Valentine’s day is almost here, so I thought I’d give you a nice and easy recipe to make for you and your lover! ..or for the people you love and you want to share them with. Because that is what Valentine’s Day is for me, a day to celebrate love! Celebrate the love between you and you partner, you and your family, you and your friends or you and your guinea pig.. it’s all alright. I don’t like the commercial side of Valentine’s Day. The glittery hearts, sugary sweets and the teddy bears you have no idea what to do with. I rather make the people I love something nice, and put all my love in there. I’ll give them cards to express what I feel for them. Not that the 14th of February is the only day I’ll do that, but why not celebrate a day of love? This world needs all the love you can spread! Now make these easy no-bake chocolate hearts. They’re delicious.. and healthy!
SOULMATES
Serves: 12-15 pieces
filling
1/3 cup walnuts
1/2 cup soft dates (pitted)
1/4 cup desiccated coconut
1/2 tbs chia seed
2 tbs coconut oil.
1/2 tbs cocoa powder
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of salt.
sprinkles
1 tbs shredded coconut
a drop of beetroot juice
chocolate sauce
1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)
1 tbs agave nectar
1/2 tsp vanille extract
1/4 cup cacao
pinch of salt
-Put all the filling ingredients in a food processor until it’s sticky.
-Make little heart shapes using your hands or use a heart-shaped cookie cutter.
-Put them in the fridge for 30 min and in the meantime make the sprinkles and chocolate sauce.
-Mix 1 tbs of shredded coconut with 1/2 tsp of beetroot juice. Then carefully mix it with the left over coconut.
-Mix all the ingredients of the chocolate sauce together until smooth.
-Dip the hearts into the chocolate and make sure they’re all covered. Then use a fork to lift them out and place the chocolate covered hearts on a try with baking paper.
-Sprinkle the pink/white coconut over the heart before the chocolate is dry.
-Put them in the fridge overnight or for about an hour.
Even if you’re not into Valentine’s Day, I’m sure you’ll enjoy these yummy bites.. and so will your lover or whoever you want to share them with! Please let me know when you’ve tried them. You can do this in a comment below.. or you can tag me or use #PlanetManel on Instagram. Thank you! X
My favourite drink this winter (and I’m sure I’ll drink this all year around) is definitely the Chai Latte. You ca find this delicious drink in a lot of cafes and restaurants nowadays. Only 1 problem.. the Chai powder they use, almost all contain cows milk. Hmmm.. Not cool! This is why I make it myself a lot and I thought, I will give you this little recipe too. It’s hardly called a recipe though, because I don’t want to tell you how to make tea. I just have to share this with you, as it’s super yummy. I’m sure you will love it! The only thing you need is a good Chai tea (Clipper – Love Me Truly / Yogi – Green Chai), the best milk there is (
It’s coooldd!! I don’t like cold.. my body is just not made for the cold. I swear I’ll move to a warmer country one day. Until then, I better find way s to keep myself warm. What do you think of some warm comforting porridge? Sounds good, doesn’t it?! This week I present you a sweet, but fruity porridge. Porridge is a great way to start your morning (or your afternoon.. or you evening..). It’s filling and it’s energy releases slowly, what makes sure it keeps you going for longer. So if you have a busy day ahead, porridge really is the best. This porridge is very yummy, with a lovely apricot sauce. Apricots contain vitamin A and that’s important, especially in the winter. Without vitamin A, you can’t absorb vitamin D. We get vitamin D from sunlight, but as there isnt’t sufficient sunlight in the winter you need to try to be in the sun as much as you can. However, if you do not have enough vitamin A in your body, you’re wasting your chance to take in vitamin D. So pour lots of this goodness over your porridge.
COSY WINTER
Who loves pastries? Me! Basically everything with pastry dough is delicious. You can make savoury things and sweet things, it doesn’t matter, it will taste define. For this recipes I chose sweet, because I will make them this weekend when me and my family are celebrating the last day of the year and the beginning of a new one. In Holland we also make something called ‘oliebollen’. It’s hard to explain what it is. It looks like cake, but it’s fried. They’re very yummy and (in Holland) typical to eat on the last day of the year. I’d love to post a recipe for ‘oliebollen’, but because my dad will make them this Saturday and it’s quite a happening, you won’t have enough time to get the ingredients and make them. So this will be a recipe for next year! These pastries will be a good alternative for now and they’re super easy and yummy! I especially like the cinnamon rolls..
A-PPLE BITES
B-ANANA BITES
C-INNAMON BITES
It’s almost Christmas! Are you reeaaady?! I wasn’t really, as I wanted to post this recipe a little earlier, but I didn’t have enough time. Sorry guys! Are you a real Christmas fan or do you think it’s all a bit too much? I personally really like Christmas, especially buying the presents and making a nice Christmas dinner for my family. At first my dad, my sister and I always made it together. My sister and I did the starter or the dessert and my dad did the main, but lately me and my sister are doing everything, what is nice too. My sister is really good at making desserts, so I decided to do the rest. I chose to do some simple things and also we’re just going to 
put everything on the table, instead of making every single plate. We did this because it’ll be a lot easier with 8 people and you can just take the things you like best. Now you’re probably curious about what I’m going to make? I’ll make a dill-beetroot salad and stuffed sweet potatoes from the oven, but there will also be lots of other veggies on the table like brussel sprouts, pumpkin, green beans, corn cobs and broccoli. Yum! If you don’t know what to make for Christmas yet, then this might inspire you. It’s easy to make, it doesn’t involve hours in the kitchen and it’s quite on budget too.. oh and did I say it’s delicious?!
BLOODY SALAD
STUFFED SWEETY PIES
Are you having a Christmas dinner with family and/or friends?What are you going to make (or eat) ? If you didn’t decide yet, then this is a good option, also if you’re bringing (a vegan option) something when you’ve been invited. Or maybe you can make it for New Years evening?! Or whenever you feel like it of course.. haha! Please let me know if you decided to make these recipes! You can do this by leaving a comment below or by showing me on Instagram using #PlanetManel. Thank you! X
I think risotto is a nice comfort food, but served nicely it’s also quite a nice meal to serve for a dinner party (or Xmas?!). Last year for Christmas I actually served fried risotto balls, what was a huge success. This risotto recipe is very simple, but oh so delicious as it includes butternut squash from the oven, so yummy! The nutritional yeast will give a little cheesy flavour to the risotto, what goes so well with the squash. I can personally eat this every day, haha.. it’s super easy and doesn’t need lots of preparation, whilst you’re creating a super tasty meal. Please let me know if you decide to give this a go!
SQUASHOTTO
In the Netherlands, every year, we celebrate ‘Sinterklaas’. A lot of people confuse this Dutch tradition with Christmas. Some people even think we celebrate Christmas earlier in the Netherlands, but Sinterklaas is very much separate from Christmas. Though there are similarities: It’s both in December, Sinterklaas en Santa Claus do look like each other a bit, it’s important you’ve been good all year, it’s also with presents and nice food and children love it. We celebrate Sinterklaas on the 5th of December, but as we officially welcome him to the Netherlands about 2 weeks before this date, there is something else we do. You can put your shoe in front of the fireplace, sing a song, leave some treats for his horse and write him a letter if you like. The next morning it’s swapped for a present. So exciting for children!
On the day itself a lot of people have a nice meal together and after that it’s time.. The presents are waiting at the door and somebody(a family member, friend or neighbour for example) will ring or knock the door really loud. Children will run to the door and of course there is nobody there. When the presents are all inside it’s time to open them and it’s just so much fun! A typical sweet what is given by his helpers, are ‘pepernoten’. It’s like little biscuits. They’re delicious! I thought it would be nice to give you a little recipe today for a ‘pepernoten milkshake’. Very simple, very yummy!
It’s nice by itself, as a starter or a side.. Soup is always good! And I don’t think I only speak for myself if I say rich creamy soups are the best. Soup is perfect for a rainy autumn day or for when it’s snowing in the winter, but to be honest, I think soup is always a good idea! This soup makes me very very happy. I combined 2 of my favourite things: Sweet potatoes and coconut cream. Before I even made this recipe I knew it was going to be heavenly. And I was right. It’s so creamy, full of flavour, filling and very healthy. Does this sound good to you? Where are you waiting for?
serves: 2
-Preheat the oven to 200C.
The easiest breakfast ever! You probably heard about overnight porridge already. It’s the best, easiest, tastiest, fastest breakfast you can make and it’s also nutritious and it releases its energy slowly. What more do you want?! The recipe I’m giving you is quite a basic recipe, but it’s how I make it. You can make lots of varieties, but let’s start with this. I always put some chia see in mine, so it’ll be a bit like a chia pudding too. Chia seed is full of fiber, protein, omega-3 and it has various micronutrients. This makes it a perfect way to start your day. The best is that it’s very easy to make. You make it before you go to sleep (will only take 1 minute, don’t worry!) and it’ll be ready for you the next morning. What means that even when you’re in a rush, you can still enjoy a nutritious breakfast what will keep you going all morning.
CHIA LOVES OATY
When it’s Autumn and Winter is on it’s way people start to get colds. I always get really annoyed when people think it’s because of the cold outside. Having a cold and a cough comes from a virus. Being outside in the cold is actaully beneficial, especially for preventing them. The reason that people start having colds and coughs when it’s getting colder ouside is becuase the heatings will be turned on. The dry air and warmth it gives is unhealthy and it’s possible for viruses to spread quickly. People are taking the bus and tube more and then only one person has to sneeze and the people around that person are doomed. Unless you have a very good immune system (like most vegans, yay!). The ‘Cough Rememdy’ recipe is not only helpful when you already have a cough, but it’ll also give your immune system a boost and you will be more likely to prevent it.
Serves: 1
Planet Manel 