I oatmeal date nut bars

There. Proof that I watch to many episodes of 'My Drunk Kitchen'. That Hanna Hart and her word puns. ♥

But! On to the recipe here.
I'm absolutely loving these beauties ánd they help me get through the day whilst nourishing my sweet tooth without any refined sugar!

I'm on a no sugar/lifestyle challenge from September 1st until December 24th so I have to be creative when it comes to snacking. And since bars were on my 'to bake/make/cook/create' list, I just went for an adaption of the recipe of this fellow blogger: Yellow Lemon Tree.

It turned out like this:

Jum indeed.

Ingredients

• 150 gr oatmeal 
• 150 gr almonds
• 200 gr medjoul dates
• 4 tbsp peanutbutter (or any other nut butter)
• 4 tbsp date/agave/coconutnectarsyrup
• pinch seasalt
• tsp cinnamon

Directions

The original recipe tells you to roast the oatmeal and almonds, which is awesome. But remember to check on them in time... mine had a lovely roasted taste. Almost burned. Almost. 

- If you do decide to roast the oatmeal & almond, preheat the oven to 175°C and let them roast for 10 minutes. 

- Add the dates to your food processor, add some water to get a good paste and pulse those bad boys! 

- Get a small sauce pan and add the nut butter and syrup. Heat over low heat until it's all combined. 

- Throw everything in a big bowl and again, mix until combined. 

- Spread the mixture on a baking sheet with something underneath it for support - I used an oven plate. Place in refrigerator for about an hour. 

- Remove from fridge and cut to desired shape! 

et voila, muesli bars!

My fellow foodians, I wish you a happy weekend and a productive week at work. I'm off to bed.
Love,
Anouk

Oven roasted pumpkin-carrot soup recipe!

When the summer and the weather decide to go for a 'fuck you', I'm not even going to try to make something summer inspired. Nope, I went straight for my winter favorite! Nothing says warm and fuzzy like a steaming cup of thick, sweet & spicy soup :D

And my all time favorite is my own adapted version of an oven roasted pumpkin soup. I add some carrots for the color and flavor.

Ingredients

• 1 medium sized pumpkin 
• 3 large carrots
• 1 medium sized sweet onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1,5 liters of vegetable broth
• Cumin
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt & pepper
• Creme fraiche
• Blender
• Chef's knife

Directions 

Preheat your oven to 200°C or 395°F

If you happen to have any frustrations about anything at all, rejoice! You're going to slay a pumpkin. There is a way to soften up your pumpkin so you can slice through it like a warm knife cuts through butter and that is to cook it first. But with that you lose the opportunity to make it all sweet and roasted and since that is what makes this my favorite I don't mind the elbow grease.

So! 

What you do is you cut it in little pieces and remove the skin. Come to think of it, the skin holds a ton of nutrients.. I might leave it on next time. Anyways, after you've done this, cut your carrots and pumpkin in to equally sized chunks. Drizzle some olive oil over the chunks and season with salt and pepper. 

Into the oven they go for about 25 minutes. 

In the mean time, chop your onion, ginger and garlic into little pieces. Now wait for your oven to scream for your attention.

Flip the heavenly smelling orange bits in the oven and bake them for another 10 minutes.

Now on to the broth! This is easy, I use a powder or cubes. You can make your own, I will put up a recipe. But for now, we use 2 broth cubes.
I always make it with some boiled water, about 1,5 liters. 

Put some oil in your pan and fry the onion and garlic for a minute or two. Then add the ginger and cumin and bake for an additional minute or two. I always put a little broth with the onions when they're done so they won't burn.

Now get the pumpkin and carrots out of the oven and put them in the pan. Add the rest of the broth until everything is under water. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 10 minutes. 

Turn off the heat and blend everything to a smooth substance. 

Add creme fraiche to taste and blend again.

Enjoy!

P.s. If you're alone like me, freeze a few batches so you'll have fresh soup for whenever you feel like it! :D

Fuck it - I'm a food blog.

I can't deny it any longer. I love talking about life, but in all honesty, I love talking about food more.

And I've been discussing the matter of me starting a food blog with my sister on this blog for quite a while now, and since we've finally started.. I thought I'd share what we've been doing so far!

Which means; here, have a recipe

The original can be found on kookmutsen.com

BANANCAKES ♥

Ingredients for 2

• 2 bananas
• 4 eggs
• Cinnamon to taste
• Extra fruit (berries ♥) for topping
• Oil to bake the bastards in! 

Note: For optimal health results, try baking with extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil or a canola oil because these oils can be heated without any trouble! Apart from burning your food, but that's you, not the oil. 

Directions

Toss all in bowl and mix.
That's what it comes down to basically, but I'll try to explain it more delicately, like a decent food blogger!

Mash the bananas in a bowl and add the cinnamon. Break the eggs in another bowl and whisk for about 2 minutes. I don't know this for sure, but I feel as though this helps my pancakes to become fluffier? Don't know, not necessary step but I like whisking.

Then combine your two mixtures and heat up a pan! 

Last step is to bake your delicious bastards.

As seen on the picture above, ours became a scrambled egg-mess due to sticky non-sticking pans. But in all honesty, it's the taste that counts, not it's looks.
How very deep, a bit of the old me back in describing my recipe!

I gave you something to bake, now I'm giving you something to read!
I've started to daily vlog! Why, because I'm doing a lifestyle challenge from September first until the day before Christmas!

Why a lifestyle challenge? Because I want to put all the negativity behind me and start to become a productive, happy young adult who will make something of her life rather then watching it go by as I tune in on what happens next on Netflix. 

I'm very excited about all of this, mostly because I'm already doing it :D
Anyone can change - you just really badly have to want to and do something about it. 

That's all for now.

Love,
Anouk