Banana-nana-na pancake?

This morning, I woke up, got out of bed, got dressed with the stuff I’d layed out the eve before, and… Well, I woke up. While staying under the covers, so soft and warm, and lovely in every which way, I slowly developed what became a plan. It’s Saturday morning, and my one day off this week, I wanted a really nice breakfast, something extra weekend-y. I decided to make banana pancakes, it filling and delicious. But, I didn’t want to stand by the stove frying them, I also wanted to go for a run. It’s been too long since the last time and I could feel how I just wanted, needed to run that extra energy, stress and anxiety off. So, I tried a twist, oven-banana-pancake.

I mashed three bananas, added in some cottage cheese, and mixed in eggs. Then I added some oat-flour (you can simply take  steel-cut oats and put them in a blender until they’re finely ground if you desire), and a little bit of wheat flour, for that extra bind.

The whole mix turned not so delicious looking and more dough-like, so to combat that I splashed in coconut milk, right in line with that banana-tropical feel. I also at this point remembered to put the oven on as well as taking out an oven proof dish.

I put some butter in the dish and let it melt in the oven while I finished up with the batter. I added a bit of baking powder, for that extra lift, and then stood a minute debating whether or not to put in some dessicated coconut like I usually do in the banana pancakes. But, ultimately, I decided not to. I took out the dish, poured in the thick-ish batter, and mixed in some of the melted butter. Instantly, it smelled mouthwateringly delicious. In the oven it went and out I ran.

The weather was just right, and I realized how much I’ve missed running this last few weeks when Life has gotten in the way of mine. That brain-dead quietness, no thoughts except breathe, remember to breathe. Feeling that smile coming on, that smile that isn’t just on your face, but from your soul, from every bit of you.

I eventually found my way home again, having gotten lost as I usually do, and was greeted at the door by the most amazing smell. In I went and out it came. I dug out a slice, added a dash of Greek yoghurt and topped it with the fresh strawberries I had in the fridge. Served it with some french press coffee and wow. Talk about nice breakfast, worthy of a day off.

‘Til next time, make sure you do that one thing that makes you really truly smile.

Müsli, I’ve finally made some

Hello there,

As the semester is finally over and a new one starts today, but practically not for a week or so,   I’m on my Christmas break, I know, just a bit late. But, anyways, I found myself browsing through one of the cookbooks I’ve borrowed home from the library for new ideas and inspiration and as usual I see a müsli recipe and think, I want to do that. I’ve only ever made müsli by mistake, how on earth do you make müsli by mistake you wonder, easy. You attempt to make oat bars, they fail bitterly at sticking together in any sort of bar shape or form and thus you instead have müsli. Not a perfect müsli but it works and you can’t just throw all those disaster oat bars out, that would be  a waste, thus they are rebranded as slightly failed müsli.

For a long time I’ve wanted to make my own müsli the ones you can buy are often ladled with sugar or sweeteners or not to my taste or missing something and so on. When I lived in Brighton I had a flat-mate who made her own that looked, smelled, and tasted amazing! And I’ve since regretted that I didn’t watch her make it with a closer eye or helped or whatever, I should’ve learned how to do it right there and then, but I didn’t and I haven’t even asked her for a recipe, which I obviously could do, but don’t. Instead I took the opportunity that was today and decided that today was going to be the day when I made müsli and it shall be great.

So, on the mission of müsli, I brought the cookbook (Klaras hälsomat) into the kitchen and started, and obviously, as it in the beginning says “The proportions are not exact, so it’s ok to vary”(freely translated), I went right ahead and didn’t follow the recipe that much at all. But it went good! No big disasters here, and the müsli is yummy, smells and looks fantastic.

To start of, turn the oven to 225*c. In a metal or ceramic or glas bowl (i.e. not plastic, you’re going to pour hot müsli back in it and thus a plastic bowl isn’t the best), add 3 dl of spelt flakes and 3dl of rolled oats (I had a bag with mixed oats and barley flakes which I used instead of only oats, because why not, the proportions weren’t exact remember?). Chop 1 dl of almonds and 1 dl of cashews, and remember, the proportions aren’t exact so why measure? And, well, the original recipe didn’t have cashews but I wanted cashews in my müsli so I put some in. Add the nuts, 1 dl of pumpkin seeds, and 1 dl of sunflower seeds as well as 1 dl of desiccated coconut.

Add 1/2 dl of honey and 2 tbsp of rapeseed oil and mix well, well I say! Try to only spill a little bit on the floor, because then you can leave it until the mixture is in the oven, like I did. When it’s mixed, pour it out onto a baking tray, even it out and put it into the oven for 10 minutes. Here, I didn’t really read the recipe, which says stir it ones in a while, as it has a tendency to get burned around the edges. Which it did. I did say no big disaster, just tiny mishaps… So do stir it, because it’s a good idea.

Now, while it’s in the oven, and you’re stirring it. sweep the floor to hide away the evidence of the spillage, and also, to the now empty bowl, add 1/2 dl of flax seeds, 1 dl of raisins, 1 dl of dried cranberries (or blueberries, which sound yummy, but I didn’t have any ) and 1 dl of dried apricots. I chopped both the cranberries and the apricots as the cranberries were quite big as well. Now according to the recipe, you’re supposed to add 1/2 dl of course oatmeal and 1/2 dl of wheat germ. I didn’t have those things, but I did have something called “fyrkornskross” which is course wheat, rye, barley and oat with the germs still there, so I took 1/2 dl of that and then reasoned that the 1 dl cashews I had added earlier made up for the other 1/2 dl of stuff I didn’t have.

The roasted stuff is done, and you have taken it out by now, right? Did you stir it? If not, just leave the too burned bits on the pan when you scoop the rest back into the bowl. If it’s not burned at all, great work! Scoop it all back into the bowl. Mix it all and scoop into jars or other containers with airtight lids, or just eat it all, at least taste some if you haven’t already.

Serve it whichever way you want, and enjoy!

‘Til next time, try that recipe you always wanted to but never have.

Coconut Chia Pudding

Hi there!

Yes, this is me, I don’t have a beard, I do have brown hair. And I have glasses, just not as lopsided. Anyways, this is me joining the chia craze, and as always I’m a big fan of coconut. Just to clarify, I am crazy about coconut and can’t draw one. Ta-daa!

OK, so I found out about chia pudding, and I thought that it sounded great, that was in march. I’ve held on to the thought that I should try it if only to see if I should join the chia hype. And so last week or so I did, it took me like half a year but I found this chia pudding recipe with coconut milk and just thought that it sounded too awesome to wait any longer. As I’m sure you have understood, I like coconut. No, I love it. I don’t remember my dreams, but I think it’s safe to say that I dream about coconut. Coconut. Coconut. COCONUT. There, I’ve ranted enough. Coconut! Okay, focus.

I’ve now done the chia pudding twice, and you get four portions each time that last about a week in the fridge. But I could eat this as pudding and not just lunch or breakfast on-the-go so it doesn’t last a week, it’s gone well before. It’s that good. It’s that coconutty. And so simple.

Here goes, open up a tin of coconut milk, store half of it away in the fridge for later use, and pour half into a bowl or a container or whatever you prefer. Then using the same tin, add half a tin of water. In goes 1/4 cup of oats, a tablespoon of desiccated coconut. According to the original recipe about 1-2 tbsp of honey but I just squirt a bit and leave it at that, why get a tablespoon sticky with honey when there’s no need to be super exact. Then, I have used seeds from half a vanilla pod, the original recipe warrants 1 tsp of vanilla extract but I don’t have that. Use what you got and want. Then blend until smooth, or smoother, or not as lumpy and the oats are no longer at the bottom of the bowl/container/whatever. Then in goes 1/4 cup of chia seeds, mix and leave for ten minutes then put it in the fridge overnight.

Okay, you’ve now, supposedly, got 4 servings of chia pudding, the exact size of which I’m dubious about, but it is surprising how filling a seemingly small portion is. I’ve served with fruit or a bit of jam or my now favorite cashews broken into pieces and dried apple cubes. I’m not the only fan by the way, my mom “steals” some as well, which speeds up the disappearance of the chia pudding. I say steal, but in reality she asks if it’s OK, I say “yes, of course” and then she takes some, but yeah its theft worthy. And even though I have zero problem with her taking some, and I see it as a good thing ’cause it means she likes it too, not just me, I will not rephrase.

This recipe is adapted from another blog, and is in origin a Berry Coconut Chia Pudding from Louise Digby Nutrition. I’m sure it’s nice as is, but it calls for a handful of berries and I took it to mean fresh berries. I didn’t have any that I felt would be nice in a chia pudding and my aunts recipe for chia pudding called for a tablespoon of coconut, and I like coconut, so…

‘Til next time, make some theft worthy on-the-go meal