Hi guys,

I haven’t blogged in quite a while…sorry about that, but I was working as a recipe developer almost full-time in the last few months and so I didn’t really have time to work on my own stuff…

Anyway, that will change, as I have many ideas floating around in my head and can’t wait to share them with you.

The new website is in progress, so stay tuned!

Love,

Sandi

Friends, it’s been a while. How is everyone going? I’m feeling super relaxed and full of energy and new ideas after a week in Bali with my little family. It was amazing! I love spending some quality time together, especially on a beautiful island.

Back home I made a batch of these yummie patties for Noah (and myself). They are unbelievably easy to make, low in calories, and the perfect way to sneak in some veggies for those picky eaters. The best part is, you can serve them as a snack, an appetizer, or even a light lunch!

 

Ingredients:

• 1 zucchini
• 2 carrots
• 1/4 of a cauliflower head
• 2 large handfuls of baby spinach
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup spelt flour
• 1 1/2 – 2 cups of breadcrumbs (if it’s not sticky enough to form little balls just add a little more breadcrumbs)
• olive oil for frying
• salt/pepper to taste

To serve (optional)
1 cup sour cream or plain, full-fat yogurt
1 to 2 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
Pinches of salt
1 small minced or crushed clove of garlic

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200°C.
2. Simply put all veggies in a food processor and process until they have reached a rice like consistency. Sprinkle them with sea salt, set aside for 10 minutes and put them in a cheese cloth or dishtowel to squeeze out all of the liquid before going ahead with step 3.
3. In a large mixing bowl combine shredded veggies with eggs, flour and bread crumbs.
4. Heat olive oil in a frying pan on medium heat.
5. Roll the mixture into balls, place them in the pan, flatten with a fork and fry them until golden brown on both sides.
6. Drain briefly on paper towels then transfer to baking sheet and then into the warm oven until needed. I like to make sure that the fritters have at least 10 minutes in the oven to finish setting and getting extra crisp.
7. For the topping, if using, stir together the sour cream, lemon juice, zest, salt and garlic and adjust the flavors to your taste. Dollop on each fritter before serving. These fritters are also delicious with a poached or fried egg on top, trust me.

 

 

I freaking love soup. Warm, filling and healing for the soul. Add crispy roasted chickpeas and fresh coriander leaves and I’m in food heaven.

Chickpeas are not only a delicious topping for a soup, they also have been associated with a number of possible health benefits for medical conditions, such as diabetes, bone health, blood pressure, heart health, cancer, cholesterol, inflammation and digestion. Most of the fiber in chickpeas is insoluble fiber, which is great for digestive health. Individuals who eat them typically have better blood sugar regulation since chickpeas are so high in fiber and protein.

   

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

For the soup:

• 6 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 parsnips, peeled and chopped
• 1 stalk of celery, chopped finely
• 1/2 onion, peeled and chopped finely
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped finely
• 1 tsp chilli
• 1 tsp ginger, grated
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 200 ml lite coconut milk
• 2 cups of water
• s/p, to taste
• fresh coriander, to serve

For the roasted chickpeas:

• 400g tinned chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 2 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp himalayan salt
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder

Method:

Start with the roasted chickpeas.

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Combine spices in a small bowl and mix well. Pat dry the chickpeas and add to spice mix and gently toss.
3. Pour chickpeas onto baking tray and spread out evenly.
4. Roast in the oven for 50-60 minutes or until crispy.

In the meantime you can cook the soup.

1. Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add onion and saute until golden.
2. Add garlic, turmeric, ginger and chilli and saute for a few minutes.
3. Add carrot, parsnip and celery and cook for a few minutes, then add water. Bring to the boil then simmer, covered, until carrots are soft.
4. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.
5. Blend until smooth, add coconut milk and heat slowly until hot.
6. Season with salt and pepper and serve with fresh coriander and roasted chickpeas.

Wheater it’s peanut butter, sugar or chocolate chip’s, cookies are everybody’s guilty pleasure, practically irresistible but unfortunately not good at all for your diet. To help you with this delicious dilemma I have created a healthier version of a cookie.

Oats are loaded in dietary fiber (containing more than any other grain) and have a range of healthy cholesterol-lowering properties. They also may reduce the risk of coronary artery disease, help lower the risk of colorectal cancer and help lower blood pressure.

Bananas contain all kinds of good things such as potassium, which is important for controlling your heart rate and blood pressure, vitamin B6, what is needed daily to help prevent anemia and coronary artery disease, vitamin C, which boosts your immune system and cell health and improves the absorption of other nutrients such as iron, manganese, which is necessary for bone health and metabolism, fiber, which can help you feel fuller longer and also keep your digestive processes running smoothly, and many other nutrients.

These healthy banana-oat-cookies can be eaten as a quick breakfast on the go or as a afternoon treat. They are filling and delicious and suitable for young and old.

            Ingredients:

• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/2 cup rice malt syrup or agave syrup
• 2/3 cup coconut oil, melted
• 2 cups almond meal
• 1 cup oats
• 1/2 cup desiccated coconut
• 2 tbsp linseeds
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds
• 1/2 cup LSA (linseed, sunflower and almond meal)
• pinch of himalayan salt
• 1 tsp vanilla powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. In a small bowl combine mashed bananas with coconut oil and rice malt syrup.
3. In a large mixing bowl combine all other ingredients, then add banana mixture and mix thoroughly.
4. Roll the mixture into balls, place on the tray and flatten with a fork.
5. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until browned on the top.

Can you imagine that it took me 30 years and a trip to Australia to get introduced to banana bread? I know, it sounds crazy, doesn’t it? I guess in Austria people just prefer richer chocolate cakes like “Sachertorte”, and maybe concentrate more on baking cakes with seasonal Austrian berries and fruits….and we don’t grow bananas!

Anyway, now that I know what it tastes like, I can’t get enough of it.

There are a lot of good reasons to make banana bread. One is that it’s the best thing to make when you have a pile of almost black bananas on top of your fruit bowl that have reached their life’s expectancy. Another is if you simply love things that are unquestionable delicious 😉

The good thing about it is that bananas are an excellent energy dense fruit and a great source of potassium, an essential mineral for maintaining normal blood pressure and heart function. They add sweetness and moisture to baked goods, which means you can reduce the amount of sweetener and oil considerably.
    Ingredients:

• 3 over ripe bananas plus 1 for topping
• 1  1/2 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
• 1/2 cup desiccated coconut
• 1 tsp vanilla powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp flaxseed
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 4 tbsp rice malt syrup
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• sprinkle pink himalayan salt

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 160°C.
2. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients (almond meal, buckwheat flour, coconut, vanilla, cinnamon, flaxseed, baking powder and salt).
3. Mash the bananas with a fork in a small bowl and add rice malt syrup, eggs and coconut oil.
4. Mix wet ingredients with dry ingredients and pour into a loaf tin lined with baking paper.
5. Top with sliced banana and bake for about 45 minutes.

Lentils are definitely in the top 10 of foods I simply love to cook with. I also really enjoy to eat them and I’m grateful for that because they are not only super-healthy for you, they are also a great medium for all sorts of flavours and textures. I myself like to make lentil stews and soups the most, but there are a lot of options such as lentil-lasagne, lentil salads, lentil pies, dahl, lentil pasta, lentil patties and so on.

The health benefits of lentils include a high protein content, improved digestion, a healthy heart, diabetes control, control of cancer, weight loss, a solution for anemia, and better electrolytic activity due to potassium. It is good for pregnant women, the prevention of atherosclerosis, and it helps in maintaining a healthy nervous system.

Primarily I cooked this for my son Noah, but it was so delicious that mummy couldn’t resist and had 2 bowls for herself.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup red lentils, rinsed
• 2 carrots, peeled and grated
• 1 potato, peeled and cut into small cubes
• 4 cups of water /or vegetable stock
• 1 tomato, cut into small cubes
• 2 stalks of celery, finely diced
• 1/2 onion, finely diced
• 1 tsp tomato paste
• 1 garlic clove, finely diced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
•  salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add onion and let cook until golden brown.
2. Add garlic, celery and potatoes and cook for about 5 minutes, then add lentils, carrot, tomato, tomato paste and water and bring to the boil. Let cook on a medium heat for about 15-20 minutes.
3. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with rice or bread (or whatever you feel like 😉 )

I have to confess that I’m a bit of a sweet tooth. I am considered what some people call a chocoholic. I absolutely adore chocolate in every single form and shape. Unfortunately I’m not one of those people who can eat their chocolate daily and still stay in shape and not put on a single gram of fat. Actually I’m the complete opposite. I only have to look at one piece of chocolate and  I put on weight. I know, that’s so unfair but what can you do?

Well, these days, I only buy the 85% dark chocolate anymore. That way you can save some calories because consuming cacao in the form of dark chocolate is the heart-healthiest way to go.

Adding milk to chocolate considerably diminishes the health benefits of cacao. The darker the chocolate the higher the antioxidant levels. Cacao contains high bioflavonoid levels that may facilitate healthy blood flow and blood pressure levels. Eating foods with a high percentage of cacao may help prevent the clogging of arteries, thereby reducing risk of stroke, blood clots, and heart attacks.

I have seen a lot of healthier versions of cakes, muesli bars, cookies etc. on all the Instagram accounts I follow lately. So I thought it’s about time to create a healthy treat for myself as well… This sweet potato pumpkin brownie tasted better than expected. Actually it was really tasty. I added a bit of my homemade almond butter on top (not pictured) which turned out delicious.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium to large sweet potato, peeled and cut into cubes
• 1/2 butternut squash, peeled and cut into cubes
• 2/3 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
• 14 medjool dates, pitted
• 4 tbsp raw cacao powder
• 3 tbsp rice malt syrup
• pinch of pink himalayan salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Steam the sweet potato and butternut squash until soft, then add them to a blender with the dates and blend until smooth.
3. Place the remaining ingredients into a bowl and stir well.
4. Add the sweet potato – pumpkin – date mixture to the bowl and stir well.
5. Pour the mixture into a lined baking dish and cook for about 30 minutes, until you can pierce the brownie cake with a fork bringing it out dry.
6. Remove the tray and allow to cool before cutting.

Happy cooking 🙂

RAW CACAO – Health benefits:

• full of therapeutic benefits
• ‘super-antioxidant’ – helps protect the heart, prevent cellular damage, and keeps us looking and feeling younger!
• contains oleic acid, which has been linked to lower cholesterol
• great source of magnesium, which helps with calcium absorption, metabolism, and protein synthesis. It may also be useful in the prevention of or treatment for congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, diabetes, and premenstrual syndrome.
• contains iron, copper, calcium, potassium, and zinc

Phew, what a week! Sorry for the lack of posts lately but I only have 2×1 hours daily where I am able to sit down and concentrate on blogging. My son Noah needs heaps of attention at the moment and wouldn’t let me work when he’s awake. Unfortunately the household, the cooking etc needs to be done as well and so there’s not much time left to write new blog posts. It has been a gorgeous week here in Sydney. After a few rainy days last week it feels amazing to finally get back some sunshine and spend time at the beach with the little one. On Monday I decided that it was time to do a 3-day detox diet (which I failed after day 2…) as we had way too much (unhealthy) food during last week. It’s like we went on a trip to Italy because we only ate lasagne, spaghetti, dumplings and heaps of chocolate and ice cream….oooops. Well, I guess sometimes a breastfeeding mummy just needs that!

Anyway, somehow I managed to have a few healthy breakfasts and salads in between our feasts. I tried to make green pancakes for the first time and hey, they turned out really delicious. Now, I understand, that some of you (including my husband) might be a bit scared of something that’s green but trust me, these are so so good, you won’t be disappointed.

       Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup buckwheat flour
• 2 tbsp ground flax
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 cups raw spinach
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 ripe banana
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• Optional (but recommended): 1/2 tsp spirulina
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• Toppings: raspberries, blueberries, yoghurt, almond butter

Directions:

1. Combine all dry ingredients into a bowl and stir to mix.
2. Place spinach, eggs, banana and vanilla into a blender and blend until smooth.
3. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until flour is incorporated.
4. Heat oil in a large frypan over medium heat. Drop a tablespoon of batter into pan. Repeat to make about 8 mini pancakes. Cook for 2 minutes or until bubbles start to form on surface. Turn over. Cook for 1 minute or until golden and cooked through.
5. I served it with homemade almond butter, greek yoghurt and berries.

If you never heard of SPIRULINA, here is some information about this so called “superfood”:

Spirulina often gets misclassified as an herb because of its amazing health promoting properties, but it’s actually a (cyan-)bacteria, or a natural blue-green algae that’s found in pristine freshwater lakes, ponds, and rivers (and you can taste that). It is really high in protein and a good source of antioxidants, B-vitamins and other nutrients. It is largely made up of protein and essential amino acids, and is typically recommended to vegetarians for its high natural iron content. The high concentration of protein and iron also makes it ideal during pregnancy, after surgery, or anytime the immune system needs a boost. It is most commonly recognized as one of the world’s most nutritionally complete superfoods, as it offers health benefits to practically every organ and bodily function, like:

• modulates the immune response
• assists in keeping eyes healthy
• reduces inflammation and promotes cell growth
• helps improve the digestive system
• helps to cleanse the body of toxins
• excellent source of chlorophyll
• has 400% more antioxidants than blueberries
• can help to alleviate allergies
• excellent source of theanine, riboflavin and vitamins C, D and E
• has more protein than beef, on a gram per gram level

Kale is such a delight. Before we moved to Sydney I had never heard of Kale before. I’m pretty sure you couldn’t get it in Austria two years ago, or at least I have never seen it in a shop before. Maybe it made it’s way there by now, but I got introduced to it here in Australia. I mean, of course we do have some sort of cabbage in Austria but just not the curly leaved one kale you can find here. In Sydney you get it everywhere. They sell it in form of salads, chips, soups, smoothies, juices, sautéed as a side dish and so on. So, what exactly is this trendy super food everyone loves at the moment?

Kale or borecole is a vegetable with green or purple leaves which belongs to the same species (Brassica oleracea) as broccoli, cauliflower and brussels sprouts. It’s considered to be closer to wild cabbage than most domesticated forms of vegetables and it’s widely cultivated across Europe, Japan and the United States. There are definitely a lot of benefits of adding kale to your diet:

• high in iron (cellular oxidation and red blood cell formation)
• low in calorie, high in fiber, zero fat (1 cup has 36 calories, 5 g of fiber and 0 g of fat)
• rich in vitamin K (anti-cancer, normal bone health, Alzheimer’s disease treatment)
• filled with powerful antioxidants (anti-cancer)
• anti-inflammatory
• can lower cholesterol level
• vitamin A (vision, skin, anti-cancer)
• high in vitamin C (helpful for your immune system, your metabolism and your hydration)
• high in calcium (kale has more calcium than milk)
• great detox food

So we know now that kale dishes are packed with nutrients and fiber – no wonder I feel like Wonder Woman after I eat a giant bowl of kale salad. Here’s just one of many ways to eat kale.

         Ingredients: (Serves 3)

• 1/2 a cauliflower, floreted
• 1/4 of a red cabbage, sliced
• 2 cups kale, washed
• 1/2 a block of feta cheese
• 1/2 cup walnuts, toasted
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Place the cauliflower into a food processor (or blender) and process until it has the consistency of couscous.
2. Tear small pieces off the kale stems, discarding the stems and placing the leaves into a bowl.
3. Add the cauliflower “couscous” and the sliced cabbage to the bowl and crumble the feta cheese on top.
4. Drizzle the lemon juice and olive oil onto the salad, add salt and pepper and top with the toasted walnuts.

So, I had half a pomegranate sitting in my fridge for quite a while and yesterday morning I decided it was about time to do something about it.

Pomegranates are incredible. It’s not only their unique combination of crunchiness and juiciness but also their nutritional value that makes them so tempting and irresistible. In many cultures they are a symbol of hope and abundance but also a symbol of health. The health benefits of pomegranate are innumerable. Apart from being healthy, they are super delicious as well. Pomegranates also have antioxidant, antiviral and antitumor properties. They are said to be good sources of vitamins, since it includes vitamin A, C and E, as well as folic acid.  This fruit consists of three times as many antioxidants as both wine or green tea.  It is said to be a healthy powerhouse.The top 13 reasons you should include them in your diet are:

• high in iron
• anti-cancer benefits
• improves skin quality – anti aging
• protects against osteoarthritis
• immune-booster
• lowers cholesterol and blood pressure
• supports brain health
• promotes cardiovascular health
• dental protection
• helps digestion
• great for pregnant woman
• destroys intestinal worms
• increases your libido

Sound good? Well, then go and buy some pomegranates and give this powerful pink smoothie a go!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 a pomegranate, pitted
• 1/3 cup frozen raspberries
• 2 medjool dates, pitted
• 3 tbsp light greek yoghurt
• 1 tbsp almond butter

Directions:

Simply place all the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. If you like it a little runnier add some water.