evening

Creamy Chai Oats with Cinnamon Bananas

 

Creamy Chai Oats:

Serves 2 ⠀

2 ripe bananas⠀
1 ½ cup oat milk or almond milk⠀
1 tsp Ceylon cinnamon⠀
½ tsp cardamom⠀
½ tsp ground ginger⠀
½ tsp ground nutmeg⠀
½ tsp vanilla powder⠀

1 cup rolled oats

Top with:

almonds⠀
walnuts or pecan nuts⠀
apple sauce⠀
local organic honey⠀
peanut butter⠀

Place the bananas, oat milk and spices in a blender and blend until silky smoothie. Pour the banana chai smoothie into a pot and bring to boil. Lower the heat and stir in the rolled oats. Cook the oats on a low medium heat for 5-15 minutes (depending on the oats you’re using. Check the instructions on the package) or until done. Stir every once in a while. Add more liquid, if needed. Pour into bowls and top with almonds or nuts, apple sauce, peanut butter and a drop of honey. Enjoy before bedtime. ⠀

Tip! You can also enjoy the banana chai smoothie as it is, just warm it up and leave out the rolled oats. ⠀

Pan-fried Cinnamon Fried Bananas:

2 ripe bananas⠀
1 tsp coconut oil⠀
1/2 tsp Ceylon cinnamon⠀

Peel the bananas and cut them in half and then lengthwise. Preheat a skillet over medium heat and add the oil and cinnamon. Stir to combine. Add the banana slices and fry for 2-3 mins on each side. Enjoy!

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Sweet potato slices with pink hummus

Sweet potato slices with pink hummus

VANELJA’S ROASTED SWEET POTATO SLICES WITH PINK HUMMUS & AVO

2 sweet potatoes, peeled
sea salt
black pepper

Preheat the oven to 200 Celsius / 400 fahrenheit degrees. Slice the sweet potatoes into half inch slices. Spread the slices onto a baking tray covered with baking paper. Pour on some olive oil & sprinkle o salt and black pepper. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the sweet potatoes feel tender. Take out from the oven. Let cool slightly. Spread on some pink hummus and top with avocado slices and microgreens or herbs + finger salt. Serve & enjoy right away!

PINK HUMMUS:

1 or a half small beet, peeled & steamed or roasted
2 cups canned chickpeas, drained
(save about ½ cup aquafaba/liquid from the chickpeas)
2 tbsp tahini
juices from half lime
5 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves
pinch of salt
ground black pepper

Blend the beets and chickpeas together in a blender or food processor until slightly combined. Add the rest of the ingredients. Blend. Add some aquafaba so that you get a smooth consistency.

Hiya Honey! Look what I’ve got for you today – A dreamy and creamy blueberry thyme raw cake –  A cake that can also be found on the cover of the latest THRIVE magazine. That’s right, babe, my cake is an actual cover girl! So sooo amazing! There’s also a four page spread & a feature of me in the magazine in where I share some of my food secrets + many many other great features and recipes of super talented recipe creators.

I first created this blueberry raw cake in the spring with a collaboration with a Finnish salad and herb producer Järvikylä when I made an adaptation of their thyme blueberry cake and during the summer the cake photo has become easily one of my most shared and liked IG posts ever and it has been so much fun to see people making their own creations of it and posting them on their pages and sharing them with me. The beauty and magic of Instagram.

To celebrate my cover photo I thought to share the recipe here on my site too – So here you go, my friend, go and enjoy these blueberry filled dream bites!

V

Hello, love! I have one pretty delicious weekend greeting here for you! And it comes in a form of a pizza. I hope you like sweet potato, because this pizza crust is all about it. I mean ALL about it. Totally and completely. Nothing else added.

One of the most popular everyday foods in our household are mini pizzas made on small sweet potato slices. We all love them. They are super easy to make and it takes less than 30 minutes to get them ready. The only thing that started bugging me in the whole mini pizza process was that I always have to add all the toppings separately on each and every slice. So, as a great optimizer as I am, I started to think how could I use the same idea but in a bigger pizza size.

After a few test batches I found out that when I slice the sweet potato lengthwise with a cheese slicer and place the slices overlapping on a baking tray in a form of a round pizza, it makes a great crust which cooks up quickly. And when I sprinkle on some organic mozzarella (and/or feta or vegan cheese) it works like a glue for the slices and makes the pizza easy to eat. Of course you won’t get it as firm as a normal pizza crust would be, but firm enough so you can eat it decently – and with a smile on your face, because it’s just so so tasty.

As a pizza topping I used loads of greens, lovely vegetables and fresh herbs, which made the whole thing look so generous and verdant, especially when I added some edible flowers on it, that I named it the Green Goddess Sweet Potato Pizza. Talk about life energy and abundance.

If you like it more hard core, go ahead and add some organic meat and cheeses on, if you feel you get your divine energies better that way. My kid loves her sweet potato pizza with some tomato puree, tuna (MSC certified, of course) and pineapple. And as she’s going through some picky state of life, I let her enjoy it that way and won’t push my greens on her pizza.

What I love most about this recipe is that it takes less than 30 minutes to make and you can use almost anything you happen to have in the fridge, as long as you have sweet potatoes. As a person who live is the moment, not planning too much her eatings and at the same time gets VERY hungry VERY quickly this kind of a dish is just priceless.

So, there you go! I hope this delivered you some inspiration for the weekend. May the pizza goddess light your way to the kitchen!

 

V

Crust:

  • 1 cup pecan nuts
  • 5-7 fresh dates, pitted
  • ½ tsp cardamom
  • a tiny pinch of sea salt

Filling:

  • 1 cup cashew nuts
  • ⅓ cup cacao butter
  • 3 tbsp coconut oil
  • ½-1 cup coconut milk (room temperature)
  • ¼ cup coconut syrup (or maple syrup)
  • ½ cup raw cacao powder
  • a tiny pinch of salt

Chocolate sauce:

  • 3 tbsp coconut oil
  • 3 tbsp raw cacao powder
  • 2 tbsp coconut syrup (or maple syrup)
  • a tiny pinch of sea salt

On top:

  • pecan nuts
  • raw cacao nibs
  • coconut flakes

Tin diameter:

  • 7 inches / 18 cm

Crust:

Chop the nuts in a blender. Add the dates and cardamom with nuts and blend into crumbly dough. Press on the bottom of the cake tin.

Creamy Filling:

Mix all ingredients in a blender until you have a smooth creamy mixture. If needed, add more coconut milk to get smoother texture but still keeping it as thick as possible. Taste and add seasoning or sweetness if desired. Pour the dough into the cake tin over the crust and put the tin into a freezer for 2 hours or until solid.

Chocolate sauce:

Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and stir to combine. Drizzle on top of the raw chocolate cake.

Decorate with nuts, cacao nibs and coconut flakes. Try also fresh berries and n’ice cream! Serve and enjoy!

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3 INGREDIENT VEGAN APPLE PIE

  • 3 sweet apples
  • 1 ⅓ cup (3 dl) rolled oats
  • 4 tbsp melted coconut oil
  • +ceylon cinnamon on top

(pan size: 7 inches/18 cm)

Preheat the oven to 425 F/225 C degrees. Cut 2 apples into pieces and place into a blender. Puree until smooth. Add rolled oats and coconut oil. Blend well. Cover the bottom of a cake pan with a parchment paper and grease the sides. Pour the batter into the pan and spread evenly. Cut one apple into very thin slices and cover the surface on the pie with apple slices. Top with plenty of cinnamon. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes or until the color is nicely golden and the sides and the surface look done and dry. Take it out from the oven and let it cool. Serve and enjoy! Store covered in a room temperature.

Preparing time: 25 minutes

Cake:

  • 4 organic eggs
  • 10-15 fresh sweet dates
  • 1,5 dl raw cacao powder

Cake tin diameter: about 17 cm / 6,5 inches

Preheat the oven to 200 C / 400 Fahrenheit degrees. Grease/oil the sides and the bottom of the cake tin. Cut pieces of parchment paper to cover the bottom and the sides. Remove the stones from the dates and add all the ingredients to the blender. Blend until smooth. Pour the dough into the cake tin and bake for 20-25 minutes until the surface looks dry. Watch out not to dry the cake too much (a tough job!). Let the cake cool completely before you remove the cake from the tin. Notice that the surface will come down quite a bit. Enjoy with chocolate mousse and nut crust or whipped coconut cream and berries!

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE FROSTING

  • 1 can (400 ml) full fat coconut milk (kept in the fridge)
  • 3-5 tbsp raw cacao powder
  • 1 tbsp organic honey (or coconut syrup)

Take the coconut milk can from the fridge and scoop the white thick paste into a bowl. Add cacao powder and sweetener and whip with a mixer until mousse. Taste and add more cacao or sweetness if needed. Use as a frosting.

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Vegan meatballs:

( 8-10 pieces)

  • ½ heaping cup sun-dried tomatoes
  • ½ cup sunflower seeds
  • ½ cup chickpeas
  • 5 tbsp flax meal (or flax seeds)
  • 1 small onion
  • 1 tbsp Tamarin soya
  • black pepper
  • a pinch sea salt

For frying:

  • 5 tbsp olive oil or coconut oil

Sweet potato pasta:

  • 1 big sweet potato
  • 2 cup marinara tomato sauce

On top:

  • vegan parmesan cheese (recipe in Kiitos hyvää Pikaruokaa cookbook!) or original organic parmesan cheese
  • fresh basil

Preheat the oven to 400 Fahrenheit/200 Celsius degrees. Measure sun-dried tomatoes into blender and blend until quite smooth. Add rest of the ingredients and blend. Pour the dough into a bowl and form small balls with your hands. If the dough feels too wet add a little bit of coconut flour or other flour. Pour generously oil onto a pan and fry the meatballs for about 5 minutes, until they get a nice brown color. Transfer the meatballs onto a baking tray covered with parchment paper. Bake for about 15 minutes. In the meantime prepare the sweet potato noodles.

Peel the sweet potato and prepare noodles with a spiral slicer or julienne peeler. Add 1 tbsp oil onto a pan and cook the nools for one minute. Add the marinara sauce and cook for about 10 minutes.
Take the meatballs out of the oven. Dose some noodles on plates, add meatballs on top. Grate some vegan cheese or parmesan cheese on top and sprinkle on some fresh basil leaves. Serve and enjoy!

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Muffins:

  • 1 ½ ripe banana
  • 3 tbsp peanut butter
  • ½ cup rolled oats
  • 3 organic, free range eggs
  • 1 tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees / 175 C degrees. Grease the muffin cups. Place all the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour the mixture in muffin cups and bake for about 15 minutes. In the meantime prepare the caramel sauce and frosting. When muffins are ready, take them out from the oven and let cool. Spoon some frosting on top and pour on some caramel sauce. Serve and enjoy!

Peanut butter frosting:

  • 1 can full fat coconut milk (kept in a fridge)
  • 3 tbsp peanut butter
  • 2 tbsp organic honey
  • 1 ripe banana (sliced in small pieces)

Open the coconut milk can and scoop out the white thick paste in a bowl. Add peanut butter and honey. Whip until fluffy. Fold in the banana pieces.

Caramel sauce:

  • 7 tbsp coconut sugar
  • ½ cup coconut milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • a pinch of sea salt

Place the coconut sugar and coconut milk in a pan. Stir gently on a medium heat until the mixture is well mixed. Let the sauce simmer on low heat for about 15 minutes until the sauce starts to thicken. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract and salt. Store in a glass jar in the fridge and use within two weeks.

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(gluten-free, milk-free)
About 5 pieces

You need:

  • Chocolate cake crumble
  • Melted raw chocolate
  • Coconut whipped cream
  • 1-2 bananas
  • Pecan nuts
  • About 1 cup sized glass jars

Steps:

  1. Prepare the cake cumble by making chocolate muffins.
  2. Melt the raw chocolate or prepare it yourself.
  3. Prepare whipped coconut cream.
  4. Crumble your chocolate cup cakes and add into the bottom of the jars.
  5. Add some sliced banana and chopped nuts and pour some melted chocolate on.
  6. Add some whipped coconut cream.
  7. Crumble in some more chocolate muffins.
  8. Add banana slices & chocolate sauce & coconut whipped cream & top with chopped nuts.
  9. Serve and enjoy!

Chocolate muffins:
(Gluten-free, milk-free)

  • 2 cups full-fat almond flour
  • 2 cups buckwheat flour (or gluten-free oat flour or 50:50)
  • 1 cup raw cacao powder
  • ½ cup coconut sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 3 organic eggs
  • 1 cup melted butter (or coconut oil, or 50:50)
  • 1 cup oat milk (or a dairy-free milk beverage of your taste)
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • a pinch of sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit (175 Celsius) degrees. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix the eggs in another bowl, add melted butter/oil, milk and spices. Add the mix dry ingredients and stir. Spoon the batter to muffin moulds (or a small cake pan) and bake in the oven for about 25-35 minutes. Muffins may be a little soft in the middle. Allow to cool.

Raw Chocolate Sauce:

  • 5 tbsp raw cocoa powder
  • 1 cup almond milk (or any dairy-free milk beverage)
  • 2 tbsp organic honey
  • a small pinch of sea salt
  • (+ 1 tbsp almond butter if desired)

Add cacao powder to a bowl and stir in the almond milk for a small amount at a time, until you reach desired thickness. Add honey, salt and almond butter and stir until smooth.

Coconut Whipped Cream: Get the insturctions HERE.

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Cake:

  • ½ cup coconut flour
  • ½ cup almond flour
  • ½ cup raw cocoa powder
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp psyllium husk
  • 1 tsp vanilla powder
  • ½ cup oat milk
  • 6 organic eggs
  • 5 tbsp organic honey or coconut palm syrup
  • 5 tbsp cup coconut palm sugar

Filling:

  • about 5 tbsp almond butter

Stracciatella filling:

  • 2 cans full fat coconut milk (refrigerated overnight)
  • ½ tsp vanilla powder
  • 1 tbsp organic honey or coconut syrup
  • 5 tbsp raw cacao nibsOn top:
    grated raw chocolate

The pan diameter: 18 cm / 7 inches.

Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit or 175 Celsius degrees. Grease the cake tin with coconut oil and cover the bottom with a piece of parchment paper so that the cake is easier to remove later.

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Beat the eggs in another bowl with honey and coconut sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy (about 1-2 minutes). Mix the dry ingredients and egg foam. Stir in the oat milk.

Pour the batter into the cake tin. Bake in the center of the oven for about 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center. (In the meantime prepare the filling). Take the cake tin out from the oven and let the cake cool. Remove the cake from the pan and if necessary, help gently with a knife.

Stracciatella filling:

Take the coconut milk cans out of the fridge. Open the cans and remove all the solid coconut cream and scoop it into a bowl. Mix cream in a bowl with beaters until fluffy. Mix in honey or syrup, vanilla and cacao nibs. If the mixture gets too runny, place it in the refrigerator for a while.

Assembly:
Cut the cake in two parts. Spread almond butter on top of the first layer. Then add stracciatella filling. Add the second layer on top and spread stracciatella filling also on top of the cake. Decorate the cake by sprinkling on some grated raw chocolate. Serve and enjoy!

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  • 1 dl coconut flour
  • 2 dl almond flour
  • 1 tablespoon psyllium husk
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 1 dl coconut palm sugar
  • 0,5 dl of organic honey
  • 6 eggs (whites and yolks separated)
  • 4 dl champagne
  • juices of 1 orange

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees. Grease a baking tin with butter or coconut oil.
Mix the dry ingredients (except sugar) together in a bowl. Separate the egg yolks and egg whites in separate bowls. Whisk the egg whites until peak arises. Add honey and coconut sugar with egg yolk and beat for couple of minutes, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Mix the dry ingredients and egg yolks together. Stir in the champagne and orange juice. Add the egg white foam gently, so that the mixture remains fluffy.

Pour the batter into the greased tin and bake for about 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center. Take the cake out of the oven and let it cool. In the meantime prepare the orange chia jam and orange coconut whipped cream (see the instructions below).

When the cake has cooled, remove it from the pan (with a help of a knife, if necessary), and divide the cake into three or four parts. Frost the the layers with orange chia jam and orange coconut whipped cream. Sprinkle some coconut flour on top and decorate with flowers.

ORANGE CHIA JAM – See the recipe HERE.

ORANGE COCONUT WHIPPED CREAM

  • 2 cans of full fat coconut milk (refrigerated overnight)
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla powder
  • 1 teaspoon honey or for example stevia
  • 1 tbsp orange zest

Take coconut milk cans out of the fridge. Open cans and remove all the solid coconut cream / white stuff and scoop it into a bowl. Mix in a bowl with beaters until fluffy. Mix in honey or stevia and other flavoring. Use right away. If the mixture is too runny, place it in the refrigerator for a while. Store the leftover in the fridge and use within 3 days.
Convert DL to CUPS for example HERE!

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(raw, nut-free)

Chocolate:

  • 1,5 dl of cocoa butter, melted
  • 0,5 dl cold pressed coconut oil
  • 1,5 dl raw cocoa powder
  • 4 tablespoons organic honey (or coconut palm syrup)
  • a pinch of sea salt

OR Use about 2 dl of melted raw chocolate or sugar-free dark chocolate.

Soft caramel filling:

  • 10 soft Dates
  • 2 tablespoons cold pressed coconut oil, melted
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 0,5 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • a pinch of sea salt
  • plus Caramel Stevia drops (optional)

Melt the cocoa butter and coconut oil in a warm water bath until liquid. Add cocoa powder, honey and salt. Stir. Check the taste and add more sweetness if desired. Pour a little bit of the chocolate mixture in the bottom of a chocolate molds or ice cube molds. Place the mold in the freezer and prepare the caramel filling in the meantime.

Soak the dates for about 15 minutes if they are not super soft. (with completely dry dates this recipe will not work) Remove the stones from dates. Remove the skins of dates, if you want your caramel to be very soft caramel or if your blender is not super effective. Add the dates and melted coconut oil into a blender and mix. Add enough water to get the mixture smooth, soft caramel-like purée.

Take the mold from the freezer and add a dab of caramel filling in each mold with a little spoon or a piping bag. Fill the molds with the remaining chocolate. Put the molds back into the freezer for about half an hour. Take out, serve and enjoy! Store in a refrigerator.

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Popcorncake:

  • 5 cups non-salted popcorn
  • ½ cup melted butter
  • ½ cup thick peanut butter
  • 4 tbls organic raw honey or coconut palm syrup + toffee stevia drops
  • ¼ cup crushed peanuts
  • ¼ cup crushed raw chocolate or cacao nibs

Chocolate frosting:

  • 4 tbls peanutbutter
  • 3 tbls coconut oil or butter
  • 3 tbls raw cacao powder
  • 4 tbls organic raw honey or coconut palm syrup
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

On top:

  • crushed peanuts
  • crushed raw chocolate or cocoa nibs

Butter a bundt pan. Prepare the popcorn. Remove all unpopped grains from the crowd and put the popcorn in a bowl. Melt butter, peanut butter and honey in a warm water bath. Pour the mixture into a bowl with popcorns. Add in the nuts and chocolate chips and mix. Press the mixture firmly into the cake pan. Put the pan into the freezer for a couple of hours. Take the pan from the freezer and turn the cake out onto a plate and put in the fridge. Prepare the frosting.

Melt peanut butter, coconut oil / butter and honey in a warm water bath. Add cocoa powder and vanilla. Check the taste and add more spice or sweetness if needed. Take the cake from the fridge and pour the chocolate frosting on top of it. Sprinkle some raw chocolate chunks or peanuts on top. Put the cake back to the fridge for about hour. Serve and break pieces of it with your fingers or with a help of a knife. Enjoy!

GINGER ALE EXTRACT

(sugar-free)

Thick, about 15 cm piece of fresh ginger

6 dl of water

4 tbsp organic honey

Peel the ginger, chop it and put the pieces into a blender. Add water and honey. Blend in full speed for about 30 seconds. Pour the mixture into a sealable glass jar and let it sit in the refrigerator for a day. Pour the mixture in a blender and mix again. Strain and take the pulp out, for example using a filter fabric. Keep the ginger ale extract in a closed glass jar or bottle in the refrigerator and use to spice up your drinks. Shake every time before using. Use within a couple of weeks or pour the mixture into an ice cube tray, freeze and use the ice cubes in your drinks.

GINGER ALE PUNCH

3 dl ginger ale extract

1 l sparkling water

3 limes

1 large lemon

A big bunch of fresh mint leaves

Slice the lemon and limes into wedges or slices. Pour the ginger ale extract into a punch bowl. Add sparkling water and pieces of lemon, lime and mint leaves. Add ice cubes, serve and enjoy!

( gluten-free , yeast-free )

Pizza crust:

  • 4 ¼ cups cauliflower rice (about 1 medium cauliflower crumbled)
  • 1 egg
  • 2 oz soft goat cheese
  • 2 tsp of Psyllium husk powder (optional)
  • a pinch of sea salt
  • a little bit of dried oregano

Set the oven to 400 Fahrenheit/200 Celsius degrees. Make the dough: Finely chop the cauliflower in a blender or food processor into a small grumble. If your blender is small, do it with small sections. Add about 1 cup of water into the bottom of a pot and add the cauliflower crumble. Bring to boil and let cook for 5 minutes. Pour the water out and squeeze the excess water out through a cheesecloth or clean kitchen towel. Break an egg into a bowl and the cauliflower crumble. Mash the chevre with a fork and add with egg-cauliflower mixture. If you like, add psyllium husk to give the dough more viscosity. Add salt and spices. Mix everything even. Spread the dough onto a baking tray covered with a baking paper. The thickness of the pizza should be about ½ inches. Put the tray into the oven and bake for about 35 – 40 minutes. In the meantime prepare the tomato filling.

Tomato Filling:

  • 4 large tomatoes
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree
  • 1 tsp organic honey
  • olive oil
  • black pepper
  • sea salt
  • a tiny pinch of chili

Wash and remove the seeds from tomatoes. Cut the tomatoes into pieces and put into a blender. Add the rest of the ingredients and puree until smooth. Pour the mixture into a pan and bring to boil. In a medium heat cook the tomato sauce for about 20 minutes, until the excessive liquid has evaporated and the sauce is nice and thick.

Take the pizza crust from the oven and spread the tomato sauce on it. Add all the rest of the ingredients of your choice on top of it and put it back into the oven for about 5 – 10 minutes. Let cool slightly, serve and enjoy!