Category: Any Time Foods

Almond Pulp Energy Bites

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BM# 97: Week 2, Day 2
Theme : Vegan recipes

I feel blessed that no one in my family has any food allergies. When my niece was born, there was a doubt whether she was lactose intolerant, but thankfully she wasn’t. They had switched to almond milk for a while but now everyone is back to normal milk and a normal diet.

For a lot of Indians, vegetarian diet is not a big deal but switching to a vegan diet is not easy. Given the affinity for yogurt and ghee, it’s a difficult switch. Growing up, me and my brothers never used to drink milk. No coffee, no tea and no milk with the malt based drinks like Boost or Bonvita. But we used to have a lot of yogurt and ghee everyday. My brothers still don’t drink tea or coffee but I started that habit about a decade back.

For whatever reasons you are choosing a vegan diet, milk is the first thing that we miss. Now a days there are so many dairy alternatives you can pick from the supermarket aisle or even better, make your own nut milk at home. Like the almond milk here. And the residual pulp can be made into a healthy bite with dates and oats.

Read on for the recipe.

Almond milk

  • 1 cup almonds
  • 4 cups water*
  • Method:
      • Soak almonds for at least 10-12 hours or up to 2 days.
      Drain the water and grind the almonds with 4 cups of water until the nuts are completely mashed up and very smooth.
      Strain using a filter lined with a cheese cloth. I used a handkerchief for this.
      Gather the cheesecloth around the almonds and twist and squeeze out as much of milk you can.
      Refrigerate the almond milk in a sealed container and use with in 2-3 days.

    Note:

    *You can reduce the milk to 2 cups for a thicker almond milk.

    *You can add a tablespoon of maple syrup along with the almonds for a sweetened version.

    *The almond pulp can be added to oatmeal,

    Almond Pulp Energy Bites

    Recipe source: Simple Sweet Vegan

    • 3/4 cup oats
    • 1/4 cup chia seeds
    • 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
    • A pinch of salt
    • 15 dates*
    • 3/4 cups almond pulp leftover from making almond milk

    Method :

    1. Pulse the oats, chia seeds, cocoa powder and salt in a food processor until they resemble sand.
    2. Add the almond pulp and dates. Pulse until everything combines and forms a ball.
    3. Take it out and use a tablespoon to scoop out the dough and roll into a ball. I got about 15 balls of this size.

    *You can soak the dates ahead in hot water for sometime if you prefer. That would make breaking it down a little easier. Drain and use in the recipe.

    *You can add a tablespoon or two of almond milk or water to combine everything if the dough doesn’t stick together.

    Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#97

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    Pinwheel crepe and fruit skewers

    14 Comments

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    BMG # 82: Week 3, Day 1
    Theme : Crepes
    Recipe: Crepe and fruit skewers

    Like I mentioned in yesterday’s post, the batch of crepes helped me make three different kinds and this is the second one. The idea is from Kathryn Hawkins’  book Crepes, Waffles and Pancakes. The only modification I made was to spread a little jam to the crepes before threading them onto the skewers. This was a delicious and fun treat, I will try this again for sure. My husband, who doesn’t like to eat anything sweet, loved this one. This can definitely be a fun appetizer for parties or a quick snack that makes a good impression.

    I used the fruits I had (which also happened to be what the book recommended), but this would work with any combination of fruits. The bright red strawberry along with the green kiwi and yellowish guava was a good visual treat too. I followed the low fat honey crepes recipe for the crepes.

    This recipe goes to Cooking from Cookbook Challenge Group and Blogging Marathon. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#82 

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    Ingredients:

    For the crepe

    • 1 cup milk
    • 1/2 cup plain flour
    • 1 eggs
    • 1 teaspoons honey
    • 1 teaspoon oil
    • a pinch of salt
    • butter to grease the pan

    For making two fruit skewers

    • 1 crepe from above recipe
    • a teaspoon of jam, optional
    • 2 strawberries, halved
    • 1 kiwi, sliced
    • 1 small guava, sliced or sweet mango slices

    Method:

    1. Mix all the ingredients for the crepe using a wire whisk or blend in a mixer to get a lump free batter. This quantity makes about 8 crepes 6″ diameter in size. I used only one of those for the fruit skewer.
    2. To make crepes, heat a 6″ non stick skillet or pan. Spread a little butter to the base of the pan to grease it. Spoon 1/4 cup crepe batter and swirl/rotate the pan so that the batter coats the base. Try to avoid the batter going to the sides/walls of the pan. Cook until the batter is not wet anymore and the sides turn slightly brown. With a silicone spatula, carefully flip it over and cook the other side. Take off the pan and keep it on a plate. Make more crepes until the batter is used up.
    3. Take a crepe and spread a little jam or nutella and roll it up. Cut into 1″ thick pieces.
    4. Thread this pinwheel crepe with the different pieces of fruit onto a long bamboo skewer. Serve immediately.

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    Low fat crepes with mushrooms

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    BM # 82: Week 3, Day 1
    Theme : Crepes
    Recipe: Mushroom filled crepes

    A good library with lots of excellent books has made life very easy for me. The most used section by me is of course the cookery books. For this week’s theme of crepes, I took out the book Crepes, Waffles and Pancakes by Kathryn Hawkins. I used the book more for ideas than actual recipes. I didn’t follow the recipe for basic crepes from the book. Instead, I found an easy recipe here at Mr.Breakfast.com that uses a lot less fat. I halved the recipe given in that site and made 8 small 6″ crepes. I made three different fillings for these 8 crepes. The first one here is the savory mushroom filling and it was my husband’s choice. So in the recipe section below, you will need to increase the filling quantity a little more if you want to prepare it for all of the crepes.

    The book had a spinach and mushroom crepe recipe where you add cooked and chopped spinach to the crepe batter. It is then filled with mushrooms in cream. I just filled the crepes with sauteed mushrooms and left it at that. It was tasty regardless.

    Read on for the first crepe recipe!

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    Ingredients:

    For the crepe

    • 1 cup milk
    • 1/2 cup plain flour
    • 1 eggs
    • 1 teaspoons honey
    • 1 teaspoon oil
    • a pinch of salt
    • butter to grease the pan

    Filling for one person

    • 1 cup sliced mushrooms
    • 1/2 small onion, chopped finely
    • 1 clove of garlic, minced
    • 3 tablespoons cream, optional
    • a teaspoon of butter
    • salt and pepper as needed

    Method:

    1. Mix all the ingredients for the crepe using a wire whisk or blend in a mixer to get a lump free batter. This quantity makes about 8 crepes 6″ diameter in size. I used only two of those for mushroom filling.
    2. To make crepes, heat a 6″ non stick skillet or pan. Spread a little butter to the base of the pan to grease it. Spoon 1/4 cup crepe batter and swirl/rotate the pan so that the batter coats the base. Try to avoid the batter going to the sides/walls of the pan. Cook until the batter is not wet anymore and the sides turn slightly brown. With a silicone spatula, carefully flip it over and cook the other side. Take off the pan and keep it on a plate. Make more crepes until the batter is used up.
    3. For the filling, heat a teaspoon of butter in a pan. Saute the garlic, onions and mushrooms until everything is cooked. Season with salt and pepper. If you feel like, add a little cream to the mushroom mix and bring it to a boil. Divide this mixture into two crepes. You can either keep in the middle of the crepe and fold the edges to the middle or spoon the mixture on one half and cover it with the other half and serve.

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    Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#82

    Guava empanada

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    There are many times when I spend a good amount of thought and time looking up recipes and cooking elaborate meals. But there are other times, when cooking is all about putting together a couple of things and coming up with an enjoyable treat. This one belongs to the latter category. The recipe was inspired from the book The Cuban Table by Ana Pelaez and Ellen Silverman. I had the guava paste and the frozen empanada discs. I skipped the cream cheese and overcame my fear of deep frying to make this treat.

    I wasn’t sure whether its actually a recipe, given how simple it is. I am glad I took pictures despite my hesitation because sometimesI feel that life is complex as it is. We really need to remind ourselves of the simple enjoyments in life in as many ways as possible. So enjoy a good evening with a sweet jam in a salty pastry served with a hot cup of tea!

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    Ingredients:

    • ready made Empanada discos
    • ready made guava paste
    • oil to deep fry

    Method:

    • Defrost the empanada discs by taking them out about 20 minutes from the freezer. Once they are defrosted, stretch it a little by rolling them out using a rolling pin.
    • Cut a piece of guava paste to fit comfortably inside the disc. Fold the empanada in half and seal the edges with a fork. Repeat with the rest of the discs.
    • Deep fry in hot oil without crowding the pan or bake for 20-25 minutes until browned.

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    This recipe goes to Cooking from Cookbook Challenge Group.
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