Slow cooker Lentil Bolognese

Today, there's lentil bolognese in my Slow cooker 󾌧
Add:
300-350g lentils
2 carrots, diced
1 red onion, diced
1/2 can sweetcorn
3 cups boiling water
Spices: salt, paprika, chili powder, cayenne pepper (all to taste)
Cook on high for 1-1.5hrs

Layer on top: (all diced)
2 bell peppers (I used red and yellow)
1 small zucchini
3 cups of mushroom
Fresh basil to taste
1 jar of pasta sauce  (I used "arrabiata") + 1 Tbs powdered tomato soup (you can substitute with tomato paste and adjust the spices)
Cook for 1 more hour on high, then stirr everything together and cook on low for 3-4 hrs
You may want to take the lid off for the last half hour or so.
Serve with pasta or rice or use it for a lasagna :)

Side note: I'm sure you could layer everything in your slow cooker and turn it on low for 7-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours. Just make sure to seperate the lentils from the tomato sauce for a while. It'll also make a difference in texture. My vegetables turned out cooked but still had a nice bite to them. If you prefer softer vegetables, cook them for longer.

Pressure Cooker Mediterranean Pasta Stew

I made a Mediterranean pasta stew in my electric pressure cooker today. I planned to make one pot pasta but it turned out rather soupy. Still delicious!

Recipe:

Step 1:
1 small zucchini
5-6 medium mushrooms
2 bell peppers
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
--> diced and water sautéed in the pressure cooker (use the "sauté function")

Step 2: 4-5 medium tomatoes diced, layer on top, don't stir to prevent burning

Step 3: layer approx 300g of pasta on top, add spices (I used salt, pepper, chili and paprika)

Step 4: add water to just cover the pasta. Do NOT stir

(I switched step 3 & 4 which I do NOT recommend! The tomatoes burst all over the place in the pot and it took a while to clean the lid afterwards)

Step 5: cook for half the recommended cooking time the pasta asks for minus 1 minute with low pressure, do a quick release
(Be careful, there's quite a lot of water escaping as well!)
Cancel the keep warm mode before the QR!

Step 6: stir in approx. 100g of cut up arugula and let sit until wilted (leave the lid open)

If it's too runny or not tomatoey enough you can simmer it down (don't recommend this as the pasta can get mushy), add tomato paste or powered tomato soup  (I added the powdered tomato soup) and it turned out delicious!

Will definitely make this again! :)

Slow Cooker Plum Jam / Plum Puree

This is hardly worth its own blog post but making plum jam / puree became the easiest thing in the world once I discovered I could make it in my slow cooker instead of making it in a pot on the stove top! And since it's my favourite jam I usually cook up a big batch when plums are in season and enjoy it all year long! :)

My Slow Cooker has a 3.5 litre capacity so I can stuff in 3 kilos of halved, de-stoned plums cut sides down. It's filled up to the rim and might even touch the lid but that's ok.

Once you've filled your slow cooker with plums, put the lid on and let it cook on high for 3 hours OR on low for 6-7 hours. (I use high when I start cooking in the morning and low when I have it cook over night)
Once that's done take the lid off, stir and keep it cooking on low for up to 24hours or on high for approx. 12-16hours depending on the desired consistency.

DO NOT put the lid back on!

Stir every 2-4 hours.

Add spices. Personally I only add cinnamon  (1 teaspoon or so), but you can come up with your own spice mix. Nutmeg, vanilla, cardamom and cloves are some I'd think would be good. Any spice that tastes like Christmas cookies should work just fine.

Make sure the jars are clean and the jam is still hot when filling the jars. Close them right away and let cool completely.
Mine usually keep all year (actually only the last surviving jar) but since the jam doesn't contain any added sugar it doesn't keep well for too long once it's opened.

If you don't have a slow cooker you can also make this recipe on the stove top and in your oven:
Cook the plums on the stove top until they are soft and release liquid. Add spices now if you want to. Then transfer everything to the largest baking pan you have and cook it in the oven for 8-12hours, stirring every 2-3 hours. Make sure to leave the oven a few cm open by sticking in a wooden spoon.  Otherwise the released steam can't escape.

Your plum jam is ready when it's got a rich dark colour and rich taste as well as the desired consistency. You're looking for a reduction by at least 50% if not 2/3. My 3kg of plums make approximately 1200-1400ml of jam.

Miso soup

Miso soup is a traditional Asian dish made from fermented soy bean paste and there are several different kinds of miso. Every family has their own recipe, which is given from one generation to the next so there is no "one" recipe for this and mine isn't always the same either!

In Japan miso soup is served for breakfast and we love it for breakfast too!

I usually begin with the base of leftover rice (or any other grain) and then I add some vegetables. More often than not I use any combination of carrots, radish, green peas, spring onions and napa cabbage. Sometimes I add mushrooms like shiitake. Then add water and bring to a light boil until the vegetables are tender.
Once the vegetables are soft enough for your liking,  reduce the heat and stir in your favourite miso paste. I use a 50:50 combination of hatcho miso and mugi miso. (when stirring in miso make sure to use a very fine sieve to make sure the miso dissolves completely!) Use approx. 1 teaspoon miso per every 200ml of water.
Let it sit for 2-3 minutes and serve with a tablespoon full of you favourite homemade quick pickles!

Sometimes I add sriracha - the very hot asian chili condiment - which makes the miso soup a very warming dish! Skip the sriracha if you're having digestive problems!

Side note: do yourself the favour and use unpasteurised miso and never boil it to keep the good fermentation bacteria alive!

Bon Appetit!

Winterporridge

I know it's summer, but the weather is more like fall most of the time so I'm already very much in comfort-food-mode!
So today I came up with a new combination for porridge and it tastes a lot like Christmas :)

I cooked it in my rice cooker to make it a hassle free meal but you can make it on the stove top as well!

- 3/4 cup steel cut oats
- 1/2 cup ground nuts (I used almonds and hazelnuts 1/4 cup each)
- Cinnamon
- 1 handful of dried fruit, chopped (I used apples, but would've added raisins as well if I had any)
- 1-1.5 cups plant based milk (I used oat milk)
- 1.5-2 cups of water
(You need a total of 3 cups of liquid, you can divide them as you wish or even use water only, it's not as creamy though!)

Mix everything together and cook for 5-10 minutes. If you're using a rice cooker make sure NOT to close the lid!! Then switch your rice cooker to "warm", close the lid and let sit for 20-30 minutes until your oatmeal is soft :)
You can add fresh fruit or nuts if you like! I'd say banana and pecans would be a great addition ;)

I'm so looking forward to having this for breakfast tomorrow!! :)

Quick pickles

Recently I started experiencing with quick pickles and I became a quick pickle junkie!
If you've never made quick pickles, let me tell you, they're way easier than you might think they are!

All you need to do is thinly slice up some veggies and either make a brine or sprinkle the vegetables with enough sea salt so they release enough water by themselve. Then use some kind of cloth to cover the jar and let sit outside the fridge for 1-3 days to let fermentation do its job. By then you can store them for a few days in the fridge and add them as a little something special to any meal. Personally I love a bowl of fresh rice with a selection of homemade pickles! It brings me back to basics and calms the digestive system.
In macrobiotic "medicine" pickles are used for several health problems as they're supposed to have a healing effect on mind and body.

For making a brine I simply use 1-2 parts of water and 1 part umeboshi plum vinegar (you might find this in your health food store, if not order it from a macrobiotic online store!) - I use the Clearspring Ume Su. Ume Su has a salty sourly taste and a beautiful pink colour.

Veggies I make with Ume Su brine:
- carrots
- radishes (any kind of the radish works great!)
- red onions
- spring onions

You can mix them up or pickle them separately. I don't recommend combining red onions with other vegetables though as they overpower the taste of everything.
You can reuse the the brine 1-3 times when making a new batch or use it as a condiment over fresh rice. (Add some finely chopped fresh tomatoes and avocado!)

For "salted" pickles I use:
- cucumber
- the white long kind of radish / daikon

For a 500ml jar I use approximately 1 tablespoon of coarse sea salt, sprinkled in between layers of vegetables. You might want to shake the jar up every now and then until enough liquid is released.
Cucumber pickles are ready to eat within a couple of hours.

Your pickles will get saltier the longer they ferment, but if they're too salty you can just rinse them in cold water before eating.

I might add veggies to the list when I try other veggies :)

Ginger-Lime-Shot

This Ginger-Lime-Shot is your new coffee! It wakes you up with its sour and tangy taste and nourishes your body with vitamin C and ginger's anti inflammatory properties! Ginger is also helping if you suffer from indigestion. For pregnant women ginger can help reducing if not cure morning sickness. For me personally it did help a bit, but I had an extrem case of morning sickness and there's only so much homemade ginger ale you can drink!
Limes contain flavonoides which have an anti carcinogenic, antioxidant and disinfectant effect. Also vitamin C lowers the body temperature and can help when you're having a fever.
Also limes regulate digestion and help with weight loss when consumed regularly.
So this juice is basically a combination of two easily accessible superfoods and will have a nourishing and even healing effect in your body!

Juice:
- 1-2 limes
- 1-2" piece of ginger

If you are new to juicing ginger make sure to go light on it until your stomach adjusts. The essential oils in ginger are pretty strong and you wouldn't want to upset your digestive system with something that's supposedly good for you!

If it tastes too strong for you, you can water it down by adding 100-200ml of water or add the Ginger-Lime-Shot to a 1 litre bottle of water and add some fresh fruit, mint or even cucumber for a flavour infused drink throughout the day.

If you're not a fan of limes, you can swap 2 limes for 1 lemon or 1 small apple to make it a ginger-something-shot.

Enjoy!

Buddhabowls

You might have already heard of the #Buddhabowl trend and I recently jumped on the bandwagon and I'm telling you it's worth it! They are delicious, nourishing, quick and easy and you have endless options of creating them! Also they are an awesome way to use up leftovers and small amounts of vegetables that don't really fit into anything else.

To make a Buddhabowl you need a bowl with a wide rim as you lay all the ingredients in a row to create a fancy looking dish.

Start with a base of a wholegrain or grain alternative.
My favourites: brown rice, quinoa, millet, couscous, buckwheat
I like spicing things up with a little garlic and chili (cook'em right in)

Add some kind of legume
My favourites: sprouted lentils, sprouted chickpeas, adzuki beans, small black beans

Add a whole bunch of vegetables and herbs. You can bake, steam, fry ... or leave them raw. I usually make a mixture of steamed, fried and raw veggies.
For frying I use peanut or sesame oil and shoyu (soy sauce) to add flavour.
Fried favourites: bell peppers, mushrooms, red onions, zucchini
Steamed favourites: green asparagus, bok choy, broccoli, green beans, cauliflower
Raw favourites: shredded carrots, cherry tomatoes, avocado, spring onion, cilantro, shredded red cabbage, sprouts

Add a healthy sauce or dip. Even a nut butter or simply shoyu or ume vinegar would be great!
Favourites: guacamole, hummus, tahina-umeboshi-dressing

Top it all off with a sprinkle of your favourite nuts or seeds.
Favourites: sesame, pumpkin, sunflower, crushed pecans

I love getting creative with these bowls and always make it a little different!
My son loves them too! :)

For a toddler bowl I use smaller quantities of each ingredient and cut some veggies small enough to spoon-feed him and leave others larger for him to munch on by hand.
He usually eats approximately half of it for lunch and the other half for dinner. That way he gets a whole rainbow of veggies into his diet! :)

You could also make sweet Buddhabowls for breakfast with a whole bunch of fruits. You can skip on the legumes and add dried fruit and more nuts and seeds instead :)

Enjoy!

A word on sprouts

You've most likely seen different sprouts in the produce section of your grocery store. Or at least soy bean sprouts at the Chinese supermarket.
And while they are tasty, they do get pretty expensive if you include sprouts in your diets regularly, which you definitely should do as they are
1) really tasty
2) add a little special something to a meal
3) are really healthy! I don't want to get into too much detail here, but a sprout is essentially the youngest form of the plant and is never richer in nutrients. Sprouts add important micronutrients to a meal and can help balancing out any deficiencies if you have any. Personally I feel healthier and have more energy even though I'm still nursing in most nights and don't get to sleep through the night!

So sprouting seeds at home is very easy, fun and actually a great thing to do with kids! Especially if you don't have a garden. Within a few days you grow little plants in your kitchen without big effort. Even my one year old toddler seems to find it interesting to watch them grow! Of course I do some explaining but sometimes I catch him standing in front of the sprouter just watching :D

All you need is a sprouter or sprouting jars (there are even tutorials on how to make a sprouting jar at home with old jars), seeds and water.

You can eat most sprouts raw, but have to cook any kind of legume sprouts (beans, chickpeas, peas, lentils) for 5-20 minutes. The larger the legume the longer you cook them.

My personal favourite seeds to sprout are:
Radishes (on bread, avocado, hummus, salads..), chickpeas (make awesome hummus), lentils (for soups and daal), buckwheat (great for breakfast instead of oatmeal), arugula (on bread, avocado, hummus and salads), broccoli and mung beans (for stir frys and any Chinese recipes), red clover

So as you can see, there are plenty of options. Make sure to buy organic seeds and legumes!

You can find photos of meals with sprouts on my instagram account as well as when searching #sprouts #sprossen

Do yourself the favour!

"Tropical" / piña colada smoothie

Another rather simple but rich and filling recipe for a busy morning:

Blend:
1/2 pineapple
2 bananas
1 cup frozen mango
Shredded coconut or coconut butter (not oil, use butter like nut butter!) to taste
Lemon juice (optional)

It'll send you straight away to your tropical dream holiday ;)

Also it makes a yummy vegan cocktail. So for a party you could even add alcohol to this as it tastes a bit like piña colada! Be careful though as the fruit sugar will increase the impact of alcohol!

Enjoy.