enjoy this pumpkin smoothie. I swear it is better than the best dessert or ice cream.

Ingredients:

1 small pumpkin, baked then peeled and deseeded 

1 ripe banana

2-3 dates

4 cloves

4 cardamom pods, shell removed

0.5 tsp Ceylon cinnamon 

Pinch of sea salt 

1 cup of oat milk, coconut milk, coconut water, or just water 

Instructions:

1. Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Enjoy it right away or for a snack later.

2. If you tried the recipe, share it and tag it @healthywithjoanna 

Dill chickpeas salad

I love salads as my mid afternoon snack.
Usually people look at me strangely when I tell them that my favourite food is salad ... but I really love them!

Ingredients:
2 cups arugula
1 cup chickpeas
2 tbsp sunflower seeds
1 whole red pepper
0.5 cup fresh dill

Dressing:
1 tsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
0.75 tsp  cumin
0.5 tsp turmeric
pepper and sea salt to taste

Favourites: Aubergine Caviar

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating

This is my version of the Aubergine (eggplant) caviar. It is so simple yet a very healthy alternative to dips and bread spreads available in the supermarkets. I had been making it for years yet never thought of sharing this recipe with anyone...it always vanished too fast!

It is truly a 4 ingredients recipe and I hope you will enjoy it too!

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant

0.5 medium onion

0.5c finely chopped fresh cilantro 

1 tbsp olive oil

Salt, pepper 

1. Bake the whole eggplant at 175c for about 35 minutes. Set aside to cool offa little bit.

2. Scoop out the eggplant inside and discard the skin. Then finely chop the eggplant flesh.

3. Finely chop the onion. 

4. Mix eggplant flesh with onion, chopped cilantro. Add olive oil, salt and pepper.

5. Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour. 

6. Serve cold with crackers, chips, bread, or as a side to a main dish. 

7. Enjoy!

Oat bran orange and black cherry muffins

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating

Today my son was calling for muffins and he picked the ingredients - orange and cherries. I picked oatbran and vanilla powder. So we whipped up some incredibly good muffins.

Makes 10 muffins.

Ingredients:

1 c oat bran

0.5 c buckwheat

0.5 c all purpose flour

4 tbsp flax, milled

1 tsp vanilla powder

10 frozen cherries 

1 orange, peel and 1 cup orange juice

0.25 c honey

50 g butter, melted 

1 tbsp baking powder

0.5 tsp baking soda 

1. Mix all ingredients, starting with dry ingredients.

2. Bake at 177c for about 30 minutes.

3. Enjoy.

Raw strawberry cheesecake

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #raw

One of the best desserts is strawberry cheesecake... It gets even better in a healthy raw vegan version when you replace flour, eggs, sugar, and cheese with nuts and seeds.

Ingredients:

Base:

1 c walnuts, soaked for about 1 hour, drained 

1 c sunflower seeds

0.5 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp raw carob powder

15 prunes

Filling:

1.5-2 c. Raw cashews, soaked overnight, drained

4-5 tbsp raw honey 

0.5 tsp vanilla powder 

Topping:

2 c strawberries

1. Place all base ingredients in a food processor. Blend all of them until it becomes sticky.

2. Press base into a pie dish.

3. Place filling ingredients in a high speed blender and blend until smooth, creamy consistency. Stir as required.

4. Pour the filling onto the base, spread evenly.

5. Place strawberries into a blender and blend until smooth.

6. Pour strawberries sauce on top. 

7. You can make swirls with a fork by gently blending strawberries with a cashew creme.

8. Place in a freezer for 2 hour or more.

9. Serve cold.

10. Enjoy!

Time for Peaches: arugula, peaches and almonds

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #eatyourgreens #healthyeyes

I love ending the day with a delicious green salad. I stick to the basics and create simple dishes using my evening salad formula: leafy greens + nut/seed + fruit/veggie + optional dressing

Ingredients:

1 cup arugula

1.5 peaches

2 tbsp almonds 

25g of goat cheese (in a way it is part of the dressing, as it adds creaminess)

Dressing:

1 tbsp olive oil

0.5 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Salt (I have salt infused with mint and lemon, perfect match here)

1. Cut peaches into 6th or 8th, cut goat cheese into small pieces.

2. Add peaches, almonds, goat cheese on top of arugula.

3. Mix olive oil with balsamic and salt. Sprinkle over the salad.

4. Enjoy!

Salad: Arugula with Pears Salad

I enjoy adding some greens to my breakfast as it gives me some extra energy that I don't get from other food. This salad I ate for breakfast but it is just as perfect for lunch, dinner, or as a snack.

Ingredients:

2 cups arugula

2 tbsp dried cranberries

1 tbsp sunflower seeds

1 pear

Dressing:

2 tbsp Olive oil

1 tsp balsamic vinegar (apple cider vinegar will work well too)

0.5 tsp dried mustard

Salt, pepper 

1. Cut pear into smaller pieces.

2. Mix greens, cranberries, sunflower seeds, pear.

3. Mix all dressing ingredients and add to the salad.

4. Enjoy!

Broiled Haloumi Peaches

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating

The summer time is all about peaches! 

"If I had my little way I'd eat peaches everyday ... ", just like The Presidents of the USA. 

Ingredients:

5 peaches, perfectly ripe, not too soft yet

150 g Halloumi cheese (other cheeses that do not melt during grilling. Look for  unripened cheese, there are some alternatives around the world) 

0.5 lime, juice and zest

4 tbsp honey

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (I used one infused with pears)

Seed mix:

20-30 pistachios (raw, unsalted) 

2 tbsp black sesame seeds

1tbsp milled flax

0.5 tsp cinnamon

0.25 tsp ground nutmeg

6 cloves

4 cardamom pods

1. Cut peaches into eights and remove pits.

2. Cut Halloumi into small pieces.

3. Mix honey, balsamic vinegar, lime and lime zest. 

4. Mix peaches with Halloumi and honey mix. Place in a baking dish.

5. Bake on a broil/grill setting at 177c for 20 minutes. The oven should be preheated. 

6. Prepare seed mix by grinding cardamom seeds and cloves. Chop pistachios into smaller pieces. Mix all seed ingredients together. 

6. Serve warm topped with a seed mix. 

7. Enjoy!

Smooth macadamia nuts smoothie

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #smoothie

I had some leftover strawberries and cantaloupe that needed to be used sooner than later so I decided to whip up

a quick snack - smoothie. 

Ingredients:

1 cup of cantaloupe

Handful of strawberries

1 ripe banana

4 figs

1 cup macadamia nuts

2 cups Water

1. Blend all ingredients together in a high speed blender. 

You can add more water if you want it more watery; 2 cups result in a fairly thick  creamy consistency. 

2. Enjoy!

Muffin time: Oat, Apple, carrot and pumpkin seed

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #muffins

Here is another super easy muffin recipe. This time we throw away flour, eggs, sugar, oil - typical ingredients in baked goods, and replace them with oats, honey, fruits, veggies, butter and spices.

Serves: 10

Ingredients:

2 c oats, grinded into flour

1 carrot, finely grated

1 Apple, corse grated

1/3 lemon, juice only 

100 g honey 

1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp baking powder

0.5 tsp baking soda

0.25-0.5 c butter, melted

Handful of raw pumpkin seeds

1. Mix all ingredients together. Let it stand for a few minutes.

2. Bake in a preheated oven at 177c for about 30-45 min depending how moist were your fruits and veggies.

3. Enjoy!

St. Patrick's cupcakes -Pistachio and Green tea Cupcakes with Avocado Icing

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #stpatricks #vegan

The upcoming St. Patrick's day got me thinking about "green" food and how I can create something new and delicious, and of course at least partially healthy.
I decided to try cupcakes this time, a small change to my usual muffins creations. This recipe will work equally well if you skip the icing so it is up to you.

Serves 7 muffins

Ingredients:
0.5 c all purpose flour
0.5 c oat flour (I grind oats rather than buying oat flour, it is cheaper and does not involve a lot of effort)
2 tbsp flax meal
6-8 tbsp green tea (liquid)
1 tsp green tea leaves, grounded (I used sencha but matcha would work too)
2 cardamon pods, keep seeds only
0.25 c brown sugar
1 packet of vanilla sugar
1 tsp baking powder
0.5 medium size zucchini
25 pistachios
0.25 c melted butter (you can use oil instead, typically I would use grapeseed as a replacement)
pinch of salt
Icing:
0.5 avocado
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp water
0.5 ripe banana
1 tbsp icing sugar
(If you want chocolate icing add 1 -2 tsp cocoa powder)

2-3 tsp psyllium husk

1. Grind 20 pistachios, set them aside. Reserve 5 pistachios for decoration.
2. Prepare flax meal - mix it with 5 tbsp of green tea and set aside.
3. Grind zucchini with remaining green tea to a smooth consistency. Set aside.
3. Mix all dry ingredients well. Then add wet ingredients to mix everything well.
4. Bake in a preheated oven at 177c for 20 minutes.
5. Let them cool before decorating with icing.
6. Prepare icing by blending avocado, sugar, lemon and banana. Once the mix is smooth add psyllium husk to thicken the mix.
7. Decorate cupcakes with icing, then sprinkle with crushed pistachios.
8. Enjoy!

Canadian Pancakes

#easyfoodcreations #CanadianFood #pancake

Today, something Canadian. 

We get maple syrup from a local producer as it is delicious and they were the first people who persuaded me that maple syrup can be good if it is done right. We go see them every year; do the maple tour with them where they show the whole process of making it. It is quite fascinating.

I like the early season syrup as it is lighter and less sweet, as season progresses the syrup gets darker and sweeter. However, from this place end of the season syrup is not as dark as some brands I see in the supermarket ...

Some local brands of maple syrup found in the supermarkets are ok but others are awful. Poor quality brands often dilute the syrup with water and sugar... Producing an overly sweet, disgusting tasting stuff.

Ingredients:

2c all purpose flour

2tbsp baking powder

2c milk

2 eggs

Pinch of salt
sugar (optional, typically I don't add any sugar as they are more versatile and can go with sweet and savoury dishes)

1. Mix flour, baking powder, milk, egg yolks, salt.

2. Beat egg whites until they are stiff. 

3. Fold egg whites into the pancake mixture.

4. Fry on a medium low heat on both sides. Depending on your pan you may need to add fat for frying;  typically I don't add any fat and they do not stick. 

5. Canadians often eat them with sausage, beans and maple syrup. I like them with fruits and maple syrup but they also go well as a replacement for bread.

6. 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. 

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

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!

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!

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!