Blog moved to wordpress!

Hi everyone,

I just decided to move my blog to wordpress, as I like their editor etc. better. So please go to juliesrealkitchen.wordpress.com from now on!

I'm looking forward to inspiring some more on the new site :-)

Julie

Oprahs Celebrity Chef Cakes

Because O Magazine has its 10 year anniversary, ten celebrity chefs created ten cakes for Oprah, and check them out! (Picture from oprah.com)

The best thing about it, is that you can find the recipes here http://www.oprah.com/food/O-Magazines-10-Anniversary-Cakes-Dessert-Recipes/

Haven't made any of them yet, but please let me know how they turn out, if you try one!

Strawberries with mascarpone topping

After finishing my dinner last night, I found that it was one of those days where dessert was in order. I spend the day at my parents house, and my mother was preparing tiramisu in the morning, which gave me an insane craving for mascarpone creme! And luckily I got ½ tub of mascarpone cheese from my mother when I left in the afternooon :-)

I simply took 100 g of frozen, unsweetened strawberries and thawed in the microwave, mashing them with a fork and added a bit of pure vanilla powder. Alongside the strawberries, I whipped up a creme of 60 g mascarpone (1/4 tub), 2 tsp agave nectar, ½ pasteurized egg yolk and some pure vanilla powder. First you whip the egg yolk with the agave nectar until it get white and airy. Then you mix in the mascarpone and season to taste with vanilla. Add a dollop on top of the strawberries - dessert completed!

 

P.S. If you think that the creme is too hard (mine was a bit), simply add some more egg yolk.

Romaine/chicken salad

Last night I came home late and I was STARVING! So I had to whip up something in around 15 minutes, if I were to even survive :-)

I knew that I wanted salad, and was actually in the mood for something like Caesar salad, but didn't have all of the ingredients so that wasn't an option. But a girl's gotta work with what she has, so I got to work!

First, I whipped up a mayonnaise from 2 pasteurized egg yolks, ½ tsp of dijon mustard (not pictured), lemon juice from 1/3 lemon and extra virgin olive oil. I know that some people like to use a neutral oil, but I don't want to use anything too processed, plus I really like the flavour the olive oil gives to the mayonnaise. Whisk egg yolks, dijon mustard and lemon juice until white. Slowly add oil, a bit at a time, while whisking.

  

There you have it - homemade mayonnaise filled with wonderful fat, which is good for you!

Rip up some romaine salad in a bowl, and add freshly grated parmesan/grana padano/pecorino (whichever you like) along with 2 tbsp of mayonnaise. Toss to mix. 

 

I took two chicken thighs (upper thighs) and roasted them in a skillet until almost cooked through. Remove the meat from the bones, and cut into bite-size pieces. Put back in the skillet with chopped asparagus and one clove of chopped up garlic and cook until the chicken is done. Serve alongside your romaine salad (or in the salad, but the mayonnaise might melt if the chicken is too hot, giving it a different taste).

 

Eat and enjoy!

Great health blogs

Just wanted to share with you, some of my favourite food and health blogs:

Kath Eats Real Food
Recipes, everyday life and running. I love the way Kath is so open and sweet in her blog-posts 


Eat, Live, Run
Jenna talks about delicious food, her yoga and workout routines and her life in general. Her way of writing just has me coming back every day.


Crazy Sexy Life
Health, food, medicinal facts, raw food and life-changing articles


Oh She Glows
Angela cooks up vegan food and delicious snacks, while talking about her training, challenges, struggles and victories of her life. 


Heather Eats Almond Butter
Wierd and wonderful, veggie-filled food! And yoga :-)


 Kristens Raw
Raw food and a positive attitude towards life


Smitten Kitchen
Amazing food! Enough said...


Choosing Raw
Great raw food inspiration


Sweetly Raw
Raw Goddess Heathy "cooks" up raw dessert so amazingly, that you will never missed cooked cake again!

Butternut squash and chicken

Last night I wanted vegetables and meat for dinner, and roamed through my fridge to find the most gorgeous butternut squash that I decided should be the centerpiece of my meal. I ended up making baked butternut squash with garlic, topped by a bit of thinly sliced gouda cheese and served on a bed of baby spinach leaves. On the side was a piece of tenderly cooked chicken breast served with a homemade tomato/basil sauce.

Slice butternut squash into finger-thick pieces, drizzle with olive oil and two small cloves of garlic. Put in a baking tray in one layer. Bake in the oven at around 200 degrees Celsius until done - cooking time varies with each oven, but mine took around 20-25 minutes to finish.

Put a bit of thinly slices gouda cheese on top of the squash, and broil for 2 minutes. Arrange spinach on you plate and pour the hot butternut squash over. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

While the butternut squash cooks, place your chicken breast in a pot. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pour boiling water from a kettle over the chicken until 5 cm over the chicken breast. Cover with a lid and leave for around 20 minutes on the tabletop. This way the chicken cooks slowly and becomes so very tender and juicy!

For the tomato sauce (which in this case was a leftover from yesterday), cut up six large tomatoes, one small onion and two cloves of garlic. Pour some olive oil in a pan, heat it up to a medium heat and cook the onion and garlic until the onion is clear. Put in the tomatoes, crank up the heat to high and boil for a couple of minutes while stirring. When the tomatoes are completely cooked into a sauce, put in basil leaves and cook for one more minute. Add salt and olive oil to taste.

Put chicken on you plate next to the spinach and pour tomato sauce over. Enjoy it :-)

My equipment for running

I just completed a 10.4 km run, and I'm really proud of myself! With that, I figured that I would just show you what equipment I use for running and for keeping me motivated.

First of all, I run with my Polar watch for monitoring my heart rate, and making sure that I stay around 80% of my maximum heart rate.

For motivation and a way of tracking my runs, I use my iPod with the Nike+ iPod

I love that I can listen to my favourite music on a pre-made playlist, while having the possibility of constantly getting information on how far I've run, what my pace is and how far I have left. All presented by a very motivating lady :-)

So get exercising!