It really is summer now and I love going outside not having to worry about bringing a jacket and wearing my sandals everyday! However, with these beautiful days my craving for a warm meal have disappeared. Lots of salads for me now!! But sometimes you have got to spice things up a bit so today I will share one of my go-to meals when I don't feel like doing lots of cooking (I rather spend my time outside)!  

 

Zucchini Spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce
Tomato sauce for 2
Ingredients
- 3 large (ripe) tomatoes
- 1 red pepper
- 1 yellow pepper
- 1 carrot
- 1 large hand of fresh basil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Directions
Cut all the vegetables into small pieces. When all have been cut place them in a little saucepan, together with the olive oil and basil, over middle high heat. Let this simmer for about 20 minutes. Once everything is soft and mushy transfer to your food processor and mix until you have a wonderful thick sauce. Serve directly with your zucchini pasta and enjoy!

Love,
Sanne

 

Crispy hot fries

Who loves crispy hot fries?! I DO!! I love everything spicy, seriously, mustard is my best friend and I put chili powder on every single one of my dishes. So crispy hot fries being my FAV snack won't come as a surprise;) These babies are supereasy to make, are healthy and perfect served with a good old veggie burger or, like I did with some corn on cob!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crispy hot fries (serves one)

Ingredients

1 large Russet

2 teaspoons coconut oil

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro

a generous pinch teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)

Directions

Start by preheating your oven to 420 degrees.

Scrub the potato and cut into not more than and 1/4 inch thick wedges.

Place the wedges in a big bowl and add together the oil and spices. Mix until all the wedges are covered. Spread the wedges out on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Place the wedges in your oven and bake for 15 minutes. Turn the fries and bake for another 8 minutes until golden brown and deliciously crispy!

 

Enjoy!

 

Love,

Sanne

 

 

 

 

 

Nutbutter energybars

Hi loves,
Today I was scrolling through my Instagram pictures and found an oldy but goody of my nutbutter energy bars! Weirdly enough I never got around to posting the recipe.. I think it was because I forgot to make a decent pic (still haven't got one but I will upload a close up somewhere this week!) These babies are packet with beautiful ingredients and give you that extra whoop whoop when you feel like taking a nap or when you need to perform at your very best and you could use some extra energy!

Nutbutter energybars
Ingredients:
1 very ripe banana
1 cup spelt oats 
1/2 cup (ground) mixed nuts
1/2 cup medjool dates
1/4 cup desiccated coconut
1/4 cup buckwheat
2 tbsp chiaseeds
2 tbsp nutbutter (I went for almond butter)
2 tbsp coconutoil
2 tbsp cinnamon powder
3 tbsp dried cherries

Directions:
Start by preheating your oven to 280 degrees. While your oven is doing all the hard work, you'll have more than enough time to whip up these yummy bars. In your foodprocessor mix the banana, nutbutter, coconut oil and the dates. Process until you have a nice and smooth mixture.
Add the rest of the ingredients (except the cherries) and pulse until combined. Line a baking tray with baking paper and pour in your energybar mixture, place the cherries on top. Put into your oven for about 20 minutes. Let it cool and cut into individual bars. Perfect to take with you to work or school! Enjoy!!

Love,
Sanne

Superfood nicecream

Hi sweethearts! Today I am gonna share my favorite recipe in the world! Superfood nicecream! Seriously the easiest thing to make (like, you don't even need an icecreammaker!!), it gives you an instant energyboost and most important.. this healthy cream tastes so soo good!

Superfood Nicecream
Ingredients
2 frozen bananas (cut them into small pieces and store overnight, in an airtight container, in your freezer)
2 passion fruits (1 to mix through the cream and one as topping)
Handful of frozen blueberries
½ glass of water
2 tablespoons chia seeds
2 tablespoons acai powder
2 tablespoons coconut chips
Optional topping: goji berries, mulberries and inca berries

Directions
Place the frozen banana pieces and the water in your blender and mix until you have a creamy mixture. Add the frozen fruit and passion fruit and mix again. Finally add the chia, acai and coconut chips. Spoon into a bowl and garnish with your favorite superfoods!
Enjoy loves!!

Sanne

Sunday Morning Lemon Waffles

Sweethearts! I hope you've all had the most amazing weekend! I spent mine with my family, normally I have got so many things to do on Saturday and Sunday. But since life is a bit hectic lately I decided to take some me time and relax with my mum's family. Because you can't come empty handed I made some vegan waffles and brought some fresh fruits from the farmers market for the topping!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vegan, lemon waffles with a tropical topping.

Ingredients

3/4 cup (unsweetened) almond milk

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp melted coconut oil

3/4 cup brown rice flour

1/4 cup almond meal

1/4 cup potato starch

juice of 1 small lemon

2 flax eggs

1 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp agave nectar

 

Directions

Start by preheating your waffle iron to desired level of heat.

In a big bowl, combine the almond milk together with the vinegar and set aside for a few minutes.

Add the coconut oil, lemon juice, flax eggs, agave nectar and whisk. Again set aside 5 minutes.

Mix all the dry ingredients and mix with all the wet ingredients.

Cook according to the manufacturer instructions. Once baked, place on a baking rack in a 180 degree oven so they stay warm until served!

 

Enjoy!

 

Love,

Sanne

 

Crispy Sweet Potato Fries

Morning loves! Hope everyone is doing really well! As it is almost weekend I decided to share a snack I make almost every Sunday afternoon: crispy sweet potato fries! They are extremely easy to make and you can enjoy them within 30 minutes, which is the reason why they are such a hit in our family!

Health Benefits Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes are extremely good for you as they are full of wonderful vitamins, iron and magnesium:
- Sweet potatoes are high in vitamin B6. This vitamin helps reduce chemicals in our bodies. Homocysteine chemicals have been linked with degenerative diseases, including prevention of heart attacks!
- Sweet potatoes are a good source of vitamin C. While most people know that vitamin C is important to help ward off cold and flu viruses, few people are aware that this crucial vitamin plays an important role in bone and tooth formation, digestion, and blood cell formation. It helps accelerate wound healing, produces collagen which helps maintain skin’s youthful elasticity, and is essen­tial to helping us cope with stress. It even appears to help protect our body against toxins that may be linked to cancer.
- Sweet potatoes contain Vitamin D which is critical for immune system and overall health at this time of year.  Both a vitamin and a hormone, vitamin D is primarily made in our bodies as a result of getting adequate sunlight. You may have heard about seasonal affective disorder (or SAD, as it is also called), which is linked to inadequate sunlight and therefore a vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D plays an important role in our energy levels, moods, and helps to build healthy bones, heart, nerves, skin, and teeth..
- Sweet potatoes contain iron. Most people are aware that we need the mineral iron to have adequate energy, but iron plays other important roles in our body, including red and white blood cell production, resistance to stress, proper im­mune functioning, and the metabolizing of protein, among other things.
- Sweet potatoes are a good source of mag­nesium, which is the relaxation and anti-stress mineral. Magnesium is necessary for healthy artery, blood, bone, heart, muscle, and nerve function, yet experts estimate that approximately 80 percent of the popula­tion in North America may be deficient in this important mineral.

Crispy Sweet Potato Fries
Ingredients
4 medium sweet potatoes

2 tablespoons of coconut oil

1 tablespoon red pepper powder

1/2 tablespoon chili powder

Sea salt

 

Directions

Soak your sweet potatoes in a bowl for 2 hours (cold water!). After the two hours, rinse and dry them with a towel - this step is not necessary but will make your fries very crispy and yummy! 

Preheat your oven to 420 degrees.
peel and cut the potatoes into this slices. In a bowl, mix the coconut oil and the spices. Add the fries and mix till they are all covered. Take a baking tray, covered with baking paper, lay the fries on the tray and make sure they are separated - otherwise they won't become crispy!
Bake the fries for 30 minutes, flipping them every 10 minutes.
ENJOY!! 

Love,
Sanne

 

Banana pancakes with coyo

Hi sweethearts!

I have got another really delicious recipe for to post today! Since a lot of you asked for my banana pancake recipe I have spent the last week perfecting the recipe so I can finally update this on my blog! So weird, the whole time Ive been working on my blog, I haven't posted a simple banana recipe. Shame on me!

A bit over a week ago it was Eastern and I was lucky enough to celebrate this holiday with my boyfriend in Paris. We had the most wonderful time but this meant we missed out on all the holiday festivities with our family and friends. To make up I made these banana pancakes (pretty festive huh?!). I loved the topping of bananas, blueberries and raspberries. We picked them up on boulevard Raspail the day before. Anyone ever been there? It is seriously the most beautiful organic market I have ever seen! I will post some pics to give you guys an impression!




















Banana-coconut pancakes
Ingredients
4 flax eggs
2 bananas
1 cup of old fashioned oats
2 tbsp coyo (coconut yoghurt)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions
Mix all the ingredients in your blender or food processor until smooth and bake like for about 2 minutes on each side! Top with your favorite fruits and enjoy with your loved ones!

Love,
Sanne

Why I love (!!) monomeals

What exactly is a monomeal?
A 'mono meal' is simply when you eat only one type of food and you don't combine any food.
Examples of monomeals are:
- eating nothing but bananas for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
- eating nothing but mangoes for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
- eating nothing but watermelon for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

I understand that, for people who are used to eating meals that involve a lot of ingredients and love fancy food preparations, the idea of eating nothing but pineapple might seem boring and bland, but to me the idea of eating all the pineapple I want (without limitations) is pure heaven! Plus eating a meal that mother nature spent a lot of time and energy creating for you is so fulfilling!




















Eating monomeals has a lot of benefits for your health;
- first of all it is the most simple way to eat, if you don't have any time to prepare a huge lunch just grab a watermelon or a bunch of bananas!
- Monomeals are the easiest meals to digest.
- You can find out very easily which foods work for you and which doesn't. Your body reacts to certain foods. When you only eat juicy oranges and you feel healthy, energized and happy you know these really work for you!
- Your body will tell you when you've had enough. You wont overeat. Since you are paying attention to the taste and the texture of what you are eating. This means that your body will let you know whenever you have had enough. This will do so by causing your taste buds to shift in a way that will cause the delicious food you're eating to become tasteless and unappealing, making it impossible to overeat (awesome!!) 

I really love monomeals, for the previous reasons mentioned, but too because I often can't choose which of my favorite fruits to eat during the day. Now I don't have to choose and it really makes life so simple. In the morning I eat 4 bananas, as a snack 1 pineapple or watermelon, for lunch I often grab a few mangoes and again as a snack 2 avocados.

Hope I made you guys a bit curious and you're gonna try eating a monomeal in the near furture!   

Love,
Sanne

Sweetest, darkest, strawberry-chocolate cake EVER!

When people think of preparing vegan recipes, most of them assume a few things: It's going to be difficult buying substitutes for animal products, it's going to be time-consuming to prepare, and it won't be very satisfying to eat. With my birthday coming up real quick I want to take away a lot of these misconceptions about vegan food. Starting with this mindblowing chocolate cake.  I love the challenge of adapting recipes for people's favorite foods so when my friends and family told me they all loved chocolate cake (who doesn’t?) I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to surprise them all with this sweetest, darkest strawberry-chocolate cake ever!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sweetest, darkest strawberry-chocolate cake EVER
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups speltflour
1 cup coconut flower sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/3 cup coconut oil

1 cup warm water
1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Handful of strawberries

Handful of chopped walnuts

2 tbsp lemon juice

Directions

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. In your foodprocessor, mix together the speltflour, the coconut flower sugar and the baking soda. When blended together, add the water, vanilla, coconut oil and the apple cider and pulse again until you have a smooth consistency.

Add the berries together with the lemon juice into a saucepan. Simmer over medium heat until the fruit softens and begins to break downs. Remove from the heat.

Pour the cacaomixture into a baking tin and blend in the strawberry jam as well as the chopped walnuts.

Place into your oven for 30 minutes, until your knife comes out clean.

Let the cake cool off completely (approx. 2 hours) before serving.

ENJOY loves!!

Sanne

 

 

Homemade Vegan Walnut Brownies

Morning loves!! I hope you've all had the most amazing weekend! We are experiencing the most pleasant weather here in Amsterdam so I have spent my days mostly outside. Still it gets chilly in the evening which for me was the perfect time for some baking. I was thinking about some new treats when it hit me.. I have NEVER made vegan brownies! Which is insane, thinking brownies were my favorite for a long long time - before I turned to a vegan diet.

Brownies can be easily made vegan, payaya, black beans, tofu and sweet potato are known for being an excellent base. I went for sweet potatoes because I returned from the farmers market with 2 big bags (I eat them everyday).

Vegan Walnut Brownies
Ingredients
2 large sweet potatoes
1 very ripe, small banana
1 cup of ground walnuts
1/2 cup of ground almonds
20 dates (soaked overnight)
3/4 cup of almond flour
5 tbsp raw cacao powder (carob powder will do fine too)
4 tbsp agave syrup
pinch of cinnamon

Directions
Start by preheating your oven to 180 degrees celcius. Place your two potatoes into your microwave (3 minutes for every 200 gram on 750 watt) until they are really soft and beginning to fall apart. Peel the skin of your potatoes and add them, together with the banana, dates and the agave syrup, to your food processor. Pulse until you have a smooth and creamy consistency. Add the almond flour and pulse again till its completely absorbed. Add the almonds, walnuts, cacao powder and your cinnamon.

Scoop the mixture into a (lined) baking dish and place into your preheated oven for about 20 minutes until the brownie is dry from the inside (pierce the brownie with a fork). Place the brownie on a baking tray and allow it to cool of for at least 20 minutes.

Enjoy with some homemade almond milk!

Love,
Sanne

Spelt-Banana Muffins with Walnuts

Morning sweethearts!
Hope you are all doing wonderful and are ready for a new delicious recipe!
I have been experimenting with cupcakes and muffins lately as my birthday is coming up real quick..
Last week I posted a recipe for these delicious vegan muffins and after some adjustments I came up with a renewed, supereasy version!




















Spelt-Banana muffins with walnuts
What you need
1 cup dairy free milk (I used coconut milk)
14 dates (8 medjool dates)
1 large ripe Banana
1/2 cup Spelt flour
handful Walnuts
1/4 cup Coconut Oil
1tsp baking soda

Directions
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.
In your food processor, blend the banana with the dates and coconut milk until you have a smooth mixture. Add the Coconut Oil and pulse again. Stir in the 1/2 cup of Spelt Flour, the baking soda and the walnuts. Pulse until everything is combined.
Pour the mixture into your muffin tins and bake in your oven for 25 minutes until they have a golden crust and aren't moist on the inside. Let the muffins cool for 10 minutes on a cooling rack before serving.

Love,
Sanne

Nutbutter Chocolate Granola

Last night my boyfriend was watching football, which isnt really interesting me, so after a polite 5 minutes of oeeh´s and aaaaw´s I sneaked into the kitchen to try out this recipe that I has been on my mind all day -- Crunchy Nutbutter Chocolate Granola! Perfect when you want to spice up your smoothies and soy yoghurt. This is also delicious with cashew milk or almond milk.

Nutbutter Chocolate Granola
What you need
1 cup buckwheat (buckinis)
1 cup of coconut flakes
5 tbsp of raw agave syrup
3 tbsp of nutbutter (I used almond butter)
3 tbsp of carob powder
3 tbsp coconut oil
Handful of mulberries

Directions
Start with preheating your oven to 120 degrees celcius/250 degrees fahrenheit. Melt the coconut oil and mix together with your agave syrup and nutbutter until you have a smooth consistency. Add the buckinis, coconut flakes and carob powder (leave out the mulberries) and swirl until everything is covered with your nutbutter paste. Line a tray with baking paper and pour your mixture onto it. Place the tray into your oven for about 30 minutes. After 30 minutes take out and let it cool. Add the mulberries (puffed quinoa and cacao nibs work wonders too) and ENJOY!

Love,
Sanne

Chocolate Muffins

Morning loves! Hope you all have had an amazing weekend! I know I did because I finally had time to do some baking.. expect some lovely recipes this week! I have been meaning to make some muffins for quite some time. Ever since I visisted Antwerp and had some delicious vegan muffins at this little pastry shop. So this weekend I finally bought a muffin tin and made these delicious and healthy chocolate muffins.They are literally bursting with flavor, perfectly sweet and moist, and have wholesome ingredients like flaxseed, banana, cacao and dates.

Chocolate Muffins
What you need
1 cup buckwheat flour (almond and spelt flour will work too)
1 cup potato starch
3 large ripe bananas
1 cup medjool dates
3/4 cup raw cacao powder
1/2 cup plant based milk (I used almond milk)
2 tbsp baking powder

Directions
Preheat your oven to 395 degrees. In your food processor, blend the bananas, dates and your milk until you have a smooth consistency. In a large bowl, add all the dry ingredients and mix together. Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients and stir. If the batter is still a bit dry you can add a bit more milk.

Scoop the batter into your muffin tin, top with goodies you like (I went for cacao nibs and puffed quinoa), and place into your preheated oven for about 20 minutes until they have a golden crust and aren't moist on the inside. Let the muffins cool for 10 minutes on a cooling rack before serving.

Enjoy!!!

Love,
Sanne

Banana Mango Bowl

Morning loves!! A quick post before I have to start my day! As I am always on the run, I live on simple, healthy and delicious dishes. 
Especially in the morning, when I only have 5 minutes to spare to make my breakfast, I swear by this yummy banana-mango bowl! So specially for you loves, some delicious breakfast inspiration! 

Banana Mango Bowl
What you need
2 bananas
1 mango
2 passionfruits
handful raspberries
handful raw shredded coconut
5 tbsp coyo (coconut yoghurt)

Directions 
Garnish your coconut yoghurt with all the toppings and ENJOY!

Love,
Sanne