Green smoothies - give it a go!

'Go for a green smoothie in the morning' my nutritionist said. It was the third time in a year I heard or read this advice.

I'm very lazy in the morning and I was definitely not looking for a time-consuming breakfast every morning but after hearing people be so enthusiastic about it I decided to give it a go. So two weeks a go I started the morning with a green smoothie. Using organic spinach, cellery and a banana I made my first green smoothie breakfast.

On my first smoothie morning I was a bit grumpy because it took a little longer than my usual breakfast ritual and I was almost late for work BUT I really really liked it. The taste was good and my hunger was instantly satisfied.

 So I decided I had to try out some more green smoothies and kept on going for days. And today I came to the conclusion that I have a new breakfast ritual. And this ritual has a lot of pro's: a high vitamin and fibre intake, no grains, no sugar, filling breakfast, not hungry for the next few hours and ofcourse a delicious taste of choice!

To help you get started on this great breakfast/lunch/afternoon snack, my favourite smoothie:
5 leaves of organic spinach
2 stalks of cellery
1 pear
a few mint leaves
Blend all together with some water and ENJOY :)
I hope you'll like it!

Zoodles - a great pasta recplacer

I'm busy adjusting my diet restriction to my daily life and the hardest thing to replace for me is pasta. I'm a big pasta-fan and I liked to eat pasta 2-3 times a week. I know pasta can make you fat so I already learned to eat more (healthy!) sauce than pasta, never ate the white/wheat type and mostly ate spelt pasta. But now my doctor told me I should completely skip grains from my diet. This means: no pasta! So I went on a search for a grainfree pasta replacer.

I wanted the replacer to be made of vegetables because increasing the amount of vegetables you're eating is never a bad adjustment. The extra fibres and vitamins are very welcome!
The first thing I tried was pasta sauce on cauliflower. It tasted well but that was mostly due to the delicious fish sauce I served it with. What I missed was the structure of spaghetti or tagliatelle. So the search went on!

The next thing I found out was love at first time. On the internet I came by a recipe called zoodles, a word combined of zucchini and noodles. It looked fabulous and I'm a big fan of zucchini so I decided to try this out.

A lot of people use a special spiralizer to make beautiful evenly sliced spaghetti-like zoodles. But I handcrafted my way true this recipe.

Frist I produced long vertical slices of zucchini using a cheese slicer. Than I used a knife to slice into thin tagliatelles. It took me ages to get this done so I would highly recommend to buy a vegetable slicer or spiralizer if your planning to make this more often. I definitely will!

After I was done with all the slices I put the zucchini in a large wok and stir-fried the zucchini for a couple of minutes. Et voila: your pasta replacer is ready.

I made a spinach and tomato sauce with garlic prawns to go with it but it will taste good with any sauce (as long as you like zucchini).
I found out a lot of people use veggies as a pasta replacer so I will be trying out different recipes with different types of vegetables in the nearby future. But first I need a spiralizer! ENJOY :)

Pumpkinsoup: always a good idea

I can never get enough of pumpkin soup.I know how to make a very delicious and quick pumpkin soup and I have made it every week since pumpkins are in season and still can't get enough of it.

The easy thing with soup recipes is that I don't have to replace a lot of ingredients. Soup is almost everytime grain- and sugarfree. So, no adjustments are needed. Soup: always a good idea!

The ingredients for this delicious pumpkin soup:
- 500-700 grams of pumpkin, seeds removed
- 1 cube of vegetable stock
- 500 ml of water
- Tablespoon of fresh dill
- Chilipepper, chopped into really small pieces

Chop the pumpkin into pieces and leave the skin on. Put them in a soup pan with 500 ml of water and bring to boiling point. Let it boil slowly for a while. If the water and pumpkin pieces are boiling for 10 minutes, put in the stock cube and chili. After a few minutes the pumpkin pieces will be cooked (prick with a fork to check if the pumpkin is soft).

Let the soup cool down and put it in a blender. Blend till completely smooth and add the dill. Then to heat you can put it back in your soup pan, but I like my soup a bit cooled down.

You can also use an immersion blender. If you do so, there's no need to let it cool down and you can add the dill after the soup is blended.

ENJOY :)

Parsnip chips - crispy veggies

Parsnip is a root vegetable that looks and tastes like carrots and perfect to make vegetable chips. The sweet and salt work very good together. Making veggie chips has always been on my to do list but I never managed to make decent veggie chips. Most of the times the veggie swere too wet or I didn't set my oven the right way. But with parsnip chips it never fails!

It's such a easy way to eat more veggies!

The recipe is very easy and doesn't deserve to be called a recipe.

Ingredients:
3 parsnips
Sea salt
Olive oil
Herbs (if you like)

Peel the parsnips. Slice the parsnip in really thin round parts. I used a cheese slicer to get them evenly sliced but it's also doable to use a knife. Spread the slices on a baking plate and rub them in with a fair amount of olive oil. Then cover them in salt (I used about three tablespoons of sea salt) and add herbs. I don't think the chips need herbs but you can vary and find out which way you like it.

Put it in the oven for about 20 minutes on 175 degrees celsius. I change to grill the last 5 minutes to make them crispy and crunchy. Put them on some kitchen towel to remove the oil and serve as a lunchsnack or for dinner with a burger. ENJOY :)

(Cheap) Almond flour - easy to make and great to use!

Almond flour is a very good option if you want to replace (grain containing) flour in a recipe. It gives a great, rich and little sweet taste to a recipe and is especially great as a replacer of flour in sweet bakery recipes. This comes in really handy as I'm on a grainfree diet. But being grainfree isn't the only pro! It has all the benefits of eating nuts, your adding essential minerals, healthy oils, proteins, vitamin E, fibers, etcetera... to your baked goods. I for example used it to replace normal flour in carrot cake, pumpkin pie and banana bread. All turned out great!

But there's one little problem: almond flour is really expensive!
That's why I decided to learn how to make it myself. After reading about it I have to say 'learning' to make almond flour is an overstatement. It's super easy: just blend the right amount of almonds in your food processor untill it has the consistency of flour. That's it!
But watch out, don't let it blend for too long because the oils in the nuts will be released and your almond flour will turn into almond butter. Not a very hard recipe either :P!

If one cup of allround flour is used in a recipe you can replace it with about 0.75 cup of almond flour.

And there are so much grainfree variations on almond flour, what about sunflowerseed flour, pecan nut flour, cashew flour, sesame seed flour. The possibilities are endless. Just look up how much you need of your specific flour to replace the flour in the recipe.

ENJOY :)

Two ingredients banana pancakes - grainfree!

If you need a delicious grainfree pancake recipe, try this out! The picture I made is terrible but your pancakes will look way more fabulous!

I only used two ingredients for 1 person:
- 1 banana
- 2 eggs

Squash the banana. Add the eggs and blend it together. Than put some oil in a pan and bake small pancakes. I used a spoon for soup to pour the mixture in the pan. The pancakes are super easy, cheap and delicious! There are so many variations possible if you change the toppings of spices. I topped the pancakes with frozen berries and chia and added a little cinnamon to the pancakemix. ENJOY :)

Raw bonbons - delicious chocolate treats

These raw bonbons are super delicious and easy. It would be a shame if your never tried out this recipe! It takes only three basic ingredients and you will be ready in less than half a hour. I had a lot of visitors at home this week so they had to try out these chocolate treats. Everybody liked it and one of my friends even made her own raw bonbons for her family after I explained how easy it was!

The three basic ingredients to create the bonbons:
- raw cacao powder
- coconut oil
- ahorn syrup

You just have to heat the coconutoil in a little pan, add cacao powder and some syrup. That's it. I didn't use any measurements just went with what looked and tasted good. But I would recommend 4 tablespoons of coconutoil and one tablespoon of cacao powder for about 15 small bonbons. If you want sweet bonbons you can add some syrup.

I added goji, coconut and almond to the chocolate mix. The goji tasted especially good in this recipe! But you can use any dried fruit or nuts you like. Next time I will be using pistache and dried raspberry. Be as creative as you can and let me know what you used :)

After I put all the ingredients together I used a spoon to pour the chocolate mix into really small alluminium cups I bought at Flying Tiger.

After you poured in all of the chocolate mix make sure you lick the spoon you used because you have to wait a few hours before the bonbons are set in the fridge. The waiting really takes long when you know how delicious it will be.

Because the bonbons are mostly made of coconut oil, they will melt really fast in your warm hands. So it's not a good idea to serve them directly next to coffee or tea and you should not leave them out of the fridge. But still, it's worth it! I treat myself with one bonbon everyday so I can enjoy this delicious recipe for a very long time. And of course make sure your friends and family taste this delicious chocolate treat. ENJOY :)

Sweet quinoa breakfast idea - grainfree

If you can't or don't want to eat grains in the morning but you like a sweet oatmeal-like breakfast this is a perfect alternative. You probably have to adjust your breakfast or even your nighttime ritual but it's worth it.

To replace your oats you can choose quinoa! Quinoa are seeds in stead of grains. Look up the health benefits! You can use them like couscous or rice at dinner. But you should definitely try this easy alternative for a sweet grainfree breakfast.

It takes a litte over a quarter to make this breakfast but that's only because the quinoa has to cook for 15 minutes.

Ingredients:
- 50 grams of quinoa
- 250 milliliter nutmilk (I used my homemade cashewmilk to be sure it's not sweetened with refined sugar)
- optional: syrup or honey

Toppings:
- frozen berries or fresh fruits
- almonds

Wash the quinoa to get rid of the bitter taste the seeds have. The seeds are really small so you have to be a little creative to make sure your not spilling the quinoa. I use a cloth and a colander to wash the quinoa. I lay the cloth in the colander en then put in the quinoa, pour over water and make sure I wash everything. Then I carefully take out the cloth with the quinoa in it and put the seeds in a cooking pan. If you know a better option, let me know!

Cook the quinoa in the nutmilk for 15 minutes on a low fire. After 15 minutes your quinoa is ready to be eaten. If you like it to be a hot breakfast you should make it in the morning. Just add some syrup if you want your breakfast to be really sweet and top with some berries or nuts.

I make my quinoa breakfast in the evening so it can set in the fridge overnight. It then becomes less watery and it gets the structure of a pudding. So after I cook the quinoa I leave it to cool down. Then pour it into a bowl, add frozen berries and keep it in the fridge overnight. That way you have no cooking in the morning and your breakfast is like a really healthy and nutritious overnight oatmeal. You wont be hungry for a few hours!! ENJOY :)

Nutmlik leftover cookies

In my previous blogpost I told you about making cashew milk and what a waste it would be to throw all the nut leftovers away. That's why I want to tell you about the cookies I made from this delicious leftover pulp.

I improvised and put some ingredients together I thought couldn't fail.

Because I can't eat grains, dairy or refined sugar none of these product will be in this recipe.

Ingredients:
- nut milk leftovers from 1 liter of nutmilk, in my case cashews.
- a half cup of almond flour (I will explain how to make this but you can also buy it)
- 2 spoons of coconut oil
- a teaspoon of maple syrup
- two teaspoon of baking powder
- a hint of salt

To spice the cookies I used my current favourite spices: cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.

To decorate you can put a nut on to but you can also add chocolate chips or raisins to the dough.

Set the oven to 200 degrees celsius.

Okay, now the most important part: how to make it! I will first epxlain very shortly how to make your own almond milk:

Take a half cup of almonds, pour them into a cooking pan, add enough water so that they're all under water. Cook this for three minutes. Take it of the pit and cool down with water. After the nuts are a normal temperature again you can remove the skin very easily. Do so. Than blend the skinned almonds in a food processor untill it looks like flour. And there you go, your own homemade almond flour.

Just keep the almond flour in you food processor, or add now. Put in the cashew pulp too and then added the coconutoil. Blend it together and add the baking powder, syrup and salt. It's now important to taste the dough so you can determine if it needs more syrup or salt. Then add the spices you like and taste again. Don't use too much spices but make sure you like the taste of your dough. Now is the time to add chocolate chips or raisins if you like. If your satified your dough is ready!

Put some bakery paper on a baking tray and take a spoon. Just take a spoon full of dough and put it on the bakery paper push it down and even it a little. I made ten cookies from this dough but you can choose to make twenty smaller ones if you like.

Put the dough in the over for 15 minutes but make sure you check every now and then. If you made bigger or smaller cookies the time will be a little different so keep an eye on your cookies. Your kitchen will be smelling amazing! ENJOY :)

Cashew (or any other nut you like) milk

Last week I went to the doctor and he told me to skip all the grains from my diet for a while. It had a lot of consequences for my foodplanning that week. But I especially needed a new alternative for the spelt milk I always used for breakfast. So I decided to make cashew milk from the big pile of nuts I had horded over the last weeks.

Making nutmilk is very easy! You can use any nut you like. For example: almonds, walnuts, brazil nuts, cashews or macadamia! Or mix it up if you like :)

For the ammount of milk I made (about a liter) I used one cup of soaked cashews. Soak them in water for about six hours.

Ingredients:
1 cup of soaked nuts
3 cups of water (I like it a bit thick)
something to sweeten it (for example maple syrup)

I made it taste like spicy cookies by adding a little bit of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. It's great for the darker days! But you can also add vanilla or any other spice you like!

To make the milk you use your food processor or blender. You blend the nuts and start adding the water. After it has all blended together you strain the milk by letting it drip through a cheescloth. If you don't have a cheesecloth, use some clean panty hoes (I did this)! I first poured it into a bowl, there I added the spices and a little drip of syrup. Give it a good stir and see if you like the taste. Adjust it the way like it. I than used a funnel to pour it into a bottle. Keep the milk in the fridge, but not for too long (I keep it for a maximum of three days).

There will be a lot of pulp leftover from the nuts. It would be a shame to throw al these healthy nuts away so I made cashew cookies form this pulp.

Recipe will be up next so you don't have to waste any food! ENJOY :)

Proven comfort food: raw sugarfree brownies with cashew cream

A few weeks a go I had a few friends in need. By accident I made this recipe at the begining of this week and it eventually proofed to be very good comfort food. I brought these friends this chocolate brownie topped with cashewcream to ease the pain and luckily it put a little smile to their faces.

A lot of people are emotional eaters and gain wight while they're sad. This is a healthy alternative for sugar loaded chocolate snacks.

I used a mortar and pestle to make the brownies but a food processor would make it easier. You also need a large flat plate to spread your brownie on.

I made small pieces because it's a heavy snack. About ten persons ate a piece of this delicious recipe.

Ingredients for 10 persons:

Sugarfree brownies:
- a half cup of sesame seed and sunflowerseeds
- a cup of speltflakes (but you can also use other flakes as you please)
- a half cup of walnuts (I really like walnuts in this recipe but you can replace them with other nuts)
- a half cup of pecan nuts (also replaceable)
- 3 tablespoons of cacao
- a quarter cup of ahorn syrup
- a vanillabean
- olive oil

Grind the seeds and flakes together untill they look like flour. Than chop the nuts. I crushed the nuts and seeds together with a mortar and pestle but you can also use a food processor. You can make it as smooth as you like, leave some chunks of nuts for a nice bite. Add the cacao, syrup and some vanilla, blend it together and try out what it tastes like. Add more cacao for more bitterness or add more syrup for some more sweetness but watch out, it should not get too wet. If you like the taste you created, you can put some olive oil on your large plate and spread the browniedough on it, make it as flat as you like and put it in the fridge for a couple of hours. I ate it first with pineapple and cashew cream and later with frozen berries. Both combinations are very good.

The recipe for the cashew cream will be up next! So if you have a friend in need who could use a little comfort, think of this recipe. It will make them feel good without having to eat unhealthy food. ENJOY :)

Quick guilt-free chocolate mousse

This chocolate mousse is super simple and quick. You only need three ingredients to make the mousse and it's made out of fruit and vegetables! The only thing you need is a blender, a bowl, a banana, an avocado and some cacao powder.

I made this dish as a desert for me and my boyfriend and ate the remaining mousse for breakfast.

Ingredients for 2 persons:
2 ripe avocado's
2 ripe banana's
4 tablespoons of raw cacao
I added some ahorn syrup to sweeten the dish (it was a bit bitter)

Toppings:
Frozen berries
Gojiberries
Chia seeds

Add the peeled banana's, peeled avocado's and cacoa to a bowl. Add a little bit of water and blend it to a mousse. You can add some more water to smoothen it but don't add too much because it will be watery. Add the toppings just before serving. Et voilà: a delicious and healthy chocolate desert! ENJOY :)

Make your own muesli!

Buying muesli in the supermarket can be difficult if you have diet restrictions. Like for me, I can't eat sugar or wheat. Most of the muesli from the supermarket contains wheatflakes. And sugar is also a very commonly seen ingredient; the dried fruits are mostly sugarcoated. A good and yummy alternative is making your own muesli.

You can choose the ingredients that you like or that work for your diet. I chose speltflakes as a base but there are so many different options like oat-, rye-, quinoa-, amaranth- or riceflakes. You can also put different types of flakes together for some variation. After you have chosen a type of flake as your base the adding can begin! I like to add a lot of ingredients but you can also choose a theme and add only a few ingredients. The most commonly used ingredients in muesli are: dried fruit, nuts, and seeds.

For the muesli on the picture I added:
- raisins
- chopped dates
- chopped cashews
- almonds
- dried coco
- sunflower seeds

I also like to add pumpkinseeds for a good bite and superfoods like goji or incaberries but this makes it a lot more expensive. Another good alternative to add some sweetness is adding some small pieces of dried abricots. And if you can eat sugar you can ofcourse add chocholate (take a pure 85% chocolate). It takes a little time but you will be absolutely sure about what your eating. Keep the remaining ingedrients fresh so you can use them again and renew your muesli every now and then.

I soak the muesli in an unsweetened rice milk with almond taste and put it in the fridge before I go to bed. That way I can enjoy my muesli first thing in the morning. Add some fresh fruit or frozen berries and your breakfast will be absolutely delicious and healthy! ENJOY :)

No more sugar or wheat

After a long period of feeling sick and tired my doctor finally found out I should no longer eat wheat, sugar, pork and consume less milk. I already had an interest for healty food, vegetarian diet and veganism for some time. So I was used to adjusting recipes and replacing ingredients like sugar, dairy and meat. But the fact that I'm no longer able to eat wheat was new to me. It was hard at first, checking every ingredient on the products in the supermarket and redesigning every recipe I knew. But after some time I learned to adjust to and I would really like to share my experiences, recipes and tips with others on this blog. But this blog will also be worth your visit if you like healthy, sometimes vegan, mostly vegetarian and always delicious recipes. Welcome :)