Gloriously Green Smoothie Bowl

I've realized there are few things I am more afraid of than time passing. I afraid of waking up one day only to know that life has passed me by. This may sound depressing, and it kind of is. But I've also found an easy way to amend that feeling. And that is to make sure that each day is a bit special, memorable in its own way. By doing something different every day you don't get stuck in habits that make you go through life with every day being just like the one before. Of course I'm now going to give you a food-related way to do this (because thoughts of food take up probably 80% of my mind): have something fun for breakfast! Mixing up your breakfast is one way to break habits and it also make starting your day so much more fun! Therefore I'm now officially naming this week breakfast week, and I'll try to share as many good breakfast recipes as possible.

The first recipe I have in store for you is a great green smoothie bowl. I've not really understood smoothie bowls until now, but this mix is a bit to thick to drink and is therefore perfect to enjoy in a bowl with some good toppings. It's super easy to make and contains oats to fill you up and loads of gloriously green stuffs to make it beautiful and stock you up on nutrients! Give it a go! Long live fun breakfasts!

For 1 lucky breakfast-eater

½ dl rolled oats
1 date
2 dl water
½ tbsp. chia seeds
½ apple, and the other half for serving
1 kiwi
¼ avocado (you can increase to ½ if you want to!)
1 tbsp. limejuice
4 mint leaves

For serving:
The second apple half
Goji berries
Coconut

Soak the oats, date and chia seeds in the water overnight. If you're smart, do it in the container of your smoothie mixer!

In the morning, add core the apple and cut it into smaller pieces. Peel the kiwi. Add all the remaining ingredients to your smoothie mixer and blitz until nice and smooth.

Pour the smoothie into a bowl and serve with the topping suggested or others that you prefer.

(You can also make a regular smoothie by adding more water!)

Sticky, gooey and deliciously not healthy

Many people think that being a vegan inherently means eating only healthy food. Well, they’re wrong. In many cases, going vegan means making your diet healthier, sure, but that does not mean that you can’t splurge. You can make just as good ooey gooey pastries as a vegan, which is just what I did for my roommates and me for breakfast a while back. I made sticky buns, completely vegan, not the least healthy and oh so delicious.

You can use this recipe to make regular cinnamon buns too, simply omit the sticky part and proof them on a baking sheet the second time. The recipe makes about 12 buns, and if you feel that is too much for breakfast, you can freeze half of the rolls before the second proofing. Simply put them on a baking sheet and put it in the freezer. Once they’re frozen you can keep them in a sealed bag. To use them, thaw them out in the fridge over night and then put them in a pan with the sticky topping in the morning, proof and bake. In that case, make half the amount of topping each time

Makes about 12 sticky buns

The dough

3 dl vegan milk

¾ dl vegetable oil, such as canola

½ dl sugar

1 chia egg (1 tsp chia seeds/ground chia + 2 ½ tsp water)

25 g fresh yeast or 1 ½ tsp dry yeast

8 dl all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

2-3 tsp cardamom (2 if ground, 3 if your crushing the seeds yourself)

The filling

2 tbsp. coconut oil

¾ - 1 dl brown sugar

Cinnamon

1 apple, cut into small pieces

The sticky topping

3 tbsp. brown sugar

3 tbsp. maple syrup

3 tbsp. water

3 tbsp. coconut oil

2 tsp. grated fresh ginger

1 1/2 – 2 dl chopped nuts

Carefully heat the milk, sugar and oil in a saucepan until lukewarm (about 37 C for fresh yeast and up to 45 C for dry). If it’s any hotter you’ll kill the yeast. Whisk in the chia egg. Place the yeast, salt and cardamom in a bowl. Pour over the liquid and stir to dissolve the yeast. Gradually add the flour and knead until you have a soft and elastic dough. It should still be quite sticky, as it will become firmer while proofing. If you have a bread mixer, do use it as it will improve the quality of the dough. In that case, wait to add the salt and first knead the dough for a good 10 minutes on medium speed. Increase the speed, add the salt and knead for another 2 minutes. Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and let proof until it’s doubled in size. This can take 1-2 hours.

Place the dough on a floured surface. Knead it into a firm ball and let it relax for 10 minutes. Roll it out into a rectangle, about 1 cm thick. Spread the coconut oil over the dough and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Leave about 2 cm at the far longer side of your rectangle unsprinkled, that way it will hold together better when rolled up. Distribute the chopped apple on top and roll it up from the longer side closest to you. Cut the roll into 12 pieces.

Bring all the ingredients for the sticky topping but the nuts to a boil. Stir to make sure all the sugar has dissolved. The oil and water might be a bit separated, but never mind that. Pour the topping into a 24 cm spring pan and sprinkle the nuts on top. Place the rolls in the pan, evenly distributed.

Proof for about 30 minutes to 1 hour, until the dough feels soft and fluffy to the touch and the rolls have about doubled in size.

Turn the oven on to 200°C/400°F. When the buns are done proofing, pop them in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, or until they have browned nicely on top. Take out the pan, loosen the sides and turn the whole thing onto a plate while the sticky topping is still warm. Serve warm. 

Making banana pancakes

“But, baby, you hardly even notice

When I try to show you this

Song is meant to keep you

From doing what you're supposed to.

Waking up too early

Maybe we can sleep in

Make you banana pancakes

Pretend like it's the weekend now”

 - Jack Johnson

There is this song by Jack Johnson called banana pancakes. It’s about how he wants his loved one to forget about the life outside their little home, be lazy and make banana pancakes with him. I simply love this song, not only because it’s a great song, but also because it’s about staying in, being leisurely and caring about the important things instead of whatever irrelevant things may be calling in the world outside. And because it is about pancakes.

So here is my recipe for banana pancakes. I find that vegan banana pancakes can get a bit heavy, so make sure to fry them over low heat so that they cook through properly. Also, keep an eye on the consistency of the batter. If it seems too thick, add more milk. Made properly though these pancakes are a filling, hearty breakfast as well as a perfect way to forget about the world outside on a lazy morning.

If you want to be extra luxurious, add chocolate chips or blueberries to the batter (if using frozen berries, sprinkle them over the pancake in the pan) or sprinkle some extra coconut over the pancake before flipping it.

Makes about 10 pancakes

1 chia egg (1 tbsp. chia seeds + 2 ½ tbsp. water)

1 tbsp. vegetable oil

3 dl vegan milk

3 ½ dl all-purpose flour

1 tbsp. sugar

1 ½ tbsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. cardamom

1 dl shredded coconut

Mix the chia egg in a bowl and let sit for about 10 minutes. Mash the banana in the bowl and then add the milk and oil. In another bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Incorporate the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Heat a pan to low-medium heat. Add a tiny bit of oil and pour in enough batter to make the size of pancakes you like. I recommend not making them too big. Turn the pancakes over when bubbles have started to appear on the surface and it has started to dry slightly. It is key to fry them on low heat so that they get cooked through.

Serve with fresh fruit and maybe some maple syrup. A sprinkle of cinnamon won’t make them worse either, I promise.

Apple, Gingerbread & Rye Porridge with roasted almonds

When I woke up this morning it was way too dark outside and I heard the rain patter on my window. In a moment like that, staying in your cozy bed under a double duvet seems like the only reasonable thing to do. Unfortunately that's not always an option. So I gathered all the mental strength I could muster early in the morning and got up. Luckily, I found the perfect way to turn getting up into something positive! Making som apple, gingerbread and rye porridge! You may say, get a grip, porridge can't make your day. Well, my love for porridge is real and true, so it made mine! Perhaps you also think, it's October, way to early for gingerbread spices. To that I answer a simple no. The warm and spicy flavors of cinnamon, cardamom and cloves... They can heat up any cold morning! So here it is friends, a wonderful way to start a cold fall morning, Apple and Gingerbread Porridge topped of with roasted almonds and sunflower seeds!

The porridge is made from very coarsely ground rye flour. I happen to have a small flour mill at home, so I can make the flour as coarse as I want. If you can't get ahold of this, you can use rye flakes instead, only they won't have to cook as long! Also you'll have to increase the amount to 1 dl.

For one lucky breakfast-eater
¾ dl very coarsely ground rye flour (or 1 dl rye flakes)
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cardamom
A couple of dashes of ground cloves
1 tbsp raisins
2 dates, chopped
2 ½ dl water
1 apple
¼ tsp salt
About 10 almonds
1 tbsp sunflower seeds

Chop up the apple into small pieces. Bring the water to a boil. Add the rye flour, spices, raisins and half of the apple pieces. Stir vigorously to eliminate all lumps and the lower the heat. Let the porridge simmer for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, chop the almonds and roast them together with the sunflower seeds in a dry pan.
When the porridge is done cooking, serve it up in a nice bowl, top with the rest of the apple, the roasted almonds and seeds and a nice dash of cinnamon. Serve with your favorite vegan milk.

Mmm... Muesli!

All you've got to do is mix everything up and pop it in the oven for a while. Perhaps some chopping as well, but that's so easy so it barely counts. With that minimal amount of work, you get the most amazing muesli. So why would you choose to by it? In my opinion at least, more store-bought muesli tastes like cardboard, with a hint of fake aromas and sugar. Give making your own muesli a chance, it couldn't be simpler, and if you store it in a pretty jar it'll look great. Homemade muesli is a great gift too, either to someone else or to your self! You can also put pretty much anything in it, if you don't like cranberries for example, take something else instead! That's the beauty of making it yourself; it turns out the way you want it. This recipe is one of my favorite.

For a lot of muesli:
2 dl rye flakes
2 dl oats
2 dl spelt flakes
1 1/2 dl sunflower seeds
1 dl flaxseeds
1 1/2 dl shredded coconut
1 1/2 dl pumpkin seeds
2 dl buckwheat
1 1/2 dl sesame seeds (take half black sesame seeds if you can get ahold of them)
3 dl (200 g) chopped almonds (if you're not allergic like me, take different kind of nuts. Then you can probably take around 4 dl instead)
1/2 tbsp. ground cardamon
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1/2 dl vegetable oil (choose on that doesn't taste too much)
1 dl water
1 1/2 dl dried cranberries
1 1/2 dl raisins
1 1/2 chopped dried apricots
1 dl finely chopped dates

Mix all the ingredients, except the dried fruit, in a BIG oven-proof dish and roast in a 225 degree oven. It can take about 25 minutes, but give it a stir every 5 minutes so it doesn't burn. When it's a nice golden brown and muesli is all dry, take it out of the oven. Allow to cool and add the dried fruit. Yum yum!

Liquid vegan bar

I made a kind of "raw porridge" for breakfast this morning, which was a first for me. For those of you who are unenlightened on the subject, of something is raw, it hasn't been heated up over 42 degrees. This is supposed to preserve all the nutrients. I have no idea if eating raw really makes that big a difference, but I tried some raw porridge (that just sounds strange...) anyway. Basically it's fruit mixed with seeds and nuts. And it tasted exactly like a vegan bar!


For 1 raw breakfast:
1 banana
1 pear
1 dl seeds and nuts of choice
1/2 tbsp. flax seeds
1 tbsp. canola oil

Mix everything with a hand blender. Serve with your favorite vegan milk, cinnamon, cardamon and shredded coconut. Easy as that!

// Hanna

Porridge with apple and lingonberries

You got to love it, the word lingonberries. That's something Sweden has contributed to the world with. It sound so cute, talk about swenglish. And they taste good too! Here's another great porridge recipe, this time with rye, lingonberries and apple. Enjoy!

For 1 happy breakfast eater:
1 dl rye flakes
2,5 dl water
2 tsp. crushed flax seeds
1 tsp. syrup
1/2 dl lingonberries (frozen works just fine)
1/4 apple
1 krm salt

Mix all the ingredients and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and let simmer without a lid until thick. Try to crush the berries a bit if you can; this will give it a nice color.

Serve with some more apple, agave syrup and your favorite vegan milk!

Rye porridge with blackberries and poppy seeds

Yum again! I love porridge (although I don't really like the word porridge). This nice breakfast I made to celebrate having a free Saturday morning a home. It's kind of similar to the raspberry porridge I had a last week; it's fun to have berries in porridge since they give it such a nice color. Anyhow, try it!

For 1 happy breakfast eater:
1 dl rye flakes (I have no idea what it's called in english, it's oat meal made from rye; it's råggryn)
2,5 dl water
2 tsp. poppy seeds
2 tsp. crushed flax seeds
1 tsp. vanilla sugar
1/2 dl black berries (frozen works just fine)
1 krm salt

Mix all the ingredients and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and let simmer without a lid until thick. Try to crush the berries a bit if you can; this will give it a nice color.

Serve with sliced pear, some poppy seeds and a vegan milk of your choice!

Banana Berry Smoothie

This is how I'm starting of our vegan month; a banana berry smoothie for my take-away breakfast tomorrow morning. It includes at a good portion of fruit, but also some health flax seeds, sesame seeds and wheat germ. Great way to start the day; together with at good sandwich it'll probably last me for a good while. Anyhow, here's the recipe. You might want to omit the sesame seeds, my smoothie got a bit if a bitter taste and I think it was because of them. The wonderful thing about a smoothie is that you can vary it into infinity. I think would be great with some orange for example!

Ingredients:
1,5 dl vegan milk (preferably fortified with vitamins!)
0,5 banana
1 tsp flax seeds
1 tsp sesame seeds
1,5 tbsp wheat germ
4 dried apricots
Frozen berries (I used blackberries and raspberries)

Mix it all together in a blender or similar. If it's a bit to thick, add some juice or milk. Serve and enjoy! (if you want to you can top it of with some berries or other pretty stuff, but I mostly did that to make it look pretty for the picture)

// Hanna