feel food club

Vegan

Iced Caramel Latte

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You are feeling the afternoon low, it is really hot and you have got a lot of things to get off your to-do list. You need an afternoon pick-me-up. A huge cup of coffee. But as tasty as coffee is, we don’t want a warming cup of coffee e when its burning hot outside. Iced coffee is the solution. Forget about the old boring one and start making yours fancy. Extra fancy and tasty.

A little coffee story

To be honest, I am the biggest coffee lover you are ever gonna meet. It is not that I am addicted to the caffeine and really need it (although sometimes this is the case) I am just obsessed with the taste. And the smell. That’s one of the reasons I love Italy. You can get a high quality, tasty coffee at every single corner. And did you know that there is a law in Italy that says that the coffee can not cost more than 1€ when you drink it at the bar. So you can go to the fanciest and most expensive coffee shop in Italy and only pay 1€ for the espresso. This country is just amazing.

I know that I am rather an exception. Not many people love a strong, short black espresso. It does have a bitter taste, which makes it easy to dislike it. And with all the big coffee chains like Starbucks and their extra fancy coffee creations it’s easy to fall in love with these pimped up drinks. So I decided to create a healthier version of those. And it turned out amazing. Although I barely drink coffee with milk or anything else in it, I really adore this one! It’s tasty, healthy, quick and super good.

Is coffee healthy?

Like most things, it can be. Or to say it differently, it is in it’s purest form. Coffee actually is high in antioxidants and it helps to speed up your digestion. Too much is not good for you because it raises your heart rate. This is totally fine if you are a very active person and have a low heart rate naturally, but if you have a rather high one, you should not overdo it and pay attention to this. Also, probably the most popular aspect of coffee, it wakens you up and gives you energy. Great in the morning, bad in the evening. Of course, there is decaf coffee but this still contains caffein. Only a fraction of the normal one but still. So even decaf coffee in the evening may cause sleep problems.

Unfortunately, coffee oftentimes is made unhealthy. Since the taste of coffee is a little bitter and not everyone’s favourite, oftentimes milk and sugar is added. Which is totally alright when you just add a sprinkle of sugar and a splash of milk to make an espresso macchiato. Everything is good in moderation. But as soon as you drink 2 cappuccinos a day with one package of sugar each, this quickly adds up to a bunch of calories and lots of sugar. Black coffee without anything has basically 0 (or a max of 5 cals per cup). A cappuccino, on the other hand, has about 165 calories. Without sugar. With sugar it can easily have 200 hundred. When you are eating a healthy diet but still drinking many of milk- heavy coffees, this can be frustrating because you may not see any results.

What’s in this coffee?

I was trying to keep it simple when I created that recipe. Because no one has energy for hours in the kitchen when we want coffee. The sweetness and caramel taste comes from the dates, a little bit of vegan butter and the coconut milk. The combination is amazing. You can use full fat coconut milk, but low fat works as well. I would not recommend using another milk because then it looses the richness and doesn’t taste as amazing anymore. We blend it up first. Then we can either pour it in, if you want a fancy effect or blend it together. Then it is smooth I need to say. One important note: soak the dates before, because the will be way softer that way. If you have a high speed blender, this is not necessary. We also add a pinch of sea salt, this really helps to bring out the flavour.

Once we have our date „caramel“ base, we blend it up with an espresso shot, and milk. If you want to can froth the milk and reserve some of the foam for the end. If that’s too complicated for you, leave it out. Blend some ice in as well. Then serve it over some ice and done. This is a dream drink.

Perfect summer drink

It is healthier than regular lattes because we have additional fibre and protein and not only sugar. It also is a fancier version for every once in a while when you feel like switching it up! I hope you like it and if you do, feel free to leave a comment!

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Iced Caramel Latte

A perfect summer drink for the hot days. Easy, tasty, healthy. Not your average boring coffee.

Course Drinks
Prep Time 5 Minuten
Servings 2 drinks
Calories 183 kcal

What you will need

  • 2-3 dates (about 50g) if your dates are hard, soak them in hot water for 30 min- 1h
  • 100 ml low fat coconut milk (you can use full fat aswell)
  • 1 tsp vegan butter
  • a splash of water like 3 tbsp
  • a pinch of sea salt
  • 2 shots espresso
  • 200 ml oat milk (you can use any milk or plant based milk alternative)
  • 1 handful ice cubes

How to

  1. Set aside 1/3 of the milk and foam it up. (Cold foam it if you have a gadget to do so)

    Blend the dates, the coconut milk, water, pinch of sea salt and the vegan butter together until you have reached a creamy and liquid consistency. (you can make more of this caramel sauce and store it in the fridge and use whenever you want).

    Add the shots of espresso, the oat milk and half of the ice cubes. Blend again until well combined.

  2. Add the remaining ice cubes in the glasses and pour over the coffe mixture. Top with the extra foamed milk and enjoy!

I wish you all a beautiful summer and happy cooking!
Enjoy,
Katie

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

Vegan Magnum

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Summer is around the corner. It is finally officially time to eat ice cream (not that we wouldn’t have been eating any for the rest of the year). I think pretty much everyone is excited about this like a little child. However, as tasty as it is, it most of the time is not healthy. Unfortunately. So, guess what?! We are making it ourselves and making a healthy version of the classic.

My Ice-Cream Love ??

I have always been a fan of ice cream. Even when I was super little, or maybe especially then! We have a series of pictures showing meaning eating an ice cream and it is hilarious. The first picture, me sitting in the sand with the ice cream in the hand. The second one was me (still sitting at the same place) with ice cream all over my mouth. And the third one, the best one, me looking really sad at the scoop of ice cream that is not in the cone any more but all over my dress. Yes, I always had a passion for food, and no I was not always a clean and tidy eater. My parents always said that one could read the Manu off of my shirt because I pretty much ALWAYS stained it with what I was eating.

But fast forward, plenty years later I still really enjoy eating ice cream, although it ends up in my mouth and not on my shirt now. In my family, to. be honest we eat lots of ice cream. We rarely (maybe like twice a year) have cake after lunch as a dessert or in the afternoon, as it is really common in Austria, but we most of the time we’ll have ice cream.

Why is Ice cream not healthy?

Next time you buy some at the super market you can check the ingredients. You’ll be surprised by all of the ingredients used. Besides some chemicals and flavour extracts (or „natural flavours“) in most ice creams you will find a ton of sugar and a good amount of cream in them. This quickly loads up to about 20 g of sugar per ice cream and 15 g of fat. And all of this in one single ice cream!

How to choose a healthier ice cream

Of course, not every single ice cream has this nutritional value. There are simple and easy ways to choose a healthier ice cream, both in a supermarket but also in a fresh Gelateria. Always remember that fruit – based ice cream is healthier than non fruit based ice cream. Because of three reasons: Fruits are already sweet themselves, so there is no need to add much sugar, the have more vitamins and fibre and usually, in fruit Ice creams you will not find heavy cream or other fatty add-ins. Without the addition of sugar or cream, these ice cream usually tend to be half or 2/3 as high in calories as cream based ice cream like chocolate, stracciatella or hazelnut. So when you want to opt for a healthier version, be more on the fruitier side.

How to make healthy ice cream

There are several ways on how to make ice cream yourself. This depends on what ice cream you want to make. If you want to make something similar to what you can get in a Gelateria, a super simple version of this is to simply make nice cream/ smoothie bowls. You can find many many recipes of such on my Instagram (every week there is a new one coming).

In this blog post I am going to show you how to make a popsicle one. This also is really simple. It is easiest if you have a form for popsicles at home (you can find plenty of those on amazon). If you do not want to purchase one that is fine too. What you should do then is to pour the ice cream mixture into a loaf pan and freeze it in such. Before dunking it in the melted chocolate take it out of the fridge. Take a sharp knife and dip it in hot water. Then carefully cut the big block of ice cream apart into popsicle sized squares. On the lower end (the thin side) cut a small whole in the ice cream with the knife. It should be just big enough to fit a wooden skewer to hold the ice cream. Dip the skewer in the molten chocolate nd stick it into the ice cream. Let this freeze until it all sticks together. Once it holds well, you can dip it in the molten chocolate.

Summer can come!

Yes, making ice cream yourself is not difficult. Neither is making healthy ice cream yourself. With just very few ingredients you can make a super tasty and healthy ice cream yourself to have healthy treats in the freezer all summer long!

I hope you’ll love this recipe as much as I do and enjoy summer!

I hope you’ll love this recipe as much as I do and enjoy summer!

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Healthy Vegan Magnum

A vegan version of the classic summer popsicle. Too good to be true, plus it is super healthy & vegan!

Course Dessert, Snack
Prep Time 10 Minuten
Chilling time 6 Stunden
Total Time 6 Stunden 10 Minuten
Servings 8 popsicles
Calories 273 kcal

What you will need

  • 1 banana
  • 200 ml coconut milk
  • 200 g soy yoghurt
  • 60 g maple syrup
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 160 g dark chocolate (vegan)
  • 1 tbsp coconut oil
  • 50 g cashews Soaked in water for at least 4 hours

How to

  1. In a bowl or a blender mash the banana. Drain the cashews. Add them along with the coconut milk, soy yoghurt, maple syrup and vanilla to a blender or a bowl with a hand blender and mix until everything is well combined and a smooth consistency is reached. Pour into the ice cream form (if you do not have one check out the paragraph in the blog post that says "How to make healthy ice cream").

    Freeze for at least 5 hours to overnight.

    After 5 hours melt the chocolate and coconut oil in either the microwave or on a double boiler. Take the popsicle form out of the freezer and run it under hto water so you can easily get the popsicles out. Place some parchment paper on a large plate.

  2. Dip each ice cream in the molten chocolate and place on the plate. Once you have done this with every ice cream place it in the freezer again for at least 30 minutes.

    Enjoy!

Happy cooking,
Enjoy,
Katie // Une Petite Cuisinière

Black Quinoa Teriyaki Burger (vegan)

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Burgers; the ultimate comfort and fat food. The embodiment of unhealthy. But can you make it healthy? I can tell you, yes you can! This is a healthy, plant based and incredibly delicious version of the most popular fast food. A healthy black quinoa teriyaki burger.

Why aren’t burgers healthy?

First things first. We always hear burgers aren’t healthy. But what exactly is it that is not healthy? A lot of people think it is the bun. Because bread has the reputation to be unhealthy. But I need to disappoint you if you were believing that because this is not true. Bread is a good source of carbohydrates and vitamins. Also it has some protein and little fat and sugar (although store bought burger buns may have a lot of sugar, so keep an eye out for that). Sure, if you choose a wholewheat burger bun it would be healthier. But this is not what I am referring to. The unhealthy parts of most burgers are the meat, cheese, bacon and sometimes even sauces.

The meat oftentimes is not healthy because usually fatty meat is used. This adds more flavour but also more calories and more fat. Bacon goes along the same way. Bacon mainly is made of fat and sodium. Which both is not healthy for us. And of course the cheese. Sure, cheese does have protein but again, the fat is the less healthy macronutrient here. Do not get me wrong, fat is not necessarily bad for our bodies and we do need it to live but the amount which is in one burger is not really healthy anymore.

The when I said that sauces aren’t always healthy, this may have surprised you. Why , you think? In most burgers you can find mayonnaise. High quality mayonnaise is made out of oil and egg yolk. This is not unhealthy when consumed in right amounts. It is high in calories but those calories have a nutritional value. But most store bough mayonnaises have hundreds of other ingredients in them. Most of which you cannot pronounce. This is not very good for our bodies. To summarise: high quality mayonnaise can be healthy when consumed in right amounts, highly processed ones are not good for us.
But mayonnaise isn’t the only sauce. In many other sauces there is a lot of butter or sugar added to get more flavour. Butter and sugar both, I think most people are aware of that, are not great sources of nutrients. While oftentimes we assume that the sauces do not make much of a difference, they actually do. 2-3 tablespoons of high calorie sauces can quickly add up to 200-300 kcal. So be aware the next time you choose it.

About balance

But please, after reading about the nutritional information about burgers, do not say that you will not have them again. Having a good and super tasty burger once in a while is more than alright. Not stressing out about it too much also is important for a healthy relationship with food. Just be aware that this is not the ideal meal to nourish your body and it should be consumed in moderation if you want to eat a healthy diet.

How to make it healthy

I think we now have talked enough about why it is not healthy. So let’s focus on making it healthy. This comes down to super easy swaps. For example instead of taking a beef patty you can substitute it for a plant based one. Here we are making one out of black quinoa from Reishunger (you can get it here). But you can also long for one made out of beans of ground turkey for example. Instead of bacon we are using mushrooms. May sound a little boring at first, but once you’ll try it out, you’ll be convinced. Instead of store bought low quality mayonnaise, you can use a homemade one. Or you can use ketchup without added sugar. If that’s too boring for you, I am sure you are going to find sauces at the supermarket that do not have a lot of added sugar. Last but not least, we probably need something else. Avocado. Don’t be fooled thinking that this is just another ago trend because it isn’t. Avocado in your burger is life changing.

How to build the perfect burger:

This is a very important part. This can change your burger 180°. No but honestly you can ruin so much when you build it the wrong way.

  1. toast your bun. This crispness it up and adds a lot of flavour. No matter whether you are doing this in a toaster of a pan, this step is essential.
  2. Sauce. Right on top of the bun that is the first layer, we are adding a sauce. Ketchup, homemade mayonnaise, barbecue sauce. Whatever.
  3. Greens. They won’t change much of the taste but much of the vitamins you get in. Also it is important to add a layer of greens before adding something else because when you add the patty or something else like tomatoes or cucumber right onto the bun it will get soggy.
  4. The patty. Pretty self-explanatory.
  5. Bacon/Mushrooms/other add ins. they have a good flat surface to lay on.
  6. Soggy veggies. Now you can add tomatoes, cucumber, or anything else containing a lot of water. It s not next to a bun so it won’t turn anything soggy.
  7. Avocado/ sauces. To finish it up, a nice layer of sauce or smashed avocado to add extra flavour and consistency.
  8. the top bun. Again, I would recommend to toast it.

The Quinoa Patty

Making a burger out of quinoa may sound a little weird but it is so good and so easy. The black quinoa adds an extra bit of flavour and depth to it. You can find black quinoa at Reishunger.com . It is important to completely cook the quinoa through until it has absorbed all of the liquid. This way it will give a perfectly mushy consistency when blending. What also is important is the seasoning. Since it does not have as a strong flavour itself as meat does, we need to season it well. Here we are doing it with a super simple teriyaki sauce.

Meal prep and serving:

You can batch make the quinoa patties and freeze them before cooking. Whenever you wanna have one, let them thaw a little bit and fry them up in a pan.
The burgers are best served with some homemade fries or sweet potato fries or just a simple little salad.

I hope that you enjoy this recipe as much as I do and have fun cooking it!

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Black Quinoa Teriyaki Burgers

Healthy Plant Based Burgers. A ton of flavor. A ton of goodness. Pretty easy, pretty good.

Course dinner, lunch, Main Course
Prep Time 10 Minuten
Cook Time 25 Minuten
Total Time 35 Minuten
Servings 2 burgers
Calories 695 kcal

What you will need

  • 100 g quinoa
  • 5 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1.5 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 tsp sriracha or hot sauce
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 200 g mushrooms
  • 1/2-1 Avocado
  • 2 burger buns
  • a handful greens

For the vegan mayonaise (makes about 8 servings)

  • 125 ml soy milk can use any plant based milk alternative
  • 1 tbsp vinegar
  • 200 ml oil
  • 1 tsp mustard
  • 1 tsp salt

How to

  1. Add the quinoa to a pot along with 200 ml of water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Let simmer for about 10-15 minutes until all water is absorbed completely.

  2. In the meantime make the vegan mayo. Add the milk alternative, oil, salt and vinegar into a tall container. Take an immersion/ hand blender and place it on the very bottom. Turn the speed onto low and pull it up in one go until you have reached the surface of the liquids. Keep blending until it begins to emulsify and becomes creamy. Add the mustard and continue to blend for about 1 minute until it if smooth and creamy. Place in the fridge.

  3. Slice the mushrooms into about 0,5 cm thick slices.

  4. In a small bowl combine the soy sauce, maple syrup, hot sauce and conrnstarch. Make sure there are no big lumps of cornstarch in the mixture.

  5. When the quinoa is done transfer it to a food processor. But make sure it has really absorbed all liquids, otherwise the burger patty will fall apart. Add about 2/3 of the teriyaki mixture to it and blend well. It should all stick together and form a big ball.

    Slightly flour your hands so they are dry. Divide the quinoa mixture into 2 and form them into patties. Do this by first rolling a ball in your hand and laying it on a flat surface. Then press it down with the palm of hand to make a flat surface.

  6. Heat up half of the oil in a pan. Sautée the mushrooms in there for about 3 minutes. reduce the heat and add the remaining teriyaki sauce.

  7. Mash the avocado. Half the burger buns and toats the bottom half.

  8. Heat up the remaining oil in another pan. Once hot add the quinoa patties and fry on each side for about 3-4 minutes.

  9. Once the bottom bun is toasted add a generous spread of mayonaise. Top it with some salad. Add the black quinoa patty on top. Then theh mushrooms and some sliced cucumber if using. Lastly, add the mashed avocado and the top half of the burger bun. Serve and enjoy!

Happy cooking,
Enjoy,
Katie // Une Petite Cuisinière