Friday 19 August 2016

Healthy Protein packed Egg Muffins

This is something you have got to try. I have been looking for some healthy  and delicious ways to incorporate snacks into my family's diet and have given this recipe a try.

My sons, both of who are students and my husband are always looking for snacks which usually end up being cake, biscuits or a packet of chips. High in fats and calories and not a good snacking option. These muffins are high in protein and under 300 calories per muffin.  Being a busy mum  I needed to look for something quick, easy and healthy to prepare.

Nothing simpler than these veggie egg muffins. These muffins are so versatile that you can use any ingredient that you have in your fridge or pantry. They can also be made up during the weekend and refridgerated for up to four days or  can be frozen. To defrost, just pop them into the microwave for a few seconds or remove from freezer at least two hours before eating , which makes them perfect for school or work snacks.

Now you also have no excuse for not having any breakfast as these little muffins are so nutritious and perfect for a quick breakfast..

 
                                                                                                                                                         


Start by preheating your oven to 180 degrees. I like using paper cases ( less scrubbing up of the muffin pan later ). Spray these paper cases with cooking spray or you could just use a lightly greased non stick muffin pan.Next  chop up any vegetables you prefer or have in your fridge. I used spinach  which is growing like crazy in my garden and had to be used. Other good options are diced frozen mixed vegetables, carrots, brocolli , or peas, just get creative and decide on what you like.

Next I fried slices of vegetarian polony ,which I placed  first in the paper case. You could use bacon especially if you want to make this a gluten free recipe.

I then cracked whole eggs in each cup. The eggs could all be scrambled and poured in the muffin tin, but I love  how the colour of the egg yolk stands out when cut in half.

Crumble feta over the egg , add salt and pepper to taste. Remember if you are using feta, do not add too much of salt because feta is really salty.

Grate a little cheese to finish and place in the oven for about 15 minutes until the tops are firm or a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Allow to cool for a few minutes in the pan ( if you can resist :)

Remove from pan and finish cooling on a wire rack. Remember these can be stored in the fridge for up to four days or frozen individually. The muffins never make it to  the fridge or freezer in my home though as they are usually gobbled up in a few hours.

                               
             

                                                                                                                                   print recipe
 PROTEIN PACKED EGG MUFFINS
                          by August-19-2016
These protein packed egg muffins are so easy to prepare and are low in calories. Makes a perfect breakfast on the go or a snack.
Ingredients
  • 8 eggs
  • 8 slices of polony
  • 1 cup chopped spinach
  • crumbled feta
  • 1 cup grated cheese
  • salt to taste
  • freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
1. Pre heat oven to 180 derees celcius2. Line a muffin tin with paper cups or just lightly grase the muffin tin. If using paper cups, spray lightly with cooking spray to allow for easy removal of muffins after baking.3. Place fried polony first into muffin cup. 4. Layer the chopped spinach over polony5. Crack egg over spinach and crumble feta over the egg. Sprinkle a layer of cheese to cover and bake for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into muffin comes out clean. Remember to cover lightly with foil if the muffins are browning too quickly before it is baked6. Remove from tin and allow to cool on a cooling rack.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 8 muffins


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Thursday 30 June 2016

Apple Pie

An amazingly simple to prepare apple pie, delicious served with fresh cream or vanilla ice-cream

Ingredients:

For the pastry:
125 g margarine
125 ml castor sugar
60 ml buttermilk or 1 egg
500 ml cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 ml salt

For the filling:
385 g canned pie apples or about 8 peeled, cored and chopped medium apples
125 ml sugar
60 ml raisins
5 ml ground cinnamon
20 ml lemon juice

1. Start  by making the pastry by creaming the sugar and margarine.
2. Add the buttermilk or egg and beat well until light and creamy.
3. Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt.
4. Knead lightly to form a soft dough. Place in the fridge for about 10 minutes.
5. For the filling, combine the apples, sugar, raisins, cinnamon and lemon juice in a pot and simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes.
6. Press half the pastry into a greased ovenproof pie dish and spoon in the filling.
7. Either grate the remaining pastry over the pie or cut the pastry into strips and place decoratively over the apple pie.
8. Bake at 160° C  for about 20 minutes. Cover loosely with foil if you find that the top is browning too quickly before it is baked.

Enjoy ❤
     

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Monday 27 June 2016

Eggless Lamingtons

A light, delicious eggless sponge cake, cut into squares, coated in a delightful chocolate syrup and rolled in toasted coconut makes these lamingtons a splendid tea time treat.

Ingredients:

For the cake:

250g butter or margarine
2 cups sugar
625ml milk
5ml vanilla essence
500g self raising flour
2ml bicarbonate of soda
280g desiccated coconut toasted lightly on a pan on low heat.

For the chocolate syrup;

300g white sugar
40g cocoa powder
190ml water
7ml butter or margarine

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Heat margarine, sugar and milk together in a saucepan. Heat until the margarine melts.
3. Allow to cool and stir in the vanilla essence.
4. Sift in the flour and bicarb and pour the mixture into a greased and lined oven pan of about 24 x 34 cm.
5. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until baked.
6. Remove from oven and allow to cool before cutting into equal sized squares.
7. Syrup: Mix sugar,cocoa powder and water together in a heavy based saucepan. Bring to the boil, stirring constantly
8. Add the butter and remove from the heat.
9. Dip the cake squares into the syrup for about 15 seconds and roll in the toasted desiccated coconut.

Enjoy ❤ 
                   





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Friday 17 June 2016

Spicy Butternut Soup with crunchy croutons

This is a recipe that you have got to try. It is the most simple and delicious comfort food. All that you need to do is to fry your onions and garlic and add the cubed butternut to that. The butternut should just take about 20 minutes to cook. Add cream and chilli to taste and blend until smooth.

A spicy, warm soup, made with butternut, served with crunchy croutons and garnished with chopped garlic chives. Perfect for a cold winters day.

Ingredients:

500g butternut, cubed
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 teaspoon of chilli powder or 1 chilli finely chopped
200ml fresh cream or milk
pinch of ground nutmeg (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
2 slices of bread cut into cubes


Method:

1.  In a saucepan fry the onions on moderate heat in a little butter or margarine, until soft and caramelised.
2.  Add the crushed garlic and cook for a few seconds.
3. Add the butternut , chilli powder or chopped chilli, nutmeg and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the butternut is softened. You can add a little water to the            butternut as it is cooking to avoid burning.
4. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
5. Remove from the stove and allow to cool for a few minutes.
6. Put the cooked butternut into a blender. Add the cream or milk and blend until the soup is thick and smooth.
7. To make the croutons, lightly fry the cubed pieces of bread in a little butter or margarine until crunchy and golden brown.
8. Pour soup into a soup bowl and serve hot with croutons. Garnish with chives.

 Enjoy ❤

 



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Creamy Potatoes

An absolutely creamy, rich and delicious baked potato dish. Simple and really quick to prepare.Serve as an accompaniment to roast chicken or steamed vegetables.
Ingredients
3-4 medium potatoes peeled and sliced
250 ml / 1 cup fresh cream
60 ml milk
2.5 ml tumeric powder
2.5 ml chilli flakes
2.5 ml dried mixed herbs (optional)
salt to taste
Method
1. Boil the potato slices in salted water until just cooked but still firm.
Remove from pot and strain out the water.
2. In a jug or pot, pour in the fresh cream, milk , tumeric, chilli flakes.
You can add the dried mixed herbs in this step now if you prefer.
3. Grease an ovenproof dish, and arrange the cooked and strained potato
slices inside. Pour the milk and cream mixture from the jug over the potato slices
4. Bake  in a preheated oven at 160 °C for about 15 to 20 minutes until the top is golden brown. Serve while warm.




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Chicken and Mushroom Wrap

A healthy, spicy and delicious wrap. Easy to prepare and perfect for lunch.
Ingredients
1 chicken breast
125g mushrooms
Half  a teaspoon chilli powder
Half a teaspoon masala
15 ml / 1 tablespoon hot peri peri sauce ( I used the Nando's hot peri peri sauce )
15ml /  1 tablespoon barbeque sauce
About 15 ml / 1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tortillas
Method
1. Fry the mushrooms in a little butter or oil for 5 minutes, remove from the pan and set aside.
2. In the same pan, add the cubed pieces of chicken, chilli powder, masala, peri-peri, barbeque and soy sauce. Fry together on medium heat until the chicken is cooked.
3. On the tortilla, place your shredded lettuce, cooked chicken mushrooms and add a bit of grated cheese.
4. Fold to close the tortilla and place ona warm non stick pan for about 15 seconds on each side, just to seal and crisp slightly.
Variation
Substitute the mushrooms with cole slaw, made by shredding cabbage, grating a carrot and adding mayonnaise.
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Spinach and Mushroom Lasagne

This delicious spinach and mushroom lasagne is an absolute favourite in my home. It is extremely simple and versatile where you can add or remove certain ingredients. Try it and it is sure to be a favourite in your home too.
500g finely chopped spinach or swiss chard
250g mushrooms
1 small onion
2 cloves of garlic
For the sauce
750ml / 3 cups milk
60g / 4 Tablespoons margarine or butter
45ml / 3 Tablespoons flour
Dried lasagna sheets
Salt and pepper to taste
Royco cheese and peppercorn sauce(optional)
Method
1. Finely chop onions and garlic either by hand or in a food processor. Remove and set aside
2. Add spinach and chop finely. Remove and set aside
.
3. Chop mushrooms.
4. Sauté onions and garlic
5. Add spinach and cook for about 5 minutes.
6. Stir in mushrooms and cook for about 10 minutes until done.
7. Make the sauce by melting margarine in a saucepan on low heat
8. Stir in flour and salt and pepper to taste
9. Cook on low to medium heat until there are no lumps
10. Add the milk and stir until thickened . I put in a packet of Royco cheese and peppercorn sauce to flavour it and to help thicken the sauce faster.
11. .Pre-heat the oven to 160 C. Grease an ovenproof dish and spoon a layer of the sauce at the bottom of the dish
12. Cover with a single layer of lasagne sheets
13. Spoon in some of the spinach and mushroom mix depending on how thick or thin you want the lasagne to be, and add in some of the sauce
14. Place another layer of lasagne sheets over the mixture. Continue in this way alternating between lasagne sheets, spinach and mushroom mix and sauce until you finish with a thick layer of the sauce covering the lasagne sheets.
14. Grate cheese to finish. Place in the oven and bake at 160°C for about 20 minutes. Cover loosely with foil ( shiny side up ) if you feel that the lasagne is browning too quickly before it is baked.
15. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving ( if you can resist, became believe me once the delicious aroma wafts through your home you will have your family sitting at the table waiting to eat before it is even taken out of the oven )
Enjoy :)
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