Food

How to make green smoothies taste great – for kids, beginners & skeptics

September 7, 2018 By Heidi Rabbach 3 Comments

Last updated on October 11th, 2018

In this article, I’ll show you how to make green smoothies so yummy and delicious, even picky eaters won’t mind the extra vegetable intake.

Every now and then I have this slight feeling of panic creeping up as I observe my five-year-old removing every bit of cooked vegetables from her plate. While the world is in love with one-pot pasta, everything needs to be cooked separately in our home or else my pasta lover won’t touch her food.

Having a picky eater or two is no small challenge, especially now that healthy eating has become some sort of religion. I usually try to keep the occasional panic in check and remain calm. But when I start seeing visions of my kids suffering from every nutrient deficiency in the book only because I didn’t force them to eat vegetables – I know it’s time for a green smoothie.

But it’s not actually just about the kids. Truth be told, I’m not nearly as much in the mood for a hearty nibble on carrots as might be good for me. So when I get a craving for something fresh and vitamin-laden, I love reaching for a smoothie and adding vegetables while I’m at it.

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How to prepare Christmas cookies in September

August 7, 2018 By Heidi Rabbach Leave a Comment

One way to reduce the mental and physical load during the Christmas season is preparing Christmas cookies in September. In this post, I’ll show you how to prepare Christmas cookies in September for more calm in December.

Trying to bake Christmas cookies has been quite a source of stress for me. Frankly, I can’t handle the never-ending bits of dough which have to be rolled out over and over and still only offer enough room to cut another 2½ cookies… So, for a few years, I skipped it altogether, but not without a pinch of regret, I might add.

Because who doesn’t dream of blissful cookie baking with the kids, while merrily singing Christmas songs with a sprinkle of picturesque snow in the background. While this dream might be unattainable in its perfection, there are ways to bake cookies in time for Christmas without getting stressed.

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Slice and bake cookies – 7 flavors with hidden nutrients

August 6, 2018 By Heidi Rabbach Leave a Comment

Last updated on October 11th, 2018

If you’re looking for homemade slice & bake cookies, you’ll want to give these a shot. Not only are they a crumbly soft delight with your afternoon coffee, they are also versatile and contain hidden extra nutrients. I’ll show you how to do this!

Until a few years ago my husband was our designated cookies and cake baker, bread magician, and dinner chef… I hardly found the effort required for cooking and baking to be in proportion to the finished product. When I became a mom, more kitchen tasks were inevitable so the search for shortcuts was on. The more shortcuts I found, the more I started enjoying the process of baking as much as eating the results. In this article, I will show you a simple recipe for delicious slice and bake cookies that uses unexpected ingredients to up both nutrient content and flavor. And pssst… these are great to prep for Christmas several months ahead!

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Homemade fruit bars – one recipe and three variations

July 19, 2018 By Heidi Rabbach Leave a Comment

Last updated on October 11th, 2018

Ever thought about making your own fruit bars? It’s really easy so I’ll show you how to enjoy your own creations with a basic recipe and three variations that our family loves.

Making my own fruit bars is one of those things that never ever entered my mind. The mystery of how the listed ingredients evolved into a bar that is neither dry and crumbly nor moist and sticky seemed too incomprehensible. So my enthusiasm was all the greater when I tried out a recipe that resulted in a “German” fruit bar. In this article, I will show you how to make your own Lara bars with a simple basic recipe and offer you three flavors in case you’re not keen on experimenting.

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Simple freezer tips to save time and money

March 22, 2018 By Heidi Rabbach Leave a Comment

Last updated on August 23rd, 2018

You are going to love these freezer hacks as they will not only save money but make your life easier as well. From freezing grapes as a healthy snack to freezing onions, berries and cheese – you’ll never look back once you tried them!

I could not be more grateful for living in today’s world. This gratitude wells up in me whenever I think of people’s living conditions just one century ago. And not having a fridge or freezer available certainly seems like one of the smallest issues. Those wonderful inventions have massively extended the time foods can be kept at home. In this article, I am going to show you, how you can use these modern contraptions not only to reduce food waste but also to save a few bucks. Oh, and as a side effect, they are going to make your life easier as well…

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How to make vegetable stock paste

January 24, 2018 By Heidi Rabbach Leave a Comment

Last updated on October 11th, 2018

If you’re looking for something to replace storebought vegetable stock powder then look no further! No worries, though, there’s no dehydration involved and no need to fill your freezer with gallons of veggie-flavored water. Try this easy vegetable stock past instead – it lasts for months, is just as convenient and it tastes so great you’ll never want to cook without it!

I am no longer stressing about ingredients lists they way I did during my slightly orthorexic phase. However, the strong taste of yeast extract or MSG still bothers me to the point that I prefer my food mostly without these ingredients. So, for the sake of our family’s taste buds, we tend to avoid buying products that have flavoring and yeast extract or MSG hiding in the small print of the label.

When looking for an alternative to vegetable stock powder, the search gave me a bit of a headache. It’s required in virtually every recipe that needs a tasty liquid and it’s nearly impossible to find a brand that doesn’t use yeast extract. So for a while, we cooked vegetable stock in large quantities and then froze it in portions. The trouble is – those portions were almost always too much or too little, even when I had some stock frozen in ice cube trays. And who wants to block their entire freezer with what is essentially a lot of veggie-flavored water?…

Quick & easy red cabbage salad with walnuts and raisins

January 19, 2018 By Heidi Rabbach Leave a Comment

Last updated on October 11th, 2018

If you haven’t tried raw red cabbage salad before, now is the time to expand the range of your taste buds’ experience! This crunchy and slightly sweet side is the perfect winter salad and will keep you coming back for more.

Red cabbage is one of my favourite surprise discoveries so far. Sure, I was familiar with the cooked dish that is frequently seen on German lunch tables, serving as a side for a Sunday feast. We’ve also used leftover cooked red cabbage in a layered potato casserole topped with meatballs (I know it sounds weird, but it’s actually pretty good…). But beyond that, I was at a complete loss about how to use up this big head of red cabbage.

It had found its way into our fridge through our weekly vegetable delivery, similar to the American CSA boxes. Given that the variety of vegetables during winter is not that spectacular around here, it just kept on coming. In this article, I will show you a delicious way of using up extra red cabbage as a raw salad – and it’s so good, I have no doubt you might actually go and get it just for the sake of making this salad over and over again.

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Massaged Kale Salad With Apple and Cranberries

January 6, 2018 By Heidi Rabbach Leave a Comment

Last updated on October 11th, 2018

Massaging my kale when I can’t even remember the last time I got a massage myself? It seems utterly redundant to give your greens a special treatment at this stage in their life but this one is actually more of a treat for you. If you like the taste of raw kale but never really cared for the scratchiness of its curly variety, then you will love this. In this article, I’ll show you how adding the small step of massaging raw kale will transform an otherwise coarse and rough salad into a soft bowl of green happiness. The recipe for this massaged kale salad is simple and easy to follow and – hold on to your seats – actually much loved by at least some of my kids!

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Oreo granola with toasted hazelnuts

January 4, 2018 By Heidi Rabbach Leave a Comment

Last updated on October 11th, 2018

When chocolate was used on my first birthday to get me to take my first steps, the foundation of a lifelong love affair was solidly built. But it took another 30 years before I was able to appreciate the deep flavour of dark chocolate. Even so, I still prefer dark chocolatey food to have a balancing, white counterpart. Clearly, I’m not the only one because Oreos are based on the exact same principle. So in this article, I’m going to show you how you can combine the flavours of dark and white chocolate into a delightful granola that is perfect for breakfast and snacks alike.

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