Healthy Cabbage, Pea and Tahini Slaw

 

It's never a wrong season for a salad, but as we are now getting into warmer weather, cold crispy and refreshing meals are a perfect option. Today I'm sharing a super easy recipe of an absolutely delicious and clean slaw / salad with a rich combination of flavours, is super healthy and perfect for weight-loss, mild detox and that healthy pick-me-up boost. I love this salad so much, it never stays in my fridge for too long, even if I do batch cooking for later!

♥

INGREDIENTS:
(makes a big bowl, servings quantity depends on your preference) 

For the salad

♥

♥ 1/2 head of fresh medium size white cabbage
♥ 250g of snap peas or snow peas
♥ 40 - 50g spring onions
♥ Optional: 2T of sesame seeds or crushed peanuts to sprinkle on top

For the dressing

♥ 250ml of organic plain fat-free yoghurt
♥ 3T of tahini (sesame seeds paste)
♥ Optional: 3 cloves of garlic


METHOD:

 1. Shred the fresh cabbage and finely chop the spring onions. You can also cut the peas if you want or simply leave them whole as I did.
2. In a large bowl, mix cabbage, spring onions and peas.
3. In a separate bowl mix yoghurt and tahini. Optional: add finely chopped garlic.
4. Now pour the dressing over the salad. Optional: sprinkle some sesame seeds or peanuts on top.
5. Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving. 



ENJOY! xx

Delicious and Healthy Granola Bars ♥

By far the best recipe I've tried! I started making these granola bars as a healthy snack that is high in fibre and is free from trans fats and refined gunk. Turns out with time I became so advanced at making these yummy bars, that they may well become your next healthy dessert alternative! Here's the ingredients list and the method that will make you say: "Mmmmm!"...

I'll also share with you a secret how to make your granola bars either crunchy or soft and chewy depending on you like.

PHOTOS OF DRY & CRUNCHY GRANOLA BARS

PHOTOS OF SOFT & CHEWY GRANOLA BARS

 INGREDIENTS:
(Makes approx. 16 bars) 

♥

♥ 70g organic unsalted butter (or 3 tablespoons of coconut butter for vegan version)
♥ 115g organic rolled oats ground to a flour texture
♥ 150g organic whole rolled oats
♥ 100g whole hazelnuts
♥ 260g mashed ripe bananas (roughly equals 2 medium and 1 large bananas)
♥ 100g organic prunes and dried apricots
♥ 30g honey or 50g brown sugar (or 1,5 tbsp of stevia for a version much lower in sugar)
♥ 1/4 tsp vanilla powder
♥ 1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla powder

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C degrees.

2. In a chopper or food processor blitz 115g of rolled oats until flour texture. Transfer ground oats to a large bowl, add ground vanilla, cinnamon and stevia. (I normally go for stevia to keep my blood sugar level under control). Take time to mix everything well.


3. Add chopped dried fruit, crushed nuts and whole rolled oats. Mix well.

4. In a food processor, chopper or blender puree bananas with coconut butter if you're using one.

5. If you're using dairy butter, then at this point put butter onto an oven-safe bowl or baking tray and place it into the oven for approximately 2 minutes until the butter melts. (skip this step if you are using coconut butter)

6. While your butter is melting, take a large spoon and start mixing banana puree with the dry ingredients in your large bowl. 

7. If using dairy butter, take out the melted butter and stir it in your mixture. Stir everything thoroughly.

8.  Time to choose your granola texture!
FOR DRY & CRUNCHY GRANOLA BARS:

If you want your granola bars to be crunchy, take non-stick baking paper and line a baking tray with it. Transfer the mixture onto the baking paper and with your clean hands form a log. Mine is usually about 21 cm long and 9,5 cm wide and 2,5 cm high. But you can make it as long, wide and thick as you like. After all these are your bars! ;)

FOR SOFT & CHEWY GRANOLA BARS:

If you want your granola to be almost like a pie, take a silicone bread loaf mould, transfer the mixture into it and even out the top with a back of a tablespoon.

9. Bake for 20-25 minutes until light golden. If you prefer DRY & CRUNCHY granola bars, bake for 30 minutes.

10.  
FOR DRY & CRUNCHY GRANOLA BARS:
Take your log out of the oven and while it's on the tray cut it into bars using a sharp knife. Leave to cool before removing.
FOR SOFT & CHEWY GRANOLA BARS: 
Take out your bread mould and allow to cool on baking or greaseproof paper for at least 15 minutes. Transfer onto a chopping board and using a sharp knife cut into bars.

11. For longer life, store granola bars refrigerated in an airtight container.

ENJOY! xx

♥

♥

INGREDIENTS:
♥ 80g of cooked buckwheat (preferably organic)
♥ 2 organic free range eggs
♥ Sprinkle of cinnamon
♥ Optional: 1/4 tsp of salt - See more at: http://nataliasfruitycorner.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Healthy%20Recipes#sthash.boi03BLi.dpuf

INGREDIENTS:
♥ 80g of cooked buckwheat (preferably organic)
♥ 2 organic free range eggs
♥ Sprinkle of cinnamon
♥ Optional: 1/4 tsp of salt - See more at: http://nataliasfruitycorner.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Healthy%20Recipes#sthash.boi03BLi.dpuf

INGREDIENTS:
♥ 80g of cooked buckwheat (preferably organic)
♥ 2 organic free range eggs
♥ Sprinkle of cinnamon
♥ Optional: 1/4 tsp of salt - See more at: http://nataliasfruitycorner.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Healthy%20Recipes#sthash.boi03BLi.dpuf

INGREDIENTS:
♥ 80g of cooked buckwheat (preferably organic)
♥ 2 organic free range eggs
♥ Sprinkle of cinnamon
♥ Optional: 1/4 tsp of salt - See more at: http://nataliasfruitycorner.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Healthy%20Recipes#sthash.boi03BLi.dpuf

INGREDIENTS:
♥ 80g of cooked buckwheat (preferably organic)
♥ 2 organic free range eggs
♥ Sprinkle of cinnamon
♥ Optional: 1/4 tsp of salt - See more at: http://nataliasfruitycorner.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Healthy%20Recipes#sthash.boi03BLi.dpuf

INGREDIENTS:
♥ 80g of cooked buckwheat (preferably organic)
♥ 2 organic free range eggs
♥ Sprinkle of cinnamon
♥ Optional: 1/4 tsp of salt - See more at: http://nataliasfruitycorner.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Healthy%20Recipes#sthash.boi03BLi.dpuf

High-Protein and Gluten-free Buckwheat Pancakes Recipe ❤

A perfect breakfast solution for those who are either watching weight, are gluten intolerant but still looking to maintain adequate fibre intake or are following high-protein diet for many different health reasons. These delicious pancakes have a smooth nutty taste and are quite easy to make too! If you never tried buckwheat before, I personally strongly recommend you give it a taste and chances are you fall in love with it! It goes very well with most vegetables (both raw or cooked) and even berries. It also is very weight-loss friendly and a healthy cocktail of fibre, magnesium, zinc, phosphorus, vitamin B6, niacin and folate.

INGREDIENTS:
♥ 80g of cooked buckwheat (preferably organic)
♥ 2 organic free range eggs
♥ Sprinkle of cinnamon
♥ Optional: 1/4 tsp of salt
♥ Optional: 2 tbsp of organic plain low-fat yogurt. If you don't eat dairy use oat cream like this one - http://tidd.ly/39dcb167
♥ 1 tsp of organic virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS:
1. Combine all ingredients either in a food processor or in a chopper. Alternatively, in a bowl beat eggs with a fork and then combine with all remaining ingredients. Mix well.
2. Pre-heat a non-stick pan on a low heat. Add a teaspoon of olive oil and using a spatula spread it quickly over the pan
3. Now it's time to transfer mixture onto a pan! I use a tablespoon to form small pancakes, usually 1 tablespoon gives 1 pancake.
4. When the top of a pancake start to lose moisture (usually around after 4 minutes as we are frying on a very low heat), lift and quickly flip a pancake over. Leave for approximately another 2 minutes.
5. Serve with berries defrosted overnight.

Bon Appétit and have a wonderful day ahead!
Natalia

♥

Italian Biscotti with Almonds and Orange Zest - The Healthy Way ❤

Ah, the tempting smell of fresh baked Italian biscotti... But if you're watching your weight, white refined flour or sugar (main biscotti ingredients) are exactly the products you need to stay away from. And here's more to motivate you - these products have a very bad influence on you health. Increased blood sugar affects your glands and significantly worsens your mood (hello depression, moodiness, grumpiness, irritability and PMS!). Whereas, white flour delays elimination of waste material in the body and disrupts normal digestion. Now to the good news! What I did the other day has been one of the most successful culinary experiments I've made! I'm so excited  and happy to share with you a recipe of an absolutely delicious Italian biscotti made the HEALTHY way! Warning: it may well be the best biscotti you've tasted! ;)

INGREDIENTS:

♥ 230g of organic rolled oats (I used these - http://tidd.ly/bd384a14) finely ground in a coffee grinder or chopper to make them almost flour-like
♥ 2 large organic free-range eggs
♥ 100g almond flakes. Alternatively, you can toast whole almonds for 8 minutes in an oven, let cool and coarsely chop.
♥ A zest of 1 organic orange, finely chopped
♥ 1 tsp vanilla powder
♥ 1 tsp baking soda slaked with vinegar (just pour few drops of vinegar onto a teaspoon with baking soda to make a fizzy mixture) or baking powder
♥ 1/5 cup organic agave nectar (http://tidd.ly/bfdd22dc) or honey.
(You can also use stevia (http://tidd.ly/fdc3196), but each brand has its own conversion equivalent)
♥ 1/4 tsp salt
♥ Non-stick parchment paper (http://tidd.ly/1652d27a)
♥ Optional: 1 tsp almond extract
♥ Optional: 1 tbsp rum or cognac (for adults only)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C degrees.
2. Beat eggs and agave nectar or honey with a mixer for about 5 minutes until they become thick and white.
*3. Optional: Add almond extract and/or cognac or rum.
4. Add flaked or chopped almonds. Gently stir the mixture with a wooden spoon.
5. In a separate large bowl mix ground oats, salt, vanilla powder and chopped orange zest. Finally, add baking soda.
6. Combine egg mixture (described in steps 2-4) and oats mixture (described in step 5). I find it most helpful to do it with a large table spoon and finish with my clean bare hands.
7. Transfer your mixture onto a baking tray covered with non-stick parchment paper and form a log. Usually, it is recommended to make it approximately 30 cm long and 9 cm wide (your biscotti will expand in size a bit during baking).
8. Bake for about 25 minutes until your biscotti log becomes firm. Don't worry, it does not need to be 100% solid yet.
9. After 25 minutes, take your biscotti log out of the oven and let it cool for about 8-10 minutes.
10. Carefully transfer your log onto a chopping board. Reduce your oven temperature to 160°C. Using a sharp knife cut your log into 2cm thick slices. Carefully put your biscotti flat on their widest part on the parchment paper and bake for another 10* minutes.
11. Turn biscotti over and bake for another 10* minutes.
12. Let cool and enjoy!

* This time hugely depends on the air humidity and that's why it will take longer for biscotti to become dry. So your best bet is to put a timer on 10 minutes first and then to regularly check you biscotti and leave them bake longer if necessary. 

With Love,
Natalia

Vegan Peanut Butter Rum Balls a.k.a Chocolate Little Snowball Cakes

No Christmas or New Year's Eve table goes without a delicious dessert. This year I upgraded my family's all time favorite dessert to a healthier level  - less sugar, saturated fats, refined grains but still keeping the taste rich and festive. And it's vegan!

This cake has a funny name with Russians - a "potato" cake. It used to be a very popular and somewhat posh dessert in USSR.  I still remember a morning at the cafe when I was 5 and my mom bought it to me the first time. My taste buds literally dancing! :) I first surprised my parents by making a traditional version of "potato" cakes when I was 18 and since then all my family requests them for special occasions, like birthdays, Easter, New Year's Eve and so on. By now, I know just how explosive the ingredients combination is for our body, so I was pondering how to replace those ingredients with something more healthy. The result was welcomed with approval, so here's a recipe to surprise your loved ones! ;)

I must only remind that although it is a healthier version, this still is a dessert and so should be enjoyed only occasionally to keep your weight and health in tip top condition! ;)

INGREDIENTS:
(Makes 11 small balls):

♥ 170g of organic rolled oats finely ground in a coffee grinder or chopper to make them almost flour-like
♥ 50 ml organic oat milk
♥ 70g organic smooth peanut butter
♥ 1/2 cup agave nectar or honey
♥ 3 heaped tablespoons (or more depending on your to taste) of organic cocoa powder or you can melt 50g of 70% cocoa dark chocolate, which is what I did for the cakes pictured
♥ 1 tablespoon of almond extract
♥ 1 tablespoon of rum or cognac (skip if kids will eat these cakes too)
♥ 1 teaspoon vanilla powder
♥ Handful of organic dessicated coconut
♥ Half small banana sliced crosswise into 1.5 cm thick little coins

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl combine ground oats with vanilla powder and mix them well with a large table spoon.
2. Add agave nectar (or honey), almond extract, rum (or cognac) and mix well.
3. Stir in peanut butter and melted chocolate. This is the time to act quickly - mix in the ingredients well while the chocolate is still runny.
4. To finish up. I find that kneading with my bare (and of course clean!) hands. ;)
4. If the mixture is too dry, add a little bit of oats milk. If the mixture is too runny, don't worry - it will solidify a bit after some time.
5. Take 3 separate clean plates: 1st for dessicated coconut, 2nd for formed round balls and 3rd where these balls will go after being covered in coconut flakes (alternatively and airtight container is good too as it will keep them fresh longer).
6. Start forming cakes! :) I start with warming up the mixture in my hands to make a flat piece almost like for a cookie. I then take 1 banana coin, put it in the middle and roll the mixture into a round ball.
Once all your balls are ready, start rolling them in coconut and press them lightly to get coconut flakes stick better.
7. Refrigerate your ready cakes for a least 3 hours. If you can refrigerate them overnight, this is even better as they will soak in the flavors to the maximum.

Happy Holidays! ♥

Delicious Healthy Tuna Patties Recipe

Easy to make, filling, healthy and delicious dish for your lunch or dinner! Tuna is not only one of the tastiest fish variety in my opinion, but is also super rich in protein, which is exactly what's needed for anyone wanting to lose weight (and keep the muscle mass!) and keep the blood sugar under control.
The ingredients list for the tuna patties is also accessible and affordable, so I really hope you give these tasty tuna patties a try!

INGREDIENTS:
(Makes 15 small patties)
♥ 2 cans of skipjack tuna having 150g of drained weight each. (I ♥ this one - http://tidd.ly/58e82bf2)
♥ 2 medium organic eggs
♥ 4 heaped tablespoons of rolled oats or oat bran
♥ 2 shallots or 1 small onion
♥ 4 garlic cloves
♥ Fresh, frozen or dried dill to taste (but the more the better in my opinion :) )
♥ Ground pepper
♥ Parsley
♥ Sprinkle of lemon spice
♥ Ground coriander
♥ Olive oil (My favorite product of all!! - http://tidd.ly/3f2b35d3)

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a medium or large bowl beat the eggs with a fork. Add drained tuna and ground pepper.
2. Take a chopper (mine looks like this one below) or coffee bean grinder, grind the oats and add them to the mixture. Alternatively, you can take oat bran, which suits very well too.

3. Finely chop shallots and garlic or chop the in the chopper (how many more words "chop" could I use here? :) )
4. Add dried parsley, ground coriander and finely chopped dill.
5. Pre-heat a non-stick frying pan, add a teaspoon of olive oil and smear the the surface of the frying pan well.
6. With your clean hands, start forming flat patties and put them onto the frying pan one by one.
7. Cover the frying pan with the lid and leave for 5 minutes on low heat. Then turn the patties over and cook for 4 more minutes.
8. Serve with green veggies or fresh vegetable salad.

Enjoy! xx

Nourishing and Tasty Avocado & Egg Sandwich Filling

Time to upgrade your old egg mayo sandwiches to a new healthy level! This simple high protein sandwich filling will satisfy hunger, keep you full longer and give your body nutrients, vitamins and minerals it will be thankful for. Avocado is not only a great taste companion here, but also a wonderful fruit that is a source of healthy monounsaturated fats, magnesium and potassium. Of course, I didn't forget about the greens, the super-food mother nature grows for us! This is a great example how the increase your green leaves intake - just add a little to your meals as often as possible!

INGREDIENTS:
(Makes 3 portions)
♥ 2 hard boiled organic eggs
♥ 1/2 avocado
♥ 2 tablespoons of organic fat-free plain yogurt
♥ Rocket leaves to taste
♥ Spring onions to taste
♥ Ground pepper to taste
♥ Sea salt to taste

DIRECTIONS:
♥ Slice eggs, avocado and spring onions as on the picture above.
I use this great little helper for slicing boiled eggs and avocado. Slices in seconds and saves tons of time!

♥ In a bowl, mix them with yogurt. 
♥ Put rocket leaves on organic wholegrain bread slice and top it with the mixture
♥ Season with ground pepper and a little tiny bit of salt

Here's a takeaway friendly option (made for my husband as a healthy alternative to airport takeaways):
♥ Put low fat cheese slices on top of each sandwich and wrap sandwiches around with foil.

And voila!
Hope you enjoy this one!


With Love,
Natalia

Immunity-Boosting Super-Healthy Cranberry Smoothie Recipe

This is a very simple smoothie recipe from seasonal fruit and berries which gives a very powerful immune system boost! It provides a mighty dose of vitamin C, beta-carotene, flavonoids, water and fibre - all of those work to strengthen your immunity, fight viral infections and decrease inflammation. It also gives a mild cleanse helping your body flush out toxins.

Another benefit is that this super smart and healthy smoothie gives you almost an instant relief from unpleasant cold or flu symptoms. Plus, it's drinkable, so no suffering if you have a very low appetite!

And of course, this smoothie will also help you bypass cold and flu season!

INGREDIENTS:
♥  60g cranberries
♥ 1/2 large or 1 whole medium persimmon
♥ 1 medium grapefruit
♥ 250ml water

Needless to say, it is delicious too!
Hope you enjoy and stay healthy this winter!

Hugs,
Natalia xx

Vegan Creamy Courgette, Cauliflower & Mushroom Soup

As days are getting shorter and colder, winds stronger and winter season is just round the corner, you cannot beat a good hearty warming soup! I have been obsessed with this one lately and there's nothing not to love about it - it is delicious, full of goodness, and is easy to make! Moreover, unlike many winter-warmers, this soup is absolutely harmless for your figure. What's more - it will even aid fat burning!

INGREDIENTS:
(Makes 7 portions)
♥ 1 cauliflower head
♥ 2 large courgettes
♥ 1 large leek (around 200g weight)
♥ 250g mushrooms
♥ 3 garlic cloves
♥ Ground black pepper
♥ 2 bay leaves
♥ Oregano
♥ Parsley
♥ Turmeric
♥ 1 tablespoon of fresh, dried or frozen dill
♥ Optional: sea salt to taste
♥ Optional: 1 tablespoon of organic vegan bouillon powder and skip adding extra sea salt

DIRECTIONS:
1. Cut cauliflower into large chunks and simmer for 15 minutes in 1 litre of water. It does not need to become too soft and fall apart - just a slightly soft is right what is needed. Here's an illustration for you:

Don't drain the water in which the cauliflower was boiled.
 
2. Slice courgettes, mushrooms and leeks and put them all into a frying pan (or into two separate pans if one does not fit everything). Add 4 tablespoons of filtered water, cover with a lid and stew for 4 minutes until vegetables start becoming soft. Then remove the lid, add a tablespoon of olive oil and sliced garlic and stir fry for 2 minutes.

3. Start liquidising and I like to do it in stages. Take a hand blender and carefully covering the open top of a saucepan start blending cauliflower. Then add courgettes and blend. Finally add mushrooms, leeks and garlic and blend. Stir all ingredients well with a long handle wooden spoon.

4. Add spices and herbs. Simmer for 7 minutes on low heat.

Serve on its own or as a starter.
Goes well with beans or stirred-in tablespoon of hummus.
If you eat fish, try pairing this soup with tuna. If you are non-vegetarian - try it with chicken breast.

Enjoy! xx

Cinnamon Pancakes with Warm Apples - Wheat, Sugar and Dairy Free

It is a beautiful autumn season when apples are most delicious, sweet and flavoursome. I absolutely love the taste when apple meets cinnamon and that's why this is one of my favourite recipes! These little pancakes are wheat, sugar and dairy free and are high in protein and fibre. They will keep you full until lunch and are perfect for a healthy start of a long working day! Magnesium and vitamin B12 will also help keep those autumn blues away by improving your mood and keeping you calm and happy. Also these pancakes pose no threat to your figure and help lose excess weight.
So now you have no excuse not to try them! :)

INGREDIENTS:
♥ 2 free range eggs
♥ 2 tablespoons of either coconut cream (http://tidd.ly/e8723d4b) or, if you eat dairy, organic plain low fat or fat-free yogurt (http://tidd.ly/d340d454)
♥ 3 tablespoons of organic oat bran
♥ And here's a trick to get a delicious taste without adding sugar - 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon (http://tidd.ly/2e62fc8a)

♥ Small organic apple of your choice or half a big one

DIRECTIONS:

♥ Core an apple and cut into 1-1.5 cm thick slices

♥ Put apple slices onto a pre-heated pan. Add 2 tablespoons of water, cover with a lid and leave on a low heat for 3 minutes. After that turn off the heat, but to keep apples warm leave them covered with the lid.

AND THE PANAKE MIXTURE:

♥ Beat eggs with a fork just to blend whites and yolks together

♥ Add yogurt, oat bran and ground cinnamon and mix them all together

♥ Pre-heat a non-stick pan on a low heat. Add a teaspoon of olive oil and using a spatula spread it quickly over the pan

♥ Now it's time to transfer mixture onto a pan! I use a tablespoon to form small pancakes, usually 1 tablespoon gives 1 pancake.
♥ When the top of a pancake start to lose moisture (usually around after 3 minutes as we are frying on a very low heat), lift and quickly flip a pancake over. Leave for approximately another 1.5 minutes.

Serve with warm soft apples which you can also sprinkle with cinnamon if you like! :)

Enjoy and be healthy!

Love,

Natalia xx

Delicious Vegan Kale Pesto Recipes

I love the idea of pesto, but I absolutely cannot approve just how much salt, or oil is poured onto the mixture of commercial products. Some of them have some other strange ingredients added and I wouldn't risk eating such product on a daily basis.

So I came up with an idea that is both healthy, delicious and well-balanced and takes no time to prepare! It is perfect for mixing it up with your pasta, salad or even add less olive oil and use it as a toast topping!

Here are my favorite two varieties:

Here's what you'll need for CASHEW based pesto:

♥ Organic Kale - 200g (I just get a large packet and use it all)

♥ Cashew Nuts that are raw, unsalted, non-roasted and preferably organic - 90-100g (or less if you like!)

♥ Organic Virgin Olive Oil - 2-3 table spoons. You can definitely play around with it and use little less if you want to make a spread for toast.

♥ Fresh Basil leaves - I use about a half from the whole living basil pot I buy from supermarket (wish I had a garden to grow my own basil! sigh... :) )

♥ Freshly squeezed juice from either a half or quarter of fresh lemon

♥ Sea Salt - half a table spoon

♥ Ground Black Pepper - to taste

After you washed all leaves and kale, put all ingredients in a chopper or a food processor, and chop until the desired smoothness. If little more moisture needed just add lemon juice or water! ;)

And Voilá!

Serve with wholemeal organic pasta (cooked al dente), wholemeal pitta bread or a salad. 

And for MACADAMIA based pesto everything is the same BUT FOR:

♥ Macadamia Nuts that are raw and unsalted - 90-100g or less if you like

♥ Freshly squeezed juice from half a Lime instead of Lemon

♥ I also like to add some fresh dill to the mixture - just a few grams will suffice

Perfect with organic German rye bread... ❤

A DELICIOUS DIP VERSION:

This one is actually a raw organic spinach based dip (which again can be perfectly made of kale, so it's entirely up to you!:)) with cashew nuts, lemon juice and sea salt. For this variation just add slightly less olive oil and voila!

Enjoy your food and be healthy!

With Love,

Natalia xx

Delicious Low-Fat Cheese Cake [wheat-free and refined sugar-free!]

This light baked cheesecake has won a golden medal in my family! Being low fat yet nutritious and filling, not too sweet and not too sour, having soft texture and delicious flavors - all of that makes it a perfect breakfast idea. It is a safe dessert alternative for those who watch their weight, follow a low-sodium diet, healing a stomach from gastritis, have irritated stomach lining or other abdominal distress. And kids love this cake too!

I am happy to say straight away that preparation is very easy and no advanced or even intermediate baking skills are required!

INGREDIENTS:
♥ 500g of low fat cottage cheese or quark
♥ 4-5 large ripe bananas (4 for a thinner filling as on the second picture above)
♥ 130g of rolled oats
♥ Optional: 2-3 tablespoons of sugar-free low-salt peanut butter or cashew nut butter
♥ Optional: 1/2 tablespoon of vanilla powder
♥ Coconut butter to smear a baking tin

METHOD:

♥ Preheat an oven to 180C degrees.
♥ Very lightly smear the inside of your pie tin with a thin coating of organic butter or coconut butter (no margarine)

Cake base:
♥ Take a standard coffee mug of steel-cut or rolled oats (not 'easy-cook' or instant oats)
♥ 2 large ripe bananas
♥ Optional: If you don't suffer from nut allergies and if you are not prone to migraines - 2-3 tablespoons of organic sugar-free low-salt peanut butter. If you add peanut butter, you can safely reduce the amount of butter or coconut butter you smeared your pie tin with

♥ Process the base mixture in a chopper or anything else that does the same job - chopping and blending everything well together :) Any food processor will do! Here's a picture of the one that I use and it came within a hand blender set. By the way, it's better to process ingredients in parts if they don't all fit into your food processor's container at one time.

Hello, I'm a chopper! :)

♥ Now line the bottom of a pie tin with the base mixture ans smooth it out with the back side of a tablespoon. Bake it for 12 minutes.

♥ Clean the chopper or food processor's container as you'll need it again to make the filling.

♥ After 12 minutes have passed, take the cake base out from the oven and let it cool down a little. It need not be too soft of too crusty, just somewhere in between is perfect!

Cake filling:

♥ Take approx. 500 g of low fat organic cottage cheese

♥ 3 large ripe bananas (or 2 for a thinner filling, see 2nd picture from the top)

♥ Optional: 1/2 tablespoon of vanilla powder (if you can get it organic - that's great!)

♥ Blend it all together in a food processor. I just use my good old chopper you now are introduced with. :) In the UK cottage cheese usually comes a bit watery and grainy, so if you are using a dry/drained cottage cheese, you might want to add some water (about 7 tablespoons) or organic plain yoghurt or kefir, so that a consistency or your mixture resembles a pudding.

Raw mixture before cooking: 

♥ Pour the mixture over your base and bake for 30 - 35 minutes at 180C degrees.

♥ Take it out, let it cool until room temperature and then unclip the sides of your pie tin to serve.

You can also do a layered version with blueberries.❤

1. Bake your oats & banana cake base (instructions as above) for 10 minutes.
2. In a food processor or chopper process 140g of frozen or fresh blueberries with 80g of cashew nuts. The consistency should not be too watery, but should look rather like a thick yogurt. Pour the mixture over the base and bake it for another 20 minutes.
3. Follow the instructions above on how to make a cake filling and pour it over the blueberry layer. Bake for another 30-35 minutes. Let cool and enjoy! 

 Bon Appétit!