Cook with me: Healthy Peanut Butter Nicecream

Hello everyone,

how do you like the new appearance of the blog page? It was under construction one week ago. 
Anyway, I prepared a new, very easy recipe for you. My parents bought a new robot food processor last week (it's so cool!) so I could finally make homemade icecream made of bananas and peanut butter - peanut butter nicecream! Not necessary to emphasize it's super healthy, right? Also, it's vegan and sugarfree. I made this wonderful dish this morning for breakfast and I instantly decided to share it over here.
(Recept je tudi v slovenščini!)

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Recipe:

Ingredients:

3 bananas, frozen

3 tbsp dairyfree milk

1 tbsp peanut butter

(click here to see the recipe for homemade peanut butter)

Preparation:

1. In a food processor, blend the bananas into a thick cream.

2. Add the milk and peanut butter. Blend again. Serve.

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Recept:

Sestavine:

3 banane, zamrznjene

3 žlice mleka (riževo, mandljevo, kokosovo)

1 žlica arašidovega masla

(recept za domače arašidovo maslo)

Priprava:

1. V multipraktiku zmiksamo banane v kremo.

2. Dodamo mleko in arašidovo maslo in ponovno zmiksamo. Serviramo.

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The nicecream can be topped with whatever you like - fruit, nuts, cereals... I used homemade cinnamon-strawberry granola and cacao powder. Now I'm off to cook lunch and bake some yummy muffins!

Have a nice day,

Vanja

Cook with me: Healthy Raw Bounty - Chocolate Coconut Bars

Hello everyone,

yesterday, I posted a photo of homemade raw Bounty bars on Instagram and Facebook and so many people have been asking me for the recipe. I made them for the first time and it was a total success! I think it is necessary to emphasize that these bars are super healthy, raw, vegan, sugarfree, glutenfree, dairyfree and nutfree. But let me tell you that they taste almost the same as the original Bounty. 
Now scroll down for the recipe! (Recept je tudi v slovenščini!)

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Recipe (for 12 bars):

Coconut filling:

175 g coconut flour

60 mL (4-5 tbsp) coconut oil, melted

3 tbsp maple syrup

1 tbsp honey

1/4 tsp salt

2 tbsp water

4 drops vanilla extract

Chocolate cream:

90 mL (6-7 tbsp) coconut oil, melted

30 g cacao powder

2 tbsp maple syrup

pinch of salt

Preparation:

1. Coconut filling: In a bowl, mix coconut flour with water, and in another bowl, mix together coconut oil, maple syrup, honey, salt and vanilla extract. Add the liquid mixture to the coconut flour and mix well. Transfer the filling into a small baking pan, lined with some plastic wrap, and press firmly. Put it in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.

2. Chocolate cream: In a double boiler, mix coconut oil with maple syrup, then add cacao powder and salt.

3. Remove the filling from the freezer and cut it into bars. Dip them into the cream, take them out with a fork and place them on baking paper. Put the bars into the freezer for 15 minutes, then dip them again. Drizzle the rest of the cream over the bars. Let them chill in the freezer for at least 1 hour before serving.

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Recept (za 12 ploščic):

Kokosovo polnilo:

175 g kokosove moke

60 mL (4-5 žlic) kokosovega olja, stopljeno

3 žlice javorjevega sirupa

1 žlica medu

1/4 žličke soli

2 žlici vode

4 kapljice vanilijevega ekstrakta

Čokoladni obliv:

90 mL (6-7 žlic) kokosovega olja, stopljeno

30 g kakava v prahu

2 žlici javorjevega sirupa

ščepec soli

Priprava:

1. Kokosovo polnilo: V eni posodi zmešamo kokosovo moko z vodo, v drugi posodi pa kokosovo olje, javorjev sirup, med, sol in vanilijev ekstrakt. To tekočo mešanico nato dodamo h kokosovi moki in dobro premešamo. Zmes prenesemo v manjši pekač ali posodo s plastično folijo in trdno pritisnemo na dno ter damo v zamrzovalnik za vsaj 30 minut.

2. Čokoladni obliv: Nad vodno kopeljo (v spodnji posodi imamo vročo vodo, v zgornji posodi pa pripravljamo obliv), najprej zmešamo kokosovo olje in javorjev sirup, nato dodamo kakav in sol.

3. Kokosovo polnilo vzamemo iz zamrzovalnika in ga razrežemo na poljubno velike ploščice. Potopimo jih v čokoladni obliv, odstranimo jih z vilico in položimo na peki papir. Za 15 minut jih damo v zamrzovalnik, nato jih še enkrat potopimo. Preostanek čokoladnega obliva prelijemo preko ploščic. V zamrzovalniku jih pustimo vsaj 1 uro, preden serviramo.

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Expect more yummy recipes very soon!

Good luck,

Vanja

Cook with me: Chocolate Apple Cake (raw, vegan, dairy-free)

Hello everyone,

my food-loving-cooking-baking-creating side is at its best form these days. I started to write down all the recipes that caught my eye, some of them were already recreated and many more are still waiting in the line! Blame the holidays or too much free time, but I like this mood. And anyone who tried my food creations (especially desserts) likes it even more.

I've totally fallen for raw food where no cooking or baking is required, just combining ingredients and mixing them together. About a week ago, I made my second raw cake - a healthy Chocolate apple cake - vegan and dairy-free! It is pretty similar to the Banana strawberry chocolate cake. And as always, it is so easy to make!

Recipe:

Base (1st layer):

100 g mixed nuts (I used walnuts and hazelnuts)

100 g oats

50 g coconut flour

50 g coconut palm sugar

200 g medjool dates, pitted

2 tablespoons coconut oil (not melted)

Filling (2nd layer):

2-3 apples (medium size), grated
1 tsp cinnamon
3 tbsp coconut flour

Chocolate cream (3rd layer):

170 g medjool dates, pitted

1 cup water

50 g raw cocoa powder

2 tablespoons coconut oil (not melted)

Preparation:

1. For the base, mix all ingredients in a food processor into a dough and press it firmly into a cake tin.

2. Mix together the grated apples, cinnamon and coconut flour. Add the mixture on top of the dough. 

3. For the chocolate cream, mix the dates in a food processor until you don't get a lump. Next, add water to get a thick, creamy consistency. The last step is to add cocoa powder and coconut oil to the mixture. Then, put the cream over the apple layer.

4. Let the cake cool down in the fridge for about 2-3 hours before serving.

Believe me, raw cakes taste as good as ordinary baked cakes if not even better (oh yes, they do)! Still in doubts? Well, then you seriously need to make one or two!

By the way, there is still some time left to enter my GIVEAWAY (previous post) which ends today at 8 PM! The winner will be announced on Facebook no later than tomorrow.

Have a sunny week,

Vanja

DIY: Homemade Peanut Butter and healthy Nutella + GIVEAWAY

Hello everyone,

another DIY post is here for you to try out, this time a food-related one. I'm presenting you two DIY recipes - homemade peanut butter and healthy Nutella! And at the end of the post, you can find all the details about the little giveaway I prepared in honour of the 1st Blogoversary.

I'm sure many of us love peanut butter and Nutella. Nutella was my go-to breakfast during my childhood and peanut butter is a more recent discovery. But as you may know, they are not the healthiest things to eat since they contain loads of unnecessary sugar, salt, unhealthy fats and other artificial ingredients. Overload of calories. However, it is possible to make them healthy, delicious and nutritious if you prepare them in your own kitchen.

PEANUT BUTTER recipe:

Ingredients:

250g peanuts (shelled, skinned, roasted, unsalted)

3 tbsp coconut/peanut oil

1 tsp salt

2 tsp liquid sweetener (honey/maple syrup)

Preparation:

1. Place the peanuts into a food processor. 

2. Blend for 1 minute, then scrape down the sides of the bowl. 

3. Blend again and scrape down the sides. Then, add the oil, salt and sweetener. 

4. Blend and scrape down the sides until you get a smooth cream which shouldn't be too thick - in this case, add more oil.

5. Transfer the peanut butter into a glass jar. Store in the fridge.

Healthy NUTELLA recipe:

Ingredients:

100g hazelnuts

5 tbsp raw cacao powder

3 tbsp coconut oil

1/2 tsp salt

3 tsp liquid sweetener (honey/maple syrup)

Preparation:

1. Place the hazelnuts in a food processor and blend into flour.

2. Add cacao, oil, salt and sweetener. Blend again and scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed.

3. Continue blending until you get a creamy consistency.

4. Transfer the choco-hazelnutty cream into a glass jar. Store in the fridge.

Now, where to use them? Spread them on toasted bread, add them into oatmeal, put them on fruit... You decide. Just use your imagination. I really hope you will try at least one recipe, it won't take you too long to master it.

And now the little GIVEAWAY!

One lucky winner will receive a unique handmade silver bracelet and a Soraya deodorant! The bracelet is made by me. All the beads/pearls are handmade - the little silver stones are glued onto the balls. And Soraya is a very popular brand here in Slovenia; I tried this deodorant which I really like, so I decided to order another one for this gevaway.

To participate, fill out the Rafflecopter below. The giveaway is international. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


See you next Sunday,

Vanja

1st Blog Anniversary

Hello everyone,

as you may know I usually post at Sundays but - today is a special day for me and this blog. Exactly one year ago, it was Sunday July 7, the first blog post was uploaded. So today I'm celebrating the 1st anniversary!

The year flew by really quickly. I managed to write 21 posts (without this one) - it may not sound a lot but in my opinion, quality is above quantity. I also got so many views, lovely comments and amazing followers from all over the world. It is hard to describe how excited and happy I get when someone writes a comment, gives me a feedback, likes my Facebook page or simply just reads the things I wrote. The feeling is priceless.

In honor of this day, a little giveaway will be going on. More details about the prize and how to participate will be posted this Sunday when I'll also share a new DIY recipe with you (hint - the glass jar on the picture above), get excited!
And I cannot end writing this post without...

A BIG thank you for reading and following Crayons and Beads!

I wish you a great start of the week,

Vanja