A couple of you asked for some recipes of healthy treats I make, smoothies and stuff.
The problem is that I hardly ever follow any recipes, so I don't have specific amounts of anything. I tend to just wing it, whether I'm cooking or knitting or whatever.
But I can write a little bit about how we eat and give you recipes of sorts -or at least explanations on a couple of things we frequently make.
I'm a really lazy cook. On my own I would never ever eat two warm meals a day, some days I would eat none. We almost always have one-bowl meals. It's usually rice or pasta with some sauce with it. Bolognese sauce, and fresh avocado with fresh basil, leaf parsley and parmesan cheese (flavor with salt, lime juice and fresh red chili pepper) are among favorites. The avocado recipe is super easy, you just mix everything in a big bowl and add the cooked pasta.
I can't imagine spending two hours in the kitchen preparing dinner.
What also makes it "simple food" is that I don't offer many different dishes at once. We may eat baked potatoes with cheese and just have some raw veggie bits with them. Often I "deal" with the veggies by peeling carrots and giving them to eat while the hungry ones are waiting for dinner.
We don't have a lot of food waste, because I make sure we eat left-over before making new food, and I think also because of creative cooking - if there is something in the fridge that needs to be used, I use it in a dish where I would normally not use that ingredient. I also sometimes create new dishes from leftovers, by adding stuff to them.
We really love salads, and when I make a salad I make a big one that we can eat for two or three days. Because I'm lazy, and it's a lot of work to wash and peel and chop all the ingredients, and it feels like less work to do more at once ;) Indiana doesn't eat salads, so I will just give her the usual carrot sticks and bell pepper slices and some fruit, and she will eat those with some frozen food like veggies patties or falafel, or if we are also having salmon or something, she will have that with her veggies. If she is still hungry she can have some bread as well.
I'm not above letting her eat toast or cereal for lunch sometimes. She may eat goat cheese straight from the container.
I do use convenience foods. I don't feel too guilty about skipping a meal because we had too many snacks. I love it when we eat out and I can skip cooking for the day.
It's all food, and it's still much more varied than most people in the world have, even if it's not
always the healthiest possible option.
And now for the delicious treats our kids and husbands will devour and get a bunch of healthy stuff at the same time :) They are also super easy to make.
Smoothies:
-Frozen fruit or berries. We use strawberries the most because they are Indiana's favorites, but also blueberries and raspberries and currants and even lingonberries (tart). I also buy frozen mango, because that happens to be found at the store and those are good to use in yellow smoothies :) You can mix any combination of course.
-Any juice. We also sometimes use coconut milk or almond milk or rice milk or soy cream.You just add enough liquid to cover the frozen stuff and add more if it seems too thick.
-Honey to sweeten
-I usually put in a couple of raw free range eggs for super healthy protein, but you can skip them if you don't like the idea. I can tell that I have been doing this for 9 years and nobody ever got sick. I learned to use raw eggs like this in Cambodia.
-I almost always add banana for the thick consistency. I may add other fresh fruit too.
- I often add frozen or fresh spinach or some other green stuff. If you don't put too much nobody will say a word :) You can of course put in other veggies too, like carrots.
Good combinations include: Strawberry-coconut, Mango-orange juice-banana, Blueberry-raspberry-spinach.. but the variations are endless.
Tofu pudding:
-A block of soft tofu
-Maple syrup (or honey) to sweeten
-Vanilla (we use vanilla sugar)
-A heaping tablespoon of almond butter
-Dash of cream or soy cream (you can even skip it but it makes for a milder taste)
Blend everything until the tofu is smooth. This is the basic recipe, but the last time I made this I also added in the left overs from a chocolate spread (that my husband likes to eat with rye bread).
For variations, your imagination is the limit. You can add some frozen or fresh fruit, berries or other nut butters. You can sweeten with brown sugar.
I think most people know this one, but I will still tell you about one other favorite,
Banana Ice cream:
-Bananas, sliced and frozen (flat, so they don't clump together). Blend until the consistency is like soft serve ice cream. You can add frozen strawberries(or other frozen berries) but really the only thing you need is bananas!
For me, simple eating is about not making a big fuss, not getting stressed about it, not having strict rules. I'm so glad I no longer react to gluten, and that Indiana is not quite as sensitive to dairy anymore. Her mild milk allergy is the only restriction right now. We eat when we are hungry, not at a specific time. This gives our life flexibility. If I don't have to have a strict schedule, I won't impose one on myself, though I do realize some people rely on them for their life to run smoothly!
Do you have any favorite simple foods or recipes to share? I'm always glad to get new ideas!
