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What do you need for Christmas baking?  A few essential ingredients are needed to make delicious cakes: flour, leaveners, fat, liquid, sweeteners and natural flavourings. The flour provides the structure for all baked goods through proteins that interact with liquids to create gluten. The flours need leaveners that create chemical reactions in your dough, causing it to expand and rise to make them lighter.   You also need some liquid and fats to combine all the ingredients in a dough.  The flavour is all up to you - spices, chocolate, dried fruits, and nuts are there for you.  Here's everything you need to buy on one shopping list.  Christmas baking pantry checklist:   Flours:  All Purpose flour, almond flour, gluten-free flour   Sugar and sweeteners: White sugar, brown sugar, icing sugar, agave, maple syrup, dates syrup   Baking spices:  Ground cinnamon, ground ginger, cloves, cardamon, anise    Nuts and dried fruits:  Walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, dried apricots, prunes, dried cranberries, dates, raisins   Leaveners: Yeast, baking powder, sodium bicarbonate - baking soda   Fats and oils:  Coconut oil, plant-based butter, sunflower oil, rapeseed oil</sp...

These delicious stuffed dates are perfect for a healthy Christmas starter or treat.

Super easy Christmas cake with raisins. Fluffy and delicious, ready in less than an hour!

Crispy and delicious side dish for your Christmas dinner. Topped with nutritional yeast for extra cheesy flavour. It takes only 30 min to make!

These energy bites are  a healthy treat option for Christmas!  Made with prunes, walnuts, cocoa and rum, packed with antioxidants and fibre. These truffles are also dairy-free, vegan, have no refined sugars.  This recipe is all you need if you're looking for healthy snacks! 

Healthy, delicious and cosy dessert for winter! With extra fibre from oats and flaxseed, it can be as well a great breakfast option.

Winter is around the corner and Christmas holiday is approaching. There wouldn't be Christmas without roasted chestnuts.  Do you ever wonder how to make roasted chestnuts at home? It may appear to be difficult. But it is actually very easy and quick. All you need is an oven, a couple of kitchen accessories and 20-30 minutes of your time.  Good quality chestnuts When buying chestnuts, make sure they are fresh and firm to touch. Good chests are quite heavy and look glossy. Make sure they don't have any bugs. Be careful, don't buy them when they are too hard or too soft which means they got dried.   Kitchen accessories You need to prepare a wooden cutting board, a small sharp knife and a baking tray.  Hot oven The key is a very hot oven! Your chestnuts must separate from their shell.  Preheat oven to 220°C and make sure your baking tray can be placed right in the middle of it.  Preparing the chestnuts While your oven it heating up, it's time to prepare your chestnuts. Hold the chestnut on the cutting board and with a a small knife, carefully make a slit down the entire middle surface, on the long side. Make sure that the inner skin of nut is cut. This way, when the chestnut is hot the steam will be released from the inside of it. If the chestnuts are not properly cut, they may explode in the oven.  Be careful, the surface of while cutting. The chestnuts shell is quite slippery....

Lighter than apple crumble, but same way tasty. Baked apples stuffed with nuts, oats and spice are simply delicious. This cozy winter dessert is very easy to make at home.

Super easy, delicious cookies, with a touch of ginger and cinnamon. These Christmas Biscuits are the perfect festive treat for the whole family.

  Christmas spices are a part of the holidays, just as are the Christmas trees, lights, treats, mulled wine and gifts.  One of the most popular Christmas spices is gingerbread mix. Featuring ground ginger , ground cinnamon , ground nutmeg , ground cloves and ground cardamon , it is commonly used for cookies and cakes during the festive season. You can easily make gingerbread spice mix at home by combining spices from our list. These winter spices will offer a festive treat for your taste buds and a beautiful aroma in your entire house. It can't be Christmas without them.  Cinnamon Cinnamon is a very popular winter spice. It is made from the bark of the Ceylon cinnamon tree. The bark is dried and rolled up to create the cinnamon stick. Ground cinnamon is usually made from cassia or Padang cinnamon. Cinnamon sticks are a great Christmas decoration!           Cloves Dried cloves have a very intense, slightly bitter flavour. Use it carefully as it has quite a high content of essential oils and can overcome other flavours. You need cloves if you want to make mince pies and gingerbread - they can't go without them. One of the lovely natural Christmas...

This gingerbread spice mix is perfect for gingerbread Christmas cookies and cakes. It will also make a great homemade Christmas gift for those who love cooking.

This spiced hot drink is usually served at Christmas markets in Europe. You can easily make it at home and enjoy during long and cold winter evenings. 

A warm drink ritual best accompanies cold winter evenings. Whether it's a cup of tea, coffee or hot chocolate, it always makes you feel good.  As we are approaching the Christmas holiday season, perhaps it's time to consider adding some spices to your drinks.  A nice cup of chai latte or a glass of mulled wine is the perfect pairing with sofa time or fireplace in the evening.  What is mulled wine? Mulled wine is sweet, warmed red wine mixed with winter spices such as cloves, cinnamon, and citrus fruit peel.  There is a mulled wine tradition in nearly every European country where it's particularly popular during Christmas time when the nights are the longest. This is when people like to gather on Christmas markets and enjoy a cup of this warming drink while outside watching festive decorations and enjoying Christmas songs and special treats.  Mulled wine goes by many names, like glögg in Scandinavia, gluhwein in Germany and Austria, vin chaud in France, and grzane wino in Poland. These days you can buy it in many supermarkets, but it is also easy to make at home.  What do you need to make mulled wine at home? When making mulled wine at home, you need to prepare a large pot and a bottle of some good wine. The wine should be fruity, slightly sweet and not too dry. You can also add some extra vermouth - which will add some bitter-sweetness. The essential ingredients are the Christmas spices, so your mulled wine is intense in flavour.  What spices do you add to mulle...

Remember the panic when the pandemic started? That time has probably taught a lot about what foods you should keep at home and how to eat in an emergency situation.  Autumn is a good time to start thinking about stocking up your kitchen pantry for winter. As we know, covid is still there, so it is better to keep some healthy staples nearby just in case of another lockdown (you never know).  The best option is always to ensure that you can keep eating healthy so you need to have some whole foods like beans, lentils, rice, flour, dried fruits, canned veggies and pasta to make your dishes healthy. With some help from herbs and spices, you can create incredible sensations in your own home kitchen. Just use your imagination and creativity.    What are the best staples I should stock in my pantry?  The answer is high-quality whole foods and healthy products. You need to eat well during hard times and stay fit.  Legumes: dried beans, lentils, chickpeas  The best foods you can stock are legumes and pulses: dried beans, dried lentils, dried chickpeas, dried peas. You can also buy canned legumes, but they tend to be less healthy (high added sugar content and salt). Legumes and pulses are packed with vitamins and minerals and are a great source of plant-based protein and fibre, meaning they are super satisfying. They are also versatile, which means you can use them in many dishes. Think of all those delicious meals you can prepare with them!  Whole grains, pasta and rice </st...

Easy to make delicious spread. Perfect for toasts, sandwiches and crackers.

Healthy and comforting salad for winter!

Warming and comforting soup made with super nutritious sweet potatoes providing you with lots of vitamins. Perfect for winter days lunches and dinners.

This salad packs a real healthy punch! Sauerkraut and beets, plus some winter spices for an extra flavour. Low in calories, loaded with folate, iron, vitamins and minerals. 

Immune-boosting, anti-inflammatory drink! A mix of powerful antioxidants and a boost from vitamin C in one glass! This carrot turmeric and ginger drink will stimulate your metabolism for faster digestion and support the healthy gut. Cheers!

This sponge matcha cake is light and fluffy.  This matcha cake is made with organic matcha powder, a green tea powder made in Japan from finely ground green tea leaves. Thanks to it, this cake has a beautiful green colour and a slightly earthy flavour.

Matcha is a type of green tea that has been consumed in Japan and China for hundreds of years. Known for it amazing health benefits, matcha can help improve your immunity system, levels of energy, skin and mind. Japanese Matcha tea is a fine powder made from green tea leaves. Like all tea, Matcha is made from the tea plant Camellia sinensis. Tea leaves grown for Matcha are specially shade-grown to enhance the chlorophyll levels and the amino acid theanine , which is thought to give the drink its deep earthy umami flavour. Matcha is traditionally prepared in a small bowl with a bamboo whisk. It can be used to create hot and cold drinks, smoothies or added to cakes and pastries. Because of its unique flavour and superfood status, it's now featured in many healthy recipes. Matcha improves immunity system The antioxidants that matcha contains protect the cells from free radicals and boost your immune system. One of the antioxidant called catechin EGEG is useful in preventing and defending the body from bacterial and viral infections. The protection from free radicals helps reduce inflammation and ease the symptoms of some long-term medical conditions such as arthritis.  <div cl...

Health benefits of chia seeds have been known for centuries. Little in size but rich in powerful nutrients - chia seeds are a very healthy ingredient and that's why should include it in your everyday diet.  Chia seeds contain a lot of protein, fibre, minerals, antioxidants and Omega 3. They not only boost your health but also help you avoid certain diseases. Adding chia seeds to your meals may help you maintain healthy bones, control blood sugar, speed up wight loss, lower total and LDL (bad) cholesterol in your blood and support a healthy heart. Chia also contains calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium, which support healthy teeth and bones.  Chia seeds are a versatile ingredient and can be used in different healthy daily dishes and drinks. They have a delicate nutty flavour that will be great for savoury and sweet meals, including smoothies, puddings, snacks, cakes, cookies.  Chia seeds topping You can use chia seeds as topping for any dish, such as soups, salads, sandwiches, pasta, granola and desserts. Simply spread a bit of it on top of your  your favourite dish, especially your morning cereals, oats with yogurt or porridge.  Chia seeds for protein shake Chia seeds are known for enhancing energy levels, so try adding them to your post-exercise protein shake. How to make chia seeds pudding Soak chia seeds in water or plant-based milk overnight. Chia seeds can become up to 12 times their original size when soaked.They will have a loose jelly texture similar to tapioca. Add spices and a bit of maple syrup, agave or stevia to make it sweeter. Enjoy with fruits!  How to make healthy &amp; tasty 'breadcrumbs' Mix chia seeds...

White sugar doesn't have any nutritional value but supplies us with extra calories. That's why more and more people are looking for healthier and natural ways to replace it. There are sugar alternatives that you can easily buy online and enjoy your meals and drinks with a little bit of sweetness that is less harmful. This list includes dates , erythritol , agave syrup , maple syrup , organic coconut sugar and stevia.   1. Dates  Dates are fruits of the date palm tree. In the Western countries mainly dried dates are consumed, that are available as: whole, pitted or chopped dates . The most popular varieties are Medjool dates and Deglet Noor dates. Dried dates are sweet and chewy with a caramel-like flavour. You can also easily buy date syrup made of heated dates mixed with water and blended into a sweet nectar. Both whole dried dates and date syrup are a great alternative for sugar in cooking and baking.  Nutritional value of dates </h4...

The world's leading nutrition experts and researchers attended NUTS 2022 conference last week to discuss the health research on nuts and dried fruits. The conference  summarised the latest evidence on health benefits of nuts and dried fruits, and the opportunities in research for the future. Health benefits of nuts and dried fruits The effects of nut and dried fruit consumption have gained traction over the last years, and supported by growing scientific evidence they have been associated with many health benefits, from cardiovascular health to insulin resistance and diabetes, weight management, lipoproteins and dyslipidemia, inflammation and oxidation, gut health, aging and cognition, and some forms of cancer. More recently, other lines of research have included fertility and nuts and dried fruits as part of sustainable diets. While some areas of research have been put into focus more than others, there is irrefutable evidence that they are nutrient-dense foods with an interesting nutritional composition. Importance of nuts and dried fruits in healthy diet The NUTS 2022 participants highlighted how a joint effort must be made to help bring awareness to the importance of including nuts and dried fruits as part of a healthy diet. The benefits of nuts are wide-ranging and include a variety of nutrients, mono- and polyunsaturated fats, fibre, vitamins, minerals, polyphenols and antioxidants, all which have a beneficial effect on health, and dried fruits contain essential nutrients and health-promoting bioactive compounds such as antioxidants. Nuts and dried fruits in prevention of diabetes Among the future lines of research discussed in the meeting, experts highlighted the potential role of nuts and dried fruits in the prevention of diabetes, which is of particular relevance in today's world. According to th...