How to make a berry clafoutis.

by Phrenssynnes | Mar 5, 2023 | Food

Clafoutis

Clafoutis is a light and quick dessert to make that I love.

A clafoutis is a cake made with chopped cherries and covered with a custard-like mixture. It is also often made with plums.

I let my creativity go and used berries. For this recipe, I used frozen fruit.

Berry’s Clafoutis

Ingredients

2 cups of fresh berries: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries or cherries
4 eggs
½ cup whole wheat flour
1 cup milk
¼ cup sugar + ½ teaspoon sugar (to sprinkle on top before baking)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

Step 1

Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place fruit in the bottom of a buttered pie plate or quiche plate.

Beat eggs with sugar.

Step 2

Alternate adding milk and flour to make a lump-free batter.

Add vanilla.

Pour batter over the fruit.

Step 3

Sprinkle ½ teaspoon of sugar on top.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 to 40 minutes.

Enjoy!

For the one with sweeter teeth, you can serve it with maple syrup and ice cream.

In this picture, it’s a blueberry almond version. I replaced the vanilla with almond essence and put sliced almonds on top.

Clafoutis fruits amandes (crédit photo Phrenssynnes)

Do you want to improve your diet?

You are not alone. I’m here to help you. Read these articles and you’ll discover easy recipes tested by an experienced mom!

Click here

Clafoutis version fraises et bleuets (crédit photo Phrenssynnes)

Here is a strawberry and blueberry version.

Bon appétit!

That is a classic cherry clafoutis.

Clafoutis is a typical dessert from the Limousin region in France. It can be like flan, as it contains similar ingredients, i.e. eggs, milk and sugar. But, the recipe for the dough of clafoutis differs from that of flan, as it has flour.

It can also resemble far breton, but the recipe is also different.

Clafoutis aux cerises (crédit photo Phrenssynnes)

Maximizing the Power of Food With a Quick and Easy Tip

by Phrenssynnes | Mar 26, 2022 | Food

The power of Food

I use the power of food and it is no secret. Healthy eating is a subject that is close to my heart. Several years ago, I had some health problems. I have been following my doctor’s recommendations religiously ever since. Yet, I try to do everything to help myself get better. That’s why I’m always looking for ways to improve my well-being.

I am not a dietitian. Nor a doctor, but I have studied health science. I can understand more about it than someone who has a degree in finance.

This article is an informative and educational document. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice. I did not make the specialists mentioned aware of this project before publication. I received no compensation or benefits for writing this column.

I have been seeing a trend in medicine for some time. There is a lot of talk about inflammation and the microbiome.

What is inflammation?

Inflammation is a reaction of the body caused by an agent that can be a virus, a bacterium, a trauma, a mosquito bite, etc.

Let me give you an example. You have a minor accident: you fall on your knee. You have a bleeding wound. A few hours later, there is swelling on your knee. It is red, hot and painful. It is inflammation. It’s part of the healing process, like the scab that forms on the wound.

When the inflammation is inside your body, you can’t see the redness or the swelling. But you can feel it as well as pain and heat. When the inflammation is heavy, you will be sick. But if it’s not severe, you may feel it more or less. And if it is persistent, you will get used to it and tolerate it.

From my reading, I comprehend that an unhealthy diet can create and promote mild and persistent inflammation. We then say it is chronic. That’s what the medical research says. And doctors remind us of this all the time.

Healing with the power of food

Now you have an idea of inflammation. Let’s talk about healing.

I go back to the knee, for example.

You disinfect the wound and put on a bandage. If it’s too unpleasant, you take Tylenol for the pain. You know that in a few days, your knee will be fine. You understand it was not the bandage or the Tylenol that worked to rebuild the skin broken in the accident! Nor to remove the swelling and redness.

That is an obvious fact that we often forget. It is the medication that restores. It helps, but our human body is fantastic and does all the work.

There is nothing more frustrating than a doctor who says: “It will heal itself!” Yet, it is a great truth!

Mark Hyman

I’ve already told you about Dr. Mark Hyman. You can read my article here.

I discovered other doctors who value the same interest in alimentation with some variations.

Will Bulsiewicz

Dr. Will Bulsiewicz is a young gastroenterologist from Charleston, North Carolina. He recommends a vegan diet, which means no animal products. That is even more restrictive than vegetarianism, where you don’t eat meat, fish or poultry. Since graduating from university, he has been passionate about the gut microbiome. It is the quantity and quality of bacteria that populate our digestive system. The gastroenterology world studied the microbiome more than ever.

Fiber fueled (credit photo Phrenssynnes)

And they are discovering more and more the importance it has on our health. I read the book Dr. Bulsiewicz published: Fiber fueled. A book that my daughter loaned to me.

Brooke Goldner

Dr. Brooke Goldner, M.D., reveals a personal and professional experience. She graduated in medicine from Temple University in Philadelphia. At the age of sixteen, she began suffering from lupus. Now, her blood tests have shown that her disease is gone. And that’s thanks to the diet she developed with her husband, Thomas Tadlock. He has a master’s degree in “Exercise Science and health promotion.” He is a professional trainer.

Jacqueline Lagacé

Jacqueline Lagacé is the author of several books about “hypo-toxic” eating. She has an impressive CV. Mrs. Lagacé has a Ph.D. in virology and post-doctoral studies in immunology and bacteriology. She has been a professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Montreal and a researcher. Doctor Lagacé brings a wealth of knowledge from her professional and personal experience. She has rheumatoid arthritis.

These four specialists all state that mild, chronic inflammation makes us suffer. That causes inflammatory problems, such as osteoarthritis, asthma, allergies, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, etc.

Lifestyle and the power of food

They say that it is our lifestyle that can cause this inflammation. Some people may be more fragile than others. It can reflect in different ways, depending on our genetic heritage. These professionals focus on excellent nutrition to improve our condition. According to them, changing our diet is a big part of the key to success for our well-being.

That does not replace the medication prescribed by your doctor. I recommend you do as I did and follow your doctor’s advice.

Focusing on a good lifestyle is a way to take charge of our lives. We have to take responsibility for our health and be a part of its management. The body has a natural healing system. We need to help it.

Inflammation and flooding

Let’s take an example. An optometrist’s office gets flooded. After the floods pass, everything will be out of place, messy, dirty and littered. The office will no longer be functional. They need to do an enormous amount of work to clean everything up and put it back in good condition.

The flood is the inflammation, and the clean-up is the healing process.

But if there is only a slight but constant water infiltration. If it’s not in a central place in the room, maybe nobody will notice. And it could be neglected. You understand that this will degenerate and create damage.

You understood my metaphor. The body is the optometrist’s office, and the flooding or infiltration is the inflammation. The healing process is cleaning.

Final thought

Industrial food and junked food creates mild and chronic inflammation. The professionals mentioned above have many scientific references on this subject. The healing mechanism needs good nutrients to work.

A quick and easy way to improve is to consume healthy smoothies. I’m not saying that eating large amounts of spinach will relieve all your ailments. But it’s a small step for you and a big step for your health!

The power of food in Smoothie

Ingredients

Spinach or kale

Fruit: banana, mango, strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, apple, etc. It can be frozen fruit.

Two tablespoons of chia or ground flaxseeds or shelled hemp seeds

Soft silken tofu (optional)

Preparation

Fill your blender container with approximately 50–75% spinach or kale and 50–25% fruit. Grind everything in a blender to the desired texture. If it’s too thick, add water. For the tofu, I use half a package.

No, I don’t put dairy, ice cream or sugar. Not even maple syrup and no honey either.

This photo shows a smoothie made with soft silken tofu, banana, spinach, mango, chia, and lime juice. I prefer my smoothie to be thick. I can eat it with a spoon like a yogurt.

It’s a treat to enjoy for breakfast or as a snack.

You’ll understand that spinach or kale gives the final product a green colour. And, if you use red or purple fruit, such as blackberries, the whole thing takes on an unappealing hue. But, I guarantee you that my husband has tested and approved its different variations! The fruity taste takes over.

That will help your system. It can use a little boost!

Bon appétit!

Green tofu smoothie (credit photo Phrenssynnes)

How a Culinary Legacy Was Born From a Simple Recipe

by Phrenssynnes | Nov 13, 2021 | Food

Invented by a Busy Mom

A plate of salmon spaghetti — Credit photo by author

The Story

The story happened when my two daughters, Juny and Kit4, were young teenagers. Now old enough to leave them home alone, my husband and I had gone on a short trip. The overprotective mother in me was a bit panicked when our princesses called the first night. Quickly reassured about the purpose of their call, I burst out laughing. They were looking for a recipe. Spaghetti with salmon, the one I had been cooking for them since they were little.

“We’ve been digging around, Mom,” one of them said.

I laughed because this famous secret was buried deep in my head. One day, I invented it in panic. I made this dish from the only cans left in the pantry! As any working mother can be, I was stuck and couldn’t go to the grocery store.
In the end, this sauce wasn’t so disagreeable. It had saved my life many times!

A Culinary Legacy

I then remembered the story of a friend of mine. She told me her mother had died suddenly at a young age. She had taken her recipe for macaroni salad to her grave. My friend and her sisters experimented, in vain, for several years to reproduce the same old taste. I realized the importance of writing down all my recipes to pass on to my children.
I’m sure you remember a recipe your mother used to cook for you as a child.

Quick and Easy Version

I will show you how to make this delicious salmon spaghetti in no time!
My sister often says, “Why make it simple when you can make it complicated?”
There is a more sophisticated way to cook it. Yes, sometimes it’s fun to try something more elaborate. In the future, I will reveal the other version.

The Recipe

In the salmon, you will notice some bones. Smash them and mix them with the salmon meat. It is full of calcium. Excellent for your health.

Spaghetti With Salmon

Ingredients

One commercial cream of celery soup ±284 ml
½ can of milk (use the can of cream of celery)
One can of salmon 213 g
One green onion, chopped
½ stalk of celery, chopped
Spaghetti for four portions cooked
One tablespoon of olive oil
One hard-boiled egg
Salt and pepper to taste
Reserve a few pieces of green onion for final decoration.

Here are the ingredients you need. You always have commercial cream of celery, canned salmon, pasta in the pantry.
That’s the basis for this recipe.
The egg is for the final topping. If we have some onion and celery left over for extra flavour, that’s fine but not essential.

The Steps

Fry the green onion and celery in olive oil for 2 to 5 minutes.
Mash the salmon and add it.
Add the can of cream of celery.
Add ½ can of milk.
Mix well until simmering.
Pour over pasta. Garnish with green onion and sliced egg.

That’s it! Bon appétit!

Final Thought

Dear parents, always write down your favourite recipes, it is treasures of family memories.

Macaroni and cheese from Phrenssynnes

by Phrenssynnes | Sep 18, 2021 | Food

I present you a macaroni and cheese recipe. There must be about 10 million different versions of this comforting recipe but I’m sharing mine with you anyway.

When you need comfort food, there’s nothing more satisfying than macaroni and cheese.

Macaroni and cheese from Phrenssynnes

(more…)

Phrenssynnes’s Homemade Granola

by Phrenssynnes | Sep 16, 2018 | Food

Phrenssynnes’s Homemade Granola

Here’s a recipe for healthy and delicious crunchy granola.

Servings

about 8

Ready In:

25 minutes

Good For:

Snack or breakfast

Inroduction

About this Recipe

By: Phrenssynnes

Make this easy recipe for your loved one. Look at the ingredients in this homemade granola and, you’ll know it’s good for your health.
Well, this is not Ricardo’s granola recipe! My recipe has less sugar and more protein because there are only three tablespoons of honey. And it contains more protein because of the nuts and coral lentils.

Ingredients

2 ¼ cups of oatmeal

¼ cup of dried and rinsed coral lentils

¾ cup of water

¼ cup of coconut, slivered almonds, raisins, dried cranberries, dried goji berries (optional), chia seeds, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds

½ cup of chopped walnuts and chopped pecans

1 tbsp of coconut oil, melted

3 tbsp of honey