Lots of veg crustless quiche

Tags

corn, Eggs, healthy, mushrooms, Peas, spinach, zucchini

This is a filling dish full of vegetables and protein. It doesn’t take long to make, cooks in one pot and keeps well in fridge. It’s also a great dish to take to a picnic.

Ingredients:

1tbs grapeseed oil
200g mushrooms
1 corn cob (cut off kernels)
1 tomato
4 sundried tomatoes
1 brown onion
100g baby spinach
3 zucchini
Half a cup frozen peas
4 eggs
200g ricotta
3tbs Parmesan

salt and pepper

Method:

Preheat oven to 200C.

Dice all vegetables. Heat the oil in an ovenproof dish. Add onion and sauté until it’s soft. Add mushrooms, tomatoes, zucchini, peas and corn and cook on low heat till all soft. Season with salt and pepper and stir well. Add spinach. Cover and turn heat off. Let sit until spinach is wilted.

In the meantime beat the eggs in a bowl and add ricotta. Stir until well combined.Add Parmesan and stir through.

Pour egg mixture over vegetables evenly. Put into oven and bake for about 30min (until the top starts getting golden brown).

Enjoy!

Ricotta pancakes

Tags

pancakes, ricotta

These pancakes are delicious!!! So fluffy and light. And healthy!

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• half cup oat bran
• half cup ricotta
• splash of milk
• cinnamon
• 1tsp baking powder
• a little bit of grapeseed oil to grease frying pan

Method

Add all ingredients to a blender and blend till smooth. Let sit for a few min.

Heat up frying pan and add scoops of batter. I use an icecream scoop. Fry on each side about a minute.

Serve with more ricotta, cinnamon and LSA. Add fruit or berries.

If you do have any left over or if you make a double batch, you can freeze these.

Yumm 😋

Low fat/ low carb crap

I’m a bit sick of hearing and reading of all these fad diets. Want to eat for health, for the long run, not just a few days until you lose 5kg ( and promptly put 6kg back on) ? And want to actually enjoy what you eat? Eat real food! Food as it came from nature. Vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, far, full fat dairy, eggs, meat, fish, etc. Enjoy your food and prepare it with love. You need to respect your body for all its beauty and strength. Nourish it well as you would your children.

When you start to think about what’s good for you and try to incorporate that in every meal, it becomes easy to avoid food that’s not as good for you. I try to have as many different vegetables in a day as possible. For breakfast I might add spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms, asparagus, capsicum. Lunch I have a salad, add olives, mushrooms, beans, beetroot, sourkraut etc. Dinner I’ll have mashed sweet potato, steamed veg and a fresh salad on the side. Proteins and good fat are necessary too. And then you can add a bit pearl barley, quinoa or another grain and you don’t miss that bread or pasta or rice anymore. When I want a snack, I use the opportunity to eat yoghurt, ricotta, fruit, nuts or nut butters. I drink lots of herbal tea and about 2 cups coffee per day. Add some sparkling water with lemon or lime and I don’t need soft drinks. If I feel like juice, I make a smoothie with fruit and berries and use the opportunity to add more vegetables and probiotics. Every time you eat, think of what you could give your body that will make it perform better, help keep it healthy or make it healthier.

And when you see an icecream that you really want, go ahead and enjoy it!

Date and Wallnut loaf

Tags

Bread, dates, wallnuts

The recipe for this comes from the instruction manual for my bread maker (Panasonic SD-2501). I love this breadmaker for it’s super quiet running and always great results. The recipes are all great too.

I added spices and chia seeds to it. In future I’m thinking of adding dried apricots and raisins as well.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 tsp dry east
• 300g wholemeal flour
• 100g White flour
• 1tsp salt
• 2tsp powdered milk
• 15g butter
• 1/4 cup chopped wallnuts
• 1/4 cup chopped dates
• 0.5 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbs chia seeds
• 300ml water

Method

I just put these into the breadmaker and chose it’s menu number 6. The process took 5h and is broken down as following (you can follow this if doing it by hand or to find similar menu in your breadmaker)

1. Rest 1h-1h 40min
2. Knead 15-25min
3. Rise 2h 10min – 2h 50min
4. Bake 50min

If doing by hand, I knead all ingredients except nuts and walnuts until dough is springy. You can then knead the nuts and dates in and let rise in warm place for 2 hours. Bake on 180 degrees until inserted skewer comes out clean, appx 50 min.

 

Serve with ricotta and a sprinkle on cinnamon and drizzle honey if desired.

Fruit yoghurt

Tags

fruit, homemade, LSA, yoghurt

I make my own yoghurt. Not only is it cheaper than store bought (It costs me about $1 per kg) but healthier as it doesn’t contain any added sugar and has live cultures.

I make it using an EasyYo. Woolworths and Coles both sell them. They’re about $20 full price. To start off you can buy the powder (look for full fat and no sugar added version) or you can buy a natural yoghurt that contains live cultures. They are usually pot set.

To make the yoghurt, warm up 1l of long life full cream milk (this will save you time trying to heat to appropriate temperatures and then cooling again). I just warm it in the microwave for 1min. Pour half of it in the EasyYo container and add 1tbs of yoghurt and 2-3tbs while milk powder. The powder increases the protein content and make the yoghurt thicker. Close and shake well. Add rest of milk and shake again. Pour boiling water into the warming canister as per instructions and put yoghurt container in. Leave it there 10-12h or overnight. Move to fridge and eat within 2 weeks. Save a spoonful as a starter for your next batch!

 

A quick and easy snack is to cut up fruit, spoon some yoghurt on it and sprinkle 1tsp LSA over it. You can drizzle some honey for extra sweetness.

I made the one in the picture today with 2 yellow nectarines 😋 One of my faves are also mango or blueberries.

Cauliflower soup

Tags

Cauliflower, freezable, Potatoes

This is a lovely soup, perfect for a rainy day. Like its cousins broccoli, kale, cabbage and co., cauliflower has amazing health benefits. It’s low in calories but has lots fibre, vit c, vit k, folate, vit B6, manganese, potassium and many others.

This is a big batch but you can freeze any leftovers.

 

Ingredients

• 1 cauliflower head (mine was around 1.2kg) cut into flowerettes
• 3 potatoes cut into small cubes
• 1 onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• olive oil
• 1l stock (I used chicken bone broth that I had in the freezer)
• salt and pepper
• parmesan  and parsley to serve

 

Method

Heat the oil and add chopped onions and garlic. Stir for about 2 min, till onions are glassy. Add cauliflower and potatoes, stock and salt and pepper. If you need more liquid, add more stock or water. Vegetables should be nearly covered in liquid.

Bring to boil and cook for about 15 min, until potatoes are done.

Let soup cool and then blend until smooth. Warm on stove quantity that you want to serve (freeze the rest) until right temperature to eat and sprinkle with parmesan  and parsley.

 

Breakfast wrap

Tags

Wrap

Looking for a quick, portable breakfast? Look no further 😋

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 1 burrito wrap
• 20g mozzarella cheese
• 2 cherry tomatoes or sundried tomatoes
• handfull spinach leaves
• dijon mustard
• olive oil spray

 

Method

Spray a cup with olive oil and break the egg into it. Beat it a bit and put in microwave for 1min. In the meantime take the wrap and spread some mustard on it. Sprinkle cheese over it and top with finished egg. Add spinach and chopped tomatoes. Fold sides over and grill in sandwich press for a minute, until cheese melts. Enjoy right away or wrap in alufoil and take with you for a breakfast on the road.

 

3 minute breakfast

Tags

Eggs, feta

This took me only 3 min to make! And it’s hot and delicious.

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• splash of milk
• tomato medley
• Fresh basil
• feta cheese
• olive oil spray

Method

Break eggs into a microwaveable cup (spray with olive oil first to stop from sticking) and add a splash of milk. Stir and put into microwave for 1min on high. In the meantime slice feta and tomatoes on a plate. Top with basil. When eggs finish, turn them over and microwave for another 30sec. Add onto plate and enjoy!

 

Colourful jacket potatoes

Tags

capsicum, Potatoes, Spring onion, tuna

This is a meal with minimum preparation time and lots of taste. You can add toppings as per personal preference.

Ingredients:

• Potatoes (1-2 per person)

suggested toppings

• Tuna
• Bacon
• Sour cream
• Grated cheese
• Tomatoes
• Spring onion
• Capsicum
• Mushrooms
• Beetroot
• Grated carrot
• Bolognese sauce

 

Method

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Wash potatoes, pat dry and rub in a bit grape seed oil and salt. Prick with a fork a few times to avoid explosions 🙂

Bake for about 1h. Check with fork if done, make sure no resistance when stabbing through.

Open the potato and fill with your faves. Mine is filled with tuna, spring onions, tomatoes, red capsicum and topped with a dollop of sour cream 😋

 

Egg bake with cherry tomatoes and bocconcini

Tags

bocconcini, breakfast, egg, tomatoes

Ingredients:
1 whole egg
0.5 cup egg white (I buy pasturised egg white or you can just use two eggs)
5 vine ripened cherry tomatoes
2 cherry bocconcini
1 tsp basil

Method:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius.

Whisk eggs and add rest of ingredients. Pour all in oven proof dish and bake for 15 min.

This is a lovely breakfast for a weekend, when you’re not in a rush.