Category: In the kitchen

Best no-bake energy bites

When it’s a scorching hot day and you’re longing for a sweet but healthy treat that doesn’t require turning on the oven, you can’t go wrong with these perfect nutty, crunchy, creamy, dairy- and gluten-free bites.

You’ll need:

About 1/2 cup crushed walnuts

1 cup almond flour

3 heaped spoonfuls crushed dates or date spread/filling

1 teaspoon of cocoa powder

2-3 heaped spoonfuls of your favorite peanut butter

A tiny drop of brandy, cognac, or liqueur (optional)

Shredded dry coconut for rolling

Mix everything together until you get a pliable mass you can easily roll into little balls. You may need to add a little more almond flour. Roll each ball in shredded coconut, place on a tray, and chill or freeze. These can keep in the freezer indefinitely (though they’ll disappear quickly!) and defrost in minutes.

I love how versatile this recipe is. You can substitute walnuts for cashews or pistachios, omit cocoa, add more sweetener, and, of course, double the amount! The recipe above makes about 20 bites that will go perfectly with iced coffee. Enjoy!

Advertisement

Farm eggs, dirty?!

beautiful fresh eggs

Lately, someone on social media commented that they can never use farm-fresh eggs, no matter how much they would like to, because they’re so dirty and full of gunk. As you may imagine, I couldn’t just scroll by. It seemed almost tragic to me that someone should miss out on the goodness of farm eggs because of an unfounded prejudice, or because they chanced to run into a dirty dozen.

My family has consumed mostly home-grown eggs for over ten years. For the most part, our eggs are absolutely pristine. The picture above shows the eggs as collected – I never wash eggs because the eggshell is porous, and washing can push any contaminants into the egg.

I often pull the eggs straight from under a hen and hold them against my cheek because they’re so nice and warm (yep. Really! It’s one of the weird things I never thought I’d admit). You can bet I wouldn’t do that with an egg that isn’t perfectly clean.

Of course, we do get the occasional dirty egg, especially on rainy days. But overall, our eggs are lovely and clean. There’s just absolutely no reason why farm or homegrown eggs should be dirtier than factory eggs.

In some cases, though, farm eggs may end up extra dirty because ofú:

a) A very crowded coop and not enough nesting boxes

b) not enough lining in the nesting boxes

c) letting eggs pile up

All of the above can lead to eggs breaking and making a mess over any other eggs next to them. I have one nesting box for 3-4 layers, I line the boxes with plenty of straw, and I collect eggs at least once a day. It makes for nice, fresh, clean, and healthy eggs.

Disclaimer: even clean eggs may carry contaminants. I advise only consuming thoroughly cooked eggs, regardless of their source.

A belated happy Hanukkah

As we’re fast approaching the end of Hanukkah, now is the last-minute opportunity to make some yummy fried treats guilt free ☺

We like these apple fritters even more than potato latkes and almost more than the deliciously decadent deep fried sufganiyot with an array of sweet fillings.

All you need is:

5 large apples, grated

1/3 cup sugar

2-3 eggs

A dash of cinnamon

1/2 cup flour (approximately)

1/2 tsp baking powder

Mix well and fry spoonfuls of the batter in hot oil on both sides. You want a nice deep golden color, but be careful not to burn them.

Enjoy and happy Hanukkah to all my Jewish readers!

The crumbliest cookies ever

Oatmeal or tahini cookies are great when you are feeling health-conscious and want to make sure your teatime treat contains plenty of fiber and minerals.

But sometimes you just want a tender, melt in the mouth crumbly cookie for the perfect comfort.

These cookies are just the thing: utilizing plenty of high-quality coconut oil and following the classic shortbread 3-2-1 formula, they’ll surprise you with their luxurious texture.

No eggs or leavening needed – great for this period when most hens go off laying.

Take:

3 cups plain white flour

2 cups cold pressed coconut oil

1 cup sugar – better use confectioner’s sugar for extra silky texture.

Optional: flavor with grated aniseed (as in the picture), lemon or orange peel, or ginger.

Mix all dry ingredients. Melt coconut oil and add to the mixture.

Gently work the dough into a crumbly texture and form round shapes or fingers on a baking tray.

Pop into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the edges just turn golden. Don’t overbake.

Enjoy with a cup of tea on a rainy afternoon.

Salmon fish balls

An easy and delicious alternative to meatballs!

You’ll need:

One nice big salmon filet

1-2 large shredded onions

2-3 minced cloves of garlic

2-3 grated carrots

2 eggs

Some breadcrumbs

Bake the salmon, then mash it up with a fork and mix with the rest of the ingredients. Season with salt, pepper, dried parsley, or with your favorite mix.

Form balls and fry on both sides. Be gentle when you turn the balls, or they might fall apart.

In the meantime, prepare the sauce:

1 large onion

1 zucchini

4-5 potatoes

5-6 cloves of garlic

2-3 spoons of tomato paste or canned tomatoes

Chop and sauté the onion, finely slice the potatoes, zucchini and garlic, and throw it all in the pot. Add tomato paste and water until you have the consistency of thick sauce. Season with salt, pepper, paprika, and chili sauce (optional)

Cook until potatoes are soft. Then combine with the salmon balls and keep cooking for about 5 minutes longer.

Great over pasta or noodles. Enjoy!

Delicious homemade granola

DSC_0782

Cooked oatmeal is a great, healthy morning food, but sometimes you’re looking for something quicker, or just aren’t in the mood for hot breakfast. In this case, homemade granola might just be the thing for you. 

Most commercial granola brands are ridiculously expensive and loaded with sugar, but it’s easy to make your own, and once you try it, you’ll never look back.

Basically, you will mainly need 2-3 cups whole oats, and you can add various goodies such as:

– Sesame, sunflower, and pumpkin seeds

– Raisins, dried cranberries, dried apricot chunks

– Coconut or almond slivers

Mix everything and add cinnamon, a couple of teaspoonfuls of coconut oil, and your favorite natural sweetener such as honey, date sugar, or maple syrup.

Spread over a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes at medium heat, or just until it gets a beautiful golden hue.

Take out of the oven and set out to cool and dry. Keep in a sealed jar.

Enjoy for breakfast or as an any-time-of-the-day treat!

The perfect pizza

DSC_0760

We have harvested our first bunch of tomatoes and put part of them into sauce for this delicious pizza that we had for dinner.

Here are my secrets to a perfect pizza:

1. Don’t let the dough rise too much. You want fluffy bread but pizza should be thin and gooey.

2. Roll out the dough really, really thin.

3. Peel tomatoes easily by dunking them in boiling water for a minute or two.

4. Add plenty of garlic and oregano to the sauce.

5. Be careful not to overbake – the cheese should just bubble and turn slightly golden, not brown.

Enjoy!

 

%d bloggers like this: