Oatmeal Pancakes
It’s Pancake Day today and in order to celebrate it, I thought I’d share one of my favorite pancakes recipes with you – oatmeal pancakes! They are easy, healthy and delicious, just the way I like it. I love the idea of a Pancake Day but I will not wait for it to make pancakes – actually it’s a little bit like Pancake Day every Sunday in our home. Ricotta, cottage cheese, wholegrain, spelt, with nuts or fruit – I would not be able to count the different types of pancakes I came up with throughout the years!
Ingredients:
100g oatmeal
120g spelt flour
1 egg
250ml soy milk
Soy margarine
Method:
Place oatmeal in a food processor and ground it until it turns into a fine powder. Transfer to a bowl and mix with spelt flour, egg and soy milk.
Heat soy margarine in small skillet over medium heat until melted. Scoop the batter onto the pan, and brown on both sides. Serve hot with your favorite topping (our is blueberries and cream or maple syrup).
Happy Pancake Day!
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Horseradish Soup
Is it crazy that I hate cold but absolutely love snow? I’ve always loved it and I got to appreciate it even more since I’ve been living in this lovely but very grey country. Snow just makes it look so much prettier! When the temperature goes under 0°C, I go into my soup mode. There is nothing better than a bowl of hot and hearty soup on a very cold day. This white veggie and horseradish soup is a guaranteed body and soul warmer!
Ingredients
3 leeks, only the white part, sliced
A few cauliflower florets (I used 5)
1 small celeriac, peeled and cut into big chunks
1 onion, finely chopped
3 potatoes, peeled and cut in half
1,5l vegetable bouillon
4 tsp horseradish
100ml soy cream
Seed & dried fruit mix
Olive oil
Method
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a soup pan and sauté onion until tender. Add all vegetables and pour the bouillon over them. Bring to boil, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes until the vegetables are soft. Leave to cool for 5 minutes and blend in a food processor until smooth. Add soy cream and horseradish and mix for another minute. Serve with seed & raisin mix and a few drops of olive oil. Enjoy and stay warm!
Photo by STS
DIY Love Sugar Cubes
These adorable heart shaped sugar cubes will add an extra shot of love into your Valentine’s Day morning coffee and afternoon tea or make a sweet gift for the one you love!
And yes, I am a sucker for Valentine’s Day. There, I said it.
You will need:
200g white sugar
1 tablespoon water
Few drops of red coloring
Silicon heart shaped moulds
Method:
In a small bowl, mix the sugar with water and a few drops of red coloring until evenly colored. Push a small amount of sugar firmly into the heart shaped silicon moulds and level the top with a knife or spoon. You can leave it to stand overnight like I used to do forever (I have been making the sugar cubes with my granddad when he was still alive and Polish supermarkets weren’t the most exciting place) or you can put the moulds in the microwave (1 minute on 600W) and let them cool off for 15 minutes and take out afterwards. Repeat until all the sugar is used up. Voila!
xoxo,
Marta
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La Dolce Vita and the Spaghetti Carbonara
Here is a secret: I have never ever tried Spaghetti Carbonara. Maybe not all that shocking with me not eating meat and traditional carbonara being made with bacon but it still came as a surprise to some guests of the Zanussi Dolce Vita event I attended recently 
Zanussi has invited food bloggers for an exclusive fun event to celebrate the launch of their new range of appliances called “Quadro”. I had a pleasure to try one of them, the Quadro Induction Cooker, to make my first ever Spaghetti Carbonara. Ok, not the real thing, but my cooking partner Vanessa from Vanevalentine and me did a pretty good job making a vegetarian version of it. That under a strict eye of Chef Giovanni Bruno from Senzanome, an Italian Michelin star restaurant.
To find out more about the new range of Zanussi appliances, visit www.zanussi.be. To make your own vegetarian spaghetti carbonara, follow the recipe below.
Ingredients
500g spaghetti
4 eggs
1 shallot, finely chopped
250g vegetables (red pepper, courgette, carrot), finely chopped
200g Parmezan cheese, finely grated
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
Method
Boil a large pan of water, add a pinch of salt and cook the spaghetti following the packet instructions. Heat olive oil in a frying pan and cook the shallot for about a minute. Add vegetables and cook for another 7-9 minutes. In another bowl, beat together the eggs and the parmesan.
Drain the spaghetti and return to the pan. Add the egg mixture and toss until the pasta is evenly coated. Add veggies, scatter some parmezan and season with salt &ground black pepper to serve.
Chocolate Spoons + FREE PRINTABLE
Spooning is one of greatest pleasures in life! It really is! I mean, who doesn’t like to cuddle in a spoon position, right? When I saw the chocolate moulds in a shape of a spoon, I needed to have them. I just thought it would be such a cute way to celebrate spooning and would make a lovely and delicious Valentine’s Day gift! What do you think? If you like the idea, I have a little gift for you too, printable tags you can add to your chocolate spoons gift. Download them HERE.
To make the spoons, you will need:
Pure chocolate chips
Chocolate moulds in a shape of a spoon (for my Belgian readers, you can get them in a Collishop)
Method:
Melt the chocolate au bain marie (place chocolate in a small pan over a bigger pan of simmering water).
Spoon chocolate into moulds. Stand at room temperature until firm. Turn them out onto a clean plate.
Put spoons in a transparent bag and use the free printable tag to close it. Give it your big or little spoon!
Mini Love Madeleines!
Another gift idea in the series of Valentine’s Day gift – mini madeleines! Homemade with love and mini because I simply have a mini-food fetish (you can’t blame me, tiny food is just so darn cute!!!). The recipe makes 40 mini madeleines so just think about how many people you will be able to show love to with this delicious gift! Pack them in small boxes or transparent paper, tie with a ribbon, and they’re good to go!
Ingredients
100g flour
30g ground almonds
100g caster sugar
100g melted butter (cooled)
3tsp honey
3 medium eggs
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
Red food coloring
Method
Preheat the oven to 190C. Beat the eggs with the honey and sugar until light and airy. Mix together flour, ground almonds and baking powder and whisk in the egg mixture until well incorporated. Add red food coloring (start with a pinch if you’re using powder or a few drops if you’re using liquid and keep adding till you get the right color). Add butter and put the batter in the fridge for 30min.
If you’re using a silicone mold, spoon the batter into it and bake for 8-10min. If you’re using a tin, first butter and flour it before spooning the batter. Pack and gift (or eat and enjoy)!
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Healthy Belgian Waffles and a GIVEAWAY!
Crispy on the outside, soft and moist on the inside, Belgian waffles are one of the main reasons I fell in love with this country! If you ever visit Belgium, you should definitely go and get one topped with whipped cream, strawberries and chocolate! The first months I moved to Belgium, I used to go eat this mouthwatering calorie bomb every Sunday afternoon. And as much as I loved it, it just had to stop at some point I still love waffles – how can you not? – but in the last few years I only ate them on special occasions. This recipe might change everything though. My new Belgian waffles are not only sugar-free but also lactose- and wheat-free! And they are just as delicious!
To substitute sugar, I used Vanilla Stevia Liquid, one of the stevia products I received from NuNaturals. It’s one of those things that took a permanent place in my everyday life – I put it in my morning oatmeal, my coffee, in cakes and cookies. So I am really happy to announce that I am allowed to gift 4 of my readers with this lovely product. But first the recipe!
Ingredients
225g spelt flour
550 ml soy milk
1 tsp dried yeast
4 eggs
100ml olive oil
15 drops NuNaturals Vanilla Stevia Liquid
Baking spray
Method
Warm soy milk up to about 40 degrees and dissolve the yeast in it. Add 15 drops of Vanilla Stevia Liquid, the egg yolks and the spelt flour. Mix well and add the olive oil. Put the batter in a warm place and let it raise for about 35-40 minutes.
In a separate bowl beat the egg whites until stiff and fold into the batter.
Use the baking spray to oil the waffle iron and bake bake bake!
Serve the waffles with your topping of choice!
AND NOW THE GIVEAWAY!!!
Four lucky winners will get one bottle of Vanilla Stevia Liquid and one box of NuStevia Packets.
How to participate?
LIKE my page on Facebook and leave a comment on this post. That’s it!
The giveaway ends on Friday, January 20 at midnight CET. The winner will be chosen via random.org and will be announced here on Saturday, January 21.
OPEN TO EVERYONE!
Good luck!
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***UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE***
Congratulations! Please send me your address to princessmisia@gmail.com
Chocolate Dipped Strawberries!
Need I say more?
GIVEAWAY: DURACELL USB CHARGER FOR A MOBILE FOODIE!
Meet one of my best friends: Duracell portable USB charger! It is literally a life saver since I use my mobile ALL THE TIME. I mean it. To call, sms, email, facebook, tweet, take photos (of food mainly ), browse, tweet, read blogs, tweet again … and so on and so on. I also travel a lot so very often there is no way I can plug my phone in to charge it. And that’s where the portable USB charger comes in! You just plug it in and get extra hours of battery life! It keeps me from panic attacks and makes sure you are all updated on my foodie adventures
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If you’re anything like me, you will be happy to hear that I have 2 of those wonderful chargers to give away! The charger is compatible with most smartphones!
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All you have to do is LIKE my page on Facebook and leave a comment on this post 
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The giveaway ends on Friday, January 13 at midnight CET. The winner will be chosen via random.org and will be announced here on Saturday, January 14.
Open to everyone!
GOOD LUCK!
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***UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE***
Congratulations! Please send me your address to princessmisia@gmail.com
*Duracell is a client of Porter Novelli (company I work for). The views expressed here are my own.
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Soy Salmon Chowder
I first tried chowder when I was visiting US a few years back and I still remember the comforting feeling this thick milk-based soup gave me on a cold winter day. Even though this year Belgium is seeing the warmest winter in years, chowder still remains on our winter menu and this year comes in a new soy version! It’s just as delicious as regular chowder – just make sure you use natural soy milk which is not too ‘vanilla’ flavored (I used Alpro Soya Natural)
Ingredients
1 tsp butter
1 onion, sliced
6 potatoes, peeled and diced
600 ml milk
400 ml vegetable stock
200 g smoked salmon, sliced
Parsley, roughly chopped
Method
Heat the butter in a large saucepan and cook the onion for about 5 minutes until it starts to soften. Add the potatoes, milk and stock. Bring to boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes (until the potatoes are tender). Add smoked salmon and cook for another 3 minutes. Season to taste and serve with chopped parsley.
Love,
Marta
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