Coconut flour muffins with blueberries

This summer has been crazy, I have been traveling in and out since April and is funny how we love to travel but then our body feels so much the lack of routine, the switch from one temperature to another, the messy sleep and the long hours inside of a plane.

However I am back and I am feel energised, full of plans and nice ideas that hopefully I'll be able to put in practice in this future year.

With me back at home, the muffin season started again:) :)
I was craving for some muffins but I only had coconut flour at home, so I decided to go for some pure coconut flour muffins.
Cooking only with coconut flour can be tricky, as the coconut flour is really absorbent. Because of this I added lemon juice to the batter to help them to get a bit more moist, and the final result was pretty good I have to say.
I used blueberries as we bought some and they were a really bitter so I just decided to bake them instead, but you can use any other fruit. I am curious to try pear in the next ones!

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup of coconut flour
• 1/2 tsp of baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 6 eggs (organic preferably) 
• 1/2 cup of coconut oil 
• 1/3 cup of honey (you can add more if you like them sweet)
• 2 Tbsp of lemon juice
• zest of one lemon
• 1/2 cup of blueberries (or other fruit that you prefer) 
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract

Let's do it:

• Pre-heat the oven to 150C
• In a bowl mix all the dry ingredients 
• In other bowl, beat the eggs and add the coconut oil, honey, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla extract
• Pour the egg mixture over the dry one and mix well
• Add the blueberries 
• Allow the batter to absorve all the coconut flour, so wait for about 5 minutes
• Scoop the mixture to the muffin tins 
• Bake for 20-25 minutes 

Time of preparation: 10 minutes preparing + 25 minutes baking

Quantity: 12 muffins

I recently got to know this band Kaleo. I don't know much about them, beside the fact that they are from Iceland and they play a indie blues style of music. 

Have a nice day :) 

Paleo granola with activated nuts

Lately we all see home made granola everywhere, in cool cafes, organic shops and there's recipes everywhere so I decided to give a go doing my own version of granola.
In my granola I removed the sugar and grains, reducing the carbohydrates and making it more paleo friendly. As a sugar replacement I added cranberries and dates that naturally makes the granola a bit more sweet. If you like dried apricots you can also use them.

The nuts and seeds were previously activated. You can check my recipe in here http://mymindfulbliss.blogspot.com/2017/06/paleo-muesli-with-activated-nuts.html

The final result was amazing with a granola super tasty and crunchy, without any added sugar and the best part is that it gets much cheaper to do it, instead of buying it n a supermarket over here.

The recipe is pretty easy, however I destroyed it during my first trial because I let it inside the oven too long, so the first batch came out totally roasted. I wasn't aware how sensitive the nuts are to heat.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of almonds (previously activated)
• 1 cup of cashews (previously activated)
• 1 cup of pumpkin seeds (previously activated)
• 1 cup of sunflower seeds (previously activated)
• 1 cup of flax seeds 
• 1 cup of shredded coconut 
• 1 cup of dried cranberries 
• 8 chopped dates
• 1 cup of coconut chips 
• 2 tsp of vanilla extract 
• 4 tsp of cinnamon powder 
• 1/3 cup of coconut oil 
• pinch of salt

Let's do it:

• Pre-heat the oven to 150C 
• In a cutting boards chop the almonds and cashews with a knife 
• In a bowl mix all the nuts, seeds, cranberries, shredded coconut and coconut chips 
• Add the cinnamon and salt, mix well
• Melt the coconut oil and add it to the mixture as also the vanilla extract
• Stir well 
• In a tray covered with baking sheet, pour the mixture evenly 
• Bake it for 20m, stir and add more minutes if necessary
• Allow the granola to cool down and then keep it in a glass jar

*Note* - The nuts are sensitive to high temperatures, so is better to keep an eye while they are baking to avoid them to get burned. 

*Note* - In case you don't have a way to activate the nuts, or you don't find the reason of why should you do it, you can always use normal nuts. It gets equally tasty. 

Time of Preparation: It takes 20 minutes in the oven. As I usually do a big quantity and I only have one tray, I have to it in batches so it takes me about 1h to cook all the entire granola. 

Today  I leave you one of my favourite bands, The National. I already watched them alive at least two times and if I could, I would watch them again. 

They are from Ohio and is a Indie rock band and all their albums are just amazing and I invite you all to spend a bit of time listening to some of their music in Youtube.

Today I leave you a music from the new album. 

Have a nice day and enjoy the music :) 

Goji berries & pumpkin bliss balls

Lately I have been a bit busy with future projects and that is why I haven't been posting as much as before, but hopefully in few months everything will be running smoothly.

Some days I have sweet cravings, especially when I feel myself a bit hectic, so I decided to make these blissful balls with some boosting ingredients to see if I find a balance in my body and mind.

When I feel a bit unbalanced I try to add ingredients that increase the amount of anti-oxidants, maintain the blood sugar level, reduce the blood pressure and decrease the inflammation so for these ones I added goji berries and pumpkin seeds.

They didn't get as sweet as previous ones but they are still pretty good and fully packed of good nutrients and they are perfect to add into lunch boxes and to have them as a snack or as a sweet treat..up to you!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of almonds
• 1 cup dates (pitted) 
• 2 Tbsp chia seeds
• 2 Tbsp flaxseed 
• 1 Tbsp of protein powder (vegan one) 
• 3 Tbsp of coconut oil 
• 2 Tbsp of cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup of goji berries 
• 2 Tbsp pumpkin seeds

Let's do it:

• In a food processor mix the almonds and dates
• Then add the chia seeds, flaxseed, protein powder and coconut oil 
• For last add cocoa powder, goji berries and pumpkin seeds

Quantity: 18 bliss balls 

Time of preparation: 15 minutes

For today I leave you one of the songs that I have been listening quite often and although is not entirely my style of music, I confess that this one hooked me up.
I didn't even knew the band Parcels before and honestly I still don't know much more about them, beside the fact that they are an electronic band.
I leave you Clockscared and I have to say that I can't stop listen this song...is just peaceful!
Enjoy!

Raw salad

In those days that I don't have any inspiration in the kitchen and I don't really feel like transforming the kitchen in a kitchen lab, I tend to do all the time salads and since I bought a spiralizer I like to do raw salads with zucchini and beetroot especially...I just like the shape that you can give veggies I guess :)

I can do a nice looking salad, only with raw ingredients and make it super tasty and fulfilling. We are addicted to these type of salads and the good thing is that they are super easy to do. 

For this salad you will need a spiralizer for the zucchini and beetroot.

Ingredients:

• 1 zucchini 
• 1 beetroot 
• 1 capsicum (orange or yellow) 
• 1 green apple 
• alfafa sprouts 
• pine nuts
• feta cheese 
• pesto 
• 1 Tbsp coconut oil 

Let's do it:

• with a spiralizer transform the vegetables in the shape that you prefer ( I like to transform the zucchini in spaghetti and the beetroot in a spiral shape) 
• cut the capsicum and the green apple in small pieces 
• in a wok (or frying pan), pour the coconut oil and when warm enough, stir in the zucchini noodles for few minutes, until they become a bit soft 
• In a bowl add the zucchini noodles with the raw beetroot, add the capsicum and apple. Spread with some alfafa sprouts, feta cheese and pine nuts. Serve with a Tbsp of pesto or any favourite salsa.

*Note* - You can opt to not cook the zucchini if you prefer a full raw salad

Time of preparation: 15 minutes 

Quantity: The list of ingredients is enough for 2 people

Recently while listening Radar, a awesome Portuguese radio station, they were playing Pizzicato Five and it was like if I was traveling to the past. I used to listen so much this band in the 90's and today I decided to share it with you. 

Pizzicato Five is a Japanese pop band and their music is so energetic and happy that you should give a go and allow your body to dance :) 

I love them...

Chicken & Mango dressing

Summer is mango season and this dish is fresh and tasty, making it a nice match for the current season.

Chicken is the perfect restorative food for the brain and nervous system, as it contains Vitamin B as well protein. Mangoes are a good source of betacarotene with protective antioxidants and Vitamin A.

I found this recipe in a old book but I made some changes according to my diet and I found it super tasty. The mango dressing is an explosion of different flavours that combine really well together and combined with chicken creates the perfect fusion.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium mango 
• 2 sticks of celery 
• 2 limes juiced
• 4 large spring onions or half cup of the green part of leek 
• 1 large bunch of coriander or parsley (at your taste) 
• 2 Tbsp of olive oil 
• Chicken breasts to roast (or you can use the leftovers of a roasted chicken) 
• Lettuce
• 1 cucumber 
• 1 cup of red cabbage sliced 

Let's do it:

Chicken

• If you don't have any leftovers of roasted chicken , you can start by preparing the chicken. Pre-heat the oven to 180-200 C
• In a oven dish place the chicken breasts and season them with salt and fresh thyme. Sprinkle some olive oil on the top and do some cuts along the breast to make it easier to roast without getting dry
• Place it in the oven for 30 minutes 

Dressing 

• To prepare the dressing, put the mango, celery, lime juice, spring onions (or leek) into a food processor. Process it in medium speed
• Add the olive oil and the coriander (or parsley) and process it in medium speed until the parsley or coriander are chopped. You don't want highly chopped, you want it mixed and well combined but with visible leafs. 

In a plate arrange the lettuce leaves, the cucumber diced and the red cabbage sliced. Pile the chicken on the top and pour the dressing. Garnish with some sliced almonds or pine nuts if you want.

Quantity: The dressing serves 2 to 4 (depending of the amount of chicken that you have available)

Time of preparation: 40 minutes (30 minutes of roasting the chicken and the time of preparing the plates. I made the dressing while the chicken was in the oven)

I discovered Courtney Barnett in the beginning of 2016 and I was so lucky that I was able to watch her concert in Portugal last summer. 

If there is something that I love in Portugal is our music festivals. Bring it on summer...

Courtney Barnett is from Australia and as I already wrote in one of my previous posts, Australia is awesome in terms of music. Just name it, they have it...grunge, punk rock, indie rock. 

If you like punk rock and Indie music you should listen this girl. Although if your ears are too sensitive and too much into classical and boring music....don't listen, you will feel too much energy in your body and can cause side effects as dancing and jumping :) 

Seize the day people :) 

Paleo muesli with activated nuts

One of the things that under ketogenic or Paleo diet you start to consume a lot, are nuts and seeds. They are an amazing snack as alternative to cookies, biscuits, cakes and so on, however they have phytic acid that reduces our body's ability to absorb the nutrients present in nuts and seeds. They also contain enzyme inhibitors which force the body to work harder to produce the enzymes necessary for digestion and this process leads to a faster ageing of our cells.

Pete Evans, a Australian paleo writer, started to write about activating nuts and this became big worldwide and currently you will find easily in a organic supermarkets, activated nuts, paleo muesli, nut milks from activated nuts.

Activating nuts is nothing else than soaking nuts and seeds in salty water for few hours, between 4 to 12h depending of the nut and seed, and then dry them in the oven at low temperature or in a dehydrator.
This process of soaking and dry them, will break down the phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors and will make the nutrients a lot more readily available and easy to digest. Meanwhile there is actually some researchers that say that soaking nuts and seeds for long periods of time actually increases their nutritional value.

After all this information I decided to activate nuts and seeds and do my own paleo muesli and this was actually one of the main reasons that made us buy a dehydrator and until now I am super happy with it.

I followed Pete Evans soaking hours and to dehydrate them I just went a bit by trial error, opening the dehydrator and check when the nuts and seeds were ready.

All the nuts and seeds must be soaked in salty water and in separated containers, as they all have different times. Afterwards I place them in dehydrator under 110F, around 43C.

Almonds

Soaking time - 12h

Dehydrator - 15h

Cashews

Soaking time - 4h

Dehydrator - 15h

Pistachios 

Soaking time - 6h

Dehydrator - 12h

Sunflower seeds

Soaking time - 3h

Dehydrator - 12h

Pumpking seeds

Soaking time - 10h

Dehydrator - 12h

Cramberries 

Dehydrator - 12h

To do a paleo muesli I just combined all the activated nuts, plus the dried cranberries, goji berries and some organic coconut chips that I bought in supermarket. You can add some dark chocolate nibs as it makes it a bit sweeter and doesn't make any harm. I didn't had chocolate nibs so next time!
Mix all the nuts, seeds and dried fruit and keep them in a airtight container and it will last few months, however in here doesn't last long because we use it as muesli replacement and as a snack.
This paleo muesli matches perfectly with homemade coconut yogurt. I've been doing mine and is really yummy. I will post the recipe soon.

A easy and lazy morning as the one of today, needs some lazy music.
Mogwai are a Scottish post-rock band from Glasgow. They are still active, however they are not really known I guess.

Blueberry muffins

Lately I've being putting more effort into breakfast recipes than others, is a phase I guess. So today I decided to bake some blueberry muffins as blueberries are rich in anti-oxidants and I confess that I still remember when I was going to London and I had that blueberry muffins from Costa or Nero.

For me was mandatory to have a blueberry muffin every time that I was going to UK, sometimes I even asked my brother to get me one to have it as soon as I landed. 

Because few days ago I had this memory, I decided to try to bake some....and they went quite well I have to say.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of almond flour (I use fine one) 
• 1 tsp of baking soda 
• pinch of salt
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup of honey 
• 2 Tbsp of coconut oil
• 1 Tbsp of lemon juice
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract 
• 1 cup of blueberries (fresh ones)

Let's do it:

• Pre-heat the oven to 170C and grease muffin tins
• In a bowl mix the almond flour, the baking soda and the pinch of salt
• In another bowl mix the eggs with the coconut oil and lemon juice. Add the honey, the vanilla extract and mix well
• Add the wet ingredients to the almond flour mixture. Mix well with a spoon
• Add the blueberries to the mixture
• Scoop the mixture to the muffin tin and bake for 20-25 minutes

Time of preparation:  35 minutes (10m preparing+25m baking)

Quantity: 8-12 muffins

Today I am in the mood of listening Tom Waits, he is an American singer and songwriter and has a really peculiar voice.
Is easy to not like Tom Waits, but is even easier to love him and the way he sings.
Hope you enjoy, of not is okay anyway :)

"There's a winner in every place
There's a heart that's beating in every page
The beginning of it starts at the end
When it's time to walk away and start over again"