SUNFLOWER SEED BUTTER

Sunflower seed butter Recipe www.bettybake.co.za

This is one of those things that gets made in my house and gets divided out EQUALLY! As to not cause world war 3. Yes i know- crazy but true! We each get a jar labeled with our name so that we can't blame each other for finishing the jar and then act like children blaming each other!

I think one of the reasons we value this yummy spread so much is because my husband is allergic to peanuts and some other nuts so we can't just go to the shop and buy whatever nut butter we want and use it.
It is very yummy and we have the added benefit of knowing exactly what is in the spread that we are eating plus we can buy the best quality ingredients to make it- eg, organic and pesticide free.

Himalayan Crystal Salt also known as "pink salt"

This is one of those recipes where you can make as little or as much as you like. I simply buy a few bags of organic sunflower seeds and place them in the oven to roast and then blend them in my electric blender.

INGREDIENTS
750grams (+/-) its up to you
Sunflower oil
Salt - 1-2 teaspoons (or to taste)
Honey - 1- 4 teaspoons (or to taste)


METHOD
Turn the oven on to bake/roast at 160- 180 degrees celcius. Place your sunflower seeds in an oven roasting dish and place in the center of the oven.
Watch CAREFULLY and stir often as the seeds burn easily - especially near the end!
Roast them till nice and golden brown in colour then remove from the oven and allow to cool. (at this stage you can place all of it in an air tight jar for a few days if you don't have the time to finish the recipe)
Place the seeds in the blender about a cup at a time and follow the directions below.
Turn the blender on and blend until a course ground flour like state.
Add sunflower oil a table spoon at a time and some salt and honey. blend and then taste.
Keep adding things according to taste and also the thickness you desire.
I sometimes add more oil depending on how spreadable i want it to be

Enjoy on toast or add to your biscuit recipes or have with cheese or fruit :)

Im enjoying Instagram on my phone and photographing my lunch is just part of the fun.



 

Disclaimer: I have been making this recipe for months. I make it often and this is just the way I make it. I have seen various recipes all over the internet to make all sorts of seed and nut butters so by no means is this an original idea but this recipe is my own as this is how I make it. 

Have a fabulous weekend!

Enjoy it, have fun, relax and just be you :)

Judging, Tasting, Braaing, Advertising

On an unrelated note: Can you believe this was taken with my cellphone?

Sometimes I am at my happiest when I am at my busiest! This is not to be confused with my happiness while on holiday (relaxing and reading in a sunny spot in a foreign place)- that is THE ULTIMATE.
But when we have to do normal life with work during non-holiday times then I love being busy. It makes time fly. It also makes for easy writing and inspiration. BUT it also doesn't allow for much baking or photographing which = no recipe posts!!! Darn and sorry.

This month I am working on and looking forward to:

Judging: Being a food judge, this is a first for me but I am enjoying it thoroughly. Being asked to eat food at the V & A Waterfront in the Masters of the Trade Route Culinary Challenge  in which their restaurants are partaking to be the winner of the signature dish and title.  The fact that I get to eat at some of the restaurants and say what I think is even more fun than I thought it would be.

Advertising: I am so SUPER excited to have my first blog advertiser! I have been hoping for this day for so very long and now that it is here I am even more chuffed than I thought I would be. Please welcome yuppiechef to my side bar. Click the ad  - they have yummy kitchen equipment and I love their website so it was a natural choice to say yes to them. 


Tasting a Legend: I finally got to eat some of the legendary Chef Luke Dale Roberts food at The Potluck Club on Wednesday night all thanks to The Big Green Egg - a ceramic braai of sorts. All the food was cooked on their ceramic braai's and everything tastes so very yummy!  Which was very cool! I hope to own one - one day! To take a look at some of the food that I ate click here. (I chose the vegetarian option)


Farmers Market: My favorite market that I shop at weekly in Tokai every Saturday - The Earth Fair market opens in Noordhoek on a Thursday night (from 4pm onwards). Yay, I am looking forward to seeing how it will be - I am sure it will be the best of all their markets yet!

Instagram: I am loving Instagram and post photos on there most days. I never thought that a cellphone app would be as fun as this! search for me on Instagram @bettybake :) or you can look on your computer using an online website called webstagram or Statigram


I still check on my blog everyday and love reading the comments. So how are you? What are you looking forward to?

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE SQUARES - FLUFFY CHOCOLATE MALLOW AND COCONUT

 

  

So life throws you ingredients and I bake...

I was sent some products from Wellness Warehouse ( I always try to disclose when I get stuff for free) they were kind enough to chat to me about what I liked and didnt just guess what they thought I should have... So it was nice to say things like I use coffee beans instead of already ground coffee as I have a coffee grinder and like to grind mine fresh. :) See its the little things that count.

Anyway one of the things I thought would be cool to try was cacao nibs - I have been dying to try these for a while but haven't forked out the money because I wasn't sure if I'd like them. Well now was my chance to get my hands on some.
I am happy to say I love them and will purchase them again when mine run out. Cacao nibs are filled with antioxidants and are healthy for you.
On a side note: cacao nibs should be paired with a NATURAL sweetener to taste good - they are bitter! But with some sweet natural almonds (or sugar) it becomes super yummy as they balance each other out.

Anyway I decided to bake a double chocolate cookie bar from scratch and placed a whole bunch of ingredients on my kitchen counter that I thought I would need and worked from there.. tasting and mixing as I went along. 

This biscuit/ cookie bar is what I came up with and is made in 2 parts - but is quite quick to whip up - just a little patience is needed at the very end when they sit in the oven to cool! but they are worth it. You could try eat them straight away but they are better if you do wait :)


COOKIE BAR BASE (PART 1)

INGREDIENTS
3 Tablespoons coffee (liquid -brewed and cold)
6 heaped Tablespoons Gluten free flour
1 Tablespoon cocoa -sifted
3 egg yolks (the topping uses the whites)
5 heaped Tablespoons xylitol (or another sweetener- eg organic brown sugar/honey)
Half a cup dessicated Coconut
2 teaspoons vanilla essence or a 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 heaped tablespoon cacao nibs (if you have - optional)

METHOD
Separate the eggs and place the yellows in a bowl with the xylitol (or sweetener of choice) and beat on medium high until pale and thick.
Add vanilla ess, coconut, cacao nibs and cocoa and mix.
Add half the flour and mix
Then add the coffee and mix.
Add the rest of the flour and mix again.
Spread in an oiled baking dish and smooth out until about 1.5 cm thick (i used coconut oil and squished the mixture into a ceramic rectangular dish about 20 x 30 cm - it didn't fill the whole dish)
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees celcius for 8 min



TOPPING (PART 2)

INGREDIENTS
3 egg whites
6 heaped tablespoons Xylitol (or organic brown sugar)
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder - sifted
1 Tablespoon coffee (liquid - brewed and cold)

METHOD
In a clean bowl beat the egg whites until soft peak stage.
Add  xylitol (or sugar) and beat until smooth and slightly glossy
Add the cocoa and stir in
Add the coffee and stir in

*When the biscuit base is finished baking take out and turn the oven temperature down to 145 degrees celcius.
Smooth the topping over the base
Place in the oven and bake for 15 min and then turn the oven off and leave in there to get cold ... well leave in for as long as you can resist but for atleast 1 and a half hours - 2 hours.

Cut and serve or place in an airtight container. Will keep for a few days.

NOTES: Next time I may try agave syrup or sugar in stead of the xylitol to see how it turns out. I felt the xyltiol was ok but sugar or another source would have made these cookies AMAZING!

Also omitting the flour out of the base maybe interesting... Will need to report back on this one!

Wellness Warehouse also sent me some gluten-free flour (which I found kind of sticky) but it would probably make yummy pancakes.
They have an online store for your foodie health fix and other things too ;)

Making me smile...

 

Life is a happy place when I reflect on the good and happy places in my life. It makes the craziness more bare-able. hope you like my list:  

• Beautiful flowers no matter the kind always make me happy - my home has a bunch in almost every room!
• Achieving the little things - whether its getting through a sink full of dishes or ALL the emails - getting tasks done makes for a happy accomplishment
• Smiling at a stranger
• Singing loud while listening to music
• Having fun and tickling my daughter and listening to her laugh 
• Acting like a goof ball every now and then ;) 
• Eating well and feeling healthy
• Seeing my blog linked on other blogs - so kind
• Eating chocolate

What is making you smile at the moment?

A bloggers journey :: Is it really worth it? >>from no where to foodie?

Recently I have been wanting to incorporate more about myself into my blog.

You see when I started writing this blog I never dreamed people would be reading it and I simply just rambled on about what dinner I made (with a bad photo alongside) - often not even posting a recipe. Those were happy days.
Don't get me wrong - I wanted people to read my blog but I felt no pressure to make brilliantly written posts or take great photos, I simply just chatted and posted whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted.
Then over time and reading other blogs I started to see beautiful blogs with thousands of readers - and oh boy did I want that! (Bloggers who got paid!) So I upped my game to better photos and started posting more recipes and less about stuff I liked. I decided if it wasn't about food it didn't belong on here. Then after some time I was invited to my first press launch and also went to my first review - YAY! I loved it! I felt so glamorous and important..  But along with those feeling I also put pressure on myself to make my blog more professional so I tried harder at my photos and only posted recipes. (No more me at all). Im still not a hugs blogger but quite a bit of time has passed and now when I look back I realise that I am blogging for different goals and some are good but a little has been lost. I am grateful for striving to take better photos, really I want to be as great as I can be. I love photography so it is to my benefit. but along the course of writing - I never knew I would enjoy writing (i didn't like it at school) but I have found it can be a creative outlet and I miss just rambling.
In a nutshell blogging has been great and I have had so many opportunities come through this little blog but I am not as happy as I first was when I first realised non family members and people I didn't even know were reading my blog - WOW (it was my first blogging thrill)
Then when companies contacted  me I was so flattered. I would have agreed to write anything then. (not any more) I have learnt so much about ethics and how to portray myself through this journey.
But most of all I have learnt that me being happy is best for me and this blog - otherwise its not fun and its not worth it.
So I have decided that if I loose invites to fancy events and followers that's tough... I should be happy. So more rambling, less seriousness but im sure there will always be FOOD!

Hope you'll still read ;)

Do you blog? do you put pressure on yourself?

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

OPRAH MAG 10th BIRTHDAY

This was one of those events that I immediately regretted not taking my "big camera"with me. (I usually take my proper camera with me to most events). Instead these photos are taken from my cellphone as I thought I wouldn't need my camera and could take a break from taking photos for at least one event.. of all the events why had i picked this one? ... Silly me!

So with that out of the way - please excuse the quality of these photos, I am sorry.. next time.

O Magazine in South Africa turns 10- yay!
The event was held at the Tablebay Hotel at the V & A Waterfront, Cape Town. As you can see in the pic above everyone got a pink goodie bag to take home filled in true Oprah style with nice things to touch and hold. Thanks Oprah Magazine :)

I love sparkly things and couldn't resist taking a pic of the chandeliers... I wander if one of these will fit in my lounge, probably not!  Anyway...

We had a lovely lunch which lasted all afternoon with talking (speeches and poetry) , entertainment (singing), eating and chatting in between.  The food comprised of:

Menu

Starters: 

Grilled Vegetable Terrine

Mains: 

Karoo Lamb Rack

OR 

Vegetarian Dish

Dessert: 

O's 10th Birthday Cake

I opted for the vegetarian option for lunch which was seemed to be a mushroom type of lasagne which was very creamy and delicious. Many people with the lamb exclaimed how delicious my dish looked and wished they could have some. I didn't share - it was yummy.

Dessert was the very pretty and pink 10th birthday cake with sparkly jewels. It was so girly it just made me smile. *sigh* - if only cake looked like this every day. 
 

Congrats to the Oprah magazine team on their 10th birthday! now for the teen years ;)

 

NOTE: I was invited to this event and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon with food and entertainment thanks to Oprah magazine SA. All opinions are my own. Thanks O mag SA

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!

APPLESAUCE JELLY SWEETS

So I made these as a healthy "sweets" for my daughter as she can't have any gluten or corn (most sweets contain corn syrup or glucose syrup which is often made from corn). Go ahead read the sweet packaging - you'll find corn, maize, corn syrup, glucose syrup or wheat in almost EVERYTHING! *sigh*

Anyway I had seen this idea around the web last year. Bloggers were using cooked fruit and gelatine to make jelly fruit squares. I have not used anyone's recipe but storing this idea at the back of my head but never really using the idea until now. I just tried to make them how i thought the recipe should go and did not use anybodies recipe as a guide. So this isn't copied or stolen but the original idea isn't mine.
These aren't like sweets so much as they are like cooked sweetened apples in jelly form. Easy to put in lunch boxes and healthy. A nice snack.


INGREDIENTS
apples - 3
pears - 2
vanilla pod
water
2 -3 Tablespoons Agave Syrup (you could use sugar instead)
1 Tablespoon Honey
a sprinkle of cinnamon
2 - 3 teaspoons agar agar
1/4 cup of water
a small amount of coconut oil
sugar

METHOD
Make sure you buy organic fruit - wash and place all of them in a pot that they can lay in a single layer in the pot. I removed the stems from the apples and pears and cut out any spot or blemishes. Then add water till about 3 cm high in the pot.
Split open the vanilla pod with a knife and scrape out the seeds into the pot and place the empty pod in the water too.
Turn on the stove and allow to come to a slow simmer with the lid on.
Simmer for 20 minutes then take the lid off and allow the fruit to continue to simmer slowly turn the apples and pears so that the hardest parts are moved into the water and whatever is soft and fleshy is above the water.
Squish down with a back of a large spoon every now and then.
After another 30 minutes start to check that the mixture isn't starting to stock or  burn at the bottom. Watch as the fruit becomes really soft and almost all of the water has evaporated.
Turn off the stove and allow to cool.
Push all the fruit through a sieve into a clean pot and discard the seeds and bits that won't go through the sieve and the vanilla pod.
Pour in the agave and the honey - sweeten to taste as it depends how tart your apples are and how sweet you would like it to be. You can use sugar if you prefer. (I wanted the sweets to be as healthy as possible)
Add a sprinkle of cinnamon to taste. 
Stir and add 2 teaspoons of agar agar and a quarter cup of water.
Stirring slowly bring the heat up and keep stirring
After a few minutes of thick bubbling liquid place a saucer in the freezer and put a teaspoon of the mixture on it and leave there for a bit. Check to see if the mix has set by pushing it around the saucer with your finger - if it isn't squishy and hard add another teaspoon of agar agar to the pot and stir and boil for another 5 minutes. Continue this process every 5 - 10 minutes adding more agar agar and testing in the freezer until your mixture sets nicely. (if you add to much agar agar it will go very hard! but is still edible)

Grease a dish with coconut oil or oil of your choice
Allow you mixture to cool a bit and pour into your dish
Leave to set in the fridge and then slice with a knife

*optional roll in powdered/icing Sugar or granulated sugar and serve immediately

Can be kept in the fridge for up to a week covered

Taste of Cape Town

On Thursday evening I attended an event called Taste of Cape Town in Green Point.

(Tents backed by the Green Point Stadium in the distance)

Taste of Cape Town happens over 4 days once a year. The event has an array of stall holders and restaurants that come together to show how delicious they are! ;)
 

(Tents in every direction)

For those of you who have never been or don't live in Cape Town I would describe taste of Cape Town as: An outdoor event with rows of tents placed around a design for you to walk around - you can see,buy and taste various foods, drinks and yummy things.

After the sun set much fun and EATING was to be had! Every stall seemed inviting with the sides open ready for you to browse and taste.

I didn't only eat but cooked a little too at the canape and wine pairing tent. My cooking partner was Colleen of the blog Brownie girl. We had fun preparing canapes under the guidance of Chef Chart who was very entertaining.

Then off to some food tasting:

Dishes on offer from Taj Cape Town

Braised rib eye of Beef from The Westin Executive Club

In all my wanderings I really liked some of the stalls decor and vibes.

The San Pellegrino/Aqua Panna water stall had fresh herbs and flowers and this gorgeous vintage bicycle as well as wooden crates and a fountain. I thought is was  the PRETTIEST stall. I mean isn't that bicycle just so unique and pretty with the wicker basket?

The JimmiJagga stall (a wine spritzer drink brand) had their staff faces painted and wearing hats galore. they also had a great vibe with a live band playing and a photobooth with photographer for lots of fun! Plenty of seating and bar area for everyone to relax to their pure Cape Town vibes... They were definitely the BEST DRESSED and VIBEY-IST

The Fine Brandy by Design had a beautiful lit up bar and a cool concept of pairing brandy cocktails with their dishes. They paired up with a restaurant and the food paired with their brandy cocktails were very delicious! With their barmen dressed in white and waiters neatly dressed in black. Fine Brandy was in my opinion tasty, TRENDY and UNIQUE.

One other little stand stood out with yummy looking delights called Ma Mere Maison. Unfortunately which I did not sample their goodies but I couldn't resist taking photos of their stall. I thought their design and decor was so cute. They had a red and white chevron background (cool) and pretty macarons as well as nougat etc...  They definitely looked the YUMMIEST!

It is often hard to know where or what to focus on with big events, especially with lots of stall holders... You can't highlight them all and even if you picked your BEST there would be so much that you would miss out telling you the reader!So next year do yourself a favour and go. It is yummy, I promise.



 
NOTE: I was given a media pass courtesy of Fresh Living Magazine, Pick n Pay and Taste of Cape Town. My Media pass allowed me to taste some of the food and drink on offer and a goodie bag. Many thanks to these sponsors. This post is purely my own thoughts of how I found the event.