feel food club

Vegetarian

Ultimate healthy and creamy raspberry overnight oats from dahoam

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Summer is a tough time for all porridge lovers. As good as porridge is, who wants to have a steaming hot bowl of oat in the morning when you already start to sweat when you just take a look outside. That’s why we need a cold alternative. Cold oats? Yes, that’s a thing. Overnight Oats. And no, they are not boring or taste like a babyfood.

What are overnight Oats?

As the name already suggests, overnight oats is a form of oatmeal that is prepared overnight. Well not exactly. Usually they are prepared the evening before by mixing together oats and milk and then they chill in the fridge for a few hours, mostly overnight. This way the oats can really absorb and soak up the milk to get soft for the next morning

What is special about this dish?

Well, first, and most important, this breakfast, snack, dessert, whenever you want to enjoy it, is SO EASY to be made from LOCAL ingredients only. Why? Especially here in Austria we have a lot of farmers for local dairy products (but you can find this in most countries). Also, in pretty much any supermarket or bulk store you can find rolled oats that are grown in Austria, because we have an ideal climate here. And lastly, at the moment it is the season of berries, which means nothing is easier than finding berries from Austria right now.

Why is it better to buy local?

There is no single answer to this but I divided it into 4 main reasons:

  1. You support your local economy. Especially during or after a crisis like the one we are going through right now it is important to really support the country you live in. The farmers who produce Austrian products have also been hit by the crisis and as a nation it is important to help together. With supporting the economy you also save and maybe create new jobs, which is very important at the moment, since a lot have gone to loss.
  2. It’s environmental impact: when you buy locally, the goods do not have to be transported for a long time by ships, planes, cars or trains. Especially in a country like Austria, transport way are not very distant and this way we save a lot of CO2 and therefore have a positive impact on the environment.
  3. To be independent: This may sound weird at first but the importance is shown in crisis like the one at the moment. of course raspberries from countries like Spain or Portugal may be cheaper. But when we all keep buying those because they are cheaper, the amount of Austrian raspberries planted will be reduced. And then, when facing a crisis as the current, where delivery and the entire transport system suddenly stops or is interrupted we will not have enough berries to satisfy our needs. So when we consume the products we produce in the country we live in, we, as a nation, are more independent.
  4. Quality: when you buy local products (at least in Austria), you can expect the quality of the product to be at a high standard and you know this. When buying from other countries, where you may not not the quality standards, you may be disappointed and the product may contain some unnatural additives.

Where I get my local products from:

The main ingredient, so the Oats I buy at a bulk store. The one I go to is called Lieber Ohne and it only has organic and unpackaged food, mostly from the region but you can see from any product where it comes from.

The Dairy products I get at Joseph Brot. They are an organic bakery and always have dairy products from Austrian farmers in reusable jars and bottles. A great way to buy local and without producing waste.

The berries I get at a local market. I know where they come from and I can choose the ones I want myself!

The same goes for the honey and nuts. I either get both at Lieber Ohne or I get them at a farmers market!

How to make really good overnight oats:

As I said, overnight oats usually are prepared by solely combining oats with milk. Since this tastes a little boring as you can imagine we are taking a regular version and making it fancier, while still keeping it simple. By adding fruits we add an extra kick and we also use some more ingredients to make it extra creamy and delicious!

This already starts with the oats. Maybe you already know, maybe you do not – there are different kinds of oats. Larger (whole) ones and finer ones. While large ones work great for things like granola, finer ones are best for porridge and overnight oats. This may sound a little stupid because they are the same product in the end of the day but this really makes a difference! Finer ones just absorb the liquid better and therefore make it creamier.

Also, when wanting really creamy overnight oats it is best to add some yoghurt. In here I like to use greek yoghurt because it also is very easy to get in reusable glass jars but any other yoghurt or plant based yoghurt works just fine. Again, this makes it super creamy.

Another two ingredients which I would always recommend to be adding in are chia seeds and a little syrup. The chia seeds will swell up and make everything stick together better. The syrup adds a little sweetness (even if it just is a tiny drizzle) and make it 10 times better!

My last tip on making overnight oats is to add some fruit when making them. You for sure can just add some fruit on top the next day but adding them the night before helps the oats to soak up some of their sweetness, taste and juices, so it’ll infuse the entire dish.

More oat inspiration…

If you do like oats, just as I do you can check out a few other recipes of mine, which you are going to like for sure, like the Mango Overnight Oats, Oatmeal with Caramelized Bananas, Bircher Muesli with Honey Poached Apple, Healthy Peach and Cherry Crumble, Mango Coconut Granola or my Apple and Cranberry Granola !

How to make this dish low waste

Making delicious dishes while not producing much waste is actually pretty easy. If you wanna learn how, then you can read this at my Andalusian Gazpacho Post, My Easy No-Waste ice Cream Sandwiches or my No-waste French Toast with Basil Apricots blog post!

So just to summarise:

  • buy your oats at a bulk store! You can go there with your own jars or Tupperware and buy lots and lots of grains without packaging! A very sustainable way.
  • Get your dairy products at your local bakery. Most times bakeries have a small section with dairy products, which most of the time are packaged in reusable jars or bottles
  • Go to a local market. Getting fresh fruit there often is better than at the supermarket. Primarily, you know where it comes from easily and it most of the times is not packaged in plastic. I am aware that you will not find berries without packaging but mostly they at least come in paper or cartoon.

To sum up

I hope that this little guide and explanation really helps you to understand why it is important to buy locally and also include more local products easily into your daily life. Plus, you have really incredibly delicious breakfast recipe for these late summer days!

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The Ultimate Healthy and Creamy Raspberry Overnight Oats

A delicious, creamy and refreshing summer breakfast for those hot summer days with regional ingredients

Course Breakfast, brunch, Snack
Prep Time 10 Minuten
Total Time 10 Minuten
Servings 2 servings
Calories 414 kcal

What you will need

  • 100 g rolled oats the finer the better
  • 100 g greek yoghurt
  • 200 ml milk (you can also use plant based milk)
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp chia seeds
  • 200 g raspberries
  • a few walnuts and raspberries for garnish

How to

  1. In a large bowl mash the raspberries until mushy. Add the rolled oats, yoghurt, chia seeds, honey and milk and stir until everything is combined well.

  2. Keep in the fridge for at least 4 hours to overnight.

  3. Take out the next morning and top with extra greek yoghurt, raspberries and nuts. Enjoy!

I hope you enjoy,
Happy cooking,
Katie // Une Petite Cuisinière

No waste French Toast with Basil Apricots

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This recipe post is a very special one to me. I do not just want to introduce a super delicious and healthy recipe to you but I also want to address a topic with this: sustainability and food waste in the kitchen. I believe that there is way to much food thrown away and that way to often we do not care about making conscious and sustainable decisions in the kitchen. With this recipe I designed one that is low to zero waste, that is fully organic and local and that is made of regional ingredients from Austria. Kind of a back to the roots recipe to raise awareness of how wasteful we can be in the kitchen.

But first, what even is French toast?

I think most of us know, but not everyone. French Toast is bread that has been soaked in milk, eggs, and sugar (traditionally) and then is fried in a pan, served with syrup. In Austria it also is very popular with the name „Armer Ritter“. It is something actually pretty traditional in the Austrian cuisine but has only become really popular with the American name „French Toast“.

How to reduce (food) waste with French toast

The great thing about this dish is that it is something we Austrians would call „Restlessen“. This literally translates to eating the remains, so what’s left. It is an amazing (and pretty tasty) way to use leftovers.

  • Instead of throwing bread away that is one week old and already pretty stale, you can use it for this recipe. That way you save food from being thrown away AND you make a super tasty meal. A win win. But it still is by far not popular enough, unfortunately, that’s why I want to encourage you to give it a shot. Next time you consider throwing bread away, try this out.
  • Similar goes for the apricots. I sometimes feel that apricots are like avocados. They are not ripe for a week and then suddenly one day they are and the next they go bad. And if you do not want to make something with the apricots this one exact day when they are good, you are likely to throw them away. Which is sad. When you cook them down, add some lemon juice, a little sweetener and some fresh basil you basically make something like jam (Marmalade). And this will last for several days in the fridge. Again, you do not have to throw anything away and you create something super tasty. What I love most about this is that you can add this „jam“ to basically anything from yogurt bowls, porridge, cake to ice cream or another dessert cream. And no, you cannot only make this with apricots. With pretty much any fruit it works. Peaches, berries, cherries, whatever you have on hand and you feel like you can use up.

What about the rest?

Well, that’s the two main components that are contributing to reduce waste. But what about the rest? We still need milk, eggs, sweetener, oil and yogurt. So one by one.

  • Milk: As for the milk, I love to buy it as Joseph Brot . This comes from Austrian farmers, is all organic and packaged in glass bottles. Glass bottles are amazing because they are reusable. And also if you cannot return them you can use them at home for example when you make fresh smoothies or juices. Reuse and reduce waste.
  • Bread: Joseph Brot to be honest is where I go for most of my organic ingredients for recipes like those. Not only do they have the best and organic sourdough bread in whole Vienna, which is made of grains from Austria but it also comes in paper bags. No plastic.
  • Yoghurt: Moreover they have organic Austrian yoghurt. Another ingredient for this recipe. And again, it comes in glass jars. Whenever such a jar is empty I love to use it for storage. No matter if it is for nuts, dried fruits or a homemade sauce or dip that needs to be stored in the fridge. I just wash them when empty and reuse them. So incredibly handy to have on hand. I am not in any way sponsored by them and I do not want to tell you that you need to go there to buy your ingredients. Most supermarkets (I know Billa and Spar do so) have milk and yoghurt in glass jars. But what I love most about going to Joseph is that I know that the products don’t travel for days because they are all from Austria. This also is better for the environment of course and their CO2 footprint.
  • The sweetener: I love using honey as a sweetener because of several reasons: first, it’s super tasty, second, it is healthier than sugar since it does have some nutrients, third: you get it at every corner in Austria. Plus, most of the times you get it in glass jars. No plastic, less waste, reusable. I have already told you why glass jars are pretty cool but think about this: you empty your honey jar, you wash it and you can store your homemade apricot jam in it. Isn’t that amazing? It is!
  • Eggs: here it is really hard to go no waste. But there are great ways to can get close! When you purchase eggs do not buy them pre-packaged. Either buy them on a farmers market or some supermarkets have places where you can fill them into the boxes yourself. This is really convenient because you an reuse the cartoon boxes several times and you d not automatically take a new one every time you purchase eggs. Another thing that I have seen recently is a reusable egg container. So it is like a cartoon box but made out of plastic (unfortunately) but you can basically use it forever and always refill it. if you want to go 100% zero waste you could also, after using the eggs, compost the shell or if you have a farmer close to you give it to them because they may feed it to their chicken.
  • Oil: last but not least we have the oil. I prefer using something like sunflower seed oil because it is quite neutral in taste but it is regional and often comes in glasswork bottles. But also coconut oil works well (just that it is not regional here) because it has a very high cooking temperature. Also, it most of the time comes in glas containers. Again, you can reuse them. In the kitchen, for storage or even for decoration. If you add some flower leaves and a candle, this makes a beautiful decoration and accounts for an amazing atmosphere.

Why buying local?

Buying local can never harm. There are 2 main reasons I buy local. the first one is the impact it has on the environment. The transportation already makes a huge difference if the apricots come from Styria, which is 200km away or from Portugal, which is 2000km away. They do not need to be shipped by plane, they do not need a cooling system that lasts for days and is energy consuming. They come from Styria, maybe on the same day you purchase and use them.

Secondly, right now, more than ever it is important to support your local economy and local farmers. This crisis has hit every single one of us and some more than others. Of course apricots from Portugal may be cheaper because agricultural standard are not as high as they are here and therefore Austrian farmers have a harder time competing with farmers from abroad. But in order to keep the Austrian system alive and to fight through this crisis together we have to stay strong and support each other.

The last point: why buying organic

I think we have all heard that buying organic (Bio) food is better than purchasing non organic food! But why actually? Several reasons. When jr comes to fruit and veggies I would ALWAYS long for organic food when available. When being produced organic no pesticides or chemicals are allowed to be used. The use of those does not only harm our environment and soil in the long term but it actually is not good for our overall health. All of the things that have been added or injected into the food to help it trow faster and bigger can in the long term really mess up your gut and the bacteria in it and digestion. Those are things our bodies don’t know and therefore do not know how to really handle it. So really, try to buy organic. It is more expensive but your health should be worth the investment.

The other reason is, when it comes to animal products, the living conditions of the animals are better than for non-organic. Unfortunately they are not always much better or good, but organically produced animal products have higher standards.

Why doing and considering all of this? 

See, if we keep our food consumption and buying behavior as is, these are not very good conditions for the agriculture in the future. We need to make a change and we should start now. Producing less or no waste is essential as well as supporting local economy (especially after or while facing such a crisis). Furthermore it is better for our bodies and the environment when we make a change to organic shopping.

I know all of this information may be a little bit overwhelming at once. Still, I wanted to pack it all in one blog post to have the overview and because it is so important to me. I just wanted to give you a brief introduction into all of these aspects but I can also do a more detailed blog post on these topics if you are interested. But for now, I hope that you will love and enjoy this recipe and keep all of this information in the back of your head.

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No waste Apricot Basil French Toast

Course Breakfast, brunch, Dessert
Prep Time 10 Minuten
Cook Time 10 Minuten
Total Time 20 Minuten
Servings 2 servings

What you will need

  • 1 egg
  • 150 ml milk
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • a pinch of sea salt
  • 2 large slices of bread can be a few days old and stale
  • 5-6 apricots
  • 1 handful basil
  • 1 tbsp butter or oil
  • 150 g greek yoghurt
  • 1 tbsp honey

How to

  1. Combine the eggs, milk, honey and sea salt in a bowl. Add the slices of bread and dip them into the mixture. Let them soak in the liquid for about 2 minutes on each side.

  2. In a pan heat up half of the butter. Slice the apricots and finely slice the basil. Add the apricots into the hot pan and sautée them for 2 minutes on high heat. Turn the heat down to medium and add the basil and honey and let simmer for about 5 minutes until it is a bit saucy.

  3. Add the remaining butter to another pan and heat it up. Add the soaked bread and fry on each side for about 3 minutes on medium high. Take the bread out and place it on two plates. Add the remaining egg and milk mixture to the pan and make "sweet scrambled eggs".

  4. In a seperate bowl combine the greek yoghurt with the honey and whisk until creamy and smooth. Top the french toast with the basil apricots and the whipped honey greek yoghurt. Serve with some more honey or maple syrup and enjoy!

Happy cooking,
Enjoy,
Katie // Une Petite Cuisiniere

Incredibly Easy Kiwi Chia Pudding (Vegan)

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As a child we often get pudding. But usually it is made out of the package, contains hundreds ingredients we cannot even pronounce and it is really unhealthy. But it does not have to be. Neither does it have to be the classic vanilla or chocolate flavour. No, we are being way fancier and healthier here. Kiwi Chia Pudding.

Why is pudding not healthy?

Usually pudding is made out of a lot of milk, sugar, cream or butter. None of which really is healthy. Sugar, obviously is pretty unhealthy for our bodies. Cream and butter are really high in fat, which also is not healthy. And when you get chocolate pudding, you even have chocolate in there, which means you have even more sugar and fat. So this is why pudding is not healthy.

How to make healthy pudding:

This probably is way easier than you think. And you do not need super fancy ingredients. This one only contains 3 ingredients, so it is super easy. Instead of the usual cornstarch to thicken everything up, we use chia seeds. When you let them sit in a liquid overnight, they will form sort of a jelly around them, making it into a pudding consistency. It actually is way easier than traditional pudding, because you do not need to heat anything up.

Are chia seeds healthy?

Totally. You probably know this by now because you can find them in every health food store or in the health section of you food store. But why are they actually healthy? They are high in healthy Omega-3 fats (just as salmon is), in protein and also in fibre. That way they help your digestion and also provide you many other vitamins and minerals. So they basically are a super food.

What else is in this pudding?

3 more ingredients in the base. Which makes 4 in total. Isn’t that amazing? I definitely believe so! Other than the chia seeds, we have Kiwi, milk, and a sweetener. For the milk I like to use oat milk, but you can use regular milk or any other milk alternative. The sweetener I like most here is maple syrup. Other sugar alternatives are coconut sugar or date sugar.

Does it only work with Kiwis?

No! Definitely not. This is what I love about this, you can make this with any fruit you like! Use the same amount but any you love. I am sure that works just as well with berries, cherries, mango, pineapple, or whatever. This is so amazing and versatile. A great dish.

When to have it?

You can have this as a snack, a breakfast or as a dessert. I love and have it as all of those. The best way to eat it (I believe) is to top it with some (plant based) yoghurt, some more fresh fruit and granola. This combination is simply amazing!

I hope that you will enjoy this recipe and that it helps you to make healthy and tasty swaps more often! If you like it, you are free to leave a comment!

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Kiwi Chia Pudding

4 ingredients, healthy, super flavorful and extremly easy. Perfect summer dessert!

Course bowl, Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Prep Time 5 Minuten
Chill time 4 Stunden
Total Time 4 Stunden 5 Minuten
Servings 4 puddings
Calories 245 kcal

What you will need

  • 5 kiwis
  • 50 g maple syrup
  • 80 g chia seeds
  • 200 ml oat milk

For topping:

  • 200 g yoghurt plant based if wanted
  • some granola

How to

  1. Peel the kiwis and purée them in a food processor or a high speed blender. Add the milk and liquid sweetener and mix again. Mix in the chia seeds. Divide it onto the jars. refridgerate for at least 4 hours till overnight.

  2. Before eating top with the yogurt, fresh fruit and granola.

Enjoy,
Happy Cooking,
Katie // Une Petite Cusinière

Mango Coconut Granola

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Crispy, perfectly sweet Granola with some fresh fruits, milk or yoghurt and a drizzle of nut butter. The easiest and quickest breakfast of all time. Batch make the granola and breakfast is ready in 2 minutes. You have got the perfect crunch, some nice and chewy dried fruits and the freshness of the coconut. A tropical twist on your classic breakfast.

What is granola?

Granola is an oat and nut based (most of the time) breakfast cereal. Similar to muesli but other than that, it is baked in the oven to make it crispy and it is sweeter. In conventional granolas, which you can find at the supermarkets, there often is lots of added refined sugar. Sure it tastes good, but it also sure is not healthy. Other times the packaging won’t say „sugar“ but rather something like „sirup“ or „glucose…“, which is not better either. So when you are getting granola at the supermarkets be sure to check the labels.

What is in granola?

As I already said the base consists of oats and nuts, most of the times. Often there are seeds added, dried fruits or other grains. To make it all stick together to form clusters and to make it sweeter, we need to add some oil and some form of sweetener. This can be any sweetener, although I would recommend using maple sirup, coconut nectar or another natural sweetener that also has other nutrients. After baking there often are other things added like dried fruits.

Is every granola the same?

100% not. Because there are so many different ways you can make granola and make it taste. Check the store the next time you go and you’ll see. Chocolate, coconut, berry, natural, you will find anything you want! Like this one! We add some dried mango and a little coconut to give it a summery twist. But you could also make it with apples and cranberries like in my apple and cranberry popcorn granola. I, for example, always like to add something puffed and airy like popcorn, puffed rice or puffed quinoa. This adds a lot of volume while not adding many calories and it gives a real nice crunch.

Is granola healthy?

Can be but does not have to be. Companies often try to trick you into assuming wrong and that is what you have to watch out for. Because granola has become very popular in the past years, especially with health foodies it is often assumed that every granola is healthy. But that obviously is not the case, as I already mentioned. You NEED to check the labels! Some granolas have up to 50 grams of sugar per 100 gram serving. And that is a whole lot. That is almost 18 cubes of sugar. And ONLY in your breakfast. So this is not the best start into the day. So again, granola can be (easily) made healthy but not every one necessarily is.

How to make granola

Super super easy. At least my version. You need 1 pan, 1 bowl, 1 tray and 1 oven. In the pan you combine the „wet“ ingredients. These are the oil, the liquid sweetener, and the almond butter. We are melting all of those together so they combine really well and essentially become one unit. This makes sure that every part of the granola is equally covered with those 3 ingredients. Next, you combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix mix mix and then pour the liquid ones over and again, mix mix mix. Now, it only needs to go onto a baking tray and bake till crispy. Out of the oven, we add in the chopped up dried mango and the coconut and voilà, that’s it!

Substitutions?!

Yes, plenty! That’s the great thing about making granola, you can easily add your twist to it and add in what you love.
Rolled oats = other rolled grains like spelt for example
Puffed Quinoa = puffed rice or even popcorn (but without butter or salt, just the pure one)
Sliced almonds = any other nut or seed. Instead of cool
Dried mango = other dried fruit like cranberry or raisins
Coconut Oil = neutral tasting oil
Maple syrup = honey, agave, coconut nectar
Coconut sugar = leave it out/ brown sugar
Chia seeds = flax seeds/ leave it out

How to best enjoy it:

This is totally up to you and your preference. My favorite way to enjoy it, is with some yoghurt and fresh fruit. My parents like it most with milk. Also this works great on smoothie bowls or just on top of some fresh fruit. But tbh, you are gonna have half of the tray pure, straight out of the oven (like us every time we make it 🙂 )

I hope that you will enjoy eating and making this recipe and it helps you to start your day with a healthy and tasty breakfast!

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Mango Coconut Granola

Crispy, perfectly sweet, nutty. Adding the tropical twists to the granola give you summer in a bowl1 super & quick!

Course bowl, Breakfast, brunch, Dessert, Snack
Prep Time 10 Minuten
Cook Time 15 Minuten
Total Time 25 Minuten
Servings 10 servings
Calories 162 kcal

What you will need

  • 50 g rolled oats
  • 50 g puffed quinoa
  • 30 g sliced almonds
  • 20 g chia seeds
  • 30 g coconut oil
  • 30 g almond butter
  • 60 g maple syrup
  • 50 g dried mango
  • 30 g coconut shreds
  • some sea salt
  • a little coconut sugar

How to

  1. Place the coconut oil, the almond butter and the syrup in a pan and heat it up until molten. Stir concstantly so nothing burns and everything is well combined.

  2. In the meantime combine the rolled oats, puffed quinoa, sliced almonds and chia seeds in a bowl along with the sea salt. Pour the liquid mixture over and combine it well. Spread it on a baking tray and sprinkle with some extra coconut sugar. Bake for 12-15 minutes at 180°C.

  3. In the meatime cut the dried mango into small chunks. Once the granola is done baking take it out of the oven and mix the dried mango and coconut in. Let it cool completely before transfering to a storage box or glas.

  4. Serve with fresh fruit and/or yoghurt or milk! Enjoy!

Notes

Substitutions:

Rolled oats = other rolled grains like spelt for example
Puffed Quinoa = puffed rice or even popcorn (but without butter or salt, just the pure one)
Sliced almonds = any other nut or seed. Instead of cool
Dried mango = other dried fruit like cranberry or raisins
Coconut Oil = neutral tasting oil
Maple syrup = honey, agave, coconut nectar
Coconut sugar = leave it out/ brown sugar
Chia seeds = flax seeds/ leave it out

Happy cooking,
Enjoy,
Katie // Une Petite Cuisinière