Freekeh Vegetarian Meatballs

Sorry for the lack of updates. I have been trying and posting a lot of recipes on Instagram as well as my Facebook page that I didn't really feel the need to update. But I thought of sharing this recipe and my experience with my new found grain, freekeh.

I came across Freekeh in the health food store. I was hesitant to try it and I knew no one that even used the grain. But my friend Sunny did and she urged me to give it a try. With the rising cost of quinoa, it's nice to try a more affordable superfood.  Freekeh is common in middle eastern cuisines apparently and is very comparable nutrition wise to quinoa. The grain is also high in fibre, actually its twice the amount that is found in quinoa. It is low in the glycemic index so it is very suitable for diabetics. It has up to 6g of protein per serving so it would be great for vegans and vegetarians.  I bought a bag from Costco to give it a try.

Since it's my first time trying the grain, I decided to make something that packs a lot of flavour. I used a recipe adapted from Dr. Oz. Opening the bag, it smells "wheaty". Cooking it was simple enough. Just combine 1/2 cup of uncooked freekeh to 1 cup water. Boil and then simmer for 20 minutes. I bet my rice cooker can be used too.

Taste wise, I really enjoyed it. It taste more grainier and wheatier (I know that's not a word) than quinoa. I would pair it with savoury dishes. I think I'm still a big quinoa fan but freekeh sure is making a good run on the superfood grain.

Freekeh Vegetarian Meatballs

Ingredients
1 cup cooked freekeh
1 egg
1/2 cup shredded potato
2 tbsp. minced garlic
bunch of chopped parsley
small diced onion
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1/3 cup mozzarella/cheddar mix cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1) Mix all ingredients
2) Preheat oven to 400 degrees
3) Form 1 inch balls and place on a greased tray.
4) Bake for 20-25 minutes. Flipping meatballs half way.
5) Remove from heat. Enjoy with some marinara sauce.

Pecan Pumpkin Protein Oatmeal Bread Recipe

I saw this copy cat recipe for a pumpkin bread using oat flour and protein powder and I thought it would be a great way to get some protein in bread form cause I love bread and it's an excuse to try this recipe. I used about 1/2 cup of baked pumpkin mash. I wouldn't know how it would be to use actual pumpkin puree but I guess that would work too.  Any vanilla whey protein powder can be used. This bread is dense and really great just after it's been baked. I would say keep in the fridge for 3-4 days and top with nut butter.

Pecan Pumpkin Protein Oatmeal Bread Recipe

Ingredients

1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup oat flour
2 scoops whey protein powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp pumpkin spice
2 tbsp. hemp hearts
2 tbsp. chia gel or 2 tsp chia seeds
1/4 cup egg whites or 2 eggs
1/4 cup sweetener of choice, honey/stevia/agave syrup
1/2 cup pecan pieces for topping

Directions
1)Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Combine wet ingredients in a bowl.
2)Mix both dry and wet ingredients.
3)Pour batter into a greased bread pan.
4)Place in a preheated 350 oven for 18-22 minutes. Insert toothpick and when it comes out clean it is done. Do not over bake.

Crispy "fried" Basa Fillet Recipe

Here's the thing with my kids. They hate fish. The only time they will eat fish is if I trick them. My favourite way is to add it in curry. But I wanted to try another way so this recipe came about. I've seen a couple of recipes where almond meal was used but to take a safer route, I used panko bread crumbs to make it even more crispier. I hate to trick my kids into eating them so I didn't mention "fish" instead kept calling them meat fingers lol. Ok that didn't even sound appealing but it worked. They ate it!

Crispy Fried Basa Fillet Recipe

Ingredients
2 basa fillets
1/2 cup of almond milk
3/4 panko bread crumbs
2 tbsp. Dijon mustard/prepared mustard will work too
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried parsley

Directions
1)Combine almond milk, mustard, salt and pepper.
2)Combine panko, garlic powder and parsley
3)Place cut fish in the milk mixture for 10 minutes.
4)Remove fish and quickly drench in panko.
5)Place fish on a baking tray and place in a preheated 400 degree oven. Bake for 15-18 minutes depending on thickness of fish. Flip half way through baking. Bake until desired crispiness is achieved.

Enjoy with guacamole or a salad.

Oatmeal Chickpea Cookiepie Recipe

I was lucky enough to be chosen to be a cohost for Instagram's Oatasticweekend and this little cookie was my addition for that weekend. There were a lot of chickpea cookie recipes floating around and I wanted a cookie that was more protein packed and I also wanted to use oat flour in it. It worked out in a way because I only had about a half a cup of chickpeas left. I didn't add extra sweetener to the cookies but the filling has sweetener in it. I ate these babies after my workout and I stored them in the fridge.

Oatmeal Chickpea Cookiepie Recipe

Ingredients

1/2 cup of chickpeas
3/4 cup of oat flour
1/3 pure peanut butter
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 tbsp. melted coconut oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup of chocolate chips
3 tbsp. hemp hearts
(I didn't add any sweetener but if you want add 1/4 honey/agave syrup)

Filling
1 scoop whey protein
2 tbsp. almond milk (more depending on consistency that you want)
1 packet stevia

Directions
1)Preheat oven to 350.
2)In a food processor, puree chickpeas until creamy.
3)Mix the rest of the ingredients with the chickpeas except the chocolate chips.
4)Add chocolate chips to mixture.
5)Make 1 inch balls and flatten to a cookie tray. Cookie will not expand that much.
6)Bake for 18-20 minutes.
7)Remove from oven and cool on rack.
8)Mix all filling ingredients until you get a thick consistency. Spread on one cookie and sandwich with another.
9)Makes about 10 mini sandwich cookies. Keep in the fridge.

Overnight Gingerbread Oat Waffles Recipe

Finally getting around to posting the recipe for these amazing waffles. I wanted to have the batter ready so I looked up recipes for overnight waffles. I thought of adding pumpkin spice which is just (ground nutmeg+allspice+cinnamon+ginger) to the mix to make it taste like gingerbread cookies. Next time I will try adding molasses to the mix. I personally like adding whole wheat flour because the kids don't like the consistency of just oat flour waffles. I find they don't eat as much. Plus I find it dense and I wasn't sure if it would rise if I just used oat flour. So I did half oat flour and half whole wheat flour. Oat flour is basically ground oats. I make my own by grinding it in the coffee grinder. So much cheaper. Chocolate dipped fruits are optional but kids love fancy breakfasts. These waffles are crispy on the outside and soft in the middle. The original recipe I saw had 1/2 cup of butter but I switched it to greek yogurt and still added a little bit of melted butter. You can omit the butter if you are watching calories but it does add a lot of flavour. And I added cornstarch to make the waffles crispy. That ingredient can also be omitted.

Overnight Gingerbread Oat Waffles Recipe

Ingredients
2 cups almond milk (or milk of choice)
1 packet yeast
1/2 warm water
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1 tbsp. melted butter
1 tsp sweeter of choice I used Splenda
1 cup oat flour
1 cup whole wheat
2 eggs
1 tbsp. pumpkin spice
2 tbsp. hemp hearts (optional)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp. cornstarch

Directions
1)Start by mixing warm water, sweetener and yeast in a bowl.
2)Wait for 10 minutes for yeast to bubble. Add yogurt, melted butter, flours, pumpkin spice, cornstarch, salt. Mix everything.
3)Let rise overnight in the fridge.
4)In the morning, the batter would have risen add whisked eggs, hemp hearts, and baking soda.
5)Spray waffle iron and pour enough batter 3/4 of the way. This batter rises so be prepared for overflow.
6)Enjoy with your favorite syrup and toppings.

Makes 7 waffles.

Easy Red Lentil Dhal Recipe

Most people don't know that I am part Sri Lankan. The cultural aspect of being Sri Lankan that I most relate to is the food. I am not going to lie, Sri Lankan food is hard to make in my opinion. Well, not entirely hard but I just can't get my food to taste like how my mom makes it. So I give up and just ask her to cook for me lol. But even when I ask her for a recipe, she can't tell me because its a little bit of this and a little bit of that, taste and then add a little more of this and a little more of that. So this Red Lentil Dhal Recipe is one thing that I actually perfected. But you can definitely add a little bit more spice according to your taste. We eat this with naan or rice. Just recently, my daughter wanted to bring this to school but she didn't want it to be messy so I made a naan stuffed with dhal. She was one happy girl.

First of is choosing the right red lentils. I buy mine from the Asian grocery store. A bag was on sale for $3 for a 2lb bag. I probably won't go through an entire bag for months. There is no need to soak these lentils, they are easy to cook. I use about 1 cup of red lentils and I rinse it under cold water a couple of times. Now it is ready for cooking. For the spices, if you don't plan to make this all the time, go buy your spices at the Bulk Barn. You can get just the right amount and pay pennies. Pandan leaves and curry leaves can also be bought at the Asian grocery store. You can omit the leaves if difficult to find. But I buy mine and they are about $2 a pack of fresh leaves and I keep them in the freezer for future recipes.

Easy Red Lentil Dhal Recipe

Ingredients
1 cup red lentils
2 cups water
2 tbsp. olive oil or ghee
1 cup coconut milk
1 tomato
2 garlic gloves
1 tbsp. ginger minced
1 small onion
1 tbsp. turmeric
2 tbsp. curry powder
1/2 tbsp. ground coriander
1/2 tbsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
3 whole cloves
2 cardamom pods
3 inch pandan leaf
5-8 curry leaves
1 tbsp. curry paste (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1)Combine lentils, pandan leaf and water in a pot and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
2)In a separate pan, heat oil. Add onions, garlic, ginger and all the spices. Heat the spices to make it more flavourful otherwise you can skip this step and just add everything to your pot.
3)Add your heated spices to your lentils and stir. Add coconut milk and tomato. Simmer for another 10-15 minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper.
4)Remove from heat and enjoy.

To make the naan/pita bread. I followed the instructions from this youtube video. This is a really good technique that I have used to make our naan/pita/pizza bread. The only difference is, I used whole wheat flour and sometimes even add oat flour.

To make my naan stuffed with dhal. You simply roll out the naan very thinly and carefully place a dollop of dhal. Fold in close and carefully place in a heated pan. Gently flip when one side is brown.

Spicy Masala Shrimp and Sweet Potato on Tofu Recipe

Time to update the blog! I didn't intend this blog to be full of recipes but that's how it's looking right now. I love food and a big part of my weight loss is food. Most of my meals this year is vegetarian or gluten free. I'm just trying to test out what works for me but whatever it is, it is full of flavour.  I get ideas for our meals from Pinterest and books. This recipe is from a tofu book. However I completely made it my own because I was missing key ingredients. But in the end, the tofu turned out delicious.

Spicy Masala Shrimp and Sweet Potato on Tofu Recipe

Ingredients
1 block of firm tofu (pressed so there's not much moisture)
5 large cleaned shrimps no skin
1/2 cup sweet potato mash
1 tbsp. Pataks Masala Curry Paste
1/4 cup of cilantro
3 garlic gloves
nori seaweed sheets
salt and pepper

Directions
1)In a blender combine shrimp, sweet potato, masala paste, cilantro, garlic. Make a paste out of all the ingredients. Add pinch of salt and pepper.
2)Slice tofu into 1/4 inch thickness rectangles.
3)Apply paste to one side of tofu and cover with a nori sheet
4)Heat some oil in a pan and placing nori side down, pan fry. Flip carefully and fry other side.
5)Enjoy with noodles, rice, in a sandwich or by itself.