Easiest cranberry sauce recipe with no added sugar

Ever since we lived in the USA my family has loved cranberry sauce and have it on our Christmas menu every year. We used to make it with a huge amount of sugar but these days we don´t eat refined sugar anymore. So I made a new great recipe. This cranberry sauce is easy to make, using just fresh cranberries, apples, cinnamon and vanilla. The later two will trick you into thinking you're eating something sweeter than you actually are.
The only downside this sauce might have for you is that the color isn´t as bright red but more pinkish.

Cranberry sauce with no added sugar

 

1 bag (375 grams, about 2 cups) fresh or frozen cranberries
5 jonagold apples
1 large cinnamon stick
2 vanilla beans
optional: a twig of thyme

Wash the cranberries and put them in a large pan.
Add water to the cranberries until they are just about under.
Peel and cut the apples in small pieces.
Add the apples to the cranberries.
Cut the vanilla beans in half lengthwise.
Add vanilla, cinnamon and thyme if using to the cranberries.

Heat the cranberries until boiling.
Reduce heat to low and let boil for 10-15 minutes.

Remove thyme, vanilla bean and cinnamon stick.
Mash the cranberries and apples together.

All done!

If you find the cranberry sauce to still be too sour, you can add a tablespoon of sweetener of choice. I recommend either agave or maple syrup.

If you are not eating the sauce immediately, pour into (sterilized) glass jar and add the cinnamon stick again.

Is cranberry sauce a tradition at your house too? How do you like to make it?

Amaranth pancake recipe, gluten free, no sugar, no dairy, candida diet approved

This is an awesome pancake recipe, gluten free, sugar free, lactose free (optional), candida diet approved and really yummy. Combine with veggies and eggs and you have a great dinner!

Last Saturday I took a small course in food photography. It was really fun and useful. Sadly I couldn't use the tips right away which means you still have to do with the awful pictures seen below, giggle.

I also started the Candida diet about a month ago. I did the no sugar, no lactose, no gluten, no carbs.... The first week I was ok, the second week I felt like throwing everything within reach against the wall (except my kids of course, they kept me sane enough to function), and the third week I was feeling so much better that I started eating normally again. I still eat a lot of veggies and try to keep the sugar to a minimum. 

So hereby a nice healthy candida diet recipe. The pancakes have a nice nutty taste and work really well with veggies and eggs. No need for maple syrup on these :)

Amaranth pancakes with veggies and eggs

(Makes about 8 pancakes)

The steam coming off the food made the picture blurry...

 

I love my coffee grinder, so versatile

Amaranth flour

First we need amaranth flour. This is easily made with a coffee grinder. I use a Krups Spice and Coffee grinder. Works really well and doesn't cost much, just 17 dollar! One tip: buy a little brush to get everything out.

 Just a few seconds of grinding is enough to turn the amaranth into flour. The amaranth that didn't get chopped will make for a nice crunch in your pancake!

Pancake ingredients: 

1 cup amaranth flour

1 cup buttermilk or almond milk (other milk is fine too)

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon baking soda when using buttermilk or 1 teaspoon baking powder for other types of milk

Mix baking soda/baking powder with flour. Add milk and egg, mix well. 

The batter will be quite thick but don't be tempted to add a lot of water. One or two tablespoons of water will make it a little bit more fluid without it getting impossible to flip the pancakes.

Bake small pancakes, add some (green) veggies (I used zucchini, broccoli and some carrots) and some scrambled eggs. 

Looks just like a normal pancake :)

My kids loved this!

Looking for more pancake inspiration? How about these Healthy American pancakes or these classic Dutch pancakes.

Have you cooked with amaranth before? Any other good recipes I should try?

Easy quick healthy ice cream, sugar free, no egg, no dairy

With the first heat wave already behind us, get yourself ready for the next one with this great healthy ice cream recipe. It tastes delicious and with just 2 base ingredients you can make a lot of flavors. It takes about 5 minutes to make with a food processor and can be eaten immediately which is a great plus when you have kids! Of course you can have more ice cream!

 

I've included three different flavors but you can experiment when you understand the basics.

Healthy ice cream

Chocolate ice cream
Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup frozen blue berries

Forest fruit ice cream
Ingredients:
1 ripe banana
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa
250 grams (about 1,5 cups) frozen forest fruit

Mango ice cream
Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas
250 grams (about 1,5 cups) frozen mango pieces

Mix the bananas and cocoa if using, in a food processor until the banana resembles a liquid. 
Add the frozen fruit a handful at a time and mix until completely smooth.
(Be sure to use a device that can handle frozen fruit. I broke my little mixer thing.)

That's it! You can eat your yummy healthy ice cream now!

If you feel your ice cream is too runny, pop it in the freezer for 30 minutes. Give it a good stir and repeat as needed.

Making ice cream really is this easy!

Tips to make your own creations:
-As you can see I use a ripe banana as a base. Be sure to use a ripe but not overripe banana. The taste will be too strong. (Unless of course you want to make banana ice cream, then an overripe banana will be even better)
- Don't use big pieces of frozen fruit unless you are sure your device can handle it. Adding a handful at a time will help small devices handle the stress.
- Experiment by adding pieces of chocolate and nuts. I recommend grinding these down separately and stirring them in at the end.

So what ice cream are you thinking of making? I would love to hear!

Spicy honey pumpkin pie recipe, no refined sugar

This is a smooth spicy honey-pumpkin pie. It is of course refined sugar free and simple to make. You do not need many ingredients or much time to whip this up!

  Spicy Honey Pumpkin pie

250 grams/ a cup of (organic) orange pumpkin, seeds removed and cut in small cubes (if organic you do not have to remove the skin) Alternatively you could use the same amount of canned pumpkin.
3 tablespoons honey and 1 for decoration
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (or speculaaskruiden if you know what those are)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 pack of puff pastry

Elvis to keep away the terrors and some other things I have been up to

My hubby is watching a horror movie and even smidgins of it freak me out. With noise cancelling in-ear phones blaring Elvis into my brain I still seem to look up just when some little girl is puking blood or a freaky ghost is standing behind someone. I have therefor moved to our dining room table (actually just dining table, we wished we had a separate room hahaha) which has no view of the tv and resigned to writing this overdue post on Saturday night.

Listening to Stitch's Elvis song on this great spotify Disney playlist 50 best of family and kids movies.

I have been up to a lot lately. Too much to remember which sometimes leaves me doing stupid stuff like playing the Simpsons App until I get my thoughts straight.

I have been working on making a small picture book for toddlers to learn sign language. If you find that interesting please let me know. That would be a great boost to finish it.

Saying I love you

I decided to make a whole new bear for my etsy store which is easy to make, looks cute and can be dressed. I plan to make them all unique, each one coming with a little subscription of their character and a matching set of clothes. Also I want to sell clothes and patterns on the side. It seems fun but my babe holds me back sometimes as I cannot use the sewing machine when she is not in her playpen or when she is asleep because it will wake her (our appartment is tiny.). I finished my second version and it looks great so I am starting production soon. Now onto the clothes! Fun :)

First prototype, his arms are already falling off...

Furthermore I just put all my refined sugar stuff into a box, and it is a BIG box, goodness. My decorated cake shop has all but closed because I cannot make myself bake anymore of my usual recipes or use fondant to cover anything. I do not know how I am going to get rid of all this refined sugar. I think I am going to make things and try to sell them until I run out. It would sure clear up a lot of space in my kitchen.

BIG amazon box full of refined sugar stuff and I have another one nearby, what to do, what to do...

With both my nieces birthdays coming up I do have to think about how I am going to make them pretty cakes. Therefore I am starting a search for the perfect unrefined decorated cake. I have started work on a sugar free marzipan fondant that can be rolled out. If I find it you will be the first to know of course :)

Cake idea for my niece who is turning 1!

Next week I will be posting a recipe for sugar free pumpkin pie and I am trying to update the site with small things like hover pin it buttons and a printer friendly version so keep checking back!

Easy Sugar free nutella recipe with raw cocoa

This super easy sugar free hazelnut spread is great for on bread, pancakes, or just a spoon but not as bad for you as nutella is. It's made with dates, raw cocoa and hazelnuts obviously.

Creamy, yummy and definitely gives you the ability to keep the real nutella for weekends and special occasions!

Easy to spread and eat ;)

This is the hazelnut paste I usually buy

Sugar free nutella hazelnut spread recipe

175 grams ground hazelnut (I buy this in a jar, like you would peanut butter, you could grind your own I would expect, but my food processor is not good enough to try, it needs to be so fine that it releases its oils) 

4 or 5 dates without the pit

Apple beignets / fritters, sugar free, spelt flour

I hope you had a wonderfully delicious christmas and I wish you a happy and healthy new year!

I made theses lovely apple beignets / fritters (difference??) for New Year's  Eve. It uses a quick puff pastry recipe that is not a lot of work and has great results. Apple beignets in the Netherlands are always completely covered in refined sugar which tastes amazing but as I no longer eat it I covered these in Coconut blossom sugar. It gives it a surprisingly slightly spicy taste. Great for a party or when you want to fool yourself that anything apple has got to be healthy somehow :)

Eat them the same day, they will be at their best

Read on for the recipe.

Sugarfree speltflour gingerbread recipe, good for cookies, cakes andhouses!

Amsterdam canal house

It didn't last long...

This is the best gingerbread recipe I have ever tried, sugar free or not. It doesn't rise very much but just enough to make a soft cookie. It is tough enough to build a house with but not so hard that it breaks easy. It has a really yummy taste, though that is my opinion of course (And my family's). It makes a pretty golden cookie and can be used for anything really. I have made a gingerbread house with it, cookies and cake crusts. It is made with spelt flour which contributes to the lightness of the gingerbread and coconut blossom sugar and maple syrup to give it a rich taste.

(I always feel really weird typing sugar free and then saying it contains sugar... I have sworn

Amazingly scrumptious chocolate pudding recipe almost sugar free

Oh my, I just made the most amazingly scrumptious chocolate pudding! It is based on this recipe by Joy of Baking but as has become my signature thing at the moment, it is almost sugar free. This by the way does not mean it is healthy like veggies or fruit. It just doesn't contain evil refined sugar... instead I have used maple syrup and stevia. Besides not being toxic, it is also dead easy to make! Yay!

Amazingly scrumptious chocolate pudding 

Makes enough for 4 people, it's very filling
Prep time: 1,5 hours including refrigeration

Goodness I need to learn how to make pics of food... Even mickey isn't looking too happy... It tastes much better than it looks, promise!

Ingredients:
- 2,5 tablespoons cornstarch
- 30 grams unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 100 ml maple syrup
- 1/8 teaspoon stevia (95% steviolglycoside)
- 3 large egg yolks
- 315 ml milk
- 100 ml whipping cream
- 40 grams of dark chocolate in pieces (choose chocolate of good quality)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 15 grams of butter in pieces


Mix the cornstarch with the cocoa and salt in a heat proof bowl. Mix it really well by scraping the back of the spoon over the side of the bowl until there are almost no lumps of cornstarch left. Add the stevia and the maple syrup and whisk well. Then whisk in the egg yolks until it's a uniform paste. Set aside.

Put the milk and the cream in a saucepan and bring up to boiling point. Take it off the heat and slowly whisk it into the chocolate paste.

Pour the entire mixture back into the saucepan. Cook until it thickens, keep stirring! When it has the thickness of pudding, which it will be really quick, take it off the heat and beat vigorously for a few seconds.

Stir in the butter, chocolate pieces and vanilla extract until well blended.

Pour or scoop it into a clean bowl, press a piece of baking paper over the top and refrigerate for about an hour. (The baking paper will keep it from forming a film and it won't stick.)

After the hour take the bowl out of the fridge, remove the paper and beat vigorously again. Your pudding is now done and ready to eat! Yay!

You can eat it right away or cover it and refrigerate again until needed.


Enjoy!