WAFFLES! with Caramelized Pears and Bananas

ovo-lacto

I got to cabin-sit this past week, and the place had a waffle iron.

This version of the waffle recipe from All Things Mama was delicious. I think our batter was thicker than her description but they baked up sooooo yum, with a great texture. Our buffet of toppings was pretty spot on, too. Everyone loves choice.

1. Preheat your waffle iron.

2. Whisk together:

• 1 cup white + 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp sugar
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

3. In a larger bowl, beat two eggs until light and fluffy.

4. Stir in 1 tsp vanilla, 1/2 cup melted butter and 1+3/4 cup almond milk.

5. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients, leaving the batter a little lumpy rather than overmixed.**

6. Leave the batter to sit for 5 minutes, then load up your waffle iron with the first batch and get your toppings ready. 

**The original recipe said add the dry to the eggy vanilla mixture, then stir in the butter and milk. I misread the recipe but really loved our results. Recently thought I’d try being faithful to the recipe and it was way harder to mix, I don’t recommend it.

We got 8 very dense and filling waffles out of this amount. They baked up fluffy with a crispy outside, but if you’re lacking crispness, just toast them in an oven at 250F - or a toaster works like a charm, also for reheating later.

Our choice of toppings for this meal:

• whipped cream
• shredded coconut
• chopped almonds
• raspberry jam
• caramelized pears and bananas - made by melting butter in a pan, then adding a tablespoon or two of sugar and stirring it around until dissolved and bubbly, then tossing in the sliced fruit and cooking on low until soft with a golden skin

Eaten as a late brunch with beautiful natural light pouring in through the windows and skylight, ocean and garden views, we felt like we created a little celebration of life. : )

Awesome Banana Coconut-Flour Bread

vegan, GF

This is the best coconut flour recipe I've tried to date! Only 8 ingredients if you count salt, and it's deliciously and naturally sweet with banana and dates. The texture is kind of crumb-y but in a pleasant way and holds together fine. I baked the batter into muffins. It doesn't rise at all, so feel free to fill up the cups, but of course that will entail longer baking time.

recipe and picture from Popsugar

Low-Carbing It

Although I’m lucky to never worry about carbs for the sake of dieting, I have gone off refined sugar a few times, which is always advisable if you have the willpower. Since Rich and I are doing a cleanse, it seemed like a low-carb diet might enhance its effectiveness. It’s been an interesting challenge in the kitchen and I’ve discovered new dishes, both veg and non, a few of which will even become classic favorites, I’m sure!

Breakfasts:

Miso Soup with extra veggies

can easily make for lunch or dinner, too!

Breakfast Casserole

very portable, so easily doubles as a work lunch or snack

            

Savory Pancakes with carrot juicing pulp

Another incarnation of these oat bran pancakes

Fried egg with greens and grilled tomatoes

Green Tea-Avocado Smoothie

• Chia-Flax-CoconutPorridge

Lunches:

Leftovers!! - the cooking's already done

Grilled mackerel, Baba Ganouj and stir-fried greens

Chickpea Pancake

Based on this and that recipe, served with DIY coconut yogurt

• Veg and Tofu from a veggie buffet: the easy and cheap option here in Taipei

Dinners:

Grilled Salmon with Roasted Tomatoes and Stir-Fried Veg

our kick-off gourmet dinner

Slow-Cooked Tofu & Veg Curry

  loosely based on this recipe

Slow-Cooked Balsamic Chicken

Sooo easy and really good. Def a new fave. 
I didn’t even have to touch the meat, just dump it into a bowl to marinate overnight, then slide into the slow cooker! ;)

This Balsamic Chicken came from The Mediterranean Slow Cooker by Michele Scicolone, which is a great cookbook. The recipe goes like this:

1. Oil insert of large slow cooker.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar, 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard, 2 large finely chopped garlic cloves,1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary, 2 Tbsp chopped drained capers, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Dip 4 lb of bone-in breasts, thighs and legs chicken pieces into mixture, turning to coat on all sides. Place chicken in cooker and pour on any remaining coating.
3. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours, or until chicken is very tender and coming away from the bone. Serve hot.

Veg Stir-Fry with Edamame and Tofu 

Snacks:

• Nuts (soaked for easier digestion)
• Broth
• Cheese Cubes
• Raw or Stewed Fruit (no added sugar)
• Smoked salmon, goat cheese and cucumber, wrapped in lettuce leaves
• Savory Coconut Flour Zucchini Bread
• Yogurt, dairy or non, with nuts or ground flax
• Lassis

• Fresh Green Juices

we’ve splurged on a cold press juicer and are even growing wheatgrass

Oat Bran Pancakes

Ovo-lacto

We were treated to these pancakes while visiting Rich's sister in Singapore. She's since moved back to the UK, but we've adopted the recipe and love it. It is a breeze to make and delish.

Fresh or stewed fruit, chopped nuts, yogurt, maple syrup are good sweet options. I think you could easily top with some sautéed spinach and mushrooms and a sprinkle of cheese for savory.

Loose Recipe

1. Mix oat bran with yogurt, and an egg or two, depending on total amount. You don't need that much batter, they are very hearty.
2. We were fed with an addition of turmeric and rosemary that went fine even with a sweet topping, so we do something similar. Turmeric adds a pretty color and is a health booster. A little goes a long way.
3. Make 'em big or small and top as your heart desires. Yum.

DIY Energy Bars - vol. 1

Vegan

This has been a revolution around here!

In short, if you have a food processor... go make yourself some energy bars. There's hardly any reason to buy them except convenience. You can customize them exactly as you like, keep only the good-for-you ingredients and save $$. And there are sooooo many recipes and types out there... Wild! So here begins my Energy Bar journey. It's a tough job, but someone's gotta do all that whizzing and taste-testing...

Imperative for successful bars:
Most of them don't need any baking and are held together by the sticky combination of something like a nut butter and a liquid sweetener, or ground up dried fruit, or a combination thereof. Follow these steps to make sure they stick together:

1) If your dried fruit is not moist, briefly soak it in a little hot water to plump it up

2) Once your mix is in the pan it'll be setting in, PRESS, PRESS, PRESS it down. It will be sandwiched between plastic wrap or parchment paper, so use your hands, a rolling pin, the bottom of a glass- whatever it takes! It must be compact.

Here is the first round-up of recipes I've tried that I will make again.

1. Almond Coconut Energy Bars

based on Minimalist Baker's Healthy 5-Ingredient Granola Bars

These are the closest to a successful commercial granola bar that I've tried so far. They have a pleasant crunch, are sweet but get balanced out by the nuts and oats and are easy enough to make, though do require a bit of time with the toasting, assembly and all that dish-washing after.


2. Soft Banana Oat Bars

based on Adventures of Our Family's Banana Oat Bars

This is probably the healthiest recipe of the bunch and in some of my friends' words "tastes like it" haha... However, the health nuts loved them. They are soft and with the extra banana I put in held in no problem - these do require baking. If you want something sweeter, add more dried fruit or some sort of sweetener - a glug of maple syrup or maybe sprinkle on some brown sugar?


3. Lemony Oat Bars

based on The Vegan 8's No-Bake Lemon Tea Oat Bars

In the world of endless snakc bar recipes, these are really unique! I loved the fresh lemon flavor! My German lemon tea was kind of strong and a bit strange, so I only used 5 tea bags instead of the 12. Next: try with my fave lemon tea of all time: Celestial Seasonings Lemon Zinger and make into flat bars in a shallow pan (rather than thick ones in a loaf pan, as per recipe).


4. Green Tea and Goji Berry

based on Vegan Crunk's Matcha Green Tea Almond Bars

Also very unique, delicious and easy-peasy! My ingredients were:
- dates, prunes and (very soft) goji berries, adding up to 1.5 cups
- 1/2 cup ground flax
- 1/3 cup mix of nuts and pumpkin seeds
- 1/4 cup matcha powder (I think this can be reduced by as much as half the amount - it's quite strong, even for me who adores green tea flavor and will make the bars less crumbly)

Another take: dried figs and prunes, toasted almonds, ground flax and chia, reduced green tea


5. Carrot Cake Bites

based on My Whole Food Life's Carrot Cake Larabar Bites

My mixture was kinda dry and giving my food processor trouble, so I added coconut water... a little too liberally. I ended up with pumpkin-pie-filling texture and even ground up oats could not save the day. So, I rolled these into sticky balls and they are delicious, if not exactly portable ;)


6. Crumbly Granola 

before-baking-photo: based on Real Healthy's Granola Bars 

Haha... so, these did not stick together whatsoever! I mean, in clumps, yes, so Rich and I devoured the resulting granola with a spoon because it was so damn yummy! I think the problem was the mixture was too liquidy - next time try omitting the coconut oil or reducing to a bare minimum, especially since I find it burns very easily. These also require baking.


7. Gingery Pumpkin Seed Chews

oops forgot to take a photo! picture and recipe both from Florida Coastal Cooking's Gingery Pepita Energy Bars

This recipe wins hands-down for super-fast no-mess. I think I was done in ~10 minutes. Very yummy! Now I need to source some more crystallized ginger! - or make it ;)

Another take: walnuts and prunes and candied orange peel, coated in hemp nuts. YEAH!

Pumpkin Pancakes

Ovo-veg

No kidding, these taste like pumpkin pie!

I didn't take any good pictures, so photo and recipe credit both go to MyGutsy

Pretty easy to make, although they dirtied up 3 mixing bowls and you need the low-carb-lovers-trend-extraordinaire almond flour (which you can make it yourself with a food processor, if not readily available or you're looking to save $).

Actually, you could probably use any flour and it'll work out fine. The 5 eggs could probably hold together a derelict building, let alone a few measly pancakes.


I also recently baked these Pumpkin Spice Bars.

I did use dark brown sugar as directed and they went super dark, so maybe a mix of golden and dark is what resulted in the pretty color below. Anyway, they were good and VERY EASY!

I didn't take any good pictures, so photo and recipe credit both go to Sally's Baking Addiction

Parsley: makes a Green Monster better!!

Whether adding parsley for flavor, or letting it supply the entire "green" part of the green monster, it's a delicious, original addition and also happens to be one of the top detoxifying foods!

vegan

Kinda like an actual recipe!
a mug of black tea and 3 dried apricots, soaking in it overnight
large handful parsley, infused in hot water
1-2 T ground flax
3 scoops fresh papaya
3 large slices apple, chopped

Blend. Enjoy.

Avocado-Flax "Nutty" Green Monster

vegan

I must say, although it's easy to grind my own flax seeds even in my aging blender, having bought the ready-to-go package of ground flax makes life one step easier and the evenly ground flax kernels have such a delicious nutty smell and taste, I can practically eat them with a spoon!


So, here this nutty flavor then hypes up the avocado's nuttiness. A short ingredient list and the result? Thick, creamy deliciousness!

Blend together:
Coconut water, pure water, mustard greens and kale (steamed), chopped avocado, ground flax seeds, Amazing Grass Green Superfood

Very Green Pretty Tasty!

Vegan

As I mentioned, since I try to err on the side of healthy, many of my green monsters can be disasters flavor-wise. This one's worth noting down. A variation on the Back On Track

In order of admittance:
1. Grind flax seeds
2. Add Turkish apple tea, then steamed greens. Blend.
3. Add diced Asian pear (also lightly cooked, since I avoid raw. I find it caramelized its flavor, too!), a tablespoon coconut oil, a few slices fresh ginger, scoop of Green Superfood or similar.
4. With the blender going, toss in a dash of cinnamon.

Voila!

Refreshing Green Smoothie

Vegan

I've just discovered romaine lettuce as a very neutral-flavored thirst-quenching base for green monsters.

This is (quick-steamed) romaine, fresh papaya, tahini, teaspoon green tea powder, flax seeds, fresh mint leaves and a herbal tea for the liquid: ginger-infused Celestial Seasonings Lemon Zinger.

The overall flavor is pleasant but fairly mild.

Green Smoothie Pile-Up: Squash and Fresh Coconut

Vegan

I'll be honest with you, not all green smoothies I've been making have been of the "Mmmm... delicious" variety. Sometimes the flavors really didn't gel that well. Here's a thick, creamy,

delicious winner. It was so thick in fact, that it stood up above the glass rim. : )

Mustard greens add a zippy peppery taste.

Cooked squash, fresh coconut meat, mustard greens, peanut butter*, green tea powder*, Amazing Grass Green Superfood*, water

*can really overpower, less is more

My first Green Monster!

Vegan

Inspired by the Green Monster Movement, among other green smoothie challenges out there - curious if a steady daily diet of these will really make me feel fab inside and out?

I don't do much raw or cold, due to lax digestive ability (hopefully aided by these creations!), so...
- cooked celery, some kind of Chinese green leafy veg, Asian pear
- flax seeds, warmed oat milk, scoop of Amazing Grass Green Superfood

Yum!

Blender Mornings

I have a recent guideline for eating breakfast, which is to have it by 9am. Beyond that, especially after 10am, it's getting much too close to lunch and will overload the body's natural digestive rhythms. (which are primarily focused on:

elimination 4am-12noon ** digestion 12noon - 8pm ** absorption 8pm - 4am,

which is why it's good to have your biggest meal at midday and taper off heavy eating by late evening)

So especially when it's getting later in the morning, or just to have a light, quickly absorbed and easily digested meal, I whip up a smoothie. Some recent creations have involved:

- warm Banana Oat Milk (from Fresh At Home cookbook)

- Papaya smoothies with non-dairy milk and mixed-grains powders (sold here in Taiwan as "hot cereals" to be mixed with boiling water for a super-quick snack or light meal, eg this kind of thing:)

the Chinglish description at the bottom makes it even more enjoyable!

- and today's creation, Banana Mango Smoothie with oat milk, soy protein and greens powder

It was going to be banana-blueberry, but I found the mango looking quite forlorn with black spots on one of its sides, so it was a rescue mission, and a tasty one at that, albeit it ended up being quite sweet, probably the whole-foods equivalent of a sugary breakfast cereal or muffin, so I don't recommend this combo for daily use or for anyone worried about diabetes. I munched some nuts along with it to offset spiking my blood sugar levels.

Then... I blended the rest of the very ripe sweet little bananas and very ripe mango with vanilla ice cream and plopped that into my popsicle molds. Taste test to come.

DIY Soy Milk meets Oatmeal

Vegan

... and it's made its way into a new favorite breakfast oatmeal:

- quick oats, salt, prunes and almonds in a bowl, pour boiling water to just cover oats, cover bowl with plate
- grind cooked soybeans with water in a blender, pour on top - voila!

Fruit Bowl

Vegan (though you could dress it with some yogurt if that's your sort of thing ;)

Such a yum and healthy way to enjoy fresh fruit - have it at breakfast, snack, dessert time...

Strawberry Banana Flax Smoothie

Lacto-veg (added yogurt)

It's strawberry season in Taiwan! These little gems are so amazing fresh!

DIY Ingredient: GROUND FLAX SEEDS
I made this "discovery" the other day - if you want ground flax seeds in your smoothie, just start them off in an empty blender and after 30 seconds - minute of awfully loud blending, voila! Fresh as can be. Since flax seeds oils are fragile and will go rancid very quickly after being ground, this is the ultimate way to go, I think! If you appreciate grinding your coffee and/or spices fresh, don't skimp on the flax!

Omelette à la Rich

Ovo-lacto veg

My Baby knows breakfast!

Rice Pudding

Vegan 
Rescue Mission: on-its-way-out banana and (cooked) purple rice mix

Ok, I know, I know, gruel, right?  So delicious!

Heated unsweetened soy milk, added the (cooked) rice mix with a dash of cinnamon and followed Kath Eats Real Food's method of whipping in the banana. Pleasantly sweet enough for me! Yum yum!

Stewed Fruit

Vegan
Rescue Mission: using up past-its-prime fruit or fruit that was disappointing in taste (eg. bland)

Any fruit, fresh and dried is a good combo. Add water, spices and stew away... viola! Topping for oatmeal and pancakes, can serve as a jam-like spread, etc

The before and after. Suggested serving below!

Overnight Oats

Vegan (or not)

Unbeknownst to me, even as I searched hi and lo for easy nutritious breakfast ideas, Overnight Oats have apparently been taking the world of food blogs by storm.

The promise of a sunny day and a happy re-discovery of soy yogurt while grocery shopping means, tonight's the night!