I am really excited to be sharing this Cardamom Orange Coffee Cake recipe with you. Topped with a layer of sweet cardamom infused topping and a moist orange batter, this is the perfect cake to pair with your morning coffee or afternoon tea.

After making cardamom ice cream a while back I thought of incorporating cardamom into an orange coffee cake recipe that I have been wanting to make for quite some time. This awesome breakfast baked good is inspired by my aunt, who used to make it for me when I was little. When it comes to coffee cakes with crumb toppings I tend to decrease the amount of sugar that goes into the batter. And my aunt’s recipe was on the sweet side, so I tried to recreate that sweetness using natural ingredients.

I reduced the amount of sugar in the batter by using Florida’s Natural^® Brand Orange Juice, which is made from one simple ingredient — Florida oranges, which provides just the right amount of sweetness. And the best part? There aren’t any added sugars or preservatives. Just juice, which is how it should be. Plus, orange juice gives the batter additional nutrients, since one glass of juice provides nearly two servings of whole fruit, along with essential vitamins and minerals like vitamin C and potassium.

This Cardamom Orange Coffee Cake is perfect to pair with your morning coffee or afternoon tea. My kids actually have it as an after-school treat, with a tall glass of orange juice or milk. Either way is great!

In fact, my family devoured this coffee cake right away – two days after baking, to be exact! I actually ended up making the batter again for muffins. I added a bit of orange zest and they turned out sensational. My kids ended up taking them to school in their lunch boxes for a few days. I also love making muffins since they are so convenient and can be grabbed on the go.

If you are looking for a coffee cake recipe that is moist and infused with awesome flavors, I hope you give this Cardamom Orange Coffee Cake a try. I know you won’t be disappointed!

Enjoy!

Cardamom orange coffee cake

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 12 servings

Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

Crumb topping

• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (You can also use pecans)
• 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 cup unrefined sugar
• 2 tsp cardamom

Cake

• 2 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 1/2 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
• 1/2 cup unrefined sugar
• 1 cup Florida's Natural^® Brand Orange Juice (I used the No Pulp variety)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a square 9x9x2 baking pan. Set aside.

Add eggs, vanilla extract, melted coconut oil, sugar and orange juice in a large mixing bowl. With a wire whisk, stir until the mixture is combined. Stir in flour and baking powder.

Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan. In a small mixing bowl, mix the topping ingredients until they come together. Arrange the topping over the cake and bake for 40-50 minutes.

Let the cake cool in the pan for a few minutes before cutting and serving.

NOTE: You can add cinnamon or ginger instead of cardamom if you like. Which ever spice you like best. It will work with any of them.

The post Cardamom orange coffee cake appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

Have you started making your own oatmeal already? Let me tell you, those pre-packed store bought varieties don’t do your homemade oatmeal justice. Those pre-packed version only have tons of sugar and oats. Their flavors come from the sugar and that is about it.

The spices I used for this pecan chai oatmeal are the classic spices used to make chai tea. I could have used chai tea bags but going straight to the spices themselves I thought it would give the oatmeal a more authentic stronger flavor.

I also used Silk unsweetened almond milk, which is the milk that we mostly drink. I love the fact that Silk is enrolled in and verified by the Non-GMO Project. A little piece of mind for the family.

This pecan chai oatmeal not only is dairy-free, but cholesterol free as well as diabetic friendly. The sweetness comes from the maple syrup so if you want to adapt the recipe and use less go ahead. I thought my version wasn’t too sweet at all so adding just 1/4 cup was OK.

I love making oatmeal for the family. My kids eat it rather good, it is a healthy alternative to the boxed cereal and I love the fact that you can make endless variations. Since it is pecan season, why not incorporate it to my oatmeal?

Enjoy!

Pecan chai oatmeal

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 8 servings

Total Time: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 6 cups Silk almond milk
• 3 cups gluten free rolled oats
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Chai mixture

• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg powder
• 1/4 tsp cardamon powder
• 1/4 tsp clove powder
• 1/4 tsp ginger powder
• 2 whole star anise, optional
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

 

 

Directions:

In a pot, over medium to low heat, add the milk and the chai spices. Cook until the the mixture starts to boil. Add the rolled oats and maple syrup and cook for about 5-7 minutes or until the rolled oats are soft. Turn heat off and let it cool.

Add the chopped pecans and combine with the rolled oats. Eat with any toppings of your choice. Refrigerate leftovers.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.

The post Pecan chai oatmeal appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

If you don’t owned a slow cooker I suggest you purchase one. It is extremely easy to use, kind of inexpensive, and very convenient. This one is one of my favorites slow cooker models. I have actually taken it to gatherings since it closes hermetically and there is no spills. Love it!

Anyhow, onto the recipe now.

Like many of you guys know, I am in school and on top of other things going on in my life, I am redoing my entire house since it flooded. Talk about having management time issues. My life is pretty much scheduled to the minute so I have no time to spare and waste. Very stressful to say the least.

This type of recipes is what I like making lately. Super easy, and convenient. This slow cooker moroccan chicken is super hearty, filling and delicious. I love using all the Moroccan type of spices as well as one of my favorite natural sauces, Mina Harissa. This sauce is made with top of the line ingredients, all real ingredients I must add, and it is extremely versatile. You can add add this sauce pretty much onto anything that requires some spicy component. I also made this Harissa beef burgers the other day and they were juicy and extremely tasty. If you haven’t tried this Mina Harissa sauce you should try it soon. Check out their website for their sauce varieties.

Well I hope you get to make this slow cooker Moroccan chicken recipe soon. Like I said, it is very easy and super tasty.

Giveaway:

Mina Harissa has provided 3 packs of their Harissa sauce to 3 Eat Goo 4 Life readers.

To enter:

• Comment on the section below and let me know how would you Harissa in your recipes.
• I will pick 3 winners November 17th!

Enjoy!

This slow cooker moroccan chicken is super easy to put together. You can serve it with brown rice, couscous or quinoa. You can keep it gluten free this way.

Slow cooker moroccan chicken

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 8 servings

Total Time: 4 hours

Ingredients:

• 1 lb organic breast chicken tenders, or chicken breast cut into chunks
• 6 organic chicken drumsticks
• 6 organic chicken thighs
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tomatoes, quartered
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/3 cup vegetable or chicken stock
• 2 tbs Red Mina Harissa
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 2 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1/2 tsp cardamon powder
• 1 tsp Himalayan salt
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 15 oz canned chick peas
• 15 oz pitted green olives
• 1/4 cup golden raisins

Directions:

Mixed the spices, cumin, coriander, cardamon and cinnamon. Toss the chicken in the spices. Add the chicken to the slow cooker followed by the rest of the ingredients reserving the chick peas, olives and raisins for later on.

Set the slow cooker on high and cook the chicken for 3 hours. After the 3 hours add the rest of the ingredients. Cook for another hour on high.

Serve over some brown rice, couscous or quinoa.

NOTE: I added 3 tsp of arrowroot powder mixed with two tablespoons of water to thicken my sauce the last 2-3 minutes of cooking. You can also use cornstarch instead of arrowroot powder.

The post Slow cooker moroccan chicken appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

 I have seen chai donut recipes using different types of spices. For my version I used cardamon, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. I love cardamon but if you don’t have it on hand you can omit it if you like. Either way they are still going to be sensational.

I originally got the recipe from my pumpkin spice baked donut recipe. I just tweaked it the recipe a little bit. The chai donuts came out perfectly. When making baked donuts the most important thing to keep in mind is to butter the donut pan generously. I can’t stress this enough. Even though I buttered my baking pan really good I still had some trouble taking them out. I just did it slowly. Be patient.

One thing I must note is that baked donuts don’t taste like fried donuts. The shape is identical, which is fun for my kids, but if you want to resemble real fried donut taste this will not come close. They are more like a muffin texture but either way I am fine with it. I love making baked donuts with my kids.

Have a few different baked donut recipes in the blog so make sure you check them out. Just go here to see other baked donut variations.

I hope you get to try these baked chai donuts. They are truly one of my favorite versions I have made so far.

Enjoy!

Here you can see the batter right before baking the donuts. Do at 325F for about 18 minutes. Make sure that you grease the pan generously so that you don’t have trouble getting them out later on.

Here you can see the donuts after I baked them. It took me 18 minutes. Just help yourself with a knife to get them out. Also make sure you cool them for 10 minutes before doing so.

Baked chai donuts

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 10 donuts

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup unrefined sugar
• 2 organic eggs
• 1 teaspoon aluminum free baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon aluminum free baking soda
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1/3 cup apple sauce
• 1/4 tsp clove powder
• 1/2 tsp cardamon powder
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

Glaze

• 6 tbsp butter, melted
• 3/4 cup unrefined sugar
• 1/4 tsp clove powder
• 1/2 tsp cardamon powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease two donut pans and set aside.

In a bowl, with a wire whisk, whisk eggs, apple sauce, sugar, milk and oil. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices. Whisk until combined. Fill each donut hole 2/3 full.

Bake for 17-22 minutes. Cool donuts in the pan for about 10 minutes and remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.

While the donuts cool, in a safe microwavable dish, melt the butter. In another bowl, mix the sugar with the spices. Dip each donut in the butter followed by the sugar. Serve.

Store donuts on a cake stand for up to two days.

Tip: Make sure you grease the pan all over specially in the middle round donut piece otherwise they will stick when getting them out of the pan, probably breaking apart in the process.

The post baked chai donuts appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

I am so glad I tried this recipe and so glad I triple the batch when I did. I couldn’t get enough of this lentil soup. As far as I am concern, this is the best lentil soup I have ever made and tasted.

I haven’t made that many soups lately. I have like three or four soup recipes that I really like so I keep making those same ones over and over. I have a Thai soup recipe that I love which I have to post soon. I have to catch up on my posting.

This is the firs time I used red lentils. I have used brown and yellow in the past but it was my first time with red ones. They are called red lentils but they actually look more like orange to me.

I found these lentils to cook faster. I also found them a bit smaller than other ones. Maybe I am wrong but I just found mine to be slighter little in size.

I am sure you should be able to find red lentils at your grocery store. I have seen them in a couple of my local grocery stores. They are a little bit more expensive but I think worth every penny. The ones I used where Bob’s Red Mill.

The weather is perfect for soup. If you make this one you could also freeze it for future consumption. I know I will since  I am going to make  it again very soon.

Enjoy!

This is one of my favorite soups ever. Next time I am going to make more so that I can freeze some of it. You really need to try this lentil soup. It is truly sensational.

Lentil soup

Yield: 8 servings

Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup red lentils
• 1 14oz  can coconut cream, or coconut milk
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 4 carrots, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 apples, peeled and chopped
• 20 oz crushed tomatoes
• 3 tsp cumin powder
• 2 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp thyme
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp cardamon
• 1 tsp celtic salt
• 1/3 cup cup peanuts, chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions:

In your 5 qt dutch oven, or any large pot, over medium to high heat add the carrots, and onions. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add the chopped apples with the spices and salt and combine.

Add the crushed tomatoes, coconut cream, lentils and 5 cups of water. Combine well and bring it to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 20-30 minutes or until the lentil become soft stirring occasionally.

You may need 1-2 more cups of water as the lentils cook down. Once the lentils are cooked turn the heat off and with an immersion blender, puree 50% of the soup leaving some chunks. You can alternatively use a blender to do this step however with an immersion blender is much easier.

Serve with chopped peanuts and chopped cilantro. You can freeze this soup for future consumption.

Recipe adapted by Wanderlust Kitchen

The post Lentil soup appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

I have made two different kinds of pumpkin bread this past week that have been equally good. The difference between them was that one used no fat and the other one actually did.

To be honest I don’t know which one I liked better, but the one with no added fat was, to my surprise, super moist and spongy like. I think with some sort of crumble topping it would have been even better, however, for that part I would have probably had to use some sort of fat to make the crumble stick together. Maybe next time.

I am planning on making some sort of pancakes as well, as I have some pumpkin left over. Pumpkin is actually classify as one of the super foods, so I am glad to use it as much as I am since it is in season. Granted you can use canned pumpkin if you like, but I am sure making your own pumpkin puree is much better.

Have you tried to use pumpkin puree instead of fat on some of your cakes, brownies and muffins? It is suppose to work rather well. For those people counting calories, or on low-fat diets pumpkin puree is ideal for baking certain baking goods. I have tried a couple of recipes using apple sauce as well, but I the pumpkin puree has given me better results. Perhaps because the puree being of thicker consistency.

For this pumpkin bread I used my old recipe for pumpkin spice squares I made a long time ago. I just played around with the recipe to make it low-fat and it turned out quite well. I just added a pinch of cardamon for my pumpkin bread but you can omit it if you like. I have used cloves before as well, and that gave the bread with a really good flavor, so use it if you have some on hand.

Well, I hope you can try this low-fat pumpkin bread sometime soon. It was delicious and no body noticed it was low-fat!

Enjoy!

Here you can see the before and after baking this low-fat pumpkin bread. To my surprise this pumpkin bread was super moist. I think the pumpkin puree works wonders :-)

I hope you get to make this low-fat pumpkin bread version. I think you will be pleased. If you like, a crumble topping will compliment this bread very well but plain with a cup of coffee or tea is just perfect!!

Low-fat Pumpkin bread

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 8-10 servings

Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 3/4 cup low fat milk
• 1 cup unrefined sugar
• 2 organic eggs
• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 tsp aluminum free baking powder
• 1 tsp aluminum free baking soda
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp  ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Directions:

Butter and flour a loaf pan and set aside. Preheat oven to 350F.

In a bowl, with a wire whisk, combine first 4 ingredients. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix through.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

Let pumpkin bread cool in the pan for about 10-15 minutes, remove it and let it cool completely on a wire rack. Serve as desired.

Nutrition facts calculated based on the recipe giving 8 servings.

The post Low-fat pumpkin bread appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.