" Groet die Grotman"  and say hello to Paleo Style Chicken burgers! 

The Paleo diet is also known as the 'cave man's diet, or the hunter gatherer diet'. Dating back to our 'boesman' ancestors this diet takes us back to eating the natural way.  It focuses on eating real, natural food that’s widely available with little or any processing. To say it another way, paleo is focused on eating the way nature made it . (:
http://ultimatepaleoguide.com/#paleo-diet-overview ..

So, i decided to try this out!

Despite my new 'resolution' today was just one of those days where I was craving a good old BIG Mac Chicken burger! Juicy and tender- and hey if iT CONTAINS chicken it must be 'healthy'? NO! Besides all the processing that goes into a BIG MAC, I am also definitely NOT a fan of the caloric overload- clocking in at 590 kcal, 47 grams of Carbs and 36 grams of fat I decided there MUST be a better option??

This is my Paleo twist on chicken delux! Instead of a bread roll, i made my own 'mushroom and buckwheat flour ' buns; They ended up being more like a moist fritter than a bready bun but still sandwiched the divine chicken fillet perfectly to make a whooping BIG hamburger!

IT WAS Love at first bite (: need i SAY more??? 

FOR THE 'BUN-FRITTER'

Add all these ingredients to a blender

1 cup of chopped mushrooms,
1 heaped tablespoon of buckwheat flour,
2 table spoons of parsley,
a pinch of salt, and
10 ground almonds /finely chopped almonds

When the batter resembles a smoothish consistensy spoon it onto a heated pan and cook until golden brown and firm. Set aside and allow to cool.

FOR THE CHICKEN GOODNESS!
Cook 1 chicken fillet in some olive oil, seasoning to taste.

All my yummy ingredients prepped for action

Garnish with cherry tomatoes, cucumber and a few slices of tofu ! Finish off your chicken GOURMET burger with off with one fried egg, some mozarella cheese and a leaf of lettuce. 

Stack up the goodness , and finish off with the second mushroom fritter bun.. .... and enjoy!

     love at first BITE! (:

Happy cooking.!

Blueberry tofu cheescake!

TOFU.. Don't be put off my the name! (: This little SUPER food is packed with protein, low in carbs and low in calories. It is soooo versatile, and can be used in savory or (as i discovered) sweet dishes too. I recently decided to broaden my culinary 'horizons' and try out tofu in cheescake..it was my first brave attempt..

It all started with a dear friend . Since arriving in Korea a few months ago, she was far from being convinced that TOFU ( or Dubbu as the Koreans say ) was the best thing since sliced bread.. SO.... i devised a cunning plan to convert her into a tofu fan ! (: I invited her over for a delicious tofu stirfry cooked Thai style - with sesame oil, soy sauce, peanut butter and herbs... followed by ........a divine dessert!

Tofu cooked Thai style..

With a lovely glass of wine.

Let's just say my plan worked, and she now loves tofu! ( jOB well done! (:  )

Here is how

Set your oven at 180'

Blend all these ingredients in a blender ;

450 grams of tofu
2 Tbs cornflour
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 a cup of cream cheese
1Tsp vanilla/ almond essence

Once it is all blended, pour it into a baking tin / oven proof dish. You can even bake these in separate little muffin tins for bite size little cheesecakes.

Next, gently cover the top of the cheesecake with blueberries and bake in the oven for about 30 min, or until firm.

Serve with some vanilla ice cream and a dusting of cocoa powder!

Enjoy!!

Morning Scones 

These little treasures are a great treat on a lazy Saturday morning ( best enjoyed with a few good friends, and a  nice cuppa  tea  )

This recipe makes between 8- 10 depending on the portion size.

Ingredients

3 cups flour
1 egg
half a cup of sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 a cup of milk
1/2 a cup of butter

How now?

1. Set the oven to 200' C to preheat

2. Sift the flour, baking powder and sugar together. Rub the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles a crumbly mixture. Add in the egg and milk and gently mix until a nice dough is formed.

3. Flour a clean surface and roll the dough out to about 1 cm thick. Use a cup to cut out circles. Lay them on a greased baking tin and let the magic begin!

4. Bake for about 15 minutes, until nice and goldeny brown.

All done..!

5. I served mine up with my homemade Almond butter, a few butter cubes and maple syrup! hmmm..I felt like Jane Austin sipping on my cup of tea in the English Country side (:

The Father of Lights

James 1 v 17 says " Every good thing and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation of shadow of turning" 

Light. It is the natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible.

It is  Illumination, enlightenment, revelation, renewed understanding,  

radiance, luster, glowing and beaming. 

In essence it is neither tangible, nor perceptible by touch.

Yet it is easily detected it with our senses. 

It is not palpable, solid or concrete.. 

But,  we can easily identify it, and know the absence of it as darkness.

May we fully REVEL in His illumination, and our colorful existence  knowing that darkness HAS been overcome.. That His light will shine forevermore..!

God by definition is light. He is both the light OF the World, and the creator of the light IN the World. 
How wonderful to be a child of the light. To HAVE A father that is the creator OF light and to be a bearer OF that light. 

1 Thes 5 v 5 reads " Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. "

Ephesians 5 v 8 further reminds us " To For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 9(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)"

pIzzChe?

So one day, when I was bored.... and dying for a slice of  P.I.Z.Z.A, and quiche I came up with this nifty recipe....Pizza magically crossed with a Quiche = QUIZZA! Ok so it's not your traditional pizza - but then again neither were my childhood unconventional 'BLUE cakes with green icing" that I used to hand off to poor unsuspecting neighbor (: but still,  I enjoyed every morsel of this pIzzChe (: 

" Pizza Base"

2 Egg whites

2 tins of  Tuna ( I used a "spicy' one - hence the reddish color)

2 handfuls of chives 

half a cup of grated mozzarella cheese / cheddar 

half a cup of flour

half a teaspoon of salt

half a teaspoon of baking powder

Topping

Any veg you like (: 

I added 5 mushrooms, and 2 tablespoons of black beans. 

All finished off with a 'generous' sprinkling of mozzarella Cheese

How now?

1. Set the oven on 180'C to pre heat.

2. Combine all the ingredients for the base until it forms a nice type of dough. It shouldn't be dry , if it is add some milk..

3. Spread the dough onto a greased pizza pan. 

4. End off with the topping . 

5. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 180 ' C / until the base is cooked.

YUM!

Almond and sesame butter

I must say this one is a first for me ! My only reference to homemade peanut butter is the Zim version I grew up with. Made from roasting peanuts over a fire, and then MANUALLY (or with a machine) grinding the little things to a pulp or paste.. Back home we know it as ' Dovi' . It's salty, delicious and has a distinct 'roasted' undertone.

So I thought hey - I want to try this myself..

Skip the roasting process though, fast forward and find

• 2 cups of Almonds / peanuts / macadamias / cashews / anything that resembles a nut (:   
• 2 pinches of salt / more or less to your taste?
• An optional 2 tablespoons of sesame oil. Adding oil is NOT really necessary; you can make delicious peanut butter without it. I just added it for the Sesame falvour.

Now what? SIMPLE!! Just add IT ALL to a blender, and BLEND!! This process does require some patience and depending on the strength of your blender it may take longer.. In general the time is about 12-15 minutes. Give your blender a few breaks / rests inbetween to cool down.

At first the blended nuts resemble a powdery mixture and as you carry in blending the little wonders slowly release their oils and a defenitive smooth paste will develop.

DON'T STOP THERE! Carry on, until the almonds have magicallt transformed into a smooth, salty, delicious peanut butter.. and once you have mastered this easy feat - you can experiment with other types of nuts - and adding different flavours.

A few ideas - Almond and chocolate chip butter, Macadamia and Honey Butter, Hazelnut and Espresso butter.. Cashew and Maple butter ..OOh and the list can go on and on!

See you ladle !
Sanja



Almond and Chocolate chip cookies

               Sorry, forgot to add these photos on the last post. 

                           ( Special request from my sister )