To be honest with you one year ago I didn’t even know what chia seeds or coconut sugar are and I never even tried the things that are now part of my every day diet like almond milk, coconut oil or goji berries to name just a few. It’s strange how life turns out sometimes and I already wrote a bit about my diet and lifestyle change due to health (stomach/digestion) problems in my post on making your own almond milk so if you are interested, you can search it in the recipe index.
The last year for me has been a year of quite a lot of stress, worrying and many problems but at the same time it has been full of wonderful moments, beautiful experiences, new people and places and new foods that I discover. It’s so important to always try to focus on the positive and remind yourself that the negatives will pass or at least get better with time… If you find yourself in the situation where suddenly, because of health reasons, you cannot eat the food you used to love (not to mention that if you are a gourmet by nature and food photographer by calling!), you have only two options. One, to feel sorry for yourself and spend your days feeling miserable or two, to turn the bad situation into a positive one and focus on all the beautiful healthy food that can help you heal and nourish your body!
This journey is new for me and I’m still learning my way through it and even if this is rather personal thing to share on the blog, that’s what I want to do. Be open, honest and share my journey and post the things that I feel and experience without making them prettier. That’s how life is, there are good things and difficult things and not everything is flowers and butterflies but the main thing is to always remind ourselves how lucky we are to be here. Living, breathing, laughing, experiencing. And we can always choose to smile and be grateful. 🙂
I hope I didn’t bore you too much with my though process today, it was not planned!
Here is the recipe for this delicious and quite healthy, slightly sweet fruit bread (I found the recipe on Croatian health food page Biosvijet)…
- 2 cups flour (I used half white, half spelt but you can choose what you prefer)
- 400 ml (about 2 cups) almond milk (any other milk will do)
- ½ cup coconut sugar (you can use brown sugar if you want)
- ⅓ cup coconut oil (melted)
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 1 cup mix dried fruit (I used a mix of dry berries, plums..)
- 1 cup walnuts (I used pecans, roughly chopped)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- Note: 1 cup = around 250 ml
- Preheat oven on 180 C (350 F). First combine almond milk (or any other milk) with coconut sugar (or brown sugar) in a large mixing bowl.
- Add chia seeds and leave for few minutes. Then add melted coconut oil, all dry ingredients and finally mix in dried fruit and walnuts.
- Bake in the small bread loaf pan for about 45-55 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Enjoy it still warm or at room temperature with your afternoon tea/coffee or with a bit of jam for breakfast!
- Note: it keeps well and stays fresh for few days on room temperature, wrapped in kitchen cloth.
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