New blog address

Hi all, my new blog address is sopheats.blogspot.com!

This blog will still be up so you can refer to it for older recipes, but I won't be posting on here anymore :)

Sophia

Carrot and Fig Muffins (vegan)

Happy Good Friday! This Easter season has been filled with good food. The little nests and these muffins I made to get into the Easter spirit both taste amazing. My dad who has the "healthy food tastes bland" mindset really liked these! I didn't even ask him how they tasted and he was told me they tasted great which is so heartwarming hehehehe

Not only are they easy to make, but they're vegan friendly too! I do wish they looked better though. After exams I'm going to really focus on food styling and photography!

Vegan Spelt Hot Cross Buns

Hot cross buns hot cross buns one a penny~~

Easter is coming! If you guys have been to any grocery store lately, I'm sure you already know. However, I'm staying clear of the Easter eggs and bunny shaped peeps. Instead I'm gonna have these healthy, vegan, spelt, hot cross buns! 

Strawberry Coconut Marbled Fudge (vegan)

Hello! Made this delicious vegan fudge the other day. Check out the pretty marbling! This is superrrrrr simple to make. No cooking required. This is almost raw and definitely vegan :-) 

When I visited London in November last year, I saw quite a few shops selling fudge and I bought some home :) It lasted better in London though, where the weather was fridge like and the fudge could survive out in the open. After trying that fudge, I've concluded that the texture of this is pretty fudge like! I do hope you guys try this recipe out :) Coconut butter is different from coconut oil by the way, I got mine from iHerb.com 

Use the code LPQ082 for up to $10 off your first order ^^ 

This was my first time working with coconut butter and the consistency is really interesting! When it touches any mildly cold ingredient, even just the 1/2 tbsp if maple syrup I added to the white portion of the fudge, it instantly starts to thicken and solidify!

Buckwheat flour used here. Served with chocolate maple sauce, sliced banana, peach and dried strawbies.

This vegan waffle recipe is the best I've tried for vegan pancakes or waffles ever. It uses flax as an egg substitute, which may be a little inconvenient for you guys, but really I don't know what else can replace it! 

Waffle and pancake recipes can be used pretty much interchangeably. After all, waffles are pancakes but with abs.

Vegan Teriyaki Tofu Fried Rice

On to the next recipe for my major recipe uploading today. I'm trying to make use of this apare time I have as I realised I'm studying for a chem test that may possibly not even be tomorrow like I assumed it would be! 

I really love how this vegan fried rice tastes :) Fried rice is such an easy dish to whip up with whatever you have in your fridge. For this japanese-y fried rice, I wanted to add mirin but I ran out, [or at least I thought I did :-( ] and I wanted to add japanese chili powder over but I had apparently used it up too. I'm obsessed with the stuff, and spicy food in general. 

Choc Cookie Bananaberry Waffle Grilled Cheese

Hello. Brace yourselves for I am about to do a mass recipe update on this blog. Lately, I've been fairly busy with school, I'm secondary 3 now and my O levels are next year so life is only going to get busier. 

Anywho, this is the best grilled cheese I've ever eaten. 

1) It's grilled in a waffle iron. No explanation needed.

2) There is a cookie dough quest bar in there. 

3) The sweet and savory flavours work really well together! Cheese and fruit and chocoate and cookies yum. 

Strawberry frangipane galettes (vegan)

Mm galettes for breakfast. Galettes are tarts but are made without a tart pan so the sides are just folded over to keep the toppings in. I filled these spelt flour galettes with frangipane, an almond cream, and some fresh strawberries. A fairly simple recipe to make, but that's what I always say :/ 

Took a while to get this up as I've been awfully busy with school work although it is the march holidays :( I still need to share the recipe for my sweet potato kimchi sliders and teriyaki tofu fried rice! 

Watermelon Goats Cheese Salad

A quick, simple and refreshing salad, perfect for a hot day ^^ 

The watermelon can be cubed if you dnt have a melon scooper but I find the little melon pearls really adorable :-) Oh and I absolutely love feta cheese! You can add more but I think this amount is enough because the cheese flavour is quite intense so a little goes a long way ~

For 1 serving

What you'll need

1 cup of watermelon balls

1/2 cup spinach leaves 

30g Feta cheese cubes (or crumbled) 

10g walnuts (chopped or whole) 

2 tbsp orange juice

How to

1- Just toss everything together and serve up!

Waffled Vegan French Toast

I was so scared to make this. The previous time I did this, it a literally hot mess. The bread stuck to my "not so non stick" waffle maker, and I had to waste food, which sucked. But on Friday my parents bought me a new cuisinart Belgium waffle iron of amazing waffle making quality, which allowed me to create the crispest most delicious french toast ever. You can't even tell that this has no dairy or egg!! All these flavours work so well together :>

DOES IT NOT LOOK SO COOL? I was really quite fascinated when I opened the waffle iron. The first one stuck a little but but the second slice practically detached itself from the waffle iron. Which is funny because the second round, I didn't add extra oil and just used the leftover oil from the first slice! I guess Baylie just needed some warming up. I've named my Belgium waffle maker Baylie!!! 

Raw Vegan Lime Bars w/ Pistachio Graham Crust

I took one bite, then the flavour sunk in and all I wanted to do was dance and proclaim to the entire universe how fantastic these babies turned out to be. Gluten free, dairy free, added sugar free, vegan, raw, tastes like ice cream what more can you ask for? 

(Hey that rhymes) 

They're simple to make and really are quite delicious if I do say so myself. Parents really like these and my critical brother said they were "not bad" aka "very good". He asked if there was sugar. Well, there isn't! Apart from non processed sugars like dates and maple syrup :-) Really glad these turned out well because this morning's breakfast got screwed up when everything got stuck to my not so non stick waffle maker. Need a new one now, care to sponsor me anyone?

I was scrolling through Pinterest (follow me @healthiepanda) the other day and I saw these divine looking lime squares with a pistachio graham crust, courtesy of Martha Stewart. So this Sunday afternoon I decided to healthify them. Oh by the way keep pinning my pictures! Really makes me so happy :-) 

I love that green from the avocado! (YES THATS THE SECRET INGREDIENT) The ones I used were perfectly ripe and not brown at all! Pity I didn't take a picture. Avocados make up a good portion of this recipe so please get good avocados. Brown avocados will not give you such a pretty green. 

Vegan Banana Berry Streusel Pizza

So I've been reducing my protein and increasing my carbs lately, because I want to eat less animal products. I was watching this YouTube video by freeleethebananagirl, and I saw how cruelly cows are treated. It was so horrible I literally cried. I'm eating more vegan meals now but I don't think I'll go completely vegan because that lifestyle isn't maintainable for me at the moment. 

Besides I'm actually eating more protein than necessary so it won't hurt to cut down. I want to watching "earthlings", a documentary about animal abuse stuff but I'm worried I'll be a huge sobbing puddle by the time the film is over.

Today's recipe is a wonderfully scrumptious vegan pizza. It has an oat flax base and is studded with banana coins and blueberries, sprinkled with walnut cinnamon streusel, drizzled with coconut cream and finished off with some freeze dried strawberry pieces. 

Food props: I am loving my cute little honey drizzling thing! I don't even really know what it's called haha. Found that little acorn by the pavement near my condo. 

For those who need photographic evidence that the pizza holds together when lifted up....

This was actually a really photogenic breakfast! :D I love it when the food makes my life easy by looking good. Sometimes I get so stressed taking food pictures.........

Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake

Happy Valentine's Day! Had a pretty boring one as I just got back from camp today and then I had school stuff :/ Didn't exactly feel the love. This cinnamon roll cheesecake is no bake and really so easy! When I say cinnamon roll, I mean cinnamon roll. It isn't just a cheesecake with cinnamon swirled through. 

((Omg on Instagram I said it was no bake but it's not! I DO bake this))

The twist: The base is made of bread. Or should I say, it is bread. Right now you may think it sounds crazy but if you think about it, this is kind of like a cheesecake over bread pudding. Sounds good to me lol.

Strawberry Rice Puff (Krispie) Balls

Another Valentines Day treat for you guys!! Wish I could give each and everyone of you one but 1) they'll probably be sticky and melting by the time they reach you, 2) I probably don't have enough or 3) I might finish eating them before they reach you! They're so delicious :3 My dad who usually finds my foods bland LOVES these! You have to try this recipe out! Like any other Rice Krispie recipe, it's super simple. Basically mix everything together, roll into balls and freeze. 

You can use any kind of nut butter in replacement of cashew butter :) Preferably a light coloured nut? I used my own homemade cashew butter. All I did was blend 160g of cashews in my amazing food processor until it turned buttery. I blended for 1-2min, let the machine rest for a few minutes and then repeated (about 6 times) until the cashews released their oils and turned creamy. I made just enough for the recipe! :) 

Bacon wrapped sweet potato wedges

Made some simple baked sweet potato wedges wrapped with crispy turkey bacon! So good fresh out of the oven. Especially if you love sweet potatoes like yours truly. Turkey bacon may not be super healthy but it isn't too bad if you make sure it's low in fat, sodium and most importantly nitrate free. Besides its pretty delicious. 

Red Velvet Brookies!!!

Oh my goodness. These are good. And oh so healthy! The beautiful red comes from steamed beets not food colouring. Coincidentally, (or not) beets are also what keeps the brownie moist and dense! The the brownie part and the chocolate chip cookie layed over, are both made using oat flour, which means you can make this gluten free Ü 

Came across brookies (brownie cookies) on Pinterest and decided to healthify them ASAP because I wanted to get this post up before Valentines ❤ Day!! Hope you guys make this and try it out! Honestly it isn't too difficult and I think brookies, especially those that are red velvet AND healthy are pretty unique. 

Please use a measuring tbsp to measure cocoa powder so you don't add too much ^^ You want it to be RED. 

Healthier Baked Chicken Parmesan

Cheese. Definitely not healthy but so good! However I believe in moderation so a little cheese is acceptable in my books. As long as you don't go too crazy cheese is actually pretty good! It has lots of vitamins and minerals, and is a good source of protein :)

Made chicken parmesan for lunch the other day and I thoroughly enjoyed it! It was so moist and juicy ❤ I even made my own breadcrumbs. Here's the recipe. 

What you'll need

•1/2 a slice of wholemeal bread OR some wholemeal breadcrumbs

•1/3 tsp of any salt free seasoning (such as lawry's, mrs dash.....)

•1 boneless skinless chicken breast (190g) 

•1 egg white

•Organic pasta sauce (low fat and sodium) (I used about 1/5 of a 339g bottle)  

•2 tsp grated parmesan 

•1 slice of reduced fat cheese (cut into 2)

•Dash of black pepper

How to

1. Preheat oven to 150C. Tear bread up into small scraps. Bake for 10min or longer until crispy. Blend the bread and seasoning in a food processor to get breadcrumbs. Pour onto a plate.

2. Preheat oven to 180C. Spread a spoonful of pasta sauce on to a oven proof dish. 

3. Beat egg white in a bowl. Coat chicken breast thoroughly in egg white and then coat in the breadcrumbs. Place on top of the pasta sauce in the dish. Bake for 18min**

4. Remove chicken from the oven. Increase the oven temperature to 200C. Pour enough pasta sauce over to cover the chicken. Just use as much as you like ^^ 

5. Sprinkle parmesan over and lay the cut up cheese slice over. Sprinkle a dash of black pepper over. Bake for 10-15min until the cheese melts and turns slightly brown!

** If you use a smaller chicken breast you can bake it for a shorter time in step 3.

Healthy Nutter Butter Cookies

Happy belated CNY! Made some nutter butter inspired cookies this morning. I still have a few to let my relatives sample tomorrow yay! Peanut flavoured and shaped cookies filled with peanut butter cream! Mmmm. Have not made any successful CNY cookies yet so I guess these'll do :) Peanut is 花生 in Chinese and it represents health and long life! Make these for your friends and family, after all Chinese New Year isn't over just yet.

I'm so proud of these, they really are mega healthy. Dairy free, gluten free, egg free (for vegans), processed sugar free and so cute ~~~ 

I used buckwheat flour but you can also use a gluten free flour blend and leave out the tbsp of water! 

I was actually worried using chunky peanut butter would give me an ugly cookie but it turned out fine :) I still recommend creamy pb though. 

What you'll need 

Cookies:

2 tbsp creamy peanut butter 

2 tbsp honey (vegans: use any vegan liquid sweetener) 

1 tbsp water

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Juice from a small lemon wedge 

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup buckwheat flour 

Filling:

2 tbsp peanut flour

Water

How to 

1. Mix wet ingredients together. 

2. Mix buckwheat flour and baking soda together. Pour wet into dry mixture and combine well.

Preheat oven to 180C

3. Form the dough into 16 equal portions. Roll each portion into an oval and flatten. Make the middle part slightly thinner. Squeeze the centre to give it a peanut shape, use a toothpick to make the horizontal and vertical lines across the surface. 

4. Bake for about 13 min and cool. Mix 2 tbsp peanut flour with just enough water to get a creamy peanut butter consistency. 

Tip: Add water a little at a time! 

5. When cookies are cooled spread 1/2 tsp of peanut cream filling on the back of one cookie and top with another cookie :)

Enjoy!!

Ginger Longan Upside Down Cake

Delicious ginger longan upside down cake, topped with juicy mandarin orange slices. Perfect for the Chinese New Year season, and gluten free too! This cake wasn't made intentionally for Chinese New Year but my mum told me the flavours were rather suitable and suggested I topped it with mandarin oranges (:

I made this using buckwheat flour. The first time I baked it, it was very dense and heavy. I suspected it might have been the greek yogurt so I replaced a portion of the yogurt with coconut oil and voila — a perfect cake. I also took extra special care to beat the egg whites separately and sift the dry ingredients. 

Although the longans are only at the top of the cake (or rather the bottom) the juice kinds of diffuses through the cake and gives the entire cake a longan taste. 

What you'll need

3/4 cups buckwheat flour

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup plain greek yogurt

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/8 cup maple syrup

1 egg yolk

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

2 egg white

1/4 tsp apple cider vinegar/citrus fruit juice

1 tbsp maple syrup

1 cups longans 

How to 

1. Pit the longans. Grease and line a 5-6 inch round cake tin. 

2. Sift first 3 ingredients together into a bowl. 

3. Mix greek yogurt, coconut oil, maple syrup, egg yolk and vanilla extract together. Pour the wet mixture into the dry and combine well.

Preheat the oven to 180C

3. Beat egg whites and apple cider vinegar until frothy. Gradually pour in the maple syrup and continue beating until soft peaks, or mid way between soft and stiff. 

4. Fold half the egg whites into the first batter. Then gently fold in the other half until the mixture is one even colour.

5. Evenly distribute pitted longans across the bottom of the cake tin. Pour batter over. Tap in the counter top a few times to get the air bubbles out. 

6. Bake for about 50min. Cool slightly before turning out on to a plate. Cut off the rounded top (or rather bottom) of the cake and then flip it onto another plate so it is now upside down and the longans are on top of the cake. 

Remember to serve topped with some mandarin oranges :-))

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

After one bite of this, I flipped out and couldn't stop raving about it for the next few hours. These healthy sweet and sour meatballs are honestly THAT good. They taste and look like they were made in a Chinese restaurant! 

I'm going to teach my maid how to cook this for us, so we can have it for dinner some day! On weekdays my maid cooks dinner (-: 

Perfect blend of sweet and sour! Plus it's low fat unlike the usual sweet and sour pork. I messed these up last weekend and they were terrible!! But my mum motivated me to try again (-: I'm so glad I did!

What you'll need

140g minced chicken (or you can use half pork half chicken)

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp honey

1.5 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp light soya sauce

1/3 tsp Chinese rice wine

3 tbsp water

1/2 tsp olive oil

1 tsp minced garlic

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped capsicum (3 colours)

How to 

1. Boil water in a saucepan. Form mince chicken into balls. Drop chicken into the boiling water and cook for about 15min or until they float to the top. 

2. Mix tomato paste, honey, vinegar, light soya sauce, Chinese rice wine and water together to form your sauce.

3. Heat olive oil in a pan. Over medium high heat sauté onion and garlic. Once fragrant add in vegetables and chicken meatballs. Briefly fry for a minute or so and then pour sauce over. Mix everything together well and cook until sauce thickens. The sauce should be thick enough to coat the meatballs.

Serve with brown rice and you can garnish with coriander if you wish :-)

Tahini Soba

School has started officially so my posts from now on may be even shorter than normal! Today I made this really easy soba. When I showed it to my brother he said, "that's not japanese" so I said "it's fusion.

In any case, it's delicious ^^ Tahini is sesame seed butter. I used organic hulled tahini I got from wholefoods in London. Tahini's rather bitter, so I sweetened it up with honey. Worked pretty well I must say! 

What you'll need

A piece of ginger

50g uncooked soba

1/2 cup chopped broccoli 

1/4 cup sliced carrots 

1 tbsp hulled tahini

1 tbsp honey

1/4 tsp mirin

1/4 tsp light soya sauce 

Grilled meat of choice

Seaweed for garnishing 

How to

1. Boil water with ginger. Add in broccoli and carrots. Blanch for a few minutes and remove broccoli and carrots. Then cook your soba in rapidly boiling water for 3 min or according to your packages instructions. 

2. Mix tahini, honey, mirin and soya sauce together. Toss soba in the sauce. Garnish with seaweed and serve with vegetables and grilled meat :)

Bounty Cups

Have you ever wondered what would happen if Reese's Peanut Butter Cups had a baby with Bounty Bars? No you probably haven't but anyway, this is what would happen. Bounty cups! Crunchy shells of dark chocolate with a soft coconut filling! Such an easy recipe that requires minimal cooking and washing and ingredients. 3 ingredients, 3 steps.

I used little heart shaped silicone moulds from daiso which made them easy to remove :) you can also do them the traditional way in small cupcake liners I guess. 

RAW VEGAN: I used dark chocolate for this, but you can use raw chocolate made of cocoa powder and coconut oil and agave if you like! Maple syrup can be subbed with agave.

What you'll need

35g 85% dark chocolate

1/8 cup dehydrated shredded coconut (desiccated works too)

1 tsp maple syrup

How to

1. Prepare 6 little silicone cups or liners. Melt dark chocolate. I microwaved for 1 min, stirred, and repeated till it was melted and smooth! Pour a little into the cup and spread up the sides. Put in the freezer.

2. Meanwhile mix maple syrup and coconut. Remove cups from freezer and fill up with coconut!

3. Pour melted chocolate over the coconut to seal it in and freeze again until the chocolate is set. It'll take less than 5 minutes (okay don't hold me to this I'm estimating)! Remove from cups and GOBBLE DOWN.