Healthy Little Cravings
I share with you my Hygge recipes that belong to my everyday life-—simple and quick dishes with healthy and natural ingredients.
hygge
[ˈh(y)o͞oɡə, ˈho͝oɡə]
Hygge is a Danish and Norwegian word for a mood of coziness and comfortable conviviality with feelings of wellness and contentment.
I love sharing my knowledge of mindfulness in cooking to show that a healthy lifestyle is made of many tiny habits in harmony. Life is about small details, moments of happiness—and good food as well!
Cooking comes naturally to me, though I only realized I had a real passion for cooking when I was going through a tough period, and the one thing I wanted to do because it relaxed me, was bake. I love the science behind it—it’s like magic to me! I also love combining different flavors and creating food that is never the same. But, most of all, I love shariang it and watching happy family and friends eat my delicacies.
Cooking is something that makes you stop, think and create something beautiful for you and your loved ones. Food is fuel—it’s what makes you live. Eat smart, maintain a healthy lifestyle by eating wholesome food, but also don’t forget to indulge every once in a while.
My path has never been and will never be characterized by deprivation. Food is fuel and pleasure. I believe in balance. My mission is to inspire you to eat wholesome food and embrace a healthy lifestyle. You will see me use some ingredients more than others (but I don’t demonize anything)—dark chocolate in abundance and every kind of flour (I collect them, my mom says).
Don’t forget to indulge!
MORNINGS BEGIN WITH…
CHOCOLATE ORANGE GRANOLA
A healthy homemade chocolate orange granola with delicious tangerine juice! Ok, when I say healthy, I mean nutritious with tons of hidden tasty benefits that satiate: it’s nutritious (thank you buckwheat groats and oats), and tasty (thanks chocolate and essential oils from orange!)
• 85 gr buckwheat groats
• 85 gr oats
• 60 gr tangerine juice
• 20 gr raw brown sugar (adjust to taste)
• 30 gr oil (can use seeds oil, or coconut oil)
• 1 Tbsp cocoa powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 orange (the zest)
• 20/30 gr dark chocolate
1. Preheat oven to 150°C (300°F).
2. In a bowl, mix buckwheat groats, oats, tangerine juice, brown sugar, oil, cocoa powder and salt. Stir with spoon.
3. Spread mixture onto lined baking tray.
4. Bake 30 minutes, stirring halfway through. It’ll become crunchy once it’s out of the oven and cooled down.
5. Add orange zest and chocolate when still warm or when cooled down. The orange zest will release the essential oils, and the flavor will be AMAZING!
Note To make it gluten free, be sure to use certified ingredients.
TREAT YOURSELF TO A MID-DAY BREAK WITH… SWEDISH CINNAMON BUNS
(makes about 16 cinnamon buns)
Do you know what I loved most about these beautiful cinnamon knots? When I closed my eyes and took a bite, I immediately felt like I was walking through the Swedish woods. That cardamom and cinnamon combo is EVERYTHING. Now, can we consider these ‘healthy’? Sorry to disappoint, there’s no answer to this question. There is no food in the world that can be considered healthy or non-healthy by itself. You should think about your all-round lifestyle instead. Is it healthy for our mind and soul? —Definitely, yes. It’s a treat that you can eat sometimes! Everything in moderation is key to a healthy lifestyle and enjoying life, one bite at a time!
RECIPE IS INSPIRED BY ‘SCANDIKITCHEN FIKA & HYGGE: COMFORTING CAKES AND BAKES FROM SCANDINAVIA WITH LOVE’
FOR THE DOUGH
• 250 ml milk
• 7 gr dried yeast
• 80 gr high quality butter (at room temperature)
• 40 gr brown sugar
• 400 gr spelt flour
• 2 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 egg, beaten
FOR THE FILLING
• 80 gr high quality butter (at room temperature)
• 1 tsp organic all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground cardamom
• 60 gr brown sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
To Make the Dough
1. Warm the milk, add dry yeast and whisk. Set aside until bubbly.
2. Pour into mixing bowl, add melted butter and sugar, start mixing.
3. In a separate bowl, mix flour, ground cardamom and salt, then gradually add them into mixing bowl.
4. Add half the beaten egg. Keep kneading for 15 minutes. Mixture should be sticky, not too dry.
5. Cover dough with plastic wrap, allow to rise for 30 minutes or until it has doubled in size.
6. Turn the dough out onto floured surface. Roll out to a 40 x 50 cm rectangle.
To Make the Filling
1. In a bowl, add butter, flour, cinnamon, cardamom and sugar. Mix well and spread over the dough using a spatula. Fold the dough in half lengthways.
2. Using a pizza cutter, cut 16 strips. Take one strip and twist it around a few times. Curl into a ‘knot’ and make sure ends are tucked under so they don’t open during baking.
3. Place knots spaced apart on the baking sheet and let rise for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
5. Brush each cinnamon bun with remaining beaten egg. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
AFTER-WORK INDULGENCE SAVORED WITH COMFORTING CAKES
easy vegan caramel sauce
In my opinion, if you decide to indulge you have to do it “properly”. And, by this I mean, choose high quality and simple ingredients. This easy vegan caramel sauce is definitely not something you can eat every day, but it’s made with only two simple ingredients. It’s more like dulce de leche because I’ve only used milk and sugar. Not regular milk and sugar though! Instead, I’ve decided to use organic unsweetened almond milk (so barely no calories, just 27 kcal every 100 gr) and dark brown sugar to give a nice flavor. It’s so good. And yeah, it’s amazing to indulge like this, I confess.
Now you’re probably wondering how you can use this sauce. Just a couple of ideas: to give flavor and sweetness to your oatmeal, to garnish your ice cream, you can also use it on cookies, muffins, cakes, tarts…whatever you want!
• 200 gr unsweetened almond milk
• 50 gr dark brown sugar
• pinch of salt (optional)
This vegan caramel sauce is as simple as it seems:
1. Combine unsweetened almond milk and dark brown sugar into a pan.
2. Let simmer on low heat until it reduces and thickens.
3. When ready, sprinkle with salt flakes.
“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
– Paulo Coelho, in The Alchemist
