Healthier Carrot Cake (wholemeal flour)

I fell in love with carrot cakes from the first moment I tried one a few years ago. But this was still pretty late in my life – I was over 20. I think that the idea of baking a cake with a vegetable was in Poland at least pretty foreign for many years ;-) 

But my obsession started when I tried an  a m a z i n g  carrot cake while I was in Monterey, California. The cake was absolutely incredible: moist, heavy but heavenly! Since then I was on a search for the perfect recipe. I tried lots of different ones but have never been completely satisfied. And then one day I decided to do it my way: healthier (wholemeal flour and addition of apples) and lighter (little sugar and low-fat cream cheese). The result was incredible - my whole family agreed that was the best carrot cake I had ever baked!

P.S. If you don’t have to count calories, cut the baked and cooled down cake into two horizontal parts, double the amount of icing ingredients and use half of the prepared icing to spread on one half of the cake. Cover with the second half of the cake and spread the rest of icing on top of it.

INGREDIENTS:

350g grated carrots,

150g apples cut into small pieces,

200g wholemeal flour,

80g dark muscovado sugar,

2 tsp baking soda,

1 tsp salt,

1 tsp cinnamon,

1 tsp gingerbread spices (or mixture of equal amounts of ground cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves),

70ml rapeseed oil,

3 eggs,

5 tbsp milk,

50g raisins,

Icing:

100g low-fat cream cheese,

1 tbsp soft butter,

1 cup icing sugar,

1 tsp vanilla extract.

METHOD:

1. Grease a 20-24 cm diameter round baking tin and put a greaseproof paper on the bottom of it.
2. Preheat an oven to 180 degrees.
3. In a big bowl mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, gingerbread spices and cinnamon.
4. In another bowl beat together the oil, eggs, milk and add to the dry ingredients, stir quickly only until everything is combined.
5. Add the carrots, apples, raisins; stir again.
6. Pour the batter to the tin and bake for 25-30 min. (until a wooden stick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean) and take it out from the oven.
7. Let it rest for 10 min. in a baking tin and then on a wire rack until it cools completely.
8. To make the icing, beat the cream cheese with butter till combined, add the icing sugar and vanilla.
9. Spread the icing on top of the cold cake.

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Calories - how many calories should I eat per day and why so few ;-)

When I have asked some people if they knew how many calories per day they needed, I have often heard “I don’t know, about 2000?”. I wasn’t surprised as this figure is used when recommended daily intake of nutrients is calculated and then included on food labels. But is the 2000 kcal correct amount for each of us? We are all different: some of us are woman, some man, some of us are very active, some have a very sedentary lifestyle and that is why each of us needs a different amount of a daily calories intake.

Estimating how many calories per day we need is fairly simple; but before we move to the calculation, we should understand what we need the calories for:

• Basal metabolism – energy needed for our body to perform basic functions (e.g. breathing, heart beating, maintaining the body temperature). As much as 60-80% of total calories are used by our bodies on basal metabolism - I was very surprised when I learnt it. But I was even more surprised when I found out that a slim person resting will burn more calories than an obese one because muscles need more energy than fat does. To calculate your basal metabolism you have to multiply your weight in kg by 22, if you are a woman or by 24.2 if you are a man.

• Physical activity – energy needed for being active depends on our lifestyle

     * Sedentary (less than 2 hours of mild activity (slow movement/standing) per day) - 30% of basal          metabolism calories,

      * Average (2-4h of mild activity per day) - 50% of basal metabolism calories,

      * Active (more than 4 hours of activity per day) -75% of basal metabolism.

• Dietary thermogenesis – energy needed to eat and digest food as well as to absorb nutrients. It amounts to 10% of total calories for basal metabolism and physical activity.
• Other factors like our height, health, muscles can influence the calories we daily require by +/-10%.

Let’s take an example of a woman weighing 65kg, leading an averagely active lifestyle:

Basal metabolism                                          65*22=   1.430 kcal

Activity calories - average lifestyle           1.430*50%=       715 kcal

Dietary thermogenesis                 (1.430+715)*10%=      214 kcal

Total                                                                          2.359 kcal

Other factors                                 2.359*(+/-10%)= +/- 236 kcal

so her daily calorie intake should fall between 2.123 kcal and 2.595 kcal.

If maths has never been your strongest subject ;-) or if you would like to find out more about recommended intake of nutrients for you, please take a shortcut and check this link.

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Healthy Diet - how to eat to live happily (and healthily) ever after

Healthy diet means probably something slightly different to each of us. Some people will say it is about reducing salt or saturated fat intake, others - that about eating more fruits and vegetables. So who is right? Possibly all of these answers are correct because there is not just one way of eating healthy. But to make sure our way is, we shouldn't concentrate on one aspect of our diet only, we should take a holistic approach and remember about these key characteristics of any healthy diet:  

• Adequacy – everyday we should eat sufficient amounts of food from each of the nutrient groups: carbohydrates, protein, fats, vitamins and minerals (so no point of avoiding carbohydrates ;-))

• Balance – on daily basis we should eat food that represents each of the food groups: proteins, grains, pulses, dairy, vegetables and fruit,

• Variety – it is better to consume many different ingredients in small portions than a few in big quantities and also

• Correct amounts of calories and nutrients

If we follow all of the above guidelines, we can be sure our diet will provide us with adequate nutrients that will promote our health and if not prevent, then at least reduce a risk of chronic diseases.

And what about “bad” food? Having an occasional exception (read sinful (read: unhealthy) food) from the rule of maintaining the healthy diet is alright as long as this is an exception and not the rule: because there are no “bad” foods, there are only bad diets.

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Baked Autumn Vegetables with Quinoa (vegetarian/vegan)

Everybody in my family loves pumpkins/squashes. In autumn I often cook soups made of roasted pumpkin and when I take it out from the oven, I have to guard the baking tray to ensure I don’t have to quickly come up with another idea for lunch ;-) 

This recipe is based on the favourite roasted squash but I also included here some other vegetables and chanterelles. So apart from sweet pumpkin, we have in this dish nutty parsnip and earthy chanterrelles combined with crunchy pumpkin seeds. The dish could be served with rice or barley but if you prefer to have a vegetarian dish (or even vegan, if you omit the Parmesan) with complete protein (containing all essential amino acids), serve it with quinoa.

INGREDIENTS (4 portions):

1 butternut squash (or pumpkin) weighing 1-1.3kg, peeled and cut into 2-3cm chunks,

200g chanterelles, cleaned,

2 red onions cut into eights,

3 parsnips, peeled and cut into 2-3cm chunks,

8 garlic cloves, peeled,

2-3 tbsp olive oil,

1.5tsp thyme,

1 cup quinoa,

a drizzle of olive oil,

2 cups water or vegetable stock,

2 tbsp toasted pumpkin seeds,

2 tbsp pumpkin seed oil,

1 tbsp white wine vinegar,

salt and pepper,

2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

METHOD:

1. Preheat an oven to 180 Celsius degrees (fan).
2. Put the butternut squash, parsnips, onions and garlic to a shallow oven proof dish and sprinkle it with the 2-3 tbsp olive oil, sea salt, pepper and thyme, mix well (best done with your hands). Cover the dish with a lid (or aluminium foil) and place in the hot oven.
3. After 30 minutes take it out from the oven, add the chanterelles and stir gently. Put the dish back to the oven (uncovered) for another 30 minutes.
4. In the meantime prepare the quinoa: put it to a fine mesh strainer, rinse it well (for at least 1 minute) under running water and drain well. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a pot over a medium heat and fry the drained quinoa for about 1 minute till the rest of water evaporates. Add water or stock, 0.25 tsp salt and bring to boil. Lower the heat and cook covered for approx. 15 minutes. Take it out from the heat and let it rest covered for 5 minutes more. Fluff the quinoa with a fork.
5. When the vegetables are ready serve them on a bed of quinoa, sprinkled with pumpkin seed oil, a dash of white wine vinegar and Parmesan.

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Grilled Goat's Cheese and Fig Salad (vegetarian)

This recipe was inspired by a grilled goat’s cheese salad I used to have in one of restaurants every time I went there. Their dish was served with Iceberg lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers and was very, very good. 

But I decided to make my own version and combine two of my favourite ingredients: salty goat’s cheese and sweet figs. In this recipe I grill the figs along with the goat’s cheese but I am sure it would be equally good with raw figs. The sweet and sour dressing unites all the ingredients and the toasted almonds add crunch so everything together makes a delicious salad perfect for lunch or even lighter dinner!

INGREDIENTS (4 portions):

300- 400 g soft goat’s cheese (for grilling) cut into 4 slices,

4 slices of bread (baguette) cut into the size and shape of the cheese,

6-8 fresh figs cut into quarters,

150g rocket,

4 tbsp sliced almonds,

1tsp honey,

Dressing:

4 tbsp olive oil,

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar,

1tbsp honey,

1tbsp pomegranate molasses.

METHOD:

1. Preheat a grill to high.
2. On a baking tray place slices of bread with slices of the goat’s cheese on top.
3. Smear the cut sides of figs with honey (you can do it with your fingers) and put on the baking tray.
4. Put the baking tray under the hot grill for a few minutes (total time will depend on the grill but it is better to check it after 3 min. to make sure the cheese does not burn).
5. Wash and dry the rocket, divide it into 4 plates.
6. Dry-fry the sliced almonds till golden.
7. Mix all the dressing ingredients.
8. When the top of the cheese is golden, take everything out from the oven.
9. Arrange the grilled cheese and figs on the rocket; pour the dressing over the salad and sprinkle it with the toasted almonds.

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Bad Beginning of a (Nice) Adventure - about Physical Education in Polish schools several years ago (and hopefully not now)

Physical Education was a subject at school that I always hated. Straight A’s from everything else and barely D from PE. I was slim, I was healthy and fit so why? When I think about it now I know it was due to Polish educational system and my teachers. PE wasn’t about being active and having loads of fun, it was about passing tests. I can still remember how at the beginning of elementary school my best friend and I tried to throw a 3kg ball behind us to score A. And however hard we tried, we never managed to achieve that since we were so skinny, we could barely hold the ball above our heads. Or later when we were learning how to play volleyball and our teacher right at the beginning of that school year picked a few girls who were afterwards properly trained to represent our school at tournaments and the rest of us were just given a ball to kill time with. Of course at the end of the semester we had to pass tests from playing volleyball and I guess you know who was not doing well then ;-) And since I did not like the feeling of doing badly, I hated Physical Education even more.

My daughters have been attending international schools and that is why I have had a chance to see a completely different system of physical education. It focuses on making sure pupils are active and engaged. It realizes not everyone is going to be a champion but everyone should be given opportunity to try different sports. It grades students on the basis of approach to the subject and not achievements.  It results in students loving their PE classes and I am sure it also results later in adults treating physical activity and fitness not as a must but as a normal part of a balanced lifestyle.

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