Tag Archives: vita-mix

Brainfood!!! Mango-Energie Bar

26 Friday Jul 2013

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So… I’m writing my exams right now. And learning really, really makes me hungry. It’s almost like I feel how my brain burns all that calories! But as storebought raw fruit bars are quite expansive, I usually make my own. The possibilities are endless, almost any combination of dried fruit and nuts will work.

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And this one was really delicious, so even though this recipe was not meant for the blog in first place, after tasting the first bar I decided to share them with you!

RAW Mango Energie Bars

  • 1 cup dates
  • 1 /2 cup dried (soft) apples
  • 1/4 cup dried mango, chopped
  • 1/2 cup walnuts
  • 2 Tbsp golden flaxseed
  • 1/2 cup (raw) oats

Coarsely grind the walnuts and oats in your blender or food processor. Set aside. Mix dates, apples and mango in your blender or food processor until they stick together. (I use my blender. If you pulse, it works pretty well!) Add ground oat-nut mixture and flaxseed and mix until you have a formable dough. Form bars (or balls or whatever you want! ;) ) with your hands. Enjoy!

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My little friends agreed that they’d make a great for a bike tour, too. =D
And as this was meant to be brainfood for me, I just had to add walnuts. First of all, they look like little brains. And secondly, I have a persian friend who always tells me to eat a lot of walnuts when I’m writing my exams. And with all the omega 3 fatty acids, which are good for your brain, you can’t go wrong with walnuts.

But the most important fact about this bar: It’s unbelievable fruity thanks to the mangos! Yummy!

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Mandarine Yogurt Cake – Hell yeah it’s summer!

12 Friday Jul 2013

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Wow – it’s been a while since the last post! I promise to improve! ;)

But, well, summer has finally arrived in Germany! And guess what – with summer being here right now, my exam period is starting… what a great timing. Sitting inside and studying while the weather is absolutely awesome is hard for me.

However, this is not about my exams, this is about food! Yummy, delicious, vegan food! And so… there’s nothing better in summer than a no-bake cake. A refreshing, delicious, cool, no bake cake. So, that’s exactly what I made. I remembered the Vanilla-Mandarine-Pudding cake that my grandma used to make when I was still very little. Inspired by that awesome food combination, I thought of a light, cool and vegan summer version of this cake. Here it is.

Mandarinenkuchen_1

Trust me, it is delicious! An unexpected discovery with this cake was the crust, which I just whipped up pretty spontaneously, not knowing that it would taste SO great! I had some left-over dough from the crust and I just formed it into little balls and snacked on them – so yummy!

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Yogurt-Mandarine Vanilla Cake
Ø about 18cm / 7 inches

For the crust 

  • one cup muesli (just regular muesli, nothing fancy and NO granola)
  • 2 tbsp almond butter
  • 2-4 tbsp agave syrup
  • 2 tbsp flax seed
  • pinch of salt (optional)

For the filling

  • 1 can mandarines (ca. 300g / 10.5 ounces)
  • 650g vanilla soy yogurt
  • 2 packages agartine (german product) OR two tsp agar agar powder

For the crust: Put the muesli, almond butter flax and agave in your blender or food processor. Mix until it sticks together, adding more agave if it’s too dry and more muesli if it’s too sticky. Press the mixture into a round pan lined with baking paper.

For the filling: Pour the can (fruit + juice!) in a pot and stir in agar agar. Bring it to a boil  for about 2 minutes. Pour the vanilla yogurt into a bowl and mix in the mandarine mixture, using a whisk. You want some of the little mandarine segments to separate, that’s what makes the cake great in my opinion. Pour the mixture into the spring pan, let it cool down completely. Store into your refrigerator.

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“Hey… you forgot to say something!!!”
– Oh, yeah, sure… well, you don’t have to use store bought vanilla yogurt. Actually, it’s quite easy to make your own! Just scratch out the inside of one vanilla bean and add sweetener to taste. You can create a yellow color by either using curcuma or saffron.

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Thanks for reminding me! ;)

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RAW Strawberry Rhubarb Popsicles

16 Sunday Jun 2013

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It’s getting warm! Summer is almost here – even where I live!

And that means… it’s time for ice cream! Oh, I have so many ice cream ideas, I’m really glad that we finally have the right temperatures for ice cream and popsicles!
Actually, rhubarb is a spring vegetable. Yeah, that’s right, it’s a vegetable, not a fruit. And a pretty healthy one, too. If this was a health blog, I could tell you a lot about it’s benefits, like the high amounts of dietary fiber, it’s vitamin B, A and K content, antioxidants and calcium. But this is just a playful blog, so you don’t even have to let people know that they are eating a healthy treat…

… cause nobody will notice. They taste that good!

Popsicle_1

Strawberry Rhubarb Popsicles

  • 2 cups strawberries
  • 1 small stalk rhubarb
  • 3 tbsp almond or coconut milk
  • optional: 1/2 cup xylit (or regular sugar) for the sweet tooth… *

Mix all the ingredients in your blender. Fill in popsicle forms and freeze for about 6h or overnight.
Enjoy!

* NOTE: If you add sugar/xylit or not depends on your own sweet tooth and on the sweetness of your strawberries which varies a lot! When you try the mixture, it should be slightly over sweetened, because the frozen mixture always tastes slightly less sweet.

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And you have to hurry up to make this treat – rhubarb season is almost over!!! It usually lasts until the end of june.

Popsicle

RAW Strawberry Cream Dream Pie

10 Friday May 2013

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Click here for German version! / Deutsche Version
Time for another RAW dessert!

After trying to make homemade granola yesterday, I am convinced that I’m  much more gifted at making raw food desserts and meals or baked muffins and cake and… actually anything. Anything that’s not granola.

Everything turned out great – the rhubarb muffins (yummy!), the caramelized green asparagus (double yummy!)… but the granola, the one thing I was most excited about, just didn’t turn out the way I imagined it. So much for granola.

I like muffins and raw desserts better, anyway! ;)

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There is our beauty. I guess the name says it all…!

I especially like the new kind of dough i tried this time. It’s based on banana instead of dates!

Strawberry Dream Cream Pie_6

Strawberry Cream Dream Pie 
yields about three tartlets 

For the dough:

  • one banana
  • one part oat flour
  • one part ground almonds
  • optional: sliced banana or strawberries
  • optional: pinch of salt

For the cream:

  • about 10 medium sized strawberries
  • 6 tablespoons coconut butter
  • 5-8 dates (depending on your sweet tooth)
  • pinch of vanilla or 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • optional: 1/2 tsp psyllium
  • coconut oil for greasing the pan

For the dough puree the banana in a mixer (or with a hand blender). Stir in oat flour and ground almonds, until you have a smooth dough. Grease three tartlet pans with coconut oil and line the pans with dough. Put in the refrigerator.
For the cream, mix all the ingredients in a high speed blender until smooth. Put sliced banana or strawberries on the dough. Pour the cream into the prepared pans and chill in the refrigerator over night (NO need to freeze!).

You can freeze the tartlets, of course. But you don’t have to! The slice I cut (you see it in the pic above) was beautiful even though the cake was not frozen!

Strawberry Dream Cream Pie_7I did one version with banana slices at the button, one with strawberries and one with cream only. I loved them all.

Strawberry Dream Cream Pie_4My little friend likes the strawberry slices version best. I guess we might get some trouble. He doesn’t know yet that I just don’t share strawberries! They are my favorite fruit!!!

Strawberry Dream Cream Pie_5I actually used two tartlet pans and one miniature spring pan, same size as the tartlet pans. I love small pies, they are so cute! You can have a pie on your own!
Of course, you could also make one big pie or tarte.

Oh, and by the way… that miniature pan is from a toy store. Yup. Toy stores are great. You can buy lego AND miniature kitchen tools! Support your local toy store! ;)

RAW Carrot Cake with Mango-Creamcheese Frosting

13 Saturday Apr 2013

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The best raw cake I’ve ever tasted.

Raw Vegan Carrot Cake Piece

 

And I’ve made and tasted quite a few by know.
As they usually consist of dried fruit and nuts, they tend to be quite dense and sometimes, they make you feel kind of heavy.

This one is different. It’s still a raw cake, it’s still not an exact copy of the original (anyway, if I want to taste a baked carrot cake, I’ll just bake one!). But it is not as dense and heavy as most raw cakes out there! It’s easier on the stomach and tastes great – what else could you wish for!

Another thing I love about this cake: The frosting is without cashews. Cashew-free frosting!!! I like cashews, that’s not it. But I like to change up things every once in a while.

 

Raw Carrot Cake_3

 

There you go – the princess is cutting the cake!

RAW Carrot Cake 

For the cake: 

  • 1 large carrot
  • 3/4 cup buckwheat flour
  • 1/2 cup dates
  • 1/2 cup dried pineapple or apricots
  • 1/4 cup coconut shreds
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • optional: 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
  • optional: dash of ground gloves, nutmeg, allspice and salt

For the frosting: 

  • 1/4 cup coconut butter
  • about 4 big pieces dried mango (of course, the amount depends on the size of your mango pieces. If the flavor is not intense enough, blend in more mango!)
  • 1/8 tsp ground vanilla
  • 1 tsp coconut oil
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • water as needed (start with 1/4 cup)
  • optional: dash of salt

For the cake: cut carrots into small chunks. Then throw all ingredients, including the carrots, in your food processor or high speed blender and pulse until it sticks together. Use your hands to for a round cake! You could also use a spring pan or tartlet pans, too. However, I kept it simple and just formed small, round cakes by hand.

For the frosting: Blend all the ingredients in you high speed blender until smooth, adding just enough water to create a smooth and creamy (and delicious!) frosting.

Assembly: That’s totally up to you! You could make a two layer cake, like I did. Put frosting on the first cake base, add the second one and cover the whole cake with frosting. You could also use your icing bag.

Raw carrot cake

 

“naked” carrot cakes with just a little mango creamcheese icing. Honestly, that icing is divine…

Raw Vegan Carrot Cake

Oh, of course, a princess always gets what she wants. Here’s her piece of the cake!

 

 

 

 

 

 

RAW Mango Cheesecake

05 Tuesday Mar 2013

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Deutsche Version / German version

Okay, I am kind of proud of this one. I just recently got into raw “baking”. I’m not a raw foodist, as you can see on this blog, but I love play around with raw food preparation! For me, it’s a really creative approach that offers so many new possibilities and new flavors! Some of them are worth sharing…

Like this one.

mango cheesecake

RAW Mango Cheesecake. It does not only look delicious, it really is! Don’t compare raw cakes to baked treats. They are not an imitation – they are different, a whole new thing. See them as an alternative or as a very tasty addition to your diet!
Raw cakes are usually quite rich – you might want to cut smaller pieces than you’d do with a regular cake.

RAW Mango Cheesecake

RAW Mango Cheesecake

 Ø about 20cm / 8 inch

For the crust:

  • 3/4 cup (about 100g) pitted dates
  • about 1/2 -3/4 cup nuts or seeds (I used sesame seeds and almonds)
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • Pinch of salt

For the filling:

  • 3/4 cup (100g) cashews 
  • 4-5 pieces dried mango (my pieces more rather big, use more if your pieces are rather small)
  • 4 tbsp coconut butter
  • 1/2 cup (about 50g) xylit (or sweetener to taste)
  • 1/4 tsp powdered vanilla
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/2 – 3/4 (about 125ml)  cup water

Crust: Either grease your pan with coconut oil or like it with baking paper. Put nuts / seeds in a food processor and mix until coarsely ground. Add the other ingredients and mix until combined. (Add more dates of the dough is to dry and add more nuts if it’s too moist. It’s hard to give exact amounts here cause it all depends on the moisture of your dates!) Put the dough in a baking pan (Ø about 20cm / 8 inch), form the crust.

Filling: Put all the ingredients in a blender and mix! You might want to soak the cashews before blending of your blender is not that strong. Add more water if needed. Pour the cream into the prepared crust. Lick off the spatulas and spoons you used. (This step is essential. DON’T skip ;) ) Put in the refrigerator over night or until the cream firms up.

raw mango cheesecake

Yummy! When a friend taste-tested the cake, he was like “Wow… this is really… cheesy. It’s like cheesecake…”
Even though I’d definitelly not say that this is a one to one cheesecake alternative,… the cashews definitelly yield a cheese flavor. And the mango coconut combo fits the cake really well. Even though I almost had the whole cake for myself, it did not last long until it was gone… hey, I am writing exams. I need brain food! And it seems like the little guy in the pic (no, he was not the test-taster) feels the same about this cake.

raw mango cheesecake

You can freeze the leftovers, too. You might also find the frozen cake easier to cut (even though I had no problems cutting the cake when I left it in the refrigerator over night). Freezing the cake is especial great, when you are making a raw cake for just one or two people. You can eat the frozen cake straight from the fridge… I promise, it’s the best ice-cream cake I ever had!

Caramel Cheesecake – Fairytale come true

17 Sunday Feb 2013

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Sweet times on Playful and Hungry!

I always thought, a cake can’t taste like cheesecake if it’s made from tofu. I was proven wrong. It took some trials and experimenting – but the result was a delicious AND healthy, vegan cheesecake. It’s high in protein and you don’t have to feel bad about eating it for breakfast. Or Dinner. Or lunch…

Piece of cheesecake

It’s might not be 1 : 1 like a sugar-loaded, non vegan cheesecake. But the consistence is perfect and it tastes just as good as any cheesecake I’ve ever tried! Give it a chance!

Using Whole Cane Sugar yields the wonderful caramel flavor! If you want a caramel cheesecake, don’t replace it! If you don’t care so much about the caramel flavor, you could also replace it with stevia or xylit or any other sweetener.

Fariy cheese cake

So… once upon a time, there was a little fairy. And what do fairies do all day? Exactly! They sparkle, twinkle, flutter around and eat cake. Today, it just had to be a cheesecake. Voila.

Fairy plate

So she got out her pink plate…, well, no. She just did some magic and conjured it up.

fairy and cream

Pling! One wink with her wand, and she had a whole plate full of cream…

Time to have some Caramel Cheesecake!

Whole Caramel Cheesecake

Caramel Cheesecake
Inspired by this recipe, Ø about 20cm / 8 inch 

  • 1 package (350-400g) firm tofu
  • 1/2 cup (70g) cashews
  • 1/4 cup (60ml) almond milk
  • 1 tbs vinegar
  • 3 tbs lemon juice
  • 1 ripe banana (can be omitted . use slightly more sweetener) 
  • 6 tbsp soy yogurt
  • 1/4 cup stevia (or more whole cane sugar – which also means more caramel ;) ) 
  • 3/4 cup (100g) Whole Cane Sugar (add more if you like it sweeter!!!) 
  • 1/2 tsp powdered vanilla or 1 tsp vanilla extract

Put all the ingredients in your high speed blender or food processor and mix! Pour into a slightly greased backing pan and bake for about 45 minutes (350 F / 200 C).
Allow the cake to cool down before cutting it!

Oh, by the way… you can be looking forward to a RAW vegan Mango Cheesecake. Just saying… ;)

Fairy on Cheesecake

Greeting from Fairy Land!

Healthy Date Nougat

05 Tuesday Feb 2013

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Nougat – a divine combination of cocoa, hazelnuts and sugar!

Date Nougat

Usually, it contains a lot of sugar. Just like the famous spread from Europe that starts with a “N” and ends with “utella”. Here’s the good message: These little pralines taste just like that spread! They are perfect for cold winter days. Maybe enjoy with a cup of hot cocoa? Or as a snack, to keep you going!

I love any kind of date-nut candy when I am studying. They give you lots of energy and help to concentrate. And they taste delicious without any white sugar or artificial flavors. It’s nature’s best candy!

Okay… this candy is not only for winter time… however, let’s have a look at the winter village…

Date Nougat Lego

Transporting the date nougat! Destination: Tanya’s desk. Oh, I like that. The little guys still have to learn how to cook, though…

Date Nougat Lego 2

Another transport! Now, this is urgent! Had to take the post van!

Okay… we’ll go back to winter wonderland! But I guess I should share the recipe first! Well, here you go.

Delicious Date Nougat

Date Nougat 

  • 1 cup soft dates 
  • 3/4 cup coarsely ground, roasted hazelnuts *
  • 3 tbsp cocoa
  • optional: 1/2 tsp  cinnamon or pumpkin spice (recommended for a lovely winter candy!)

Chop dates with a sharp knife into very small pieces. Add ground hazelnuts, cocoa and spices and mix the dough with your hands. Add more nuts if it’s too sticky. Form small balls  with your hands and put on a plate. Don’t store these candies in a box or jar, they need some fresh air. You could either store them at room temperature or in the refrigerator.

Of course you could make the dough using your food processor. However, I wanted to try not using any expensive, fancy tools… it works just as great using a knife and your own two handy! And hands are easier to clean than your food processor, keep that in mind!

* Roast hazelnuts: Put raw hazelnuts on a clean baking tray. Roast in the oven at 200 C / 36o F for about 10-15 minutes. Let them cool down and put them in fridge or refrigerator for a few hours. Now put your roasted nuts in a blender or food processor and grind them coarsely (pulse works best). Cooling the nuts in the fridge before grinding them helps to prevent them from turning into nut butter! I love nut butter – but it’s just not what you need in this recipe…
Don’t have a blender / food processor? I recommend using one part store bought chopped hazelnuts and one part store bought ground hazelnuts (hazelnut flour / meal). Carefully roast the ground and chopped nuts in a pan or use them straight from the bag.

* Want to keep it RAW? Just don’t roast the hazelnuts! It’s a little different, but still delicious!

Date Nougat Winter Village

Back to winter wonderland. It’s been snowing. It’s been snowing date nougat pralines! Oh, I like that kind of weather… Winter and I could become friends…

Actually, that reminds me of that movie. Cloudy with a chance of… date balls!

Date Nougat Winter Village

Time to shovel the snow (or date balls!). Hey, Guys… could you tidy up the kitchen, too? Please?

Lassi – The indian way of milkshake

29 Tuesday Jan 2013

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No indian meal without a lassi.

Mango Lassi

Lassi is a popular and yogurt based indian drink. It can be both sweet or savory. Traditional Lassi is savory, often yogurt is blended together with water and spices like roasted cumin and coriander seeds. It’s said to help your digestion when enjoying an indian fest, too.  The most popular way to enjoy a sweet lassi is mango lassi. It’s refreshing and not as filling as a milkshake. And it tastes really great!

If the mango you use is ripe enough, you won’t need any additional sweetener. At least, that’s what my tastebuds told me. Feel free to add  agave, sugar, stevia or blend in some dates. Whatever works for you is fine!

Another thing I like about Lassi: It’s so simple! No fancy ingredients! Okay, you can add fancy ingredients like rose water, but you don’t have too!

Mango Lassi 2

Mango Lassi 

  • 1 cup yogurt (I used soy) 
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 ripe mango, cut into cubes *
  • Optional: a dash of cardamom or 3 cardamom pods
  • Optional: 1 teespoon rosewater

Put everything in your blender and mix. That’s it! Enjoy  Lassi with an indian meal or just like that!

Note: Cardamom and rosewater are not for everyone. I love cardamom, but most people I know don’t… so please make sure you like it before you add it to your lassi! I warned you!

* No fresh mango on hand? Use some pieces of dried mango! Soak before mixing or use a high speed blender, it does the job!

Lassi 3

You might have noticed that there was no mini fig here. You’re still on the Playful and Hungry website, don’t worry. I must have been out of sorts when I was taking these pics… and probably really hungry, too!

Okay. I just can’t do this. I just can’t post this without a playful pic. That’s just not right! So here you are. The hippie is one of my favorites. However, I definitelly need a female hippie to identify with…

Let’s make the connection between Lassi and my playful hippie picture: Many hippies travelled to india! =D There you go!

hippie and horse

Navratan Korma – The nine gems

21 Monday Jan 2013

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Navratan Korma – I even like the name of this dish! Navratan means nine gems and stands for the nine vegetables, fruits and nuts originally used in this dish. However, it’s up to you how many ingredients you want to add, as always, just add the veggies you like and that are available to you. Navratan Korma is more about the delicious, creamy sauce anyway.

Navratan Korma

Too me, it’s THE Indian dish. It took a while for me to notice that each time I was at an Indian Restaurant (and I’ve been to many Indian restaurants!), I’d usually take Navratan Korma. Well, who needs variety when you can always just eat the most delicious dish on the menu?

Okay, I guess you noticed that Navratan Korma is delicious to me… So could just stop talking and giving you the recipe!

Oh, and don’t be intimidated by the long list of ingredients! It’s really not that much once you have all the spices!

Navratan Korma 2

Navratan Korma 

inspired by The Lotus and the Artichoke

  • 1 cup / 8og cauliflower, chopped
  • 1/2 cup / 50g bush beans
  • 1/2 cup / 50g peas
  • 1 large potato, chopped (I didn’t peal, it’s up to you)
  • 3/4 cup / 180 ml water
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1/4 tsp granulated garlic OR 1 clove fresh, finely chopped garlic
  • 1 inch / 2 cm fresh ginger, finely chopped
  • 2 Tbsp Coconut Oil
  • 1/2 cup cashews plus some for decoration
  • 2 tsp cumin, ground
  • 2 tsp coriander seeds, ground
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1/2 tsp tumeric
  • cayenne pepper (optional, it’s hot!)
  • 1 tomato, chopped
  • a little less than 1 tsp salt
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/3 cup raisins
  • optional: fresh coriander leaves, for garnish

Heat the oil in a big pot on medium heat. Add onion and ginger (and fresh garlic, of using). Stir constantly and fry for about 2-3 minutes.
Add cumin, coriander, garam masala and tumeric and fry again for 2-3 minutes, until the spices omit a nice smell. Mix in the chopped tomato and cook for another 3 minutes. Turn of the heat now and puree the spice-tomato mix together with the cashews and water. Put the sauce back in the pot, turn on medium heat and add the bay leave, salt and raisins.
Now it’s time to add the veggies! You could also precook them, like the original recipe does, but I found it sufficient to cook them in the creamy sauce for about 15 minutes. Make it hot: Add cayenne pepper to taste!
Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

Indian Navratan Korma

Cheers!