How to Make Perfect Popcorn On The Stove

Seriously, who doesn’t know how to make popcorn on the stove?

Well, as it turns out – a lot of people, including my poor sister. She often buys these bags of awful, artificially flavoured microwaveable popcorn.

Microwave popcorn is evil

There was a case in 2007 where a heavy consumer of microwaved popcorn was diagnosed with “popcorn lung” (an irreversible lung disease) after inhaling fumes from microwaved popcorn over time. He sued the popcorn company for failing to warn that “preparing microwave popcorn in a microwave oven as intended and smelling the buttery aroma could expose the consumer to an inhalation hazard and a risk of lung injury.”

He won the case in 2012 and was awarded millions of dollars in damages.

Scary huh!

The chemical that causes this lung injury is called diacetyl. It’s what gives microwaveable popcorn that intense buttery flavour. And while some popcorn brands have replaced diacetyl with another type of ‘flavouring’, the chemical is still considered safe by the United States’ FDA and, in Australia, no regulation has been established.

If you’re still buying microwaveable popcorn, maybe it’s time you try to make it yourself. It’s so easy and it costs just pennies to make.

After I showed my sister how to cook popcorn on the stove, she’s been making popcorn for my parents and herself almost every week; and the best thing is, she has now stopped buying microwaveable popcorn!

How to make perfect popcorn on the stove everytime

Fresh home-made popcorn is delicious and it is such an easy, quick, healthy and tasty snack that everyone can make.

If you can, get good quality organic popcorn (I got mine from The Source Bulkfoods. It really does make a difference. I find the organic popcorn more flavourful and ‘popped’ more evenly so you get very little un-popped kernel, if any. After been making popcorn for years I finally realised that a lot of my failures are the result of bad quality popping corns.

Here’s a recipe which you can follow. I generally don’t measure the ingredients. I just use enough oil to coat the base of the pan and then add just enough popcorn kernels to cover the base (depending on the size of the pan). The secret is to only have a single layer of kernels covering the pan’s base so they all get an equal amount of heat, otherwise you may risk having unpopped kernels mixed among the popcorn.

How to Make Perfect Popcorn On The Stove

Learn how to make perfect popcorn on the stove. This is favourite snack to make. It’s so quick to make, easy, and taste delicious!

  • 3 tbsp vegetable oil (I also like to use coconut oil)
  • 1/2 cup popping corn
  • 1/2 tbsp of finely ground salt (optional but recommended)
  • Other seasonings (my favourite is nutritional yeast for B12 boost)
  1. Add the oil in a heavy-based pan with a vented lid. Turn the heat up to medium-high (I use level 7 on my induction cooktop), add 3 corn kernels and cover.
  2. Once the kernels have popped add the remaining popcorn kernels and salt in an even layer. Cover.
  3. Remove from heat and count for 30 seconds. Don’t skip this part as it will bring all of the other kernels to the same temperature so they will pop at roughly the same time later, and you won’t have too many unpopped kernels, or burn your popcorn in an attempt to pop them all.
  4. Return the pan back to heat and wait for that popping sound (or if you have a clear lid, you can see the action happening).
  5. Once the kernels begin to pop rapidly, gently shake the pan by moving it back and forth.
  6. Open the lid a tiny bit to allow excess steam to escape.
  7. When the popping slows to a few seconds between pops, turn off the heat. Wait a few extra seconds for the last few pops, then remove the lid and pour into a large bowl.

Tips: Use oil suitable for high temperature cooking such as canola or peanut oil. If you want to use olive oil for flavour – mix the oil with peanut or canola 1:1 so that the oil won’t burn.

I’d love to hear from you if you make this popcorn recipe. Leave a comment below or find me on Instagram and share your creation. Don’t forget to tag me @passionatelykeren so I won’t miss your post.

Keren x

Vegan Adobo with Tempe and Brown Rice

Today I’m going to share with you one of my favourite comfort foods –Vegan Adobo with Tempe and Brown Rice. It’s delicious, comforting, easy to make and a perfect one-pot meal. This recipe was actually inspired by Maz Valcorza from Everyday Vegan. I was shooting and directing a video recipe for the one of their online recipe courses and one of the recipes was a vegan adobo.

Her version uses brown rice and Bok choi and it was so yum! I was inspired to make my own version of adobo and so here it is. This vegan adobo uses tempe and brown rice as the main ingredients, as well as mushrooms and broccoli for flavour, nutrition and texture!

It’s like an asian version of risotto!

Vegan Adobo with Tempe and Brown Rice

If you’ve never heard of adobo before, it is a Phillipino/ Spanish dish that usually involves cooking meat, seafood, or vegetables in a vinegar- soy sauce marinate.

It is usually made with meat but I have found that tempe (or tempeh) and mushroom make the perfect meat replacement without sacrificing that delicious savoury flavour and texture that we all love from meat.

The key ingredients in this dish are garlic, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, bay leaves, and coconut sugar (you can use normal or brown sugar too). You can use tofu instead of tempe or even your favourite legumes. I use broccoli for this recipe but feel free to use other greens. I’ve made this dish so many times using different greens, beans, etc and they always turn out good. Just make sure you don’t overcook it as they can turn out gluggy (kinda like risotto).

Lately, I’ve been switching between dark mushroom soy sauce to light soy sauce depending on what I feel like. You can tell the difference in colours (left – dark soy sauce, right – light). For some reason the dark soy sauce product more ‘sticky’ glaze. Both are equally delicious though.

Check out the how to video below and then the recipe on the bottom of the page.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTrcpj3en0U[/embedyt]

Vegan Adobo with Tempe and Brown Rice

Vegan Adobo with Tempe and Brown Rice

A delicious twist on the ever-so-popular Philipino dish, Adobo. Made vegan using tempe as the main protein, brown rice, mushroom and broccoli florets. Yum!

  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  • 1 packet (250g of raw tempe, diced)
  • 5 garlic cloves (diced)
  • 1 red onion (diced)
  • 2 cups sliced mushrooms (oyster or brown mushrooms are my favourite to use)
  • 2 cups broccoli florets
  • 3 tbsp soy sauce (dark soy sauce will give you a darker colour than light soy sauce)
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons coconut sugar
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 2 teaspoon whole peppercorns
  • 4 cups vegetable stock
  • 1 ½ cups brown rice
  1. Heat the coconut oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Cook pieces until golden brown on both sides, then remove. Stir in the red onion and garlic; cook until they soften and brown, about 6 minutes.

  2. Pour in soy sauce, bay leaf, peppercorn, vegetable stock, and vinegar. Add the tempe and rice, increase the heat to high, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the rice is about 30-40 minutes.

  3. Stir in broccoli florets and mushrooms, cover for 5 minutes until broccoli and mushroom is cooked through

Vegan Adobo with Tempe and Brown Rice

I absoloutely love a one pot meal. Especially since I often don’t have time to cook an elaborate meal for dinner (strange coming from a food blogger I know). What’s your favourite one-pot meal? Share it with me in the comments below and I’ll try to make veganised one-pot deliciousness :) ✎ ♥

Did you make this recipe?

Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below or share a picture on Instagram and tag me so I can see your creation.

Keren x

⋙ Original post published in December 2016. Updated with video in September 2017 ⋘ 

Best ever gluten-free vegan waffle

This really is the best ever gluten-free vegan waffle I’ve ever made.

No complicated gluten-free flour mix (one of my pet peeves in gluten-free baking), no egg, no dairy, and no fuss! You just need to throw all the ingredients in the blender, blend, and then you have a thick and creamy waffle batter which will yield waffles so delicious you’ll forget about taking a snap for Instagram (there’s a reason why you haven’t seen any waffle posts on my Instagram account until now)

You just need to throw all the ingredients in the blender, blend, and you have a lusciously thick waffle batter which will yield waffles so delicious you’ll forget about taking a snap for Instagram (Note: there’s a reason why you haven’t seen any waffle posts on my Instagram account until now).

The only ingredient that might be difficult for some to find, is dairy-free yogurt. I make my own soy yogurt so I’m overflowing with this stuff but you can use either use Coyo or any other type dairy-free yogurt you can find at the store. If you’re desperate for waffles and you don’t have the yogurt, you can replace it with 2/3 cup of dairy-free milk. It will change the texture and flavour of the waffles a little bit but they will still be tasty.

These waffles are crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, with mildly sweet and nutty flavour. This recipe makes about 6 -8 waffles depending on your waffle pans. I like to make a double batch so I can keep some waffles in the freezer for whenever I feel like one in the morning. The real challenge is trying not to eat the whole batch as you’re cooking it!

Best ever gluten-free vegan waffle

A simple yet delicious gluten-free vegan waffle that will blow your mind

  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup uncooked brown rice (whole rice)
  • 1 cup dairy-free yogurt (I used homemade soy yogurt)
  • 1 tbsp melted coconut oil (olive oil works fine too)
  • 1 tbsp sugar or your <g class="gr_ gr_59 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling multiReplace" id="59" data-gr-id="59">favourite</g> sweetener
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda (sifted to prevent blobs of baking soda in your waffle)
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • a pinch of salt
  1. Pour all ingredients into a blender and for a few minutes until smooth.
  2. Pour enough batter into your waffle pan and cook until crispy. I use a stovetop waffle pan so I cook each side for about two minutes on <g class=”gr_ gr_57 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace” id=”57″ data-gr-id=”57″>medium high</g> heat, but just follow your waffle maker’s instruction if you’re using an electric waffle maker.
  3. Slather with loads of your <g class=”gr_ gr_53 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling multiReplace” id=”53″ data-gr-id=”53″>favourite</g> nut butter and maple syrup and serve.
  4. Store in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to a month. Just pop them in the toaster to reheat.

If you make this, I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment below or find me on Instagram and share your creation. Don’t forget to tag me @passionatelykeren so I won’t miss your post.

Keren x

September Goodness Me Box + Healthfood Project Vegan Cookies

I’ve been wanting to create an unboxing video for a while. Although I did a stop motion unboxing video a while ago for Goodness Me Box. it wasn’t quite my style. I think I much prefer a longer form video vs all the short and snappy ones floating around the social media realm today.

If you’re unfamiliar with Goodness Me Box, it’s a subscription box that gives you a selection of wholefood items to sample. They’ve progressed quite significantly since they’ve started. Now we can specify our dietary requirements to get a personalised box – so those who are gluten free, dairy free, vegan (i.e., Me) or low sugar, don’t need to worry about getting things they can’t actually eat.

Click below to watch the video.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrMcrF5W3ow[/embedyt]

I tested one of the product in the box – the Health Food Project Vegan Cookie mix (Choc Chunk and Cranberries).

The cookies were so easy to make, requiring only three ingredients to make – coconut oil, water and rice malt syrup (which I substituted with maple syrup), and are extremely delicious! Crunchy on the outside and chewy in the middle, just like home made cookies.

 

Note: If you watched the video, I said that they’re Gluten-free and Organic, I realised now that it is not completely accurate. Although the ingredient list does not mention wheat or any gluten-containing items, there is no mention of it being gluten-free so perhaps the oats might contain traces of gluten. And even though the main ingredient is organic (oat), it turns out that they have a few ingredients that are not organic such as almond meal, chocolate, chunks, cinnamon powder etc. I’m quite happy with ‘mostly organic’ ingredients but some may not be.

Did I tell you they were delicious?

Anyway, I’m very excited to see the impact veganism has on the health food space! Who would’ve thought we’d have a vegan cookie mix and monthly vegan-friendly wholefood food subscription box five years ago (let alone a food subscription anything)? It really is a great time to be a vegan!

Keren x

Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored by GoodnessMe Box or the Health Food Project. I’m sharing this because I genuinely like their products.

Udon Noodle Stir Fry With Oyster Mushroom

I’ve realised that apart from my Superhero Fried Rice, I have not shared a single stir fry recipe on this blog. That comes as a shock to me, especially considering that I cook stir fry every week! Well, today we will change that.

This recipe makes enough for four servings, which is great for meal prep, or if you like to eat leftovers like I do. Feel free to use other types of mushrooms, add tofu, other veggies, etc. As long as you keep the proportion somewhat the same, you should be alright :)

Udon Noodle Stir Fry With Oyster Mushroom

Easy and hearty stir-fry made with chewy Udon noodles and delicious oyster mushroom

  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil
  • 1 red onion (diced)
  • 5 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
  • 1 long red chilli (sliced)
  • 1 broccoli (cut into florets)
  • 2 carrots (sliced)
  • 400 g oyster mushrooms
  • 1/4 cup vegetarian oyster sauce
  • 1 tbsp light soy sauce
  • 2 packet of udon noodles
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • Ground pepper
  1. Heat oil in a wok over high heat. Add onion. Stir-fry for a couple of minutes or until softened. Add garlic and chilli. Stir-fry for another minute until garlic is fragrant.
  2. Add broccoli florets and carrot slices then add vegetarian oyster sauce and soy sauce. Stir-fry for two minutes until the vegetables are just tender.
  3. Add the Udon noodles and toss using tongs for 1-2 minutes or until heated through.
  4. Remove from heat and drizzle with sesame oil.
  5. Add a pinch pepper, taste and adjust seasoning.
  6. Serve with chopped fresh chili.

If you make this, I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment below or find me on Instagram and share your creation. Don’t forget to tag me @passionatelykeren so I won’t miss your post.

Keren x

The Chocolate Yogi - Oscar Bar

Eat Chocolate, Save Orangutans

Have you heard?

The Chocolate Yogi is running a competition where you can win a year’s worth of vegan chocolateThat’s a lot of belly-filling chocolate!

The Chocolate Yogi - Oscar Bar

For those who came in late, The Chocolate Yogi is a Vegan Chocolate Company and Social Enterprise in Australia with a mission to change the world, one healthy chocolate bar at a time.

They currently donate 10 cents from every bar sold to Sea Shepherd to protect whales in the Southern Ocean, and have raised over 10,000 dollars for that cause in the past six months.

And now they’re supporting another charity that is very close to my heart, The Orangutan Project. The Orangutan Project is a charity with a mission to ensure the survival of both Sumatran and Bornean Orangutan species in their natural habitat.

They purchase tracts of rainforest land in Sumatra and Borneo, in Indonesia, for the purpose of protecting the forest and running Orangutan Sanctuaries for orphaned and injured Orangutans affected by the Palm Oil Industry.

Being born and raised in Indonesia I’m very well aware of the destruction the Palm Tree business has on Orangutans. Six thousand Orangutans are killed every year! The Orangutan Project has been working hard to prevent the extinction of this vulnerable species and halt the destruction of their habitat.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5atm_6xjBC0[/embedyt]

Now the team at The Chocolate Yogi want to raise at least $30,000 for the Orangutan Project in the next 12 months, to help fund the purchase and protection of more land.  With $30,000 they can purchase 100,000 hectares of land!

And this is where you come in!  The Chocolate Yogi has launched The Orangutan Project Fundraising Competition starting from this 1st September.

They’ve released a mini Orangutan chocolate bar (about the size of Frogs chocolate bar if you’re familiar with those) and they will be donating 5 cents from every bar sold to The Orangutan Project.

The Chocolate Yogi - Oscar Bar

The Chocolate Yogi - Oscar Bar

The competition will run for 8 weeks, and they want you to spread the word for this project and put yourself in the running to win a year’s worth of chocolate. All you need to do is:

  1. Take a selfie with the Oscar Orangutan bar(s) and post it to Facebook or Instagram.
  2. Tag and follow @thechocolateyogi
  3. Tag the photo with #Orangutanselfie to enter to win a year’s worth of vegan chocolate. The photo with the most votes/likes wins.

That’s it! Now get yourself some chocolate and start saving Orangutans.

The Chocolate Yogi - Oscar Bar

Keren x

Self Care. And why you should do it.

I’m a natural-born people pleaser.

I have always sought to please others: doing things to help them out and to impress them. To make them like me.

But as I became more and more overwhelmed doing things for other people and not having enough time to look after myself, I realised something.

At the end of the day, no one really cares about you.

I know this sounds negative but hear me out. What I’m trying to say is that no one can care about you as much as you yourself do.

Sure you’ve got your parents, friends, and partners who love you and are always happy to help you from time to time. But the truth is, you’re never at the top of anyone else’s minds, whether it’s friends, family or otherwise.

If you don’t put your own well-being and happiness before others, no one else will.

How much time do you spend on you?

How often do we block time in the calendar for ourselves? We fill our schedules with work and meetings but we hardly think that we are important enough to dedicate time to ourselves in our own schedules.

If you don’t fill your time with your own priorities, others will fill it in for you.

And I’ve been there. Overwhelmed and burnt out, busy as hell and yet I felt like I’ve accomplished nothing. All those times I was living for others, I had forgotten about me, and what’s really important for myself.

And so I started saying no to others, and started saying “yes” more often to myself.

“Yes” to making time to eat well, to exercising, to meditating, to taking long walks at the beach, to getting massages, to journaling, and, above all, to spending time with myself.

Self-care is not selfish

I believe that caring for yourself is extremely important for our health, happiness and productivity.

Self-care is about putting yourself first but it is not at all selfish. It’s about identifying your own physical, emotional and spiritual needs and taking steps to meet them. It is about taking the time to take proper care of yourself and treating yourself as kindly as you try to treat others.

I’m being reminded of this necessity as the pressure of work, life, and business build up. Not just saying no to people and opportunities in order to focus on what’s really important to me, but to stop trying so hard to be the perfect wife, daughter, worker, colleagues, friend, etc., and treating myself with love and care as I do others.

So friends, if you’re feeling overwhelmed and stressed out, take a moment to step back and ask yourself – are you looking after yourself and not just others?

Because if it’s not you, then who? If it’s not now, then when?

Sending you lots of love.

Keren x

Nutty Vegan Choc Bites

Today I want to share a super quick and easy raw vegan chocolate recipe I think you will love. It is my “go to” recipe whenever I’m craving chocolate. It is delicious and very satisfying, chewy and tastes a bit like coconut-rough.  There’s something distinctly nostalgic about these beauties.

This recipe only has six ingredients and requires no cooking. You just need to make sure the coconut oil is in liquid form. If the oil is solid, you will need to heat it slightly either using a small pan over the stove or in the microwave.

I’ve made this a few times, already, using a variety of nuts and sweeteners, and they’ve all worked. Just keep in mind that you will get more fudgy texture when you use syrup or dates as opposed to sugar.

If you’re of the experimental mindset then you’ll love the recipe. It is quite foolproof so feel free to experiment with the sweetener/oat/nut component. Perhaps use desiccated coconut or quinoa flakes, instead of oats, or even a mixture of both. Or use cashews, macadamias or walnuts instead of almonds, or a mixture of your favourite nuts. The sky is the limit.

Nutty Vegan Choc Bites

A super easy and quick recipe for deliciously nutty, raw, vegan, chocolate bites.

  • 1/2 cup cacao powder
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil (melted)
  • 1/4 cup of your favourite sweetener (coconut sugar, coconut nectar, maple syrup, dates, stevia, Natvia, Norbu, etc)
  • 1 cup rolled oats*
  • 1/2 cup raw almonds (or your favourite nuts)
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  1. Process the oats, almond, sweetener (maple syrup, coconut sugar or dates) and salt in food processor until crumbly.
  2. Mix melted coconut oil with cacao powder. Add to the oat nut mixture and process again until combined.
  3. Scoop chocolate mixture into silicone mini muffin mould and flatten the surface using the back of a teaspoon. Alternatively, you can also pour into a baking pan (if you use a pan, make sure to cut them into squares before cooling).
  4. Pop in the fridge for at least 20 minutes to set.

You can really creative with this recipe: swap oats with desiccated coconut, rice puffs, or quinoa flakes and use your favourite nuts instead of almond.

If you make this, I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment below or find me on Instagram and share your creation. Don’t forget to tag me @passionatelykeren so I won’t miss your post.

Keren x

5 Tips On How To Get Rid Of Food Guilt

Guilt: A cognitive or an emotional experience that occurs when a person believes or realizes—accurately or not—that he or she has compromised his or her own standards of conduct or has violated a moral standard and bears significant responsibility for that violation. (source:  Wikipedia)

…..

I used to feel guilty after eating… Maybe not all the time, but a lot of the time

I would feel guilty after eating some chips at a party or some ice-cream after dinner. At one point I even started to feel guilty after eating bread!

It’s a tricky situation because on one hand I knew that I shouldn’t be so harsh on myself. Afterall, I eat fairly well most of the time and I exercise regularly too. But on the other hand I just couldn’t help myself.

So I decided to do something about it.

How t

I mean, as I food blogger I’m continually surrounded by food. I cook them, shoot them, photograph them, talk about them, and eat them. It’s what I love to do.

So I want to, I need to, stop beating myself up everytime I eat something more that a salad or a smoothie. I need to be at peace with myself and with the food I’m eating, whatever it might be.

Though it’s still an ongoing journey for me, I can gladly say that I’ve made huge progress. No more self-loathing and shame after eating, well, most of the time anyway. Occasionally shame creeps in, but I can quickly recognise it’s face and kick it out the door. What’s interesting is that, since I made a conscious effort to stop feeling guilty after eating, I’ve eaten less bad food as a result. Go figure.

So I thought I should share some of the lessons I’ve learned from overcoming this ‘food guilt’. If you have guilt and shame issue in relation to food (or you know someone who does), this post might be helpful to you. You too can free yourself of shame and self-loathe after eating anything. No complicated formula, just a few simple tips and tricks.

But first, let’s dig down to the root of the problem.

Why do people feel guilty after eating?

I think it all boils down to these two things:

  1. They don’t feel like they deserve or have earned the meal
  2. They ate something they themselves or the society, generally, label as ‘bad’

When you eat something that you haven’t ‘earned’ or think as ‘bad’ food, you feel like you have rebelled against your better judgement and it triggers that feeling of guilt.

On top of that, our parents, TV, and magazines are all telling that we need to ‘watch what we eat’, ‘not eat too much or we’ll get fat’, and we should be ‘good’.

And we know than when they say ‘good’. They don’t just mean being healthy, but also being ‘slim’.

No wonder so many women around the world have food guilt issues!

But here’s the truth. And it is also the reason why I no longer feel guilty after eating, be it a bowl of ice-cream at 11pm or a warm choc chip hot cross bun slathered thickly with vegan butter…hmmm.

The truth is that: Your health is not defined by just one meal. It is defined by everything else you do. Like getting enough sleep for example, or exercising, or if you’re me, spending an hour every Sunday making green smoothies for the week ahead.

Sure there’s always something ‘better’ or ‘healthier’ to eat. But if you’ve already plan on having pizza night with your friends, then you may as well enjoy it. Tomorrow is a new day. The next meal is a new day.

That said, I believe that it also important to know the difference between feeling guilty to feeling ill, bloated or any other adverse physiological reactions your body have on a particular food, in which case you need to stop eating the food in question and consult your doctor!

As for the psychology part, here’s my tips for getting rid of your food guilt. They work for me so they may work for you too.

1. Earn your meal

If you don’t want to feel guilty after a meal, then you need to work for it. Make it a reward for a task, be it exercise, assignment or any task you wish to complete. It’s very simple and yet so effective. Just think of a celebratory lunch or dinner you had after completing an exam or a gruelling project. Did you feel bad after that event? Probably not.

I remember a couple of weeks ago I earned my weekend lunch (a burger and chips) by walking down to the beach (at least twenty minutes’ hustle) to get it, and then walking back uphill after. It felt good. It felt like I’ve earned my lunch and then some.

I also think that all that walking made food taste so much better. You know what they say, the greater the effort the sweeter the reward.

Try it. Next time you want to eat something indulgent, try to earn it and feel the difference.

2. Make it healthier

Most of the time you feel guilty when you’re eating junk food. So why not make it healthier so you can feel better about it?

And you don’t even have to make a massive change. It can be as small as reducing the portion size or making some minor adjustment to the meal.

Take a burger, for example. There’s no reason why you can’t make a burger healthier while still retaining the delicious taste: perhaps swap the burger patties with mushroom, or skip the burger bun, or ditch the dairy and replace it with hummus or avocado instead, or maybe you can simply ask for extra salad.

These changes, although small, can significantly reduce the guilt feeling you have after the meal.

3. Believe in yourself

In other words, follow your own intuition.

Would you believe if I say that when you allow yourself to can eat whatever you feel like, whenever you feel like it, you’ll end up wanting a variety of food, not just the bad stuff?

No? You don’t think you can be trusted? Then answer this question: “What do you normally have for breakfast”?

You know that you can have chocolate cake for breakfast everyday right? No one is preventing you.

The fact that most of us don’t eat chocolate cake everyday proofs that our intuition is working and that we all have the ability to listen to what our bodies needs. We just need to take those intuitions with us and pay more attention to it. Everything we crave is exactly what our bodies need, including that occasional chocolate bar.

4. See food differently

Food can mean so many things to people. But when it comes down to the basic definition of food, it just means sustenance. All the things we eat, we eat them to stay alive.

Though some food may give us more pleasure than basic survival needs, they all have the same purpose, to keep us moving. Just like the air we breathe and the water we drink.

When you see food in this way, you realise that there is no need to feel guilty over an indulgent meal. The energy has been transferred from the food to your body, your body will metabolise it as best it can and prepare itself for the next meal.

Life goes on. You’ll have plenty of opportunity to to nourish your body again, and again.

5. Be grateful

Last and not least, just be grateful.

Instead than feeling guilty after having a delicious dessert, be grateful for what you have – food.

Yes it is a cliché, but it is so for a reason. A lot of people can’t afford food let alone worry about calories, sugar, fat, grains, non-organic ingredients, whatever. Be grateful that you’re here now, able to eat and enjoy food. You’re still alive. Calories can be burned but you can’t re-live your life. So enjoy it.

And if you’re finding it hard to keep a positive mindset, then maybe learning about the Nocebo effect can change your mind.

Have you heard of Nocebo effect? It is essentially the opposite of Placebos. Placebos induce a positive, beneficial effect, Nocebos induce an adverse effect. And it’s all psychological! Cue the song Zombie here… ‘in your head….in your head… zombie.. zombie…zombie..’

So watch those thoughts. Don’t add unnecessary nocebo effects to your bodies. Better yet, embrace the placebo effect and believe that there’s nothing to worry about. And there’s nothing to be ashamed of.

Because there is no shame in enjoying food.

I hope you’ve found this post helpful. With my wedding only three weeks away, this also serves me as reminder as I prepare for the day, to not stress out every time I indulge and eat a cookie here and there.

If you have any food guilt story or tips you wish to share, leave it in the comment below, I’d love to hear from you.

xKeren

 

Vegan Pear Cake

What could be a better way to rekindle my old love for pears than making a Vegan Pear Cake? I honestly can’t remember the last time I had pears before last week. It could have been six months or even a whole year. They had kinda fallen off my radar until I started painting a few months ago.

Did I tell you I started painting again? It’s been quite a learning process! I will write a post about it one day. Maybe next week.

I actually bought the pears just to use as a model for my still-life painting. But after finishing the painting, I took a bite of the halved pear and, boy oh boy, I had forgotten how heavenly pears taste!

It was tender, juicy and sweet. It almost feels like meeting an old friend again. All the memories of wonderful moments together start to resurface and you wonder ‘how could we ever have lost touch?’

Pear and banana cake

That’s it. For the rest of the season I’m putting pears on my weekly shopping list. It’s a lovely, versatile and easy-to-use fruit and I want to use it more. Be prepared to see some expearimentation on the blog in the near future.

I’m looking forward to it already.

As for this Pear Cake, its very easy to make (you know me… I like easy). Just slice the pears and lay them on the base of the cake tin (I use a bundt tin but a normal tin would be easier to work with). Mix the dry ingredients, blend the wet ingredients, combined the two together, bake and voila, you have yourself a lovely Vegan Pear Cake.

Pear Cake

A cake for all pear lovers out there.

Pears

  • 4 pears

Dry

  • 1 1/2 cup wholemeal flour*
  • 1/2 cup oat flour**
  • 1/2 cup almond meal
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp bicarb soda
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt

Wet

  • 1 1/2 cup soy milk
  • 1 ripe banana
  • 1/2 cup coconut sugar
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp <a href="http://www.beyondlatte.com.au">Beyond Latte</a> (or replaced with 1 tsp ground ginger)
  1. Preheat oven to 180°C fan, and grease the sides and base of a 24 cm cake tin.
  2. Slice one pear thinly and arrange it in the base of the cake tin. Slice or chop the remaining pears into about 1 cm chunks and set aside.
  3. Add almond meal into a large bow. Sift remaining dry ingredients on top and stir to combine.
  4. Blend wet ingredients in the blender. Pour onto dry ingredients and gently stir until just combined.
  5. Fold through pears gently (careful not to over mix), then spoon the mixture into the tin carefully so you (don’t disturb your pear arrangement). Spread the top out flat with a spatula.
  6. Bake for 35-45 minutes until a wooden skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
  7. Remove from the oven and leave in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn upside down onto a wire rack and carefully remove the base. Leave to cool before slicing
  8. Serve sprinkled with almond meal and icing sugar if desired. I like to have mine with a dollop of vegan lemon cream cheese.

*You can replace the different flour with plain flour or gluten free flour to make it gluten-free
**You can make oat flours by blending rolled oats in a blender for a few minutes until fine crumb

If you make this, I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment below or find me on Instagram and share your creation. Don’t forget to tag me @passionatelykeren so I won’t miss your post.

Also, do you have any ideas what I should make with my weekly pear haul? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Keren x

Pear Cake