Bitkisel Cafe: Mixed Berry Overnight Oats

TÜRKÇE İÇİN TIKLAYIN
PER ITALIANO

Hello everyone,

I am here again with my new blog.

Why have I ever needed a third food blog, some may wonder.
We are renewed day by day... The more you grow up, read, witness and experience the life, the more things you learn, you evolve, transform and your priorities change.
In time we are renewed as well. We have made changes on our diet and lifestyle. We have started to take healthy way of living as a priority.

Having read Dr. Fuhrman's book named "Eat to Live", which encourages a healthy diet based on nutrients, we felt even more motivated than ever and I can happily say that this had very positive impact on our overall health.

At the moment there isn't one certain way or book we follow to the letter. Besides, the conditions you encounter in life don't always go so parallel with the rights and wrongs in the books. Nevertheless I can gladly say that we manage to eat close to ideal mostly when we are home. Instead, when we eat outside we try to make healthier choices as best as we can.

What kind of recipes will this blog offer?

Bitkisel Cafè is a Turkish name which means Plant-based Cafe. So, as the name stands for, there will be recipes prepared with plant-based, whole, unrefined or minimally refined ingredients.
That means we will be using a lot of vegetables, fruits, legumes and whole grains.
Our main sources of good fat will be nuts, seeds and avocado.
Of course we will steer clear of refined sugar, bleached flour and highly processed foods. We will limit our salt intake.

In my future posts I will try to mention many benefits of a whole food nutrient dense plant-based diet.

Now, let me focus on the very first recipe of the blog...

I gave a lot thought about what recipe to publish first and I came to conclusion that the best choice would be our delicious indispensable breakfast recipe. It is obviously the first meal of the day which makes it even more convenient as a first blog post.

We prepare this breakfast the night before so that our oats would reach the desired texture overnight. This gives a great advantage too. Many of us who rush to work or school half awake half sleepy find it very burdensome to prepare breakfast early in the morning so we simply skip it. Instead, a previously prepared breakfast which would be waiting for you in the fridge in the morning could be a game changer and solve the problem.

I don't use any honey, syrup or sweetener. Raisins, goji and and banana make it sweet enough. Ripeness of your banana plays an important role on sweetness. So, I'd recommend to those of you with a sweet tooth to use riper bananas.

Ingredients (1 portion):

25 g oats
5 g raisins
5 g dried goji berries
10 g ground flaxseed **
5 g chia seeds
60 g banana
125 ml organic unsweetened soy or almond milk
10 g walnuts
30 - 40 g mixed berries

** Flaxseeds are a great source for Omega 3, fiber, protein and lignans which has anti-cancer effects. However, to be able to benefit all these great features the best way possible, it is important to consume flaxseeds as ground. Whole flaxseeds are very hard and small to chew. They are more likely to pass through the intestinal tract undigested which means your body won't get all the good components.

We have a simple Spice/Coffee Grinder at home. We use it to grind mainly flaxseeds but also cinnamon and our own dehydrated ginger. I'd recommend to get one to everyone to enjoy the best and freshest flavors.

If you don't own a grinder, it is possible to purchase your flaxseeds as ground. It is recommended to store ground flaxseeds in the freezer. The freezer will keep them from oxidizing and losing its nutritional value.

Preparation (to be prepared the night before):

Place oats, raisins, goji berries in a serving bowl.

Grind flaxseeds and chia seeds in a spice grinder. (Or simply use store bought ground flaxseeds and whole chia seeds). Add ground seeds into the bowl and mix all.