About

 Welcome to Rice with Apples. My name is Kasia Ancuta and I am the cook behind all yummy recipes you can find on this blog or here on Instagram.

I love food: cooking and eating. And I am lucky enough to have a husband who shares my passion for eating. Otherwise, what would I do with all that food?

Born and raised in Poland, but living in the UK, hence my Polish recipes have that updated international vibe, I think. 

Polish food is considered heavy and unhealthy, but I try to make it light, still full of flavour and very healthy. Why?...

Is started when we moved to the UK [over 20 years ago]. In Poland we were used to fresh produce, unprocessed, often organic or from a small farm stalls. Not because we were fancy, but because back then in Poland there was no money to pack every chicken wing or 10 strawberries separately and have them all year round. We used to eat seasonal food and we cooked at home. 

But when we moved to the UK we were flooded by ready made meals in the supermarket, by soft, toasty bread, strawberries and tomatoes all year round. That was like a Disneyland for us to see such abundance of everything in the shops. So we indulged on everything and all. 

Unfortunately, from all that processed and available all year round food, J developed eczema. Gradually quite severe, to be precise. First he needed to stop eating well known chocolate bars, then milk [the milk in plastic bottles does not taste the same as milk straight from the cow], then too much sugar, wheat... and many, many others. We were going from one doctor to another. He was given more and more tablets and creams, and ointments, full of steroids. His skin was getting worse and his mood was going downhill fast. 

We knew we needed to change our approach, because all of that treatment was making him more unwell. 

And here came the change of our diet first. By accident really. J's skin and health was so bad at some point that he decided to eat only cooked potatoes, onions, carrots and broccoli, because I read somewhere that alkaline food, veggies precisely, can help with auto-immune and skin conditions. This was something to do with cleansing the body from all additives, artificial colouring, pesticides...etc.   For a month he lasted on such diet and after that he needed more variety on the plate. Seeing that eczema signs and discomfort may be removed naturally, I started cooking more form the wholesome products. Soaking beans at night and cooking them during the day. Using less and less sugar, removing dairy from my cooking and changing the whole approach for mostly plant-based. And no, we are not vegans. We do have meat or fish, or duck eggs occasionally, or when we visit family and friends. 

Most of the time our diet is plant-based only. Therefore all those heavy and meaty Polish dishes are replaced by myself with much lighter veganised versions. The switch was not an instant or easy. Cooking with plant-based products requires different mindset. I needed to learn how to change meat for pulses or how to use plant-based milk and cream. I swapped wheat flour by spelt flour, which, by accident, also helped with my IBS. Now I even make chocolate from scratch, bake sourdough  and try to incorporate veggies to most of my bakes as well. All of that based on the traditional, meat and cream heavy Polish cuisine. These are my "Polish-ed" tastes. 

And yes, all of that I have been doing for few years now, working full time in the office. Basically my weekends are my cooking days 😂 which I absolutely love. Recently though, because I lost my daily job to Covid situation, I had the time to share my recipes with you on Instagram and here, on this blog. 

And J's skin is better then ever. The change was slow. It took about 2 years for his skin and health to recover. For the last 4 years he did not need to take any medicine or use any steroid crams. For skincare he uses only creams I make for him. 

And another tip for skin problems - I use soap nuts for washing. Our more eco-friendly approach shows that nature rocks!

But, anyway, mumbling over, I hope you'll enjoy some of the recipes I share with you on my blog or Instagram. I write them mainly for myself, to remember the proportions used in cooked or baked goodies. Because, as an instant cook and baker, I was never able to repeat anything. 

So, yes, enjoy!

Kasia 💛💛