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Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts

22 May 2015

Two Fruit Smoothie Ideas


Comes the warm weather and the fresher, juicer fruits and I'm all about smoothies. If in wintertime I can't say no to a baking session to have cookies always done for an afternoon snack (you know you have a sweet tooth when chocolate becomes a daily basic), in spring and summertime I can easily switch to the healthier smoothie and actually be quite satisfied with my snack! It has been a couple of months that I'm getting into the habit of drinking a freshly mixed fruit smoothie in the early hours of my afternoons, and not only it is super fun to find new fruit combinations and experiment with creativity and colours, but it also makes for a great boost of energy to face the rest of the day!

Smoothies are all about creativity and personal taste, but we've come up with a couple of ideas that make for delicious and different smoothies that I can't really *not* share with you! Hopefully, if you'll ever get bored with your favourite smoothie combinations, these will be a great inspiration!

Two Fruit Smoothie Ideas
Two Fruit Smoothie Ideas

Serves 2 | Goji & Red Berries Smoothie
15 goji berries
170ml fresh water
A couple of handfuls of raspberries, blueberries and blackberries
A handful of strawberries

First off create the goji juice by throwing around 15 goji berries and 100ml of water in a blender. Blend well until all the berries are chopped and the water becomes light red. Using a small strainer, strain the goji juice over a glass to remove any harsh residues, then pour the juice into the blender and blend together with all the berries (which you previously rinsed very well) until smooth. Serve immediately or let it chill in the fridge and enjoy later (remember to give it a shake before serving if you pick the latter!).

This smoothie is rich and sweet, but also a great way to implement super healthy goji berries in your diet if you're not a fan of snacking on them by their own!

Serves 2 | Banana, Mint & Lemon Smoothie
1 banana
170ml fresh water
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 or 3 leaves of mint

Pour the water, chopped banana, freshly squeezed lemon juice and mint leaves into a blender and blend well until smooth. Add a teaspoon of honey if you prefer your smoothies on the sweet side. Serve immediately or chill in the fridge for later!

This one is inspired to a smoothie I got on a hot day in Milan last month at VIVA (such a blessing after walking for a long hot day in a busy city!) and it's fresh and delicious but totally different than your average fruit smoothie!

Two Fruit Smoothie Ideas
Two Fruit Smoothie Ideas

What are your favourite smoothie combinations?! x

6 May 2015

Two ingredients 5Mins crepe recipe!


There's something purely enjoyable about waking up bright and early and cooking my own breakfast from scratch at the first lights of a day. It has something to do with the mood for sure, but I've always been a believer that a good start of the day (usually a good ol' breakfast) is the elixir of a positive mood throughout the whole day. But all in all, I came to the conclusion that it's the actual act of putting a dish together that I truly enjoy even more than eating it. Take away that to me, half the fun is gone.

I realize most of days are not Sundays and not everyone is lucky enough to have enough time to make breakfast from scratch every morning, but if you're like me, if you think cooking something is what can make for a good start of the day even when everything else is grey, then I have something for you! I don't even remember how I went from my usual pancakes breakfast to an impromptu self-taught no eggs crepe recipe, yet it seemed a good change to me for a bit of a different spring breakfast to which is so easy to add fresh fruits and different flavours!

Two ingredients crepe recipe.
Two ingredients crepe recipe.
Two ingredients crepe recipe.

These crepes are as quick to cook as this recipe is to read, I can assure you! A minute or two to put the ingredients together and then just the time to cook - approx 5 minutes and they're good to be served. And they also require almost nothing to come together if not a 1:2 ratio of flour and milk (or even water if you want to go completely vegan!). They might be as light as a feather but they have really nothing to envy to the classical egg crepes we're all a fan of. I challenge you to try the recipe if you don't believe me!

Serves 2 | Ingredients
100g white flour* ; 200ml skimmed milk (or water) ; 1 tsp sugar and/or 1 tsp salt - optional.

* Feel free to use the flour you most like. Gluten free flour works just fine. For whole wheat flours, I'd add a 20-50ml of milk (or water) for a smooth not too thick consistency.


1 :: Measure out the flour in a small bowl, then add salt and sugar if wanted and pour the milk over, a quarter of it at a time, while using a whisk to nicely incorporate all the ingredients together without lumps.

2 :: Heat up a crepe pan over a medium heat.

3 :: Pour 1/4 of the crepe batter on the pan when it's nice and warm, help yourself with a spoon and circular motions to expand the batter and create a big thin crepe. Cook on one side until you're able to lift it with a spatula, then turn it over the other side and cook for another minute.

The first crepe is always a bit tricky. If you find it particularly challenging, 1/8 of a teaspoon of coconut oil melted on the crepe pan is everything you need!

4 :: Repeat with the rest of the batter and your crepes will be ready to be served with Nutella, fresh fruits (Nutella + strawberries is my favourite combo!), lemon, jam or whatever topping you'd like!

{ Enjoy! }

Two ingredients crepe recipe.
Two ingredients crepe recipe.

Let me know if you try this recipe and what you think! I hope you'll be able to have a fresh and delicious homemade breakfast a bit more often than usual, even on weekdays! x

26 March 2015

My Favourite Healthy Ingredients


Since deciding to get involved with a healthier approach to food, my kitchen pantry totally has had a makeover. I've always been a fan of eggs, or quinoa or honey, but only recently I've realized how good they could be for myself and how to make them the base of my healthy meals. Rapidly the amount of healthy ingredients has doubled up into my kitchen pantry as soon as I got to discover the existence and the properties of some of them and as much as I'm aware it needs to grow a lot more in the future and it surely will, I am totally happy with it at this very moment! With these and the help of some fresh vegetables or fruits I can build so many different meals from scratch, most of which are actually super quick and easy to put together and yet very delicious (check my Healthy + Vegan Brownie Batter Pancakes, Quinoa Guacamole Salad, Peanut Butter + Cocoa Healthy Cookies as example of what I mean - but also the end of this post for a couple of my favourite recipes from the web!).

I've gathered up my top favourite healthy ingredients I was able to discover in the latest months and am completely loving at the moment, in the hope to maybe inspire some of you to try something different and replace some unhealthy fridge staples of yours with some good for you and your body health!

My Favourite Healthy Ingredients.

1 :: Avocado.
I always say I've discovered avocado way too late in my life! Since a few years avocado has been my favourite go-to fruit for smoothies, salads, and of course my beloved guacamole. Recently I've discovered it's totally appropriate to add avocado in my brownies and that not only it tastes amazing in there too, but it's a good one to replace bad fats with healthy fats - I'm sold!

2 :: Eggs.
Eggs are my primary source of proteins and vitamin B12 so I always make sure to add some to my diet! There are so many ways to use eggs and I almost believe you'll never learn enough on how to cook them! Definitely a nice ingredient to experiment with.

3 :: Coconut Oil.
Did you know that coconut oil is good not only if applied on your skin and hair, but also if implemented into your diet? I've always wanted to give coconut oil a go to fry or enrich my food, but never did until I realized it's probably the best oil to put into your body because of its long list of health benefits and the high resistance to heat which means less free radicals too! I had a tough time at getting used to the taste of virgin coconut oil at the beginning, but now I completely appreciate it and use it to pan-fry literally everything!

4 :: Almond Milk.
I'm a cheese lover, but I realize I need to cut dairy off my diet as much as I can, this is why I've decided to start from my milk! I'm not a huge fan of soy milk, but almond milk is definitely my favourite and apparently the one that has a huge list of benefits too!

5 :: Quinoa + Bulgar Wheat.
There's no need to underline the biggest amount of quinoa's health benefits! It is an ingredients I've always loved and I'm trying to eat it a little bit more often than I used too - I especially love it if paired with bulgar wheat!

6 :: Chia Seeds.
Who knew these little seeds could be both source of fibers, proteins, omega-3s while also being super antioxidant?! It's been easier than I though to integrate them into my diet, by simply throwing some in my salad or on my eggs or in my puddings!

My Favourite Healthy Ingredients.

7 :: Popping Corn.
I was as surprised as ever when I discovered a handful of organic popped kernels has only 20/30 calories! It means I can snack on popcorn everytime I feel a bit hungry and want to indulge in something tasty while also keeping it healthy!

8 :: Cocoa Powder.
Cocoa powder is a kitchen staple to me as I'm a huge lover of baking and, of course, chocolate. Unsweetened cocoa powder is low in calories but high in fibers, iron and magnesium and I throw it in literally everything sweet I cook or bake!

9 :: Whole Wheat Flour.
I really love white flour, but I know it's important to cut processed ingredients out of my diet as much as possible, and recently I'm getting used and appreciating whole wheat flour as well! Definitely a healthier alternative!

10 :: Coconut Sugar.
As I said, I'm trying to limit the use of processed ingredients, especially sugar and I can't even remember the last time I used white sugar! Brownie points to me! Coconut sugar is an unprocessed sweetener with low glycemic impact and good nutrients, so I thought to give it a go, and I'm a fan!

11 :: Coconut Molasses + Honey.
Two healthy ingredients I'm trying to use more in my baked goods as well as in my tea (instead of throwing way too many scoops of sugar in there!).

*

Take a few of these and mix them together to create delicious healthy breakfasts, take others, add vegetables or fruits to make meals or snacks! Those are the current bases of my kitchen pantry and I can do literally everything with their help!

And here are a few of my favourite healthy recipes from the web...
- Sticky Vegan Avocado Brownies
- Quinoa Stuffed Baked Tomatoes
- Butternut Squash Salmon Curry

What about you? Are you into healthy eating that much that you needed a kitchen pantry makeover too? x

21 March 2015

How I stay motivated!

How I stay motivated

My working out motivation comes and goes: last summer I was all about it, I took half an hour or a little bit more for myself and some cardio almost everyday and I truly enjoyed it, I even wrote an entire post about it back in August last year, and yet it only lasted three months, then life got in the way and it was either impossible to workout for a month or so, and I also lost my motivation along the way (thank you emotions, health, bad news and all that jazz!). Until at the beginning of February I started be serious about fitness again - I wanted to start all over and find the motivation I lost. It could go away again, yes, but this time it's quite different: we have a commitment or two, I've started truly enjoying working out and in these two months there hasn't been one single time I felt overwhelmed by the thought it was time to repeat it all over again day after day, instead I'm always looking forward to my workout time!

I've never been a gym person, nor a sport person in the slightest! I've always hated gym class at school and I've never joined the gym. I hate to run, I hate to get sweaty, I much more prefer avoiding all of this if possible. A pair of years ago I'd never thought I would have ever enjoyed working out - even at home, even alone, even without anyone forcing me or suggesting me what to do! It's strange to see how people can change growing up, right?! And yet if I started enjoying it and finding the motivation to keep going day after day, I have to thank the little things that have made my working out route much more interesting that I would have ever thought it could have been! If you haven't guessed yet, I have some tips to keep the motivation alive for you today!

How I stay motivated

1 :: Find the motivation in yourself.
At the end of the day, it's all about you and your health. Until I actually felt like I needed and wanted to do something about, I wasn't really able to stick to any class or at home workout routine. So I know this is not exactly what someone who is trying to find the motivation somewhere wants to hear, but it you don't really want to give it a go, just forget about it. Find a reason why for you it is important to commit to some form of sport, whether it's weight loss, strength or achieving a healthier version of yourself, and stick with it. Especially remind yourself why you started when you feel disheartened or tired.


2 :: Practice what you truly like.
I thought I liked cardio last summer and yet I've always hated it, in fact it didn't last too long! I quitted at the first difficulty. A few months after, I'm pretty sure it was because cardio wasn't the right thing for me! This year I've decided to go back to the pool, because swimming has always been the only sport I quite liked since I was a kid, and I'm not looking back! Not being able to afford going to the pool almost everyday, I've also started practicing yoga as I've always been a fan the rare times I tried it, and in fact I'm looking forward to daily my time on the mat every day! It wasn't easy though, to understand what was right for me - as I said I spent the whole summer adoring cardio, when I now can't really stand it, I tried pilates, HIIT, only to realize I didn't truly like them and I wasn't going anywhere by sticking with something I wasn't passionate about only to quit a few months after.

How I stay motivated

3 :: Find someone to workout with!
Best way to start? Finding someone to workout with you! Me and my boyfriend committed to going to the pool together once a week, and yes, before this I wanted to start swimming again and I knew it was the right thing for me, but it took me months and a "we could go to the pool together" to actually do it!


4 :: Set small goals.
Don't be too hard on yourself or you'll make it a nightmare. The trick is to try and actually enjoy the journey without wanting to go straight to the point and pretend there's nothing you need to work on to. Start setting small goals instead of big ones - having goals is good because increases positivity about your fitness journey, but if they're too big they can be overwhelming and it's easy to get tired of everything that way. I'm trying to just avoid setting goals if not the being on my mat at least four days a week and at the pool at least one.

How I stay motivated


5 :: Define when you're most motivated.
I thought the right moment for me to workout was in the afternoon, yet sometimes I found myself temporizing and preferring doing something else. I realized the afternoon wasn't the time I feel most motivated during the day, instead I tried working out in the middle of the morning and it worked great! I feel like I have more strength in the morning and taking time to practice yoga before the start of a new working day really improves my positivity and creativity and definitely relax me if I'm feeling a bit too stressed about nothing. Obviously it's good to set a time according to your schedule too, but try to stick with it, it works magic!

6 :: Treat yourself to some new workout gear. If you feel like your workout routine is something you're really working hard on, then consider investing in some new good quality workout gear. New sport clothes are always fun and a good simple way to stay motivated. I had this gross old shattered yoga mat and I hated working out on it, so when I saw I was quite engaged with my workout routine, I decided to buy a new one, and it was a game changer! Not only new workout gear is fun and makes me want to practice something just for the sake of wearing it, but it also improves the way I workout. No one likes uncomfortable clothes or regular bra when working out, nor too tight tops or difficult to move in leggings that just hinder your moves!

My favourite workout clothes? Try H&M sportswear and you won't regret it! I didn't believe it either, and yet their Jersey Leggings are the comfiest to practice yoga in! I'm also a fan of their Seamless Sport Bra and would buy each and everyone of their colourful tops! Also I've recently invested in this nice slouchy J. D. Y. Tank Top but especially these ASOS Leggings - I'm in love: they're super comfortable, and super duper high waisted (which is always good!) and very elasticated too, in a word perfect-yoga-leggings!

*

That's it for now! I always feel like motivation can grow and be improved everyday, so I'll might find a few other helpful tips to guide me in the next months, but if you have some tips to share, please talk to me in the comments! One's never really prepared enough when the motivation wants to escape! x

19 March 2015

Tea Ritual { with Moooh!! }

Tea Ritual.
Tea Ritual.
Tea Ritual.
Tea Ritual.
Chinese Style Tea Set ℅ Moooh!!

I'm such a fan of tea, I've not always been - there was a time when I always politely declined any hot tea offers when I was at someone else place - but growing up I've started enjoying the art of boiling, infusing, pouring and relaxing with a warm cup of intense flavoured infusions between my hands. I've tried so many and discovered my favourite flavours combinations amongst others, and now it has become a daily afternoon ritual, part of that well deserved 'me-time' in-between of a busy working day, some days the only excuse for ten minutes far away from my laptop too! And of course it has also started a passion (mania, obsession, however you want to call it) for cute mugs and beautiful teaware. Whilst my kitchen pantry is a bit too crowded of tea mugs lately, I didn't owned a nice tea set completed with paired cups and teapot, until this beautiful Chinese Style Tea Set knocked at my door!

I love the delicate floral pattern and the rustic feel of the handle, it totally brings a country feel to the entire set and reminds me to what I imagine a Chinese countryside would look like, not to mention the colours and the little flowers pattern totally make for a lovely addition to my spring/summer themed homeware update! It's making my afternoon tea ritual looking and feeling even more sweet and relaxing than what it was already!

Tea Ritual.
Tea Ritual.
Tea Ritual.

What about my favourite tea picks, you ask?!

I'm obsessed with anything chai, tea, latte, even cakes!, and it's weird because I don't extremely love any of the ingredients of chai tea by itself, but for some reasons, when blended and infused together, they taste as the most delicious of the hot drinks I could ask for! Especially with black tea as base!

Other flavours I love are fruity ones, especially if red berries are involved (I'm obsessed with this English Tea Shop Organic Honey Bush Acai Berry Tea lately!), yet I've recently discovered I'm a fan of citrus too: in fact probably my all time favourite tea is Clipper Tea Zen Again Infusion, the most perfect combination of lemongrass, eucalyptus and ginkgo, the right balance of erbal and citrus, a pure treat for your taste buds, I swear! It's the tea I go for when I'm a tiny bit stressed or want to hit the "pause button" for a good half an hour and relax.

Lastly I've only recently discovered even green tea can be such a treat: we all know it is a powerful antioxidant and definitely good for our body, but I'm not the biggest fan of the taste if by itself. If paired with a nice slightly citrus flavour, it's a game changer, let me tell you! This Clipper Green Tea with Echinacea is my number one favourite infusion at the moment!

*

I'm always curious to discover new tea flavours, so do let me know if you have a favourite I should know about! ... oh, and also if you own or know about cute tea sets or mugs I can't really live without ;)! x

14 March 2015

My Morning Routine


I'm a creature of habits and I live by routines. Everything I have to do, I need to plan it ahead and the only things I feel at ease at doing are ones I do everyday on repeat. There's something so nice and comforting in knowing exactly how your day will go, that you'll go out and come home at pre-established hours and do the usual things - that is a true comfort zone and why I don't like to step and explore too much out of it! I do not enjoy the unknown. Especially in the morning I feel the urge of doing my usual things day after day, just changing maybe the amount of sugar in my coffee or the type of breakfast, but not too much really, and that's the way I like to start my days! Am I the only one that feels comforted by a simple routine?!

And to me a good morning routine is made of...

My Morning Routine
My Morning Routine

{ a good old healthy homemade breakfast and coffee }

Coffee is a bad habit, I know, but it's the only bad habit I stick to (excluding unhealthy fish burgers once every two weeks, ops!) and it's something I totally love to indulge in especially in the morning. But since it's a bad habit and I'm trying to cut coffee out of my diet as much as I can, it is also a pleasure I indulge in only in the morning. 

If you were asking, those delicious healthy brownies were made following this recipe from Lindsey, and even if I'd add one more egg and maybe a bit almond milk next time, I highly suggest giving it a go if you're into healthy eating recently!

My Morning Routine

{ morning yoga }

This is something i'm trying to implement into my morning routine more but that when I do find time to have a little sun salutation or, even better, a complete and long yoga session in the morning, I always feel a lot better and ready to start the day with a positive mood! If you find you stress about nothing a bit too often, I'd highly suggest to find 10/15 minutes in the morning to practice some yoga before starting a day... it's a game changer!

My Morning Routine

{ beauty ritual }

Finding time for myself is a rare thing lately, and I surely can't afford the amount of time I took an year ago to complete my morning beauty routine, but if it's only one product that I have to use, that's fine, I can actually find some time for that! It's a fortune I've decided to cut all the chemicals out of my beauty ritual and instead cleanse, moisturise and take care of my skin only with coconut oil lately, so now I have only one product to use, and usually it happens under the shower, so it only takes a few seconds of my time and yet it feels very nice to think I am taking care of my skin too!

My Morning Routine
My Morning Routine

{ plans for the day ahead }

As I told you, I love to plan my days before they start, I like to know exactly what I have to do and what can be done later before starting the work, so first thing I do when sitting at my desk is write a to-do list or check the one I've created the day before for the day ahead and set everything I have to do and when on paper. This way I feel a lot more organized and productive and, if my plans are realistic, I've found I'm able to do a lot more than when I don't plan anything (because procrastination always finds a way to exist!).

*

That's it, what I like to do first thing in the mornings! I've also found a perfect blogging routine lately that fits just right with my schedules and mania to plan everything ahead and be organized, so expect to see that one too!

What about your morning routines? I'm curious to know and please tell me I'm not the only one that lives by routines! x

4 March 2015

Healthy + Vegan Brownie Batter Pancakes

Healthy + Vegan Brownie Batter Pancakes

There's a moment when you come to the point to adapt all your favourite unhealthy recipes to a more ethic, wholesome, processed-ingredients-free version of them all, but it's only when you bite into a mouthful and think the healthy version is even better than the original, that you realize healthy eating is actually not that bad at all! Between the plenty of healthy breakfast new recipes I'm testing out, I've also found time to rearrange my favourite chocolate pancakes recipe using only natural, healthy, non-processed ingredients, and I was as surprised as ever when I discovered coconut sugar and coconut oil were giving them a very nice tropical taste and only at that point I realized I should have added a little almond flour (which would also have made the consistency a bit more "wet"), coffee and maybe replace soy milk with almond milk...

... the result is an intense tropical nutty flavour that is very well enhanced by the bitter taste of raw cocoa powder. These pancakes are soft, almost gooey, and the best part of it all is that when you'll taste the first bite, and the second, up to the last, you'll be incredulous at the thought they are completely vegan and totally healthy!

Healthy + Vegan Brownie Batter Pancakes
Healthy + Vegan Brownie Batter Pancakes
Healthy + Vegan Brownie Batter Pancakes
Healthy + Vegan Brownie Batter Pancakes

Serves 2 (or 1 generous) | Ingredients:
35g whole wheat flour
15g almond flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp coffee powder (optional)
3 tbsp coconut sugar
10 tbsp non dairy milk of your choice (almond milk highly suggested!)

Coconut oil to pan-fry
Coconut molasses to top

1 :: In a bowl mix together the flours, the cocoa powder, baking powder, coffee powder and coconut sugar until well stirred.

2 :: Add the milk and stir until a light not too thick batter forms. Add one more tablespoon of milk if the batter is too thick, or a bit less if you notice it is already fluent at the 8th/9th tbsp added!

3 :: Heat up a large pan for a few seconds, then place two knobs of coconut oil far apart from each other in the pan and let them melt on a low heat. Place 2 or 3 tablespoons of pancakes batter into every splash of coconut oil shaping them in a round.

4 :: Fry for a pair of minutes on the first side, until a few bubbles form on top and you are able to unstick the pancake from the pan using a spatula, then flip both the pancakes over and cook for just a few seconds on the other side, until you can unstick them. Do not overcook or they will lose their gooey consistency!

5 :: Repeat with the remaining batter. You should get 4/5 small pancakes from these doses.

6 :: Serve in a small plate and top with a splash of coconut molasses on top!

{ Enjoy! }

Healthy + Vegan Brownie Batter Pancakes
Healthy + Vegan Brownie Batter Pancakes
Healthy + Vegan Brownie Batter Pancakes

As always let me know if you give this recipe a try and mention me on Instagram or Twitter if you snap a picture of your pancakes! x

P. S. :: As you might have noticed already, the design of Miel Café has upgraded! I wanted a little change and something cuter and easier to navigate through without losing my blog's personality (this is why the colour scheme and a lot of elements are the same/very similar to the previous design!). I hope you like it as much as I do! Let me know what you think! 

23 February 2015

Healthy + Quick :: Quinoa & Guacamole Salad


I guess I'm not the only one that is trying to achieve a healthier lifestyle lately (or have your New Year resolutions gone out the window already? I hope not!) and there's no need of a reminder for knowing everything starts from what we put in our body. However I must admit Eat Pretty is very good at keeping my motivation alive; I might save you the details for another time, but that book is all I needed in this period of my life: food awareness. It's the one to go for if you don't know where to begin with your healthy eating, but it's amazing also as a reminder that you can start (or restart) approaching life in a more conscious way from literally every next meal!

As you might have noticed from my latest healthy-ish recipes over this space, I'm trying and embracing the philosophy of cooking and baking with healthier, non processed ingredients a lot more. This obviously means I have to cook every of my meals and it might sounds very time consuming, and sometimes it really is, but others is easier and quicker you'd ever imagine to put together a 100% healthy and delicious meal from scratch. I'm finding myself going back to basics quite a lot, and realizing most of the natural ingredients I was already eating are incredibly good by their own too. As much as I like to experiment with different recipes, there's totally no need to try out new ones every meal, but it's actually all about combining what I already know and love!

Ahh, I remember discovering guacamole years ago and finding it groundbreaking! Since then me and mom experimented with the recipe quite a lot, and even though we still change things up now and again and though making guacamole is always very approximate, I thought it was about time to share my recipe for my number one favourite food ever!

Healthy Meal :: Quinoa + Guacamole
Healthy Meal :: Quinoa + Guacamole

Serves 1 | Ingredients:
1 big egg

3 handful of bulgar wheat + quinoa mix
A sprinkle chia seeds
Soy oil, salt

1/2 ripe avocado
2 or 3 small cherry tomatoes
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
Juice of 1/4 lemon
Turmeric, paprika, salt, pepper, onion to taste

*

1 :: Start by boiling your egg your own way. I like to wait 6 minutes (or a tiny bit more) from when the water starts boiling, then rinse the egg under tepid water for a minute or two until I'm able to handle the egg and remove all the skin. Set aside.

2 :: Fill a medium saucepan with water and place it onto a high heat until it starts boiling. Throw in one handful of salt and three handfuls of bulgar wheat + quinoa mix and lower the heat to the minimum. Set a timer for 10/12 minutes (or what suggested on the pack). It's very important to not overcook it or it will feel too soft and lose all the consistency!

3 :: Meanwhile peel the avocado and slice it into cubes. Place it into a deep bowl together with the tomatoes, the olive oil, lemon juice, onion (feel free to use your own quantity - I like to add just a quarter or less of an onion for these doses) and spices to taste. Use an immersion blender to blend the mixture until very smooth. Taste and add salt, pepper, spices if needed and according to your own preferences! I like it to be super spicy ;)

4 :: Drain the quinoa well and place it into a plate, together with your guacamole and egg. Top the egg with salt and the quinoa with a drizzle of soy oil and a sprinkle of chia seeds.

{ Enjoy! }

Healthy Meal :: Quinoa + Guacamole
Healthy Meal :: Quinoa + Guacamole
Let me know if you try this recipe and if you have any healthy meal to suggest!

15 February 2015

Peanut butter + cocoa healthy-ish cookies.

Peanut Butter + Cocoa Cookies

Even though a mainstream New Year resolution of mine was to try and achieve a healthier lifestyle, I'm actually gradually and consciously changing my food habits only recently. I'm trying to not make huge revolutionary changes all at once, and avoiding processed food as much as I can is one of my main priority; this obviously means I have to cook and bake most of my meals and it can be quite time consuming, but it's becoming very essential to me to know exactly what's in my food, and there's no better way than preparing it all myself. This also means I have the opportunity to try and test out new recipes and come out with new meal ideas almost everyday, and it's quite exciting if you ask me!

I'm trying to understand which food does what to my body and this is changing my approach to healthy food. Healthy doesn't always mean low in calories; I personally need an energizing breakfast and these cookies are being my first choice! One of these is good enough for your intake of healthy fats, fibers and minerals and to satisfy a sweet tooth - they make for a perfect start of the day! They're quite healthy not containing any dairy product and the smaller amount of flour - and yet they turned out super gooey, soft and delicious!

Peanut Butter + Cocoa Cookies
Peanut Butter + Cocoa Cookies

Makes 10 cookies | Ingredients ::
4 tbsp organic 100% peanut butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
3 tbsp cocoa powder
4 tbsp whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

1 :: Preheat the oven to 180°C.

2 :: Measure out 4 tablespoon of organic peanut butter and beat it together with the brown sugar using an electric beater.

3 :: Add the egg, flour, baking powder and cocoa powder and beat again until smooth. You should obtain a very thick cookie dough that hardly stays together. If too liquid or soft, add a little bit of flour.

4 :: Using an ice cream scoop or your hands, shape medium balls of dough and place them onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Use your palm to flatten them out a tiny bit. Place them quite far apart from each others because the cookies will spread out in the oven - for the same reason the balls of dough must be quite small.

5 :: Bake for 12-13 minutes in the preheated oven then remove and let them cool onto their tin for 10-15 minutes.

... as easy as that!
{ Enjoy! }

Peanut Butter + Cocoa Cookies

As always let me know if you try this recipe and if you enjoy it - also I'm curious to discover new healthy recipes! x

* Check out other peanut butter healthy recipes over here!
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