Category: Recipe


Sep
2016

An idle mind is the devil’s playground

categories: family, My babbles, My video recipes picks, Recipe, Tips, Uncategorized

An idle mind is the devil’s playground. Have you ever heard of this quote? What does this quote mean?  Does it mean that we have to keep ourselves busy all day? Keep ourselves busy so that we won’t do any activities which we will regret? What do you think?

An idle mindMost people when they have nothing to do (read bored) watch television. While watching television they think, well it is time for a snack. You get yourself a bag of potato chips and finish the whole bag. Instead of finishing a whole bag of potato chips you could have gone for a walk, enjoy the weather or done some small chores.  Don’t get me wrong, watching television is not a sin; it can be very relaxing, especially after a hard day working. But at the same time it should not be the only activity (can we call watching television an activity?) we can think of when we are bored. Isn’t it important to trigger our minds once in a while?  To learn something new, in order to protect ourselves from the “idle mind”.

Nowadays people are glued to their screens watching one show after another, their mind on zero, forgetting about what goes around them. And then we are complaining that we are too busy and too tired. If we are not watching our television screen we are watching the most popular screens of all, the telephone screen updating our statuses, posting pictures on social media, checking our email making us anti social creatures. Did you know that many people are afraid to call someone; they rather send a text message. (hmmm next blog topic?). Are screens our lifelines?

To prevent an idle mind we should keep learning, keep ourselves busy. And learning doesn’t mean that you have to join a master course. Learning can be done in many ways, by talking to people about various subjects, by watching a gardening tutorial (note: we are using the screen to learn), by reading about various subjects, by joining an art class course. And most important we should teach our kids what they can do when they are bored. Make a list together with your kids, write down what projects they want to do and let them pick one project when they are bored and all they want to do is watching television.

So how do you prevent and idle mind?

(Great way to prevent and idle mind  watch cooking videos on YouTube for example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDSav_gn_lQ&list=PLrw59gJ6sVyFzXXVQW8dZd6Q0_MTzdYjj&index=1)

 


May
2016

Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies

categories: Food, My video recipes picks, Recipe, Tips, Uncategorized

Do you ”know” your cookies? Have you ever read the food label of a box of chocolate chip cookies or any other food label for that matter? Did you recognize all the ingredients? There is a great chance that the answer is no.  But you still bought the box of cookies? You probably bought it because it was convenient, right?

We buy store bought products because it is convenient. Most of us have the impression that making cookies takes a lot of time. Yes it does take time, but then again nothing tastes better then homemade food. Did you know that whipping up cookie batter is pretty easy, it’s not rocket sience. (the science begins once they are in the oven). We only need a few ingredients for a basic vanilla cookie: eggs, butter, flour, vanilla, baking soda and some vanilla extract. That’s it.  Make your favorite cookie by adding some nuts, chocolate chip or dried fruits to the batter. Let them cool completely on a cooling tray and store them in a cookie jar or a cookie tin. They will keep up for up to a month. Need a great cookie recipe? You really should try this Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe:

 

You could even put a badge of the cookie dough into the freezer. Just scoop the cookie dough into a container and bake them when you are craving for some fresh homemade cookies. There is no need for you to buy store bought cookies anymore. If you want to, you can take it a step further; buy organic ingredients if your budget allows it, that is. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you could use a stand mixer. Or you could use a whisk or a wooden spoon to make the batter. They say for every problem there is a solution and it is a great workout for your arm :).

Happy Baking and please do share your favorite cookie recipe with us.

 

 


Mar
2016

Sugar the hidden fat-maker

categories: My babbles, Recipe, Tips, Uncategorized, Weight loss
Sugar the hidden fat-maker
Sugar the hidden fat-maker

Are you one of those people who just love to buy a hot steamy drink at their favourite coffee chain on their way to work? There is nothing better than to sip a hot chocolate or a steamy fancy “chai” when it is cold outside, don’t you agree? By the way do you avoid sodas because they contain quite a lot of sugar? Well I got news for you. Fact alert: your hot drink might contain even more sugar then the sodas you banned from your daily diet? This is an eye opener isn’t? Are you “craving” for the facts here are some details:

Starbucks: Hot Mulled Fruit (Grape with Chai, Orange and Cinnamon), Venti – 25 teaspoons

Costa Coffee: Chai Latte Massimo – 20 teaspoons

Starbucks: White Chocolate Mocha with Whipped Cream, Venti – 18 teaspoons (was my personal favourite, not anymore, 18 teaspoons of sugar!)

For full details please visit: http://www.actiononsugar.org/News%20Centre/Surveys%20/2016/170862.pdf

Our food is “poisioned” with hidden sugar. We consume it daily without even knowing that we are having it. A few examples are: bread, sauces like ketchup or barbecue sauce, your healthy fruit juice, your favourite pasta sauce or your favourite fruit yoghurt. Are you buying low fat products because you think it might be healthier? Well I got another fact alert for you. In order to hide the bland taste of your low fat product they “just” add some extra sugar. All the “healthy” granola bars widely available nowadays may seem healthy but do contain a lot of sugar, most of them contain dried fruits, honey or another sugar in disguise which you as a consumer are not aware of. Sugar makes our food taste better and we are addicted to the taste without even knowing it.

How can we avoid the intake of hidden sugars? The easiest ways is, let’s call it the first option, to limit the amount of processed food and make our own food. But how can we make this happen with the limited amount of spare time we have. Due to our busy lives most of us are pressed for time. The second option is awareness, read ingredient labels. The third option is a mix of the first and second option. For example you could make your own fruit yoghurt by adding fruits to plain yoghurt or make your own pasta sauce. You even could make your own bread if you have time for it that is or are willing to make time for it.

Once you’re used to making your own food you will notice how much better it tastes and you know what you are eating. If you have some spare time left maybe you would like to try to make your own bread. Here’s a video from The Bread Kitchen of how to make your own bread, Titli has some great bread recipes!:

https://youtu.be/SVSPKkDxXBg

Happy baking!


Jan
2016

Food cravings after the holidays

categories: Food, Recipe, Tips, Uncategorized, Weight loss

The second week of January 2016 already, time flies doesn’t? Did you make any new year’s resolutions or did you already chuck them in the bin? Well if you did, it is never too late to get them out of the bin or later this year when you are ready.  It is never too late.

It is never too late to pick up your studies, never too late to call that dear friend, never too late to lose those extra pounds. Speaking about those extra pounds, don’t you have cravings for some extras and we are not talking about carrot and celery sticks here.  Well I know I do. I always try to “satisfy” my cravings with healthy options like a fruit salad with a little dot of whipped cream for example, or some yummy walnuts and almonds.

The other day I was craving for something more. What recipes did I have to satisfy my cravings? It had to be a recipe which was a healthy one and quick to make. I decided on making an oatmeal crumble apple pie, a low fat version, but yummy enough to satisfy my cravings only 120 calories per serving (estimated). This recipe is not for people who are on a carb and/or fat free diet….

apple-5880_640

This recipe is a keeper. It would go well with a dot of vanilla ice cream and some whipped cream, if you would like to turn it into a not so healthy version. But hey it is January and I have been sampling quite a lot of yummy stuff during the holidays, I am sticking to this healthy version for now that is. I would only make a few changes to this recipe. I would decrease the amount of sugar with 2 teaspoons. It was a little bit too sweet for me. And I would use more apples, a mix of sweet and tart apples.

 

Here’s the link for the recipe: https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=11935

Happy baking!


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

Store bought or homemade yummy salad dressing?

categories: Food, Recipe, Tips, Uncategorized

Picture this: you just washed some crunchy fresh salad leaves. Added a handful of diced fresh carrots and chucked some garlic olives along with some fresh cherry tomatoes in the bowl.  Now it’s time to choose your protein, grilled chicken, some grilled tofu or some kidney beans maybe?

You walk towards the fridge to get your favorite store bought salad dressing to pour it over your homemade salad. And then you stop and start to think. I made all the effort to make a lovely homemade salad. Why am I going to pour store bought salad dressing over my salad?

Salad dressing is really easy to make. I make this salad dressing  from “Eugenies kitchen”  (see video below) all the time. Eugenie’s recipe is my basic recipe. Sometimes I add some dried herbs to the dressing or some extra garlic. I just make the dressing and keep it in the fridge.

Want a more creamier dressing? Make your own mayonnaise or buy a really good one. Add a tablespoon of mayonnaise in a bowl and add a few drops of water. Whisk it till the mixture is combined. You could add some dried parsley, some finely chopped onions, some garlic maybe (yes I love garlic!).

Lots of us choose the easy way because it is convenient or it didn’t came up to make our own.  It goes without saying that when you make your own food from scratch it is (usually)much more healthier. In this case the salad dressing has no additives, thickening agent or artificial flavors.

By the way salads are really easy to make you can add anything you like. Baby spinach, roman lettuce, onions, cabbage, beans, corn, mushrooms, walnuts, almonds, leftover protein from last night meal (chicken, tofu, beans, fish or any kind of meat), leftover pasta, cheese, some fruits maybe? The options are endless.

Store bought salad dressing or homemade salad dressing?

 

 


Jun
2014

Are carrot or celery sticks your only snack options?

categories: Food, My babbles, Recipe, Uncategorized

 

Snack optionsChanging your eating habits is not easy. Especially when it comes to snacking. There is temptation everywhere. The hotdog stand, the French Fries cart, the ice cream parlor and the list goes on.

When you fall into temptation, don’t give up! We are human we make mistakes. Pick yourself up and try again. It is an art to resist temptation. It is an art which can be mastered over time. If you really want to, that is.

Here’s a list of snacks you could have.  Pick one for each day.

1.One slice of watermelon

2.Small bowl of strawberries with a scoop of low fat whipped cream. (Great dessert for family dinners)(Don’t be tempted to eat all the whipped cream.)

3. 2 to 3 tablespoons of raisins

4. Small bowl of salted popcorn (homemade, no microwave popcorn!)

5. One piece of fruit like apples, pears, oranges and so on

6. 2 Marie biscuits

7. 10 Plain almonds

8. 15 Salted sticks

9. One rice cake lightly spread with peanut butter, Nutella or jam

10. Small bowl of pineapple

11. 2 Ladyfingers (Sponge fingers)

11. What would you recommend?  Please leave a comment.

One small bowl = 100 grams or 0.2 pounds.

Allow yourself to have a piece of cake, muffin, kids size fast food menu or any other unhealthy items every 3 weeks. If you really are craving for it. Oh yeah please do not overeat. Your body is your temple, do not torture it.

Happy snacking!

 


Jun
2014

Yes, you can have chicken nuggets!

categories: Food, My babbles, Recipe, Uncategorized

ResizeSometimes we crave for some snacks. Most of us (including myself) will not settle for a healthy fruit salad or sticks of cucumbers. We want a real snack that makes us happy.

Unfortunately the snacks we are craving for have a lot of added sugars and fats.  So the cravings stays. While working or for example reading a good book the only thing on your mind is eating a tasteful snack. A snack with a lot of satisfaction!

I am always on the search for good and much more healthy recipes for my craving moments.  I saw this recipe for baked chicken nuggets and thought this is what I need to make.  To make it a whole meal just add some roasted potatoes and veggies to it such as roasted broccoli. Absolutely yummy yummy, can you already feel it in your tummy?

So here’s my recipe for a healthy baked chicken nuggets:

Recipe “chicken nuggets” baked

1 kilo or 2.2. lbs. chicken thy filets

250 grams or 0.55 lbs. flour

2 eggs

Salt to taste

Garlic powder

Paprika powder

Black pepper

2 Spoons oil (I use sunflower or olive oil)

A non-stick baking pan

  1. Pre heat your oven at 180 degrees or 350 Fahrenheit
  2. Rinse the chicken and cut it in pcs.  Put them on a plate with paper towel.  Make sure all the chicken pieces are dry.
  3. Add flower into a bowl add spices to taste: salt, garlic powder, paprika powder and the black pepper.
  4. Beat the eggs with a pinch of salt
  5. Coat the non-stick baking pan with oil. (Make sure the pan is well coated).
  6. In a bowl add 3 spoons of the flour mixture. (Make sure you keep the flour mixture clean, you can use it again when you have some left).
  7. Put the eggs , flour and baking pan next to each other
  8. Take a piece of chicken,  dip it in the egg then in the flour. Then carefully put it in the pan
  9. Put the pan in the oven en gently turn the chicken after 15 minutes. The chicken should be somewhat baked now.
  10. Bake the chicken  for another 15 minutes
  11. Now check if the chicken is ready
  12. If the chicken is ready but the crust is not golden brown just turn up the oven for a few minutes. NB: not too long or your nuggets will turn out dry!

You can easily triple or double this recipe.

Bon Appetit!


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.