Blog : Recipes

Bread that tastes like cake and is also sugar free? Yes please! This banana bread recipe will be the perfect solution to those quick mornings when there is no time for breakfast or late afternoon cravings when the cookie jar is starting to look way too tempting!

I am not a fan of cooking, which means that eating healthy has always been a problem for me. So I am slowly trying to come up with alternatives to at least eat healthy during the day.
My mornings usually start with a homemade smoothie or a quick and easy banana pancake. But what about those cravings during the day? Or the mornings where there simply is no time to make a smoothie or pancake?

Solution: Banana Bread!

I still don’t get why I haven’t thought of this before, because it is:
– ‘healthy’: there are mixed nuts in this bread and it is sugar-free, etc. (I guess eating an apple would be considered more healthy, but to me this is already a great improvement!:)
– Perfect for eating breakfast on the go.
– Adjustable for vegans: substitute the eggs for soy yoghurt and the honey for agave syrup.
– Budget friendly, use trail mix instead of expensive fancy nuts.
– Time friendly, I usually slice the bread and store it in the freezer. This way I only have to make a bread about once every 2/3 weeks.

Did I get you excited yet?! Read the full recipe and instructions below:

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

• 3 Medium sized ripe bananas
• 100 grams Oats
• 100 grams Flour
• 3 Eggs (or 3/4 tbsp of soy yoghurt for vegans)
• 3 tbsp Coconutoil
• 3 tbsp Honey (or agave syrup for vegans)
• 2 tsp Baking powder
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• 2 Handfuls of mixed nuts

STEP 1

– Preheat the oven to 175 degrees.
– In a bowl, mash the three bananas with a fork.

STEP 2

– Add three tablespoons of coconut oil to the mashed bananas.

STEP 3

– Add three tablespoons of honey to the mashed bananas.

STEP 4

– In a separate bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients: 100 grams of flour, 100 grams of oats, 2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.

STEP 5

– With a sharp knife, chop the 2/3 of the nuts.
– Add the chopped nuts to the bowl with the dry ingredients.

STEP 6

– Add the wet ingredients to the large bowl with the dry ingredients and mix them with a spoon.

STEP 7

– Add the 3 eggs to the  mixture and stir the batter with a spoon.

STEP 8

– Line the loaf pan with baking paper.
– Evenly divide the batter into the pan.

STEP 9

– Decorate the top of the bread with the leftover, un-chopped nuts.
– Place the bread in the oven for 45 to 65 minutes (depending on your oven)

Let the bread cool down after baking or have a tasty warm slice!

* Extra tip:
Cut the bread in snack-sized slices and store them in the freezer. Take them with you to work and they will defrost before it is your pre-lunch snack time!

What to do when you don’t like to cook, but still want to eat healthy and have it look tasty at the same time? Bake!

I have been searching for new recipes online and I could never find something that I really liked, probably because I am a pretty picky eater and vegetarian. Oh, and not to mention a lazy chef..
Which is why my solution to my aversion to cooking has been baking meals that are freezable and portion controlled. It is just perfect! I only have to cook/bake when my freezer feels empty and since it involves baking, most of the time goes into waiting for the oven anyway: perfect!

I have been experimenting with veggie burgers, burritos and these pastry tarts. They are all great dishes, that go really well combined with a soup or salad.
For these tarts I picked my favourite winter food for the basis: sweet potato. It goes with everything, is filling and is such an easy vegetable to work with. I also added baked cherry tomatoes. I am not a big tomato fan, but when they are baked it changes everything! (and I guess I wouldn’t mind them on top of a pizza;)

I came up with this recipe after trying out a few different versions. But please feel free to change any ingredient that you don’t like, or add things that you do like. It is suitable for vegetarians, and it is definitely possible to use light versions of the cream and goat’s cheese.
For the vegans among us: you can substitute the egg for almond milk, the cream cheese for soy yoghurt and the goat’s cheese for vegan goat’s cheese (there is a great recipe here). Enjoy!

RECIPE:

– Follow the photo recipe here, or scroll down to the bottom of this post to see the complete recipe –

INGREDIENTS – for 4 big tarts

1 medium sized sweet potato (approx. 500g)

125g Cherry tomatoes

75g Cream cheese or Sour Cream

4 defrosted Puff Pastry Sheets

75g Goat’s Cheese

1 Onion

1 egg, for glazing

1 Clove Garlic

2tbsp Olive Oil

2tsp Salt

This recipe if suitable for vegetarians. 

STEP 1

Preheat the oven to 225°C.
– Peel and cut the sweet potato in 3mm thick slices.
– Chop the onion and place it in an oven safe dish with the sweet potato slices.
– Add a tablespoon of olive oil and mix the onion and potato.
– Place the dish in the oven for 20-30 minutes. Stirring the ingredients after 10 minutes.

STEP 2

– Take the onion and sweet potato slices out of the oven after 20-30minutes. reduce the oven to 180°C.
– Chop the clove of garlic and toss it into an oven safe dish with the cherry tomatoes.
– Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the mixture.

STEP 3

– Place the defrosted puff pastry sheets onto a lined baking tray.
– Cover the pastries with the cream cheese (or sour cream), leaving approx. 1 cm free all around.

STEP 4

– Place the slices of sweet potato on top of the cream cheese.
– spread the onion over the sweet potato slices and top with the goat’s cheese.
– Beat the egg and brush it around the border of the pastry.

STEP 5

– Place the tray into the oven for 20-35 minutes.
– At the same time place the garlic and tomato mixture in the oven for the same duration. (they are baked separately to prevent the pastry from going ‘soggy’ in case the tomatoes burst in the oven)
– After 20-35 minutes take the tray and dish out of the oven and garnish the pastries with the garlic and tomatoes.

Serve warm or at room temperature.
They can be stored in the freezer and saved for later. (simply defrost them afterwards and heat them up in the oven on a low temperature)

FULL RECIPE

Preheat the oven to 225°C.
– Peel and cut the sweet potato in 3mm thick slices.
– Chop the onion and place it in an oven safe dish with the sweet potato slices. Add a tablespoon of olive oil and mix the onion and potato.
– Place the dish in the oven for 20-30 minutes. Stirring the ingredients after 10 minutes.
– Take the onion and sweet potato slices out of the oven after 20-30minutes. reduce the oven to 180°C.
– Chop the clove of garlic and toss it into an oven safe dish with the cherry tomatoes. Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the mixture.
– Place the defrosted puff pastry sheets onto a lined baking tray.
– Cover the pastries with the cream cheese (or sour cream), leaving approx. 1 cm free all around. Place the slices of sweet potato on top of the cream cheese.
– spread the onion over the sweet potato slices and top with the goat’s cheese.
– Beat the egg and brush it around the border of the pastry.
– Place the tray into the oven for 20-35 minutes.
– At the same time place the garlic and tomato mixture in the oven for the same duration.
– After 20-35 minutes take the tray and dish out of the oven and garnish the pastries with the garlic and tomatoes.

Serve warm or at room temperature.
They can be stored in the freezer and saved for later. (simply defrost them afterwards and heat them up in the oven on a low temperature)

Meet my new favourite breakfast recipe: easy peasy banana pancakes!

I am a real sweet craving breakfast person. When I was young I would only eat cocopuffs for breakfast (still my favourite food in the world!). But now that I am older and can’t get away with that much chocolate, sugar and other probably unhealthy ingredients every morning, I have been looking for alternatives.

My two main demands for a breakfast recipe are:
– It needs to involve fruit (because I am a 5 year old when it comes to fruit and vegetables and mixing it in with my breakfast really helps me to get my daily dose of vitamins)
– Sweetness is crucial. If it doesn’t crave my sweet tooth in a healthy way, I will start to cheat at the end of the morning and eat something unhealthy.

Now that I have told you my embarrassing crazy food demands, onto some good news: I have found the perfect breakfast recipe that involves everything on my list and more! (After my breakfast smoothie recipe, I have been looking for an alternative to mix my mornings up a bit.)

This banana pancake recipe is incredibly easy to make and it only needs two ingredients!

You can make as many as you like to fill you up and you can add a little bit of cinnamon if you are feeling crazy;)

RECIPE:

INGREDIENTS

1/2 Banana
1 Egg

*Optional ingredients: Butter, Cinnamon

SUPPLIES

– Knife
– Fork
– Bowl
– Skillet Pan
– Spatula

* These pancakes are low fat and suitable for a gluten free and dairy free diet.

STEP 1

– Cut half a banana in slices and place them in the bowl.
– Add the egg to the bowl.

STEP 2

– Use your fork to mash the banana and mix it with the egg.

STEP 3

– Pour the banana and egg mixture in a heated skillet. (you can melt a little bit of butter to bake the pancakes or use a nonstick pan)
– Bake the pancakes on one side.
– Use your spatially to carefully flip* the pancake and bake the other side.

* Flipping the pancakes is a little bit more trickier than regular pancakes because of the structure. The smaller the pancakes, the easier they will be to flip.

STEP 4

– Serve the pancakes on a plate with the leftover banana sliced in small pieces.

* Add cinnamon for a real taste explosion!

Bon appetit!

Ok, here is some shocking news: I hate to cook. And to make it even worse: I am also not a big fan of fruit and vegetables…

Pfeww, there, I said it.

When I confess this to people, usually the responses are not very positive. I often get questions like: “but what do you eat?” Or: “how old are you?!”

The thing is that I made my peace with it a long time ago, and I really try to eat as healthy as possible. I make a breakfast smoothie every morning to get my daily fruits in a way that I actually like the taste.
And I am also very fortunate that my boyfriend likes to cook, so he makes sure that I get my daily amount of veggies.

But he has been working in Germany for the past two months, so not only did I miss him, I also missed his cooking!

The solution: Baking!

After a month of trying I finally found a solution to my problem: why not bake instead of cook? Because I looove to bake!

That is how I made this incredibly easy courgette chips recipe. It’s a perfectly healthy snack and so easy to make!

So, I am still learning and I obviously have to cook every once in a while, but this treat just makes it a whole lot better! I hope you enjoy it too, and won’t judge me too much for my cooking flaw;)

Recipe can be found below

Courgette Chips Recipe:

Ingredients:

– 1 small Courgette
– 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil
– 2 teaspoons of Salt

Recipe:

– Preheat your oven to 125 degrees celcius.
– Clean the courgette and use a cheese slicer or mandoline to slice the courgette in small slices. (if you    don’t have a slicer or mandoline, try to slice small pieces with a sharp knife)
– Place the courgette slices between two pieces of paper kitchen towel and press to absorb the moist.
– Get a piece of baking paper and spread the slices over the surface. Use a brush or spoon to add a little bit of olive oil on the slices( it only needs a teeny tiny bit). Next sprinkle a small amount of salt over the courgette.
– Place the slices on the baking sheet in the oven en bake for about 45 minutes.

READ THIS: I noticed that it varies extremely on the size of the slices and the kind of oven to estimate the baking time. So I set my alarm for every 10 minutes to check if they didn’t burn, because they can burn pretty quickly!

– Let the chips cool down and eat them :)

** Make sure you store them in a closed container, because they get old pretty fast!

I had a huge craving for something sweet the other night, but didn’t feel like going to the supermarket. While looking in my kitchen for some ingredients to make an easy, quick treat, I realised that I had the perfect ingredients for some good ol’ fashioned Appelflappen!

‘Appelflappen’ you say?! That is a very strange word to pronounce for non-Dutch speaking people.

Literally translated it means: Apple flaps :)

It is a crazy easy recipe to make and it doesn’t need much ingredients. Oh, and you will be pretty full afterwards, because, well you will find out;)

Check out below for the recipe:

Ingredients for 8 pieces:

Oh my! It’s that time of the year again! Yes: Cookie time!

Because even though valentines day is a fun holiday, I do know a lot of people that don’t really celebrate it. So I think it’s time to change that, why not make it a heart shaped cookie kinda day!

You know, you can add love, by writing cute notes on the cookies for the ones you love, or just write your own name, who cares! Just as long as they are delicious!

And what do you know: I just happen to share this delicious cookie recipe on the blog today!

DIY your own cookie with this easy and quick recipe:Ingredients:

85g          of Butter
100g        of Sugar
150g        of Flour
1 Pinch   of Baking Powder
1 Pinch   of Salt
1/2 tsp     of vanilla extract
Decorating materials: I used frosting pens.

Recipe:

– Mix the butter and sugar together in a large bowl, until it’s smooth (I used a wooden spoon, but you can also use a mixer)
– Add the rest of the ingredients and knead it into a nice firm dough ball.
– Cover the bowl and place it in the fridge for at least an hour.

– Preheat the oven to 200 celsius.
– Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it out with a rolling pin on a floured surface.
– Use a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out your cookie shapes. Place them on oven sheets and into the oven.
– Bake them in 8-12 minutes, depending on your oven and the thickness of the cookies.But wait, we are not done yet! The fun is only just starting: it’s decorating time!

– Grab those colorful icing pens or other fun decorations and start writing your love notes or go crazy and embrace your artsy side!
– Let the icing harden and share those cookies, (or just treat yourself for all the hard baking work;)

And can’t get enough of heart shaped cookies? Check out last years valentines day candy cookies!

 

Ingredients (makes 12 big cookies):

Recipe:

 

 

So, what is Spekkoek?

Ingredients:

Recipe:

Now comes the tricky part