Dried fruit truffles (a healthy, vegan, sugar free, slow carb snack that is much more delicious than it sounds!)

 

 

Girls are girls from the minute they enter this world, I don't care what they say about nature vs. nurture.

I never brought up my daughter as a girly girl and went as far as putting a ban on pink during my pregnancy and the first half year of her life. Admittedly, a phase that did not last very long, thanks to overeager relatives (she was and still is the only female in a pretty large group of cousins) and that unstoppable process that makes parents do a string of things they swore smugly they would never do before actually becoming one.

Nevertheless, my daughter has grown up wearing pants more than dresses and "sensible" colors so that certain clothing items can be passed down to her little brother when she grows out of them. When it comes to toys, we have never denied her Barbie dolls or princess accessories, but we try to keep a pretty gender neutral approach in general.
 

 

 

 

This has not mitigated the traits in her that are so often ascribed to the female population in the least. She is a real chatterbox, extremely curious, very observant (as in nothing goes unnoticed) and loves clothes, hair, make up and jewelry.  She has been known to make earrings out of stickers, paperclips, fruit and flowers and is always excited to receive the sparkly Disney merchandising I so abhor as presents. She is undeniably a girl. A jeans-clad, sneaker-wearing girl with a glittery soul.

If I wear an old sweater I haven't worn for a while I immediately get asked "Did you go shopping?". If she is in the kitchen doing her homework and I tell her brother off in the bedroom, you can bet your bottom dollar that her head will be sticking through the doorway, neck craning, to see what is happening. She can hear you say something from the other end of the apartment even if you think she is busy dancing and singing, and will come up and enquire about it with insistence. Discreet she is not.

She ooohs and aaaahs on the rare occasions I wear heels.

The other day, the minute I walked into the kitchen after getting ready, she looked up at the very thin stripe of eyeliner I had applied and exclaimed: "Mommy, that black line on your eyes is sooo pretty!". My son is still trying to find it.

Granola two ways: everything and maple pecan

 

 

 

Despite my non-resolutions, I will admit to having started a healthier, lighter eating regime this month, eschewing carbs and processed sugar as much as possible.

 

This new routine involves eating oats in as many forms possible in the morning rather than the five or ten two or three wholewheat cookies I normally hastily dunk into my caffe latte every morning at my office desk. It also involves thinking and preparing ahead but turns out to be less of a bother than I thought it would be. I just have to remember to boil and soak some steel cut oats in water about once a week or alternatively mix and bake my own granola, of which I have already made several batches.

 

 

 

 

 

I am aware that making your own granola is not the discovery of the century and that many of you are already doing it, but for those of you who don't, it is so easy and so much healthier than buying those (often) sugar, salt and fat-laden industrial ones, of which there is very little choice here to begin with. So I am indeed very excited, just as excited as I was about last week's lentils ... what can I say, I guess I am an enthusiastic kinda gal, although I promise to spare you Dr. Seuss this time round.

 

I have made a variety of combinations with very different ingredients and two different methods, both of which worked very well for me, and I cannot help patting myself on the shoulder everytime I take a bite: not only do I get to clean out my pantry and freezer (I cannot begin to tell you the amount of dried fruit and nuts I have stashed away), but I can choose from an endless combination of ingredients, I have control of what I am feeding my family, how sweet I want my breakfast cereal to be and also how much fat, sugar or salt I want or rather don't want to use. Not to mention I get to decide whether I want big clusters, small clusters or none at all.
 

 

 

 

We have been eating it with cold milk, warm milk or yogurt as breakfast and after-school snacks and we have yet to get bored of it. I am already thinking dried figs, medjool dates, apricots, pistachios, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, raisins. My kids are already dreaming of chocolate chips in all colors or sizes and peanut butter chips...

 

Quick note: I have been using instant oats because I had a large tin to use up and they worked well but normally granola recipes call for rolled oats. You can go either way. Also, play around with the ingredients you like by substituting, adding or taking any of them. Last but not least, I recently read some recipes that did not call for any kind of fat in the preparation, so I will be trying that next.*

*Six months later I am still making this weekly: I now use rolled oats or 6-grain mixes, I have cut the amount of maple syrup and add flax/linseed to the mix, and the maple granola is definitely my favorite although I sometimes swap pecans with a seed mix (sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, linseed etc.).

 

 

 

 

Everything granola (makes enough for one baking tray)
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup butter
1tsp muscovado sugar
1 tsp poppy seeds
1/4 cup unsweetened, dried coconut
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup almonds, roughly chopped
3 cups rolled/instant oats 
a pinch of salt
1/2 cup mixed red berries

Preheat the oven to 175°C/350°F.
Melt butter and honey (you can melt the honey using the bain marie method or in the microwave) and mix together in a large bowl. Add in all the other ingredients and mix well using a spatula.
Line a baking tray with parchment paper or aluminum foil and spread the mixture evenly. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, mixing halfway through. Let cool, crumble and mix in the berries. Store in an airtight container.

Maple pecan granola clusters (makes enough for one baking tray) - with updates
3 1/2 cups instant oats (I have now switched to a 6-grain rolled mix) 
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup ground flax/linseed
1 tsp cinnamon, optional
1/2 to 1 cup pecans, roughly chopped
a pinch of salt
1/4 cup canola oil or other
2/3 cup pure maple syrup (I have since reduced the amount to 1/4 cup approximately)



Preheat oven to 150°C/300°F.
In a large bowl mix together all the dry ingredients. In a small bowl combine oil and syrup and then pour over the dry ingredients. Mix well with a spatula. Spread evenly onto a previously lined baking tray and bake without mixing for about 30 minutes . Let cool, break up in to pieces and store in an airtight container.

 

 

 

 

 

The Healthy-Enough-For-Breakfast Cake

 

 

While white smoke was billowing from the Vatican on Wednesday evening announcing the newly-elected pope to the world, I was in my kitchen dusting white clouds of powdered sugar onto this lovely little creation of mine.

 

Ok, so that isn't entirely true.
I baked the cake on Tuesday, not Wednesday, and quickly sprinkled on some sugar for styling reasons before it had truly cooled down just so I could snap a few pictures before it got dark. So excuse my use of artistic license... a blogger's gotta do what a blogger's gotta do, right? ;o)

 

 

What you don't need, however, is an excuse to have cake for breakfast anymore (not that that has ever been an issue here in Italy).

 

There is no butter, no sugar (except that little sprinkling added for styling purposes) and no highly processed flour in this cake. Yet it does not taste like cardboard. I promised you a long time ago I would never publish healthy yet unappetizing excuses for a dessert. And I never have, although I have made my share over the years. So trust me on this one, 'kay?

 

This cake is moist (really, really moist) and packed with nutritious ingredients: honey (antioxidants, antibacterials), olive oil (antioxidants and vitamin E), carrots (beta carotene, vitamin E), coconut (vitamin C, fiber), Greek yogurt (calcium, acidophilus), oat flour (vitamin B, iron, calcium), wholewheat flour (fiber, folates, vitamin B).

 

 

See how moist it is?

You can use grated zucchini instead of carrots, substitute some of the yogurt, olive oil or even honey with apple sauce... well, you get the gist. Just make it! We have been eating it all week and it is as moist and satisfying as the first day.

Wishing you all a lovely week end. I know I am looking forward to mine!

Ingredients

3/4 cup wholewheat flour
3/4 cup oat flour
2 heaping tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
3/4 cup honey
1 1/4 cup finely grated carrots
1/2 cup unsweetened dried coconut
1- 1 1/4 cup Greek yogurt
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C and grease a traditional round layer cake pan or a springform tube pan (I used the latter). Whisk together flours, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Beat the eggs, mix in the yogurt, eggs, honey, finely grated carrots (I used a food processor), coconut, oil and vanilla. Then mix in the dry ingredients. Pour into the pan and bake for 40-45 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean). Let cake cool on rack for a few minutes and then ummold. When the cake has completely cooled down you can sprinkle it with powdered sugar, or not if you want to stick to the healthy -enough-for-breakfast rule.

 

 

 

 

 

Buttery Greek Ravani with coconut and orange syrup

Friday is always the best day of the week, the whole week end stretching ahead of us with plenty of time to spend with family and friends, doing stuff you have been impatient to tackle all week long. No pre-dawn alarms going off, long leisurely breakfasts and cozy winter afternoons to spend at home reading, baking or watching the game.

Some Fridays, however, are better than others.

This is one of those: I cannot start telling you how excited I am to get this work week over with. It was pretty crappy, let me tell you, with part of our team calling in sick, tons of work and... the dreaded call from daycare on Tuesday to inform me that my son had a fever. I will spare you the long version of how my other colleague got the same call and how we struggled all week with the workload and organizing several babysitter so their schedules would fit perfectly, allowing us to stay in front of our computers to face the emergency.

To top it all off, it snowed. Don’t get me wrong, I love snow and get as excited as my kids when I see the first flakes. But trading in my bike for public transportation before dawn and trying to coordinate the arrival and departure of the aforementioned army of babysitters in the middle of a minor snow storm for several days in a row just made the week that much more stressful.

But now it is late afternoon and my week end is starting. I am savoring this moment, every minute of this Friday night.

I am looking forward to a relaxed evening with my husband and kids. No constant eyeing the clock, rushing dinner so the little ones get to bed on time. We’ll leave that to a school night, thank you very much. Maybe Mommy and Daddy will have a glass (or two) of wine and will listen to them chat away about their week and it won’t matter if it takes twenty minutes longer to finish those vegetables they always relegate to the side of their plate.

After dinner they will climb into Mommy and Daddy’s bed to all read a book together (even a long one tonight, who cares?) and then they will be allowed to fall asleep there, a special weekend treat. Mommy and Daddy will perhaps enjoy a movie and nibble on something sweet and then they will carry their babies into their room and tuck them in for the night.

I know I can get nice and cozy under my duvet and read until my eyes lids start drooping because I don’t have to worry about being at my desk at 7:00 the next morning. There is nothing better than that luxurious feeling of having all the time in the world (or until you can stay awake) to do something you love.

You want to hear about something else that is truly luxurious? A syrup soaked cake. The most dense yet fluffy, moist cake you have ever tasted, a Greek siropiasta (which literally means soaked in syrup) dessert called ravani. The recipe comes from Magda and I knew it would be special because I already made her saragli a while back and they were outstanding. I am usually more inclined towards chocolate and ice cream when I think dessert but as I get older grow up I feel more and more attracted to the sticky, crunchy desserts of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle Eastern tradition.

I made this using up things in my pantry (dessicated coconut included!). Besides the coconut perhaps, you will probably have everything you need in the house already. What is not to love?

Magda made some variations to the original recipe and I made some more. I used orange instead of lemon because I wanted a really subtle citrus flavor. The next time I will try the lemon to see how it contrasts with the sweetness. The texture is reminiscent of a Bounty bar but the flavors are delicate so don’t let words like orange, syrup or coconut scare you away if you are more of a brownie or custard kind of person. Trust me, because I am. Make this.

I wish you all a fabulous Friday!

Chocolate-dipped coconut macaroons

I don't think I have ever baked with coconut before. I don't know what posessed me to buy a bag of shredded coconut at the supermarket the other day. I am sure I had probably read a post somewhere on a blog, so I blame one of you for sending me subliminal messages to "buy coconut", but for the life of me I don't remember that recipe.

I like coconut as much as the next person. I have childhood memories of coconut that take me back to tropical beaches. My dad used to buy me virgin Pina Coladas when we spent Christmas together in the Carribean. I remember drinking coconut water out of the fruit in a little fishing boat in an atoll in the Indian Ocean. The fisherman then cracked it open and showed me how to scrape out the still-tender pulp. Coconut reminds me of disco days in the '80s and Batida de Coco (no, I am not that old, there is simply no drinking age in Italy). It reminds me of boarding school. There was a glass-panelled room equipped with vending machines where students were allowed to smoke. It was freezing, but we spent many an afternoon looking out onto the snow-capped mountains, chatting about boys and sharing a cigarette between five of us, nibbling on Bounty bars.  

Nowadays my coconut consumption usually involves curries and soups and we always have some coconut milk stashed away in our cupboards. But what to do with shredded, dry coconut? I started looking for recipes and was all too excited to find out that you needed condensed milk to make coconut macaroons. I had had an open jar in my fridge for ages (I don't remember what I used that for either of course) and couldn't get myself to either dispose of it or use it. I mean, with the insanely high sugar content, it couldn't really go bad right? That is why it is used during wars and in hot climates, no?

When I realized my coconut/condensed milk ratio was exactly right, I knew I had to make these. I could even finally use up some of the egg whites that piss me off every time I see them in my freezer because I never use them and they take up precious space I had so diligently stored in my freezer! I threw together the few ingredients required, felt pretty darn good about myself and my efforts to avoid waste, and made these little treats that help you forget you are in the middle of a wet winter with every bite.