breakfast

Vegan Apple Cinnamon Pancake With Maple Syrup

November 10, 2013 by Zizi

Oh, pancakes Sundays, where are you now? I don’t have too much time to make pancakes in the morning nowadays but once in a while I do. I love experiencing with different flavours so this time I made pancakes with apple and I added a touch of cinnamon too. There is no any sweetener in the pancake dough so it is sugar-free. At the end I couldn’t help myself… I poured off the pancakes with maple syrup! 🙂

You can find more pancake recipes here.

Vegan Apple Cinnamon Pancake With Maple Syrup

Ingredients (makes about 10)

– 1 cup whole spelt flour
– 1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons white spelt flour
– 1 and 1/2 tablespoons baking powder (alkaline free)
– 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
– 1 and 1/2 cups oat milk (any kind of non-dairy milk you prefer)
– 2 tablespoons coconut oil
– 1 medium apple, peeled, cored, grated
– pinch of salt
– maple syrup

Method

In a bowl mix together the dry ingredients: flours, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl mix together oat milk, coconut oil and grated apple. Give each mixture a stir then add the wet to the dry combining just until mixed (if you find it too thick add a bit of oat milk 1 tablespoon at a time). Set aside for 5 minutes to allow the batter to rise.

Prepare a non-stick pan with 1 teaspoon coconut oil on medium heat. Spoon batter into pan, forming a pancake. Cook until lightly brown on the bottom. Turn and brown the other side.

Serve the pancakes with maple syrup. Yum!

Homemade Cashew Butter

October 7, 2013 by Zizi

It started with a jar of cashew butter I had got from a friend of mine from the USA. I tasted it and I fell in love with it instantly. All this happened after Adam was born and I needed natural foods that increase breast milk production. And cashew is one of them that boosts lactation. I think it is important that if you have a low milk supply it’s always best to try first to increase milk production naturally through herbs, drinks or your daily food intake.

Raw almonds, cashews, walnuts, macadamia nuts are the best ones to snack on during breastfeeding. Choose raw nuts instead of salted or roasted ones!

Make sure that you are eating (leafy green vegetables; carrots; beets; whole wheat pasta; grains like oats, barley; garlic; ginger, etc.) enough calories through your day. This will help increase breastmilk quantity and quality in general.

And the most important advice from me is to drink enough water (at least 3 liters a day). Your body will need extra water to keep up with milk production and keeping you hydrated.

So after the whole jar of cashew butter was gone I was heart-broken. Cashew butter is not available at stores in Hungary. It’s not common to use nut butters in my country but thanks for the open minded people (like me! 🙂 ) who are willing to eat more healthier, nut butters are getting popular. The most common is peanut butter of course… it is availabe at few stores. I had to do something to have cashew butter in my pantry. I decided to make it on my own… I was so happy with the result. Since than I didn’t stop making it!

My favourite way to eat it: whole wheat bread slices are toasted, spreaded with cashew butter and I spoon my mom’s homemade sugar free plum jam on top. Oh My!

Here are a few phase photos of the making from the beginning until it turns into creamy cashew butter…

After 1 minute it will turn from whole cashews into cashew pieces. Spin 3-4 minutes more and it’ll turn almost flour.

Another 3 minutes and you’ll see oiliness of the cashews. Keep the food processor spining and it’ll slowly stick together into a paste.

Another 3-5 minutes and it really becomes a thick paste. It starts to look like a “dough ball”. Keep going, you are almost there! 🙂 In the meantime give your food processor a few breaks otherwise it’ll be ruined from the too much work!!!

When the butter looks like a ball, stop the processor and push your finger into it. The consistency should be very soft. Turn the processor on and keep it spining. The ball will slowly fall into creamy butter after 3-4 minutes.

And voila! Your cashew butter is made! Now give your food processor a rest!

Homemade Cashew Butter

Ingredients (makes about 250-300 ml = 1 cup)

– 400 g raw cashew

Method

Add cashew to the bowl of your food processor and process for a very long time, until creamy and smooth. Giving your processor a few breaks it’ll be ready in about 25 minutes.

Vegan Fig Yoghurt Dessert With Walnut Vanilla Crumble

September 17, 2013 by Zizi

Finally I’m brave enough to go out with my cute son, Adam to run a few errands and to do shopping. The best way to travel in the city is using the public transport that means it’s better to take your baby in a carrier than using the pram (at least in Budapest). Public transport and the whole city is not ready for moms and disabled people. Hopefully it’ll change very soon.

Using a carrier (like this one) has its advantages: both of my hands are free, easier to walk, to get on and off buses and the best part is that Adam is so close to me that I can feel his snuffle and his own special baby smell. 🙂

Finally when we get home we always happily tell dad what we did, where we went and what an incredible day we had (at least I enjoyed it but we should ask Adam too if he likes shopping or not 🙂 ).

On a day when we went shopping I bought these delicate, juicy purple figs. It’s so rare to get figs in Hungary (although the weather is suitable to grow!) that’s why I was over the moon to get my hands on them. I was wondering how to use them… baking a fig frangipane tart or something else? Then I found one of Slyvie’s recipes and I decided to make a similar parfait dessert using these wonderful purple figs. It is not only a dessert but it’s perfect for a Sunday brunch as well.

Vegan Fig Yoghurt Dessert With Walnut Vanilla Crumble

Ingredients (serves 2)

For the crumble
– 1 cup walnuts
– 1/4 cup raisins
– 1 vanilla bean, split and seeded
– 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the yoghurt cream
– 1 cup soy yoghurt / yoghurt
– 1 medium lemon’s juice and zest
– 2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
– fresh figs, sliced

Method

Place the walnuts, raisins, vanilla and salt in a food processor. Pulse until chopped and crumbly.

In a bowl mix together the soy yoghurt with lemon juice, zest and honey (or maple syrup).

Place sliced figs in the bottom of a glass and top with a layer of walnut crumble, then lemon yoghurt. Repeat to create multiple layers.

Superfood Breakfast: Vegan Banana Chia Pudding

September 9, 2013 by Zizi

I love my superfood breakfasts. I wish I could have time every morning to make one of them. In real life I usually eat one or two pieces of seasonal fruit (nowadays it is an apple) and have a quick bite a bit later: most of the times it’s a piece of toast with almond or cashew butter and my mom’s sugar-free plum jam on top.

Chia seeds and chia pudding is getting more and more popular. The seeds are native to South America and have been a staple in Mayan and Aztec diets for centuries. The word chia is derived from the Nahuatl word chian, meaning oily.

I’m trying to eat as much as I can because of its nutritional benefits:
– they can help your diet by making you feel full (it’s because they absorb 10 times their weight in water, forming a bulky gel)
– they are the richest plant source of Omega-3
– chia seeds slow down how fast our bodies convert carbohydrates into simple sugars, studies indicate they can control blood sugar
– they are an excellent source of fiber, with a whopping 10 grams in only 2 tablespoons
– chia seeds are rich in antioxidants that help protect the body from free radicals, aging and cancer
– chia seeds contain no gluten or grains
– the outer layer of chia seeds swells when mixed with liquids to form a gel (this can used in place of eggs to lower cholesterol and increase the nutrient content of foods and baked goods)
(More info here.)

I used chia seeds before but mostly to place an egg in vegan cakes. Chia seeds are very similar to flax seeds – if they are mixed with water its consistency becomes gel.

Don’t miss this pudding, it’s not only a healthy choice for breakfast but it tastes divine!

Vegan Banana Chia Pudding

Ingredients (serves 2)

– 2-3 ripe bananas, smashed with a fork
– 4 tablespoons chia seeds
– 1 and 1/4 cups almond milk (you can use rice, oat or soymilk too)
– 1 vanilla bean, split and seeded
– hazelnut

Method

Prepare your breakfast a day before. In a bowl mix chia seeds with almond milk and let it rest in the fridge for the night.

The next day toast the hazelnut in a dry non-stick pan for 7-8 minutes and chop them roughly.

Mix together the chia almond milk pudding with the smashed bananas and vanilla. Serve in little bowls with the toasted hazelnut.

Vegan Blackberry Smoothie

August 22, 2013 by Zizi

I never do fruit smoothie with dairy products (i.e. with cow milk products). I read in a few books that mixing fruits and dairy products doesn’t make good to your body (although you think you drink something healthy, don’t you?). Fruits are either sweet or sour but they definitely contain acid and sugar.

“If you add acid to milk, be it from a sweet fruit like strawberry or a sour one like lemon, it will curdle. Weak acids (like those in sweet fruits) don’t instantly curdle the milk but if you let it sit for too long before drinking it, then by the time it gets into your stomach, it will be.

Milk is actually not digested in the stomach, but in the small intestine by the enzyme lactase. When you drink it on its own, its presence in the stomach does not stimulate gastric secretion. Carbohydrates in fruits are also not digested in the stomach – the breakdown starts in your mouth by the salivary amylase and when it gets in to the stomach, digestion is stopped because the enzyme is denatured by the acidity of the gastric juices. The primary function of the stomach is to churn up all the food into a mush, so that when it enters the small intestine (primary site of digestion) it will have a bigger surface area for the digestive enzymes to work on. “

“So milk will curdle when mixed with fruit and will slow digestion, therefore creates stasis and fermentation, which leads to feeling heavy and gassy. The stomach in its normal state contains a small amount of acid, which will curdle the milk on its way down anyway, so fruit juices simply facilitate or supplement the action of the gastric juices.If it curdles too much before you even put it in your mouth, and your gastric condition is not ideal, therefore can’t churn it.” (Source: Notions & Notations of a Novice Cook)

So I’m saying it’s better to make fruit smoothies with non-dairy milks like almond, hemp, rice, oat or soy milk. Let’s give them a try!