Irresistable spread

 Those mornings you feel for something heavier or those times when you need a snack, a seed cracker with almond butter is a tasty choice. When I heard about almond butter I googled lots of recipes and found out how easy it is to make. And as many people are allergic to nuts and peanuts (like one in our family) this is a good replacement for peanutbutter.

Almond butter
Roast the almonds 300ml in a hot frying pan. I think its better to roast them quickly than on low temperature and slow. If you wan't to go completely raw, skip this step.
Pour the almonds in your food processor and start the engine.........
......Use a good portion of patience here........
At first it looks like grated almonds but as you continue the almonds will turn to a more heavy dough. Continue to mix until you get a creamy spread, add a little salt and there you have a spread full of energy.

The allergic son has looked at his bigbrothers nutella spread with envy. With this spread you can make something similar, almost exactly in taste. Add honey, cacao, and vanilla powder. Be careful about the cacao the taste of the spread is already quite strong. If it gets to thick, add some sunflower oil to the spread. 

Both the almond spread and the fake nutella is full of calories so it's not a daily treat ;)

Buck wheat crunch

I know, it's strange I tend to post a lot of breakfast recipes. I'm such a novis in this raw food thing and haven't found out any dinner recipes yet, well nothing to write about, or take pictures of. 

These crunchies are perfect for a little heavier breakfast, served with light almondmilk or just as little energy snacks. I have a jar with these to snack on at my office table. 

The perfect thing with this recipe is that you reuse your waste, from almond milk and your juicer.

Buck weat crunch

2 dl of apple pulp from the juicer (this is the pulp that you get when making applejuice, the pulp is without the seed house)

2 dl pulp from almond milk (see picture below)

10 organic dried apricots, soaked in water over night

1,5 dl buchwheat, soaked in water over night (eventually dried in the oven or dehydrator)

 1 hand full of grated coconut 

1 hand full of sunflower seeds

1 hand full of pumpkin seeds

1 Tbsp of raw coconut oil.

Mix the apricots with a little of the soaking water. Pour it into a mixing bowl and add all the other ingredients. Mix all ingredients carefully until fully blended. You can also use a dough blender in this step.

Pour the mix over a baking sheet (teflex) and dry it in the oven under 50 degrees Celsius. Use the fan in the oven and open the oven door even now and then to let the moist out. Stir around a little. It will take 8-10 hours depending how wet it is and the oven. Store the crunch in a paperbag.

If you don't have time to use the pulp immediately you can store it in the freezer.

Friday evening dinner

Our supermarket has started a campain to make their customers to eat more vegetables. I think this is a excellent thing. They promote fruits and vegetables of the season and often sell for lower prices. When I walk past the sweet potatoes I couldn't resist them. In a second, the dinner plan was set.

Roasted sweet potatoes and hot salsa

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees C. Peel the sweet potato and cut into wedges. Pour them in a oven pan and add a tsp of coconut oil and Tbs of sunflower oil. sprinkle sea salt and ground some pepper over them before you roast them in the oven. 30 minutes is enough because they get squishy very easily.

The salsa is made of 3 finely chopped tomatoes, 1 finely chopped onion, 3 mashed and finely chopped garlic cloves, a half finely chopped red bell pepper. The green herb is fresh chopped chervil (a good replacement for those who doesn't like coriander). Blend all ingredients in a bowl and season with himalayan salt, chili flakes and ground black pepper.

For the meat eaters I served grilled chicken filets with lots of barbecue seasoning on top.

Serve with a green salad.

Note: Sweet potato is literally a sweet potato, it contains 10 times more sugar than potato so if you would like to cut down on carbs, this is not a choice for you. 

Green smoothie post

So how about three apples, one banana, a lemon, a huge plate of greens for breakfast. Does it seems too much to eat? That is an example of what I eat for breakfast in the form of a smoothie. I know the internet is flowing over with those green smoothies and about the benefits of them.

So for those who thinks, oh another green smoothie post, you can stop reading now and wait for next post ;)

Our old family relic, the starmix from the 50's is still running strong. The pitcher holds about 1 liter and I pack it loosely with baby spinach leaves and maché sallat.

Three apples are chopped in pieces with the stem and seed house removed. I press these in my juicer and receive a large glass of fresh apple juice. One lemon is pressed + a bunch of  chervil is also added.

 After mixing all the ingredients in the mixer I get half a litre of green thick and chunky smoothie. I fill my 250ml glass containers all the way up to keep the smoothie fresh. If there is space left, just add water. In this way I can make it the day before and drink it at work the morning after.

The only limit for a green smoothie is your own imagination. Add wich fruits and leafs you like and make your own favourite.

NOTE: At first when I drank the green smoothie I got a terrible headache. The trick is to drink and chew for a long time and not starting the day with the smoothie until you have been up and running for a while. Don't forget to drink plenty of water as well.

Broccoli sprouts

This is my favourite topping; Sprouts!

Perfect on top of anything. Broccoli sprouts adds a little nutty and fresh taste to your dish.

On top of your salad, sandwich or in you smoothie.

I used a plastic tray for flower pots and covered the bottom with 1 cm of pot soil. The soil is soaked and then  broccoli seeds are sprinkled in an even layer on top. A thin layer of soil to cover the seeds. Make sure the soil is always a little moist. Put the tray in a window to get nice green sprouts. After ca 4-5 days it's time for harvest.

I bought special bags for sprouting at Runåbergs fröer (swedish seed company). They sell a small variety of sprouting seeds.

Sauerkraut

Oh, Im so happy and pleased!

After my second trial I have succeded to make my own sauerkraut. Sauerkraut is a great way to eat probiotics and you don't have to deal with bloating problems like some can get when eating raw or cooked cabbage.

Don't be afraid that the taste will be grouse, it's not. It tastes like the salad that is served at Swedish pizza places. Just grind som pepper over it and there you have it. 

After Christmas the supermarkets sold the red cabbage for only 20 cents per kilo. A big cbbage head for only 50 cents was bought.

Shred the cabbage (exept the outer leaves to use later) and mix it in a bowl with a half handfull of Himalayan salt. Mash the blend with a coffe mug to get the juice out of the cabbage.

Tuck the cabbage in a big glass jar with airtight cap. Make sure you press out as much air from the cabbage as possible.  Fold the outer leaves and put on top of the shredded cabbage to get a seal. Pour water over the leaves (boil the water then let it cool first) to get a air tight cover over the leaves. If the leaves have a tendency to rise you can do as I did, put a coffemug on top before sealing (see picture below).

Let the cabbage stay at the kitchen bench for two days approximately. You should see some bubbles along the waterline. Then store the jar in a colder place ca 12-15 degrees celsius (the cellar, cupboard or something like that) for 5-7 days. Hopefully you will have a delicious cabbage sallad after this time.

First time i tried to make it I used my home grown green cabbage. I didn't use any extra water at all and I stored the jars in the cellar. It smelled like poo during the 5 day storage. When I was supposed to open a jar and taste, an awful smell struck my face and I could see mold on the surface. So be careful when you make it. Be sure you use clean jars, boiled water and make sure you have the leaves under the water.

I serve the salad every day with green salad to get a healthy stomach.

Raw crisp bread

I have made my first try to make a raw crisp bread. As inspiration I googled about how to make them and then made my own recipe. They taste so nice with mashed avocado on top. You can also brake them to smaller pieces and get crackers.

Raw crisp bread "Knäckebröd"

1 dl Sundried tomatoes

1 dl Sunflower seeds

1 dl Pumpkin seeds

1 dl Sesame seeds

1 dl Oat groats (not the flakes)

1 dl Psyllium seeds

2 dl Flax seeds

1 Tbs Nutritional yeast

1 Tbs vegetable broth

Soak the sundried tomatoes in a cup of water. Mix all the other dry ingredients in a bowl and soak in water. The amount of fresh water is not more than to cover the seeds. Let it soak for 3-4 hours. Chop the tomatoes and blend in the seed mixture.

After soaking, pour the mix on a baking sheet and flatten it out with a spoon. It will be flat enough to be homogenic without any holes. Put your owen on lowest temperature maximum 50 degrees C. Dry the bread in the owen by opening a gap even now and then. When the upside feels dry it's proper to turn the bread upside down. Be careful so you don't brake or drop it. 

When the bread is completely dried, store it in an airtight holder.