vrijdag 24 oktober 2014

Kids Friendly Dish - Shepherd's Pie with Sweet Potato

My daughter Sienna is convinced that the candy 'Fruitella' has tons of fruit in it and therefore doesn't need to eat her fruits,…
Long way to go!

However my picky eater loved this recipe,...






Ingredients (serves 4-6)

-500 g ground beef or lamb
-1 onion, chopped
-2 cloves garlic, chopped
-spice mix: 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon ginger, 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon salt

-500 g sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
-1 tablespoon olive oil
-1 teaspoon salt
-2 tablespoons milk

-500 g mushrooms, chopped
-1 tablespoon olive oil
-1 small onion, chopped
-1 clove of garlic, chopped

Directions
For the filling:
1. Add olive oil to the pan along with the onion, garlic, cumin, ginger, chili powder, salt and cinnamon and cook for 8-10 minutes on medium heat until the onion is softened.
2. Add the meat to spice mix and brown the meat over medium heat. 

For the mashed potatoes:
1. Boil the potatoes for 15 minutes, or until tender.
2. Drain well and add the olive oil, milk and salt.
3. Mash the potatoes with a potato masher or food mill (passe-vite), blend until they reach a creamy consistency.

For the mushrooms:
1. Add olive oil, onion, garlic to a pan and brown the mushrooms. Add peper and salt.

Assembly:
1. Preheat the over to 180° Celsius.
2. Fill a casserole dish with the meat filling, add a layer mushrooms and spread the mashed potatoes mix on top.
3. Bake for 40 minutes until the topping is beginning to brown.

Tips:
-This is a perfect make ahead dish. You can prepare everything in advance and basically just heat it in the over when needed.
-There are plenty of variations you can make to this dish (use duck confit as filling or chicken) or make a vegetarian version of this dish (replace meat with lentils, chickpeas, etc).





donderdag 16 oktober 2014

Want to decrease the sugar content of your breakfast cereals? Try this homemade granola

Ever wondered what the 24 g sugar/portion size on some of the breakfast cereal or several brands of granola mean,…???

I don’t know why but until very recently I did not realize that this is actually 6 teaspoons of sugar,….yes!!!!!! 6 teaspoons of sugar,...
That’s why I decided to make my own granola thanks to the recipe my good friend Peggy De Coeyer shared with me.
I tried many different versions but this is the recipe of the one I make most often.

 Ingredients:
-300 g oats
-2 tablespoons coconut oil
-4 tablespoons maple syrup
-handful of almonds, cut in pieces
-handful of hazelnuts, cut in pieces
-handful of walnuts, cut in pieces
-3 tablespoons chiaseeds
-3 tablespoons flaxseeds
-1 teaspoon cinnamon
-1/2 teaspoon cardamon
-handful banana-chips
Directions
1.    Heat the oven to 150 C and mix all the ingredients, except banana chips.
2.    Put the granola onto 1 or 2 baking sheets and spread evenly. Bake for 20 minutes, stir and bake for another 20 minutes (until light brown. Remove and let cool.
4.    Serve with almond milk (or other type of milk), fresh fruit, apple sauce, yoghurt, etc.
Tip
-Store in an airtight container for up to a month.
-For a sweeter version of this recipe add some natural sugars from dried berries, dried raisons, dates, etc. Add to granola after you take it out of the oven
-Fun part about this recipe is, you can use as little or as much ingredients as you want and add plenty of other ones as well (coconut flakes, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, honey, pumpkin seeds, cranberries, raisins, dates,…)