Recipe Swop

A place to share healthy and tasty recipes.

[recipeswop]

Overnight Oats

* I took the photo before stirring the oats :) Helen's Comments: I'm finding this to be such a great breakfast, very nutritious and keeps us full for long. We have it 3 to 4 times a week. There are so many different flavors to try and experiment with that it doesn't really get boring. I listed a few flavor ideas below but you can come up with your own too. (If you do, you should list them in the comments section of this post). 

You will notice that I use almond milk. I'm not sure if you can get this in South Africa but I do know that you can make it (if you are feeling adventurous). Here is a recipe I found for that: http://frugallysustainable.com/2012/08/how-to-make-homemade-almond-milk/

Otherwise, you can just use normal milk and perhaps add some almonds or other nuts to the oats. 

Ingredients: 1/2 cup raw oats (I use 1/4 cup whole rolled and 1/4 cup steel cut – this gives more texture and I think steel cut oats have a bit more fibre too) 1/3 cup plain yoghurt

1 to 2 tsp honey (or any other sweetener)

Dash of vanilla essence

1 Tbs chia seeds

1 Tbs ground flaxseeds

*Flavour of choice

Enough Almond milk (or plain milk) to fill the jar (after adding all the other ingredients first.) *Flavour Ideas: 

Apple and cinnamon Berries and nuts Banana and peanut/almond butter Peach Apricot and ginger Pineapple and coconut Orange

Directions: 

Put all the ingredients into a mason jar. (The jars I use are pint size which is almost 500ml.) I add them in the order listed above but I don't think it really matters. I add the almond milk last and just fill the jar full with it. Stir ingredients well, put lid on and place in fridge overnight (or for 3 hours). Enjoy cold the next morning :)

[recipeswop]

Sour Chickpeas

Anna's Comments I think chickpeas are great.  And this recipe is one that I use often to make a tasty chickpea dish.  I often make it on a Sunday night - a big pot of it and then use it in the week for lunches and suppers.  For supper I use it either as a side dish with meatballs or I add some chicken - that is very yummy. I also find that chickpeas make a really great workday lunch as they are an affordable way to get in some high quality fat free protein which helps with hunger control.  Chickpeas are also high in dietry fibre, rich in vitamins and minerals and aid in lowering bad cholestral. So here is my recipe - I often double up on it or really just use as much chickpeas as I like and adjust the rest of the ingredients around that.  Use fresh ingredients!  I sometimes use tinned tomatos and bottled lemon juice if it’s all I have - but fresh is best! You will need: 350g chickpeas - best to buy them raw, but I do often just used the tinned ones 1.75 litres water 300g onions, finely chopped (I usually just use one onion) 2 and a half teaspoons salt 1 fresh, hot green chilli, finely chopped 1 tbs finely grated fresh ginger 4 tbs lemon juice 6 tbs vegetable oil 225g tomotoes, finely chopped 1 tbs ground coriander 1 tbs cumin seeds (I just use ground cumin) half a tsp tumeric 2 tsp garam masala quater tsp cayenne pepper Method: Soak chickpeas in 1.75 litres of water for 20 hours (that is if you are using the raw chickpeas).  Put chickpeas and soaking liquid in a large pot and bring to the boil.  Cover, lower heat and simmer for an hour and a half or until chickpeas are tender.  Strain the chickpeas and save liquid. Put 2 tbs of chopped onion, half tsp salt, green chilli, ginger and lemon juice into a tea-cup.  Mix well and set aside. Heat oil in heavy, wide casserole pot over medium high, when hot put in remaining oinions and fry for 8 - 10 minutes.  Add tomotos and fry for another 5-6 minutes, mashing the tomato pieces.  Add coriander, cumin and tumeric.  Stir and cook for about 30 seconds. Now put in drained chickpeas, 400 mls of their cooking liquid, 2 tsp salt, the garam masala and cayenne pepper.  Stir to mix and bring to simmer.  Cover and turn heat to low and cook for 20 minutes.  Stir and add your tea-cup mixture that you put aside earlier.  Stir to mix. Enjoy!

[recipeswop]

Basil tea

Andre's comments

Pictured above is the basil tea we enjoyed after church this evening. We plan to drink it as often as possible in the evenings instead of coffee. It is easy right now, as we have a constant supply of fresh, homegrown basil. Hopefully we will find a way of keeping that going.

The health benefits claimed for basil are amazing: just search around the Internet and you will see that it is probably the healthiest herb of all. Some of the benefits claimed are improving the health of the cardiovascular system, and promoting strong eyesight and healthy skin and hair. Basil contains high concentrations of carotenoids like beta carotene, and these substances are converted to vitamin A within the body. Beta carotene offers even more benefits than vitamin A alone, and it is known to be a powerful antioxidant.

But here is the good news: when mom had her first sip this evening she said "Mmmmmm! Incredibly delicious!". I made it quite weak, so the flavour was quite subtle and not overpowering. Best will be to experiment to find what works for you. Obviously the stronger your brew the more of the health benefits.

An interesting idea I read somewhere is to use basil tea as a stock base for making soup, to cook your pasta in the tea instead of in water, and to use it instead of plain water when making pizza crust. You could experiment with all kinds of dishes using this idea.

Making your tea

Easy peasy. Just put your basil in a cup or a pot and pour boiling water over it and wait. That's it!

Note, do not add the herb to the water while it is boiling. Pour the water over the herb.

If you make it in a teapot and cover it you will retain all the good stuff, rather than lose some in the steam.

I used about two teaspoons of basil per cup of water and brewed it for about two and a half minutes.

I also prepared my basil tea leaves using quite a fun technique I learned recently: place your basil leaves, one on top of the other with the biggest leaf at the bottom and successively smaller leaves on top. Then roll the leaves up like a cigar and put it on a board and cut it into thin slices. You get great, long, thin strips which are ideal for brewing tea. These strips are also great for garnishing: you can tease and fluff them out for best garnishing effect!

I used a tea strainer to strain out the leaves when pouring into our cups. Some health purists recommend no straining, in order to get every drop of benefit. It's a matter of choice. We enjoyed the clear tea.

I hesitate to even mention that you don't add milk or sugar to the brew, as I am sure you would not contemplate such a foul deed!

[recipeswop]

Tomato Salsa & Guacamole

Helen's Comments: This is more of an idea than a recipe actually as I dont really measure any of the ingredients, I just make it to taste. It makes a great healthy snack and gets you know who to eat a lot of tomato! I usually make a lot and then store it in mason jars in the fridge. 

We eat the salsa and guac with tortilla chips as you can see from my picture. If you can't get your hands on the right healthy chips, I have a wholewheat pita chip recipe Ill be posting soon too :) 

Tomato Salsa: Tomato  Onion Jalepeno pepper Coriander (called Cilantro in the States) Juice of a lime Salt

*Chop the tomato, onion, jalepeno and coriander finely. Guacamole:  Avo Tomato salsa (I make the salsa first then use some of it in the guac) A little extra cilantro, lime and salt Crushed garlic

[recipeswop]

Helen's Healthy Muffins

Comments: 

I made this recipe up and think its great, but feel free to experiment with it :) I definitely wouldn't make it without the chia seeds though, they really add to the texture and nutritional value.

This is a recipe for lemon poppy seed muffins or banana bread muffins. Ingredients with * next to them are only for the poppy seed muffins and ingredients with # next to them are only for banana muffins. I'm also thinking of experimenting with an apple version as well as a carrot one, both with nuts and spices probably. The banana one would probably also be even better with some nuts.  I found that these were good for a few days if kept in a sealed container in the fridge and warmed up slightly before eating.  

Ingredients: (makes about 10)

3 to 4 Tbs virgin coconut oil * 1 cup plain yoghurt (preferably full fat with probiotics) # 1/4 cup plain yoghurt # 3 ripe bananas mashed 1 egg  1 tsp vanilla essence 3/4 cup all purpose flour  1/2 cup whole wheat four 1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 1/3 cup sugar (#less for banana muffins) 2-3 Tbs chia seeds * 2 Tbs poppy seeds  * Zest from 1 to 2 lemons # Cinnamon to taste  

Directions:

1. Set oven to 375 f/190 c

2. In a mixing bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt, chia seeds, *poppy seeds and *lemon zest or #cinnamon. 

3. Melt coconut oil in pot (don’t let it get too warm, you only want it to melt), add *yoghurt or #mashed bananas, egg, sugar and vanilla essence and whisk together.

4. Stir into into dry ingredients until just combined.

5. Spoon into greased muffin pan/paper cupcake holders.  

6. Bake for 20 or so minutes. 

7. Enjoy! 

*If yoghurt and egg are not at room temperature when used, they may cause coconut oil to thicken and batter will ultimately be thicker (won’t affect taste though!) Health Resources: 

There is obviously a lot of information out there so its good to consider it all, but here are a few articles to get you started. (if you are interested)

Coconut Oil:  http://www.livestrong.com/article/273813-what-are-the-health-benefits-of-cooking-with-coconut-oil/ http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/10/22/coconut-oil-and-saturated-fats-can-make-you-healthy.aspx 

Chia Seeds:  http://renegadehealth.com/blog/2012/07/30/7-health-benefits-of-chia-seeds 

[recipeswop]

Dad's homemade pizza (using the Frost's pizza base recipe)

[recipeswop]

Tis an ill cook that cannot lick his own fingers.

William Shakespeare

[recipeswop]

Easy Chicken and Tomato Bake

A Recipe from Anna My comments:  was very quick and easy to prepare and chicken came out lovely and juicy having cooked in the tomato juice.  The recipe does not call for salt or pepper but I would add these as Fred said he could taste it needed salt.  We ate it with macaroni – but I think it would be delicious with cous cous. 

What You Need

1 small red onion, thinly sliced – I used normal onion as its all I had

4 small  boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb.) - just used two – so my ratio to sauce was different but it worked well

1 can  (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, drained – I used canned cherry tomatoes

¼ cup   Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing – I just used balsamic vinegar and added a bit of homemade salad dressing I had in the fridge

fresh garlic and chilli

¼ cup  Grated Parmesan Cheese – I used feta and cheddar

Make It

HEAT oven to 180 degrees

SPREAD onions onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray –sis I used a bit of butter ; top with chicken (I added fresh garlic here as well as one fresh, chopped chilli)

COMBINE tomatoes, dressing, pour over chicken. Sprinkle with cheese.

BAKE 30 min. or until chicken is done