Fantastic smoothie = Pear + matcha

Smoothies are so versatile. Once you get the hang of it you can pretty much make any smoothie you like. You just need to know the basics of making a drinkable smoothie, how to get the right consistency, how to make it taste good and things like that which are summed up in this article. But always keep in mind that smoothies can be quite personalised 🙂

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This smoothie actually goes against all my rules and it’s a very unconventional for my taste.  I have made my share of not-so-good smoothies, especially during the days when I am late for work and forget to add a sweetener or just cram too much greens in the smoothie, I admit it. And I thought this one was just going to be one of those, the ones you drink anyways cause at least they are good for you. But by throwing in whatever I had on hand I just discovered my new favourite smoothie combo: pear and matcha. I guess to me it seemed like a very unconventional pair, until you taste the

Who knew this could be such a great match-a 😀

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Ingredients

1 cup coconut milk ( I used homemade)

1 pear

1/2 teaspoon matcha

1/2 teaspoon maca powder

1/3 teaspoon chlorella

ice

Blend all ingredients together in the blender until you get the desired consistency. You may wish to add water or more coconut milk for a thinner version. Enjoy with homemade bliss balls 🙂

 

Japrak aka Stuffed vine leaves

Do you feel spring comes when the first flowers bloom, when the grass appears greener or when the day becomes longer?

People have different signs when they feel spring has arrived. It may be spring produce, warmer weather or greener scenery, but for me it’s when I can finally make JAPRAK, or stuffed vine leaves. When vine leaves, to be filled with assorted seasonal greens, are in season, it definitely feels like spring to me. That’s when I don’t mind spending hours in the kitchen making the stuffing, then folding leaves and waiting impatiently for them to be done. Kind of therapeutic actually.

 

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Mango breakfast smoothie

Orange Mango Smoothie 1

I guess everyone has noticed the increasing popularity of smoothies the past few years. A smoothie is always a synonym of a healthier choice ( not to be confused with a milkshake, though). There are endless opportunities to make your smoothies healthy and delicious at the same time. This can be done by adding fresh fruit like bananas, strawberries, mangoes or anything you have on hand and pair them with some good antioxidants and natural food supplements such as spirulina, chlorella, mama powder or even matcha.

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Cauliflower crust pizza (for real)

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Final product

Here I am again, in my quest to eat as little processed food as possible without compromising on taste.

Current obsession: cauliflower crust pizza! But who can blame me, when it tastes so good it exceeds all your expectations.

The cauliflower crust pizza craze has been going on for quite a while, and I am bit late catching on. In my defense, I did try to make cauliflower crust a few moths back but it turned out to be a disaster. The crust was completely stuck with the baking paper. This time I handled things differently.

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Hazelnut spread

Hazelnut Spread

It has been raining for so many days straight here, I am not even sure what month it is anymore. These kind of gloomy, rainy days are a perfect inspiration to get in the kitchen and start cooking something.

If you are feeling the same, I have the perfect way to cheer things up in the kitchen and your whole house. Make some hazelnut spread/butter from scratch. And when I say from scratch I mean from the very scratch. Like cracking your own hazelnut shells.

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Fast Chocolate Pudding

Chocolate Pudding

Chocolate pudding is my guilty pleasure. And when I crave it, I need it really fast. The store bought pudding is a very desperate measure, but since I saw the fastest pudding recipe ever, I gave up the store pudding.

This recipe I got from Food52 only takes about 10 minutes and uses a blender. That was really surprising at first, and as all unconventional things brought some skepticism. But you only need to try it once, realise how easy and fast you can make chocolate pudding and you are hooked.

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Homemade Coconut milk

Freshly made coconut milk

During my experimental phase when I was trying to not eat dairy ( and it was so hard to give up cheese and yogurt) I tried to “milk” anything. One of my favorite and also easiest milking procedures is making fresh coconut milk.

Of course, living in South East Europe doesn’t make it a great place to grow coconuts, so I usually use the brown coconut, not the green fresh one you may find in tropical climates.

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A bowl of comfort – Bubur Kacang Hijau

Babur Kacang Hijau

There is something very comforting about food in a bowl: a hot bowl of soup, a fresh bowl of ramen, a crunchy bowl of cornflakes (for dinner), a wholesome bowl of beans. Beans. Mung beans and coconut milk. Tropical comfort in a bowl to bring me back to palm skies and mango tress.

My first encounter with Bubur Kacang Hijau was this summer, during my short stay in Indonesia. It was one of the very few breakfast items I didn’t recognize at the breakfast buffet. And if you know me, I am always up for trying new things, especially related to food. A warm bowl of sweet aromatic coconut milk with mung beans. I lost count how many ladles of goodness I poured myself that morning. I hadn’t tried mung beans before, and I wouldn’t have guessed that they would make such a perfect match with coconut milk.

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