Nutty Oat Snack

This quick, extremely easy and healthy snack you can make in 2 minutes and probably finish eating it all even faster :) Great for anytime of the day!

Ingredients:
1/4 cup of oats
1/2 of a banana, sliced
2 tsp sunflower seeds
2 tsp dried cranberries
1 Tbs. peanut butter (or any nutty butter of your choice)
1/2 tsp. coconut oil
1 1/2 Tbs. almond milk

Assembly:
In a small bowl, combine nutty butter and coconut oil and microwave for 30 seconds. Add in oats and almond milk, mix until combined and microwave for another 30 seconds. Add in the rest of the ingredients, mix and eat up!

You can also add other super fruit or super foods of your choice, such as chia seeds, flaxseed, goji berries or acai!

Green Papaya Super Smoothie!

This smoothie is PACKED with natural vitamins that will fill you up and satisfy you at the same time! If you're worried about the spinach, please don't! You can't taste it at all! It only adds more nutrients and a pretty green color :) Start off only adding a few leaves at a time until you get used to the idea, then pack in the spinach leaves into those smoothies!
Perfect for breakfast, lunch and even dinner. For breakfast, I like to add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of cooked oats to fill me up in the morning :) A little tangy and sassy, this smoothie is awesome! Feel free to add some honey or agave if its a little too zesty for you!

Ingredients:

1 cup of cubed Papaya
1/2 of a banana
1/2 cup of spinach
3 fresh mint leaves
1 Tbs of chia seeds
1 orange
1 apple

Assembly:

Juice the apple and orange. Add the papaya, spinach, banana and orange/apple juice into to blender. If you do not have a juicer, simply squeeze an orange into the blender, and add the apple, peeled and cubed. Blend until smooth and creamy. Pour into glass and sprinkle in chia seeds. Enjoy!

Polish Strawberry- Rhubarb Cake

This is a recipe I followed and baked for a family bbq this weekend! It turned out absolutely wonderful and fully Polish-grandma/ family approved :) It is very simple to make, so simple I was shocked! And this is a crowed pleaser; everyone loves the strawberry-rhubarb combination, especially if its in a cake. 

If you're looking for traditional Polish-style cake, this is definitely one for you. More traditional cakes are sharlotka: apple cake, makowiec: poppy seed cake, mazurek: nut cake or adwokat: chocolate cake made with Adwokat Liquor, which range from very simple to a little bit more difficult. 

Mazurek especially is a nut cake eaten during Christmas and winter time. If not done correctly and paid close attention to during baking, it will turn out extremely dry (its happened to me :/ ). 

If you have any questions about Polish baking or recipes, please email me at claudiamgrabowski@gmail.com 

I will be posting more of my grandmothers recipes this summer, since I'll be in Poland with my family from July until August! 

This is not my recipe- it is a Polish recipe that I am translating into English.

Ingredients:

Cake batter:
3 stalks of cleaned and washed rhubarb, chopped
1/2 cup of sliced strawberries
2 eggs
2 1/3 cups of all purpose flour
1 cup of sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1 stick of butter ( I used Polish butter for baking called "KASIA": You can get it in all Polish stores)

Streusel:
1/5 stick of room temperature butter (Polish  butter "KASIA")
2 Tbs sugar
2/3 cup of flour

Assembly:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

For the streusel--
1.  In a mixer, combine butter, sugar and flour until becomes a nice crumble. Make into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap and put in the freezer.

Cake Batter--
2. Melt 1 stick of butter and set aside to cool.
3. Mix chopped rhubarb and sliced strawberries in a bowl with a pinch of salt and sugar.
3. Mix flour with baking soda. Then, in a separate bowl beat eggs, add sugar and vanilla until becomes fluffy.
4. Add flour to egg mixture in thirds. Combine until fluffy.
5. Butter a pan dust it with flour (I used a 9x13 pan) and pour batter into the pan. Add fruits on top of the batter.
6. Take streusel out of freeze. Grate streusel ball into small shreds. Sprinkle those shreds on top of the fruit.
7. Bake for 40 minutes to an hour depending on how much your cake rises and the size of your pan (my cake spilled over a little bit).

Busse was catching a sniff! 

My dad already stole a slice (or two) ;) 

Healthy Snacks!

Vanilla Peanut Butter Spread
1 Tbs Peanut Butter
1/2 cup of Vanilla Yogurt (or 1 cup of Vanilla yogurt, depending on how peanutty you would like your spread to be)

Stir both ingredients together until they make a smooth consistency.
This spread is great on apples, bananas, with strawberries, on toast, waffles,  in crepes, or just by itself!

Crunchy Lettuce Wraps
4 romaine lettuce leaves (washed and dried with the crisp white ends cut off)
2 small plum tomatoes (sliced)
1/4 cup of sliced almonds
Dressing:
2 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp parley
pinch of salt and pepper

Lay the lettuce leaves up and place 3 slices tomatoes down the lettuce leaves. Sprinkle about 1 Tbs of almonds on top. For the dressing, combine balsamic, mustard, salt, pepper and parsley in a bowl. Drizzle in olive oil and stir. Pour a little of of the dressing over the tomatoes and almonds. From the top of the lettuce leaf, and roll it tucking in the sides. Use a toothpick to keep them together.

Mother's Day Breakfast

MOTHER'S DAY BREAKFAST

Mother's Day is one of the most important celebrations; mothers are most people's number one supporters, heroes, fans and they're our best friends. I love this day because I love to spoil my mom with my food and spend all day with her :) 

Below is what I made my mom this year for her special day. Coffee was of course served with the meal! She enjoyed it very much; my dad was very jealous that it wasn't Fathers Day! 

Breakfast Muffins
2 medium potatoes, shredded
1 ball of fresh mozzarella
1 can of sundried tomatoes
1 dozen eggs
1/2 cup of kale, chopped
salt and pepper
1/2 Tbs dried oregano
a couple of leaves of fresh basil

Makes about 10-12 muffins!

Assembly:
1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and oil muffin pan.
2.) Place shredded potatoes on a couple of sheets of paper towels and pat down with another paper towel. This is to take some water out of the potatoes, it will help them crisp up in the oven (very important step!)
3.) Place potatoes in a bowl and toss with 1/2 tsp of salt, pepper and dried oregano. Then press mixture onto sides and bottom into muffin cups.
4.) Layer the muffins with a few pieces of kale on top of potatoes, followed by a piece of sundried tomato, a slice of mozzarella cheese.
5.) Break an egg on top of all the layers. Lightly sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper. Place in oven for 20-30 minutes (or until egg on top is cooked the way you like it to be).
6.) Take out of oven and let rest about 5 minutes. Lightly remove each muffin and serve immediately!

Perfect Breakfast Parfaits
1 jar of any flavor jam (I used Polish jam made from Chokeberries...my favorite :) )
1/2 cup of fresh chopped strawberries, blackberries or blueberries (you can also use one or more types of berries and they can also be frozen ones that have been thawed)
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1 Tbs sour cream
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 Tbs honey
1/4 cup of cooked oatmeal
1/2 sliced banana

Makes 1 big parfait or 2 smaller ones.
I made 1 big one for my mamma :)

Assembly:
1.) Mix yogurt, sour cream, lemon juice and honey together in a bowl. I know sour cream sounds weird in this mixture, but it adds creamy-ness and flavor to the dish! Its also not that much, so don't worry about breaking your diet if you're on one.
2.) In a pretty, tall glass (you want to be able to see the layers of the parfait), begin layering with a tsp of jam, followed by a few berries. Then pour about 1/3 of the yogurt. Follow by another layer of jam and a few berries. Add 1/2 of the oatmeal to this layer. Pour over another 1/3 of yogurt. Add one last layer of jam, berries, the rest of the oatmeal and yogurt. Top with banana slices. You may add a sprig of mint for decoration!

ENJOY!

Chocolate Chip Cookies--Gluten Free& Vegan

DONT GET SCARED OR FLIP TO THE NEXT PAGE. I SWEAR THESE DARN THINGS ARE AHHHHH-MAZING!!!! 

I've never been the kind of person to eat vegan or gluten free. I do like to eat healthy, and always look for healthier options with less sugar, sodium and more veggies but recent events have forced me to make a change. I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease a month ago that really scared me; I had to go on a bunch of medication and change my diet. I am now making the change to being gluten free (but not vegan just yet). Being gluten free as a college student is very difficult-- the cafeterias do have gluten free bread and pasta however, thats all. I can't live off of bread and pasta, especially if those carbs aren't paired with yummy veggies, cheese or protein of some kind! 

I made these cookies at home, a couple days before Easter. This recipe was completely made up, lets just say I "winged it" and boy did I hit a home run. These cookies are the best Ive ever made and I didn't use milk, eggs or sugar! The best part is that if I didn't tell you the change in ingredients, you would have never guessed how healthy they are! 

Give them a try. They satisfy the sweet tooth without making you feel guilty!

Yield: 18 coookies

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 cups of gluten free flour

1 cup of oats 

1/4 cup sliced almonds

1/4 cup chopped pecans 

1/4 cup roasted peanuts 

1/4 cup roasted edamame 

1/2 cup of regular almond milk
1/2 cup of dark chocolate almond milk
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup of agave nectar
2 Tbs olive oil
1 cup of chocolate chips
2 Tbs coconut oil

1. Preheat oven for 355 degrees.
2. Make edamame and peanut paste for protein. Put edamame in a bowl and pour hot water over them just to take off the skin if they have skin. In a blender combine edamame and peanuts and puree until it has a powder like consistency. Set aside.

3. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, oats, edamame paste, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.


4. Keep mixer on low and slowly pour in regular almond milk. Add olive oil, agave nectar and slowly pour in second half of chocolate almond milk. Melt coconut oil if solid and add to mixture. Add chips, and all nuts. Mix until combined.





5. Oil a baking sheet. Take dough and roll into golf sized balls. They won't grow much so you can place them close together on the baking sheet.

6. Bake for 20 minutes, let rest for 5 minutes.

Enjoy these cookies as a snack, or with coffee/ tea at breakfast! Please share and comment! :) 

XOXO- Babushka