Healthy date snack bars

 

I have gotten a lot of request for healthy snacks lately so I thought I would share this easy recipe with you. These little nutty date bars are perfect to bring as a healthy snack to school/uni/work or wherever really and a big plus is that they are not only healthy and nutritious, but also super tasty - almost brownie like! Another big plus is that you can easily substitute most of the ingredients (except the dates) with whatever you have available, I think these would also taste great with coconut filling or maybe dried berries? I will definitely have to experiment with different flavors next time, let me know if you have some good ideas for the filling :)

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup dates, packed

2 tablespoons raw cacao powder

1 cup mixed almonds and hazelnuts

2 tablespoons chia seeds

Directions:

1. Place the dates in a food processor and pulse until you get a gooey paste. Empty the food processor into a mixing bowl.
2. Place the nuts in the food processor and pulse until they’re chopped into little pieces, but be careful or it will turn into flour.
3. Add the chopped nuts, the cacao powder and the chia seeds into the mixing bowl with the date paste. Knead the ingredients together until everything is well mixed and you have a cohesive dough.
4. Line a pan, plastic container or whatever you have available with baking paper and add the dough - make sure you press it in real tight and leave it in the fridge for 30-60 minutes.
5. Now, all there is left to do is to slice the dough into your desired size (I got 6 bars from this) and they’re ready to eat, enjoy!

Inspired by Use Real Butter        

Oatmeal chips

One thing you probably do not know about me is that I absolutely LOVE oatmeal and I usually eat it everyday. I prefer the completely plain kind with no toppings etc. so I never really share pictures of it here or on insta since plain oatmeal isn’t really the prettiest to look at ;) When I make my oatmeal I only rarely measure the ingredients and therefore often make too much – haha most of the time I’ll just eat it anyway and feel way too full, but I found a great idea on how to use the extra oatmeal on the Danish food blog ‘Det skal smage af noget’.  You can use the leftover oatmeal to make super healthy and super tasty oatmeal chips! I absolutely loved the idea so I had to give it a try and it turned out so great that I had to share it with you guys!

1. All you have to do is to take your leftover oatmeal and spread it out on a sheet of baking paper, it has to be really thin or else it wont get all nice and crispy. You can use another baking sheet covered in a little oil to place on top of the other and then roll it with a baking roll to get it really thin.
2. Then all you have to do is add you toppings of choice – I topped it with sunflower seeds, pumpkins seeds, chia seeds, sesame seeds and sea salt – and bake them in the oven for about 20 minutes on 180c / 355f.
3. After 10 minutes take them out of the oven and use a pizza slicer (or a knife) to carve lines to mark the size you want them to be.
4. Put them back into the oven and let them bake for another 10 minutes. When they’re done take them out and let them cool on a wire rack. When they have cooled down you can use the lines you carved to break them into size. Enjoy!

I served them with guacamole and carrot sticks, it was the perfect little snack :)

Rainbow breakfast bowl

Acai smoothie bowls will always be one of my favorite thing to have for breakfast; they're easy to make, as nutritious as can be and super tasty!
Simply blend 2 bananas, 1-2 cups frozen berries, 3 tablespoons skyr or greek yoghurt, 2 tablespoons acai powder, water and a little stevia (or honey/agave). I topped it with strawberries, pineapple, kiwi, blueberries, almonds, mulberries, chia seeds (I will do a post on them tomorrow for 'Superfood sundays') and raw coconut chips, so good!

Asian inspired spring salad with spicy mango dressing

Salad, yields 4 servings as a side dish:

4 carrots

1 avocado

1 cup edamame beans

4 scallions/spring onion

1/2 mango

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

A handful mint and cilantro leaves

Inspired by the very talented girls from Plat du jour :)

Spicy mango dressing/dip:

1 mango

2 cm. ginger

2 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce
Chili powder to taste 

The juice from 1/2 lime

Directions:

1. I like to start out with the dressing so it can chill in the fridge while I prepare the salad - simply place all the ingredients in a blender and pulse until smooth
2. For the salad: grate the carrots, chop the avocado, spring onions, mango, mint and cilantro, mix in the edamame beans and sesame seeds and the salad is ready!
3. Serve the salad with the spicy mango dressing and enjoy!

Green smoothie time!

A little green smoothie inspiration for you this morning :) Simply blend spinach, cucumber, kiwi, pineapple, banana and water. I added a tablespoon Vitamineral Green Superfood powder, freeze dried blackberry and goji berries as well. Enjoy! :)

Superfood Sundays

I usually only post recipes on here, but I’ve decided to add a couple of new categories – all food and health related of course! The first new initiative I would like to introduce you to are 'Superfood Sundays' where I each Sunday will introduce you to one of my favorite superfoods, write about its benefits, share recipes using the particular superfood and so much more - I hope you like the idea :)

Today is the first Superfood Sunday and I would like to start it off with an introduction to superfoods in general as I get a lot of questions about the term and its meaning. I would like to point out that I am not a nutritionist or anything of the sort and the information presented is simply knowledge I have acquired on my journey to a healthier life - please feel free to do your own research as well, this is simply meant as a short introduction for those unfamiliar with the world of superfoods :)

So what exactly are these so called superfoods? 

Superfoods are a special category of foods found in nature that contain major dietary benefits and healing effects. They are some of the most nutritionally dense foods on the planet, high in essential vitamins, minerals and disease-fighting antioxidants. They have been proven to not only prevent, but also reverse some of the effects of aging, certain cancer types, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, type II diabetes, lower cholesterol etc. - each week I will address the health benefits of a new superfood and specify and explain in detail.

Superfoods are truly nature’s medicine and many superfoods have been used by indigenous people for thousands of years for their healing powers and high nutritional value – for example Aztecs and Mayans both consumed chia seeds for their exceptional nutritional benefits improving their stamina and energy levels.

But which kinds of food can actually be classified as so called super foods?

Superfoods are both of the more exotic kind that comes in the form of powders and supplements - these types of superfoods are very nutrient dense, but unfortunately often also quite expensive - however, superfoods are also the very well known foods that can be found in your local supermarket - you might actually be consuming lost of superfoods without even knowing it! Apples, onions, blueberries and broccoli are examples of superfoods that we all know and consume regularly, they are not only inexpensive, but they can be found in almost every grocery store no matter where you are in the world.

Now for the big question; which superfoods should you incorporate into your diet?

Some might say all, or at least as many as possible, but in my opinion the most important thing is a well-rounded, wholesome diet that you enjoy to consume. You shouldn’t eat something you don’t like just because it is healthy and you shouldn’t feel bad if you can’t afford the expensive superfood powders - they are in no way a necessity in a healthy diet! I personally try to incorporate as much as the inexpensive superfoods found in my local supermarket as possible (still, only the ones that I actually like the taste of), but I also like to splurge once in a while and spoil myself with some of the more exotic superfoods like acai powder, chia seeds, goji berries and vitamineral green powder – I will do posts on all of these superfoods in the near future, stay posted! ;)

sources/additional information: Food Matters, SuperFoods RX, One Green Planet, DR. OZ

For next weeks ‘Superfood Sunday’ I will do a post on chia seeds and it’s nutritional benefits

+ share some of my favorite ways to incorporate chia seeds into my diet.  

I hope you like this new initiative and if you have any questions just let me know! :)

Raw chocolate cake

Cake:

1/3 cup raw almonds

1 tbsp. chia seeds

1 tbsp. flax seeds

1/4 cup oats

1/2 cup chopped dates, packed

1 tbsp. coconut oil

4 tbsp. raw cacao powder

2 tbsp. shredded coconut

1 tbsp. honey (or sweetener of choice, agave stevia etc.)

4 tbsp. water

Chocolate sauce: 

2 tbsp. melted coconut oil

1 tbsp. honey (or sweetener of choice, agave stevia etc.)

2 tbsp. raw cacao powder

The recipe is inspired by My Happy Place – check out her amazing blog for lots of inspiration!

Directions: 

1. Place all the cake ingredients in a food processor or blender and pulse until everything is well mixed.
2. If the mixture is too dry, simply add more water and if it’s too wet, add more oats or shredded coconut
3. Place the mixture into your container of choice lined with baking paper and pack it in tight and flat and place in the freezer for 1/2 hour or so
4. While the cake sits in the freezer you can prepare the chocolate sauce. On very low heat, place the coconut oil in a bowl over a pan of water and melt slowly. 
Once melted add raw cacao powder and mix well. Add the sweetener of choice, taste, and add more if you prefer a sweeter taste. Drizzle the chocolate sauce over the cake and add your toppings of choice, I added some chopped almonds and hazelnuts.
5. And you are done, enjoy! I served the cake with fresh strawberries and skyr mixed with a little honey (similar to quark or Greek yoghurt). 

Store the cake in the fridge or freezer until serving.

Fruit infused water

I love making infused water; it tastes amazing, looks pretty, it helps me drink more water which is something I am unfortunately not very good at and it is of course all healthy as it is only water, fruit and herbs.  For these I used lemon slices, lime slices, orange slices, strawberries, blueberries, pomegranate and mint leaves, but the opportunities are pretty much endless and you don’t need to add a lot of different things – a simple combo like cucumber and lemon tastes amazing!

Acai breakfast smoothie bowl

Ingredients:
1.5 cup frozen berries (I used blueberries and strawberries)
2 bananas 
2 tablespoons acai powder
2 tablespoons skyr/quark/greek youghurt 
water to blend
Stevia or other sweetener to taste - optional 

Simply place everything in a blender, blend until smooth and add your favorite toppings - I topped it with kiwi, blueberries, raw coconut chips, mulberries, pomegranate, pineapple, goji berries and chia seeds. Enjoy! :)

Sweet potato crust mini pizzas

I have found that one of the most important things in life is taking the time out to treat yourself every now and then, even when you are extremely busy and stressed, because that is usually when you need it the most. It does not need to be long, sometimes 15 minutes is enough other times more is needed, but the important thing is that you make time to relax and do something just for you. 

This week I have been so tired and stressed out + I’ve been dealing with pain in my back from an old surgery. I didn’t take the time out to deal with it and let my body rest and yet I didn’t really get anything done because I was just too tired and stressed to study properly or do anything really. When I woke up this morning I finally got myself together and decided to start the day off right with a good long breakfast, followed by a quick shopping trip where I bought flowers and ingredients to make pizza and fresh juice + some lovely fresh strawberries. After spending some de-stressing time in the kitchen experimenting with the pizzas, I enjoyed my lunch while watching a good movie, followed by a little power nap. Now I didn’t start studying until quite late today, but for the first time this week I actually got to study properly as I was no longer a stressed out mess. 

So my point is remember to treat yourselves lovelies, whether that be with some good food and a movie or a long walk, a manicure, reading a good book etc. – you are definitely worth it and to quote Diane Von Furstenberg "The most important relationship you have in life is the relationship you have with yourself." - so you better work on it ;)

Ingredients for the crust – yields 3-4 mini pizzas

1 cup cooked sweet potato

1 cup oats

2 eggs

1 teaspoon coconut oil

1 tablespoon psyllium husk 

1 tablespoon chia seeds

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Sal & pepper

The crust was inspired by Fit 4 Livin' and Fresh, Fit and Healthy :)

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees c / 400 degress f
2. Place the sweet potato, eggs and oats in a food processor or blender and blend well, add the rest of the ingredients and blend again
3. Cover a baking tray with baking paper and use a spoon and spatula to form the pizzas on the tray – the dough is quite sticky so run the utensils under cold water before you start.
4. Let it bake for about 15-20 minutes depending on the size/thickness of your pizzas
5. Add your toppings of choice – I added tomato pizza sauce that I spiced up with some garlic, chilli and paprika, fresh mozzarella, chopped red bell pepper and red union – I added the rest of the toppings (arugula and sliced beet) when the pizzas were done baking.
6. Bake the pizzas for another 5-10 minutes and you’re done! I enjoyed the pizzas with some fresh beet juice (find the recipe here!) and strawberries for dessert :)

 

Tropical breakfast parfait

A little inspiration for an easy, healthy and tasty breakfast. 

All you need is some plain skyr (you can use quark, greek yoghurt etc. instead) 

topped with a little honey, muesli, banana, pineapple and raw coconut chips - so simple, so good! 

Juice party!

Yellow juice:

1/3 pineapple & 1 apple

Green juice:

2 stalks of celery, 1/2 a cucumber, 1/3 cup broccoli, 3 cups of spinach, 1 apple, 1 orange, 1 lemon & a thumb of ginger

Red juice:

1 large beet, 6 carrots, 1/2 grape fruit, 1 apple, 1 orange, 1/2 lemon & a thumb of ginger

Orange juice:

6 carrots, 1/2 orange, 1/2 apple, A little lemon & little ginger

Spicy quinoa salad

This quinoa salad is actually something I just quickly threw together for lunch the other day, it wasn’t meant for the blog, but I love how it turned out so I had to share it! It is so simple and easy to make, but I think it taste absolutely amazing and you can pretty much use whatever kind of veggies and greens you have available. Another big plus is that it taste just as great cold as it does warm, so you can make a large portion and have the leftovers for lunch or dinner the next day.

Ingredients - 1 large/2 small servings:

Salad:

½ cup quinoa

1 cup water

1/ 2 small mango

1 large kale leaf

1/3 cup red bell pepper

1/ 3 cup cucumber

½ avocado

2 spring onion

Dressing:

3 tbsps. sweet chilli sauce

1 tbsp. soy

The juice of 1 lemon

A little fresh flat leaf parsley or fresh cilantro (or both) – chopped finely

 

Directions:

1. Rinse the quinoa in cold water
2. Cook the quinoa for about 15 minutes and set it aside with the lid on while you prep the salad
3. Chop up the rest of the ingredients for the salad
4. Combine the ingredients for the dressing – you can use flat leaf parsley or cilantro or even both, but be careful not to use too much or it will overpower the other flavours
5. Mix the salad, quinoa and dressing
6. Enjoy!

Green juice for beginners

I am still a newbie when it comes to green juices and to be honest I was not a big fan at first, but today I found a combo that I really like so I see lots of green juices in my future! My plan is to slowly up the greens and maybe reduce the amount of fruit once my tastebuds have adjusted, but for now I will stick with this tasty combo.

Ingredients:
2 stalks of celery
Half a cucumber
4 cups of spinach
1 apple
1 orange
1 lemon
A thumb of ginger

Directions:

1. Just run it all through a juicer – if you do not have a juicer it is possible to do this with a blender and a nut milk cloth (or cheesecloth or something similar) to strain the pulp. My juicer is not good with leafy greens so I actually blend them in -  yes it is a bit of a process, but I definitely think it is worth it. 
2. I prefer to drink right away in order to preserve all the nutrients, enjoy! 

Chia overnight oats

Most of you probably already know of chia overnight oats, but if you're unfamiliar with the concept let me give you a quick introduction. Chia overnight oats are just oats, chia seeds and milk that you combine in a jar (or whatever container you’d like) and let soak overnight in the fridge to allow it to absorb the milk - there is absolutely no cooking needed! In the morning you just stir the base, add your toppings of choice and it is ready to eat, nice and easy right?

This is the perfect breakfast for me because I’m always running late (haha I love the snooze button way too much, I’m definitely not a morning person!), but I’m also one of those people who LOVES breakfast and absolutely cannot function without it. This is why overnight oats are perfect – I can prepare them the night before and actually have the time to eat some proper breakfast in the morning - and since its in a jar I can eat it on the go if I’m really late ;)

As you can tell I’m a big fan of overnight oats and this is not just because of how convenient and delicious it is, it is also very nutritious and filling. Oats are high in fibre and protein, milk is high in calcium, protein and potassium and don’t even get me started on the chia seeds - a true superfood! Chia seeds are very high in omega 3, fibre, protein, calcium, antioxidants, potassium, vitamin B and furthermore they can absorb up to 12 times their own weight in liquid, which is great for maintaining hydration and it also makes you feel full longer (great for weight loss).

 

Another reason that I love making overnight oats is that the possibilities are pretty much endless when it comes to toppings, you can basically add whatever you have available to the base. I will share a couple of my favorite combinations, but first lets start off with the recipe for the base:

Ingredients:

½ cup oats

2 tbsps. Chia seeds

1 cup milk

Sweetener of choice (stevia, honey, agave etc.) – optional

Pure vanilla powder – optional

Directions:

1. Combine all the ingredients, mix well and let it soak in the fridge overnight. Remember that the chia seeds soak up a lot of liquid, so don’t worry if it’s very thin.
2. I always add some form of sweetener, but it isn’t necessary and depends on your taste and how you like your oats.  
3. There is no cooking needed, in the morning you just stir the base and if it is too thick you add some more milk - I love to mix in some yoghurt to make it more creamy - and if it’s too thin then add a little more chia seeds. 
4. When the base is just right add your toppings of choice and it is ready to eat. You can mix in the toppings with the base the night before to save time, there are however a couple of things that in my opinion do not do well being soaked overnight – like bananas for example, I always wait to add them until the morning. 

Blueberry/vanilla/banana overnight oats

Simply add half a teaspoon pure vanilla powder (I add this to the base at night), 1/3 cup blueberries and 1/2 a banana (chopped) to the base and mix it well, enjoy!

Tropical mango/coconut/passion fruit overnight oats

Add 1/2 a chopped mango (can be added the night before to save time in the morning) 1 passion fruit and raw shredded coconut to the base and mix well.

Simple raspberry overnight oats

Add 1/2 cup of raspberries to the base (can be added the night before), mix well and enjoy :)

 

Berry love

Spicy falafels

Ingredients:

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

½ cup chopped red bell pepper

1 cup oats

2 cloves garlic

Packed ½ cup fresh flat leaf parsley - remove the stems

Packed 1/3 fresh cilantro

1/3 cup chopped scallions

Juice from ½ lemon

1 tblsp. ground cumin

1 tblsp. ground turmeric

1/2 tblsp. Sea salt

½ teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

1-2 tblsp. water - optional

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees c / 400 degress f
2. Place all the ingredients (except the water) in a food processor (or blender, it might be a bit challenging, but I made it work) and pulse until the ingredients are properly mixed - scrape down the sides if necessary, when making this in a blender you need to do this a couple of times – but do not over blend it, in my opinion they turn out better if it still has some texture. If the mixture is too dry, add the water.
3. Cover a baking tray with baking paper and use your hands to roll the mixture into balls and place them on the tray
4. Bake for about 30 minutes, turning them after 15 minutes to allow them to bake on both sides.
5. Enjoy!

I served the falafels with a big salad and homemade beet hummus - find the recipe here!

Carrot juice

Ingredients:

8 carrots
2 oranges
1/2 grapefruit 
A little ginger

Directions:

1. Just run it all through a juicer – if you do not have a juicer it is possible to do this with a blender and a nut milk cloth (or cheesecloth or something similar) to strain the pulp.
2. I prefer to drink right away in order to preserve all the nutrients, enjoy! :)

Feed your eyes

Fruit art smoothie bowl: blend blueberries, banana, water, oats and pure vanilla powder. Topped with banana, passion fruit, 

muesli, blueberries, pomegranate, kiwi and strawberries. 

Spicy sweet potato fries

Ingredients – 2 servings:

4 small/medium sweet potatoes

1-2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 tablespoon paprika

1/2 tablespoon chilli powder

Half a teaspoon ground cumin

Sea salt

1 tablespoon cornstarch - optional

Directions:

Let me start by saying that getting sweet potato fries to be all nice and crispy can be somewhat of a challenge, but I have two tips for you that should do the trick.

• The first thing you can do is to let the potatoes soak in a bowl of cold water for an hour or two after you have cut them. This should remove some of the starch from the potatoes and help them get crispy in the oven. After soaking, quickly rinse with water and dry them with a towel. 
•  If you do not have the time to soak the potatoes you can use another tip that I haven’t actually tried myself yet, but it should work very well. All you need is a tablespoon of cornstarch to lightly coat your sweet potatoes in – I will explain how in step 5.
• You can also use both the tips to make sure your fries will get crispy – sweet potatoes are a bit tricky!

1. Now, start with pre-heating your oven to 220 degrees c / 430 degrees f
2. Peel and cut your sweet potatoes into desired size, the thicker you make them the longer they need to bake
3. Get a plastic bag – skip this step if you do not wish to use the cornstarch tip - and add about 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, you only want the fries to be lightly coated or else they will taste of cornstarch so be careful. Add the potato fries to the bag and shake it vigorously to make sure all the potatoes are coated with the cornstarch.
4. Add 1-2 tablespoons of oil (I usually use 1 tablespoon olive oil, but pretty much any oil should do) and shake the bag again
5. Add all the spices to the bag and shake some more until the fries are coated
6. Take a baking tray and cover it with baking paper, place the fries on the tray and make sure that they are well separated - there needs to be some space between the fries allowing them to bake properly
7. Bake the fries for about 20-35 minutes depending on the thickness of your fries – make sure to flip them over a couple of times allowing them to bake on all sides
8. Enjoy!