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).

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,…)

Cutting back on carbs

Given the big success of our quinoa dish tasting at the openhouse in Torenhof, I decided to post this recipe.

Quinoa salad with chicken, apples, celery, raisins and curry vinaigrette

Ingredients (~4-6 people)
-150 g of quinoa, rinsed and drained
-1 chicken breast, poached and diced
-1 apple, peeled, cored and diced in small cubes
-2 medium celery stalks, cut in small pieces
-handful of dried raisins-handful fresh herbs: flat-leave parsley, cilantro or what you have available
-handful sliced almonds, toasted
Vinaigrette:    
  -4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil    
  -1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice and some lemon zest    
  -2 scallions, diced in small rings    
  -1 teaspoon curry powder or ras-el-hanout    
  -1 tablespoon honey

Directions
1. Prepare quinoa based on instructions on the package. Set aside to let cool.
2. Prepare the vinaigrette: mix all ingredients: olive oil, lemon, scallions, curry powder, honey.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together vinaigrette and all other ingredients and serve with toasted sliced almonds.
4.  Serve at room temperature or chilled, if you like.

Note: 
-Great make ahead dish: perfect for busy evenings
-Cook once, eat several times:  you can keep this for several days in the refrigerator, perfect to use left-over as a lunch the day after 

Looking for an alternative for sugar loaded soft drinks?

Iced lemongrass tea,…not only refreshing during this warm weather but has plenty of other health benefits

 
Ingredients

-8 stalks of lemongrass
-4 liter of water

-juice of 1 lemon or lime-honey as desired

 Directions

1. Discard 1 or 2 outer leaves of the lemongrass and cut off top and the end. Crush the lemongrass (with back of a knive) and slice finely to release the aroma’s.
2. Throw the cut ingredients into the boiling water, turn fire down to simmer for 5-7 minutes
When done, turn off the fire and cover the pot with lid. Let the tea steep for about 20-30 minutes.
3. Strain and add a twist of lemon and honey, if gesierd.
4. Serve cold.


Optional : add ginger 

Juicing : Add extra nutrients and minerals into your diet

A lot of people have asked me what juicer I recommend,…after having bought several of them over the past years,…I settled on the Versapers juicer and love it!

Versapers uses a slowjuicing technique, this system ensures minimal friction and uses no excess heat. This cold press method helps to keep important nutrients alive.

The amounts of oxygen mixing with the juice during the pressing is very small so the juice can be kept in the fridge for up to 48 hours.

Other important advantages: Easy to clean and provides higher yield, compared to a lot of other juicers that I’ve tried in the past

Ready for your green juice?

Green juice: spinach/cucumber/parsley/apple/lemon juice

Ingredients

-2-3 handful of spinach

-1 cucumber

-handful of parsley

-3 apples

-juice of ½ lemon

Directions

Wash thoroughly the spinach, parsley, cucumber and apples.

Start by putting spinach in juicer, followed by parsley, cucumber and apples and add lemon to taste.

Boost the flavor, not the salt. Rely on fragrant herbs and spices for fabulous flavor without the sodium.

Spicy parsnip soup with ras-el-hanout breadcrumbs

Ingredients (~3 litres soup)
-1 onion, chopped-1 kg parsnips (~5 big parsnips), peeled and ruffly chopped into cubes-2 cloves of garlic, ruffly chopped-1 teaspoon coriander powder-½ teaspoon cumin powder-½ teaspoon turmeric powder (~kurkuma poeder)-¼ teaspoon chili powder-2 liters vegetable stock-2 pita breads (cut into small cubes)-2 tablespoon olive oil-1 teaspoon ras-el-hanout (Moroccan spice blend)

Directions

1) Prepare the soup :Add olive oil to large saucepan over medium heat. Fry the onion until soft (~5 minutes), add the garlic and spices and cook for a couple of minutes to release the flavors.Add the parsnips and the vegetable stock and  simmer for 20’ at a low heat until the parsnips are soft.Take off the heat and blend with hand mixer or food processor.

2) Prepare the bread crumbs :Mix 2 tablespoons of extra vergine olive oil with 1 teaspoon of ras-el-hanout spikes.  Mix pita cubes with olive oil mix and toast for approximately for 5 minutes at 180 °C (~350 °F).


Short-cuts: if you don’t have the different spices available, you can replace the spices by using curry powder. 
Tip:
-Cook once – enjoy twice : make a double batch and freeze in containers of 1 litre.
-Kids usually like parsnips because it has a sweet flavor. For a child-friendly version of this soup – use less chili poeder.

We eat the same thing everyday…always vegetables!!!

I’m in week 4 of my program at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and decided to get my blog going again and share some healthy tips and recipes with you. Hope you enjoy it.  

'We eat the same thing everyday…always vegetables!!!' …shouted my daughter Sienna,… sometimes she calls it ‘grown-up’ food as well,…some work to be done,… After a lot of drama she ate her food anyway,…and seems to enjoy it, so I decided to share the recipe.

Stir Fry Chicken, Bok Choy (~Chinese Cabbage) and Rice

Ingredients (~ 4 people)

-3 tablespoons of soy sauce

-1 tablespoon rice vinegar

-1 tablespoon sesame oil

-1 teaspoon cornstarch (~maizena)

-2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (500 g), slices in thin strips

-2 tablespoons vegetable oil-2 garlic cloves, thinly slices

-2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger

-4 bok choys (2 if large), slices (~or spinach)

-2 hands full of soy bean sprouts-cooked rice, for serving 

Directions

1. Prepare marinade chicken : combine soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar.

2. Prepare chicken : heat oil, add garlic and ginger over medium-high heat until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add chicken in a single layer (don’t overcrowd the wok/skillet, otherwise chicken will cook). Cook, stirring, until lightly browned (~6 minutes). Add bok choy (or spinach) and soy bean sprouts, stirring, until bok choy slightly wilts, about 1 minute. Add soy sauce mixture and cook until sauce thickens slightly.

3. Serve with rice

Tip : for those who want to cut back on carbs can skip the rice and use more soy bean sprouts

Stir frying is a low fat cooking technique that cuts calories while creating healthy & delicious meals.