Monday, March 7, 2016

The best Mexican guacamole // äkta mexikansk guacamole

Want a delicious fresh guacamole? 





Use these ingredients and mix it all with a fork:
  • 2 avocados, mashed with a fork // 2 avokados mosade med en gaffel
  • 1-2 tomato, chopped // en finhackad tomat
  • 1-1,5 pot of fresh cilantro // en halv kruka koriander, finhackad
  • Pinch of salt // En nypa salt
  • Chopped chili of choice // finhackad chili
  • 1/2 union, chopped // 1/2 gul lök finhackad3
  • Some lime juice // lite lime juice

Sunday, March 6, 2016

Easy Raw food avocado chocolate mousse // enkel chokladmousse avokado raw

If you want a dessert which is vegan, paleo  or just healthy for you, the avocado chocolate mousse is a good alternative. It will not taste like a "normal" chocolate mousse full of cream, but avocado and cocoa blends together better than expected. The result is a thick, heavy chocolate-alike texture that does not taste too sweet, you can feel the base of avocado a little bit but the cacao is dominant and you will just eat a little bit because it makes you full so quickly.



INGREDIENTS ( serves 2)

  • 1-2 soft avocados (1 if it's really big) // 1-2 mogna avokado 
  • 1-3 tbsp honey or agave syrup // 1-3 msk honung eller agavesirap 
  • 2-3 tbsp raw cocoa // 2-3 msk raw kakao ( normal cacao is ok but it will be nicer taste with raw cacao) 
  • Choice of fruit or berry to serve to the mousse // frukt eller bär att servera till ( I used raspberry) 
  • Dark shredded chocolate to sprinkle on top of the mousse // mörk riven choklad att sprinkla på moussen 

HOW TO DO IT

  • Mix all ingredients in a bowl with a mixer. Start with the lower doses of cacao and honey/syrup
  • Taste to see how much honey/syrup and cacao you prefer, add more according to what you like more 
  • Serve with your fruit or berry of choices




Saturday, March 5, 2016

Easy tasty vegan plantain taco // Lättlagad kokbanan vegan tacos

This recipe of plantain (kokbanan) taco is super easy and quick to do! I have not invented this recipe my self but found it on this site. Thank you!

I served this at a vegan /paleo dinner that you can see here for more inspiration.


(It's the upper taco, with the sliced plantains on top)
 
The plantain can be found in bigger grocery stores in Sweden, not sure how it is in the rest of the world. It is the very big, greenish banana-looking fruits that are among the exotic fruit. Its not at all behaving or tasting like a normal banana so please make sure that you follow these steps

  • It needs to very ready, and not green at all. Preferable with a lot of spots on or even dark. If you have no choice but to take a yellow/green one with just a few spots you can put them in water  few hours and it will be easier to peel them
  • They are not easy to peel. They can also be a bit acid so if you have sensitive hands use gloves and a small knife to peel off the skin
  • Once you got the peel off you are good to go!
The taco dish consists of the plantains that will be fried, the black beans that will be boiled softly, and some extra ingredients to pimp your taco if you wish. It does not take more than 20 minutes too cook.

INGREDIENTS ( 2-4 people)

The Plantains // Kokbananerna
  • 2 large plantains, peeled and sliced // 2 stora kokbananer, skalade och skivade
  • 1 Tbsp coconut oil // 1  msk kokosolja
  • 2 Tbsp coconut sugar  // 2 msk kokossocker
  • 1 tsp ground cumin // 1 msk mald kummin
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon // 1/2 tsk mald kanel
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt (plus more to taste) // 1/4 tsk havssalt
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne // 1/8 tsk mald cayenne peppar (jag hade inget så jag tog chilipulver)
The black beans // Svarta bönor
  • 425 g can black beans // 425 g svarta bönor
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin // 1/2 tsk mald kummin
  • pinch cayenne (or chili powder) // en nypa cayennepeppar eller chilipuver
  • Salt
For serving// till servering
  • Taco shells or green salad leaf as wrap // Tacoskal eller salladsblad
  • 1 jalapeño, seeds removed and sliced // Jalapenjo skivad
  • Fresh cilantro, chopped // färsk koriander
  • 1/2 red onion, diced // 1/2 rödlök, finhackad
  • Hot sauce / salsa // valfri stark sås
  • Lime juice
HOW TO DO IT //INSTRUKTIONER
 
  • PLANTAINS: Mix all ingredients for the plantains with the sliced plantains carefully. Fry in the pan on medium heat 2-3 minutes on each side. They should fry but not to warm, since the coconut sugar easily get caramelized, and then they get a taste of burned. then the plantains are ready!
  • BEANS: Put the beans (without water) in a pan on low heat. add the spices. Once starting to softly boil, lower the heat and keep them warm until served. Ready!  
  • Serve with your taco shell, add on and sauce of choice. Enjoy!
 
If you dont know what sauce to have, a guacamole is always an hit, use this and mix it all with a fork:
  • 2 avocados, mashed with a fork // 2 avokados mosade med en gaffel
  • 1 tomato, chopped // en finhackad tomat
  • half a pot of fresh cilantro // en halv kruka koriander, finhackad
  • Pinch of salt // En nypa salt
  • Chopped chili of choice // finhackad chili
  • 1/2 union, chopped // 1/2 gul lök finhackad3
  • Some lime juice // lite lime juice


The fried plantains
 
 
Plantain taco served in salad leaf, still missing union, jalapeno and sauce of choice :)

 
We had the guacamole but also these sauces, Valentina, Louisiana Hot sauce and Tabasco

Take me back to the full vegan/paleo menu

Easy tasty vegan paleo dinner // Lättlagad god vegan och paleomiddag

What do you do when you are an I-eat-everything-and-too-often-I-eat-pasta-person and you will have your dear friends over for dinner and they wish a mix of vegan and paleo dinner? First you panic but then you realize that google will save you.The dinner consisted of tacos, which is a good alternative since you can pick what you would like to eat. And actually it was not too difficult, just to find the special coconut sugar and other specific ingredients took some time in the store but the actual cooking was ok :)

This was the full menu, including links to all recipes: (soon all links will be updated)
-Plantain (kokbanan) & black beans tacos as main main dish LINK
-Walnut & avocado pesto taco as main dish
-Guacamole LINK, cilantro sauce and nachos as extras
-Avocado chocolate mousse as dessert LINK
-Cabbage chips as snacks
-Sparkling wine & non alcoholic rose for drinks (below)

This was a great menu and all guest were satisfied, even me that usually don't eat all vegan, it was delicious!  But keep in mind, and we also discussed this at dinner, That don't expect a avocado chocolate mousse to taste exactly like a cream based chocolate mousse, becuase it is not the same.

I have experienced that many recipes and blogs etc post their home made veggie chips, raw food balls, and substitute chocolate desserts and you can read that it's delicious, always delicious. But it will never taste the same as you favourite main stream chocolate cake or candy. So be prepared for that but keep exploring and trying out different foods and healthier choices!


All dishes took up the full table!
 

Avocado chocolate mousse
 

My favourite budget sparkling wine (prosecco)  all times, La Robinia Prosecco. And the non alcohol N2, a mild rose', preferably served with a frozen berry in the glass.

 
The sauces that I served for this dinner to add some extra spice to it :)

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Walk in Stockholm Nature // Hellasgården på vintern

If you are in Stockholm and you want to truly get an nature experience we can recommend Hellasgården. Here is the link to their web page where you can find all information you need in English!
 
You can rent skates etc if its winter, you can walk on the ice, in the forest and if its summer you can swim in the lake! There are plenty of maps to show you around, just remember to dress properly! A winter day like this sneakers will not be enough. We had it but your feet's get cold. Make sure you have proper shoes, gloves and something to warm you head and ears!
 
Get a sneak peak of what it can look like during the winter.
 
 
We were hungry so our goal was just to find a nice and safe spot to make a fire to have a barbecue!



 
One warmer day the snow was melting, creating this ice now completely freeze since its cold again. So beautiful with the shapes of nature.



For Pat that has spend the majority of his life in Mexico, he had never experienced walking in a forest or having picnic (!!) when we met. Now living in Stockholm, we can truly experience the nature, here is a snap shot of Pat in - the forest ;)
 
 
We climbed the hills and got a great view over the frozen lake and in the distance you can see Globen - a Stockholm arena

 
People enjoying the nice weather, skating on the ice
 

Linda, me and Pat doing hot dog on a stick barbecue! You are allowed to make a fire, but you need to make sure that it's safe, will not spread or damage the ground. When you are done you need to make sure that the fire and heat is out and when you leave the place there should be no traces of the fire.


Sell, Pat and Linda, the full Sunday picnic crew! (And me behind the camera)