Homemade fish cakes with coleslaw

Making our weekly meal plan I decided that I wanted to use the fish we have in the freezer. I purchase the most wonderful Icelandic fish from an icelander here in Sweden and let me tell you, you cannot find better fish! 

If you are interested, he drives through Sweden, Denmark, and now is going to start driving through Norway! Islandsfisk 

He also sells a variety of icelandic lamb and of course a little icelandic candy  :)

I need to empty the freezer soon since Islandsfisk will be on it's way in december, so what better way to use the fish then to make fish cakes. I remember having something quite similar when I was a kid but have never made an attempt to do these on my own, silly really because it is so simple. I made the recipe large and have lots of left overs that I will freeze for those busy days, definitely a great one to get some veggies in kids diets :)

The recipe makes about 6 servings.

Fish Cakes: 

500g haddock (hyse, kolja), ground

4 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 egg
150 ml low fat buttermilk(kefir)
2 carrots, finely chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, minced

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 tablespoons chopped parsley (can use dry)

Cole slaw:

half a head white cabbage (sliced)

1/2 onion finely chopped

1 carrot finely chopped

1/2 red chili minced(optional)

1-2 tablespoons lemon juice

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons dry thyme

pinch of salt

Cocktail sauce:

3 tablespoons mayonnaise (1 tablespoon sour cream as a substitute for one here is popular)

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar reduced ketchup

1 teaspoon mustard

a good dash lemon juice

(allround seasoning *optional*)

Place the fish in a food processor or a grinder, here I used my kitchen aid grinder.

Chop the onion, garlic, and carrots and mix in with the fish. Mix in the rest of the ingredients, then place mixture in the refrigerator for a little while

Fry in a pan with a little vegetable oil

 serve with cole slaw, potatoes and cocktail sauce

Bon Appetit!!

Jamie Oliver's stuffed chicken with Pita

We were invited to my mother's for dinner this last week, and she served the most wonderful stuffed chicken filets from a Jamie Oliver recipe. She had seen this on TV and didn't catch the exact ingredients for the chicken but my gosh she whipped up a good stuffing even so. This was such a good recipe that only a few days later I had to give it a try.

(Recipe serves 4)

3 large skinless chicken breasts (butterflied and pounded)
3-4 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
1 pot of chives (finely chopped)
1 pot of flat leaf parsley (finely chopped)
200g feta cheese (diced)
1 tablespoon dry thyme
Good dash of olive oil
sea salt and pepper

Pita bread (pack of 6)
olive oil
sea salt
dry thyme

Start by chopping up the herbs and garlic, cut up the feta cheese and mix in with herbs, season with thyme, salt and pepper and mix with the olive oil.

Butterfly and pound the chicken breasts flat, then roll them up with the mixture in the middle, hold in place with toothpicks.

"Butter" the pita bread with olive oil and sprinkle both salt and thyme over. 

Wet a baking sheet all the way till you can squeeze water out of it, then place 3 and 3 pita breads on top of each other and wrap them in the wet baking sheet. 

Place both chicken and pita in the oven on the same rack and bake on 200 degrees celsius for 30min

 Then take the pita out while you place the chicken higher up in the oven and put on the grill for a couple of minutes to brown the top.

Slice up and serve with a nice salad.

Let me know how you like this one :)

Bon Appetit!

Cheerio holiday cookies

I'm not really a baker but occasionally I like to make cookies, especially when christmas is near. I wanted to find a recipe for my daughter but most all cookies I have found have had a lot of sugar in them, so these that I have experimented with are a little less sugar although definitely a treat!

I have put in a couple optional ingredients as it would work as well if cookies are desired a bit sweeter, remember to use an extra egg if you use extra sugar!


Recipe makes about 40-45 cookies(two baking sheets)

3 dl cheerios (50/50 Havreringar, cheerios crushed)
1 dl rolled oats (ground)
4 dl whole wheat flour(*optional* all purpose flour)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 dl brown sugar (*optional* + 1/2dl white sugar)
1 dl vegetable oil
1dl butter

2 eggs(3eggs if using optional ingredients)

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Grind cheerios and rolled oats in a food processor or as I used The time saver smooth chopper so that you have smaller pieces but making sure that it doesn't become powder.

Then mix the dry ingredients (not sugar) in a bowl. 

In a separate bowl mix the wet with the sugar and beat a little bit. 

Pour wet mixture in with dry and mix with your hands. 

Then form small balls(size of a teaspoon) and place on a baking sheet, press lightly with one finger to flatten a bit.

Bake in oven on 175 celsius for about 25 min or until golden brown.

My little one has already had these with milk and seems to be in love, so experiment succeeded :)

Store in an air tight container

Bon Appetit!!

Havreringar or Cheerios

I talk often about Havreringar, so I thought I would put in a little info about these since I have used these in a couple of cookie recipes.

These are a breakfeast cereal that you buy here in Sweden, marked with the green keyhole that is a scandinavian symbol to indicate a healthier choice. I love this little symbol, it is called in swedish nökkehullsmerket, and I tend to look for this on many of our food choices at the grocery store. The reason I love Havreringar is because they have almost no sugar. Our of 71g of carbohydrates it only has 1,5g sugar. Great as a breakfeast cereal with milk or yogurt, my little one gets these to munch on, and can be used as I have done in baking :)

Coconut and lime chicken

I have really learned to love low fat coconut milk, and trying to find new ways of using it I made a wonderful indian flare chicken recipe.

I did not make this a weight loss meal since I have used white rice and nan bread, however using low fat cream and low fat coconut milk I have reduced the fat content. If you choose to you can use whole cream and regular coconut milk but I personally do not think it is necessary.

This is about a 30min meal, very easy :)

Recipe makes for 4 servings

3 chicken breasts(diced)
3-4 garlic cloves (minced)
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
1 green chili pepper with seeds
2 teaspoons garam masala spices
about 2 pinches of salt
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil

juice of 2 limes

1 chicken bouillon
2-2 1/2 dl low fat cream
1 can low fat coconut milk
1 bunt of cilantro(koriander)

 Chop up garlic, ginger, and chili pepper and blend with oil, lime and seasoning. Dice up chicken and blend together with marinade. Let it marinade for a few minutes while you make the rice, if serving nan bread heat the oven to the required heat.

 In a wok pan fry the chicken in marinade on high heat till cooked thru. If serving nan bread you want to put this in the oven now.

 Add the coconut milk, cream, chicken bouillon and cilantro and let simmer till soup becomes thicker and ready to serve.

Serve with simple fried rice, salad with cucumber and perhaps some nan bread.

Bon Appetit!!

Simple fried rice

I make this rice a lot, very simple but a fun way to make white rice a little more special. For me that is trying to loose weight would call this weekend rice because I tend to stick to brown rice or something else on the weekdays, but I thought to share this one. My mom is the one who taught me this one so hope you enjoy it :D


4 servings:

2dl basmati white rice
4dl water
1 chicken bouillon
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 1/2 tablespoons butter

Take a medium pot and warm on high heat with the butter and oil. Put the rice RAW in the pot and stir a few times till you see the rice becomes whiter/fried, making sure you do not burn it. Pour the water over and put the chicken bouillon in and stir. Leave the rice and only stir 1 or 2 times(if you stir too often you ruin the rice and it becomes very sticky). When the water has evaporated turn off the heat under the pot but do not remove the pot, my mom learned this process from a friend, it will release anything that has gotten stuck to the bottom of the pot.

Here I have made this rice with scampi and a side salad :)

Bon Appetit!! 

My little ones favorite!

I just have to share this one. My mom got me a book on picky eaters, since my little one has had troubles with food. Now that we have started a program called Marte Meo I have realized that it is not so much what she is getting served but my communication with her that is the key during the meals. I did however read the book and it had quite a few ideas to get your child to want to eat certain foods, for example veggies! If you have been following me you might see that I never go after the recipe that I find, I use it more as a guideline, so this one is a little mix of what was in the book and my own idea :)

I have talked about The difference of a pancake before, and this is one of those! These freeze well and can be heated up or as a meal on the go.


1 squash
1 apple
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon(optional but makes for a great taste)
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 eggs
2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons bread crumbs
1 teaspoon baking powder

 I have used the Times savers smooth chopper but you can also finely grate the squash and apple(with peal) if you do not have a mixer at hand. Blend all ingredients in a bowl making sure that you blend the eggs really well in. Fry on a pan in oil or butter(I use a little of both) in tablespoon size pancakes, serve with fresh fruit for a awesome breakfeast or as a side dish to some meats/fish and you have a nice dinner for your little one!

This is her favorite meal and eats like there is no tomorrow :P

Bon Appetit!