Kids Lunchbox Club - Nut Bars

A wonderful sugar free treat for your kids (or your own) lunchbox. 

These bars are super easy to make and they are really tasty.

If your school is nut free then just substitute seeds as needed.

VEGAN SUPER BARS (as named by my daughter)

aka NUT BARS

You'll need:

1 1/2 cup oats

1/4 cup ground flax seeds

1/4 cup almonds

1/4 cup cashews

1/4 cup dessicated coconut

2 Tablespoons sunflower seeds

2 Tablespoons pepitas

150g soft silken tofu

1/2 cup apple sauce

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

Blend the tofu, maple syrup and apple sauce together until smooth and creamy.

Smash the nuts. I find it easiest to do this in a sandwich bag, using a 'meat' mallet.

Combine the oats, nuts, seeds, coconut and tofu mixture together in a bowl and stir until well combined.

Pour into a lined 20cm x 30cm lamington tin.

Bake in a preheated 160C oven for 40-45 minutes until browned and mixture holds together.

Cool before slicing.

 Makes 14 pieces (depending on the size you cut them too). 

Wrap in foil and decorative paper for added lunchbox appeal! ;-)

Best served with 'dolphin fruit' ;-)

Submitted to Meatless Monday - Tofu cooking.

Meatless Monday - NUTS

Today's Meatless Monday food is nuts.

 FRUIT & NUT MUFFINS

To make 12 muffins you'll need:

2 cups self-raising wholemeal flour

1/2 cup mixed nuts (I used almonds, cashews, walnuts)

1/3 cup sultanas

1/4 cup craisins

1/4 cup currants

2 Tablespoons diced prunes (or sub extra sultanas)

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup applesauce

1 Tablespoon ground flax seeds mixed with 3 Tablespoons boiling water

1 cup unsweetened apple juice

In a large mixing bowl combine all the fruit with the sugar, cinnamon and flour. Crush the nuts into small pieces and stir them into the fruit/flour mixture.

Make a well in the center and add the applesauce, flax mixture and the apple juice. 

Stir until just combined, don't over stir.

Pour into a lined muffin baking tray and bake in a preheated 180C oven for 20-25 minutes until cooked through.

Kids Lunchbox Club - Butterfly Snacks

Butterfly Snacks

An easy lunchbox treats that the kiddies are sure to love!

You'll need:

An assortment of nuts, seeds and dried fruit

A snack size zip lock bag (I use 15cm x 9cm)

A twist tie

 Pour a mixture of the nuts, seeds, and dried fruit into the ziplock bag. 

Separate the mixture in half down the middle and close the bag releasing as much air as possible.

Place the twist tie in the middle where the gap is and gather the bag. Twist the ends together. 

Twirl the ends of the twist tie around your finger to create a circle shape. 

These will become the butterfly's antennae.

 Butterfly snacks complete!   

 

Add your healthy recipe to these blogs:
carrie on vegan                    veggie nook                    greenthickies

Fudgey Okara Slice

This slice is so tasty! Very easy to make & is a great healthy treat.
You can use any form of plant-milk pulp that you like!

Grind one tablespoon flax seeds and add 4 tablespoons water and set aside in the fridge.


Combine in a bowl:
1 1/2 cups okara (or other plant milk pulp) This is about 2 batches! 
1/2 cup apple sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla

Stir until all ingredients are well combined. 
Add the flax egg and stir well. 

You'll need 1/2-3/4 cups wholemeal flour.  This will depend on how moist your pulp is.
Add 1 teaspoon baking powder to the mixture,  add 1/4 cup of the flour at a time, and stir gently between each addition. You want the mixture to hold together but still be quite sticky and thick.

Pour mixture into a lined square baking tin.
Crush 1/3 cup macadamia nuts in a plastic zip lock bag. Shake macadamia crumbs over the slice & press in gently with your hands. 

Bake at 200C for 25 minutes until mixture is cooked through, you can test with a skewer.
Allow to cool before slicing.
Slice into squares and serve.

Parfait

Parfait reminds me of the movie Shrek!!!

I love the character donkey - he is such a crackup.

 

So, in the words of Donkey: 

"You know what ELSE everybody likes? Parfaits! Have you ever met a person, you say, 'Let's get some parfait,' they say, 'Hell no, I don't like no parfait'? Parfaits are delicious!....

Parfait's gotta be the most delicious thing on the whole damn planet!"

Well yeah, parfait is pretty delicious!

The literal meaning of parfait is "perfect", although Donkey was referring to it as a tasty dessert of layers, as it is commonly known.

I prefer to have parfait as breakfast or an afternoon snack.

Here's some great options for layers:

 

• whipped coconut cream
• cashew cream
• yogurt
• oats
• crumbled rice cakes
• nuts or seeds
• gingernut biscuits
• fresh fruits - try strawberries, passionfruit
• dried fruits
• soy-tella 
• you could try okara if you really want to experiment
• if you're feeling like a real treat go ahead and add some cacao nibs!!

The options are endless!

Experiment and find what you enjoy.

Here's a few of ours:

Afternoon parfait - strawberry soy-gurt, crumbled rice cakes, soytella, banana, strawberries, currants, sesame seeds, chocolate on top

Breakfast parfait - soy-gurt, oats, chopped prunes, sunflower seeds

 
And just for Donkey - showing the layers ;-)

Homemaker Coffee Grinder

Product Review:

- Homemaker Coffee Grinder

I picked this up from K-mart for just $9!

Can you believe it? Just nine bucks!

I can't really vouch for the use of it with coffee...... to be honest - I haven't tried it yet with coffee. The main reason I haven't tried it for coffee is because I think it would be a pain to have to tip the coffee up-side-down into a container. I wouldn't ever just grind enough for one cup and it's obviously not big enough to grind large batches of coffee at one time.

However............. that said - the reason I bought this coffee grinder was to use with nuts and seeds.

And for that purpose it is PERFECT!

It does an amazing job.

It works really well at breaking them down, either into little pieces, or into a fine powder.

The lid has a button that you must hold down in order for the grinder to work so it stops the machine being accidently turned on if the lid is somehow left off - very safe for little fingers.

It's really easy to use & doesn't take long at all to grind the nuts. Its easy to clean just by using a cloth to wipe around the inside.

I love the small size as I find it very convenient to find a place for it in my cupboard (making more room for more kitchen gadgets - that's gotta be a good thing!).

Awesome value for money - a great investment for any nuts..... I mean nut-eaters ;-)

Rating 5/5

A week worth of oats

I love having oats for breakfast.
But sometimes having the same thing can become a bit boring. I usually just microwave my oats with some non-dairy milk for a few minutes & then add frozen berries.
So I was on a quest to find a few ways to have my oats that were a bit different from the regular way.

Here's what I came up with!

A week worth of oats

Monday's Oats - Fig & Passionfruit
Cut up 3 dried figs into little pieces, put in a pot with half a cup of oats & a cup of soymilk.
Bring to a boil & simmer for 3-5 minutes until oats are soft. Serve with passionfruit pulp over the top.

                                                        Stirred all together for complete yumminess!


 
Tuesday's Oats - Strawberry Choc-Nut
Put half a cup of oats in a bowl & pour over enough boiling water to just cover the oats. Put them under a cover for approx 5-10 minutes. The oats will absorb the water & soften.
Pour a heaped tablespoon of my nut-seed milo over the top and stir to combine with the oats. Add chopped strawberries for a lovely bowl of tasty oats :-)

Wednesday's Oats - Spiced Mandarin
Soak overnight a bowl with 1/2 cup oats, a cup of pomegranate juice, and a 1/4 teaspoon of each cinnamon, nutmeg & allspice. The oats will absorb the juice overnight. In the morning add a chopped mandarin, a Tablespoon pepitas & a teaspoon sesame seeds.

This is what you'll find in the morning after having soaked overnight

 
Thursday's Oats - Prune & Hazelnut
Stewed prunes remind me so much of my grandmother. She used to have them on her weetbix every morning. This is my own version of how to have stewed prunes for breakfast!
Put half a cup of oats in a bowl & a heaped tablespoon of prune spread. Add just enough boiling water til the oats are covered. Top with a lid of some form & leave overnight for the oats to absorb the water. In the morning grind up a tablespoon of hazelnuts in a coffee grinder & sprinkle over the oats with a half cup of almond milk. So tasty....

The oats will absorb the water overnight

Grind the hazelnuts in the morning

Friday's Oats - Raspberry Oat Cake

This was so good that I thought it deserved a post of it's own! You can find it here.

Stay tuned for some great creations for weekend breakfast cooking with oats.

Nutella Waffles

Yes, I'm having a 'chocolate' fettish of late!

My latest edition to my chocolate meals is nutella waffles.
No nutella of course. Just that wonderful combination of hazelnut & cocoa flavours.

Enjoy :-)

You'll need:
3/4 cup wholemeal flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 over-ripe banana, mashed well
1/4 cup hazelnut meal (you can buy this from a healthfood store or else just make your own by grinding hazelnuts in a coffee grinder until no big pieces remain)
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
1 cup soymilk

Combine the flour, baking powder & hazelnut meal together in a bowl.
Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients to the well. Slowly fold in the dry ingredients until all is well combined.

Lightly spray the waffle oven & pour the mixture in 1/2 cup at a time (or the amount advised in the instructions for your waffle oven).

Bake for 4 mins (or if you have a light indicator until the time required).

Lots of yummy options for serving:
    Berries, Sweet William Spread, banana slices, maple syrup, jam!

Whatever your taste buds feel like really......

Makes 4 waffles

Goodness Green Smoothie

I never used to be able to stomach and idea of a green smoothie.
And now I  LOVE them!

Here's one that I particularly like. Its a great start to my mornings or a great afternoon pick me up to beat those sweet cravings.

You'll need:
1 cup frozen baby spinach leaves
1 cup cos lettuce leaves
1/4 cup walnuts
3 medjool dates
1/2 cup vanilla soymilk (or almond milk and a teaspoon of vanilla)

Blend.

Note: I always have a bag of spinach leaves in the freezer - they keep for ages & are great to throw into a smoothie without needing to defrost them.


This is really tasty.
ENJOY

Salad ideas

So I've decided to start eating more salads at lunchtime!
The problem arose when I realised that I always feel like they never fill me up!

How many people think of salad as just vegetables???
Or how many people think of salads as something as bad as ceasar salad???

Well I have come up with a few never fail hints for how to make the perfect salad that will keep you full til dinner time!

--> always add at least half a cup of beans/legumes. Feel free to experiment here! I like to cook my own in the slow cooker if i have time
--> add 15-30grams of nuts
--> to add sweetness to your salad try adding currants or raisins
--> onions seem to really over-power the taste of the rest of the salad & leave us with onion breathe! Try using 1 or 2 spring onions instead! They add a lovely onion flavour without overpowering the whole salad.
--> as much as I love garlic, I never used more than 1 clove per salad or again it becomes overpowering
--> use freshly juiced fruit as dressing - I suggest orange, pineapple (pineapple with chili is a great combination)

Have fun munching on your salad :-)

Nut/Seed "Milo"

I simply missed having a glass of milo too much! Yes, a cadbury hot chocolate is nice - but its not the same! I need some ~crunch~. So I was on a quest to enjoy my crunchy chocolately goodness without any badness in it!!!
This is the best I could do - and might I add, I think its better than milo!


3/4 cup mixed seeds (I use whatever I have on hand - try linseeds, pepitas, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds)
1 cup mixed nuts (your choice - try cashews, almonds, macadamias, pecans, walnuts)
1/2 cup cocoa powder

Optional: 1/4 cup sugar (I use raw sugar) Depends how sweet you like it. I find it really tasty even without any sugar at all

Mix the seeds & nuts in a small bowl.
Grind them in a coffee grinder, in small batches.
Once ground put into a jar & add the cocoa & sugar & shake until well combined.

Put a heaped tablespoon into a glass with soymillk, rice milk or nut milk! Stir well so that the nuts don't sink to the bottom.
Warm or cold!

~D~E~L~I~C~I~O~U~S~

Store in a glass jar with an air-tight seal. Will keep for several months.

Fruit balls

This recipe is so easy & yet it tastes simply wonderful!   

Sure beats giving kids processed afternoon treats - these are sure to please.

Fruit balls

2/3 cup cashews (raw unsalted works best)

2/3 cup raisins

2/3 cup dried apricots

2/3 cup dried figs

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1/3 cup dates, pits removed (can use fresh or dried)

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/3 cup cocoa

Put cashews & all dried fruit into a food processor and process until all pieces are small.

Add the peanut butter & cocoa and continue to process until mixed well & mixture sticks together.

Roll into bite sized pieces.

Best served refrigerated.

Makes about 40 pieces depending on the size.

You can use different fruit and nuts to suit your own taste.


This recipes comes from the nutritionmd website. I have just added less raisins because I didn't have the 2 types mentioned!