Stitches and Thrills

For the 5th #diydecember (I'll catch  up, I promiss!) I'll share one of my favourite recipes. And it is super easy as well! As bread and cracker spreads go I never was much of a sweet tooth. But I really wanted to cut down on my cheese consumption a couple of years ago. Now there are a lot of vegetable spreads available in the shops, but they tend to be quite expensive. So I created my own: Quick-to-make Lentil Spread Bring half a liter of water with vegetable stock to a boil.  Add 150 gram of red lentils . When the water is back to boiling lower the fire and put the lid on. Leave smothering at a low heat for about 10 to 15 minutes. Do occasionally stir and make sure if there is still enough water in the pan. Turn of the heat. If there is too much water, pour away the access. Leave the pan standing with lid on. In the meantime cut an onion in fine pieces en squish 3 parts of garlic (smoked - optional). Fry the onion. Add the garlic and spices as...

Beard Oil is an important part of beard maintenance. And it is easy to make your own mixture at home. One advantage is that you can create a blend which you like the best in terms of smell and that suits your skin (beard) hair. The beard oil consists of 2 parts: The carrier oil: The carrier oil is the basis for the additional essential oils, but also has a nurturing function itself. You can choose 1 carrier oil, or blend 2 or 3. The most commonly used carrier oil is jojoba oil. This is a light and dry oil. Almond oil is slightly fatter. It might help to prevent ingrown hairs. In case of a nut allergy you can replace almond oil with grapeseed oil! Sometimes castor oil is added to the mixture used for a thicker fuller beard. Argan oil is rich in vitamin E. It is recommended for a very dry beard. The essential oils: Commonly used oils Cedar and tea tree: Cedar has a woody scent. It can also be used well with your acne prone skin. Eucalyptus and pe...

Nowadays I usually start the day with either of these 2 shakes. The Barley Grass Detox Breakfast Shake is a detoxing shake to start the day freshly. I usually take these on my work-at-home days or weekend. The Soy Protein Soy Shake is my energy shake, to get ready for a more physically demanding day at work. Barley Grass Detox Breakfast Shake : Ingredients: 200 ml Coconut water 1 banana 1 tablespoon barley grass powder 1 tablespoon oat bran 1 teaspoon maca powder 10 drops Vitamin D oil Extra fruit for taste variation: strawberries, blackberries, melon, pineapple. All in the Magic Bullet blender...& breakfast is served! You can also use wheat grass in stead of barley grass. Personally I find wheat grass to have a more earthier taste, barley grass has a softer taste and is less dominant. Soy Protein Energy Shake: 200 ml soy milk (unsweetened) 1 banana 2 tablespoon (approx 25 gram) soy protein powder (unsweetened) 1 tablespoon milled flaxseed (my favouri...

When I was a young baking girl I was terribly unsuccessful in baking cookies. They'd usually end up being very dry tooth breakers. Cakes & tarts however was a different story: I excelled at banana or apple loafs and vegan cheesecake. The fact that I couldn't make a decent cookie did quite bother me (or at least that little perfectionist voice that resides in my head). A friend brought me on the path of baking cookies again when we were choosing to try to get rid of all the refined sugar in our food and drinks. Based on several recipes on the internet and my own experiments I made these delicious soft Chewy Banana Oatmeal Cookies. Chewy Banana Oatmeal Cookies. (recipe for about 22 cookies) Ingredients: 50 gram raisins (= 1/2 cup) 100 ml water (=1/2 cup) 75 gram flour (= 1 cup) 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp baking powder 2 tbsp coconut oil, extra virgin (soft, but doesn't have to be melted) 125 gram oat meal (=2 cup) 2 ripe bananas 50 gram chopp...

Here is another delicious result of my experiments in the kitchen. This spiced cake-variation is the result after 2 previous attempts. The first 2 were also very nice, but lacked the exact taste I had hoped to achieve. :-) The quinoa flour was on my wish list for a while already. I made the spiced cake with Coconut Oil Extra Virgin, because that's the healthiest. But if you really don't like the taste of coconut you can also get the one where they removed the coconut smell. Spicy Date & Pecan Cake (no egg / no sugar / gluten free) 250 gram dates (unseeded) 300 ml water 1 teabag Yogi Himalaya tea 100 gram coconut oil (extra virgin) 200 gram quinoa flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 tablespoon milled/broken flaxseed mixed with 1 tablespoon water 50 gram pecan nuts, raw (The coconut oil is more easily processed if it's soft. In my kitchen it works to put the bowl with oil on top of my cooker, the oven underneath spreads enough heat to melt the oil a bit...

For my birthday party with the family I made another almond flour bundt cake. This version received much praise from my nephews and niece (8, 6 & 4 yrs). Without the bananas you'll get a lighter, fluffier cake. Unlike my original recipe ( here ) I did use a bit of sugar this time. So, by popular demand, here's the recipe : Almond flour bundt cake, the summer fruits version 250 gram almond flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and 0,5 table spoon cider vinegar tiny bit of salt 150 gram butter 3 table spoons agave syrup 1/2 sachet vanilla sugar 3 eggs 250 gram of mixed fruits (raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and strawberries). Preferably fresh, but if it is out of season frozen will do as well. Optional garnish: whip cream (125 ml mixed with 1 or 2 tablespoons sugar) Pre heat the oven on 150 C. Mix in a large bowl: almond flour, baking soda, vanilla sugar, cider vinegar, salt, butter, agave syrup. Split the eggs one by one, while putting the egg whi...

Goji- almond flour cake 250 gram almond flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and 0,5 table spoon cider vinegar tiny bit of salt 150 gram butter 3 table spoons agave syrup* 3 ripe bananas 3 eggs 75 gram goji berries 75 gram pumpkin seeds 50 gram hazelnuts 3 tablespoons peeled sesame seed Pre heat the oven on 150 C. Mix in a large bowl: almond flour, baking soda, cider vinegar, salt, butter, agave syrup. Squash and mix the bananas through the mixture. Split the eggs one by one, while putting the egg white in a separate bowl. The yolk you mix through the almond flour mixture . Beat the egg whites in the separate bowl till they are nearly stiff. Gently add them to the cake mixture (making sure you don't lose the air you just beat into it) Add goji berries, pumpkin seeds and hazelnuts. Pour the cake mixture in a greased tin and add sesame seeds on top. Bake in the pre-heated oven in 50 minutes till it's done.  Leave the mixture in the tin at first to cool of a l...