Portobello Mushroom Burgers.

This recipe is from Kimberly Snyder’s book which I am a big fan of.

The main ingredient in the recipe is Portobello mushroom which has a lot of health benefits.

Nutrition for Portobello Mushroom
One cup of grilled portobello slices contains:
Calories: 42 kcal
Fat: 0.9 g
Carbohydrates: 5.9g
Protein: 5 g
Fiber: 2.7 g
Glycemic Index (GI): Low (below 55)
In addition to being low in fat and high in fiber, portobello mushrooms pack a serious nutritional punch. For example, they are an excellent source of selenium (very important mineral for optimal antioxidant activity), many of the B vitamins, and potassium. In addition, their polysaccharide and beta-glucan components exhibit anti-cancer properties.
When buying portobello mushrooms, look for smooth firm caps without wet slimy patches. Store them in the refrigerator inside a loosely closed paper bag or wrap them inside a damp cloth.

So this is the meatless alternative for the regular burger which is healthy and delicious.

Portobello Mushroom Burgers.

Ingredients:

4 portobello mushroom caps or 8 ounces of diced portobello
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 tbsp. Vegetable Broth
1 clove minced garlic
3/4 cup finely chopped white onion
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
2 1/2 tbsp. organic ketchup
1/2 tbsp. thyme
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp sage
1 tbsp low sodium tamari (similar to soy sauce)
1 tsp sea salt
2 cups gluten free bread crumbs (I used
Mary’s Gone Crackers Just The Crumbs Bread Crumbs Gluten Free Original — 16 oz

brand)

Put Mushrooms and Parsley into a food processor and mix until completely blended. Then remove and place in a large mixing bowl. Heat vegetable broth in a large skillet on medium heat. Add onions and sauté for about 3 minutes, add garlic and sauté another 2-3 minutes until onions are almost translucent and then finally add celery for an additional 3 minutes. Add onion mixture to the mushroom mixture. Stir in the remaining ingredients, cover and place in the fridge for at least 45 minutes. Pre-heat oven to 350. Remove the burgers from the fridge, form into patties (wet your hands a little to prevent sticking) and place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake the burgers for about 20 minutes.

Serve with a salad, on the bun, on romaine lettuce hearts etc.

White Bean and Mushroom Soup.

Here is the other vegan version of creamy mushroom soup which is one of the favorites in our family.

The trick of the recipe is white beans that make the creaminess of the soup without adding any cream, flour etc.

The more mushrooms you have the better, because it really adds the mushroom flavor and make the soup rich and delicious.

The recipe is vegan, gluten, dairy free.

White Bean and Mushroom Soup.

Ingredients:

16 oz. mushrooms, halved
1 large sweet onion, quartered
3 garlic cloves, slightly crushed
1-2 tablespoons coconut oil
1½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
8-10 fresh sage leaves
8-10 stems + 1 tablespoon leaves fresh thyme
48 oz. vegetable broth
3 – 15 oz. cans white beans
Additional salt and pepper for seasoning
Sauté mushrooms, garlic and onion in coconut oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add sage leaves and stems of thyme.
Add broth, beans, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, and 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves to a large stock pot over medium heat and simmer.
When mushrooms are done ( golden brown), let cool slightly. Separate mushrooms from onions and garlic.
Retrieve 2 cups of the white beans, and 1 cup of broth from the stock pot, add to a blender along with the roasted onions, garlic and herbs. Cover and blend until smooth.
Add pureed bean mixture back to stock pot, whisking in until smooth. Add roasted mushrooms to soup. Salt and pepper to taste.
Warm over low heat until ready to serve.

Serve warm. ( I served mine with homemade whole wheat toast with avocado).

Let’s DressUp Birthday Party.

Sophia is turning 4 tomorrow, and I can’t believe how the time flies. I remember her being born and spending our Christmas 2010 in the hospital, and now we’re celebrating her 4th year of the life and enjoy her presence in our life every single day.

It’s fun to be a mom of a girl, because there are so many fun things to do with the girls. One of Sophia’s wishes this year was to celebrate her Birthday as a princess. Lucky us, because we have the perfect place for that in our neighborhood.

The place calls Let’s Dress Up. I mentioned about this place last year, when we celebrated one of Sophia’s friend Birthday there.

The place offers a unique experience allowing your child to dress up and become a princess with a small group of friends or just with you.

It’s all about dressing up at Let’s Dress Up -The Premiere Princess Party and Playdate Place … a place where you become the princess!

The place has two locations: one in Manhattan NY, and the other one in New Canaan CT.

To imagine how it looks like I even found the video on line from their place in NY. It’s several years old, but you can still see the atmosphere and the specialty of this place:

 

The range of the costumes is reflected in the variety of their theme birthday parties, which include a Princess Party, Cupcake Party, Red Carpet Party, Doll Tea Party, and Perfect Princess Tea Party. All the parties include Full Dress Up for the girls (beautiful dresses and accessories, sparkly nail polish, eye shadow, lip gloss, fairy dust, and tattoos) and Knight Costumes and Princely Toys for the boys; a tea party; cake; and a party favor (group photo and framed individual photo for each guest).

So we picked Sophia’s closest friends and invited them to a special Event at the Let’s Dress Up place: Dance with the Sugarplum Fairy!!!!

The place was decorated very pretty before holidays

 

The girls had a chance to dress up in different outfits:

 

 

Then The Sugarplum Fairy came to visit and read a book for the girls, put their make up on and played with them:

 

Girls also had a tea party and after that made an ornament for the Christmas Tree:

 

 

It was an amazing Birthday Party and everybody loved it:

 

 

We will definitely be back to this magical place.

Candied pecans. Vegan.

There is an easy recipe I have been making a lot recently and I would like to share it with you today.

When the holiday season and cold weather comes the best thing is to stay at home with your family, drink hot cocoa, eat cookies etc.

I made this crunchy snack a month ago for the first time and now my daughter is asking to make ” yummy nuts” every other day.

Of course I am not making them too often but we always have them now for the family movie nights.

You can even make them and put in the glass jar, as a piece of a holiday present for your friend or a family member.

It takes very little time to make and makes everybody happy.

Vegan, gluten free recipe.

Candied pecans.

Ingredients:

½ cup coconut sugar

2 cups pecans, or any other type of nuts (slivered almonds, walnut halves etc.)

pinch kosher salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

Line a cooling rack with a parchment paper and set aside.

Heat coconut sugar with a little water, spices in heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Stir occasionally with wooden spoon. After several minutes, the sugar will begin to look sticky. Continue to stir. After several more minutes, the sugar will begin to melt. Continue to stir gently. When sugar is completely melted, add nuts.

Empty contents of skillet into thin layer onto prepared rack. Heat the oven to 250F and put the nuts in the oven for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Let cool and break into pieces. Store in cookie tin or glass jar with tightly fitting lid.

Enjoy.

 

Winter girl’s clothes wishlist.

Every season there is something in the fashion field that I really like. I will try to make a list of my favorite pieces now, to keep it organised and easy to find when I want to buy something. I like to check the lists like that from the other people too, so maybe mine will be a help for somebody as well.

So let’s go:

1. Polarn O. Pyret Merino Wool Dress.

How cool is that? Perfect to wear as a layering item or warm fashion piece. 100% merino wool.

2. Polarn O. Pyret Swedish Embroidered Holiday Dress.

Swedish folk style with short capped sleeves. Decorative contrast color Broderie Anglaise detail at skirt. Dress has back button fastening.100% cotton.

3. NextDirect Frozen T-shirt.

The most popular theme for the last year. It’s hard to find some nice piece of clothes with Frozen on it today. 65% cotton, 35% polyester. I am not really happy with the material of this shirt.

4. TeaCollection Chevron Dress for Girls.

Stylish and wellmade dress for girls. 100% cotton sateen.

5. NextDirect Cream Jewel Embellished Coat.

Fancy, stylish coat for a little lady for this winter season. 50% wool, 50% polyester. Lining 100% polyester.

6. NextDirect Pewter Glitter Long Boots.

Show me the girl who doesn’t like glitter? These boots will look great with jeans, dresses, leggings etc.

Upper: textile. Lining and sock: textile/other materials. Outer sole: other materials.

Double Chocolate Mousse Cake.

Does cold weather make you crave more sweet treats? It does for me and with the temperature’s going low I am starting experimenting and trying new dessert recipes.

I haven’t made anything with chocolate for a while and with the coming holidays filled with cocoa and citrus smell, I decided to try something new in case if I want to make it later.

I found this amazing vegan, raw chocolate cake recipe at the Oh, She Glows blog. To be honest, she has tons of vegan recipes and I am just starting learning more about her and trying her dishes. It’s been a success so far, so I am glad I found her blog.

I will share with you my Chocolate cake result today. The original recipe you can find on her blog.

The recipe is vegan, gluten, dairy, refined sugars free.

Double Chocolate Mousse Cake.

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 1/4 cups packed pitted Medjool dates
1 1/4 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
2 1/2 tbsp ground flax seed
2 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp coconut oil
1/4 tsp fine grain sea salt, or to taste
1 tsp water (if needed to bind the dough)

Filling:

2.5 (70%) good-quality dark chocolate bars
1 (400ml) can full-fat coconut milk, room temperature
4 tbsp. pure maple syrup (or liquid sweetener of choice)
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
small pinch fine grain sea salt

 

In a heavy duty food processor, add the pitted dates and process until finely chopped. A big ball will form. Add in the rest of the crust ingredients (including the shredded coconut) and process until everything is combined. The dough should stick together when pressed between your fingers. If it doesn’t, add optional water and process again.
Spoon the crust mixture into the prepared pie dish. Spread out evenly. Starting at the centre, press down firmly moving outward and up the sides of the pie dish. Place dish in the freezer while you prepare the filling.

Break up chocolate bars into chunks and place into a medium-sized pot. ( I used Trader&Joe’s and Theo dark chocolate bars: they are soy, dairy free). Melt the chocolate over the lowest heat setting. When the chocolate is 2/3 of the way melted, remove from heat and stir until completely melted and smooth.
With a spatula, spoon the melted chocolate into a large bowl. Now pour one entire can of room temperature full-fat coconut milk into the bowl with the melted chocolate. Whisk vigorously until completely smooth. Finally, whisk in the maple syrup, vanilla, and a pinch of salt until smooth.

With a spatula, scoop the chocolate filling into the pie crust.

Carefully transfer the pie dish into the refrigerator for approx. 3 hours, or until firm throughout.
Remove pie dish from the refrigerator.
Slice and garnish with toasted coconut flakes, coconut cream, and flaked sea salt, if desired.

Serve immediately as pie will soften quickly.

The cake is very rich and sweet so one piece was enough for me.

Enjoy!!!!!

Citrus Coconut Cookies.

I always experiment with cookies recipes because cookies are popular in our house. Who doesn’t like cookies? They are easy to make and last for a long time. It’s simple snack or dessert which I prefer making myself instead of buying at the grocery store.

One of my favorite combination in cookies is citrus and coconut. I love the smell, the taste and the freshness of these two ingredients mixing together.

The recipe I am sharing today is vegan, gluten, refined sugars, dairy, wheat free.

 

Citrus Coconut Cookies.

Ingredients:

2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
1 cup ground almonds or almond flour
4 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
4 tbsp honey
zest of one lemon or orange
juice of one lemon or orange
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
a pinch of sea salt
pecans for sprinkling

 

Preheat the oven to 320 F, and line a baking tray with baking paper.

In a food processor, add all of the ingredients. Blend for 1-2 minutes, or until the mixture starts to mix together like a dough.

Use your hands to form small balls, and place apart on the baking trays. Press down on the balls lightly to flatten, and then sprinkle with the pecans or any other nuts.

Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until crispy and golden on the outside.

Leave to cool completely, and then enjoy!

Kids Approved!!!!

 

Roasted Eggplant Curry.

I found one good advice recently about weekly grocery shopping and eating on the budget. One of the thing is to eat healthy, clean and on the budget is ” eating the food that is on season”. But this advice tells you to get the food that is available first and after you get home plan what you will make with it. Not the opposite way, as most of the people usually do: plan their dishes for a week and then go and buy everything what they need, at the end it usually looks like you spend more as you expected, because you need all these extra ingredients for your recipe.

I am trying to use this advice and it works for me so far. Of course, I always have something in my head when I see some veggies or fruits in season, and I even have these ideas come to me during grocery shopping. Anyway, eggplants, tomatoes, bell peppers are in season now, and I have been cooking using them a lot.

The recipe I am sharing today is really delicious and works as a main dish with the brown rice or quinoa on the side. There are always leftovers after it, which makes me happy because I can use them the next day for lunch or dinner.

 

This recipe is completely vegan, gluten, dairy free.

 

Roasted Eggplant Curry.

Ingredients:

1 pounds eggplant (about 5 medium Chinese or Japanese eggplant)
3 tbsp. coconut oil
salt, as needed

3 tbsp. or coconut oil
1 cup diced yellow onion
1tbsp cardamon powder

2 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tbsp ground turmeric
4 large garlic cloves, peeled and slivered
1″ chunk of ginger, peeled and cut into long, thin strips

1 pound ripe tomatoes stemmed and diced
1 (13.5 ounce / 400 mL) can full-fat coconut milk
1/2 cup water

 

Preheat the oven to 400ºF. If using a long, slender variety of eggplant, cut them on the diagonal into 1-inch thick slices. If using a globe style eggplant, cut them into 2-inch square chunks. Pile the eggplant slices on a rimmed baking sheet and sprinkle with the coconut oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Toss to coat with your hands. Spread the eggplant pieces on the baking sheet, and roast until golden on the bottoms, about 15 minutes. Remove and turn off the oven.

 

 

Heat the coconut oil in a large pot over a medium flame until it shimmers. Add the onion, and cardamon powder. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are golden and tender, 10-15 minutes.

When the onions are soft, stir in the ground spice mixture, turmeric, garlic, and ginger. Cook for a few minutes to toast the spices, then stir in the chopped tomatoes, coconut milk, water, and the roasted eggplant. Increase the heat to bring the curry to a simmer, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. When finished, the eggplant should still hold its shape, but the sauce around it should be slightly thickened stew-like. It will thicken further if allowed to sit and cool.

Serve over brown rice or quinoa.

Stuffed Potato Skins.

There are some food blogs that I adore. Some bloggers have just tons of amazing recipes and you want to try to make at leaf 80% of them.

One of my favorite food blogger is Edible Perspective. She has incredible recipes and everything that I tried from her blog was delicious and healthy.

She has this recipe recently posted on her blog and I decided to make it on the weekend. It takes a little time to prepare that’s why I picked the weekend day.

Stuffed Potato Skins is the perfect dinner or lunch dish and will work at any time of the year. It’s easier to make it now with all the fresh produce at the market and grocery store. Just make sure to use organic potatoes for this recipe because potatoes are loaded with pesticides especially if you eat them with the skin.

You can find the original recipe here, but I changed a few things a little: 1. didn’t use the cheese; 2. used the yellow onion instead of red; 3. used salsa instead of chipotle adobo sauce.

Stuffed Potato Skins.

 

Ingredients:

5 medium russet potatoes,  scrubbed clean
2-3 tablespoons refined avocado oil, or other high heat safe oil
1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 1/2 cups finely chopped kale, stems removed
1 1/2 cups black beans (cooked)
1+ tablespoons salsa sauce
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon salt + pepper

Avocado Cream:

1 ripe avocado
juice from 1 lime
salt to taste

 

Preheat your oven to 400° F and prick your potatoes a few times each with a fork. Place in the oven on the rack for about 50-65 minutes, or until fork tender and soft to the touch. Prep all veggies during this time.

Remove the potatoes from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Raise the oven temperature to 450° F.

While the potatoes are cooling, heat a large pan over medium with about 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and let cook for about 5-7 minutes until just starting to soften. Stir occasionally. Then add the chopped bell pepper and corn and let cook about 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and stir for about 1 minute. Then add in the kale, black beans, salsa sauce, oregano, salt, and pepper. Let cook for 2-3 minutes, until the kale starts to wilt, then taste and add more salsa sauce.

Carefully slice each potato in half with a sharp knife. Holding the potato in your palm, gently scoop from one end to the other out about half the potato and place in a storage container. Repeat with all potatoes.Rub or brush all sides of the potatoes with oil. Place the cut side down on a large baking sheet and sprinkle each with salt. Place in the oven for about 5-7 minutes. Flip over to see if the cut side is crisped and browned. If so remove the potatoes from the oven.

Flip all potatoes over and lightly salt. Fill each with the bean mixture. Bake for another 3-5 minutes.

Place your avocados, lime juice, and a healthy pinch of salt in a food processor. Process until smooth. Taste and add more lime juice and salt if desired.Scrape into a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge until ready to use.

Serve with avocado cream, hot sauce, cilantro, etc.

 

 

Vegan Apple Pie.

My favorite season just started and I can’t wait to enjoy this fall. I love, love, love fall. I love fall holidays, fall foods and everything that reminds me about this colorful part of the year.

Sophia started school yesterday and because of it, I decided to bake something special for her.

I just wanted to make this day special for her and associate with something warm and delicious.

The best choice for me for this season is apple pie.

I do enjoy any kinds of apple pie, especially warm with the hint of cinnamon.

When I start thinking about the recipe for the apple pie it always needs the ingredients that I don’t have at my house: butter, all purpose flour etc., and I am glad that it’s still easy to make delicious apple pies without all these things, and keep it simple and healthy.

The recipe I used yesterday is vegan, gluten, refined sugars free and easy to make. The only special ingredient is the millet flour that I have for a while already and didn’t have a chance to use it, so yesterday was my first time using it, and it worked great. I believe you can easily replace it with GF oat flour if you don’t have a millet flour.

After Sophia tried the pie she said: ” Mommy, I forgot to tell you, that you’re amazing. I love when you bake for me. I also forgot give you a kiss.”

It means a lot to me when my family enjoys food that I make for them.

Vegan Apple Pie.

 

 

Ingredients:

CRUST INGREDIENTS:

2 cups millet flour

1½ cups almond flour

½ tsp sea salt

½ cup coconut oil

½cup maple syrup

FILLING INGREDIENTS:

3 apples

2 Tbsp lemon juice

2 Tbsp maple syrup

3 Tbsp  crushed pecans

GLAZE INGREDIENTS:

½ cup (gluten free) apricot jam or preserves

2 Tbsp water

1 tsp lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350F. To make the crust: In a food processor, combine millet flour, almond flour and salt. Over a low flame, heat coconut oil and maple syrup; stir to combine. Add coconut oil and maple syrup to flour; pulse until combined. Spread dough in a 9.5 inch oiled tart pan (preferably with a removable bottom). Press down and fill sides to form a crust. Pierce crust with a fork several times and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and flatten crust with a fork, pressing down to make it as compact as possible.

To make the filling: Peel and thinly (and evenly!) slice 4 apples and pile in crust. Combine maple syrup and lemon juice and brush over the apples. Sprinkle pecans on top and bake approximately for 1 hour until the apples are soft and slightly browned.

To make the glaze: Combine apricot jam and water in a small pan and heat on low until the preserves are thinned. Remove from heat and add lemon juice. Brush tart with glaze and serve warm.

Enjoy!!!!!