CAULIFLOWER SIDE SALAD

When you fetch your daughter from school and you ask how was your day and she replies boring. But then tells you she would have the boring day all over again just so she could eat her lunch again. Yes this is a true story, I promise. One that made me a proud mom and home cook. This dish was in her lunch box on the day in question.

BERRY SUMMER SMOOTHIE

I have been loving having berries around now that the warmer weather seems to be here, Hello Spring and then Summer!

This is one of those make shift recipes where it really just a guideline to what I throw in my blender (so please adjust according to your taste).

Vegetarian
Summery
Fruity
Quick
and could be vegan if you sub the honey for maple syrup.


BERRY SMOOTHIE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:

+/- 2 cups of berries (I used strawberries and mulberries)
1 medium banana
1 cup organic coconut milk
2 -3 Tablespoons hemp seeds
1 teaspoon honey. 

1/4 cup filtered water (if to thick - OPTIONAL)

METHOD
Blend and adjust sweetness and thickness to taste. 

serve. 

Comment and tell me what your favorite smoothie combo is below.

SPROUTING 101

 

In the past I bought sprouts at the store/shop in the salad section and added them to my salads, randomly and when I felt like buying them. Since then I have tasted some really delicious take-out raw food dishes which seemed to contain A LOT of different  kinds of sprouts with all kinds of delicious patties and salads. While chatting my husband asked "why don't we sprout?" and from then on I was hooked on the idea....Why hadn't I considered it before?

I read advice online and started with 3 jars and some mesh/tuille fabric. I also drove my husband crazy because our drying-up rack for our dishes became the home for the jars of busy sprouting seeds thus causing chaos in the washing and drying of our dishes and trying to keep the kitchen clean.. (hehehe.) - causing chaos in the kitchen seems to be my special something.
So after several days of searching for a second drying rack - I wanted a fold away one, which is currently impossible to find in any stores where I live we went straight to the source and just bought a kind of expensive (but so worth it) sprouting rack. Its perfect and our sprouting journey continues full throttle.

WHY SPROUTS
The enzymes in sprouts is much higher than in other uncooked, raw foods because the sprouts are alive.

• The vitamin content in sprouts is higher - yay more vitamins!

BUTTERNUT PIE AND THANKSGIVING

 

I've never had pumpkin pie before in my life so I'm really not sure if what I created is anything close to what its supposed to be like. I really wanted to try and make it... so I read loads of recipes and the common thread was pumpkin, sugar, eggs and milk plus cinnamon, spices and a pie crust (duh)!---BUT I wanted it to be minus the dairy and mounds of sugar And I really like butternut so I subbed that for pumpkin. So in the end I think I really created a vegan, dairy free variation of "a kind of pumpkin pie?"...  I suppose it could maybe be called South African Butternut "thanks giving" pie

BUTTERNUT BAKE

Every one needs a few simple side dishes they can throw in the oven or in a pot on the stove and not have to worry. These side dishes should be relatively quick to prepare and always have a nice outcome, going with most things.

MUSHROOM SOUP

 

In the cold weather a bowl of hot soup can be so comforting. This mushroom soup has been such a huge hit in our house and is lovingly asked for on cold weather days. It is often accompanied with thinly sliced, crispy Rye toast smeared with Avocado and season with salt. The avo on the toast

VEGETARIAN CURRY (BUTTERNUT AND BEAN)

Im not sure if this is technically a curry as I just added things as I went along and Im not sure on what exactly constitutes a dish being called a curry. But this dish is both flavour filled and burny = so we called it a curry in our household.

VEGETABLE CAKES / PATTIES

We all like to eat healthier. I know I feel much better when consuming more vegetables and less junk. These are a vegetarian's dream with great flavour and so easy to make.  

This recipe is more of a guideline and something I make often for my family.
These vegetable cakes/patties pair well with salad and go great with some fried egg and avo on top.
They make great lunch box snacks if you have any left over.
Would go great at a party - make tiny ones and top with cream cheese.
Substitute out any vegetables you like or have on hand.

BAKED SWEET POTATO CHOCOLATE CAKE (GLUTEN FREE)

I wanted to bake a "healthy" chocolate cake and in cases like that I usually make a Beetroot chocolate cake. But on this very day I didn't have any beetroot in my fridge and so with some tweaking and hoping and substituting this cake was born - Baked Sweet Potato Chocolate Cake.

You know what - it turned out better than my beetroot version ... and so this is the NEW chocolate cake in our house! It is softer and sweeter - even though the same amount of sugar is used. This is because the sweet potato is baked in the oven till caramelized on the edges and it is naturally sweet.   

Not to say the beetroot chocolate cake is no longer good enough, if I can't get sweet potatoes then it will be back on the menu shortly but this cake has really stolen the show.

NOTES*** 
I have made this cake many times over the years - its still a winner and used at every birthday and everything in between! Some things have been tweaked and changed ---

SUGAR: I now use half a cup of sugar instead of a whole cup. But use as much as you think your sugar tooth needs.

WATER: I have found the cake batter has got quite thick and I now add between half a cup to 1 cup of filtered water at the end of the batter if I find its a bit to thick for my liking.

SWEET POTATO: Bake a large sweet potato with its skin on in the oven at 180 degrees celcius (turn half way through baking). Bake until soft when inserted with a knife and the outside yields nicely when pushed with a thumb. Some of the outside may look dark (brown to slightly black in places) on the outsides as the sweet potato caramelizes inside its skin. Allow to cool and then peel and mash with a fork.


INGREDIENTS (BROKEN UP INTO 4 PARTS)

STEP 1:

50g dark chocolate (I used 70% cocoa dark chocolate)
a tiny pinch of salt
3 Tablespoons of cream (coconut cream or dairy cream - your choice) 

 combine the 3 ingredients and melt in a baine marie - stir until smooth and put to one side.

STEP 2:

1 generous cup /200g/250ml Jaggery or Brown Organic Sugar (READ NOTES about how much sugar I now use*)
3 Free range eggs
100ml coconut oil (melted down to measure)
100ml olive oil

Beat/mix together with a stand or hand mixer in a large bowl until thickened and the mixture has lightened a little

STEP 3:

1 cup /250ml baked and mashed sweet potato (roughly 240g when cooked) *see note above*

add to the egg/sugar mixture above and mix in then add the chocolate cream and mix in until totally incorporated.

STEP 4:

3 heaped dessert spoons of cocoa
1 teaspoon bicarb
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 and a half cups / 375ml Gluten Free flour mix

Gradually add each ingredient above one by one beating after each addition to the mixture. See if you need water - (please see NOTES above the recipe)
Place mixture into 2 buttered/coconut oiled and floured medium cake tins and place in the oven at 155 degrees celcius for roughly 40 minutes - until the cake springs back to the touch and the knife inserted into the middle of the cake come out clean.

 
ICING:
I usually make a chocolate ganache for this cake  - I melt dark chocolate with coconut milk, allow to cool then pour over the cake. or alternatively I blend dates (pips removed) with coconut oil and a pinch of salt for a caramel type of icing.

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE ICE CREAM RECIPE

Chocolate Ice cream recipe found on www.bettybake.co.za


We have cut down considerably on dairy but this week I had an incredible dessert craving...
something smooth and chocolatey. I wanted chocolate mousse or pudding or cold chocolate-something!

I have been using coconut milk and frozen bananas as a substitute in baking for milk and dairy but this time I just couldn't do it! I had to have cream and chocolate! So I started by making a chocolate pudding of sorts and then decided to freeze some of it in individual little cups for dessert. It was so yummy that the remainder that was in the fridge had to be turned into ice cream.

BUT I worried that if I put the mix in the ice cream maker that I wouldn't be able to share the ice cream that came out as  the amount was a little and SO YUMMY! (I wanted to gobble it ALL up) So I added a cup of milk and mixed it all together before putting it into the ice cream maker:) It was now a little less chocolatey but still so delicious. So its your choice whether you want a stronger chocolate taste or a bigger batch of ice cream. You could also not add the extra milk and leave it in the fridge - it sets to a gorgeous velvety pudding! soooo good!

INGREDIENTS
250ml cream (1 tub)
300 milk + 200ml later (optional)
1 vanilla pod
3 eggs
100g GREAT TASTING dark chocolate (the best you can afford)
2 tablespoons jaggery / brown sugar
2 tablespoons agave syrup / honey / brown suagr
2 tablespoons xylitol / brown sugar



METHOD
Place the cream and 300ml of milk in a small pot on the stove with a vanilla pod -score and scrape out the seeds into the milk and then place the whole empty pod into the milk as well.
Heat on medium until just before boiling point then take off the stove and stir through. Allow to cool quite a bit till warm (this will allow the vanilla to infuse into the milk)
In a small bowl or a jug beat/mix the eggs with the a whisk (i use a fork) till the yellows are broken and combined with the whites. Add the sweeteners (brown sugar, jaggery, xylitol) and mix.
Slowly add some of the milk to the egg/sweetener mix and stir.
Add all of the egg mix back into to the pot stirring continuously so that the egg doesn't scramble.
Place the pot on a low heat and continue to stir until slightly thickened. It won't be to thicker - just slightly and won't taste like raw egg any more. Turn off and continue to stir.
Remove the vanilla pod.
Break up and place all the chocolate into the milk mix and stir until it is melted and one uniform chocolatey colour.
CHOICE 1) place into individual small bowls and place in the fridge for chocolate puddings or the freezer for tiny ice cream mousse puddings

CHOICE 2) add the additional 200ml milk and place in an ice cream machine and make into ice cream. If you don't have an ice cream machine then place in a metal dish and place in the freezer and take out and beat to break up ice crystals every hour for 3 or 4 times.

Serve and enjoy
YUM

DAIRY FREE POTATO-VEGGIE BAKE

Dairy-free Potato/ veggie bake on www.bettybake.co.za

One of my all-time favorite dishes to eat is a homemade potato bake creamy and rich and filled with flavour. No packet sauce, just home peeled and thinly sliced potatoes cooked with butter and cream and some friendly onion and mushroom in-between. I make it often and especially when I want comfort food. But when we decided to cut out as much dairy as possible I sadly knew I would have to say goodbye to my potato bake that I loved so much ... I mean it has butter and cream in it! Anyway after much fretting I decided to try my hand at making a dairy-free potato bake *Drum roll please* And it worked! YAY! We now eat this yummy dish with no remorse or regret. I love it so much I don't even miss my other creamy dish I used to make (deadly serious and no lies promise)

This is one of those recipes where the recipe is just a guide line and you can alter it to suit your tastes and whats in your fridge

INGREDIENTS
2 - 4 spring onions
garlic (optional)
200ml coconut milk (a small tin or half a big tin of coconut milk)
salt
fresh herbs (i use fresh thyme and oregano)
+/- 6 medium Potatoes
1 onion very thinly sliced (as thin as possible)
125g Mushrooms (optional)
half a smallish Butternut (optional)




METHOD
Take the spring onions, wash and thinly slice and place in a pestle and mortar, mash into a mooshy paste (it doesn't have to be perfect). Add garlic and salt and mash some more. Add chopped fresh herbs and once they are mashed in add half of your coconut milk
Peel your potatoes and slice thinly.
Oil the bottom of a medium to large oven dish (like one you would use for lasagne)
Arrange a layer of potatoes on the bottom top with scattered slices of onion and pour a little bit of the "sauce" made with coconut milk - blobs every here and there.
Arrange layers like this with a layer of mushrooms or butternut inbetween the potato layers (or leave them out)
When all the potato and vegetables are used up pour the "sauce" on top and top up the bake with a little more coconut milk if you feel like it needs it.
Sprinkle a thin layer of onion on top and salt
Bake in the oven at 180 degrees celcius for 45 min or until brown on top and a knife inserted in the dish is soft

 Serve

VEGETARIAN SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE / MUSHROOM STYLE MEATLESS BOLOGNAISE

With the colder weather approaching the need to each comforting bowls of warmth has drastically grown!
I then realized that our move to eating meat free and mostly animal product free too that I would have to come up with a dish to replace my usual spaghetti bolognese  I used to make  (filled with mince etc).  I can confidently say that we are 97% vegetarian and indulge in meat maybe once a month. (yay us! ;)
Replacing the meat with good quality mushrooms worked beautifully and I still got my lovely tomato pasta fix I wanted.

Autumn has been particularly beautiful this year and I couldn't help but photograph the leaves :) the seasons are changing fast and the cold is setting in!

INGREDIENTS
2 medium onions
2 cloves of garlic
1 and a half punnets of mushrooms (i used porcinni ) 
2 teaspoons balsamic glaze or balsamic vinegar
1 large jar of organic tomato puree 
2 teaspoons brown organic sugar
salt 
pepper
some fresh herbs - basil, oregano, thyme
Pasta (cooked) I use rice pasta



METHOD
Fry onion in some olive oil and season with salt. Once it starts to change colour add a teaspoon of sugar. then add garlic and lightly brown then remove all from the pan. In the same pan fry chopped up mushrooms and then add some balsamic glaze or balsamic vinegar and cook the mushrooms through. Now add the cooked onion and garlic back into the pan with the mushrooms. Add a jar of tomato puree and add sugar, salt, pepper and fresh herbs (basil, thyme and oregano) and simmer until flavors infuse. serve over cooked pasta :) I use a rice pasta.
Sprinkle with cheese if you eat dairy

So what warmer foods have you been making lately now that winter is here?

 

MOIST CARROT CAKE WITH LEMON CREAM CHEESE ICING

I found this recipe on Nook eatery's website and immediately after changing some things and making it I wanted to share it with everyone. But I have a no stealing recipes policy and so I immediately emailed Jessica from Nook Eatery and said to her I wanted to write a blog post and share my version of the recipe (gluten-free and other tweaks). Jessica was very kind and said sure :) she is lovely, isn't she?
So thanks to Nook Eatery and Jessica for allowing me to take their recipe, turn it upside down and make it my own and share it with you. Some bloggers would argue that I had changed it enough that it could be my recipe now but I got the idea from reading their website and from their recipe - so give credit where credit is due. The bones of the recipe is definitely theirs - but when serving it to family and friends I will claim I made it (baked it) so I get the credit ;)

This carrot cake is incredibly moist and was still moist 4 - 5 days later, so its a great cake for a party or dessert that you can make ahead and keep (especially if you have lots to prepare - the more you can get done in advance the better)
Even though I made the sugar less in this recipe next time I will add even less as I thought it was still to sweet.

Enjoy

INGREDIENTS
225ml Buckwheat flour
400ml Gluten-free Flour (brand of your choice)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarb
2 generous teaspoons cinnamon
3-4 large carrots peeled and then grated (when grated filled up a measuring jug to 500ml pressed down)
4 eggs
1 and a half cups brown sugar (organic if possible)
350ml sunflower oil (or oil of your choice)
zest/ grated skin of 2 small oranges
a handful of pecans (roughly chopped)
a handful of raisins(optional)

METHOD
Place the flours, baking powder, bicarb, cinnamon and grated carrot into a large bowl and stir to mix.
In a separate bowl beat the eggs and brown sugar until pale then add the sunflower oil and beat until incorporated
Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir until mixed through
Now carefully zest/ grate on fine the rinds/skins of your oranges into the mixture then add the pecans and raisins (if using)
Mix all together and pour into a well buttered and floured tins (i think mine are about 18cm)

Bake in the oven @170 degrees celcius for +/- 40 minutes or the edges start to pull away from the cake tin and is nice and brown on top

Remove from tins and allow to cool
Top and fill with lemon cream cheese icing 

Enjoy the carrot cake :) let me know how it turns out :) 

 

added to Bloom designs link party

FORKS OVER KNIVES & WHOLEFOODS

Sorry is that MEAT on your plate?

 A few nights ago myself and the husband watched the documentary FORKS OVER KNIVES. Now it isn't the most gripping documentary ever BUT it has enough evidence and facts in there to make you think about what you are doing to yourself every day!

WE ALL EAT EVERYDAY - whether it be for necessity to stay alive or for pleasure because you love food or to express your feelings of joy or sadness. But that means everyday we are making decisions about how our bodies will be ... We can eat for health or for sickness! It really can be that simple.
Part of the documentary that really stuck with me is how they showed evidence that how the people  ate differently their bodies could turn cancer cells off or on just from their diet. And the same for the arteries around your heart. You can ensure your body is cholesterol free from making good food choices.

I know from my own personal lifestyle of food I have been making small changes over a long period of time. This hasn't been an over night decision but a month by month and even years that I have been slowly changing.
If you look at my recipe posts from when I started this blog and compare the recipes that I cook now you will see more healthy choices, less meat and less sugar. I am now 95% Vegetarian. PLEASE don't shout at me if you see a meat post on my blog. I have meat rarely and as a treat but it isn't the norm!

Now back to FORKS OVER KNIVES : The main evidence of the documentary which they did huge studies which you should really watch is meat is a NO GO and refined sugars and refined starches and also VERY BAD! Also no dairy and eggs and only a whole food diet is recommended. Now most of this is easy for me as I have been slowly changing my lifestyle over the years and have got to a point now that I have

•  lowered my sugar intake (barely have any refined sugars - only as a treat)

• eating less meat

• cutting out wheat and gluten (almost entirely - 1 treat maybe once a month!) 

• refusing to eat MSG, and bad additives like Aspartame etc..

• reading labels - no E numbers and bad additives etc...

• cutting out hormones (in meat, milk, cheese, yoghurt, eggs etc) no rBST in milk!

• refusing to use anything heated or cooked or frozen in plastic (plastic mimics estrogen in your body causing hormonal problems)

• Eating organic or if not available pesticide free (fruit, veg and salad)

 

 

I agree with the makers of FORKS OVER KNIVES eating a whole food diet is the way to go. I am not entirely sure if I'll be able to cut out all dairy and eggs. But I am going to lower my dairy intake and eggs too.

I have seen such a different in my body since giving up meat in November. I now only have it as a treat. I feel so well and healthy and barely miss it!

I urge you to try watch this movie - even if you change a little, it would be a step towards a healthier you in some way.

 
Its amazing how your love of food can change. I am so happy to carry on learning and being informed. I know somedays I want to pretend I am an ostrich and put my head in the sand and pretend that I do take aways and drive through but then I look at my health and I haven't regretted one decision. A few extra minutes cooking never killed anyone and I am happier for it!



 

*note: these are my own experiences and have nothing to do with FORKS OVER KNIVES - they don't even know I exist ;) but I am so much happier I watched it so I thought you should know about it too!

ROASTED TOMATO SAUCE & HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

So yesterday was my daughters 8th Birthday and Saturday will be her party!
Hence I am up to the eye balls with party boxes, garlands, baking,sticking things etc...
BUT today is Valentines day, the day filled with red, pink and hearts. So I thought I'd sneak in a quick recipe filled with red... sorry no heart baked good this year.
This recipe is a guide line and you can vary it according to what you have in your fridge and herb garden or pantry - of course you have to have tomatoes. The variety of tomatoes doesn't matter but a lovely bunch of deep red, sun kissed and preferable organic will make a very delicious sauce which can be used on anything!
I use mine in pasta, on gnocchi, on pizzas and for dipping for chips etc...
As with most recipes - the better the ingredients the better the dish.


ROASTED TOMATO SAUCE
a bunch or two of tomatoes
an onion or two
olive oil
a teaspoon or 2 of  brown sugar
salt
pepper
basil
oregano
thyme

METHOD
Wash and cut your tomatoes in half. Place them in an oven dish with the cut side facing up.
Finely dice your onion and sprinkle on top.
Sprinkle over your olive oil - just a glug.
Season with a nice handful of herbs (washed and broken up)
season with salt and pepper and some brown sugar.
Place in the oven at 180 degrees celcius and roast until soft and mushy (stirring occasionally).
Take out then you have soft and sagging tomatoes that yield to your thumb and the surrounding liquid is thick.
Allow to cool slightly and place in a blender and pulse/ blend until desired consistency.

*hint* for a creamy tomato pasta sauce add some cream when blending

Can be bottled and kept in the fridge for a few days

enjoy