Chocolate Fudge Bars

This weekend I saw these amazing chocolate fudge bars passing by on one of my favorite Instagram pages: Healthy Always. So you can imagine, I had to make these! Although I must say that I finally have used very different proportions then the original recipe but they were absolutely amazing! It's hard to don't eat them all at once.

Don't forget, get the Dutch version of all my recipes by clicking here!

The recipe:

Homemade Healthy Fruit Popsicles

It was a very sunny weekend! And finally, I purchased molds to make popsicles. The perfect healthy snack during the summer. I scored mine at the AH, but they also sell them at the Xenos, Blokker and Ikea.

I decided to make two versions made ​​with 1 box red summer fruit from the freezer at the AH. I thought I first try it out before I use all my freshly bought fruit. But you can make this course with any kind of (fresh) fruit that's your fancy and is in season.

The recipe for 3 fruit popsicles:

• 150 g mixed red summer fruit
• Half glass of water
• juice of 1/2 lemon

Simply mix it in your blender and put it in 3 of the 6 popsicle molds. 

The recipe for 3 fruit-quark popsicles:

• 100 g mixed red summer fruit
• Splash of water
• 2 to 3 heaped tablespoons quark of yoghurt 

Mix everything in the same blender en fill the other 3 popsicle molds. 

Put them in the freezer for about 3 to 4 hours and they are ready to be eaten!

Enjoy!

Dates & Figs Raw Food Bar

Healthy and wholesome snacks, we are all searching for the perfect snack. But, sometimes, that can be a quite tricky. I always made my own raw food bar, but lately I got a little bored with my version, so it was time for a new one. Inspired by chef Erik te Velthuis, I have made a delicious bar ​​and it only took 10 minutes and it gives me a snack for 8 days!

The ingredients for 8 bars of 40 gram:

• 150 g fresh dates
• 50 g dried Spanish figs 
• 25 g dried pear
• 2 tbs dessicated coconut
• 2 tbs quinoa flakes
• 20 g almonds
• 20 g hazelnuts
• 10 g pecans

What you do:

1. Remove the pits from the dates and and place in your food processor and grind finely until it's one stickly ball. 
2. Cut the figs and pear into small pieces. Grind the nuts finely but not to fine as it's tasty when there are quite a few larger pieces of nut in it. Put the figs, pear and nuts in a big bowl together with the dates, 1 tbs grated coconut and the quinoa flakes in a bowl and mix with your hands till it's one solid whole. The dates make sure that everything will stick together. 
3. Put a piece of parchment paper in a meat tray and place the date mixture. Fold the paper in half and press the mixture flat. Sprinkle both sides of the bar with the rest of the coconut grater so that the tape no longer sticks and cut into 8 equal pieces of about 40 g each.
4. Save in your refrigerator so they set a little bit.

Enjoy!

Healthy Snack! Dates with Peanut Butter

 Scroll down for the English version

Dadels zijn een lekker en gezond tussendoortje. Een dadel is een vrucht van de dadelpalm. Deze palm komt oorspronkelijk uit Mesopotamië en Egypte. Tegenwoordig worden dadels vooral geteeld in Noord-Afrika, Arabische landen, Australië en Californië. 

Ze zijn het gezondst om te eten als het verse dadels zijn. Ze bevatten nog steeds veel vruchtsuiker, maar daarnaast ook een heleboel andere goede en gezonde voedingsstoffen. Er worden ook gedroogde dadels verkocht maar deze bevatten veel meer suikers en calorieën. Er is ook een verschil in smaak tussen verse en gedroogde dadels; de verse smaken meer naar honing en zijn minder zoet in vergelijking met de gedroogde dadels. In de winkels worden meestal gedroogde dadels verkocht maar ik vind persoonlijk de verse vele malen lekkerder! Ik haal deze vaak bij de notenkraam op de markt of bij de toko.

Wat maakt dadels dan zo gezond? Allereerst bevatten ze veel voedingsvezels en is het een zeer rijke bron van mineralen zoals fosfor, ijzer, kalium en magnesium. Maar een dadel bevat ook vitamine B1, B2, B6, B11 en vitamine C. Kortom allemaal stoffen die ons lichaam nodig heeft.

Dadels kun je op vele manieren gebruiken. Zo maak ik er altijd graag een raw food bar mee, maar je kunt ze ook door salades doen, verwerken in je kwarkbrood, gebruiken als suikervervanger in je gezonde chocolademousse, over je kwark of havermout heen doen of ze puur als lekker tussendoortje eten. Ik heb er een gezond bonbonnetje van gemaakt en dat doe je als volgt:

Wat heb je nodig:

• 2 verse dadels
• 2 tl biologische, suikervrije pindakaas
• Paar cacao nibs

Wat je doet:

Eigenlijk heel simpel! Snijd de dadel doormidden maar niet helemaal door. Haal de pit eruit en vul de opening met pindakaas en strooi er wat cacao nibs bovenop! Genieten maar! 

Eet smakelijk!

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English version

Dates are a tasty and healthy snack. A date is a fruit of the date palm. This palm is native to Mesopotamia and Egypt. Nowadays dates grown mainly in North Africa, Arab countries, Australia and California.

Fresh dates are healthier compared to dried dates. The fresh dates still contain a lot of fruit sugar, but also a lot of other good and healthy nutrients. The dried dates contain more sugars and calories than the fresh ones. There is also a difference in taste between fresh and dried dates; the more fresh taste of honey and are less sweet as compared to the dried dates. The stores usually sells dried dates, but I personally prefer the fresh ones! I buy them at the market or toko.

What makes dates so healthy? First, they contain a lot of dietary fiber and it's a very rich source of minerals such as phosphorus, iron, potassium and magnesium. But a date also contains vitamins B1, B2, B6, B11, and vitamin C. In short, all substances that our body needs.

Dates can be used in many ways. I always use them in my raw food bars, but you can also use them in salads, incorporate them into your quark bread, used as a sugar substitute in your healthy chocolate mousse. But they are also perfect as a tasty snack. I have made a sort of healthy bonbon to treat myself so here is the recipe:

What you need:

• 2 fresh dates
• 2 ts organic, sugar free peanut butter
• some cacao nibs

What you do:

It's actually very simple. Slice the date in half but not all the way through. Get the pit out of the middle and fill with peanut butter and some cacao nibs on top. 

Enjoy!

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Quark Blueberry Cheesecake!

A cheesecake without cheese but with lots of blueberries! As you know I'm switching jobs. My PhD project has finished, still need to work on some articles in my free time so I'm not Dr. D. Wierenga yet, but I will finish my thesis this year! I'm starting a new job in just over a week and enjoying my time in Rio de Janeiro till then.

But of course we organized a small goodbye party for my colleagues and made my Lemon & Poppyseed Muffins but also this amazing cheesecake!

 Scroll down for the Dutch recipe

English recipe:

Duration: 90 minutes (75 minutes oven time)

The ingredients for the crust:

• 150 g almonds
• 150 g walnuts
• 160 g dates

The ingredients for the cheesecake:

• 1000 ml quark
• 4 eggwhites
• 4 tbs agave syrup
• 1 lemon (zest + juice)
• 150 g blueberries

What you do:

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius.
2. Place the almonds, walnuts and dates in your food processor and mix until the walnuts and almonds are ground. 
3. Place a piece of grease proof paper on the bottom of a springform and grease the edges with a little bit of  oil. Press the crust firmly to the bottom of the springform pan.
4. Then separates the eggwhite from the egg yolk for all eggs. Throw away the yolks and add the egg whites with the quark and agave syrup in a bowl. Grate the lemon zest over, followed by the juice of the lemon. Mix well with a hand mixed. Then gently stir in the blueberries.
5. Pour the quark mixture over the bottom of the springform and put in the oven for 75 minutes,

Enjoy!

 

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Nederlands recept - Kwark Cheesecake:

 
Tijd: 15 minuten voorbereiding + 75 minuten oven

De ingrediënten voor de bodem:

• 150 gram amandelen
• 150 gram walnoten
• 160 gram dadels

De ingrediënten voor de cheesecake:

• 1000 ml kwark
• 4 eiwitten
• 4 el agavesiroop
• 1 citroen (schil + sap)
• 150 gram blauwe bessen

Bereiding:

1. Verwarm de oven voor op 175 graden Celsius.
2. Doe de amandelen, walnoten en dadels in je keukenmachine en meng tot het één geheel is en de walnoten en amandelen gemalen zijn.
3. Leg een stuk bakpapier op de bodem van een springvorm en vet de randen in met wat olie. Druk de bodem (amandel-walnoten-dadel mengsel) stevig aan op de bodem van de springvorm.
4. Scheidt dan het eiwit van het eigeel voor de 4 eieren. Gooi het eigeel weg en doe de eiwitten samen met de kwark en agavesiroop in een kom. Rasp de schil van de citroen erboven gevolgd door het sap van de citroen. Meng goed met een handmixed en roer aan het einde de blauwe bessen erdoorheen.
5. Giet over de bodem in de springvorm en zet 75 minuten in de voorverwarmde oven.

Eet smakelijk!

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Sweet Potato Chips

I eat clean and healthy but I also do have my cravings. One of them is chips and especially paprika chips! But I've discovered that you can make your own healthy chips with just a sweet potato and any herbs or spices you like! It's easy to make and the taste is great!

 Scroll down for the Dutch recipe

English recipe:

Duration: 20 minutes

The ingredients for 1 bowl of chips:

• 1 sweet potato
• 1 tbs paprika powder
• 1 ts Himalayan Sea Salt
• 1 tbs Olive oil

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. 
2. Peel the skin of the sweet potatoes and slice them with a vegetable peeler or (vegetable) mandolin into very thin slices. Put the slices in a bowl and sprinkle with paprika powder, salt and olive oil and mix well so that everything is covered. 
3. Put the chips than on a lined baking tray (don't put the chips on top of each other) and put them in oven for 10 minutes. The edges are then already delicious crispy. Turn the chips around and put back in the oven for about 3 minutes until they are completely crisp. Please note that in this last stage you need to keep an eye out and remove chips from the oven that are already turning brown out o because if they get too brown, they are bitter in taste. 
4. Allow to cool a little and you can eat them!

Enjoy!

 

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Nederlands recept - Zoete Aardappel Chips:

Tijd: 20 minuten

De ingrediënten voor 1 schaaltje:

• 1 zoete aardappel
• 1 el zoet paprika poeder
• 1 tl Himalaya zeezout
• 1 el olijfolie

Bereiding:

1. Verwarm de oven voor op 200 graden Celsius.
2. Schil de zoete aardappel en snijd deze dan met een dunschiller of (groente) mandoline in hele dunne plakjes. Doe deze in een kom en besprenkel met de paprika poeder, zout en olijfolie en meng goed zodat alles bedekt is. 
3. Leg de chips dan los van elkaar (en dus niet op elkaar) op een met bakpapier beklede bakplaat en zet in de oven voor 10 minuten. De randjes zijn dan nu al lekker crispy. Draai dan alle chipjes om en zet nog zo'n 3 minuten in de oven tot ze volledig knapperig zijn. Let in deze laatste fase goed op en haal chipjes die te bruin worden al uit de oven want als ze te bruin worden zijn ze bitter van smaak. 
4. Laat een beetje afkoelen en je kan ze gelijk opeten.

Eet smakelijk!

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Banana-Blueberry Bread (V)

I had lots of blueberries left over from last week's visit to the market so I figured it was time to try out a new recipe. I baked one on Tuesday, which, unfortunately wasn't that good so I tried to make another one today and changed the ingredients a little bit. And... it turned out great! Definitely having this for breakfast tomorrow and just had it as an afternoon snack.

Duration: 5 minutes prep; 45 minutes oven time

The ingredients:

• 120 g almond meal
• 4 heaped tbs shredded coconut
• 1 ts cinnamon
• 1/2 ts nutmeg
• 1 ts baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 2 tbs agave syrup
• 1 ripe banana
• 1 ts vanilla extract
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 hand blueberries

What you do:

1. Preheat your oven to 175 degrees of Celsius. 
2. Simply mix all dry ingredients in a bowl and the wet ingredients except for the olive oil in another bowl, including a mashed banana. Make sure you whisk the eggs. 
3. Then combine the dry and wet ingredients together and mix with an hand mixer until well combined. Then stir in the olive oil, followed by the blueberries (gently).
4. Line a cake tin with grease proof paper and pour the batter in. Put it in your preheated oven for 45 minutes. The bread is done when it's golden brown on top and a toothpick comes out clean.

Enjoy!

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Minced Chicken Balls

I'm still a bit in party mode so here is another perfect recipe to serve at a birthday or if you have Tapas night! Made these a while ago and they are delightful!

The ingredients for 25 balls:

• 400 gr. minced chicken
• 3 spring onions
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 egg
• 60 gr (about 2 slices) spelt bread
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon dried coriander
• Salt & Pepper
• Olive oil

The ingredients for the dip:

• 250 ml organic passata di pomodoro 
• 1 ts dried oregano
• 1 ts dried basil

What you do:

1. Chop the spring onions and put the 2 slices of spelt bread in your food processor so you get breadcrumbs. 
2. Mix in a large bowl the minced chicken (if it isn't minced yet by your butcher you can do this is your food processor), the chopped spring onions, crushed garlic cloves, breadcrumbs, coriander, cumin seeds, sesame seeds, chili powder, pinch of salt & pepper and the egg until it's well mixed. Put the bowl in your refrigerator for 30 minutes to make sure that all flavors are absorbed by the meat.
3. Get the meat out of the refrigerator, make about 25 balls of it. Heat up a good splash of olive oil in the pan and bake the balls golden brown on low to medium heat within 10 minutes (depending on the size of the balls and check regurlarly of they are done, if you cook them too long they will get dry).  Make sure you frequently change sides!
4. In the meantime, heat up the passata with the dried herbs. When everything is done put the balls on a plate with in the middle a small bowl so everybody can dip their chicken balls into it!

Enjoy! 

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Healthy Party Snacks

Yesterday it was new years eve! I made some delicious healthy party snacks which are also perfect for Birthdays or just any occasion at which you have a bunch of friends over! Last September I already posted Savory Roasted Chickpeas which are perfect but here are a lot more tasty and healthy snacks!

Roasted 'Honey' Nuts

First up these amazing roasted 'honey' nuts. Oh my these are sooo good!!! We actually started eating them and were half way through the bowl before I had time to make a picture, oeps!

You need: a mixture of unroasted and unsalted nuts olive oil and agave syrup. I used a mixture of pecans, almonds, hazelnuts, pumpkin and sunflower seeds

What you do:

1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees of Celsius. 
2. Mix the nuts in a bowl and make sure they are all covered in agave syrup. Per 100 grams of nuts you need 2 1/2 tbs agave syrup and 1 tbs olive oil.
3. Lay them out on your griddle covered with grease proof paper and put them in the oven for about 15 minutes (stir half way through). Keep an eye out because they burn easily!

Little tip: They are really sticky, especially when they are just out of the oven when they are also really really hot! Then you just need to put them on a (wooden) chopping board and let them cool off before you serve them.

Stuffed Dates with Goat cheese

You need: Seedless dates, soft goat cheese and some agave syrup.

What you do: Slice the dates in half and stuff them with goat cheese. When you are ready to serve them sprinkle over some agave syrup!

Healthy Salmon Wraps

These are delicious and fill you and your guests up, but not too much!

You need: whole wheat wraps, cottage cheese, smoked salmon, spring onions, lettuce, some fresh chive and pepper.

What you do: 

1. Simply make as much wraps as you want! First lay out the wrap on your worktop. Smear with cottage cheese and season with pepper. Then lay the salmon on top in the middle of the wrap, followed by 1 chopped spring onion per wrap and some freshly cut chive. Then put 1 lettuce leave in the middle of the wrap and wrap it up! Cut into singe bite pieces and serve on a nice plate.

Veggie Wraps

You need: whole wheat wraps, lettuce, homemade red pesto, spring onions, tomato, cucumber and red paprika.

What you do: 

1. Slice the tomato and cucumber, deseed the paprika and cut into stripes. Lay out the wrap on top of your worktop and smear with a thin layer of red pesto. Then layer all vegetables in the middle of the wrap with the lettuce on top. Next step: wrap it up! And cut into single bite pieces.

Stuffed cherry tomatoes

A variation to your classic Caprese salad served in single bites!

You need: cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, basil leaves, pepper, extra virgin olive oil and some balsamic vinegar.

What you do:

1. Wash the cherry tomatoes, pat dry and remove the stem and leaves. With a sharp knife, chop off a small slice of the bottom of the cherry tomato. Why the bottom? Well, this is usually the most rounded side and the top is more flat. Then gently remove the pulp and seeds from the inside of the tomato. Depending on the size of the tomatoes you can use a melon scoop or a small knife. The put them on a piece of paper towel with the open side down so all the 'juice' gets out. 
2. Slice the mozzarella into pieces as big that they fit into the cherry tomatoes perfectly. Then pick some fresh leaves basil.
3. Finally, put the cherry tomatoes in a nice bowl or on a nice plate with the open side up. Sprinkle with some sea salt and pepper. Then put a basil leave inside the tomato followed by the mozzarella cube. When they are all done sprinkle with some extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar and they are ready to be served!

Tip: you can make everything before hand and keep it in the refrigerator. But wait with the olive oil and vinegar until you serve.

Chicken rolls

It doesn't get any simpler than this. You only need two ingredients: Slices of chicken breast and pickles!

Simply slice the pickles lengthwise and layer 1 or 2 stripes in the middle of a slice of chicken breast and then roll it up!

Smoked beef with egg

Again, you only need two ingredients. But make sure you already boiled the eggs prior to making your snacks so they are cooled down. Same as with the chicken rolls, cut the egg into half and layer in the middle of the smoked beef and roll it up!

Enjoy! 

 

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Blueberry Muffins! (Gluten Free!)

Today it's my birthday and I'm already turning 26! Time flies! Of course I'm having friends and family over today and decided to make some clean treats and my mother offered to bake her (not so clean, but delicious!!) apple pie and cake. I made the Pecan Blondies posted yesterday and a new recipe! These delicious blueberry muffins which are gluten and dairy free! It's basically the same recipe as my Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins but since I added some fruit I used less oil!

The ingredients for 6 muffins:

• 120 gr almond meal
• 1/2 ts baking powder
• 2 organic eggs
• 3 tbs agave syrup
• 10 ml vanilla extract
• 45 ml (3 tbs) olive oil
• 75 gr blueberries

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 175 degrees of Celsius.
2. Mix the almond meal and baking powder in a large bowl. Then add the eggs, agave syrup and vanilla extract and mix with an electric hand mixer.
3. Slowly add the olive oil while mixing by hand. Finally, gently stir in the blueberries and put the batter into the cups (preferably with an ice cream scoop)
4. Bake them for 25 minutes in your oven until they are golden brown and the centre springs back. Check with a toothpick, if it comes out clean and dry they are done!

Enjoy! 

 

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Gluten Free Pecan Blondies

Found this recipe on one of the Instagram accounts that I follow (hungryhappens) who also has a tumblr website on which she posts all her delicious recipes! So be sure you check it out: http://hungryhappens.tumblr.com/

And it was finally time to make them since it's my birthday tomorrow and I will turn 26! So I'm trying out some healthy baking goodies and these Gluten Free Pecan Blondies are one of them. I made some small changes to the recipe so here it is. And you can also serve these with some whipped cream of ice cream as a delicious dessert for Christmas!

Duration: 40 minutes

The ingredients:

• 270 gr almond meal
• 75 gr cane sugar
• 1/2 ts baking soda
• 1/4 ts Himalayan sea salt
• 2 large eggs
• 80 ml (5 1/2 tbs) melted coconut oil
• 1 ts vanilla extract
• 80 gr pecans

What you do:

1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees of Celsius.
2. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
3. Combine all wet ingredients in another bowl and make sure you give it a good whisk so the eggs are beaten.
4. Then mix the dry and wet ingredients and when everything is well mixed add the chopped pecans.
5. Line a 20x20 baking dish with grease proof paper. Put the mixture in it and bake for 35 minutes in the oven until a toothpick comes out clean.

Enjoy! 

 

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Black Bean Brownies

I'm celebrating my twenty-six birthday next week so I always bake some goodies to treat my colleagues during coffee break to celebrate my birthday. For this purpose I was looking for some new recipes and first I decided to try out a black bean brownie. And oh my gosh! It's even better than just your regular brownie. You don't taste the black beans (I was afraid that it would) and it's just perfect. You can add some more sugar or syrup if you're a sweet tooth but I suggest you first try out the recipe as is! You can have it as a sweet next to your green tea but you can also easily serve it as a dessert (maybe for Christmas dinner!!) with a scoop of ice cream and maybe even some whipped cream! And as a bonus it's super easy too make!

What you need:

• 1 can (15 oz. - 425 gr) black beans
• 50 gr raw cocoa powder
• 45 gr rolled oats
• 2 eggs
• 4 tbs coconut oil
• 40 gr palm sugar
• 70 ml agave syrup
• 1 ts vanilla extract
• Pinch of Himalayan sea salt
• 1 ts baking powder

What you do:

1. Preheat your oven to 175 degrees of Celsius.
2. Simply add all ingredients to your food processor (it fits exactly) and mix until you have a smooth batter. Grease a baking dish of 20 x 20 cm or a similar size (25 x 17 or something) with some more coconut oil and pour the batter in. Put it in the oven for about 25 to 30 minutes. Test with a toothpick whether it's done, the toothpick should come out fairly clean.

Variation tip: Don't throw away the left over crumbles or brownie. These are delicious over you bowl of (Greek) yoghurt or quark in the morning!!

Enjoy!! 

 

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My favorite healthy snacks

Often I get the question, but what do you snack during the day? Well that depends on my mood and what my body is craving at that moment. The type of snack your body need depends on your level of activity and other meals on a day. But in the morning I often eat fruit and around 4 o'clock in the afternoon I have my homemade raw food bar or I really like to have a (spelt) rice cracker with anything I have in my fridge or pantry. So I present you with my four favorite rice cracker toppings.

Top left corner:

• A variation on my smoked salmon sandwich. I used 1/2 mashed avocado, 1 slice smoked salmon, little bit of cottage cheese and some pepper.

Top right corner:

• This rice cracker is topped with soft goat cheese, some arugula and walnuts. If you're a sweeth tooth you could also add some agave syrup.

Bottom left corner:

• I always have boiled eggs in my refrigerator which I make in the weekends during my meal prepping but I don't always prefer to just eat an egg as a snack so in those cases I often make a rice cracker with 1/2 mashed avocado, some slices tomato and 1/2 egg seasoned with some Himalyan sea salt. The other half of the egg I eat seperate.

Bottom right corner:

• And last but not least, the quickest rice cracker you can imagine: one with organix peanut butter!

Savory Roasted Chickpeas

For a while know I was searching for a healthy savory snack and I finally found one! Whipped up a batch of these roasted chickpeas to snack on while relaxing and watching a movie. Anyone who is a fan of potato chips should definitely try them out!

What you need:

• 1 can of chickpeas
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbs paprika powder
• 1 tbs curry powder
• 1 tbs Himalayan sea salt

What you do:

1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees of Celsius.
2. Drain and rinse the chickpeas and dry them with kitchen towel
3. Mix the olive oil, paprika powder, curry powder and sea salt in a bowl and evenly coat the chickpeas with the mixture. 
4. Put some grease proof paper on a baking tray and spread the chickpeas on it.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes in your oven or until crispy. Make sure you keep an eye on them so they don't blacken!
6. Let them cool down and eat them right away or store in an airtight container!

Enjoy!

Recipe: Banana-Almond Meal Gingerbread

Since I started eating clean I haven't eaten any gingerbread whilst it was always part of my daily diet. So when I found this clean recipe in the Dutch cookbook from Amber Albarda I was really excited! The original recipe uses Spelt meal but I wanted a gluten free version so I substituted it for almond meal and it turned out great! You can eat this as a snack during the morning or afternoon, for breakfast or even serve it with a cup of green tea.

You can keep it up to 3 days in your refrigerator!

The ingredients for 1 gingerbread:

• 100 g dried figs
• 140 g almond meal
• 2 ripe bananas
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 ts baking soda
• 1 ts baking powder
• 1/2 ts cinnamon
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 tbs walnut oil
• 4 tbs pecans

The directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius and boil 100 ml water in your kettle.
2. Coarsely chop the figs and make sure you remove the hard ends and mix them with the boiling water and the baking soda and let them soak for a few minutes.
3. Meanwhile, mix the almond meal with the baking powder and cinnamon in another bowl. 
4. Pour the water from the bowl with the figs and slowly stir the olive oil and walnut oil trough the figs. Then smash both bananas and add to the fig-oil mixture. Finally add the meal and stir really good!
5. Pour the mixture into a greased baking tin.
6. Coarsely chop the pecans and sprinkle them over the top of the bread. 
7. Bake the gingerbread for about 45-50 minutes in the oven. The bread is done when a wooden toothpick comes out relatively clean. If the bread is a little bit sticky that's okay!
8. Let it cool down and serve or save in an airtight box for 2-3 days. 

Enjoy!

Recipe: Strawberry smoothie

I love smoothies in the weekends! I think they are a great way to make sure you eat you're 2 pieces of fruit a day and this one is dairy free!

The ingredients for 1 glass (if you want more just double the ingredients):

• 10 medium size strawberries
• 1/2 banana
• 100 ml unsweetened natural almond milk 
• 1 tablespoon of grated coconut
• 1 teaspoon chiaseeds

Directions:

Just put all the ingredients (besides 2 strawberries) in your blender and blend until smooth and yummie! If the smoothie is too thick just add a little bit more almond milk until it has the consistency you like!

Enjoy!

Tip: Fruit as a healthy snack

Often I hear from people that they experience difficulties with healthy snacks around 10.30 - 11 AM and 15.30-16 PM. However it can be really easy!!

1 piece of fruit of your choice and a handful of unroasted and unsalted nuts makes a perfect healthy snack!

The combination of fruit with unroasted and unsalted nuts prevents a rapid rise of your blood sugar levels due to the essential fatty acids in the nuts. By making sure that your blood sugar levels remain stable during the day you avoid low blood sugar levels that cause tiredness and hungry feelings. Additionally you avoid high insulin production which actually stimulates fat storage and prevents the breakdown of fats.

Snack Recipe: Raw food bar

When I first started eating clean I found it very difficult what type of snacks I could eat in the morning and afternoon at work and I noticed that many other people have the same problem! After a long search I now found the recipe of a great raw food bar thanks to one of my friends. I make this on sundays' when my homemade granola is in the oven!

 Scroll down for the Dutch recipe

English recipe:

Duration: 10 minutes

Amount of servings: 5-8 bars depending on the size you like

The ingredients:

• 250 gr seedless dates
• 70 gr unsalted and unroasted nuts (I use a handful of hazelnuts, pecans, almonds and walnuts but any nuts of your choice will also suffice)
• 1 tbs sunflower seeds
• 1 tbs pumpkin seeds
• 1 tbs flaxseeds
• 3 tbs coconut grater

Directions: 

1. Put the seedless dates into your food processor and mince.
2. Place all the nuts and the sunflower and pumpkin seeds in the middle of a clean tea-towel, fold and smash the nuts with a dough roller. Or use a mortar to crush them but this is more time consuming. 
3. Put the minced dates, smashed nuts and all seeds in a large bowl with 1 tablespoon of coconut grater and knead everything firmly together. 
4. Place some grease proof paper in a relatively small rectangular baking thin or baking dish. 
5. Put the mixture in the baking dish and make sure that the mixture covers the whole bottom of the dish. Use some extra grease proof paper to flatten the mixture so it doesn't stick to your hands. 
6. Then get the mixture out of the baking dish and cut into bars (5 large bars, or 8 smaller bars).
7. Drizzle each bar with the remaining coconut grater and wrap each bar separately in some aluminum foil.
8. Store them in your refrigerator until it's snack time!

Variation tip: add some cranberries for some sweetness or 2 figs!

Enjoy!

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Nederlands recept:

Duur: 10 minuten

Porties: 5 tot 8 repen (afhankelijk van hoe groot je ze wilt)

De ingrediënten:

•    250 gram pitloze dadels
• 70 gram ongezouten en ongebrande noten (ik gebruik een handvol hazelnoten, pecan noten, amandelen en walnoten. Maar je kan ook andere gebruiken​​)
• 1 eetlepel zonnebloempitten
• 1 eetlepel pompoenpitten
• 1 eetlepel lijnzaad
• 3 eetlepels kokos rasp

Bereiding:

1. Doe de dadels in de keukenmachine en hak deze klein.
2. Plaats alle noten en de zonnebloem en pompoenpitten in het midden van een schone theedoek, vouw en sla de noten met een deegroller klein. Je kunt ook een vijzel gebruiken, maar dit neemt meer tijd in beslag, of in de keukenmachine, maar niet alle keukenmachines vinden dit fijn.
3. Doe de gehakte dadels, gebroken noten en alle zaden in een grote kom met 1 eetlepel kokos rasp en kneed alles stevig in elkaar.
4. Doe een stuk bakpapier in een relatief kleine rechthoekige ovenschaal of brownievorm. Doe het dadel-noten mengsel in de ovenschaal op het bakpapier en zorg ervoor dat het over de gehele bodem verdeeld is. Gebruik het bakpapier dat nog buiten de schaal ‘hangt’ om het aan te drukken zodat het niet aan je handen plakt.
5. Haal het dan weer uit de schaal en maak er repen van in de gewenste grootte. Besprenkel elke reep met de rest van de kokosrasp en wikkel de bars afzonderlijk van elkaar in aluminiumfolie. Bewaar ze in de koelkast.
   

Eet smakelijk!

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