Spiced Pumpkin Muffins

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spiced pumpkin muffinWe are all on a mission to incorporate more vegetables in your diet. Why is it so hard to squeeze in 5 servings of veggies everyday? Lunch and dinner is easier when you choose fresh salads or stir-fry or soup. Then what about breakfast? Are you rushing out with a slice of toast or none? I like making savoury goods for breakfast. The fun part is to experiment with a variety of different vegetables such as parsnip, zucchini, carrot, kale and beets. These muffins are well balanced with sweet pumpkin and beautiful spices. Seed toppings add not only crunchiness and nutty flavour but also extra nutrition. Pumpkin seeds contain high omega 3 and vital minerals like magnesium for your heart, zinc for men’s prostate health, iron for blood building and tryptophan for good night sleep. So enjoy baking, eat well and stay healthy x

Ingredients (makes 6)

1 cup of self-raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp all spice
1 tsp Himalayan salt
1 cup pumpkin puree (peeled, chopped, steamed and meshed)
1/2 cup milk of your choice (adjust depending on your mixture)
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
2 tbsp raw honey (add more if you want sweet muffins)
pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds for a sprinkle

Preheat the oven to 180 and line your muffin tin with a baking paper.  Add all dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix together. In a separate bowl, combine meshed pumpkin, milk, melted coconut oil and honey. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the dry mixture and combine well with a spatula until all incorporated. You might need to add more or less milk depending on your pumpkin mixture. Spoon the batter into the muffin tin about 2/3 full and sprinkle pumpkin and sunflower seeds on top. Place in the oven for 30 minutes or until cooked. Take it out of the oven and let it rest in a tin for 5 minutes then cool on a rack.
spiced pumpkin muffins

Posted in: Baking, Breakfast, My recipes, Snack, Vegetarian

Overnight Oats In A Jar

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overnight oatsSimple, easy, decadent and healthy breakfast idea! It is an overnight oats. The base is raw rolled oats that are filling, full of fibre and a great source of magnesium, phosphorus, selenium, copper, and manganese. Then you can be as creative as you want for the flavour and texture of the toppings. The list is endless you will never get bored of overnight oats. I’ve chosen to make two different flavours today. Green monster one with spirulina and raw honey and the purple pretty one with peanut butter and raw blueberry powder, both topped with slices of banana, cinnamon powder, bee pollen and goji berries.
overnight oats1
Ingredients (2 serves)

1 cup of raw rolled oats
1-1 1/2 cups of milk or non-dairy milk (1:1 ratio if you want thicker oats or 1:1 1/2 if you prefer thinner)
1 tbsp chia seeds

For Green oats, I added 1 tsp of spirulina powder and 1 tbsp of raw honey.

For PB oats, I stirred in 1 tbsp peanut butter and 1 tsp blueberry powder.

Toppings: 1 large banana, 1 tsp cinnamon powder, 1 tbsp bee pollen, 1 tbsp goji berries

Simply combine oats, milk and chia seeds and stir well. Divide the mixture and pour into the jars. Add spirulina and honey into one jar and peanut butter and blueberry powder to another. Give it a stir and refrigerate overnight with a lid on. In the next morning, add toppings before serve.

Posted in: Breakfast, Gluten Free, My recipes, Snack, Vegetarian

Goji Chia Jam

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Goji chia jam If you want your jam to be sugar-free, raw, rich in EFA’S, dietary fibre, full of antioxidants, essential vitamins and minerals, this is the recipe for you. Perfect on a slice of bread, mixed in with natural yoghurt or as topping on morning breakfast bowl. It is super healthy, naturally sweet and nourishes you from inside out. My mum used to make a tea out of it together with cinnamon and honey, perfect in winter when I get a cold because goji berries are high in vitamin C and boost your immune system. This amazing fruit has all essential amino acids, high concentration of protein, great for vegetarians. On top of that, it is naturally anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal. So eat more of these guys!
Goji chia jam1Ingredients

100g goji berries
20g chia seeds
1 tbsp raw honey
1 tsp vanilla powder
zest and juice from one orange
water to soak goji berries

Soak goji berries for an hour. Place soaked goji berries, chia seeds, honey, vanilla powder, zest and juice from orange in a food processor. Blend until you get a jam consistency. Taste and adjust sweetness. Transfer to a glass jar and keep refrigerated. If you don’t like a taste of goji berries, you can add blue berries or raspberries into this.

Posted in: Breakfast, Dessert, Gluten Free, My recipes, Snack, Vegetarian

Savoury Oat Porridge

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Savoury OatsI’m sure a bowl of warming, filling and delicious oat porridge is a perfect breakfast in winter. What about savoury oats? It is a perfect comforting lunch or even dinner when you feel lazy to cook. All you need is a bag of rolled oats in your pantry and some left-over veggies in your fridge. Creamy oats are a great vehicle for toppings of your choice. I added cooked veggies with a hint of harrisa here but crunchy raw veggies, creamy avocado, grilled tofu, tamari roasted nuts and a soy sauce-sesame oil dressing would be nice, too. You can adjust cooking time and the amount of water depending on how you want your porridge to be. If you haven’t tried savoury oat porridge before, give it a go. It is perfect anytime of the day and surely warms you up 🙂

Ingredients

1/2 cup of rolled oats
1 cup of hot water
1 cup of chopped veggies (I used eggplant, corn, carrot, onion and celery)
1 tsp coconut oil
1 tsp tomato paste
1 tsp harissa
Himalayan salt to taste
1 tsp nutritional yeast

Heat coconut oil in a pot over medium heat and add chopped veggies, tomato paste and harissa. Cook for about 10 minutes or until veggies are cooked for your liking. Season with Himalayan salt and set aside. For the porridge, add oats and hot water in another pot. Cook over low heat for about 5 minutes, keep stirring. Ladle porridge into a bowl, top with cooked vegetables and sprinkle nutritional yeast. Serve warm.

Posted in: Breakfast, Gluten Free, Lunch, My recipes, Vegetarian

Quinoa Chickpea Cakes

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quinoa cakesWe hear a lot the dietary fiber is crucial for optimal elimination of toxins and regular bowel movements. But did you know that fiber also eliminates excess estrogen in your body? Insoluble fibre binds to excess estrogen in the digestive tract, which is then excreted by the body.

Estrogen balance is essential for achieving and maintaining fat loss. In men and pre-menopausal women, too much estrogen can cause toxic fat gain, water retention, bloating, and a host of other health and wellness issues. In fact, excess estrogen is as much a risk factor for obesity. Of course, there is a number of reasons why you get estrogen dominance – an exposure to estrogen-like compounds in foods that contain toxic pesticides, herbicides, and growth hormones, use of birth control pills and HRT, digestion issues, stress, poor diet and lifestyle. Symptoms of estrogen dominance is too much fat around your middle section and difficulty losing weight. It might even cause breast and prostate cancer.

So, you can see here how important your gut health is for a healthy body. Fibre is so crucial to remove all the waste out of your body. It is recommended that women from age 19-50 get 25 gram of fiber in a day. Good sources include wheat bran, corn bran, rice bran, the skins of fruits and vegetables (apples, pears, berries, tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini and carrots), nuts (especially almonds), seeds (particularly sunflower seeds), soybeans, dried beans, and whole-grain foods. Ask yourself at the end of the day, have I had enough fiber today?

This quinoa chickpea cake recipe is packed with gut loving fiber. Even better with fresh greens on the side. Delicious!
quinoa cakes1Ingredients (4 cakes)

50g quinoa
50g chickpeas, soaked overnight
a bunch of parsley, finely chopped
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp oat flour
1 egg
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
a pinch of Himalayan salt
coconut oil for frying

Rinse thoroughly and cook quinoa in a boiling water for 20 minutes or until cooked. Drain and set aside. Cook soaked chickpeas in a boiling water until soft and blend in a food processor until you get a paste consistency. Add all ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine. Add a bit more flour if the mixture is too wet. Cover and rest in the fridge for 30 minutes. Take it out of the fridge and shape the mixture into little patties. Heat coconut oil in a pan over medium heat. Cook the patties for 2-3 minutes each side or until golden brown. Be gentle when you flip. Drain on a paper towel if needed.

Posted in: Breakfast, Dinner, Gluten Free, Lunch, My recipes, Vegetarian