Cooking healthy with a family that has truly touched my heart and blessed me so much!

Testimonial We were fortunate to have Andrea in our home to help show us how to cook healthy, family friendly meals. We are parents to two children ages eleven and thirteen, who are active in sports and activities. With our busy work-family-school schedules it was important that we had meals that were nutritious and that could be put together in a reasonable time. I also wanted our children to feel like they had a part in the planning and preparation of the meals, and that eating together as a family had meaning. In addition the four of us have some differences in our caloric, and nutritional needs. For example, my husband has a very labour intensive occupation, so his body seeks and needs different foods than what my body requires. Our children are very active in athletics and ensuring their bodies are ready for a race or a game means making certain adjustments to our meals. Andrea was a huge part of helping us find our way back to the dinner table, as I searched to prepare meals that met the diverse needs of our family. She was attentive, thorough and sensitive right from our first discussion. She has a huge passion for food/cooking and a big heart for people. When she came into our home she was very thoughtful, and sensitive to the needs of our children and her warmth made it easy for them to build a rapport with her. She is very easy to relate to, and she has a kind outgoing personality. This resonated especially with our teenage daughter. Watching Andrea cook alongside our children was wonderful. It was an educational and enriching experience. Andrea's love of cooking was evident, her recipe suggestions were helpful, and the time she spent here with our family was very valuable. I would definitely recommend Andrea to other families looking for ways to blend the positive message of healthy nutrition with hands on experience in the kitchen. For busy families Andrea offers practical recipe and meal planning ideas that make weekday breakfast, lunch and dinners so much easier. We are grateful for the time Andrea spent with our family. With Appreciation, Kate, Surrey BC Thank you to the Harvey family for letting my share my heart and passion with you! It is always a pleasure coming to your home. I love how we have connected in the way we have that we can also talk about our faith, life and cooking at the same time. I love to cook but talking and sharing, I would have to say is my favorite! Food for the soul is life giving just as food is for the body in my eyes. I believe God gives us gifts to use to share with those around us to teach and offer ourselves as a blessing in return being able to make new friends at the same time to bless and be blessed by. So thank you God for the gift of cooking because it has given me a chance to be able to share my heart with those around me to connect with some pretty beautiful souls. Thank you Kate for the beautiful Testimonial  If you are interested in cooking with me and having me come to your home and share some of my recipes and heart with you and your family I would be so honored. My contact andreahoblak@gmail.com 604-852-1576

Chocolate banana avocado pudding

Prep Time: 10 Minutes Ready In: 1 Hour 10 Minutes Servings: 6

Ingredients:

2  ripe avocado, peeled and pitted 4 very ripe bananas 1 tsp of vanilla 1 tbsp of ground flax mixed with 2 tbsp of water

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for garnish

Directions:

1.	Place avocados, bananas, and cocoa powder, vanilla and mixed flax and water  in a blender; puree until smooth.
2.	Pour pudding into serving bowls and sprinkle additional cocoa powder on top for garnish.
3.	Chill in refrigerator for texture and flavor to develop, at least 1 hour. Strawberry Banana Frozen Yogurt  3 cups of frozen strawberries 1 cup of vanilla yogurt 1 frozen banana 1 tsp of vanilla Blend in a blender until smooth and creamy I love teaching these children, they make all the prep and hard work so worth the while. I love how excited they get when they find out what we are making each class. When I told them our pudding was going to made with avocado some of the looks I got were pretty funny! I told them just trust me we will make it really yummy!! Thank you to Maureen for providing me with some raw cacao powder that really did make our chocolate pudding so delicious. When we blended up our pudding and tried it the kids were so surprised with how good it was. I like to teach them about the benefits of each ingredient. I get the kids to play this memory game with me and I say the ingredient and they have to remember what it does for their body. It's a great way to teach kids how to make good choices when you teach them of the benefit of each item has as they walk through the grocery store with you. I used a real vanilla bean and opened it up for them to see all the little tiny black specks inside. Some of the kids never have even seen one before. There is this one little girl that likes to write me little thank you cards and I can't even say of how much I value that! I love writing cards for people of appreciation and to have that from such a sweet little girl like her really melts my heart. Making healthy treats today was lots of fun and very heart warming. Thank you kids for making my job so enjoyable

Broccoli cheddar quiche

What a blessing it is to teach this group of children. Each child is so unique and so gifted. I love watching these little ones express themselves through cooking. I was teaching them about leeks and how they are from the lily family yet they smell and taste like they are in the onion family. I enjoy teaching them about the healthy benefits of each vegetable  and seeing them get so excited about it! Every the kids make me laugh with the funny things they say for example this little boy who is only 4 said is Dad is a terrible person. I asked him why and he told me it was because he doesn't buy him chocolate when they grocery shopping. lol I love all of the cute comments. We talked to about where quiche are from and they got so excited to know that I told them Quiche originated from France. Thank you kids for making all the work so worth while each one of you made amazing quiche and touched my heart while creating them!

Broccoli cheddar veggie mini Quiches

Ingredients

• 1 small broccoli spear (about 4 ounces)
• 1 package of ready-made mini pie crusts
• 5 large eggs
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese, plus more for garnish
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 cup of chopped spinach
• 1 red  pepper diced small
• ½ cup of sliced thinly leeks

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut broccoli into very small florets, and cut stem into 1/4-inch pieces. You should have 1 cup of cut-up broccoli. Fill a medium saucepan halfway with water, and bring to a boil. Add broccoli, and cook until bright green and just tender, about 1 minute. Drain broccoli in a colander, and run cold water over it to stop the cooking. Set aside. In a pan sauté 1 tbsp of olive oil, add diced pepper sliced leeks and chopped spinach to pan. Season with salt and pepper, sauté for about 5 minutes.
2. Unwrap pie crusts and pre bake for about 5 minutes at 350 until golden on a baking sheet.
3. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, cheese, salt, and pepper. Spoon mixture into pastry shells, filling halfway. Add a little of the broccoli to each cup; top with a 1 tbsp of sautéed vegetables and remaining egg mixture so each cup is full. Bake until filling is puffy and set, 12 to 15 minutes. Serve hot, garnished with grated cheese and chopped parsley.

Recipe by Chef Andrea Hoblak andreahoblak@gmail.com 604-751-5684

Valentines Speical Cooking demo With the little kindergarden Chefs

 I was very blessed to be invited to this kindergarten for a special valentines cooking demo with the little ones. I love how excited the children get when they make their own healthy treats. One of the things I always like to finish of a class with stickers to show the children of what a good job they did. It never fails the sticker always seems to be the favorite part and not just for the children.

My version of a Valentines heart healthy yogurt parfait. Layer strawberry and vanilla yogurt a sprinkle of hemp hearts 1 tbsp of dark chocolate chips frozen strawberries in between the yogurt top with a fresh heart shaped strawberry.