Vegan, Gluten-Free strawberry, melon cashew smoothies!

Tasty vegan & Gluten-Free srawberry, cashew & melon smoothies!!!

This morning, I made these easy, tasty vegan & gluten-free strawberry, melon cashew smoothies! It was our drinkable breakfast!

I used 2 smaller Cavaillon melons in my smoothies!

Recipe: For 2 persons, each 2 smoothies = 5 cups =1250 ml!

Ingredients:

8 fresh thick large strawberries, cleaned & hulled

2 juicy ripe smaller Cavaillon melons, They need to smell amazing from the outside, peeled, seeds +green parts removed, cut into larger chunks + juice squeezed out

1 heaped cup of raw soaked cashews /(How to soak raw unsalted cashews?) You take 1 heaped cup of  raw, unsalted cashews & place them in a fitting bowl. You add clean water to cover them completely & mix well with a spoon. You place a fitting lid on & put it into the fridge for overnight or for at least 6 hours! After that, the nuts are more soft & have a softer taste. You drain them well under running water & rinse off the excess of water. Do not use the soak water!!!! Now, they are easier to digest, healthier & creamier for you too. Use them now! /

1 cup of soy milk = 250 ml

If you need to, to sweeten: 1 to 2 tablespoons of powdered coconut sugar/ I used 1 tablespoon

Method:

1.Take your Vitamix & place every ingredient in this order in it, except the powdered coconut sugar. Blend on full power for about 1 to 2 minutes using the tamper in your fitting lid. Push the ingredients into the blades, up & down. Taste! If it is sweet enough, don’t add the coconut sugar. I added 1 tablespoon of it & blended it again on full speed. Stop & taste & pour into lovely smoothy cups & enjoy instantly with your loved one! You don’t taste the strawberries but you do taste the sweeter Cavaillon melon! My husband & I drank each 2 smoothies for our breakfast!

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2. Vegan, Gluten-free refreshing strawberry & cashew vanilla smoothies!

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4. Vegan avocado, strawberry, honeydew melon oat milk smoothies !

Vegan cookies review & a garden update!

Organic vegan 8-grain cranberry cookies & organic vegan 8-grain chocolate cookies!

Yesterday, I was searching for awesome vegan store-bought cookies. Here in Belgium, mostly, you can find vegan cookies in a good food health shop. We don’t have specialized vegan food shops over here,…I can only dream about vegan bakeries, big sigh! But these cookies mustn’t be overloaded with bad sugars & bad ingredients. They must look good & appetizing too. In most food health shops, you can find a few vegan cookies, if you look very hard but they look & taste terribly & we don’t want that, do we? What I want in a vegan cookie, is the same value & quality that I want in creating my own vegan cookies. Maybe you do too?

You know that I love to use whole grain, different flours & especially spelt flours, don’t you? I found these beautiful cookies! Check them out!

These organic & vegan cookies with chocolate or with cranberry, are made by Billy’s farm Organic. This is an organic Dutch farm from Drachten, Friesland in The Netherlands.

They make all sorts of yummy organic cookies & all of them are vegan! On top of that, their cookies don’t have any beet or cane sugar in them.

The cookies are sweetened with cereal sirups or with fruit. A lot of the cookies have different grains in them.

Here is their website in English:  Billy’s Farm Organic

Review 1 : Billy’s Farm Organic 8-grain cookies with chocolate!

Vegan organic 8-grain cookies with chocolate, great for a breakfast on the go!

Tasty with a lovely cup of mint tea!

Ingredients are:

The ingredients of these tasty cookies!

Verdict:

These cookies are individually wrapped. Each cookie is 20 gr & 1 whole package of these cookies weights, 160 gr. This package has 8 sachets so 8 cookies in them. It costed me 2.50 € in the Bioplanet.

I love this crunchy, tasty vegan cookie. It is firm in your hand & crumbly in your mouth,…Just the way I like it. It is also a really filling cookie. If you eat 2 of them, it is a great breakfast, it is that filling for me! A breakfast on the go to! The only downside is that there must be more chocolate into each cookie!  Use: It is tasty on its own or dipped into a hot vegan chocolate or with a lovely vegan café latte. I drank it with an organic caffeine free mint tea! See picture above!

Review 2: Billy’s Farm Organic 8-grain cookies with cranberries!

Vegan organic 8-grain cookies with cranberry, wrapped individually!

Crunchy & tasty vegan 8-grain cranberry cookie!

Ingredients are:

Verdict:

These cookies are individually wrapped. Each cookie is 20 gr & 1 whole package of these cookies weights, 160 gr. This package has 8 sachets so 8 cookies in them. It costed me 2.50 € in the Bioplanet.

I love this crunchy, tasty vegan cookie. It is firm in your hand & crumbly in your mouth,…Just the way I like it. It is also a really filling cookie. If you eat 2 of them, it is a great breakfast, it is that filling for me! A breakfast on the go to! The only downside is that there must be more cranberry into each cookie!  Use: It is tasty on its own or enjoyed with a good organic not so sweet cranberry tea!

The 1st garden update of this year: What’s happening in my garden?

The last of the Springs blossoms!

The last of the lovely pink blossoms of our Japanese cherry tree!

My home-grown pumpkin plant!

The pink blossoms of our neighbours cherry tree!

Home grown rhubarb!

Home grown Swiss Chard leaves!

One of the many beautiful White Peony rose!

Mixed Asian salad leaves!

I still have to buy 1 or 2 courgettes ( zucchini ) plants because my seeds didn’t grow at all, this year! I also have to buy an aubergine ( eggplant ) & a cherry tomato plant.

So, I hope you enjoyed the reviews & the garden tour!

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The Virtual Vegan Potluck & my recipe in it: Vegan rhubarb, pear chocolate chips crumbles!!!

Just look at this tasty dessert: Don’t you want to digg in?

A tasty vegan forced rhubarb, pear & chocolate chip crumble!
MMM! This big part is for 2 persons!

I invented this recipe to join the Virtual Vegan Potluck! Annie@ An Unrefined Vegan invited us all, to join in a Virtual Vegan Potluck! It is like a fabulous vegan dinner with all foods, in all categories vegan, like from appetizers to desserts! If you wanted to take part, you could choose which part or in which group you wanted to make a vegan food dish. I chose the dessert section because recently, I had made a lot of vegan food dishes & I wanted to challenge myself too.

A few days ago, I made tasty vegan rhubarb, pear & chocolate chip crumbles!

It is a divine combination of flavours!! There is already forced rhubarb aka pink rhubarb that is grown into the dark, in special food shops. I wanted to use it because the ordinary more sour green & red rhubarb will not be ready until the end of May, in my yard. What is forced rhubarb?

Forced rhubarb!

Vegan forced rhubarb, pear chocolate chip crumbles!!!

Recipe: For 4 persons, each 1 big part

Ingredients:

** For the crumble topping:

150 gr organic white flour

150 gr cold, straight from the fridge, vegan butter, in pieces

75 gr light brown cassonade sugar ( kinnekes suiker )

75 gr vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips

** For the fruit mix:

585 gr forced rhubarb: washed, pad dry on kitchen paper, a few loose threads removed, cut into 2.5 cm pieces:  ( weighted when cleaned )

ripe pears: peeled, cored & cut into smaller chunks: 280 gr ( I used 2 pears )

cinnamon: 1/2 teaspoon

2 tablespoons of water

75 to 100 gr vanilla sugar ( I use home-made ) / I used 75 gr.

MMM! All vegan goodness!

Method:

1. I made the crumble topping a few hours in advance. Take a large bowl & add flour, cold vegan butter pieces & sugar. Crumble everything between your fingers until you end up with smaller & bigger crumbles. This will only take a few minutes. Now, add the vegan chocolate chips & mix through the crumbles. Place cling film over the bowl & place into the fridge until you are ready to make your whole crumble dessert.

2. Now, make your forced rhubarb mix. Take a medium cooking pot & add all of your rhubarb pieces in it. Add 2 tablespoons of water, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon & vanilla sugar. Mix well with a spoon. Boil for about 10 minutes until the rhubarb pieces are cooked through & the sugar has been melted. Taste! It must taste a bit sweet but not too sweet & a bit vanilla too! You can see the black spots of the vanilla on the cooked rhubarb. If it is too sour for you, add more vanilla sugar.

3. Preheat your oven to 180°C ( 350 F ) for 10 minutes. I always use a fan oven. Adjust your oven to the right temperature. Layer your crumble. Take 2 larger individualized oven dishes ( so you will end up with 4 portions in total ) & divide your rhubarb, cinnamon & vanilla mix on the bottom of each oven dish. Scatter the pear chunks over the rhubarb. Press the pear chunks a bit into the rhubarb. Divide the crumble mix over the oven dishes, loosely packed. Place into a preheated oven of 180°C ( 350 F ) & bake for about 20 minutes until bubbly, hot & the crumble topping becomes brown in colour. Do not let the crumbles burn! Lower your oven temperature if you need to.

4. When ready, take them out of the oven & let them rest for about 5 minutes. Enjoy instantly with a loved one!  Each big part must be divided by two. Yummmm!

MMM!!!!

The cooked vanilla forced rhubarb

The pear layer

The chocolate chip crumble layer

It was again, such fun, participating in this tasty Virtual Vegan potluck! I hope you liked it too!

To go to the following blog, into the Vegan dessert section, from the Virtual Vegan Potluck, from Keepin’it Kind, please click here:

To go back to the earlier blog entry from the Vegan dessert section, from the Virtual Vegan Potluck, from Cake maker to the Stars, just click here:

To start at the beginning of the Virtual vegan Potluck, click onto the following graphic:

Thanks for stopping by & I hope you enjoyed the ride! x

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Vegan, Gluten-Free oats, banana, cacao smoothies!

Vegan + Gluten-Free drinkable breakfast!

Recipe: for 2 persons

Ingredients:

1 very ripe large banana, dotted with black spots, peeled & cut into 2

450 ml of soy milk

2 tablespoons raw cacao sweetened with coconut sugar

1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon of Gluten-Free oats

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method:

1. Blend everything well together in your Vitamix, with the tamper, pushing the ingredients into the running blades, on full speed, on full power for 1 minute or so. Pour into 2 smoothy glasses & enjoy instantly your drinkable breakfast, best enjoyed on your terrace in the sunshine! Yummy!

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Organic pork loin in a mulled ginger wine soy cream sauce with brown Swiss mushrooms, spinach & aromatic brown rice!

A fantastic & easy dinner to impress!

This evening, I made this tasty & fabuliscious easy dinner. I used organic pork loin, that I cut into smaller pieces, each max. 2 cm thick. I used mulled ginger wine in the sauce too, for added flavour.

This is a great & easy dinner to prepare for a party. Easy does it here. I assure you that you want to lick the plate,…ooh yes!

MMM!

Recipe: For 2 persons

Ingredients:

* For the organic pork loin & mulled ginger soy cream sauce:

350 gr organic pork loin, cleaned: fat & white membrane removed, cut into smaller pieces, max 2 cm thick

vegan butter

a fruity extra virgin olive oil

1 big white onion, peeled, cut into rings

1 fat clove of garlic, peeled & cut up finely

2 teaspoons of coriander seeds, crushed finely in a pestle & mortar

finely milled white pepper

Maldon sea salt

70 ml mulled ginger wine / I use Crabbies

1 tablespoon of powdered coconut sugar

150 ml of soy cream/ I use Alpro Soy cream

1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice

10 gr of fresh coriander ( cilantro ) leaves, cleaned & cut roughly

250 gr of brown Swiss mushrooms, cleaned & cut up into smaller pieces

* For the spinach:

300 gr young spinach leaves

white pepper

Maldon sea salt

* For the aromatic brown rice:

2 sachets of each 125 gr brown rice, ready in 12 minutes cooking time

1 green celery stick, cut into larger pieces, that fit in your cooking pot

2 fat cloves of garlic, peeled & cut up

2 tablespoons of dried thyme

2 dried bay leaves

a splash of white wine

Method:

1. First, cook brown rice in salted boiling water. Add celery sticks, garlic, bay leaves & dried thyme. Stir & boil until tender & cooked through. Drain well & remove celery pieces, garlic, thyme & bay leaves. Keep warm.

2. In the meantime, take a large non-stick pan & heat up on medium-high. Add few knobs of vegan butter & some olive oil. Heat up. When hot, add garlic pieces, onion rigs & the finely crushed coriander seeds. What a great aroma! Stir often & fry until browned. Set aside in another pot with lid to keep warm & in the same pan, add few knobs of vegan butter & mushrooms. Add sea salt & white pepper, not too much. Fry until browned on all sides & cooked through. Add to the same pot with the onion garlic mix & keep warm. In the same pan, add drizzles of olive oil & heat up. When hot, fry your pork loin pieces, about 3 minutes per side & when you turn over on the other side, season with some sea salt & white pepper, only on one side. Add onion, garlic, mushroom mix back to the hot pan. Stir. Now, add mulled ginger wine, sugar & lemon juice. Stir often & let mulled ginger wine cook off a bit, until it gets reduced a bit. Now, add soy cream & season with some more sea salt & white pepper. Turn the meat over & round into the hot sauce. Stir soy cream into the sauce. Taste! It has to taste just fabulous!!! Turn the heat off & place a fitting lid on the hot pan. Let the meat rest for about 4-5 minutes, so that the meat will be tender & soft on the inside.

3. In the last minutes before serving, place your spinach in a pot & add a splash of water. Steam it & season with white pepper & some sea salt. Serve instantly with a loved one!

I assure you that you want to lick the plate,…Dig in right now & do enjoy your fab dinner!

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Salsa verde with organic chicken, green beans & lemon oven baked potatoes!

A delightful & fragrant dinner!

Yesterday evening, I made this tasty dinner! It was warm outside so this tasty dinner was right on time! This is best enjoyed with a loved one & with a good glass of a white wine, like a white Bordeaux.

MMM!

Vegan & Gluten-Free home-made salsa verde!

Recipe: For 2 persons, with seconds

Ingredients:

* For the vegan & Gluten-Free salsa verde:

1 bunch of fresh, washed & padded dry on kitchen paper flat-leaf parsley

1 bunch of fresh, washed & padded dry on kitchen paper coriander leaves ( cilantro )

juice of 1/2 lemon

Maldon sea salt

finely milled white pepper

30 rinsed small capers

4 medium gherkins, rinsed & cut up into 4

150 to 200 ml of a fruity Extra Virgin Olive Oil ( EVOO )/ I used 200 ml!

* For the lemon oven roasted potatoes:

600 gr ready cooked & cooled of mini potatoes, bought like that in the supermarket

a fruity EVOO, the same one as above!

white pepper, finely milled

Maldon sea salt

the zest of 1/2 lemon( Use the same lemon as above! )

* For the organic chicken:

350 gr of organic chicken breast , cleaned & cut up into smaller pieces

white pepper, finely milled

Maldon sea salt

vegan butter

* For the cooked & sautéed green beans:

370 gr clean, top & tailed green beans, weighted when top & tailed!

1 medium white onion, peeled & cut up

white pepper

Maldon sea salt

vegan butter

Method:

1. First, preheat your oven to 220°C ( 425 F ) for about 10 minutes. In a large non-stick oven dish, lay all your potatoes in 1 layer in it, neatly besides each other. Then scatter some Maldon sea salt & about 8 grins of finely milled white pepper over it. Zest your 1/2 lemon all over it. Now, pour that same fruity EVOO over them & mix with clean hands everything together! Place into the preheated oven & bake for about 40 to 45 minutes until browned on all sides & baked! In half of the cooking time, I turned my potatoes over to prevent burning! Keep warm in the oven, until ready to serve!

2. In the meantime, boil your beans with some sea salt until tender & just cooked through. Drain well & keep warm. Just before serving, remove your beans & add a knob or 2 of vegan butter to cooking pot & heat up on medium-high. Add onion pieces,some sea salt & finely milled white pepper. Fry until browned & cooked though. Stir often.Check the seasoning. Add the cooked green beans & heat up. Stir the white onion pieces through the green beans. Keep warm until ready to serve.

3. When your beans are starting to cook, make your salsa verde. Take your food processor & place flat leaf parsley, coriander leaves,smaller capers, cut up gherkins, juice of 1/2 lemon & 5 grins of finely milled white pepper to the mix. Add some sea salt too, but not too much. Blitz, blitz & pulse again until the salsa verde is to your liking. While the motor is running, pour your olive oil through the hole. I poured 200 ml in it because I wanted a smoother consistency! You can only use 150 ml, if you want too! It is up to you! You also can mix & pulse the ingredients much rougher if you wanted! Open & taste! It has to taste just right. It must be a waw! I added some Maldon sea salt & 5 grins of white pepper too & blitzed again & tasted again! MMM!

4. Preheat your 2 plates. When the other dishes are nearly ready, fry your organic chicken pieces in a hot non-stick pan in some vegan butter until cooked & browned on both sides. I only added Maldon sea salt & white pepper on one side of each chicken piece because the salad verde will be the sauce & main flavour on your fried chicken. Place a lid on your pan & lest the chicken rest for 5 minutes. After that, plate up instantly. Place your baked potatoes on one side, your chicken pieces on the other side. Lay your sautéed grean beans above this. Just before pouring the salsa verde on your chicken, mix with a large spoon in your salsa verde to mingle the olive oil well through the green mix. Spoon the salsa verde over your chicken & enjoy it with your lovely crisp dry white Bordeaux! MMM!

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Vegan, Gluten-free raspberry, strawberry cashew smoothies!

Vegan & Gluten-free deliciousness!

Today, I made these easy yet tasty breakfast smoothies. These smoothies are more thick but ooh so lovely & smooth because of the soaked cashews! My husband & I ate them for a lovely drinkable breakfast! I used my beloved Vitamix to make these stunning beauties!

Real tasty beauties!

Recipe: For 2 persons, each 2 smoothies= 5 cups =1250 ml!

Ingredients:

180 gr of frozen raspberries

6 big fresh strawberries

1 handful of soaked cashews, drained & rinsed well

750 ml= 3 cups of normal soy milk

3 tablespoons of vanilla sugar: I use home-made vanilla sugar

3 tablespoons of flaxseed

(How to soak raw unsalted cashews?) You take 1 cup of raw, unsalted cashews & place them in a fitting bowl. You add 2 cups of clean water to them & mix well with a spoon. You place a fitting lid on & put it into the fridge for overnight or for at least 6 hours! After that, the nuts are more soft & have a softer taste. You drain them well under running water & rinse off the excess of water. Do not use the soak water!!!! Now, they are easier to digest, healthier & creamier for you too. Use them now!

Method:

1. Take your Vitamix & place every ingredient in this order in it. Blend on full power for about 1 to 2 minutes using the tamper in your fitting lid. Push the ingredients into the blades, up & down. Taste! It will taste vanilla sweetened. Yum! Pour into lovely smoothy glasses & enjoy instantly 2 or place them in the fridge to stiff up a bit, for 2 hours! Yummy!

MMM!!!

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Vegan avocado, strawberry, melon breakfast smoothies!

MMMMMMMMMM!
Vegan deliciousness!

I made these stunning, tasty & filling vegan smoothies after my cardio & strenght-training work-out! It was also my breakfast! Vegan deliciousness! Yes!

Yummy!

Recipe:For 2 persons, each 2 drinks= 4 cups= 1000 ml!

Ingredients:

1 cup of sliced strawberries

1 cup of unsweetened oat milk

1/2 cup of ice

3 Medjool pitted dates

1 cup +1/2 cup of honeydew melon, peeled, cut into smaller chunks  (& then put into the 1 + 1/2 cup )

1 avocado, peeled, big stone removed & avocado flesh spooned out with a large spoon

juice of 1/2 lime

2/4 teaspoon of ground speculaas spices ( You can also make your own speculaas spices, see below!!! ) 

3 teaspoons black chia seeds

* For the home-made speculaas spices:

4 tablespoons of ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon of ground cloves

1 tablespoon of ground ginger

1 tablespoon of ground nutmeg

1 tablespoon of ground green cardamom

Mix all spices together in a fitting bowl. Whisk everything well togheter & use 2/4 teaspoon for this tasty recipe. Store the rest in a jam pot with fitting lid & label it. Store in a dry cupboard. Use the rest in Speculaas cookies, in pancake batter, in cookies, in waffles, etc!

Method:

1. Take your Vitamix & place every ingredient in this order in it. Blend on full power for about 1 to 2 minutes using the tamper in your fitting lid. Push the ingredients into the blades, up & down. Taste! It will be a thicker smoothy, best drunk or eaten with a spoon. It will be a bit sweet, just right, like I love my smoothies!

2. Eat 2 straight away or place the other 2 smoothies in the fridge. Eat the last 2 smoothies within the following hours. Enjoy!

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Vegan carob mousse with strawberries! ( Gluten-Free too! )

A tasty vegan & Gluten-free carob mousse with strawberries!

Today, I made this tasty vegan carob mousse with fresh strawberries! I made these tasty vegan & Gluten-Free carob mousses because I prefer carob instead of cacao powder. It doesn’t give me any headaches! I also added sliced fresh ripe strawberries & topped each strawberry base with 1/4 teaspoon of powdered coconut sugar for a bit of a sweeter flavour. The contrast with the cashew carob mousse & the strawberries was & is just perfect for the palate! Enjoy!

MMM! Vegan & Gluten-Free deliciousness!

Vegan & Gluten-Free carob mousse!
Recipe: For 3 persons

Ingredients:

1 heaped cup soaked & drained cashews = 150 gr, soaked overnight or for at least 6 hours:

( How to soak raw unsalted cashews?) You take 1 cup of raw, unsalted cashews & place them in a fitting bowl. You add 2 cups of clean water to them & mix well with a spoon. You place a fitting lid on & put it into the fridge for overnight or for at least 6 hours! After that, the nuts are more soft & have a softer taste. You drain them well under running water & rinse off the excess of water. Do not use the soak water!!!! Now, they are easier to digest, healthier & creamier for you too. Use them now!

1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon of water

3 tablespoons of maple syrup, grade C

3 tablespoons of carob powder

pinch of Maldon sea salt

6 larger fresh strawberries, cleaned, hulled & each strawberry cut into 4 slices

3/4 teaspoon of powdered coconut sugar, divided in 3 equal portions, aka 1/4 teaspoon + 1/4 teaspoon +1/4 teaspoon of powdered coconut sugar

Fresh sliced strawberries

freshly cut up strawberries

1/4 teaspoon of powdered coconut sugar on top of sliced strawberries

3 lovely carob mousses with strawberries, ready to set into the fridge for 3 hours!

Method:

1. Take your Vitamix & add drained soaked cashews & 1/4 cup of water. Add 1 tablespoon of water extra. Place fitting lid on & the tamper too. Blend on full power & push the tamper up & down because you want to push down the cashews into the running blades. Stop the machine & check consistency. Blend again & again until the cashews form a smooth& silky structure. The cashews will thicken the mousse later in the fridge. So, do not add more water!!!!

2. Add carob powder, maple syrup & pinch of Maldon sea salt. Mix on high-speed until fully joined with the cashew mix. You must taste the carob flavour, cashews & the sweeter taste too!

3. Take 3 fancy smaller dessert glasses & place the fresh-cut up strawberries in the bottom of each dessert glass. I added 2 cut up strawberries per dessert glass, in the bottom, in 2 layers. I topped each strawberry layer with 1/4 teaspoon of powdered coconut sugar to give a sweeter touch aka taste later on. Do this the same way with the 2 other desserts too. Pour or spoon the mousse all over it, evenly divided between the 3 glasses and let the mousses set up a bit in the fridge, for at least 3 hours. The mousse will get shiny & will firm up a bit.

Happy eating!

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Vegan, Gluten-Free apple porridge!

This morning, I made this lovely & easy Gluten-free & vegan breakfast! It has been a while, that I made a home-made porridge, let alone GF! So, I made this tasty breakfast!

A yummy breakfast that Is vegan + Gluten-Free!!!

A divine GF & vegan breakfast! Oat Apple porridge with coconut sufar caramelized apple chunks!

Recipe: For 1 person

Ingredients:

** For the GF porridge:

60 gr Gluten-Free oats

360 ml unsweetened soy milk

1/2 pink Lady apple, peeled, cored & finely grated

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon of powdered coconut sugar

** For the caramelized apples:

1 + 1/2 pink lady apple, peeled, cored & cut into bite-sized chunks

1 tablespoon of powdered coconut sugar

knobs of vegan GF butter

Method:

1. First, make your GF oat porridge. Pour unsweetened soy milk in a medium cooking pot & bring to the boil. Add GF oats & stir. Cook your oats until they have absorbed most of the milk, stirring often. This took me 8 minutes or so.Turn heat lower if you need to. While the GF oats are cooking, add 1/2 grated apple & stir. Add 1 tablespoon of powdered coconut sugar & let it melt into the hot mix. When your GF oat porridge is ready, take of the heat & add 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon & stir into the mix. Taste! It has to taste great!

2. In the meantime, take a medium non-stick pan & heat up on medium high. Add a few knobs of vegan & GF butter & let it melt. When hot & melted, add apple chunks & fry for about 5 minutes, turning once & when they are beginning to soften, add 1 tablespoon of powdered coconut sugar & let it melt. Turn apple chunks over & see that they get coated by the sugar. Cook them for another 5 to 8 minutes until ready, browned on all sides & cooked through. Do not let the apple chunks burn! Lower the heat if you need to!!! They will caramelize well!! MMM!

3. Now, plate up! Place all of the GF porridge in a lovely clean bowl & top with the caramelized apple chunks! Dive in instantly! Happy eating!

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Vegan, Gluten-Free boozy smoothies!

Just now, I made these tasty vegan boozy smoothies! Ooh yeah! They are great to drink as a lovely appetizer , only for grown ups or as a lovely tasty boozy drinkable dessert! Check them out!

Fantastic boozy smoothies!

These beauties I also made in my beloved Vitamix!

Tasty vegan boozy smoothy!

Recipe: For 1 liter = 4 cups

Ingredients:

2 cups of fresh pineapple chunks ( pineapple peeled & brown bits cut out, cut into smaller chunks

2 cups of fresh ripe strawberries( I used the 1st Belgian strawberries from Hoogstraten!), strawberries cleaned, hulled & cut into 4 ( measured when cut into 4 )

80 ml of Licor 43 liqueur = vegan  + Gluten-free too!

1 cup of coconut milk ( a can of coconut milk, well shaken, poured into a pot & whisked with a whisk until fully emulsified,  (1 cup measured )

1 tablespoon of Maple syrup, grade C

What is Licor 43 ( cuarenta y tres )?

Licor 43, or Cuarenta y tres (Spanish for “43″), is a bright yellow Spanish liqueur. It is made from citrus and fruit juices, flavored with vanilla & other aromatic herbs and spices, in total 43 different ingredients (hence the name).

The story behind Licor 43 dates back to the time of the Romans. After having conquered the city of Quart Hadas, they discovered liquor made from a combination of citrus fruits and aromatic plants. This drink’s popularity soon traversed the leadership hierarchy of the Roman Empire. This popularity has continued to present day culture. Made of a mix of citrus and orange blossom flavors with a subtle vanilla tone, a sip of Licor 43 is marketed as “conjuring a feeling of a summer”.

Licor 43 also known as “Cuarenta Y Tres” is 31% alcohol and is a light bodied, sweet liqueur. In color it is yellow tinged with a touch of gold. The aroma is sharp, warm, and complex, with vanilla up front and then tangy sweet fruit, spices, and an aged rum like presence. The flavor is similar to the aroma: vanilla, complex intermixed spices, tangy fruits, and hints of citrus, carried by a flavor similar to fine aged rum. Licor 43 is vegan  & Gluten-free too!

Licor 43!

Method:

1. Place these ingredients in this order in your Vitamix & place the fitting lid on & use the tamper too. Mix thoroughly on high-speed for 1 minute or so. Taste!

2. Pour into cocktail glasses, in dessert or smoothy glasses & enjoy instantly with your loved one’s! MMM!

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 You might like other Licor 43 recipe:

1. Ricotta dessert topped with Licor 43 marinated kaki’s!

Spiced Vegan Aubergine tomato stew, with spelt penne & organic spicy sausage bits!

A vegan spiced aubergine tomato stew! Yummy too!

I made this tasty spiced aubergine tomato stew today. I spiced it with smoked spanish paprika, the dulce version. I also added dried chili flakes to the combo. It is divine & easy, fast to make too! I served this with organic spelt penne & organic spiced sausage bits ( I removed their casings!! ). This dinner is all vegan too, if you serve this with vegan spiced sausages!!!

The stew itself is completely vegan!!

A tasty vegan auberine tomato stew, on a bed of spelt penne & spicy organic sausage bits!

Recipe: For 2 persons, with a lot of hunger

Ingredients:

2 larger aubergines, ( eggplant ) cleaned, cut into thicker rings, ( 400 gr, weighted after being cleaned ) then into 4 or more, larger seeds & mushy interior cut out!!

1 medium white onion, peeled & cut into finer slices

1/2 red bell pepper, seeds & white bits removed, cut into smaller strips

sunflower oil

vegan butter

black pepper: 20 grins

Maldon sea salt : 1 teaspoon + 1/4 teaspoon

1/2 vegan stock cube

300 ml hot water

2 teaspoons Spanish smoked paprika, the mild version (dulce )

1/2 teaspoon + 1/4 teaspoon of dried chili flakes

3 organic dairy-free spicy sausages, casings removed, sausage parts torn into smaller bite-sized pieces

500 ml sieved tomato passata

To serve: cooked & drained white spelt penne + fried organic sausage bits ( I fried my sausage bits in some vegan butter until browned on all sides & cooked through )/ You can use here spiced chorizo styled vegan sausages instead! ( to make the meal completely vegan! )

Method:

1. Take a large Creuset pot & heat up on medium high. Pour 2 to 3 tablespoons of sunflower oil in here & heat up. When hot, add onion & pepper strips. Add 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika. Stir-fry for about 5 minutes. Now, add aubergine chunks & 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika. Stir & add few knobs of vegan butter & some sunflower oil too. Fry until all the sides of the aubergine pieces are browned & half-cooked through. Add 10 grins of black pepper, finely milled & 1 teaspoon of Maldon sea salt. Stir well. Now, add 1/2 cube of vegan stock & crumble it into the mix. Stir well. Add 300 ml of hot water to the mix. Stir everything round in the hot pot. Now, add 1/2 teaspoon + 1/4 teaspoon of the dried chili flakes & add 500 ml of tomato passata & stir well. Add again 10 grins of black pepper & 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt. Mix. Reduce the sauce a bit for about 10 minutes until your sauce has thickened in, doesn’t look runny anymore & your aubergine pieces must be just cooked through!!! Taste! It has to taste fabulous & just right, with hints of spiciness on your lips & no further! Adjust the seasoning, if you need to. My stew was very delicious!

2. Serve on a bed of spelt penne & ladle your hot stew on this & scatter the cooked dairy-free organic sausage bits around the penne & on top of your lovely aubergine tomato stew!;) Happy eating!

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You might like:

1. Sophie’s easy Gluten-Free & vegan curry!

2. Vegan veggies pasta sauce on a bed of spelt spaghetti with seitan mince!

3. A quick & tasty pasta dish!

4. Vegetable stew with coffee & home-made cheese dumplings!

A famous belgian beer called Duvel & a recipe using it! Witloof & Duvel soup!

Duvel is a great & famous Belgian beer! And it is vegan too!

Duvel is from the Belgian brewery Moortgat. Moortgat brewery was founded in 1871 by Jan-Leonard Moortgat. He was already descended from a family of brewers. In the 1950′s The 3rd generation of Moortgat’s took over the control of the brewery.

Ever since 1871, the 1st generation of the brewery Moortgat, brewed their first beers. They did this with a whole lot of exquisite craftsmanship and technique, a lot of patience & a whole lot of love. Duvel is a 100% pure and natural beer without additives & preservatives. And you taste that difference. This Duvel beer has a higher alcohol percentage then other beers, 8.5 %, gives this beer a huge dense head, has delicate pearls & gives a silky mouthfeeling. That is why Duvel is something special. Duvel is brewed with Pilsner malt and white sugar, and hopped with Saaz Hops and Styrian Goldings, the yeast still stems from the original culture of Scottish yeast bought by Albert Moortgat during a business tour of the U.K. just after World War 1!!!!                                                                  

Duvel Beer! It is my husband’s favourite beer!

Duvel is a strong golden pale ale. Duvel means Devil because this is the dialect for the dutch word: Duivel, meaning devil. Duvel, is the company’s best known product which is exported to more than 40 countries!!! Ooh yes! Their headquarters are in  Breendonk, Flanders, Belgium.

Duvel Moortgat was an original investor in the Brewery Ommegang craft brewery founded in Cooperstown, NY, in the late 1990s. More recently, the Belgian company took over complete control of the brewery and founded a stateside sales organization Duvel USA to handle both Ommegang and Duvel Moortgat brands and others.

                                                                     

                                                                  Duvel factory

Industry	Alcoholic beverage
Founded	1871
Headquarters	Breendonk, Belgium
Products	Beer
Production output	270,000 hl (2001)

Witlof & Duvel soup

I made this divine silky smooth witlof & Duvel soup, that is vegan & ooh so tasty too. This soup is a Belgian speciality. In soup, we usually use Blonde aka white beer, what beer you choose is up to you! I chose Duvel because it has that typical citrus & orange flavour in it. I served this with my twist: Sophie’s twist! Because you can taste a hint of citrus & orange in your beer, I added finely grated orange zest on top of my soup & also added raw freshly shredded witlof leaves! Enjoy!

TIP: Just before serving your soup, you need to shred finely your raw witlof leaves, otherwise they will lose their white & yellow colour!!!!

A tasty & silky smooth witlof & Duvel beer soup, topped with fresh raw witlof shreds & grated orange zest!

Belgian endives aka witlof

Recipe: For 3 persons, each 1 big bowl

Ingredients:

5 witlof, washed, pad dry on kitchen paper, cleaned, the rough end brown round cut off, cut into rougher rounds & then into 2 ( mine weighted 630 gr before cleaning

200 gr floury potatoes, peeled & cut into bite sized chunks

1 teaspoon of dried thyme

800 ml of a good hot vegan stock

100 ml Duvel beer

black pepper, finely milled

Maldon sea salt

vegan butter

2 shalots, peeled & finely diced

To serve:

1 organic orange, skin grated, but not too fine, like: see picture soup!

1 witlof, washed, pad dry on kitchen paper, cut into thinner round shreds, like this:

Raw finely shredded witlof leaves!

Method:

1. Take a large cooking pot & add a few knobs of vegan butter. Turn heat onto high. When hot, add shalot & potato pieces. Add 1 teaspoon of dried thyme & stir often. Reduce the heat if you need to. After 3 to 5 minutes, add the witlof pieces & stir everything well round in the pot. Add about 300 ml of that hot vegan stock & add the Duvel beer too. Stir well round. Bring to the boil. When boiling, add the other leftover stock & cook until potato pieces are cooked through. It took me 14 minutes. Turn the heat off. Taste your soup. I added 7 grins of finely milled black pepper & scattered some sea salt in the soup. I stirred it into my soup.

2. I took my Vitamix & mixed my soup completely fine & silky smooth. I used my tamper too. Taste again. It was just divine. Firstly, you must taste the bitter flavour of the witlof & then you can taste the citrus & orange connection of the Duvel beer.

3. When you are going to serve your soup, take 1 clean witlof & shred it finely with a sharp knife, see picture above. Laddle your soup into lovely soup bowls & top the middle of each bowl with a few shredded raw witlof leaves & scatter some grated orange zest around it, into each bowl of soup! Just like this:

MMM! The orange zest goes so well with the citrus flavours in the beer & the raw shredded witlof leaves go so well with the witlof flavour in the soup!
Double yum!

Enjoy instantly with a loved one! This is a great soup for dinner parties too!

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You might like other witlof or beer recipes:

1. Beetroot appetizers served in a witlof leaf, filed under Christmas menu!

2. Belgian witlof ( endives ) with ham & cheese sauce!

3. Marinated salmon with grilled marinated white & red witlof, served with oven baked potato wedges!

4. Garlic toasts with Kumato tomatoes & Serrano ham served with Belgian Oude Geuze beer!

Happy Easter from Sophie’s Foodie Files!

I wish all of my readers, all over the world, a Happy Easter!! Enjoy this festive day with your family, friends & loved one’s!

I will give you a few alternative dishes to enjoy at Easter or on Easter Monday!

Just click onto the pictures to go directly to the recipes!

A/ Some tasty salads ( both vegan !!! )

Very festive, seasonal vegan salad!!!

A seasonal vegan top salad!

B/ Some tasty dinners!

A tasty fish dish!

Sophie’s easy vegan & GF curry! MMM!

A tasty spring lamb dish!

C/ Some tasty desserts!

A tasty vegan forced rhubarb, pear & chocolate chip crumble!

Vegan carob brownies with cranberries!

D/ What about some tasty cookies creations?

Tasty vegan cream cheese chocolate chip cookies!

Sophie’s festive speculaas cookies!

Don’t you want to take a large bite? These are GF triple coconut cookies with almond butter! Yes!

I hope you all liked my alternative suggestions aka recipes for a lovely Easter celebration! See you all back on Tuesday the 2nd of April! Bye for now!

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