Triple Chocolate Sour Cherry Brownies

Rich, melt-in-your-mouth triple chocolate sour cherry brownies. An easy recipe for decadent homemade chocolate brownie explosion.

Use Your Noodles - Triple Chocolate Sour Cherry Brownies

What’s better than chocolate? Triple chocolate. And even better are these triple chocolate sour cherry brownies with bittersweet, semi-sweet and white chocolate.

Since it is Valentine’s day on Sunday, I think it’s appropriate to do something chocolaty. One of my Instagram followers suggested I did a brownie recipe, so I’m making it! How exciting is this?

Use Your Noodles - Triple Chocolate Sour Cherry Brownies

I’m by no means a brownie expert. This recipe came out by pure luck. It was one of those moments when you say, I’m just going to make something. So I did, I checked out a few recipes, written down some thoughts and ratios and started cooking. After the brownies came out of the oven the first time I was smitten by them. They were the perfect ratio between a cakey and fudgy brownie, in favour of cakey, which is what I like.  Later I added more sour cherries and some white chocolate chips on top, just because I can 🙂 

Use Your Noodles - Triple Chocolate Sour Cherry Brownies

If you’ve ever made brownies, you know they can be fudgy and dense, or they can be more cake-like. These brownies are more on the cakey side. There is some baking soda in them and an extra egg, so they have a cakey texture on top and the bottom, but they are thick on the inside, because the ratio between butter and chocolate to dry ingredients is high. There are bittersweet chocolate chips in there, which gives them extra gooeyness. White chocolate chips and sour cherries on the top are for some sweet and sour, moist kick. Believe me, they re even better than they sound.

Use Your Noodles - Triple Chocolate Sour Cherry Brownies

If you are wondering how to make a perfect brownie, Samina from The Cupcake Conffesion has written a nice post about Top 5 mistakes to avoid when making brownies. They might seem obvious, but from my own experience I say, the obvious mistakes are the ones we make most often.

As for the cooling down goes, I’m the one that’s always impatient. I want to dig in immediately. But, if you are planing on serving your brownies to someone, please don’t do that! There’s almost no possibility you’re going to be able to cut them into beautiful piceces, or even taking them out of the pan, without messing them up. The best is if you cool it down completely. If there’s no one waiting for these little goodies, dig in with a spoon, while they are hot. But watch out that no one is looking 🙂


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TRIPLE CHOCOLATE SOUR CHERRY BROWNIES

Course Dessert
Keyword brownies, chocolate, chocolate cake
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 15

Ingredients

  • 200 g semi-sweet chocolate
  • 110 g butter
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 cup whole grain spelt flour
  • 4 TBSP cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla seeds
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 60 g bittersweet chocolate chips
  • 60 g white chocolate chips
  • 1 cup sour cherries

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven at 175 °C. Butter the sides and the bottom of a 20×33 cm (8×12 inch) pan and line it with baking paper.
  2. Put the bittersweet chocolate and butter in a large bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir occasionally, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted.
  3. Turn off the heat and add the sugar. Whisk until the sugar is completely combined, then remove from the saucepan and wait for the mixture to cool for about 10 minutes.
  4. Whisk in the eggs, one by one.
  5. Add vanilla bean powder, baking soda, salt, and a third of the flour to the chocolate mixture. Whisk well. Add the rest of the flour and whisk again until the mixture is smooth.
  6. Stir in the bittersweet chocolate chips.
  7. Pour the batter in the prepared pan and sour cherries. Don’t press them in.
  8. Bake for about 25 minutes or until the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan. Keep in mind that it is better to slightly underbake than overbake brownies.
  9. When you take the brownies out of the oven sprinkle them with white chocolate chips. Here you can press in a little if you like.
  10. Wait for the brownies to cool completely, then lift them up together with the baking paper and cut them into 15 pieces.
  11. Store in a plastic wrap or air-tight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

For more Valentine’s day dessert ideas check my Coffee Pudding recipe.

Use Your Noodles - Triple Chocolate Sour Cherry Brownies


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Use Your Noodles - Triple Chocolate Sour Cherry Brownies

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cashew Cream Cheese Frosting

Looking forward to spring but also looking back to autumn with these moist pumpkin cupcakes topped with cream cheese frosting made of cashews. 

Pumpkin Cupcakes With Cashew Cream Cheese Frosting

Aaaah cupcakes!

And pumpkin!

And frosting!

… And crumbs!

I’m doing a second pumpkin recipe in a row. That’s because I had a big pumpkin waiting for me in the basement. My relatives from Croatia gave it to me to try it out. It is a big pumpkin with a blue-ish skin and a deep yellow-orange sweet meat. They call it Turkinja in Croatia. I’m a sucker for pumpkins with very sweet meat, so this one is going to the top of my list, right next to hokkaido pumpkin.

Pumpkin Cupcakes With Cashew Cream Cheese Frostin

We’re having pretty depressing days here. Like, really depressing. And these pretty pumpkin cupcakes are all gone. So I’ll be testing some new dessert recipes today, to cheer myself up. If you’re feeling down I suggest you start baking immediately!

Pumpkin Cupcakes With Cashew Cream Cheese Frostin

You’ll notice that I’m separating eggs, whipping eggwhites and adding them at the end. I’ve been using this technique for a long time now. The basic cupcake recipe has been handed down to me by my mother in law. An it has never failed me.

I’m a mess sometimes. I forget key ingredients so often. Unsalted bread is a constant at our house. Not to mention the cupcakes! I’ve made them without oil and even without baking soda. But since I’m whisking the eggwhites separately, this doesn’t really seem to be such a big a problem. They rise a bit more with the baking soda, but it’s not a drastic change.

If you prefer the easier version (wet ingredients together, dry ingredients together, no eggwhite whisking), do it! I haven’t done it, but I’m pretty sure it will turn out just fine. Let me know if you try that.

Use Your Noodles - Pumpkin Cupcakes With Cashew Cream Cheese Frostin

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PUMPKIN CUPCAKES WITH CASHEW CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Course Dessert
Keyword cream cheese frosting, cupcakes, muffins
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

PUMPKIN CUPCAKES

  • 2 cups whole grain spelt flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp allspice
  • 1 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 4 eggs
  • 2/3 cups sugar
  • 1/2 cup sunflower oil
  • 2 cups pumpkin puree
  • 2 TBSP lemon juice
  • pinch of salt

FROSTING

  • 2 cups pre-soaked cashews at least 5 hours
  • juice of 2 lemons
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 6 TBSP honey
  • 1-2 TBSP water

TOPPINGS

  • pumpkin seeds
  • lemon zest

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 170 °C.
  2. In a large mixing bowl combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, and nutmeg using a whisk.
  3. In the bowl of the electric mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, blend together the egg yolks, sugar and sunflower oil on medium speed until well combined.
  4. Add pumpkin puree and lemon juice and blend again.
  5. Keep your mixer on medium speed and slowly add the flour mixture to the yolk mixture.
  6. In a separate bowl (using a clean whisk attachment or a hand mixer) whip egg whites and a pinch of salt until it is stiff.
  7. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the batter until well combined.
  8. Divide the batter among 12 paper-lined muffin cups, filling about 3/4 full.
  9. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 – 25 minutes, until the toothpick comes out clean.
  10. Cool in the baking pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
  11. To make the frosting, take cashews, lemon juice, salt, and honey and blend in a blender until it has a smooth cream-like texture. If necessary add 1 or 2 tablespoons of water.
  12. When the cupcakes have cooled completely frost them with the cashew cream cheese frosting and top with pumpkin seeds and lemon zest.

Notes

The smoothness of the frosting will actually depend on the quality of the blender you have. My blender is not top quality, so it’s quite difficult getting a perfectly smooth frosting

Also try this delicious pumpkin recipe:

Mini Pumpkin Pizzas

Pumpkin Cupcakes With Cashew Cream Cheese Frostin

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Pumpkin Cupcakes With Cashew Cream Cheese Frostin

Mini Pumpkin Pizzas

This are seriously delicious pizzas. Even though they don’t have any tomato sauce they are creamy and crunchy. And I’m loving the colours here. Colour means nutrients, right?

Use Your Noodles - Mini Pumpkin Pizzas

Last year I was vacationing in Italy a few times and I must say I fell in love with its people, food and beautiful sights. I was there before, duh (it’s our neighbouring country)! It’s just that my way of visiting a country has changed over the years. I used to travel in a rush, I had to see everything. I even felt a little dissapointed if I missed something out. During my travels I’ve realised that being a tourist shouldn’t mean, you’ve seen all the sights and been to all the places listed in your travel guide. It’s slowing down to have time to observe how people of other cultures interact, what they do, how they talk, what they eat, what they wear. It’s talking to locals and relaxing over a cold beer or a hot cup of coffee. It’s also seeing the nice places, but those that you really appreciate and will stick in your memory.

If I think of Italy and my travels there, I immediately think of pizza and pasta. I know, a cliche. But the fact is that although Italians have a lot of other thing to offer culinary-wise, pizza and pasta are the ones that stick out! You can’t miss those.

Mini Pumpkin Pizzas

Here in Slovenia, the pizzas in restaurants are full of different ingredients. They are totally different than in Italy. Good, but different. If I’m honest, I prefered the ones from Italy. They can make a simple pizza with tomato sauce only feel like you are in heaven. This pizza by the way is now my favourite kind of pizza!

Mini Pumpkin Pizzas

But enough about the Italian pizzas. I’m here to make a totally different pizza with all but the usual ingredients. This pizza does not have tomato or cheese. Think of it more like a winter comfort pizza. Instead of tomato sauce I’m using pumpkin puree flavoured with smoked paprika and oregano. The toppings are chard, chickpeas, capers, sesame, chilli pepper and lemon juice. I assure you these mini pumpkin pizzas are yummy.


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MINI PUMPKIN PIZZAS

24 pieces of 10 cm pizzas

Course Appetizer, Main Course, Side Dish, Snack
Keyword pizza dough, spelt pizza dough, wholegrain pizza dough
Total Time 3 hours
Servings 4

Ingredients

PIZZA DOUGH (~400 GRAMS)

  • 3 cups wholegrain spelt flour
  • 1 1/3 cup hot water about 40 °C
  • 1/2 tsp honey or sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 TBSP olive oil

PUMPKIN SAUCE

  • 2 cups pumpkin puree
  • 2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 2 TBSP dried or fresh oregano
  • salt
  • black pepper

TOPPINGS

  • 12 chard leaves only greens not stalks
  • 3/4 cup cooked chickpeas
  • 1/4 cup salted capers
  • 3 TBSP sesame seeds
  • 1/2 big medium-hot chili sliced thinly
  • 1 or 2 lemons cut into wedges

Instructions

PIZZA DOUGH

  1. Put the flour in a bowl and make a well in the middle. Pour hot water in the well, add honey and dissolve it in the water. Add yeast to the water and dissolve it.
  2. Then start incorporating flour little by little, until the mixture has the consistency of a soft yogurt (note: not all the flour, just a few tablespoons). Cover the bowl with a cloth and leave in a warm place for 15 minutes, or until the mixture starts bubbling and rising.
  3. Then add salt and oil and start stirring with a wooden spoon from the center and slowly incorporating the rest of the flour.
  4. When the dough stops sticking to the spoon, start kneading in the bowl with your hands.
  5. As soon as your dough starts coming together and you’ve used almost all the flour, you can transfer the dough to a smooth surface. Knead the dough for 10 minutes. If the dough sticks to the surface add a little remaining flour from the bowl. If it does not stick, it is not necessary to add more flour. Because all flours are a little different you might end up with a bit flour left, or you have to add a bit more (but not more than 1/4 cup).
  6. Take another bowl and coat it with oil, then transfer the dough into this bowl and turn it around, so all the sides of the dough are oiled. Cover the bowl with a plastic seal or a plate. Leave it to rise in a warm place for about 1 – 2 hours until it has it is double the size.
  7. When it has doubled, punch it to push the excess air out and knead quickly (only a few kneads). Cut the dough first into four, then into two, then into three. You should end up with 24 tiny dough balls.

MAKING PIZZAS

  1. Roll every ball of dough into circles about 10 cm wide. You can use a rolling pin or the palm of your hand.
  2. Lightly flour the surface and place the pizza circles on it. Cover with a cloth or plastic foil and leave to rise for 30 minutes.
  3. Preheat the oven to 220 °C. Leave the baking tray in the oven, so it also gets heated.
  4. Meanwhile combine the pumpkin puree, smoked paprika, oregano, and salt and black pepper by taste.
  5. In a pan boil the water, add the chard leaves and cook for 1-2 minutes. Take out of the water and cut into smaller pieces.
  6. After 30 minutes take out the tray, cover it with baking paper, and place pizzas on the paper.
  7. Spread the pumpkin puree over the pizza (about 1 TBSP per pizza), top with chard, chickpeas, and capers.
  8. Return the tray to the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes. The dough should be soft on the inside, but crispy on the outside.
  9. When it is baked, take out of the oven and top with slices of chilly and sesame seeds.
  10. Serve with wedges of lemon, so everyone can add as much lemon juice to the top as they want.

Notes

If you can’t get all 24 pizzas in the oven at once, don’t worry, bake it in two or three batches. The remaining flattened dough will wait until the pizzas are done, nothing wrong with that. When the first batch is done, remove the baked pizzas from the tray and repeat it from number 6 (Instructions for the pizzas).
A simple way to make your own pumpkin puree is to cut the pumpkin in half. Season with a little oil, salt, and black pepper and bake at 180 °C until the pumpkin is tender (30 minutes to 1 hour depending on the size of the pumpkin). Then blend.

Mini Pumpkin Pizzas

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Mini Pumpkin Pizzas
Use Your Noodles - Mini Pumpkin Pizzas

Morning Raspberry Oats

I’m feeling summer-ish with this vibrant morning oats bowl. It is filled with raspberries and bananas and topped with tahini and yummy crunchy nuts, seeds and fruit.

Use Your Noodles - Morning Raspberry Oats

We’ve had such a beautiful week full of sunshine. It called for a morning oats recipe and take some shots in the warm morning sun. This recipe is so simple and perfect for a busy day. You know, how a lot of times you skip breakfast because you are in a hurry or you don’t feel like preparing anything. Well, it can’t get more simple than this! Plus, banana and rasberries – you can’t miss with that combination. I added a little maca for some extra nutrients and vanilla for your brain.

Last week I made a brand new photo backdrop. You can see it on these photos. Since I just started this blog, I don’t have a lot of props to work with. But I do have parts of my old bed in the basement, so I used these for making my new prop. I did a double-sided wooden backdrop, white on one side and black on the other. I was affraid to mess it up but it is acually very easy and there is practically no way to mess it up. Especially if you are aiming for distressed look. If you want to make your own backdropyour own backdrop here are simple instructions. I did it similarly, with some extra details. I might post instructions for it in the future.

Morning Raspberry Oats

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MORNING RASPBERRY OATS

Course Breakfast
Prep Time 5 minutes
Servings 1

Ingredients

OATS

  • 1/3 cup rolled oats soaked overnight in 2/3 cups water
  • 1/2 cup raspberries fresh or frozen
  • 1 banana
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla seeds
  • 1 tsp maca powder

TOPPINGS

  • tahini paste
  • sesame seeds
  • pumpkin seeds
  • coconut shavings
  • almonds
  • chunks or slices of persimmon
  • raspberries

Instructions

  1. Put soaked oats and the remaining water in a blender. Add raspberries, banana, vanilla seeds, and maca powder.
  2. Blend until smooth. If it doesn’t blend well add a little more water.
  3. Top with tahini and other toppings that you like.

Notes

You can use milk or nut milk for soaking instead of water.
The listed toppings are a suggestion. These are the ones that I think go well with the recipe.

Morning Raspberry Oats

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Morning Raspberry Oats

Coffee Pudding – Not a typical one!

This creamy and wobbly coffee pudding is seriously the best pudding I’ve ever had. It’s made only with bananas, persimmon, cocoa powder and coffee. It’s like having your morning shot of coffee together with a dose of fruit. Not that I know how morning coffee looks like. I don’t even drink coffee!

Vegan Coffee Pudding

I can’t have caffeine. Seriously! As I’m writing this I’m shaking, because my body got an unusal amount of caffeine. I’ve been testing this recipe and you can imagine how much coffee I’ve had. You’ll probably be surprised to hear I’ve had decaffeinated coffee and I’m shaking anyway. Then why am I making coffee pudding you ask? Because I love the smell and taste of coffee. Very rarely I treat myself with a warm cup of decaffeinated cappuccino and it’s enough for a while.

It used to be better, when I drank coffee more often, but even then it happened sometimes. The fast heartbeat. So I stopped and now I have it only when I really really feel like it. And this week I had coffee pudding. A lot!

Vegan Coffee Pudding

My coffee pudding is actually a very thick smoothie. It contains bananas, persimmons, cocoa powder and coffee. Nothing else. Super simple and quick.  No fancy tricks, but very yummy. I’m almost sad that I can’t have it every day. I hope you’ll love it as much as I do.

Vegan Coffee Pudding

I’d love to hear from you. What is your favourite coffee recipe and how do you handle caffeine intake? 

Now let’s get down to business!


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COFFEE PUDDING

It takes 60 min for the refrigerated version, that gives a real pudding consistency.

Course Breakfast, Dessert
Keyword vegan, vegan puding
Prep Time 5 minutes
Resting time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings 2

Ingredients

PUDDING

  • 1/2 cups water cold or room temperature
  • 3-4 tsp instant coffee
  • 1 persimmon keep in the fridge for an hour or two before making coffee pudding
  • 2 bananas keep in the fridge for an hour or two before making coffee pudding
  • 3 TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder

TOPPINGS

  • persimmon slices or chunks
  • cocoa nibs
  • coconut shavings
  • pomegranate seeds

Instructions

  1. Dissolve the coffee in the water. Don’t worry if it doesn’t dissolve completely.
  2. Chop persimmons and bananas into chunks and put them in the blender.
  3. Add cocoa powder and coffee and mix until it is smooth.
  4. Serve in a bowl and top with your favorite toppings.
  5. Now you can decide to eat it immediately or wait for about an hour (or more), until the pudding has cooled down in the fridge. This will give it the jelly-like consistency.

Notes

The pudding should be thick as a regular pudding. But if you prefer a smoothie, you can add extra liquid (coffee, milk, nut milk). That’s also super delicious.
Dissolved coffee should be quite strong. Preferably you should add an amount you usually use for 2 people.
You can use any kind of persimmon. I’m using a firm vanilla persimmon, but you can use the gooey hachiya persimmons too, just make sure it’s ripe enough.

Use Your Noodles - Coffee Pudding

Millet and Carrot Salad with Creamy Almond Dressing

Millet, carrots, beets, apples and some greens. What else would you need in a salad? Oh yeah, a creamy almond dressing with some fresh chillies. Enjoy my millet and carrot salad!

Use Your Noodles - Millet and Carrot Salad with Creamy Almond Dressing

Happy New Year! I took a short break from my blog during the holidays, but now I’m back.

We abandoned our pretty decorated home to spend some crazy holidays with our friends in a mountain cottage near Velika planina. For my non-Slovenian readers: If you ever come to Slovenia it is absolutely necessary to go see Velika planina. In the late spring I like to rent a cottage up there together with my friends and spend a few days off in the stunning nature. This year we were lucky to be there when the shepherds were bringing cows up to the mountain. It’s a very ineresting day. You can see cows walking on their own from the valley and shepherds bring cows up on their trailers. It’s a very lively sight! Plus I love this place for picking wild herbs.

Millet and Carrot Salad with Creamy Almond Dressing

Me and my husband absolutely love millet. And by love I mean can’t go without it. So I created this beautiful millet and carrot salad with a nice and creamy spicy almond dressing. For an additional kick and sweetnes I added beetroot and apples and fresh baby salad leaves for some freshness. It’s a quite filling salad, perfect in this winter weather.

Note that the beetroot in this recipe is raw. I know many people don’t like raw beetroot, but if you slice it very thinly it doesn’t have such a powerful earthy taste. I happen to love the earthy taste, but if you are sure you can stand it, you can roast the beetroot before adding it to the salad. Just wrap it in foil and bake for an hour at 200 °C (400 °F). See more instructions on The Kitchn.


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MILLET AND CARROT SALAD WITH CREAMY CASHEW DRESSING

Prep Time 25 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

MILLET AND CARROT SALAD

  • 1 cup millet
  • 2 cups water
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 big carrot
  • 1 medium-size beetroot
  • 2 medium-size green apples Choose a juicy and sour type. I’m using Granny Smith.
  • 4 handfuls baby leaf salad like lettuce, chard, rocket or any other

CREAMY ALMOND DRESSING

  • 1 cup almonds soaked overnight
  • 1/2 cup lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 tsp chopped chili pepper I’m using a bigger medium-hot chili pepper
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper

Instructions

SALAD

  1. Boil 2 cups of water and pour it into a small pot. Add millet and salt and stir. Set your stove to low heat and cover the pot. Leave to cook for about 15 minutes, checking every now and then, but not stirring. If the millet is still not tender to add a little more boiling water and cook a few more minutes. When it is soft remove from the heat, transfer it to the serving plate or bowl, and leave to cool a little.
  2. Meanwhile, prepare the dressing (Instructions below) and cut the carrot and beetroot into very thin slices. Cut apples into 1 cm cubes.
  3. When the millet has cooled a little, mix in carrot, beetroot, and apples. Top with fresh baby salad and dressing.

DRESSING

  1. Rinse the almonds.
  2. Put lemon juice, water, chili pepper, salt, and black pepper into a blender and mix until the dressing is smooth and creamy.

Notes

You can do the same dressing with any other nuts. I like almonds and cashews because they are sweet and go really well with millet.
If the millet is hot when you add the baby salad leaves, they will wilt, so make sure it is warm or even cool.

Use Your Noodles - Millet and Carrot Salad with Creamy Almond Dressing

Holiday Detox Smoothie

Holidays are knocking on the door and so are the overfilled dinner tables. We’ll definitely be in need for this detox smoothie after. Plus it has two layer, two colours, two flavours!

Lime and raspberry smoothie

My thirty year old oven is broken. I figured it out last night, when I was baking potica nut roll. I guess I should have figured it out a month ago when I was baking bread for 3 hours and it way barely done. First two poticas turned out baked, but not exactly like they should be. Luckily my mom lives right below, so I managed to bake the last one perfectly! I had a perfect evening with my husband, baking, singing Christmas songs and finishing our Christmas presents.

Most of us are probably burried in Christmas baking and preparing for the holiday meals with our families. And forget a little, that we’d need a proper vitamin boost. What we need is a detox smoothie. I’m not a huge fan of green smoothies. If I need a dose of vitamins I usually make a salad. But here’s a green smoothie in combination with a pink one, that I really love.

Lime and raspberry smoothie
Lime and raspberry smoothie
Lime and raspberry smoothie

The green layer is lime and banana smoothie with spinach and the pink one is raspberry and beetroot smoothie. First one is sweet and the second one a bit sour and fresh. Lovely combination for the overeating days that are coming. This one is filled with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. It will make your stomach happy after eating all the heavy food. And it will keep your immune system in check!

This recipe calls for nut milk. I make nut milk like this lovely lady here. Sometimes I want a even creamier milk, so I use less water. You can use any nut milk you like, regular milk or water.

Lime and raspberry smoothie

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HOLIDAY DETOX SMOOTHIE

Yields 4 cups (2 cups red and 2 cups green smoothie)

Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

RED LAYER

  • 1/2 cup beet juice
  • 1/2 cup nut milk I’m using almond
  • 300 g fresh or frozen raspberries
  • 4 tsp coarsely chopped ginger
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric

GREEN LAYER

  • 1 1/2 cup nut milk
  • juice of 4 limes
  • 200 g frozen or 4 cups fresh spinach
  • 4 TBSP avocado
  • 1 banana
  • 4 dates

TOPPINGS

  • raspberries
  • chia seeds
  • sunflower seeds
  • lime peel or grated lime zest

Instructions

  1. Put all the ingredients for the red smoothie in a blender and mix it until it is smooth.
  2. Pour the smoothie into glasses.
  3. Repeat the same with the green smoothie. If you are using fresh spinach, you might need to add extra milk or water.
  4. Pour the green smoothie over the red and add the toppings.

Notes

There is no need to clean the blender between the two smoothies, just scrape it out thoroughly.
If you don’t own a juicer, peel one big beetroot and slice it into chunks. Put it in a blender, add enough water for the blender to mix it. Add the water gradually so you don’t get over thinned juice. Filter it the same way as the nut milk.

Lime and raspberry smoothie

Hot Chocolate

This is a perfect gift for Christmas! Homemade hot chocolate powder in a beautiful jar and a personal tag. Don’t you just love homemade gifts?

Use Your Noodles - Hot Chocolate

Let’s get warm with some homemade hot chocolate! It’s so cold outside, even I have the heaters turned on. And I’m that person who sits in a cold room in only a T-shirt, while others are trembling in their sweaters. My husband is turning the heaters on all the time and I go after him turning them off. Well, not today. My hands are freezing and I’m having trouble typing. I need a hot chocolate!

Plus, it’s time to make gifts, and I love homemade gifts. Have you ever felt nervous, because you just didn’t know what to give people for Christmas? Well I have and a few years ago me and my husband made it a tradition to give our loved ones homemade gifts. No more fuss about buying  gifts at the last moment.

Hot Chocolate
Hot Chocolate

Last year I made homemade hot chocolate mix to give away as presents. I was experimenting with quite a few recipes. And dealing with all types of powders resulted in a dust cloud in my kitchen. I could hardly breathe and my lungs were burning for hours, but turns out it was worth it. I love it so much.

I’m not a huge fan of store bought hot chocolate mixes, because they are too sweet and too expensive. This recipe calls for way less sugar, then there is in the bought ones. But if you like it sweet, go for it. Add a little more sugar.

Use Your Noodles - Hot Chocolate

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HOT CHOCOLATE

Course Drinks
Keyword hot chocolate powder
Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings 8

Ingredients

POWDER MIX

  • 1 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 cup + 2 TBSP powdered milk
  • 1 1/2 cup potato or corn starch
  • 1 cup icing sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla seeds
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper optional

COOKED HOT CHOCOLATE (FOR 1 PERSON)

  • 1 cup
  • 1/2 cup hot chocolate mix if you like it very dense add 1-2 TBSP of the mix

Instructions

HOT CHOCOLATE MIX

  1. Sift cocoa powder, powdered milk, corn starch, and icing sugar through a sieve into a big bowl and add vanilla, salt, and cayenne pepper.
  2. Combine it thoroughly with a whisk or move it to a blender and mix until it is well combined. That’s it!

COOKING

  1. Pour the milk into a small pot, add the hot chocolate mix and put it on medium heat.
  2. Stir well with a whisk. You need to stir at all times, or it will burn, especially at the end.
  3. Hot chocolate should be ready to serve in about 10 minutes.

Notes

If you are making a large batch, I suggest you use something to cover your nose and mouth. The dust can really get in your lungs. And you don’t want that
Stirring the hot chocolate while cooking is absolutely necessary. It might start sticking to the edges a little. Just don’t scrape that part off or your hot chocolate will get a burned flavor.
Try adding your favorite spices into the mix. Cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg are perfect for this season.

Use Your Noodles - Hot Chocolate

Turkish Chicken Feast

Turkish Chicken Feast is a light and fresh dinner. Sumac covered soft chicken wings with a vibrant green salad with pomegranate and feta cheese and a yogurt dip topped with pomegranate syrup. And done in less than 30 minutes!

Turkish Chicken with Salad and Yoghurt Dip

In my student years I lived in Turkey for four months. I made lots of close friends there and most of all I ate good. And a lot! Together with my friend Sanja I was writing a blog about our adventures there. You can find my blog here. It is in Slovenian, so sorry to all of you who can’t understand (Quick tip: Google can help you).

Tukish food is all about veggies and meat. My roomate was vegetarian and she had difficulties eating out. There is meat almost everywhere, not in huge amounts, but it is there. I am missing Turkish food so much, that I dedicated my Sunday lunch to Turkey. I’ve actually failed, because I haven’t made any excessively sweet dessert. I’m gonna leave that for another occasion.

This recipe is not a traditional Turkish meal, it was only inspired by some of the best Turkish ingredients.

Use Your Noodles - Turkish Chicken Feast
Turkish Chicken with Salad and Yoghurt Dip

This is my Turkish chicken feast. Sumac covered chicken with a feta, pomegranate and baby leaf salad. Two most common types of meat you can find there are lamb and chicken. I’m using the delicious chicken wings. Turkish people like to eat yoghurt on the side of meat, so I’m going to do the same. But I’ll serve it a bit differently.

Sumac is a spice that comes from the berries of a bush that grows mostly in Mediteranean countries and is a typical spice in the Middle Easter cuisine. It is a bit sour, but very aromatic and fruity and can be used in many ways. In this recipe I’m gonna use it to marinate my chicken.

Other unusual ingredient is pomegranate syrup. It has two versions. A more purified syrup called Nar Ekşisi and a cheaper syrup called Nar Ekşili. I’m using Nar Ekşisi and love it! I highly recomend buying one or making one at home. Use it in a salad dressing, in meatballs, in yoghurt. So many choices. Let’s start cookin’!


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TURKISH CHICKEN FEAST

Course Main Course
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

CHICKEN

  • 20 top parts of chicken wings ~1 kg
  • 2 tsp sumac
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 TBSP salt
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 cup olive oil

DIP

  • 200 g Greek-style yogurt
  • 1 TBSP pomegranate syrup

SALAD

  • 4 handfuls mixed baby leaf salad like lettuce, chard, rocket or any other
  • 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
  • 120 g feta cheese
  • 2 TBSP sunflower seeds
  • zest of 1 lemon

DRESSING

  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 TBSP dried or chopped fresh mint

Instructions

  1. Combine sumac, cayenne pepper, black pepper, salt, garlic, and olive oil in a big bowl and add chicken wings. Rub the spices in and make sure you get it all around. If you have time, let it marinate in the fridge for half an hour, if not that’s fine. Heat a large pan and add the chicken wings. You don’t need to add any oil, there’s oil on the chicken already.
  2. Turn the chicken every minute for about 15 to 20 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile combine lemon juice, olive oil, black pepper, salt, and mint in a salad bowl.
  4. Don’t forget to turn the chicken every minute.
  5. When chicken is done, move it to a serving plate and finish your salad. Add the salad leaves to the dressing and mix well. Serve it on a plate and top with pomegranate seeds, feta cheese, sunflower seeds, and grated lemon zest over.
  6. In another small bowl serve yogurt and top it with pomegranate syrup. Mix just a little bit, to get the marbling effect. Use it as a dip for the chicken.
Turkish Chicken with Salad and Yoghurt Dip

Hot Baked Apples with Vanilla Sauce

Sizzling baked apples filled with sweet goodies is a comfort dessert for cold days. They are like a warm hug!

Use Your Noodles - Hot Baked Apples with Vanilla Sauce

Everywhere I go there’s the scent of Christmas. And I must admit I LOVE IT! I’m that geek that’s seting up the tree as soon as December starts. But this year I’m protesting. Why? I went to a drug store in September and it was already decorated and selling every bling bling available. I was annoyed. To me it ruins the magic by the time the real holiday time comes.

So I decided – no Christmas tree or decorations until the middle of December. Of course I’m tempted, so I make up with the delightfully scented food. And today I’m making hot baked apples with vanilla sauce. A great recipe for a Christmas dinner dessert. You can prepare everything in advance. Cook the sauce a day in advance and refrigerate it. Same with the apples. Stuff them and they’ll wait in the fridge. Pop them in the oven when you start your dinner and they’ll be ready by the time you finish.

Hot Baked Apples with Vanilla Sauce
Hot Baked Apples with Vanilla Sauce

Vanilla sauce

I was preparing this kind of sauce for the first time. I really belived vanilla would give baked apples a new dimension. And it does. It was worth all the fuss. Of course I had to do it a few times. First I overheated it and it became an unpleasing broth of hard boiled yolk and milk. Then it was to runny. But then I got the ratio just right. And trust me, it is not that difficult, as long as you are patient, really cook it over low heat and whisk all the time. Good thing is you can use it in so many ways. I love it on top of roasted bananas for breakfast!

Use Your Noodles - Hot Baked Apples with Vanilla Sauce

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HOT BAKED APPLES WITH VANILLA SAUCE

Course Dessert
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 8 baked apples

Ingredients

BAKED APPLES

  • 8 medium-size apples
  • 1 1/2 cup sultanas ~200g
  • 4 TBSP ginger jam
  • 4 TBSP chopped almonds
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 tsp ground star anise
  • 4 tsp cocoa butter
  • 2 cups water

VANILLA SAUCE

  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla seeds
  • 3 yolks
  • 3 TBSP honey
  • 1 TBSP corn or potato starch

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F).
  2. For the filling combine sultanas, ginger jam, almonds, cinnamon, and star anise.
  3. Carve a 3- 4 cm hole in the apples and fill the holes with the filling. Place the apples in a baking tray and add 1/2 tsp cocoa butter onto each apple. Add water to the tray.
  4. Place the tray in the oven and bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Poke the apples with a knife to check if it is done. If it slides in with no resistance it is baked.
  5. Meanwhile pour milk in a small pot. Add vanilla and cook over medium heat until it is hot, but not boiling.
  6. In a bowl beat eggs, honey, and starch until the mixture is thick and fluffy.
  7. Gradually add milk into the egg mixture. Then pour it back to the pan and cook over low heat (very important!). Whisk constantly until the sauce has thickened. This will take about 7 -8 minutes. Remove from the heat, pour it in a cold bowl and cover, so it doesn’t form a crust.
  8. When the apples are done, take them from the tray and onto the plates. Serve hot with vanilla sauce on the side.
Use Your Noodles - Hot Baked Apples with Vanilla Sauce

Rainbow Cabbage Soup

The amazing colours come from squeezing lemon juice into the delicious red cabbage soup.

Use Your Noodles - Rainbow cababge soupI’m waiting for snow to fall again. Until that happens I have to settle with cold and sunshine, which I like almost as much as snow. In good weather like this we all deserve a healthy and colourful meal like I’m about to show you – a rainbow cabbage soup.

Rainbow cababge soup
Rainbow cababge soup

I’m so happy to be sharing this recipe with you. Red cabbage is in season right now, so there’s lots everywhere. It’s loaded with vitamins and minerals. And according to Science Daily it promotes heart and brain health and protects us from cancer. So yay for us cabbage lovers and the ones who will become cabbage lovers after tasting this soup. I feel like red cabbage is so underrated. Here in Slovenia we eat it mostly braised a side dish or in salads. But it is magnificent in a soup as well. The rainbow cabbage soup is quick and simple and sooo delicious. Squeezing in few drops of lemon juice gives it wonderful vibrant rainbow colour. When I first tried squeezing lemon on this soup I was pleasantly surprised by this amazing reaction. I realised that it is not just super tasty but also fun. And that’s the point of cooking. To have lot’s of fun!


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RAINBOW CABBAGE SOUP

Course Soup
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

  • 1 medium-size cabbage 400g
  • 1 big onion
  • 4 cups hot water
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 TBSP lard
  • 1 tsp fresh citrus thyme leaves
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 4 lemon wedges

Instructions

  1. Chop the onion into small pieces. Melt lard in a medium-size pot and add the chopped onion. Fry the onion until it gets golden and translucent.
  2. Meanwhile cut the cabbage in half and then into thin slices. Add them in the pot. Add the hot water and thyme.
  3. Cook for about 10 minutes until the cabbage is soft.
  4. Remove from the stove. Put everything in a blender, add milk, salt, and pepper and mix well. Taste for seasoning before serving.
  5. Squeeze a few drops of lemon juice onto the soup for the wonderful color.

Also try this easy 5 minute soup:

Spicy Pea Soup

Use Your Noodles - Rainbow cababge soup

Pear Smoothie with Tapioca

This morning bowl is a combination of pear smoothie with ginger, tapioca pearls in coconut milk, fresh pears and pumpkin seed oil.

Use Your Noodles - Pear Smoothie With Tapioca

I remember the first time I tried tapioca. It was in a Chinese restaurant. They served chilled coconut milk with tiny jelly pearls in the bottom. Everyone else was disgusted by this, but I was in heaven. For a long time I didn’t know what that was. Then, one day, I found a bag of tapioca in our shopping mall, still not knowing what that was. It looked interesting, so I bought it and at home I googled tapioca. Well, that was a revelation. It was the same jelly thing I tried in the Chinese restaurant. Imagine me glowing like a Christmas tree over a bag of tiny bubbles.

And the good thing about tapioca is, you can do it in a lot of different ways. In this recipe, I cook tapioca in a small amount of coconut milk, so I get a quite sticky but very sweet pudding. I’m serving it on the side of a pear smoothie with coconut milk and ginger. Its freshness and spiciness goes woderfully with the sweetness of the tapioca pudding.

Pear Smoothie With Tapioca
Pear Smoothie With Tapioca
Pear Smoothie With Tapioca

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PEAR SMOOTHIE WITH TAPIOCA

Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

PEAR SMOOTHIE

  • 12 small pears
  • 2 cups coconut milk
  • 2 tsp maca powder
  • 2 tsp vanilla seeds
  • 4 tsp grated ginger

TAPIOCA PUDDING

  • 6 TBSP tapioca pearls
  • 2 cups coconut milk
  • TOPPINGS
  • 4 small pears
  • 2 tsp sunflower seeds
  • 2 tsp crushed flax seeds
  • 2 tsp coconut flour
  • 2 tsp pumpkin seed oil

Instructions

  1. Boil the coconut milk on medium heat, add tapioca pearls, and continue cooking and stirring on medium heat for 15 minutes or until the pearls become translucent.
  2. Meanwhile, mix all ingredients for the pear smoothie in a blender. Add ginger gradually, so the smoothie won’t be too spicy and blend it. When it is done put it in the serving bowl.
  3. Cut the 4 pears for topping in 1/2 cm slices.
  4. When tapioca pudding is cooked, place it over the smoothie, add slices of pear and sprinkle with sunflower seeds, flax seeds, coconut flour, and pumpkin seed oil.
Use Your Noodles - Pear Smoothie With Tapioca

Curried Squash Kebabs

These squash kebabs are great for a light asian inspired lunch or dinner. There’s a coconut milk sauce with fish sauce and cilantro to top it off.

IMG_6420 (Custom)

Squash or pumpkin? I was a a bit confused on how to name this tasty orange fruit. I did some research and apparently botanically squash is the right term. However in different countries pumkin is used for certain types of squash. I decided this is too confusiong for me. So I’m going to use the term squash for this recipe. Probably if I make a squash pie one day, I’ll name it pumpkin pie since we hear this more often. Luckily Slovenians only have one word for squash and pumpkin – buča.

Why not make squash more fun. And what’s more fun than kebabs? Add a little asian spices and a fishy coconut milk sauce and you’re on fire! I am using my Hot Curry Spice Blend in this recipe. You can find the recipe here.

Curried Squash Kebabs
Curried Squash Kebabs

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CURRIED SQUASH KEBABS

Course Appetizer, Side Dish
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

KEBABS

  • 2 kg squash any kind you like
  • 4 TBSP olive oil
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 8 tsp Hot Spicy Curry Blend
  • 2 TBSP coarsely chopped cilantro

FISHY COCONUT SAUCE

  • 1/4 cup coconut milk
  • 2 TBSP fish sauce
  • 1 tsp finely chopped cilantro

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 220°C (430 °F).
  2. Peel the squash and chop it into 2 cm cubes. Divide the cubes between skewers.
  3. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with Hot spicy curry blend. Use your hands to really get that spice in every corner.
  4. Put them in a baking tray and roast for 30-40 minutes (or until the squash is tender).
  5. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl.
  6. When the kebabs are done, pour over the sauce and sprinkle with chopped cilantro.

IMG_6399 (Custom)

Hot Curry Spice Blend

This is spice blend for your curry dishes that you can make in only 5 minutes and keep in dark for a long time.

Hot Curry Spice
I can’t emphasize enough how much I love spices. Just a little pinch can transform any blend meal into a mouthwatering feast. My mum never used a lot of spices. However I’ve managed to get her to at least use pepper and chilly flakes. I can say, that made me very happy and if you’re not a spice lover, I guarantee this one is going to change you mind.

There are many curry spice blend recipes out there. Many of them use turmeric. I don’t use it in this recipe, because it has a quite powerful flavour. So I add it to the dish separately only if I know everyone will like it. If you prefer to have it in this blend, just add a teaspoon to the mixture. It is also delicious. This blend is quite spicy, so keep that in mind when making it. If you can’t stand the heat add only half a teaspoon or just a pinch of chilly.

Hot Curry Spice
Hot Curry Spice

This curry spice can be used in any kind of recipe – soup, vegetable, meat or fish dish. I will be posting some recipes using this blend in the future so keep in touch!


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HOT CURRY SPICE BLEND

Course spice blend
Keyword curry spice blend
Total Time 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4 tsp coriander seeds
  • 2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 tsp fenugreek seeds
  • 1 tsp peppercorns
  • 1 tsp chili flakes
  • 4 curry leaves
  • 2 tsp dried lemongrass
  • 2 tsp powdered garlic
  • 2 tsp ground ginger

Instructions

  1. Roast coriander, cumin, fenugreek, and peppercorns in a hot pan without any oil for about a minute.
  2. Grind the roasted seeds and the rest of the ingredients in a coffee grinder or a mortar.

IMG_6192-2 – kopija (Custom)

Spicy Pea Soup

This is an easy one. All you need is 5 minutes and a few simple ingredients. Enjoy your spicy pea soup!

5 minute spicy pea soup

Autumn is in it’s fullest beauty here in my neck of the woods, colourful but cool and damp. Cold just makes me wanna snuggle under a warm blanket and do nothing at all. I don’t feel like cooking for hours and then spend more time cleaning the dishes. This bone chilling cold is perfect for a warm bowl of soup. Spicy pea soup comes to my mind. It is loaded with vitamins and anti-oxidants, which we all need in this autumnish weather.

5 minute spicy pea soup

I love eating fresh peas, it’s sweet and crunchy. A perfect healthy snack! But cooking it and spicing it up gives peas an extra dimension. If you are a soup lover like me than this recipe meant to feed your whole family, will probably be serving just one. Let’s get started!

Here’s a super easy spicy pea soup, that takes only a few minutes to prepare. Then you can curl up in your blanket and eat your four bowls of soup.

Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥

SPICY PEA SOUP

Total Time 5 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

  • 560 g fresh or frozen peas
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 tsp grated ginger
  • 2 tsp wasabi paste
  • pepper by taste
  • salt by taste
  • 1 TBSP coarsely chopped parsley
  • 1/2 thinly sliced large chili

Instructions

  1. Boil the water and add the peas. If you are using fresh peas, cook it only for 2 minutes and if you use frozen peas cook it for 4 minutes or until tender.
  2. Move it to the blender, add ginger, wasabi paste, salt, and pepper. Blend it well until the soup is creamy and light. If it is to thick for your liking just pour in additional hot water and check the seasoning.
  3. Place in a bowl and garnish with chili slices and parsley.

More simple soup ideas:

Ranbow Cabbage Soup

5 minute spicy pea soup