Category: Food Pictures


Nov
2015

Food wastage

categories: Food, Food Pictures, My babbles, Tips, Uncategorized

Food wastage….. How much food do you waste weekly? How much food do you throw away because….

apple-pie-6007_640Food wastage is a big problem especially in the Western countries. We throw away so much food which the poor and hungry could only dream about. But why doesn’t that stop us from throwing food away? Because we just don’t think about it if we throw away those bruised apples. Those bruised apples could be turned into a yummy apple pancake, an apple sponge cake, a smoothie or maybe even apple sauce. If the solutions are that easy why don’t we do it? There are many reasons why we don’t do it. We are tired, we are busy or we are just plain lazy. Or we are ….  Just fill in the dots.  And did you know that you could make these dishes within 15 minutes. But still many of us choose to throw away those bruised apples which we worked so hard for so we could afford them. May be the next time when we want to throw away food we have to remember that we or our spouse woke up early in the morning to earn money so that those apples could be bought. And we have to realize that those apples did not magically appear in the supermarket or at the farmers market. A lot of effort has been put into growing these apples. Are we taking food for granted?

food-693306_640There are so many things we could do with leftover food. You could make your own fresh homemade croutons, a grilled cheese sandwich, French toast. Leftover meat or poultry could be turned into an easy tomato sauce. Vegetables just lying on the fridge waiting to be thrown away could be turned into a soup. Or add them to your tomato sauce.

Shouldn’t we actually be more aware of all the food that we have in the fridge or in our cupboards? In my opinion one of the solutions to keep food wastage to a minimum is to cook with leftovers once or twice a week.  And don’t forget to look into your cupboard because those canned goods you bought when they were on sale will expire eventually.

How are you going to keep food wastage to a minimum?


Apr
2015

Sweet or savory?

categories: Food, Food Pictures, My babbles, Recipe, Uncategorized

Sweet or savory, which one do you prefer?  Or do you prefer both? Every now and then (or all the time) 🙂  we like to munch on a sweet or savory snack. When this happens to me I prefer to make my own snack. Yes it takes time to make your own snack but  in my opinion the result is much more better and much more yummy.

Trifle with easy sponge cake

Whenever I crave for something sweet,  I make a simple sponge cake with just four ingredient, eggs, flour, sugar and vanilla extract . Sometimes I add pieces of apple which I lightly coat with some flour before adding it to the batter. Coating the apple with flour prevents that the apple sinks to the bottom.

This is a low fat cake since no fat is added but it does contain sugar. It only takes 5 minutes to make the batter and 30 minutes to bake at 180 degrees.  You get the best result if all the ingredients are at room temperature. Easy sponge cake recipe:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 C or 350 F
  2. Line an brownie pan with baking paper
  3. For an brownie pan you will need 8 medium eggs
  4. Weigh equal amounts of eggs, flour and sugar, start with weighing the eggs first
  5. Cream the egg, sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract for 5 minutes with your hand or stand-alone mixer
  6. The mixture is done when the mixture changes to light yellow
  7. Now spoon the flour through the batter but not overbeat. You want to keep the batter light and fluffy.
  8. Pour the batter into the brownie pan and bake for 30 minutes.
  9. Since all ovens are different, do keep an eye on the cake
  10. You can check if the cake is done by inserting an toothpick or fork. If it comes out wet bake it for another 5 minutes
  11. The cake is done when the toothpick or fork is dry
  12. Let it cool ad enjoy

When I make this cake I decrease the amount of sugar by 25 to 50 grams.  If you want to make an apple cake, add the apples after step 6 to the cake.

This cake is so yummy try it with homemade custard, blueberries, raspberries and whipped cream, see picture above. Yummy yummy, can you feel it into your tummy?

Next week I will post a yummy savory snack.

Happy baking.


Feb
2015

How many empty calories did you had?

categories: Food, Food Pictures, My babbles, Tips

Did you had any empty calories this week? You might have…..

Empty calories

Empty calories are calories which supply little or no nutritional value.  A few examples of empty calories are candy bars, cookies, a hot steaming caramel macchiato, a blueberry muffin, potato chips, sodas.  All the yummy stuff people crave for (most people) when the days are getting colder, when you are having (or going to have) your period, when you are bored……….

Should we ban foods with empty calories then? The question is, how often and how many empty calories do you consume. If you are having empty calories on a regular base it might be time for some change. By the way empty calories have another side effect most of them are bad for your teeth. Did you know that a Kit Kat of 43 grams contains about 220 calories and a Snickers bar of 57 gram contains about 273 calories. A Grande  Caramel Macchiato contains about 240 calories. And a large blueberry muffin contains approximately 385 calories?

You might be consuming empty calories without even being aware of it.  Why not substitute those empty calories for nutrient-dense foods. (This is the opposite of empty calories.) Here is a list of nutrient dense foods:

  • Dry fruits such as dates, prunes, cranberries, raisins, apples, apricots
  • Nuts: Walnuts, almonds, pistachio, cashew (have a handful)
  • Carrot sticks
  • Any Fruit: apple, banana , pineapple, mango, pears, kiwis
  • Rice cakes
  • Instead of soda have some water with lime and mint leaves
  • Instead of a fancy coffee have black coffee or coffee with skimmed milk with sugar (in moderation!) or sweetener
  • Hot steaming tea with fresh mint leaves
  • Homemade salted popcorn with NO butter (read: no microwave popcorn)
  • A small piece of dark chocolate
  • Fresh fruits with a little dot of whipped cream
  • (Vegan) Yoghurt with some muesli and fresh fruits
  • What would you recommend?

How many “empty calories” did you had?

 

 

 

 

 

Have empty calories once in a while but remember  in MODERATION is the keyword.

What is in moderation according to you?


Dec
2014

5 Easy dishes to cook when you don’t feel like cooking

categories: Food, Food Pictures, My babbles, Uncategorized

Sometimes we just don’t feel like cooking. Are you familiar with this feeling? We-just-don’t-feel -like-cooking-dinner. We don’t want any take-out either or go out for dinner. And we want to eat something healthy. That leaves us only one option. If we want to have a proper dinner we have to cook it ourselves. Yes, it is possible to cook a proper dinner in less than 20 minutes. Ask your family members to give you a hand since you are already in a lazy mood.

5 Easy dishes to cook when you don’t feel like cooking at all. These dishes come in handy when you don’t have time to cook.

Fried rice

rice-389289_640

 

 

 

 

 

Fried rice is real simple recipe to make. It only takes a few ingredients. The best part is you can add (almost) any ingredient you like to this dish. Make it the way you like it.

Ingredients:
Rice, eggs, vegetables of your choice, oil, salt, white pepper (or black if you don’t have white).

Directions:
Cook some rice and let it cool.
Heat up a pan or a wok. Add some oil to the pan and make scrambled eggs. Don’t forget to season them. Take them out.
In the same pan add some oil stir fry your veggies and season with some salt and pepper. Take the vegetables out.
Time to assemble the dish.
In the same pan, heat some oil. Add the rice, the eggs and vegetables and stir fry. If you like you could add some soy sauce at the end.

Pasta salad with tuna and tomatoes

Pasta

 

 

 

 

 

Pasta dishes are easy to make. And they really fill you up.

Ingredients:
Cooked pasta, tuna, tomatoes, salt and pepper

Directions
Mix the pasta, tuna and tomatoes together. Season with some salt and pepper. Add some fresh basil or grated cheese if you have any. This dish can be served hot or cold.

Salad with your choice of canned fish

Tuna Salad

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:
Salad, cucumbers, tin of corn, grated carrots, boiled eggs and homemade dressing

Grab a bowl combine all ingredients, season, add dressing and enjoy!

For an easy homemade dressing try this recipe.

Fried or boiled egg sandwich

Egg sandwich

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:
Eggs, bread, tomatoes, mayonnaise

Method:
Fry or boil the eggs and make sandwiches. Spread the slices lightly with some mayonnaise add the egg, sliced tomatoes and seasoning.

Homemade noodle soup

Noodle soup

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

Noodles (soba or any kind you like), (organic) chicken cube, green onions.

Make the chicken broth. If you like you could use a vegetable cube. Season it with some pepper. Add some cooked noodles of your choice. If you’re in the mood boil an egg and add it to the soup. Add Some finely chopped green onions and your meal is ready.

Make these recipes the way you like it. Add or omit any ingredient(s).

What do you cook when you don’t feel like cooking. Please let me know!


Apr
2014

Homemade tomato salsa or tomato chutney

categories: Food, Food Pictures, My babbles, Recipe, Uncategorized

UntitledA bowl of tortilla chips and a nice salsa is so yummy. I never buy any salsa’s, I make them myself with only a few ingredients. The salsa is much more tastier than store-bought, it does not contain any preservatives, chemicals or  “secret ingredients”, like loads of sugar. Manufacturers are smart, they just give this “secret ingredient” another name like fruit juice concentrate or fructose…. My motto is “know your food”, know what you eat.

Recipe homemade tomato salsa or tomato chutney

Ingredients

1 teaspoon oil

1 small clove garlic, minced

Any kind of chili peppers to your taste*

1 can (400 grams) peeled tomatoes, drained and cut into smaller pieces

Coriander to taste, chopped

Salt to taste, I used about half a teaspoon

Directions

  1. Heat the oil
  2. Add the garlic, do not let it burn
  3. Add the chili peppers
  4. Give it a quick stir
  5. Add the canned tomatoes
  6. Add salt to taste, (I used less than half a teaspoon)
  7. Let it simmer on gentle heat
  8. Stir occasionally
  9. When the water has evaporated add the coriander and stir
  10. Cook for another minute
  11. Serve with your (homemade) tortilla chips

If you like onions you could add some finely chopped raw red onions ones the salsa is done.

*I used Scotch Bonnet peppers, be careful they are HOT.