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Coconut Almond Granola

May 13, 2014 by Zizi

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Since Adam was born we have been eating oatmeal or ricemeal (from rolled rice) for breakfast with different kind of toppings (almond butter, fruits, seeds and nuts) but no sugar, honey or any kind of sweetener is added to it. We really love it, Adam also, so we can’t stop eating it!

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A few days ago I had the crave for granola… I don’t know about you but I get some serious granola cravings at times. So I headed to the kitchen and made this coconut almond granola which is absolutely the best granola I have ever tasted! It’s so yummy and healthy, I even ate it as a snack with my 70% dark chocolate pieces in the evenings. 🙂

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It’s very easy to make and you can bake it in 15-20 minutes. I added a little bit of maple syrup to sweeten but you can make it with honey, rice syrup or without any sweetener.

Coconut Almond Granola

Ingredients

– 2 cups rolled oats
– 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
– 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
– 1 cup almond, roughly chopped
– 1/2 cup desiccated coconut (unsweetened)
– 1/3 cup maple syrup
– 1/2 teaspoon salt
– 4 tablespoons coconut oil

Method

Preheat the oven to 175C (347F) and line a baking tray with parchment paper.

In a bowl mix together the dry ingredients: rolled oats, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, almonds, desiccated coconut and salt. Add maple syrup and coconut oil. Mix all the ingredients together and spread the mixture evenly on to the baking tray. Bake for 6-8 minutes, then turn everything around with a wooden spoon. Bake again for 8-10 minutes until golden brown.

Store in an air-tight jar!

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Filed Under: vegan Tagged With: almond, breakfast, coconut flakes, granola, homemade, oat, superfood breakfast

Vegan Date Hemp Protein Balls

July 1, 2013 by Zizi

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I have a very good friend who although doesn’t have children she knows what a tired new mom needs. Yes, lots of energy! My eating habits are almost back to normal but I still eat unhealthy snacks few times a week. So, ZsĂłfi, my friend gave me the best present: these vegan date protein balls. Oh my, they are yummie.

Not only delicious, they are full of protein. Hemp seeds (or powder) provide a rich source of gluten-free protein loaded with essential fatty acids and fiber. In addition, hemp seeds contains vitamins such as C, E, B1, B2 and carotene, which are in a fat soluble digestible form and trace minerals such as phosphorous, calcium, potassium and magnesium. (Read more about the benefits of hemp protein here.)

I asked ZsĂłfi to share her recipe with us. She used this recipe from Green Kitchen Stories as a base but changed a few things. These balls are simple, guilt free, “pick me up” snacks.

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Vegan Date Hemp Protein Balls

Ingredients

– 80 g pumpkin seeds
– 50 g dried shredded coconut
– 65 g hemp protein powder
– 2 tablespoons  grated flax seeds
– 1 tablespoons bee pollen
– 2 tablespoons cacao powder
– 1 tablespoon grated poppy seeds
– 1 tablespoon rolled oats
– 15-20 pieces dates and dried plum, pitted
– 3 tablespoons coconut oil (room temperature)

Method

In a dry non-stick pan toast pumpkin seeds for 6-8 minutes. In a food processor pulse the pumpkin seeds and set aside.

Add dates, plum and coconut oil to the food processor and run until smooth. Place the mixture into a bowl and add the dry ingredients: pumpkin seeds, grated flax seeds, shredded coconut, hemp protein powder, bee pollen, cacao powder, grated poppy seeds and rolled oats. Stir until well combined.

Form little balls with your hands and rolled them in desiccated coconut, cacao powder or oats. Eat them straight or keep them in a box in cool place (or refrigerator).

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Filed Under: vegan Tagged With: cocoa, coconut flakes, date, hemp, poppy seed

Coco-Cocoa Brownies from Emma Of The Poires Au Chocolat Blog

June 6, 2013 by Zizi

Let me introduce you my second guest, Emma who writes the wonderful dessert blog Poires au Chocolat.  I’m amazed by her recipes, photos and videos.  She has a degree in English Language and Literature but she also studied pâtisserie at Le Cordon Bleu in London. She offered to share a sweet recipe with us.  Here is Emma…

“These are tender cake-style brownies with a little crisp crust. I usually make them with butter but I thought it’d be interesting to see how coconut oil worked – I’m so glad I tried it out. Feel free to throw in some nuts or any other add-ins (probably around 100 g would be right) – though I like these plain.”

Coco-Cocoa Brownies
(adapted from Alice Medrich’s recipe in Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy)

Ingredients (makes 12 brownies)

– 200 g light brown sugar
– 130 g coconut oil
– 65 g quality unsweetened cocoa powder
– 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
– 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
– 2 eggs, cold from the fridge
– 65 g plain flour
– 1 tablespoon of toasted shredded coconut or handful of toasted coconut strips

Method

Preheat the oven to 160C/325F. Line an 8″ square tin with greased foil or baking parchment.

Place the sugar, solid oil, cocoa powder, vanilla and salt into a bowl and suspend it over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir together as it melts and keep heating until the mixture is uniform and hot to the touch. Sit aside to cool until the mixture is lukewarm.

Once the mix has cooled, beat in the eggs one by one, then stir in the flour. Beat for forty strokes – when you’re done, it should be silky, thick and generally glorious. Pour into the tin and sprinkle with the toasted coconut. Bake for 20-25 minutes until set and risen a little. Leave to cool then slice into bars.

*****

Interview to get to know Emma a bit more…

Where are you from? Where do you live?
E: I grew up in the countryside in Devon, England. I now live in Oxford, where I went to university. My mum has lived in the Swiss Alps since I left home (I’m the only child of a single parent, so she wanted a change of scene at the same time and we’d spent several winters there already) – so I also spend a lot of time there.

What is the name of your blog?
E: Poires au Chocolat.

How long have you been blogging?
E: I’ve been blogging for four years, since I was 19.

When did you start cooking/baking?
E: My mum taught me to cook and bake from a young age. I was always allowed to play in the kitchen (there’s a funny story from when I was three about a perpetually hungry house guest who used to sneak food from the fridge in the night and a pot of vegetable scraps I’d been cooking for my doll…). I also spent a lot of time cooking with my grandma as I grew up – making jam and that sort of thing.

Who (where) did you learn cooking/baking from?
E: As I said above, I learnt most of my savoury skills and basic baking skills from my family. I’ve since augmented my baking knowledge by reading, lots of practice and attending culinary school for six months.

What is your signature dish?
E: I’m not sure I have a signature dish to be honest – I guess baking and desserts in general.

What is your favourite vegetarian/vegan meal?
E: I’ve been craving ratatouille with couscous recently (perhaps an odd pairing, especially as we usually add cheese such as gruyere or strong cheddar on top).

Where do you get inspiration from?
E: From books (old and new, recipe and reference, fiction and non fiction), blogs and the ingredients themselves.

What was the most memorable food you have eaten during your travels?
E: I ate some really wonderful food when I spent six weeks in California last year – there were so many fresh, delicious dishes and interesting ideas. Other than that, I’m addicted to gelato.

Name three things you always have in your fridge!
E: Butter, milk and homemade jam.

Is there a food that always reminds you of home?
E: My mum makes an amazing fish pie with salmon, any firm white fish, a little bit of smoked fish, scallops and prawns in white sauce with a crisp herby-cheese-breadcrumb topping that always reminds me of home (though I guess this might not be the place to talk about that recipe!). It’s one of the few dishes she makes that I don’t seem to make myself.

What would people be surprised to find in your kitchen? Is there anything you want to share?
E: I’m not sure, really. Perhaps that I’m not a particularly adventurous savoury cook? I tend to make the things I’ve eaten all my life (and, contrary to my insistence on their use for baking, I never use scales to make them – I was taught by eye, not recipe).

—

All photos are courtesy of Emma Gardner.

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Filed Under: guest post, ovo Tagged With: baking, cocoa, coconut flakes, meals around the world, sweet

Superfood Breakfast: Vegan Sugar-Free Almond Cashew Walnut Coconut Porridge

February 11, 2013 by Zizi

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Sunday was all about snow. The whole city was white and pretty so we decided to walk around in the City Park and take winter photos.

City Park (Városliget) is a public park in Budapest, close to the city centre. It is located in the 14th district of Budapest. Its main entrance is Heroes’ Square (HĹ‘sök tere), one of Hungary’s World Heritage sites. The first trees and planified walkways were established in 1751 and after the public park was created in the first decades of the 19th century the present-day name, Városliget was accepted and it became the first public park in the world.

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City Park was the main venue of the 1896 millennium celebrations of Hungary, by which time Andrássy Avenue, Millennium Underground and the Grand Boulevard were built. City Park has the largest artificial ice surface in Europe; and it is also the home of the Vajdahunyad Castle, the Gundel Restaurant, the zoo and grand circus and the famous Széchenyi Thermal Bath.

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The park was calm and quiet. We could only hear the snow crackling under our feet. I don’t know why but I love this sound.

Our mission was (in addition to take photos) to visit the city park lake and feed the ducks. The lake has warm thermal water so during winter it is the home for these cute birds. I knew that feeding the ducks with bread, chips, crackers or popcorn can lead to excessive weight and malnutrition for the birds as well as many other problems. To avoid this you can buy proper duck food from a machine next to the lake.

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It was so much fun to feed the birds who were brave enough to come out of the lake and get closer to me.

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Back to the superfood breakfast… This is a ‘must try’ porridge. I have to tell you… you can’t live without trying to make and eat it. It’s so healthy, nutritious, delicious and a good source of antioxidants. And something else… it is not only sugar-free and vegan, it’s gluten free and paleo too.

Don’t miss it! I promise, you will love me for this recipe! 🙂

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Vegan Sugar-Free Almond Cashew Walnut Coconut Porridge
(Recipe inspiration: Against All Grain)

Ingredients (serves 2)

– 1/3 cup walnut
– 1/3 cup almond
– 1/3 cup cashew
– 1 ripe banana, peeled, cut into slices
– 1 cup coconut milk (or any other non-dairy milk)
– 2 tablespoons desiccated coconut
– 1 teaspoon cinnamon
– 1 teaspoon salt + pinch of salt

Method

Place the nuts in a bowl, add 1 teaspoon salt. Fill the bowl with water until the nuts are completely covered and soak overnight on the kitchen counter.

The next morning drain the nuts and rinse them a couple of times until the water is clear.

Place the drained nuts into a food processor, add sliced banana, coconut milk, desiccated coconut, cinnamon and pinch of salt. Blend all together until it is smooth (about 8-10 minutes). If you find it very thick, you can dilute with a bit more coconut milk. You can serve as it is or put the porridge in a pot and heat over medium heat for 5-6 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped almond, cashew and coconut chips.

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Filed Under: vegan Tagged With: almond, banana, breakfast, Budapest, coconut flakes, conscious eating, guide, sugar free, superfood breakfast, travel, traveling, walnut

Coconut Date Energy Balls

December 29, 2012 by Zizi

First I made these cute energy balls for a hiking trips in October. These little bites were a yum trail snack, everybody loved them. They are great energy boosters and easy to store (in a box). Energy foods are engineered to enhance each stage of a workout or outdoor excursion and these coconut date energy bites are great for it.

Because of its success I decided to make them for Christmas as an edible gift. These balls are the healthy option to snack on something. I made two very similar truffles a couple of years ago, don’t forget to check them out to get more inspiration.

Coconut Date Energy Balls
(Recipe inspiration: Daily Garnish)

Ingredients (makes about 36 pieces)

– 1 cup rolled oats
– 1 cup desiccated coconut + extra for coating
– 1/2 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
– 1/4 cup water
– 12 dates, pitted, chopped
– 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
– 1 vanilla bean, split and seeded
– 1 orange’s zest
– pinch of salt

Method

Add rolled oats, desiccated coconut and toasted pumpkin seeds to a food processor and let it spin. Add dates, vanilla, cinnamon, orange zest and salt, then let it process for 2-3 minutes. Slowly start adding the water until the mixture becomes a bit sticky and wet.

Form little balls with your hands and roll them in desiccated coconut. Eat them straight or keep them in a box in cool place.

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Filed Under: vegan Tagged With: Christmas, coconut flakes, date, edible gift, orange, snack, sweet

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