plant-based & sugar-free chocolate spread

Lately, I have been experimenting with an easy replacement for the chocolate spread. I am a big fan of Nutella, but unfourthantly those days are gone, where I could eat Nutella 3 times a day without seeing or feeling any difference in my body. Not only is it bad for the body with all the empty calories and fast carbs, but it is also bad for our blood sugar to eat Nutella. I am trying to make most of my unhealthy food, with natural sugars from plants, like bananas, dates, honey, or sometimes stevia. This 3 ingredient recipe requires no oven or heating. It is basically a raw food chocolate spread, made with no sugar, and only plant-based, natural ingredients.




What you need

Kidney beans - drained and cleaned (175g drained)
7 medium-sized dates
5 topped tbs raw cacao
1,5-2 dl water



What you do

Start with slicing the dates, and make sure to remove the stones. Have the chopped dates over in a large bowl. Drain the kidney beans, and clean them.
Use a hand mixer, or a food processor and mix everything together until a smooth texture. add the cacao powder and the water little by a little while mixing together. Some prefer less water, and others prefer more. Depending on how thick or think you like your chocolate spread. In the end, add some salt, and for those who prefer, add some oil for some more oily texture.


How to use


I love to use the spread on rice crackers, on waffles, or on pancakes. You can also use the spread just as a chocolate cream dessert, or as a cake or cupcake topping.
I keep my chocolate spread in reusable glass and keep it in the fridge. Mine has lasted for at least a week now and still tastes good!


I hope you got inspired to try something new. I wish you all a happy Friday and happy Constitution day on Sunday to those who are celebrating in Norway!


Best, Eline S.

Garlic mushroom avocado toast

It’s almost Easter time, and some of my best memories with easter include good quality of food in-between skiing in the mountains. Even tho this will not really be a real easter for me, or anyone else, we can still cook easter-ish food.
This little treat is on most menus on the hottest brunch spots in Los Angeles.


This recipe is perfect for breakfast, or as a brunch/lunch. It is easy to prepare for a family, or just for yourself like I did today. You only need four main ingredients and it takes about 15 minutes to prepare it.



What you need

bread
mushrooms
avocado
garlic
lemon
salt
pepper
oil


What you do

Start with having the mushrooms in a pan with some chopped garlic and olive oil. Fry the mushrooms until they are golden, or until they are crispy - closed to burned (like I prefer them). Most people prefer the golden version. Dizzle over some salt and pepper.
Leave the mushrooms while you prepare the rest of the food. Slice a piece of bread and have it in your toaster, or heat it up in your oven or in a pan.


While you wait for the bread to get ready, slice a medium-sized avocado into two pieces and cut out half of the piece. Have half an avocado smashed over your toasted piece of bread, and add the mushrooms on top. In the end, squeeze over some lemon. This is the vegan version, but if you want to add some protein to the dish you can add an egg on top.



I hope you and your family are safe this easter.
I’m spending my first easter alone. Excited for a zoom call today with some girlfriends all around the US, the hear how they are all holding on. So sad how the situation has got so bad here in the States. I’m feeling extra grateful for being Norwegian now and impressed to see how the Norwegian government is dealing with this situation.



Stay safe, Best Eline.

Vegan pasta with oven roasted superfood veggie

I have been having the biggest obsession with this plant-based dish lately. It’s easy to prepare and simple to make.
I make it the vegan way, but you can choose other products if you feel like it.


What you need

1 Large butternut sqash
1 glass of pasta sauce
Pasta or tortellini
Garlic or onion powder
Salt
All-purpose spice
Tumeric
Coconut oil spray, or olive oil
Pesto


What you do

Start with heating the oven to 400 degrees, or 175 degrees Celcius, I put the oven on the roast function.


Slice the butternut squash in smaller pieces, and get rid of the seeds. Spray then with oil, and add your spices. Add your own favorite spice, it tastes perfectly with salt and some oil only. Since I make this dish quite often I like to mix it up, this time I tried with some turmeric, as I have been a bit sick this week I’m spicing it up. Tumeric has a really strong taste, so only pinching a little over with the other spices.
As the oven is heated up, place the butternut squash in the middle.


Waiting time- To make the butternut squash perfectly roasted, they need from 30-4o min depending on your oven. Feel free to watch a serie, or have a shower while waiting. I like to give the butternut squash a shake in between, to make sure they get roasted on both sides.


Depending on your kinds of pasta boiling time, start heating up some water, I used the Kite Hill vegan tortellini with spinach that only needed 4-6 min. When the butternut squash was close to ready, I started boiling the tortellini, as well started heating up the tomato pasta sauce on low temp.


The butternut squash should be golden and crispy on the outside when ready to serve. My friends thought it looked and tasted more like sweet potato, as the butternut get quite sweet when roasted. Drain the water off the pasta, and add the pasta to the bowl of tomato sauce and heat together for 1 minute or so.
Have the butternut squash on a plate and add the pasta. I used some vegan parmesan as topping as well as some vegan pesto.

Gotta love all the great green options in the US. Even tho America is known for its hamburgers and fries. they have tons of great plant-based options too.
Kite Hill is defiantly becoming one of my favorite vegan brands, plant-based brands.

I hope you got inspired to try out another green meal. Butternut squash is high in fiber and full of nutrition. Perfect this time of year with a healthy boost, that honestly feels more like a cheat meal, especially with the pasta and cheese.

Best, Eline S

Superfood/ Vegan bowl - don't throw away your leftovers!

This bowl is super easy and clean for the ones who want to try something filling and healthy to boost both your skin and metabolism for the fall season. It takes literally 10 min to prepare it.
A lot of people are getting sick this time of year. I try to eat extra Vit C and stay warm. Its always hard to dress in Norway when it is freezing while you go to work in the mooring, but gets so much warmer during the day. The skin too can easily get dry and needs some extra care this time of year. I'm not a doctor, but from my own experience, it is true when people say ¨you are what you eat¨. At least for me, if I eat sugar every day for a week I can tell on the skin, but again we all have different genes. 

Bowls are quick and easy to prepare, and you can add anything you have leftover in your fridge. This bowl was made of what I had leftover from the day before. Some leftover kale, avocado, cucumber. red pepper and lentils. I always have avocado and pesto in my fridge, as I use these two ingredients for almost every meal. I eat one avocado a day. that's probably one of my best beauty secrets to avoid dry skin. This is perfect as a lunch box too. If you want some extra protein you can add some tuna, cottage cheese, eggs, tofu, or chicken to make it just the way you like it.

What you need

1 Handful of kale
1/2 box on lentils
1/2 avocado
1/2 pepper
1/3 cucumber
Olive oil
Sea salt
Pesto
Seeds

What you do

Chop the kale and start heating it on low heat with some olive oil and salt. Chop the pepper, cucumber, and avocado and drain the lentils. 
When the kale gets soft, have it over in a bowl, and add all the veggies. Top the bowl with some seeds. 
I used pumpkin and sunflower seeds on mine. In the end, add some pesto and a little olive oil. 

Voila! I hope you got inspired to try a vegan lunch bowl, remember you can always mix and match your bowl with other ingredients. Roasted beets or sweet potatoes are also a great source of vitamins C and slow carbohydrates! I will probably try with some roasted root veggies for my next superfood bowl. 

X, Eline S.

Vegan superfood brownie -4 ingredients only

Hey you all. 

I hope your September is going well so far. I have been stuck with visa papers and dialog with my lawyer the last week, and in between I'm cleaning up my closet because we are just moving. Whenever I have some time off, I go to the gym or out in the woods to get some fresh air. It is really lovely out now, and I'm especially excited about the mushroom season. Love picking mushrooms and cook dinner out of it. I will try to prepare a mushroom soup recipe for you this month, stay tuned!

Lately, I have been trying to challenge myself to eat more vegan, mainly because of the nature and everything going with the rainforest, but also because all science shows that eating more greens and less meat is better for our health. So far I haven't cut meat out complete, but I'm trying my best every day to find substantives for meat and dairy. Starting with cutting meat, and will try to follow with chicken. One step at the time. I honestly feel like its a lot easier to do this in the states, or actually anywhere else than Norway. Ever Sweden has better Vegan options in products than Norway. 

I have been craving chocolate and brownie lately, probably because it gets colder out and I feel like eating something cozy. I wanted to try to make a healthier brownie verson, more like an everyday dessert. I also tried to make it as easy and less complicated not with a bunch of ingredients. I did a few mistakes and tried a few times to add and take away some ingredients. This was the result I got most happy with. 

This dessert is perfect after a Sunday dinner, with some vanilla ice cream and berries, or just a piece after your workout with a cup of coffee. You can cut the left overs into pieces and refrigerate it, and serve next time you are having a guest over. 

What you need 

12 Dates 

1 Box of kidney beans 

1 Toppes tbs oil, I used cocosa (coconut oil)

3 Tbs cacao powder

Baking paper

Salt

What you do. 

Start with heating the oven to 175 degrees celcius. 

Remove the stones from all the dates and cut them into smaller pieces. 

Drain the Kidney beans and add everything to a blender or a food processor. 

At the end add 1 dl of water and a pinch of salt. 

Mix all together until the texture is smooth. 

Have the mixture over in prepared tin. I used a baking paper so I had less to clean up. 
Bake in the oven for 20 min, but this does always depend on your oven. A little trick to test if the brownie is done: Stick a toothpick or a knife in the center-right around the time your recipe says it should be done. If it comes out clean, it's done. If there are any traces of uncooked batter, let it continue baking for another few minutes and repeat the process until the toothpick comes out clean. 
The baking time also depends on how you prefer your brownie. I like mine super soft! 

Why this cake is good for you 

This cake is full of nutrition. Kidney beans are also a great source of several vitamins and minerals, they contain iron which is something a lot of us girls need to include more in our diet, because of the loss of blood during our period. Cacao is a great source of antioxidants- Antioxidants are thought to be effective in helping to prevent cancer. So yes for more chocolate in our diet, just remember to try finding the chocolates with less sugar, or try my homemade chocolate recipe. Dates do also contain a small amount of iron, they are high in fiber (which is good for our digestive system) and they have a natural sweetener witch makes them perfect for natural way of baking. Dates are also to be helpful for lowering inflammatory markers such as interleukin 6 (IL-6), in the brain.

Just remember not to tell your boyfriend or guests of the secret ingredient (beans), before they have tried the cake.. A lot of people get super skeptic when things are too healthy, haha. I kind of get it, but give it a try! At least this cake was accepted by my family and boyfriend. I hope you like it! 

Almost Friday, yey! I wish you all a great weekend.

X, Eline S

Reklame, @revolve - Wearing - Blouse - Majorelle (Revolve) - Shorts - Zimmermann (Revolve)- Hair clips - Accessorize - Necklace Vintage

Squah pasta with grilled chicken and pesto-avocado cream

One of my favorite things about summer and vacation is BBQing. I wish we could bbq all year round. In my opinion, almost everything tastes better when it is grilled. This meal looks fancier than it is and is easy and quick to prepare. It is perfect for dinner, and the vegans, you can replace the chicken with tofu or beans.

Step by step

What you need -for 2 people

Pesto
Olive oil
Squash *2

Chicken/ Tofu -2 chicken breast
Onions *1
One large red pepper
6 lagre mushrooms
Parmesan cheese
Avocado* 1
Salt
Pepper
Oregano


What you do

Start with cleaning up the chicken breast of the filet, and cut it into some smaller pieces. Massage one tbs of pesto and one tbs of virgin olive oil into the chicken and pack it into a silver paper. Leave the chicken in the fridge, while you prepare the rest of the meal. 

Chop the onions, the pepper, and the mushrooms and add some oil, salt, and pepper. Pack it into a silver paper. 

Use a spirelli, to make your veggie pasta. I bought mine on amazon. They are pretty easy to find in any kitchen store. One squash for each person, I know this looks like a lot of food, but as the veggies grill, they lose a lot of water, so in the end its not as much as it looks like. 
Add 4 bs of pesto to the squash pasta and pack it into two separate silver papers. 

Add all the goodies the grill. The time depends on your grill and the heat of your grill. Check in between.

Avocado - Pesto cream 

Add one avocado, two large tbs of pesto, a pinch of salt, pepper and some milk to a blender. I use almond. milk, but any milk works. 

Blend and heat up on low temp while you wait for the grilled food to get ready. 

The end

Drain off the water from the squash, and place it to two plates. Cut the chicken into smaller pieces and top it over the squash bed with the veggies. For some extra flavor, add some olive oil and parmesan cheese. 

Bon apetit, I hope you like it!

Best, Eline S.

Choco Loco bowl

Typically I can eat the same thing for breakfast for a few months before I switch it up. During winter time I like something warm like oatmeal and during warm summer days, I usually like making a smoothie or a bowl for breakfast. I like to experiment with new ingredients and this summer I have been addicted to this bowl of happiness.




You need

raw cacao powder
coconut milk
greek yoghurt
honey
pinch of salt
seeds
berries


You do

Start with draining a can of coconut milk, and leave the full-fat part in a bowl. Add three tablespoons of greek yogurt or another yogurt. You can also use coconut or almond yogurt if you want a vegan option. Mix well and add one tablespoon of raw cacao and one tbs of honey, or another sweetener. If you like a darker chocolate flavor, you can add some extra cacao powder.

At the end add a pinch of salt. Top your bowl with some crunchy granola, nuts or seeds. I topped mine with sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, and some fresh raspberries.


Hope you like it, and get inspired to try something new. Im enjoying the last week of vacay in South Norway. <3



Best, Eline S.

Wearing - Bikini - Chio Swimwear - sunnies - Oliver Peoples - Headband - Beck Sodergaard - dress - Hot lava collection - blouse - Zara