Smoked Trout Spread with Pumpernickel bread and Daikon / Radish

First one of the appetizers I made for my father's birthday and it was off to a pretty good start. I apologise before hand that the pictures of these are not going to be the greatest, since I was kind of surrounded by a ravenous family, so couldn't really take the food away for a photo shoot. :P
This is fairly healthy as party appetizers go and will probably be tasty to anyone with a love of a good schmear. I used a combination of soft goat cheese and sour cream as the base for this spread, since basically I forgot to buy cream cheese, but the choice is completely up to you. I think both ways would work equally well. For me the best way to eat this was first the pumpernickel, then a slice of the daikon (a big white winter radish) and then the spread, but if you're not a fan of pumpernickel or want it even healthier, you can use just a slice of daikon. Kids probably would like this on some crackers though. The recipe for this comes from one of my favourite newly discovered food blogs foodwishes, link below.

Appetizer/Snack - 1 big bowl (about 14oz/350g) - 1000cal - 15min

(58g fat; 89g carbs and 77g protein)

Banana Eggy Pancake

1 banana + 1 egg = Happiness

So, like any warm-blooded person, I love pancakes once in a while. But since we're trying to eat healthier it doesn't seem like a viable option right now. Though I've definitely had some impressive cheat days these past few weeks with Easter, my father's, my brother's and a friend's birthday. I'll be posting recipes that I've made for those occasions soon as well. :) But I haven't had pancakes in a good long while now and I had a craving. Thus came in this awesome fake banana pancake. I've made these before when I had leftover very ripe bananas and didn't feel like a smoothie, but they're surprisingly healthy. It's just an egg, a mashed up (ripe) banana and optionally a little honey or other sweetener, and no it doesn't taste exactly like a pancake of course. It is after all just a banana-y omelet, but it settles my cravings and might do the same for you!

Breakfast/Lunch/Snack - 1 'pancake' - 200cal - 10min

(9g fat; 25g carbs and 7g protein)

Carbless Sin - Mini Aubergine / Eggplant Pizza with Chorizo and Parmezan

Sometimes being too lazy to go to the store results in something wonderful like this. I started with a wrinkly eggplant/aubergine I'd forgotten about and this happened. *so happy*
These are mini eggplant/aubergine pizza's with a 'raw' tomato sauce, some leftover chorizo and a bit of parmezan, which had hardened which made it very hard to grate, so I just put little cubes on them, and it was wonderful, you guys. Maybe it was because I was a bit desperate to put together without going to the store, but honestly it was. I have since these made another version of these (actually following a recipe) at home with my family, but that one had a sauce that was more work, and without the chorizo, but with mozzarella. But the original leftover version of them was better imo (in my opinion)! Chorizo really made this magical. The leftover rucola was a nice touch, if I may say so myself. And I'm definitely making this super-easy raw tomato sauce again for other things. Let's get on with the recipe of these awesome 'leftovers' eggplant pizza. First version of the recipe will be the extended one, with reasoning behind everything. And then there's a short one at the bottom which you can use while cooking.

Lunch/Snack/Appetizer - 1 eggplant ~ 12 pizza - 650cal - 30min (without salting)

(45g fat; 44g carbs and 22g protein)

Tamarind Ginger Cookies

The fool that I was I only discovered the wonderful thing that is Tamarind just a few months ago, while making a delicious salad with watermelon and duck breast, that I'll be sure to share whenever watermelon shows up in stores again (seriously missing it fiercely right now). In that I used a paste version of tamarind, which you can find in any supermarket I believe, but perhaps look in the international / Asian section. Tamarind has a lovely sweet-sour taste that goes well with a variety of dishes.
So, when I was in the Asian supermarket a while ago, when I saw Tamarind with seeds still in it, I couldn't resist grabbing it. Then it lay on my shelf for a few weeks until the opportunity arose to use it! And what's a better cause than cookies? On that same shelf I had some leftover candied ginger, from a previous haul in the same Asian supermarket, but already partially sacrificed in an awesome ginger, white chocolate cheesecake. With those two goodies I set to work to create these tasty and special Tamarind Ginger Cookies. Before we start though, let me tell you that using the paste you just get at the supermarket would be much easier, because removing those seeds were a pain!
I made these alongside some good ol' fashioned brownies and some lemon cheesecake cookies, let me know if you'd like a post about those as well. They were delicious too of course, just a bit less special. I made all these goodies as little gift for my friends at new years (alongside the earrings with origami flower I posted about earlier, and a few other things).
Anyway on to the cookies...

about 40 cookies - 60 minutes (depends on oven size)