Cinnamon roll cake, secretly healthy ;) / Bolo de canela saudavel

English Version:

Yesterday i was in mood for some cake, so I came up with this delicious healthy version of your regular cinnamon bun, it’s rich and sweet, but it doesn’t kill you 😉 I’m lucky enough to say, that as the time goes by, i like regular cake less and less, the only thing I taste is butter and a sickly sweetness, nothing else and i love flavour! so the most important thing for me is for my treats to be sweet but to let me feel the taste of my ingredients. The base of this cake was a chocolate and carrot cake I came up a while back :

Chocolate cake, no nasties! Bolo de chocolate saudavel e humido.

I have to say that baking doesn’t need to be an exact science, it’s about making it your own, play with it, you will see, it’s almost always tasty! It may not me as high, but if you want healthier versions (changing from traditional ingredients) it will always change the texture, try you might actually like it ❤

Ingredients :

– to grease the pan : 1 TBs of organic butter (real thing or coconut oil, not melted) , 1 TBS of cinnamon , 1 TBS of raw brown sugar or coconut sugar –> first grease the pan, after mix sugar with cinnamon and coat the pan until all surface is covered.

for the batter :

150grs of flour ( I used 100grs of rye and 50grs of plain)

15grs of yeast (for cakes)

3 eggs

150grs of natural yoghurt (whole,organic)

7 TBS of maple syrup

1 TBS of melted butter

50grs of lucuma powder OR I would add a 1TBS of sugar(not maple as it is a powder )

For the drizzle : melt 1 TBS of butter with 1 TBS of cinnamon and 1 TBS of sugar (brown or coconut).

Mix all the ingredients ultil a smooth batter is formed. For an airy cake whisk your egg whites until set and fold carefully once all the other ingredients are well mixed. pour batter into the pan and at the end drizzle the cinnamon liquid on top of it in a circular motion.

Bake at 175C around 35m but keep checking, as i used a really big pan, thats why it was so thin. In a smaller pan may take a bit longer.

Lots of love,

Sandrina x

Versao portuguesa:

Ontem estava com vontade de um bolo um bocadinho diferente entao decidi fazer um bolo de canela, delicioso, mas que nao entope nenhuma veia 😉 Eu tenho bastante sorte porque com o passar do tempo o meu palato foi mudando e hoje em dia cada vez gosto menos de doces demasiado doces, onde os unicos sabores sao a manteiga e o açucar, gosto de sentir os diferentes sabores e saber que posso comer 1 bela fatia sem qualquer culpa 🙂

A base deste bolo foi de uma receita que criei ja ha bastante tempo:

Chocolate cake, no nasties! Bolo de chocolate saudavel e humido.

E gostava de dizer que os bolos nao sao aquela ciencia exacta ( a nao ser que queiram fazer um bolo super tradicional para alguem super tradicional), para fazer bolos mais saudaveis, as texturas mudam, o que nao e’ uma coisa ma’, e’ so’ diferente..  E e’ tambem um desafio, para criar coisas diferentes, com ingredientes diferentes, sem aquele medo que nao vai resultar, pois nao diz assim no livro de receitas. acreditem, eu ja fiz dezenas de bolos sem abrir 1 livro de receitas, 90% das vezes ficou bem bom 😉 e as outras por norma era por falta de açucar/adoçante natural, que se corrigia com uma calda.. acho que temos que aproveitar o que a nossa sociedade global nos tem para oferecer, uma data de ingredientes novos e tecnicas desconhecidas pelos nossos pais e avos, e arriscar um bocadinho e comer aquele pedaço de bolo com uma mente aberta.

Ingredientes:

-Para untar a forma usar 1 CS de manteiga, 1 CS de canela e 1 CS de açucar (nao refinado castanho ou de coco), usar o açucar misturado com a canela como se fosse farinha.

-Para a massa :

150grs de farinha (usei 100grs de centeio e 50grs de farinha para bolos)

15grs de fermento para bolos

3 ovos inteiros

150grs de iogurte natural (organico e inteiro)

7 colheres de sopa de xarope de acer (ou mel derretido, mas nao a temperatura alta)

50grs de po’ de lucuma (e’ um po’ de uma fruta peruviana com um sabor a caramelo, e cheio de vitaminas) OU 1 CS de açucar (por causa de a lucuma ser em po’, mas podem experimentar)

1 CS de manteiga derretida ( nao usar margarina que tanto mal faz!) ou oleo de coco

-Para a calda : 1CS de manteiga,1 CS de canela e 1CS de açucar (derreter tudo junto)

Untar a forma, colocar a massa do bolo e no fim colocar a calda de canela por cima, fazendo circulos.

Eu usei uma forma um bocadinho grande demais, dai o bolo ter saido fininho.                                                                   Aquecer o forno a 175 c e cozinhar entre 35 a 45m, mas deve-se controlar pois depende do tamanho da forma e do forno.

Ate a proxima

Sandrina xx

Homemade rye bread and beans and kale soup <3

I love soup, all kinds of soup, really, and it tastes even better with some homemade bread 🙂 I have a recipe here :

https://fionabluerecipes.wordpress.com/2013/06/07/adventures/ you can substitute the sunflower seed for rye flower .

To make this soup you will need :

1onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 can of Bertolli beans ( or soaked from dry )
3 big potatoes
2 big carrots
400grams of kale
olive oil/ salt and pepper

cut all the veggies, put everything in a big pan/pot except the kale. Boil water and pour over the veggies. let it cook until soft, around 30m. Blitz everything in a blender, until soft with no lumps. Put it back in the pan add the kale, cook for another 10 to 15m, and it’s done!

Spread some butter or olive oil on the bread and enjoy.

My fitness routine changed a bit, lately I’ve been doing just advanced pilates, want a tone body but really don’t want any more muscle, just slender limbs. How do you do that? How do you keep yourself fit without bulking ?

Enjoy the weekend xx

Lentils stew, tasty and on a budget!

Yesterday I was busy doing my new facebook page —  https://www.facebook.com/fionabluerecipes , add me if you have an account there 🙂 — and my other half was away, so for dinner I wanted something quick, healthy and not very expensive to make. This was I came up with :

 

Ingredients :

1 can of organic lentils

1 can of tomatoes

2 organic carrots

Kale

Spinach

Onion

Garlic

Olive oil

Bacon ( always optional)

Spices : Paprika, oregano, salt, black pepper, red chilies, parsley.

Method :

Cook garlic, onion and parsley with olive oil, until soft. Add the tomatoes and let it cook for 10m, add spices and a bit of water/wine if necessary. To this add the lentils and let it cook for a further 5m. The spinach and kale need no more than a couple of minutes, so do it at the very end. If your version has bacon, I would add it with the onion.

Always remember to wash your vegetables well. A bit of vinegar when washing is said to help cleaning them.

Had the stew with a piece of rye bread that I baked in the afternoon, was really nice, filling and not too heavy. It produces an amazing gravy, which I love, so if you are like me, you are in for a treat!

Benefits of kale :  Helps with high cholesterol. It has a very high level of sulphur based compounds, which help to increase cells ability to process and break down potentially cancerous chemicals. There is a long accepted link between the consumption of cruciferous vegetables and reduced risk of cancers ( ex : kale, broccoli, cauliflower, cress, cabbage, bok choi, rocket and many more!)

So remember to top up on this every time you can 😉

Enjoy xx

Power lunch and some homemade bread!

After a crazy month at work finally have some days off.  I will be staying in London this time, just relaxing, cooking meeting friends and going to the gym. So yesterday as I was off I had the time to make something nice for lunch, really tasty and healing. I bought a book called Medicinal cookery, and I am trying to pack as much good ingredients as I can, sometimes just swapping white onion for purple makes a difference!

Ingredients :

Tomatoes

Kale

Spinach

Potatoes

Cabbage

Purple onion

Sausage (optional, without for vegan)

Spices : Turmeric, Cumin, rosemary, chili, black pepper, salt

Method :

Wash, cut and boil the potatoes.

Pan fry the sausages.

In a wok put a bit of  oil, I used carotino to try, mix all the vegetables and cook them for 10 m maximum,so it doesn’t lose all the nutrients.

Slice sausages and mix them with the potatoes and vegetables.

It’s a really nice filling meal, that gets it’s kick and flavor from the spices! Try it, I’m sure you will love it 😉

Wholemeal bread with sesame seeds crust

Ingredients :

I always use the same formula , 1kg of flour for 700ml of water, plus salt, oil and raising agent. This time I used the cake one, but you get much better results with proper yeast to bake bread imo.

I mix the ingredients,  600 g of whole meal and 400 g of white flour, salt, oil, baking powder, pumpkin seeds and poppy seeds, and combine. Add the water little by little until all is homogeneous and knead for 10 m. Let it rise for 1 hour, knead a bit more, let it rise for another hour if you have the time.

Bake for 60 m at 180 degrees in the oven bottom shelf.

This bread was made a couple of weeks ago, today I’m baking Rye bread. There is nothing like doing it yourself, it’s creative and you know exactly what goes into it! 😀

Tomorrow I’m making dinner for some friends so some more posts are coming soon!

Take care!x

Organic Box Delivery

Wednesdays are always exciting days! It’s organic delivery day!

Awhile ago we decided to start eating more organic, tried supermarket goods but somehow defeats a bit the idea of locally sourced, helping farmers and everything, so I did some online searches and decided to order through a London company. They get all their produce from around London and deliver very early in the morning which suits working people. I really like it, because I never run out of fruit and vegetables during the week, and always get something a bit different which makes me vary our meals, and that can just be good! Where do you get your organic products from?

This week I didn’t order fruit as I still had quite a lot, so we got veg, flour for the bread, and some sausages

And because we deserve it aswell, life cannot be just work and exercise (even though I did go to the gym today to do body conditioning, but shhhhh), this was our dinner (plus some salad), very portuguese/italian style!Homemade rye and seeds bread plus yummi goods from Paris!

What are your meal treats?