Good morning!
If you have a Pinterest account, you can follow my boards. I am a daily pinner so you can find something to inspire you everyday!
Here’s the link..
Love,
Ciklemfusa
Fresh Guacamole
Hola! Monday, ready to start the week with some guacamole?
A Mexican traditional dip which is loved by people worldwide. This dip’s main ingredient is a good ripe avocado and today I am showing how to make it. The amount of ingredients I used here are for two persons. If you are making this dip, make sure to consume it right after because the avocado tend to darken. This is because it will be exposed to oxygen.
Ingredients
1 ripe avocado
1 tomato
1 small onion
1 clove of garlic
Salt
Pepper
Cilantro
Half a chili
Olive oil
Lemon or lime juice
Method
1. Carefully peel and pit the avocado. Chop the avocado and make it into a mush using a fork.
2. Chop the tomato, onion and garlic into small, fine chunks and add them to the mashed avocado.
3. Chop finely the cilantro and the chili. If you want some heat don’t remove all the seeds from the chili.
4. Add the other ingredients with the mixture.
Eat with tortilla chips or on toasted bread with a poached egg!
Tip
Add ingredients little bit at a time and taste till you achieve your perfect guacamole.
Have a lovely week!
Ciklemfusa
Panna Cotta with Mixed Berries Purée
Yes! I made Panna Cotta again! My favourite cool, creamy and fruity all-in-one desert you are going to love!
I posted the recipe a while ago when I made it with mango puree. The difference in today’s panna cotta is the top layer. I bought a bag of frozen mixed berries and suddenly panna cotta came to mind! Here is the link for the panna cotta I made *Panna Cotta With Mango Recipe*.
Get the recipe from the link above and try it out!
Ciklemfusa
Home-made Hummus
Isn’t it satisfying when you prepare your food from scratch? Here is a recipe for home-made hummus which can be prepared in 10 minutes. Hummus has approximately 7.9 grams of proteins per 100 grams so it is a great protein source. It can be served as a delicious dip and appetizer with water biscuits, bread and also in wraps. You can just make a batch of it, refrigerate and use it during the next 3 days. Or you can freeze it in freezer-safe containers. Here are the ingredients.
Ingredients
2 cans of chickpeas – 250 grams each
4 tablespoons Tahini
Lemon juice from half a lemon
4 tablespoons of Olive oil
2 garlic cloves chopped very fine
Water (as needed)
Method
1. Just get a bowl and blend these ingredients together. I used a hand-held blender.
2. If you want a thinner consistency just add a tablespoon of water at a time. For this I added about 5 tablespoons of water.
Enjoy!
Ciklemfusa
Food Blogs & Websites To Follow
New week and July is on its way! Here are my favourite food blogs and websites that I follow each week. They are all an inspiration for me. Click on the images to view their website.
love and lemons
Vegan and vegetarian recipes with lovely photography.
saveur
From tips for your kitchen and how to master your knife skills to the perfect main course!
food gawker
This is like Pinterest for foodies. You’ll love it.
dulce delight
Lovely Brazilian girl cooks in her colorful kitchen with fun episodes.
the kithcn
Cocktail and appetizers for your party, recipes for main course while learning a bit of food history.
yummly
Infuse some cultures in your kitchen by searching for recipes from around the world.
May you follow at least some of these websites and enjoy great food!
Have a great week.
Ciklemfusa
Herbs On The Rooftop
So today I am showing you our herb collection grown on the rooftop!
Dried herbs are good but fresh is always better. During the drying process of herbs, some nutrients may be lost and you will not get 100% of its benefits, whether it’s health benefits and also taste. Here are the pictures and below are the names.
Parsley, Rosemary, Basil, Oregano, Lemon Thyme, Mint, Chili, Basil infused with mint, Peppermint, Salvia (on the way), Chives, Marjoram (great with fish dishes – ‘merqtux’ in Maltese) and Curry!
Grow Your Own Food.
Love,
Ciklemfusa
Fresh Tomato & Herbs Summer Pasta
Morning!
Here’s my version of summer pasta full of fresh tomatoes and herbs. I love making this when I want something easy to make which doesn’t take much time to prepare. You only need 20 minutes to get this done! This recipe caters for two persons.
Ingredients
Spaghetti (I make about 75 to 100 grams per person)
Olive oil
3 medium tomatoes – cut in chunks (please, do not use canned tomatoes)
One bell pepper – cut in slices
Two slices of lemon
Lemon Pepper seasoning (two teaspoons)
Fresh mint – small bunch or less if you don’t like that much of mint flavours
Fresh basil – small bunch
Pinch of salt and pepper
Method
1. Start heating water to boil for the pasta.
2. While waiting for the water to boil, start by chopping the tomatoes in chunks and bell pepper in thin slices.
3. Put in some olive oil on a medium heated pan and start cooking the bell pepper first because it takes longer to cook than tomatoes.
4. After about 3 minutes, put in the tomatoes and lemon pepper seasoning. I love this seasoning in summer dishes!
5. For an extra kick you can add the slices of lemon in the pan or serve it fresh on the plate later.
6. Add the fresh mint and basil in your pan.
7. Put the spaghetti in the boiling water and cook as instructed on the packaging. I love pasta when it’s al dente and not too soft.
8. While all the ingredients in the pan are cooking on medium heat, transfer some boiling water of the pasta to the pan and stir in the mixture. You will create the consistency of the sauce you like depending on how much water you add. I add one tablespoon at a time while stirring, until I achieve this light sauce made from the fresh tomato sauce infused with lemon pepper and herbs.
9. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and stir them in.
10. When the pasta is ready, transfer the spaghetti in the pan with your home-made sauce while it is still on medium heat. Stir in the pasta in your sauce.
11. Serve garnished with fresh basil leaves and extra olive oil.
I hope you will try this easy pasta dish for a relaxed evening with a glass of white wine 🙂
Enjoy!
Ciklemfusa
How To Press Flowers
Hola!
Today I’m going to tell you the method for pressing flowers. I LOVE pressed flowers, as you can keep them framed for a long time while preserving a memory. I got a flower bouquet from my boyfriend on my birthday and wanted to keep the roses. I also pressed flowers from an orchid which I framed. So, here’s how I did it. This process will flatten the flowers and allows them to dry. These can be framed and also can be used as decoration for hand-made jewellery.
1. Choose your flowers.
Pick flowers with their colour at its brightest and also which are not damaged by insects.
2. Dry the flowers.
Make sure your flowers are dry. If not dry, you must allow them to dry by dabbing gently with a paper towel.
3. Find a heavy book.
Get your heaviest book. On the closed book place a piece of paper making sure you are covering all the book cover.
4. Arrange the flowers.
Arrange the flowers on the piece of paper you just placed on your book. Play with different arrangements with your flowers. You can also press individual petals.
5. Cover the flowers.
After arranging the flowers the way you like, cover them with another piece of paper. So you will have the flowers between two pieces of paper.
6. Get more heavy books!
Carefully place heavy books on top of the top paper which is covering the flowers.
7. Change the papers.
Every few days, you should change the papers which are covering the flowers.
8. Remove from the press.
After a few days (for me it took about a week or so), remove the books and gently get the dried flowers using your fairy hands or tweezers.
Now, you can frame them! These will last years in your frame (based on my research, they will last for about 5 to 7 years).
I hope you will try this out.
Love,
Ciklemfusa
Orchidea
Last November my boyfriend gave me this beautiful orchid plant for our anniversary. After about 2 weeks flowers had started to fall and I thought it would be so difficult for them to grow back. Seven months later, here are the new flowers! Oh happy days 🙂
I hope you like these pictures!
Ciklemfusa
Basic Ingredients Which Should Be In Your Kitchen
Moving in a new house or trying to have a more healthy lifestyle? Start with your food which makes up a major part of your daily routine. Today’s post is all about basic ingredients which should always be in your pantry and fridge. This is food which will improve your lifestyle, health and also keeps things efficient when preparing your daily breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks.
Fruit & Vegetables
The first things you should stock with are fresh seasonal fruit and vegetables from your local farmers’ market. These are the basics of the basic. Stock up with the colours of the rainbow. You can read my previous post about why you should eat a rainbow *here*.
Rice, Pasta & Other Grains
Stock your pantry with various types of grains. Our favourite kind of rice would be basmati rice for your side dish and also sticky rice for the occasional home-made sushi night. As pasta you can always choose from whole-wheat or normal spaghetti, fettuccine, penne and more. I also love to have red quinoa (very high in protein) and couscous in my pantry. Here is a past post of a recipe with quinoa and bell peppers.Get the link *here*.
Beans & Other Legumes
Black beans, kidney beans, chickpeas, lentils and much more are an excellent choice for your no-meat days where you can get your proteins. These can be bought canned or in plastic bags but I prefer buying them in a bag so to avoid the toxic preservatives from the lining of the cans.
Herbs & Spices
Experiment and discover a world of different flavours when using herbs and spices with your meat and non-meat dishes. They can transform your palate and also have their own health benefits. I love to grow fresh herbs such as basil, mint, rosemary, thyme and cilantro. See my post about the benefits when cooking with herbs and spices
Oils
Choosing your cooking oil is important; this effects the taste in your food. For example, in Thai dishes olive oil is not used but instead you should use another oil such as coconut oil. In my opinion, olive oil and coconut oil are two oils which should always be in your kitchen. You also can infuse olive oil with any herb you like.
Sauces & Dips
When you want to marinade some meat, you will need several sauces, herbs and spices. Soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, Teriyaki Sauce and more. For the dips you will need some plain greek yogurt. This is a very versatile ingredient, where you can experiment with anything you want. For example for a light summery dip, you can try making Tzatziki sauce which can also be used in wraps. (I will be posting the recipe for Tzatziki sauce later). You can also use yogurt as a salad dressing when you add other ingredients to it such as finely chopped cilantro and some lime juice. Fresh and light.
Breads & Tortilla Wraps
Whole grain bread is a good source of fibre and is also delicious. When it comes to tortilla wraps, you can grab one and fill it with some vegetables and cheese for a quick lunch. This can be a basic and efficient way for you to prepare a light and quick lunch for work.
Nuts
Nuts are ideal as your mid-day snack. They do not need any refrigeration and also are portable so you can take with you at work. These are very good source of protein and also when you need some energy. Nuts such as cashews can be used in several dishes such as salads and sauces too.
Milk
There is a type of milk for every lifestyle’s need. There is milk which comes from animals such as cows and goats and also there is milk coming from nuts and plants such as almond milk. One of my favourite milks, is coconut milk which can also be used in sauces.
Baking
For all your baking, whether it’s for a cake or a pizza dough, you will need specific types of flour. All purpose flour, self-raising flour, 00 kind flour (the fine one). Also, you will need baking soda, baking powder, cacao powder (even for a warm hot chocolate in winter), vanilla or almond extract. As for sugars, you need brown, white and caster sugar. Also, I love to have honey in our pantry, which can be used for more than just baking.
Teas
From the basic black tea to green tea and more. I love to have my rose-hip tea from Holland and Barrett in our pantry which is very high in vitamin C. Also, if you love Chai Tea like me, you can make your own by having the essential spices for the specific tea you want.
There are loads of other basic ingredients which you can consider essential in your kitchen. I’m sure you have much more than these mentioned today. If you have any other ingredients in mind, just comment below. I would love your feedback 🙂
Ciklemfusa
