Fig and hazelnuts biscotti

This Italian biscuits called biscotti which means twice baked are my favorite festive bakes . Give it a go, your house will smell festive for hours, your cookie jar will be full ( not for long ) they are a real treat, perfect gift for friends and family...🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎄🎄🎄🎄

Ingredients:

24 biscotti 

220 gr flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon 
120 gr brown sugar
100 gr dry figs, chopped 
100 gr toasted hazelnuts
2 eggs
25 gr melted butter
zest of one orange

Sift the flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a bowl.

Add the sugar, figs and nuts.

In a jug whisk the eggs, butter and zest and pour in the flour bowl.

Stir to bring together.

Divide into two and form an even logs 4 cm wide each.

Transfer the logs to a baking tray and bake for 20 - 25 minutes on 180 C.

Let them cool down a bit and cut each log into 12 slices.

Bake them for 20 minutes on 150 C.

Protein rich loaf quick and easy version

December is one of the busiest month of the year but we love if. I personally love preparing everything homemade for the festive season and when the time is tight I always look for a quick and easy recipes but still tasty and healthy. This bread is everything what I need when I am in a hurry ! 

Ingredients:

300 gr wholemeal flour ( I used spelt )

100 gr white flour ( again I used spelt )

50 - 70 gr nuts and seeds ( I used pumpkin, sunflower, flax and sesame seeds as well as almonds) 

all toasted 

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

450 ml water

1 Tbsp rolled oats for topping 

In a large mixing bowl, place all the dry ingredients.

Add the liquid little by little until you get a soft dough. 

Spoon the mixture into a loaf tin size 22 x 10 cm, greased.

Sprinkle the oats evenly over and bake in the oven for 40 min on 190 C and 15 more minutes on 170 C. 

Once baked remove from the tin and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Slice it and eat it on the day that it's baked. 

Freeze the sliced bread , you will thank yourself when you want a something nice and warm like toast, simply toasted straight from the freezer and enjoy it! 

Forever young 7 Breakfast idea

                                                                      💃 💓 💃 

Pumpkin Pancakes

you will need:

3 eggs

50 gr brown sugar

80 ml oil

350 ml milk mixed with juice of half lemon

120 gr pumpkin pure

2 tsp vanilla extract 

half tsp cinnamon 

2 cups mix of wholemeal and white flour

2 tsp baking powder

half tsp salt

up to 60 ml water

Mixed up the wet ingredients all together and add the flour as well as baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

Heat up a non stick pan.

Using a tablespoon measure up 3 Tbsp of the mixture for each pancake.

Dry - fry for 3 min on each side on medium heat.

You should get about 18 small pancakes.

Serve them with chopped fruit and a drizzle of honey.

Porridge with apples, raspberries, almonds and cinnamon  

Granola dust

click here how to make your own granola dust 

Scrambled eggs / kale on toast 

This is extra quick breakfast that I make if I have any leftover cooked kale.
While the bread is toasting quickly I make the scramble eggs.

Porridge with fresh fruit and walnuts 

Sweet potato toast with poached egg and avocado spread 

The latest online trend that I had to try and taste:

sweet potato toast!

Cut the sweet potato into a 5 - 7 mm slices and toast them in a toaster just like you toast bread.

It will take a good coupe of rounds but once is ready it is really delicious.

I spread my toast with mashed avocado topped with a poached egg and a pinch of chili flakes.

If you want to find out more how to make sweet potato toast here is a link:

sweet potato toast 

Protein rich muffins with quinoa and broccoli

I made these little beauties today for Sunday brunch, everyone was home and hungry. The weather was stormy (you already know this if you live in England) and I must say the treats vanished in a second....
In an ideal world you would have a few left over so you can pack them for lunch the next day, as they are even more yummy eaten cold. However, in my world, I have to bake a second batch for tomorrow's packed lunches or mid afternoon snack. I should say that you can use any cooked grain, any cooked vegetables or cheese of your choice!
You can be adventures and add some chopped spring onion or even sun dried tomatoes..... It's entirely up to you ...
Mine are quite simple but still very tasty with a hint of garlic and dried oregano...❤

I use those baking cups 

Ingredients:

for 6 large muffins

2 eggs

80 gr freshly grated parmesan cheese

1 small head of cooked broccoli florets 

90 gr dry quinoa, I used white, red and black

1/4 tsp garlic powder

a pinch of oregano

Rinse the quinoa under a cold water, then place it in a medium size of cooking pot . Add about 300 ml water and cook it for a 20 minutes.

Five minutes before the time is up, add the broccoli.

Drain off any excess water.Whisk the eggs, add the cheese and the rest of the ingredients as well as the cooled mixture of broccoli and quinoa.

Using a spoon or a scoop fill the baking cups if you are using it or you can use any muffin tin , just make sure in non stick one.

Bake for 25 minutes on 190 C .

Thanks for reading! I would appreciate any comments or suggestions from you.

Super detox purple kale & millet soup

Purple kale, wow! How excited was I, seeing it in the farmer's market. I love adding kale into soups but I knew that this purple kale won't give the most attractive colour. Therefor there will be comments from the consumers especially from the youngest one.
Millet is an amazing seed, it is high in fiber, vitamin B and magnesium and it is easily digestible. I ❤ millet ! 

 

Ingredients:

1 leek

2 parsnips, celeriac or potato

2 - 3 handfuls of kale

50 gr millet 

olive oil
1 liter of veggie stock or water + low salt stock cube 

salt

pepper
chili flakes, optional
yogurt , optional

Start by washing and chopping the veggies. In a big-ish cooking pot heat up some olive oil, add the leek, stir for a couple of minutes and add the parsnip.
Pour in the stock and cook on a medium heat for 15 minutes or until the parsnip is soft. Now add the millet and the kale and cook for further 10 - 15 minutes.
Adjust the taste. Blitz the soup into a food processor and serve it with some chili flakes and a spoonful of yogurt.   

Pumpkin Panettone my way

Panettone is a sweet bread originally from Italy. It is a festive bread usually consumed around Christmas.

 Panettone bread is enriched with dry fruit as well as candied , butter and some sort of alcohol liquor. The proving dough method is what gives this bread the special taste and texture. 

My panettone bread is very light in texture, it's got a lovely yellow colour, hint of rum as well as orange ...

Ingredients :

• 500 gr white bread flour
• 7 gr instant yeast
• 1 egg
• 100 gr very soft butter
• 50 gr sugar
• 200 gr pumpkin pure
• pinch of salt
• 1 -2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup of lukewarm water
• 50 - 100 gr sultanas soaked in rum for 30 min

for the spread:

• 50 gr sugar
• 50 gr soft butter
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• orange zest 

First, make the dough: place the flour into a big mixing bowl, add the rest of the ingredients and form a dough.
Knead the dough on a floured worktop for ten minutes or so and place it back into the mixing bowl.
Cover it wit tea towel and leave it to prove for 1 1/2 hour.
Roll the dough with rolling pin into a rectangle shape, spread the mixture of sugar, butter, cinnamon and orange zest and roll the dough into a roulade .
Place the roulade into a buttered ring tin and make a few cuts at the top using a sharp knife.
Leave the dough to prove one more time covered with tea towel for about 40 - 50 minutes.
Bake on 190 C for 20 minutes + 20 more minutes on 170 C .
Cool it down before you slice it.  

I couldn't go Vegan without these ........

quick and easy changes! 

Every now and then I feel like I don't want any dairy products in my system as well as eggs so I go vegan as long as I can last. My aim is to eat more alkali food. Within a week, I already feel better about my self, I am more creative in my cooking and I can see changes in my skin as well.

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Best non dairy milk for me is this rice milk, it's mild and goes really well in any baking I do. I love it !

Nutritional yeast is my subs for cheese, it's nutty and cheesy and I usually add it to soups, risottos, stews, pasta dishes and home-made pesto.

Cinnamon is my every day spice, vegan or not, winter or summer, cinnamon goes everywhere I go :) 

The pumpkin is on this photo for a reason, I am literally obsessed with eating pumpkin. 

Pumpkin goes in the oven first, I want my pumpkin nicely baked before I mash it, divided into a 150 - 200 gr portions and use it as I need. Pumpkin goes into my bread, soups, tomato sauces, cookie dough, smoothie, pancakes, muffins, cheese cake, or even in my coffee - pumpkin and spice latte - recipe coming soon .....   

I will start with my favorite rolls, they are delicious and I want to have them available at any time so I make a double batch and I freeze half.  

I used 350 gr white and wholewheat flour, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp quick action yeast, 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1 grated carrot, 250 ml water or more and pumpkin seeds for the top.

In a mixing bowl, place all ingredients and make a dough.Knead the dough until smooth and leave it to rest for an hour.Divide the dough into 12 and using more flour shape each dough into a ball.Place them onto a big baking tray covered with baking paper, brush them with some water or dairy free milk and sprinkle some of your favorite seeds.Cover with tea towel and leave them to rest for about 40 minutes.Bake on 200 C for 15 min. My favorite snack combo is carrot roll with hummus and fermented cabbage and carrot kind of sauerkraut I make on a regular bases.

 

Other snacks I always have in my fridge :

Chopped fresh veggies and sliced oranges !

Thanks for reading! I would appreciate any comments or suggestions from you!

Banana & weetabix snack cakes

September always reminds me of a fresh start, school and Autumn. As a busy mother of three energetic children trying to find a balance it is never been easy. Lets not go far, try to concentrate on a healthy eating, less stress, more reading, more music and more sleep.... That's my September mantra.... what's yours? Are you the only vegetarian in your family? Do you cook meat meals for your children? I do! I have decided to post some meat recipes that I regularly cook for my family, starting this late September!
For now, here is a classic banana cake with added breakfast cereal and few other yummy ingredients....  

Ingredients:

3 crumbled Weetabix
100 gr dry fruits, chopped

50 gr chcolate chips
150 ml milk
100 gr brown sugar
2 eggs
2 large and ripe bananas, mashed
120 gr butter, melted
150 gr self-raising wholemeal flour
1 tsp soda bicarbonate
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Place the weetabix, dry fruits and milk in a bowl and set aside until all the milk has been absorbed.

Meanwhile, whisk together the sugar and eggs until pale, add the banana, butter, flour, soda and cinnamon.Finally, beat in the Weetabix mixture as well as the chocolate chips.

Spoon into a buttered tin of your choice, I used a round flan tin, 28 cm across. You can also bake into a rectangle shape tin or a loaf tin.

Bake for 40 minutes on 170 C or 1 hour if you bake it in a loaf tin.

note: keep the cake in a airtight container for one week in the fridge. 

How to make them healthy? 

- aim to get 18 - 20 portions . 100 gr sugar + handful of chocolate chip which is equivalent to 1/4 of sugar from your shop-bought snack 

Fruity Bruschetta with whipped feta

These bruschetta were perfect Sunday brunch for me and my family. There was an extra whipped feta for the children to dip in... 

Ingredients:

1 baguette , sliced

olive oil

100 - 150 gr feta cheese

3 -4 Tbsp thick yogurt

seasonal fruit, I had fresh figs and nectarines

Brazil nuts 

honey 

mint leaves

Toast the bread in a toaster, under a grill or in a grill pan.

Brush the toasted bread with extra virgin olive oil.

Crumble the feta, place it into a mug together with the yogurt, using a stick blender whip it until smooth.

Spread the whipped cheese on your toasted bread and arrange sliced fruit on the top.

Drizzle some honey and sprinkle some chopped nuts.

Mint leaves are obligatory :) 

Harisa aubergines bake

I love aubergines, I grow up picking a fresh aubergines from our garden, those days we used to eat seasonal vegetables only. My mum was very creative in the kitchen, she still is, she was preparing aubergines in many different ways which were all delicious. Recently I discovered this recipe and so far it's my favorite because frying process is not in a game so it's easy to digest ... If you are auber-lover, this is must try dish ..

Ingredients:

(serve 4 )

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

300 gr short-grain brown rice

800 ml vegetable stock

salt and pepper

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2 aubergines 

2 Tbsp harisa paste

olive oil

2 - 3 fresh tomatoes cut into cubes

fresh parsley

thick Greek style yogurt to serve

First, slice the aubergines lengthwise. With the tip of a knife, score the flesh in a diamond cross pattern.Spread the harisa paste on the top.

In a big casserole dish heat up 3 Tbsp of oil, add the onion and saute for 10 minutes or so. Add the minced garlic and the rice ( pre-soaked in cold water for at least 2 hours ).

Mix it up, add the stock and place the aubergines on the top.

Put the lid on and cook the rice and aubergines on a low temperature for 20 minutes. Make sure the aubergines are kind of floating. 

If your casserole dish in ovenproof you can just take the lid off, sprinkle tomatoes on the top, season with salt and pepper and place it in oven for 40 minutes on 180 C .

Otherwise, transfer the rice to a ovenproof dish carefully transferring the aubergines ( at this stage they will be soft ) and sprinkle the tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper.

The first 20 minutes keep the lid on of use a foil.

Remove the lid / foil and bake for 20 more minutes until everything looks yummy.

Sprinkle some chopped fresh parsley and serve with yogurt.

note: the harisa paste I was using had already oil and salt in it, that's why I didn't add much on the aubergines.

Some harisa pastes are in a tube and they are quite tick and oil free, if you use this kind of harisa mix it up with tablespoon of hot water and oil as well as salt. 

Granola dust

I am very exited to share this recipe. It's not a porridge or granola or muesli, it is a dust !

Place in a big baking tray 

Bake until golden colour 

Blitz in a food processor

Store in a glass jar

with berries

with banana 

Ingredients:

1/2 kg porridge oats

100 gr mixed nuts

50 gr mixed seeds such as sunflower, pumpkin, flax, sesame, chia, poppy seeds
handful of dry fruit such as chopped figs or dates
zest of 1 orange


Place the oats in the largest baking tray you have, sprinkle the rest of the ingredients except the fruit.
Bake on 180 C for 20 minutes, stirring half way.
Cool it down a bit then blitz the mixture in a food processor in batches. 
Add the fruit. 
Store in a glass jar.
When you want to use it, simply scoop out 1/3 cup or around 50 gr dust, add your favorite milk, cold or warm, add yogurt and fresh fruit. 
And in winter, try a hot drink: heat up 25 gr dust with 200 ml of your favorite milk.
Or make a pancakes:
simply beat 2 heaped Tbsp dust with 1 heaped Tbsp self-raising wholemeal flour, 1 mashed banana and 1 egg, then cook as normal.

note: in the original recipe, the fruit is blended in the food processor together with the oats, nuts and seeds so it is completely dust.
The recipe is from one of the Jamie Oliver's books.