Kind Of Cooking

Food Your Dog Could Cook And Recipes A Cat Could Follow.

[kindofcooking-blog]

Sin free oats bars!

What you need:

Oats

walnuts

dried fruit (make sure its the no added sugar kind)

sweetener

lime juice

salt

an egg

fruit (frozen or fresh)

ginger

nutmeg

all spice

quark

Vanilla

Measure out the oats you are cooking the bars in, put some spray oil on them and put them in a medium oven. This will keep them from taking in too much moisture, but also helps bring out their flavour.

While this is happening, cook down some fruit with a tablespoon of sweetener, a little lime juice and some water. (You can do this ahead of time, and leave it in the fridge. Makes a lovely jam)

Put your dried fruit (sliced up) in a bowl, with a tablespoon each of ginger, nutmeg and all spice, give it a little stir. The powder on the fruit will help it mix through the oats without sticking in clumps.  Add 1/4 of your oats to this. 

In a seperate pot, cook your walnuts in half a cup of water, with sweetener and lime juice. I find that the brown sweeteners work best for this (such as the rather pricey stevia) as it behaves more like sugar in water than white sweeteners. Add vanilla to taste, I used about a teaspoon of the paste.

Mixed through about 3 tablespoons of your jam (more if you want to, of course) with two tablespoons of quark, and the rest of the oats. 

Combine the walnut mix, both oat mixes, and an egg together, and then put them in a lined tin. Press down as hard as you can, the more compressed the better.

Cook for 20 minutes on gas mark 7, and leave to cool before slicing.

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I made this for someone else, hence it being in a disposable container. spiced plum and apple crumble (gluten free, and quick)

I have noticed in my gallstone attack avoidance dieting that oats are great for everything. However, they need some help. This is a lovely breakfast, hot or cold. 

You’ll need:

Plums (I used 6)

Apples (i used 3)

oats

ginger

lime juice

some fruit tea

sweetener

salt

black pepper (trust me)

an egg

rip open your tea bags (i used a spiced berry one, and an apple crumble) and heat with a little water and lime juice in a pot. set to the side when it starts to darken. Add a pinch of salt, black pepper, and a good spoon of sweetener (the black pepper and salt help remove the bitterness of any unripe fruit, and brings out sweetness, which helps to reduce the amount of sugar needed.)

Pre-heat your oven, nice and hot

Peal your apples, and slice them roughly. Slice up the plums, aside from two. Put them into the pot, with about 1/3 of a cup of water, pop the lid on and leave it on high until the fruit is soft.

Mash it roughly with a potato masher, and plop into a dish. In a bowl mix together oats, ginger powder (teaspoon) sweetener, a little lime juice and salt, and an egg. Mix until its sticking slightly to itself, like a kind of crumble. Sprinkle on top, and spray with spray oil to help it crispen.

Put in a VERY hot oven, for ten minutes. Then slice up the final two plums, pop them on top and cook for a further 20 minutes, or until the plum is soft.

If you mix quark and yogurt together, (I use a matching flavour) and freeze it for an hour, it makes a wonderful topping.

[kindofcooking-blog]

Mexican veggie burgers!

I say mexican, because I love the burgers labelled as such from the supermarket, but they’re coated in nachos and full of cheese (not very me friendly) these tastes EXACTLY the same and are pretty simple, but a little time consuming. Delicious with pretty much everything.

What you need:

·         Cheese (the tiniest amount, probably about 20g)

·         black beans (tinned is fine)

·         Kidney beans (also tinned)

·         a red onion

·         eggs

·         chili (to taste of course)

·         chili powder

·         garlic salt

·         paprika

·         oregano

·         ginger

·         cumin

·         sweetener

·         tomato puree

·         oats (gluten free if you wish)

·         instant mash

·         sweet potato (I used two for one batch of decent sized burgers)

Par boil your sweet potato, (i suggest pealing after its been boiled, as its much easier and wastes less) and put in a bowl with the beans, (liquid drained from tins) an egg, a red onion, chili, a tablespoon each of ginger and cumin, a healthy sprinkling of sweetener (maybe 2-3 tablespoons) a tablespoon of garlic salt, and a healthy squeeze of tomato puree. Grate the cheese in, and blend (don’t forget salt and pepper, but go easy on the salt if your beans were stored in a salted brine) . Don’t blend it completely to mush, you still want a few beans left whole, to help add texture. It will be quite a sticky mixture.

portion it up however you please (burgers, tiny little balls, sausages) and pop in the freezer for an hour. 

In a dish, combine a handful of oats with half a packet of instant mash powder, salt, pepper, a teaspoon of sweetener, a tablespoon each of paprika and oregano and a teaspoon of garlic salt (of course, you can add more or less of anything you wish) and crack an egg into a separate dish with a little salt. Mix to break the yolk. 

Dip your burgers into the egg, and then the coating and lay on an oiled tray (spray oil is fine) spray the tops and put in a VERY hot oven for twenty minutes. Turn and leave for a further twenty.

These can be frozen both before and after coating, so they’re great for midweek meals. And are lovely broken up over a salad, or served as a burger!

[kindofcooking-blog]

So I made...something. I’m going to call it sweet chili chicken since that’s what it tastes like. It’s ALMOST syn free.

what you’ll need:

-hoisin

-chilis

-tomato puree

-mint

-sweetener

-lime juice

-soy sauce

-garlic salt

-fresh chilis

Vegetables/meat of your choice: I used

-carrot

-corn

-peas

-chicken

-bell pepper

-2 red onions

put a tablespoon of everything into a bowl, along with a little water (enough to make it coat) and prepare all of your chosen food into the bowl, letting it marinade. Make some tea. Relax.

When you have enjoyed your tea (and the biscuit, I’m sure fell into your mouth) heat up a hot pan, or wok, and put some oil in it. Add in the marinade and food (don’t put the bowl in the wash) Add in a table spoon more of sweetener, puree and hoisin into the bowl, and add a cup of water. Use this to take the remaining marinade off the bowl and when your meat/veg is cooked add this into the pot. 

I suggest doing what I did the day before (third picture) which is adding the noodles/rice into the pot uncooked once the sauce is bubbling, as it will take on all the lovely spicy flavour!

[kindofcooking-blog]

So these are similiar to the chick pea fritters, except much more flavoursome and much less dry. 

What you’ll need:

-Sweet potato (between 1-4 per can of chick peas, the more potato you use the smoother they will come out)

-A can of chick peas

-paprika

-2 eggs 

-sweetener

-garlic salt

-salt & pepper

-a red onion

-cumin

-ginger

-Two slices of bread (brown/wholemeal)

Part cook the sweet potato (so it still has a little bite) and drain the chick peas. 

Whack everything into a blender, (Or use a stick blender) and blend until smooth (you’ll want about a table spoon of all of the seasonings apart from the salt which you’ll want half of, and double the paprika and sweetener) You can also add a little lime juice if you want!

Use a (very) hot and well oiled pan (spray oil works too) to fry off the fritters (use a table spoon to measure evenly) flatten them a little with a spatula with a little oil on to stop it sticking, flip after the fritter can slide around and cook the other side until both sides are nicely charred.

Serve with sweet chili sauce, as a light lunch, or break up in a salad for a lovely starter!

[vjezze]

Amsterdam is turning rainbow for a visit of the Russian president Putin. The council of the city of Amsterdam has decided to hang out the gay pride flag on all council owned buildings and offices, in protest to Russia’s new anti-gay law.

[davidbowowie]

there’s several of these as well;

[hey-assbutt-its-a-parade]

pretty sure Amsterdam is now the sass capital of the world

[sexpositivepunk]

ragingdarcy:

amsterdamn

Really though it was great 

[i-am-myself-this-is-me]

It’s one of those moments in which I do love my country

[officialtinyqueen-deactivated20]

IM SO PROUD 

[kindofcooking-blog]

Sweet and sour chicken! syn free of course. 

What you’ll need: 

The protein of your choice (I used chicken)

Bell pepper

Pineapple

Tomatoes (overripe is best)

Peas

chili powder

Worcestershire sauce

soy sauce

garlic salt

sweetener

tomato puree

Slice the pineapples into chunks and bob them into the microwave, for about a minute. The heat will help them bring out their juices faster. Meanwhile, slice up your bell pepper into strips, your meat into chunks, and your tomato into 8ths (just quarter the halves in case you suck at maths) 

Put the pineapple and their juices into a hot pan with a little oil, and add in the chicken. Cook until the chicken is sealed and white on the outside. Add in salt and pepper, and half a teaspoon of chili powder (it can be spicier of course, but I also used a scotch bonnet) 

Add in half a cup of water, and your tomatoes, and give it a little stir, adding in the bell pepper, and a tablespoon of sweetener. Add a generous helping (a little more than a tablespoon) of tomato puree.

Continuing to stir, add in a generous sprinkle of garlic salt and about a tablespoon of soy sauce. You should also add about two tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce. Give it a good stir, and taste it. I find adding a little lemon juice brings out the pineappley flavour. 

Adjust according to your own palette, pineapple and sweetener will make it sweeter, Worcestershire will make it tangier, and garlic salt and pepper with give it the more savoury element. 

Serve with rice, or chunky fries!

[kindofcooking-blog]

Alright, so the photo makes it look kind of unappealing but I can’t really class up a lunch box. These taste remarkably like the kebabs from your local chippy!

What you’ll need:

Minced lamb

garlic salt

sweetener

tomato puree

salt and pepper

spray oil

an egg

Surprisingly little I know, I was surprised at their taste. Dump the mince into a bowl, and add in about half a tube of tomato puree (I know, very precise measuring) as well as a /very/ generous sprinkling of garlic salt, i mean honestly you can’t put too much in, get a good layer of it over the top of the mince. Add in about a teaspoon each of salt and pepper, and mix together with your hands. Once its combined add in the egg and mix that in too, it might seem like its too much egg but just give it a god mush between your hands, you want it to lose the strandiness that mince has, and become more of a sausage filling kin of texture. Flatten in the bowl and put some spray oil on top. Leave for ten minutes to settle.

In a hot oven, place the mince on a tray. Flatten it out in the tray- fill the tray with it, since mince does tend to shrink quite a bit.

Cook for half an hour on gas mark 6.

Serve in wholemeal pita breads with chili sauce to be totally syn free!

[kindofcooking-blog]

biryani, sort of.

This is great if you’re feeling lazy and can’t be bothered to cook a main and sides since everything can be made in one pan.

What you’ll need:

An onion

Chicken

Garlic salt

Sweetener

curry powder

ginger

chili powder

cumin

rice (cooked or uncooked)

a medium sized potato

peas

bell pepper

carrot

First off, cut everything up into small chunks, this is sort of like fried rice, so you don’t want massive chunks of anything. Pop it all into a large pan with oil (spray oil to keep it syn free) and cook it until the meat is cooked. Obviously, if you don’t like any of the veg, or you’re a vegetarian or vegan just skip out the meat and swap whatever you like in. Don’t worry about cooking out the potato right now- just make sure it’s in the pan.

Once your chicken is cooked add in half a cup of water, with a tea spoon of your cumin, ginger, & chili powder. Add a generous amount of garlic salt, some sweetener (about a teaspoon) and a table spoon of curry powder.Add salt and pepper. Give it a stir to incorporate the powders into the water. Adjust your seasoning now, if you feel you need to.

Add another half a cup of water, and bring it to the boil before adding in your rice. You can add cooked or uncooked rice, it honestly doesn’t matter; uncooked rice will just need longer in the pot, and you will need a little more water. 

Serve on its own, or with poppadoms if you aren’t on a diet!

[kindofcooking-blog]

Okay, so I forgot to take a photo once they came out the oven. Picture the above, with extra meltiness.

Syn Free pizza! (Two per portion, yes please) You’ll need the following:

Cheese (40g of cheddar I believe is the standard for a healthy extra, I used a mixture of two different cheeses though)

Tomato puree

garlic salt

salt & pepper

spray oil

sweetener

 Whole meal baguette (I’d never seen them before either, but they’re lovely)

The toppings of your choice, I used chicken, onion, and bell pepper for both, and chili pineapple on one half, sweetcorn on the other (Yes, I like pineapple on pizza)

Preheat your oven (Nice and high)

Slice and prep your vegetables and meat up, placing them into a pan and cooking them off. 

Once you have the cooked off, add in about 4 tablespoons of tomato puree, salt & pepper, and a teaspoon of garlic salt as well as half a cup of water. Add in a decent amount of sweetener, I find it really varies how much you need based on what veg you’ve put in.  I cooked it until some of the chicken started to break up a little.

Put some spray oil onto the baguettes, once you’ve cut them in half, and put them into the oven for a couple of minutes, just to help them firm up before you add the sauce.

As strange as it sounds, sieve your sauce, letting the sauce sit in a pan on the heat. Adjust it if you need to, I just left mine to cook down a little. 

Remove the baguettes from the over, and divide out the sauce over the tops, before adding your cheese and toppings. Put a little more spray oil on them and pop them into the oven for about 15-20 minutes.

Serve with beans and chips!

[kindofcooking-blog]

Technically not syn free, but low syn, and lovely for breakfast. Peanut butter cookies!

What you’ll need:

peanut butter

sweetener

salt

Blended oats

Preheat the oven to gas mark 6. Put two tablespoons of peanut butter into a bowl with a cup of blended oats, an add a pinch of sweetener and salt. If you aren’t dieting you can put chocolate chips in too. Stir into a doughy ball.

Rip about the size of a teaspoon off, and roll it in your hand, before squishing it into a flat shape and putting it onto a buttered, or oiled tray. Repeat until all of the dough has been used up.

Cook for 10 minutes, and serve with chocolate sauce, jam or even more peanut butter!

[kindofcooking-blog]

Slimming world can be pretty dull when it comes to sauces, there’s only so many times I can eat beans on toast for breakfast. So I jazzed some up.

what you’ll need:

Tin of beans

Tin of tomatoes

sweetener

garlic

salt and pepper

Tin of baked beans

chili powder

Tomato puree

Pour out the tins into a pan, mixing everything together and add about two tablespoons of tomato puree, a teaspoon of salt and black pepper an a generous helping of garlic salt. Add a table spoon of sweetener, and chilli powder to taste. Done!

This might sound pretty simple, but honestly jazzing up simple items is what makes diets easier- its very easy to get stuck into boring habits but if you look forward to every meal it makes everything easier to stick to. I had these with my fried chicken.

[kindofcooking-blog]

Syn free waffles! 

Super easy to make, and if you don’t have a waffle maker you can use a sandwich press, or just cook them like pancakes. 

What You’ll need: (For 3 whole waffles, pictured is half)

Oats (1 cup)

2 individual pots of yogurt (Around about 150g I think)

an egg

Spray oil

Blend up the oats in a blender or food processor, even if they aren’t flour consistency they still turn out a nice smooth...waffley texture. Put them in a bowl with the yogurt and egg and mix together. You can use a flavoured yogurt if you want to, I use greek yogurt since its plain, so they can work sweet or savoury. 

Spray your waffle maker, or pan with oil to stop the waffle sticking (butter stops things sticking, but this has no butter in to keep it syn free!) and plop in the mix. Cook until it springs back and serve!

Some Serving ideas:

fruit

Frozen yogurt

bacon and egg (delicious)

jam (you can make your own by melting frozen fruit, lime juice and sweetener)

Quark 

Mix in grated cheese and onion before cooking

mix in bacon before cooking (Adventure time loving kids will enjoy this one)

[kindofcooking-blog]

That was a lengthy hiatus. 

Today I bring you a vegetarian curry! A weirdly light, yet filling meal so its great for lunch or dinner, it also kept for the 4 days it took to use it up (lunches) so its great to make in advance.

You’ll need:

Garlic salt

sweetener

The curry powder of your choice (madras, Masala, regular old mild)

ginger powder

tumeric

tomato puree

chickpeas (Can)

sweet potato

potatoes (I used two big ones)

A red onion

Start by pealing and slicing your potatoes. cut them as big or small as you want. I made this on the same day as my sweet potato pancakes, so I just used the off-cuts of the sweet potato, and made those while these boiled.Shove them in a pot of cold water, whack the heat up and bring to the boil before turning it down. Simmer for ten minutes.

Slice up your onion, and chuck it into a pot or pan with a teaspoon each of tumeric and ginger, and  about 2 tablespoons of curry powder, add a generous sprinkle of garlic and sweetener, (At this point i also added plenty of chili powder to give it an easy to add kick) and about half a cup of water. Drain off your chickpeas and shove those in with the onion. Drain off your potato and mix those in. Add in about 2 tablespoons of tomato puree and stir it through. Add more water if you want more sauce, and leave on a low heat to simmer until its the thickness you desire. (The potato will break up and thicken it)

Done!

[kindofcooking-blog]

Well isn’t this an awful photo? 

Sweet potato pancakes, although they didn’t go great.

All you need is:

Sweet potato

Garlic salt

salt

pepper

egg

Oil

Peel and grate the sweet potato. This was honestly a boring process, and sweet potatoes aren’t easy to peel You can of course, do what I did and make some of these with the skin that’s left over.

Season the mix with salt pepper and garlic, and crack in an egg. Although, honestly I would mix in two because I struggled to keep them together. Mix.

In a (well oiled) pan slap a spoon or so of the mixture down and squash into a pancake shape, cook for five minutes on each side. Alternatively, Do the same thing but in an oven, cooking the discs first before finishing them in a pan,I think they would probably hold together better.

Serve with sweet chili, or as a fun alternative to chips!

[kindofcooking-blog]

Leftovers in a pasta bake.

So, my sister loves having this for breakfast and you can dump pretty much anything into it. This was made with 4 different kinds of pasta; to use up some of the annoying bits in the bags & boxes that were not big enough for a portion. You can also put any leftover meats or veggies in, and works for any meal.

To make this you’ll need:

Pasta

the fillings of your choice (meat, veg, whatever you want)

Cheese

milk

tomato  puree

garlic sweetener

Boil your pasta up, with plenty of salt & some oil to stop it sticking.

While its boiling, cut up whatever meat or veg you’re putting in. The one I photographed has bacon & chicken in, with onions & bell peppers but you can honestly put anything in (Sausage and bacon is great for a breakfast) Put that stuff into a pan and let it cook.

Meanwhile, dump some cheese into a microwaveable bowl. (As much or as little as you want, depending on how cheesy you want it) and pour in some milk & add a sprinkle of black pepper, salt & some sweetener. Microwave for 2 and a half minutes.

Give your meat & veg a stir, adding in about 3 table spoons of tomato puree (I just squeezed in about a third of a tube) Add salt, pepper, some garlic salt & plenty of sweetener to get rid of the tomatoeyness. The juice from the fillings will give it depth. 

Drain your pasta and mix in your melted cheese sauce & 3/4 of your tomato sauce. Decant into an oiled dish (I used the one I make mac and cheese in) and pour over the rest of your sauce. (it will sink down and evaporate but that’s okay, the taste remains and the pasta absorbs some of it)

Pop it in the oven on any heat; I find a high heat for half an hour gets the top nice and crispy,(as does some spray oil on the top) but I have been known to put it on lower and go for a shower, or walk the dog so this is a great dish that can be left alone if you have kids to run after.

[kindofcooking-blog]

Fried rice, this one is pretty self explanatory really.

All you need is the following:

Rice (Obviously) 

The fillings of your choice (I used pak choi, chicken, bell peppers and onion)

Salt & black pepper.

Soy sauce.

sweetener.

Garlic salt.

So, first off get your rice and cook it. Just pop it into water for about 15 minutes.

Slice up your veg, as big or small as you want. Season with a few pinches of salt, black pepper, and garlic salt.

Fry the items in a pan with a few sprays of oil, cook until the meat is cooked, if you’re using meat, or until the veg is a few minutes away from your desired texture.

Add in your rice, with about 3 table spoons of soy sauce, and the same amount of sweetener. Stir until the rice is coloured by the soy sauce.

Serve!