Basic date bars!

You can find these everywhere now–but they are definitely not over-rated. Super easy, and on the healthy-side for a little something to go with your coffee! Since being at home is the situation for now,  I made a batch with some bulk ingredients I ordered online. You’ll need: almonds, walnuts, dates, cacao powder, salt

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In a high-speed blender (or food processor), add

  • 3/4 cup walnuts
  • 1/2 cup almonds
  • 1 cup dates (soak in water first to soften)
  • 1/2 cup cacao powder
  • pinch of salt
  • shredded coconut and gojis for deco

*make sure you check for seeds or shell that can sneak in to the packages sometimes! (your teeth will thank you!)

*try it out with other nuts like cashews, pecans and add any other dried fruits for fun!

Lay the finished “dough” on cooking paper, decorate with any ingredients of your choice and into the fridge for an hour! Cut them up and….devour 🙂

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Sirop de gingembre

This is a syrup I made just as we got into the change of seasons. I felt like I needed a good boost and in that case, ginger, is always a good idea. This recipe is simple, and what is amazing about it is that it conserves well, and for cool windy days add hot water and there’s a delicious cup of flavored tea, and one hot sunny days, add some sparkling water and voilà, a homemade ginger ale. All you need is: Organic fresh ginger, coconut sugar (or sugar), honey and lemon. 13a51691-808b-4ab6-a258-d462ed002419In a casserole, add in 1 cup of water with 10 slices of peeled ginger. Add 3 tablespoons of coconut sugar and 2 tablespoons of honey. Put on low heat for 20 minutes, squeeze in a dash of lemon. Conserve in a sterilized jar and close tightly, to be stored in the fridge. 0fed1ea4-53cd-4322-a73f-a5c3a802b8b6

抹茶 Matcha cookies

Sometimes you just have to work with the ingredients you have in the house. Luckily, I had some delicious matcha (used here) from my mom in Japan, and some almond flour–which became the base of this delightful green cookie! I’ll put the recipe below, but try getting creative with whatever is in your pantry! Other nuts, flours, oils as replacement may work–I always enjoy my worst-case-scenario at the end anyway! And if you do have the ingredients below, I promise you, you’ll love them!fec5c2cc-18c3-4f58-a0d2-1b4488b985b0
  • 1 cup almond flour
  • 1/6 cup maple syrup
  • 1/6 cup melted salted butter
  • 2 teaspoons matcha powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 cup melted dark chocolate8fe743c8-9d7f-407f-9f86-5d7cea4876ad

Mix EVERYTHING together! Use two spoons to make little balls, and shape them into any form you like. I place a pecan nut on each cookie and into the oven at 180 degrees for 12 minutes! Drizzle on some melted chocolate, and bon app!

Hemp flour : Gateaux d’apéro

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Well, apéro is indispensable– and the little ‘gateaux aperitifs‘ that accompanies your pre-dinner drink is essential to the picture as well. These savory biscuits are usually flavored with butter, cheese (comte, ossau-iraty, emmental…) with accents of herbs and spices (herbes de provence, piment d’espelette…) which range from supermarket labels to the artisanal kind. With the variety, you can imagine I’ve had my share of tasting-experience. Today, I’m sharing a hemp-flour biscuit that was inspired by the gateaux d’apero I bought at a local market during the holidays.  Following my intuition from a few months ago…I think the recipe has been perfected! Santé!

DIY laundry formula

“La lessive maison”

Another idea for the home! When the last bottle of detergent is out…its time to tackle a new DIY!

  • 50g Savon de Marseille —Refer to this post
  • 1 liter water
  • Baking soda (bicarbonate de soude) 2 tablepoons
  • Sodium carbonate (cristaux de soude) 2 teaspoons
  • Essential oils (lavender, lemon, tea tree) of your choice 10 drops

Bring the water to boil, add the grated savon in the hot water and let it melt. Once melted and cooled down, add the baking soda and the sodium carbonate, essential oils. Fill up a glass container with the formula, and let it cool. Et voila! an environmentally and skin friendly detergent.

Posted in DIY

The Best: Chocolate & walnut almond cookies

When I took a bite of these after my first batch, I was in awe. Seriously, I did not expect them to be so delicious! Almond flour is one of my favorites to use and is fairly easy to replace for regular flour, but this is a keeper! I highly recommend buying a nice bar of chocolate to break up into large chunks (key!) and adding the walnuts as well. Enjoy!
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  • 2 cups of almond flour (blanched)
  • 5527ae6c-7f97-4909-9638-abe121fbc6111/4 cup melted salted butter
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • a dash of vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 chocolate bar (break them up with hands for large chunks!)
  • 6 large walnuts

Mix everything (besides the chocolate and walnuts) together, while the oven preheats at 180 degrees. Add in the chunks of chocolat & noix and lightly mix. Lay out a sheet of cooking paper and with 2 spoons, create small circles–then use your hands to round them out and pat them down. Cook for 10 minutes and there you have it! The best…!

Fermentation maison: Sauerkraut

 

img_0734So, I’m a huge fan of sauerkraut, or as they say here–choucroute , which usually accompanies a main dish, but for me this accompagnement is just as important as the main dish itself. I realized that it’s not all that complicated to make at home, so being cabbage season and all, I picked up an organic chou at the market, and followed a recipe I found online!

  • 1/2 white cabbage
  • 1 carrot
  • salt 5 tablespoons

 

img_0735Cut the cabbage into small strips, and sprinkle on the salt. Mix it up, and let it sit for a night. Squeeze out the water in the morning. Grate the carrots and mix it into the cabbage. Once you have sterilized an empty jar, fill it up and voilà! Let it sit for 2 weeks… Now all you (I) need is patience! 

Situation after 1 week…

 

 

 

Coconut flour goodness

Almond flour is a great alternative to the regular kind, if you want to change things up a bit; but coconut flour is a true novelty! It is quite dry so you always need some eggs so that it absorbs the flour. I picked up a pack of organic free-trade farine de coco in a supermarket in Bretagne, and was ecstatic to get my hands on some recipes!

Coconut flour banana bread ‘Gâteau à la banane’

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  • 2 bananas
  • 2/3 cup coconut flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/5 cup coconut sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mash the bananas, add all the ingredients, whisk it up into a smooth batter. In the oven at 175 degrees for 45 minutes! Moist and decadent, perfect with a cup of coffee.

Coconut flour cinnamon cookies “Cookie à la cannelle’

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  • 1/3 cup coconut flour
  • 1/3 cup coconut sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup of melted salted butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons shredded coconut
  • 2 tablespoons almond flour

Mix up the dry ingredients, batter up the wet ingredients, blend them together, and in the oven at 175 degrees for 20 minutes! 

I love how they all come out soft and moist, perfect on a rainy day indoors–or any day!

Simply maple nuts. Noix caramélisées à l’érable

These are THE most simple and delicious snacks, ever. And all you need is:

  • Nuts of your preference (here I used pecans, cashews and almonds)
  • Maple syrup

Grill the nuts in the oven at 180 degrees for 10 minutes, take them out— place them in a frying pan on low heat and add 2 spoonfuls of maple syrup. Rock the pan around until the syrup starts to turn slightly white, coating the nuts.

Et voilà! Honestly, I cannot stop snacking on these…!

Smoothie: Aloe vera cru

First time ever, buying a raw Aloe—something I had my eyes on doing! I had to go on YouTube to see how I would peel it, (never eat the skin!) and by cutting the two edges, and carefully removing the large surfaces, (though with very slim-ey hands at the end) I was able to get some nice filets of transparent rectangles of aloe pulp! I used the pulp for a smoothie, and the rind…I rubbed on my skin (of course the inside facing the skin) for hydration! Feels gooey at first, but drys up quickly for a a toner. (Remove if you feel any itching!)

For the smoothie:

  • 5-10 cm of aloe (the aloe is a bit amer-bitter so adjust at your preference)
  • 1 ripe banana
  • 1 kiwi
  • 2 cubes of frozen pineapple juice OR simply ice cubes
  • 1/2 water
  • Not pictured, but I added some fresh pomegranate, which is also highly recommended!

Santé!