The Art Of: how to calm yourself for Christmas time with apples and oats in three steps

1st step: apple oat porridge for a quiet morning starter

I have been cooking oat porridge with apples in most of the countries, in most of the couches I surfed and most of the time the people got to cooking apples as well after I left. And the only thing I forgot to do was to hand out this the easiest apple-oat recipe to my blog! And you know I LOVE apples and oats ;D
As the days in Finland get darker and my time in India runs short I dedicate this recipe to all of the visitors and friends in my life to help yourself to cook a simple dish to calm your body and mind.



Breakfast for one person:

Cooking apples

You’ll need 1 apple, teaspoon of cinnamon and tablespoon of ghee.

Wash and chop the apple in nice slices. Heat a pan and add ghee or butter and spread apple slices nicely on the pan and fry about 5 min each side in low heat and add cinnamon in between. Leave them under a lift to keep warm for the porridge.

Boiling the porridge

You’ll need 1/3 cups of brown oats, 1 cup of water, and hint of salt, few almonds and baby handful of raisins, 2 tablespoon of ghee, couple cardamoms and teaspoon of cinnamon.
First dry roast the oats for couple minutes in a big pan, add ghee and toss for couple more minutes. Then add water, raisins, almonds and cinnamon and boil in a low heat about 5 minutes.

Serve warm with apples on top and decorate with a teaspoon of cranberry powder, which is an excellent source of C vitamin, improves your vitality and is well known and used in Finland, thus suitable for a Finnish body =)

The health benefits

Cinnamon has medicinal value, works well with several diseases like type 2 diabetes. When added to food, it inhibits bacterial growth and food spoilage, making it a natural food preservative.
Cardamom has many vitamins and minerals and is a mild cooling digestive and good for purifying the mouth and the body.
Ghee is clarified butter, which means some of the fat has taken away and thus it is good against cholesterol, easier to digest and good for lubricating your skin internally and externally.
Apple has antioxidants; the peal has pectin that can help remove toxic. Eating an apple a day can lower cholesterol and reduce skin diseases. Good for digestion, liver, and against kidney stones.
Brown oats are cooling and strengthening though they have a little bit of gluten. Good source of fiber, good for general health, blood pressure, cholesterol and heart. (To be avoided if you have severe gluten allergy.)

While in India I use amla, another even better source of C vitamin instead of cranberries. It improves the digestive system which is the base of a healthy body and mind. It is also used as an ayurvedic medicine (for example improving eyesight).

2nd step: oat facial mask after a hectic day



After a hectic day of working or a fun day of shopping Christmas presents you might want to have few minutes for yourself to relieve tension and have a glowing face ready for relaxing evening or for a little X-mas party with your friends. Or you can even start the party with this messy mask! Make it fun for all!

For one person you’ll need 1/4 cup of any kind of oatmeal, 1/4 cup of water and 2 teaspoons of honey. Or in case you boiled too much oats for breakfast, do not be afraid to waste it to your face!

If possible ground the oats and boil them into a gooey mask and stir in 2 teaspoons of honey. Honey is an excellent treatment for acne. It removes bacteria that accumulates on your skin.

In Finland we have this saying: cold porridge makes you beautiful! And I have this thought, that whatever you apply on your skin should be good enough to be eaten! Unfortunately some people eat things I would not even apply externally.

3rd step: make your loved ones happy

And put a simple apple cake recipe along with some apples in a handmade gift bag under a Christmas three on a Christmas Eve.



Now you are ready for a healthier, tastier Christmas!
With Love from India

The Art Of Breakfast: The Pie with Dates

After experimenting with Date Balls I just cannot get enough. The best cake I made so far, without oven and of course with some baked apples. One cannot deny ones addiction for healthy sweets =)

Ingredients:

About 2dl of dates
3dl of oats
3 spoons of ghee
A hint of black salt
Cinnamon
1-2 spoons of tahini
1-2 apples
Less than ½ dl of coconut cream
Coconut flakes for decoration
The amount of ingredients depends on the size of your casserole.

What’s next?
Boil dates into a jam and add cinnamon. Toss oats with some salt and add ghee until crispy. Mix some coconut cream with oats and spread into a casserole. Cool in fridge and then spread a thin layer of tahini and a little thicker layer depending on your sweet tooth of date jam on top. Bake sliced apples with ghee and add some cinnamon. Cover pie with apple slices and decorate with coconut flakes. Cool in fridge, when the taste just gets better! Serve with warm coconut cream!

The Art Of Breakfast: The Dates with Balls

Ingredients:

Only natural date sugar, oats, ghee, coconut, cinnamon and love!

I’ve got balls! How do you get them?

Boil 1/2L of dates into a jam, add cinnamon according your taste and cool in fridge. Cook 1L of oats in a pan (yes, you need a huge pan, 3 smaller ones or one small to cook them in 3 portions) and add a hint of black salt. Then add 10-12 tablespoons of ghee and toss until crispy. Cool in fridge. Why to cool? To avoid warm oats and dates turning to a sticky porridge. Mix cooled dates and oats together and roll small balls (or bigger ones if that’s how you like them) and roll in coconut flake and cool again in fridge. Makes a healthy snack!

The art of breakfast: baking more cakes

Oh, summer!
Hitch hiking and experimenting in other peoples kitchen really gets you in to the flow of the moment. Last summer I really got lost into the world of baking cakes with carrots while putting my thumb in action in a Spanish bachelor kitchen. My guys really didn’t mind me cooking and even some of the devoted carnivores munched a nice breakfast for bunnies.

The only challenge was who was going to clean the kitchen afterward.
I get off from the drive of the flow on that moment =D

Stuff needed:
About 400g of carrots
4 dl of whole grain flour mixture
½ dl of cane sugar
½ dl of olive oil
+ 3 tablespoons of cinnamon (For me it’s an addiction)
Instead of 4eggs you might want to use 2 dl of organic fruit sauce (That smashed fruit stuff you give to babies)
A hint of Sea salt
About 3 tablespoons of raisins and maybe 3 tablespoons of crushed almonds
On the top some brain nuts (= hazelnuts) or almonds

What to do?
Peel and grade carrots and add olive oil and fruit sauce. Then mix all the dry ingredients together and add to the carrot paste. Spread in oiled baking mold, add brain nuts and bake in oven in 180C for about 45min.
Enjoy on a warm summer morning with a glass of lemongrass or herbal tea with lemon. Honey maybe added for us who owns a sweet tooth. For a salty version you might want to try some natural cheese spread on top of the cake. Quite good!

The art of breakfast: carrot sour milk tea breads

Though my body has traveled far and kitchen changed from my granny’s home in Finland to up in the Himalayas of India, I took a moment to travel back to my granny’s kitchen inside my mind. By the help of my laptop I finished up this bread recipe that I created one snowy afternoon with my joyful cousin while my granny had a rest in her chair watching us exploring the ingredients of her kitchen.

These can be eaten anytime, anywhere as long as you’ve got the love ;)

One day my cousin can bake them by himself to our granny and grandpa with his own talented way of seeing the world of our granny's kitchen.

What did we find?

About 4 carrots rated
About 6 dl of oats and brown rice flour mixture
About 3 dl of sour milk
Handful of raisins
For sweet version add cinnamon, cumin and vanilla depending on your flavor/ salty version add cheese instead
A hint of sea salt or rose salt

DO IT!

Keep the fun of life in your heart and it will be your secret ingredient in the taste of the bread. Peal and grate carrots and add raisins. Add spices in the flour mixture. If you make salty version, add grated cheese in with grated carrots. Add sour milk and flours with carrots and roll about 15 flat breads and bake in oven in 250C for about 15min.

Eat with some natural jam or butter and a herbal tea and enjoy every bite with a smile on your heart. It will spread ;)

Simple tridosha food: fried sesame seed-okra with steamed basmati rice

My doshas have been going through a fight during the long monsoon season in India. All they really needed is tridosha calming food. Pitta stirring the okras in the pan while Vatta is holding the handle… and calmly the Kapha waits while a smoothing Spanish song from Kaloome is playing in the background and my friends looking after each other at the dining table.

Simple recipe for lunch. Even the vegetables can be found fresh during the monsoon season.

What the doshas of three people need:

3 cups of washed basmati rice soaked in 4 ½ cups of water
Cumin seeds
5 tablespoons of ghee
7-10 okras
1 onion
Palm full of sesame seeds
Turmeric
Rock salt and pepper
Mixture of herbs

Prepare your kitchen and let the calm fun begin!

Steam the rice with its water in a steamer with 2 spoons of ghee.
Peal the onion, wash okras and chop them. Heat 2 spoons of ghee in a pan, stir onion and add rock salt, turmeric and okras. Fry until they are soft. I added a hint of water, but not too much to make them slimy. Add a hint of pepper and only hint if your Pitta’s fire is to be tamed.
Heat a palm full of white sesame seeds in a pan and add them to okra sauce.
Serve the sauce on top of steamed basmati rice and add a mixture of herbs like oregano and thyme.

To slow down yours and your friends Vatta, make a connection with the food and with your friends who’ll appreciate no matter what you did in the kitchen. They know you did it with love and appreciation. May all doshas be happy!

(Photo coming as soon as the internet connection is made as good as the dosha connection.)

Kat in India: Chapatti a’la tahini-bitter gourd spread

So… Here we are in India learning delicious healthy food in an experimental kitchen that my lovely guesthouse provided.
One may call it ayurvedic food since there is no meat involved and I’ll try to use as local and organic ingredients as possible. Eating little animal products and more veggies and fruits.
Here’s a recipe for chapatti in my style and bitter gourd spread to go with it.

How to make a chapatti?
Ingredients:
Whole wheat flour
Water
Hint of salt (I used black salt)

Add water to flours that has a hint of salt until the dough doesn’t stick in your fingers.
Make a ball, make it thin and flat like a pizza and put in an iron pan. Now if you want to make it correctly it should be perfect round and smooth. But in my kitchen we want to make original, a little bit thicker chapattis possibly spiced with sunflower seeds. Bake chapatti from both sides until it rises and gets little brown color spots.. Or whatever you call it. You know when it is done. Don’t forget it for too many minutes (less than 5min) or you’ll burn it. Burned ones are not good, believe me.

Tahini-bitter gourd spread
Ingredients:
One bitter gourd (Per 2 chapattis)
Big spoonful of tahini
Ghee butter for baking the veggie
Some water

How do I do it?
Take that bitter gourd, peel and chop it. Heat some ghee in a pan and cook bitter gourd pieces until they are soft. Add tahini and some water so that the sauce is not too thick and tahini doesn’t burn. Though, I have never yet burned tahini.
Vola. Spread it on top of your chapatti and enjoy with a healthy bottle gourd soup.

In case you want to make a really fast and tasty soup:
Peel and chop bottle gourd, add in a pot of some boiling water with salt and herbs; the fresher the better. Boil until veggies are really soft. That’s the end of it. Next time I might try to add some raisins in there as well. Goes well with the chapatti-tahini-bitter gourd creation.

Ayrvedic kitchen: Kapha balancing diet

Morning:
Soar apple with peals

Breakfast:
2 breads made of lentil flour, smashed carrots and herbs
with alfa-alfa sprouts on side
and a lemon tea with honey

Lunch:
Rye bread pizzas topped with
1. mushrooms and onions
2. tomatoes, basil, olives, pepper and garlic
and fenugreek tea

Dinner:
Grilled onions, cauliflower, garlic and celery with spicy red lentil soup
and a tulsi tea

Snack:
Hot soy milk with cinnamon and cardamon

Ayurvedic kitchen: Balancing diet for Pitta whose not feeling so well

Breakfast:
Mint tea
Apple-oat breakfast dessert (check the older recipes)
with some melted cottage cheese

Snack:
Blueberry-milk shake

Lunch: Oven baked veggies with cheese
Boil basmati rice and put in oven with chopped zucchini and broccoli topped with mild cheese. Serve with well boiled white beans (until they have the texture of sauce)

Snack:
Piece of date pie
(dough from Valentine's Day pie)

Dinner:
Leftover Veggie Mix a'la Mom's Lentil soup (check earlier recipes and take off the carrot)

Evening:
Chamomile tea

Ayurvedic cooking: Pitta balancing diet

Dietary advice for a healthy person with Pitta dosha:

Great for a summer day, especially in Finland =) Seasonal stuff works for almost all people with a dosha in balance!

Breakfast: Fruit salad with dates, apricot, peach, mandarin and coconut with 6 soaked and peeled almonds with a pinch of honey
followed by coffee or my favorite: ginger-lemon-honey with fresh turmeric.

Snack: Valentine's Day Apple Pie (check my previous recipes)

Lunch: Honey Gone Nuts With The Salad with Pitta variations:
Lettuce, cucumber and sunflower seeds with cooked couscous, onion, garlic and salmon spiced with thyme, fennel, salt and some honey & lime.

Snack: Blueberry-milk frost... Basically add some milk with handful of blueberries and ice + honey and put in a freeze until it becomes like a sorbet.

Dinner: Steamed broccoli and celery with cooked quinoa spiced with fresh herbs and topped with cooked white beans and mild cheese. Put the previous in oven until cheese is melted.

Evening: Chamomile tea with some jaggery (+healthy version of sugar = Indian sugar = cane sugar... Baby has got a lot of names.)

Ayurvedic cooking: A day in Vatta's kitchen

What is she talking about? Who is Vatta? Ayurveda...?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda

Well, trust me when I say: It's one of the greatest ancient guide to a healthy lifestyle in every section of life! Not just cooking. But since healthy life habits has a lot to do with cooking, I like to share my recipe creations!

Yes, I'm back in action with a knife on my hand... In the kitchen of a stable traveler.
And with a lot more knowledge.
Instead of explaining what is Ayurveda and who is Vatta, I'm just sticking with writing the recipe... for now :D

Vatta balancing diet:

Morning: 6-8 soaked almonds

Breakfast: Two carrot breads (check from my previous recipes) with ghee and some curd (=fresh yogurt)

Snack: Banana

Lunch: Pie with spicy veggie filling (check out my previous recipes)

Snack: Mint tea with honey & two X-mas cookies with apple jam (once again: check my previous recipes)

Dinner: The perfect composed soup ever (-pepper)(check...you know what)

Snack: Piece of mango with honey

So, if you are Vatta, try this out one day. Now: back to my studies and healing my belly which has taken over by amoeba that increases a lot of vatta problems... And makes me sensitive to all three dosha problems. Well, life is about changes. Gotta listen to them and go with the flow. I'm sure the amoeba is going soon with the flowing monsoon here in India, where Ayurveda was born.