7 fav breakfast options

I've had a slight obsession with breakfast lately and sometimes I wish I could just eat breakfast 5 times a day. But I try to resist the temptation (not always successfully) and eat something other than this deliciousness too :p

So this post is dedicated to my lovely friend, who also loves breakfast and has been on my case for not posting on my blog for too long ;) She's a fellow blogger as well, who is way better at posting than me :P Check out her blog on whatsashawears.com!

So here are 7 of my favourite breakfast options, yuuuum

1. Smoothies

Strawberry, banana and oat rice milk smoothie

Strawberry smoothie with amaranth puffs

Winter delight - mandarine and perisimon smoothie

Winter smoothie in xmas colours

2. Smoothie bowls

Green smoothie bowl with red grapefruit and granola

Very berry smotthie bowl

3. Baked oatmeal

Baked banana oatmeal with homemade forest fruit jam 

4. Eggs. Poached, scrambled, boiled,.. 

Soft boiled egg with chilly flakes

Scrambled eggs and avocado

5. Millet porridge

Cooked millet with strawberries on the side

Chocolate porridge with cocoa nibs and raspberries

Berry millet 

Coconut, almond and blueberry millet

6. Breakfast poached egg and veggie toast

Breakfast 'burger'

7. Pancakes

Coconut and strawberry buckwheat pancakes

Gluten free banana pancakes with raspberries, pistacios and homemade chocolate sauce

Raw and vegan raspberry 'cheesecake'

 Last week my sister and her family came home for a visit from Germany. Yaaaay <3 I get super excited and giddy when the come for a visit, because I miss them so much when they're gone. My big sis' is defenitely the one I would turn to for everything and anything, she is the best friend I could ask for. And Kristjan, her husband, is the most amazing big brother. So thanks guys, for everything <3 And then, to make things just a little harder, they have the most beautiful, happy, smart  baby girl, named Lorelai, who is just amazing in every way.

   And as it happens, her birthday fell on easter weekend ths year, which means we could celebrate it together. Kristjans birthday was just two weeks before, so they decided to throw a small get-together for friends. 

So, this weekend, when they celebrated their birthdays, I decided to make a delicious raw 'cheesecake' cake for them, to show them how awesome I think they are.

crust

1/2 cup dates
1/2 cup walnuts
pinch of  salt

filling

2 cups cashews (soaked overnight)
juice of 1-2 medium lemons - add slowly, to taste
1 vanilla bean
1 c. raspberries
agave syrup - add slowly and to taste
1/3 c. coconut oil

• Soak the cashews overnight or for a few hours at least.
• Blend all the crust ingredients togetker inthe food processor untill there are no big pieces left and they bing together on their own.
• Press the mixture into the bottom of a cake pan.
• Mix together coconut oil and agave syrup - you can heat this up a little so the coconut oil melts.
• Mix in the lemon juice, vanilla seeds and cashews and blend blend blend, until you get a smooth mixture.
• Pour half of the mixture over the crust and put in the fridge or freezer for about half an hour, just to help it set - this is just so you get nicer layers and if you don't have the time, you can skip this step :D
• Add the raspberries to the remaining cashew mixture and blend until the mixture in fully combined -  I like it when there are little raspberry chunks here and there, so I didn't blend it that well :D
• Place the cake in the fridge overnight or until solid. If you want to speed this up a little, you can put it in the freezer for a while.

And that's the whole science behind this amazing vegan and raw raspberry 'cheesecake'. <3 

My sister <3 

Gluten and dairy free pancakes

Hey there, lovelies :*

I've been eating prety much the same thing for breakfast for awhile...But today, I woke up with a huge craving for pancakes. I haven't had pancakes for at least 4 months, since I was told to avoid gluten and lactose by my phisician.

But today, I woke up determined that I wasn't going to let my food intolerance steal the joy of eating pancakes for breakfast. So I made up this recipe and they were so deicious, that I had to share it with you asap :D

This recipe makes 2 pancakes, each comes in at about 220kcal.

Ingredients:

• 100ml rice milk
• 2 tbs buckwheat flour
• 3 tbs coconut flour
• 1 medium egg
• 1 small apple - shreded or chopped
• about a shot of sparkling mineral water 

Sparkling water- add this last, you can chance the amount to get the batter consistency you want. I would not recomend it being too thin, because you want your pancake to stay nice and thick. The sparkling mineral water will add some air to the batter, making your pancakes fluffier 

Mix all the ingedients together and pour half of the batter onto a preheated slightly oiled pan - I use coconut oil. Bake until bubles form on top of the pancake, then flip and bake on the other side until it's nice and golden brown.

Repeat with the other half of the batter.

Voila and bon apetit :D

Sunday motivation

A little motivation for the coming week. 

Baked buckwheat with veggies

How about a nice piece of baked buckwheat and veggies with your fish? Or with your steak, if that floats your boat...How about just a platefull of this deliciousness all on it's own? That's what I did, and let me tell you- nothing wqas missing :D
I had quite a day today, I've been up since 5am and it's now 10.30pm. It's been a long day, so please forgive me for making this post short. But I did promise you a recipe, and one has to keep their promises. So here it is.

What you'll need:

• 1 medium onion

• 1 clove garlic

• 2 cups of soaked buckwheat

• 2 cups mixed vegetables - I used cauliflower, broccoli, caroots and spinach

• ½ medium zucchini

• 3-4 eggs - I used 1 whole egg and 3 egg whites

• coconut oil 

• spices - turmeric, cayenne pepper, sweet pepper, salt

What to do:

• Heat the coconut oil in a pan. Once it's hot add the chopped onions and garlic. Saute untill soft.
• Cut the vegetables into small pieces and add them to the pan
• Once the veggies have softened, add the soaked buckwheat. Stir together and remove from heat
• In a seperate bowl mix together the eggs and the spices.
• Scoop the buckwheat into your bakingbowl and pour over the egg mixture
• Slice the zucchini and arrange the slices on top of the buckwheat
• Put into the oven: 150* for about 20min - check it once in a while, because every oven is different :P

The dish is delicious served hot or cold. It can also be reheated :D 

Bon Apetit

Valentine's day smoothie

So, here it is. Valentine's day. A long awaited day for some and a dreaded one for others, but whatever your  feelings about it are, you're stuck with it. There are red hearts in the store windows and whatever you do you can't escape it. So why not embrace it?

How about a nice breakfast smoothie for your significant other? Or you can make this creamy, fluffy, healthy smoothie as a snack after a romantic stroll? If you're single- make this for yourself and treat your taste buds to a delicious adventure and your body to a healthy dose of vitamins and the benefits of the green tea!

 Ingredients for 2.

• 1 banana
• 10 fresh strawberries (you can use frozen, but the end result won't be as fluffy)
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 100-150 ml green tea (chilled)

Throw everything together in a blender and mix thoroughly. 

If you are a fitness enthusiast and you decided to squeeze in a workout on Valentine's day - mix in 2 tbs of Hemp Protein Powder per person and your tired muscles will be happy too :)

Pumpkin soup

Okay…so…how do I say this…um….I’m pretty sure I made THE BEST pumpkin soup ever seen by mankind. No offense to anyone who thinks they make the best one…but you don’t. I do. And luckily for you I’m here to share my wisdom. Here’s the first secret - It’s soooo easy and fast. And the second - It’s soooo healthy 

Here’s what you’ll need

- 1 hokaido pumpkin

- 1 large onion

- 1-3 cloves of garlic - depending on your taste

- about 2-3 cups of vegetable stock

- 2dcl coconut milk - I used the light version, but the normal one is great too 

- 2 cups spinach leaves of a couple of cubes if you have frozen spinach

- pepper, turmeric, chilli

- coconut oil - just a little to saute the onions and garlic

1. Add a couple of tbs of coconut oil to a pre-heated pan. Add the onion and garlic- finely chopped. Cook until the onion turns soft and kinda see-through..Be careful not to let them turn brown.

2. Add the pumpkin - this needs to be peeled, de-seeded and cut into pieces. Cook for a few minutes, but take care not to burn the onions.

3. Add the vegetable stock, stir, bring to a boil and cover. Now you’ve got a couple of minutes to yourself. Wait for about 10min or until the pieces of pumpkin are soft- try with a fork. This time may vary depending on how big you cut you pumpkin. 

4. Add the coconut milk and wait for the soup to boil.

5. Remove from heat and blend untill smooth. 

6. Add the spinach leaves and stir together. Now if you add fresh spinach you don’t need to bring the soup back to a boil, although you can if you wish to do so, But the heat from the soup will cause the leaves to wilt really fast. If you add frozen spinach, I suggest you bring the soup back to a boil, and keep it boiling until the spinach is comletely defrosted. 

7. Now you’re basically done. Add pepper and turmeric. Salt if you wish too - but be careful, because the stock is usually salty enough. You can add even more seasoning, but I’m embarrassed so say this is all that I had…in my excuse- it’s a new apartment, so I haven’t gotten around to buying evrything yet.

8. Plate the soup. Make a coconut milk swirl and sprinkle with chilli flakes for some heat and a beautiful visual effect :D

Viola, bon apetit <3

Raw&vegan pineapple coconut cake

Hey, there! Are you one of those people who love love love everything sweet? But you’re also passionate about eating as healthy as possible? Well then, this is a post for you!! Yup, it’a a cake! And it’s healthy! Raw and vegan too! Ah-mazing!

But, seriously you need to try this :) it’s one of the easiest cakes I’ve ever made and it tastes divine!

So, I went to a friends house last night, just a simple girls night with a couple of cups of mulled wine (yaay it’s that time of year! :)) and of course we had to make a cake.

My friend Tina is also a health nut, like me, and also loves to cook. She’s made this cake a couple of time before and loved it. So i had to try it, right? I mean, it’s not like I had a choice… ;)

Anyyyywaaaay….this is her recipe. So I take no credit, but this cake is so easy to make, so healthy and sooo delicious, that I had to share it with you!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 pineapple or 1 can, if you’re using canned
• coconut oil 
• 1.5 cup coconut flour
• 1.5 cup ground almonds
• 2 cups dates
• 1 tsp cinnamon

And here’s how:

1. Put the dates in a blender with 1 cup water and 1tsp cinnamon and blend
2. Cover the bottom of the baking tin with baking paper, to make sure you can later remove the cake from the tin nicely
3. Arrange the pineapple slices on top of the paper, making sure you cover as much as possible
4. Pour in about 3/4 of the date mixture and put the pan in the fridge
5. In a bowl, mix together the coconut flour and ground almonds and add the remaining 1/4 of the date mixture. Mix thoroughly. If you feel like the mixture isn’t moist enough, add a tsp of coconut oil.
6. Spread the mixture on top of the dates in the pan and it down as hard you can, to make sure everything comes together nicely
7. Put the tin in the fridge for at lest an hour- more is better
8. Turn it over on a serving plate, so the pineapples are on top and you’re ready to serve

Yuuuuum

Vegetable flowers

Okay, so this is probably the most proud I've ever been about something I made in the kitchen. Firstly because they were delicious, secondly because they looked sooo cute-like little flowers and thirdly because I didn't use a recipe- I came up with this on my own :D yaaay 

Here's what you'll need for about 24 flowers:

- filo pastry - I used 1 pack of bought filo pastry, this   may be different for different brands 

- 2 eggs

- 1tbs chia seeds

- 2tbs sour cream

- 1 onion

- 1 zucchini

- 1 red pepper

- 1 tomato

- 1 can of cooked corn

- 2 medium carrots

- mozarella

- spices to taste -  I used salt, pepper, turmeric, cayenne pepper and a little ginger

HOW TO:

- cut your filo pastry into squares with the sides about 5cm long. No need to worry about making them the same size of making the squares perfect. Now brush one square with A LITTLE olive oil and put another square over it - make it so the second square is rotated a little. Now put this into your cupcake pan and press down lightly.

- Heat olive oil and add onions - cook untill slightly yellow and soft. Cut other vegetables into small pieces and add them to the onions. Stir and cover. Reduce heat to medium and let it cook untill all of the vegetables are soft. Once they are cooked, let them cool down a little.

- Once the vegetables have cooled down add the sour cream and stir. Now add the eggs and chia seeds and make sure everything is combined nicely. 

- Add spices to taste

- Now scoop the filling into the cups you've made with filo pastry and top each flower with a small piece of mozarella. Brush the sides of the pastry with some egg wash and pop it in the oven at 180°C until the pastry is a nice golden brown and the filling has set- the eggs have cooked.

Take out of the oven, top with fresh herbs, and enjoy. These are delicious hot or cold. 

I had mine with a bowl of homemade spicy pumpkin soup and it was deliciousssss 

Chocolate chia pudding

I posted a photo of my little chia creation a few days ago and now I finally got around to writing down the (very simple) recipe :)

This is one delicious dessert/snack!

Mix about 2 tbs chia seeds with about 3/4 cup chocolate soy milk. (you can use any other chocolate milk as well- rice, almond,..it's all good!) Put it in a nice glass or cup - the one you're going to serve it in :) Now- fridge time! put is in the fridge for at least a few hours or even better- over night. Before you serve it, just top it with anything you like. I chose mixed berries and it worked like magic :)

YUM!

Coconut and buckwheat bread

So, I’ve been having lots of problems with digestion, low energy leves, and skin-acne lately. And I decided to get tested for candida overgrowth and food intolarances, and surprise surprise…All of my problems were eplained by candida and lacose and gluten intolerance. Happy about it? Nope. But it’s nice to finally know whats wrong and start making a change. 

And I have been seeing slight changes since I started watchig my diet, which is amazing :D No more bloating, no more stomach pains - well, almost, but I am still figuring this out…and my skin is already looking a bit better yaaay :D

So, now the problem is: is there ANYTHING I CAN EAT?? I admit it, I was a bit depressed for the first few days, especially because all of this happened during the holidays, and we all know there is no worse time to be told you can’t it something…and I felt like I was told I can’t eat anything…sucks, right? 

But after the initial shock was over and I started doing some research I found out there is actually loads of delicious thing I CAN eat :D and this is the first, of hopefully many recipes, to come your way. 

It’s a gluten free, dairy free and candida friendly bread loaf that looks amazing and can be made savoury or sweet, WHAAAT? Yup, it’s true :D

Here’s what you’ll need:

- 1/2 cup coconut flour

- 1/2 cup buckwheat flour

- 1/2 cup coconut milk - only use the creamy part

- 5 eggs

- 2 tbs coconut oil

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1 tsp baking powder

* If you want to make this a sweet loaf, which is also delicious and perfect as a snack or to go with your afternoon tea, just add STEVIA to taste 

HOW TO:

Mix together the eggs, coconut oil and salt (and stevia if you’re making a sweet loaf). Now add coconut flour, coconut milk, buckwheat flour and baking powder. I recommend you add the dry ingredients one at a time, mixing inbetween. Once everything is mixed together take a loaf pan and lightly gease it with some coconut oil. Pour the mixture into the loaf pan. I sprinkled mine with some pumpkin and sunflower seeds and coconut flour, to give it a nicer look and crunch, but this is completely optional :D Bake for 30min on 175C or until golden brown 

Bon apetit :*

COCONUT FLOUR

This is a great way to sub your wheat flours, it doesn’t contain gluten and it’s delicious. It’s consistency makes bread or any other product you make with it more airy and light.

The bread made with cocout flour is a low carb one and it’s high in fiber, which helps your digestion, also making is perfect for candida.

Why crunches and situps aren't giving you flat abs

So, you've been doing situps and crunches religiously for years, and you just can't get the abs you want? No, there's nothing wrong with you and you're not the only one. The problem lies in your approach. 

Flat abs are a result of a regular cardio, resistance training, core strength traingin and of course - diet. A saying that hasbeen going around quite a lot is- abs are made in the kitchen. Which is true. Partially.

Most people don’t realize that without a strong core, it’s unlikely you will achieve flat, sixpack abs. And,for a strong core you need to strengthen much more than just your abdominals. It includes your hips, lower bach, glutes and of course the inner core muscles - areas that crunches alone are missing. 

Try out this Kayla Itsines' ab workout and visit her web page for for her complete bikini body guide. Seriously this girl is amazing.

Now, lets talk about diet. No amount of training will help if you don't do the work in the kitchen as well. You may have a strong core and abs, but to get them to show, you need to lose fat. And that cannot be done in just one part of the body. If you want to show off your abs you need to get your body fat % down. Total body fat, not just abdominal fat. To lose fat you need to create a calorie deficit - now this is a whole new topic for a whole different post. But in short- please do not starve your body- you will not get abs this way as he body starts to eat its own muscles when it doesn't get enough nutrients. So eat. But eat clean. Avoid things that will cause cravings - like processed foods, simple carohyrates, sugar... And include more fruits, veggies, complex carbohydrates- wholewheat, rice, oats,...and lean protein- beans, fish, soy, chickpeas, eggs, cottage cheese...

A post on clean eating will be up soon, but if you have any questions at all just ASK :D

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

Winter time is coming and with it all the joys of the season. I love love loveee the time of year before Christmas <3 I know, I know, it’s only November, but I just can’t help myself. I just love it and I’m not ashamed to admit it. When November begins that’s my que to start planning Christmas presents for family and friends and watching Christmas movies, of course! Watching Love Actually during the first weekend of November has become sort of a tradition of mine and it marks the begining of Christmas season for me :P just to be totally honest, I might watch Love Actually at least every two weeks untill Christmas…Actually, I probably will. Okay, okay…I know I will, cause I do every year :D

But this isn’t a post about Christmas or Love Actually. It is however a post about something delicious and hot and something that smells great and something that makes me feel wintery and christmasy and lovely…I’m babbling…

This is a post about CHESTNUTS :D Chestnuts roasting on an opeeen fireee…

Okay, so..Chestnuts. Love them. But how much do you really know about them? 

- They are relatively low in calories - compared to other nuts - around 200 Kcal per 100g

- They are starchy in contrast to other seeds and nuts, their nutrition composition is similar to other staple starch foods such as sweet potato, sweet corn, potatoes, 

- They are a good source of dietary fiber; provide 8.1 g (about 21% of RDI) per 100 g. Fiber diet helps lower blood cholesterol levels by limiting excess cholesterol absorption in the intestines.

- They are exceptionally rich in vitamin-C. 100 g nuts provide 43 mg of vitamin C (72 % of DRI). 

- They are rich in folates, which is quite a rare but unique feature for nuts and seeds. 100 g nuts provide 62 µg of folates (or 15.5% DRI). Folic acid is required for the formation of red blood cells, DNA synthesis. Adequate consumption of food rich in folates is especially important before and during the first trimester of pregnancy as it helps prevent neural tube defects.

- Chestnuts contain high levels of essential fatty acids, including linoleic acid, which are beneficial to cardiovascular health and proper neurological development in infants,

- The nuts are an excellent source of minerals such as iron, calcium, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus and zinc, besides providing a very good amount of potassium

- Further, they are also rich in many important B-complex groups of vitamins. 100 g of nuts provide 11% of niacin, 29% of pyridoxine (vitamin B-6), 100% of thiamin, and 12% of riboflavin.

Plus, they are delicious and smell nice and when they start selling roasted chestnuts you know it’s the time of year to be jolly :D