Porridge series: Cremita de Maiz

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #porridge

We eat a lot of oatmeal for breakfast so this time I decided to  put some spin on our staple. In many countries the most common porridge is made from cornmeal (maiz).

This porrage cooks relatively quickly and has a pretty smooth consistency.

Ingredients:

1.5 c milk (you can used a mix of water and milk, I often do that)

1 tsp butter (optional)

1/3 c cornmeal 

1 tsp cinnamon 

0.5 tsp vanilla powder 

0.25 tsp grated nutmeg

2 tbsp honey or raw sugar 

Pinch of salt

1. Put milk, butter, cornmeal, spices (and sugar if you are using it) in the pan on a medium heat and cook stirring until it starts boiling. Then lower the heat to low high (2.5-2.8) stirr occasionally. It should be done in about 20 minutes.

2. Let it rest for a minute or two, stir in more milk to make your desired consistency, add honey.

3. Top your porrage with grated apple, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, and raisins. 

4. Enjoy! 

Charming Winter: Snow chocolate ice cream

#winterwonderland #icecream #easyfoodcreations

Over the last few days we received over 120cm of snow. Many people ask what to do with the snow... I'd say take advantage of it! Here is a super fast ice cream you can make using fresh snow. 

Ingredients:

2 tbsp of chocolate powder

1-2 tbsp of icing sugar or other sweetener

0.5 tsp vanilla powder

1 packet of vanilla sugar

0.75c whipping cream (you can use a mix of cream and milk)

3c fresh snow

1. Mix all ingredients other than ice with a whisk.

2. Pour mixture into a bowl with snow and mix with a spoon.

3. Serve right away as they melt really fast.

4. Enjoy!

Green smoothie: green and yellow

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #greensmoothie #raw

I had been a crazy maniac of green smoothies when I first discovered them some 5 years ago. For about 2 years I had them for breakfast everyday, rotating my greens and all that. I drunk them though my pregnancy which probably helped as I did not feel noutious even once. 

Many people say that green smoothies do not taste good and they tried various mixes without success; hopefully some of my hints will be useful.

There are some key rules that will help you create better tasting smoothies:

- Bananas, prunes, dates, figs, raisins - add as sweeteners. Sometimes one extra date changes everything.

- If you need your smoothie to have less intensive taste add some lemon, cucumber, orange, or ginger

- Typically I don't use milk just water or coconut water but had used homemade nut/seed milk in the past. Various fruit and veggie juices could work very well too. Cows milk?... well it is up to you but I wouldn't.

- Creamy fruits such as avocados, bananas create great green puddings. If you want them in you smoothie use less or compensate with other more watery ingredients.

- You can add oats to your smoothies. Typically I like to soack them in water for at least few hours before adding them to smoothies to ease digestion.

- don't overdo it, the simpler the recipe the better. Keep it down to 3-6 ingredients.

Serves: 2 cups of smoothie

Ingredients:

3 large kale leaves, take stems out

1 whole celery stick

1 Granny Smith apple, take core out

1 banana

1/3 lemon, peel it

1.5 c water

Put all ingredients in the blender. The rule is to put ingredients that are toughest to blend at the bottom. In this case order is: greens, celery, apple, lemon, banana, water. Order is especially important if you do not have a very powerful blenders such as blentec or vitamix. 

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!

My Yummy Medicine Cabinet: Super A Soup

#easyfoodcreations #YummyMedicineCabinet #healthyeating

Here is on of my favourite soups that helps me battle cold, flu, sore throat, and sinusitis.

It is packed with healing ingredients that help me get back on my feet fast. Can it help you fight your influenza too?

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 medium butternut squash, chopped

3 medium carrots, chopped

2 inch ginger root, grated

2 garlic cloves, smashed and finely chopped

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tbsp fenugreek seeds, ground

1-2 tbsp butter

4c stock (vegetable or chicken) 

2c water

1. Melt the butter in a pot, over low heat. Add onion, garlic and ginger. Cook for about 5 minutes.

2. Add stock, water and remaining ingredients.

3. Cook over low heat, gas mark 2.6, for about 40-50 minutes. 

4. Let it cool down a little bit then blend it to a smooth consistency. 

5. Enjoy!

Polish Christmas: Pasta with poppy seeds, dried fruits and nuts

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #polishchristmas #kluskizmakiem

For me there is no Christmas without this dish! The dish is quite specific as it is not very sweet in comparison to typical western desserts so I know not everyone will like it. Even Polish people who did not grew up eating it at Christmas may not appreciate its taste.

As a kid, I remember waiting impatiently the whole year, especially Christmas Eve for this dish. Since it is a dessert it always came last after we ate almost all 12 dishes. If I had to choose pasta with poppy seeds or gifts as a kid, I am not sure what would I pick...

Ingredients:

1c poppy seeds

0.5c honey

0.25c Dried fruits: apricots, dates, figs

0.25c nuts and almonds

2tbsp whipping cream (optional)

0.5 lemon or orange - juice and peel 

2c pasta (I used home made pasta, see my recipe for pasta)

1. Run boiling water through poppy seeds 3-4 times. I find poppy seeds in Canada quite bitter so it is an important step. Then pour 1c of  boiling water into a bowl, add poppy seeds and let it sit for an hour or so.

2. Remove excess water. Place poppy seeds in a blender, add honey. Process for a few minutes; you should see milky liquid. 

3. Chop dried fruits and nuts into small pieces.

4. Mix all ingredients together.

5. Serve warm or at room temperature. If it becomes dry after a couple of days you can stir in more cream, honey, and/or orange or lemon juice. It keeps well in the fridge for a week.

6. Enjoy!