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22Sep

Courgette Lasagne

Although I love a bit of meat I can easily go vegetarian five to six days in the week. And I used to be a big meat eater, up to the age of 21, when I was living in Brazil, I could count on one hand the times I had a main dish that did not contain meat. My husband on the other hand, well his reaction is always amusing when I tell him I am not adding any meat to our dinners. Last week I made fresh tomato sauce and he asked me not once, not twice but three times: without meat? As if it was an outlandish concept. We were food shopping and he was trying his hardest to convince me to buy minced meat so that the sauce could become bolognese. What is up with all the vegetarian prejudice?!? I have been making this recipe for years, it’s easy and tasty. I use only courgettes, tomato sauce and cheese but it’s a versatile dish so you can add bacon, ham or even minced meat. Courgette Lasagne 4 medium sized courgettes 2 red onions, chopped 3 garlic cloves, crushed 2 tbsp oregano 400g tinned chopped tomatoes 150ml vegetable
3 mins read
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15Sep

White chocolate mousse tart

I look forward to the weekend when you get the door-stopper version of the paper and my favourite bit are the supplement magazines. They are a great source of food inspiration for me. On the other hand some of their food articles can also cause me great annoyance. Thing is I am quite naive when it comes to health, I will believe in what the professionals say and the papers and magazines have all sorts of professionals giving a whole lot of conflicting information. It’s all too much for my fickle mind. This revolt started when I read about the owner of the hottest new green juice bar in London in one magazine and then in the next there were big, fat quotes by Tracy Anderson saying that juicing vegetables get rid of all the nutrients and fibre. Last week carbs were bad, this week sugar is the devil and I am reading about this lady with a complete sugar-free diet. Completely free. I don’t know what I admire the most, her motivation or her ability to find the strangest spreads for her rice cakes. I know they are not telling you to do anything but I feel that we’ve become a little too obsessed with
4 mins read
725 Views
08Sep

DIY – Infinity scarf/ Breastfeeding scarf

Summer here was intense, however it seems it’s come to an end rather soon. Of course things could change, September still holds the potential to be a sunny month, however my hopes are slowly being crushed as the first couple of weeks have been a little too overcast so I have put myself on Autumn mode. I have been on maternity leave since the end of July (thank you, Germany!) and have spent a lot of this free time sewing. Through Pinterest I found fabulous inspirations for accessories and clothes to sew for this new phase of my life and have actually made all these pins come to life in the last few weeks. One of these projects was an infinity scarf which I thought it was a genious idea and perfect for Autumn. And there’s a bonus: it can be easily sewn by hand!  This scarf can be used just like a normal infinity scarf, or like I´m going to do, as a breastfeeding scarf. So this DIY Project is also for you that is not going to breastfeed any time soon. But if you have friends who are expecting or breastfeeding, this is a perfect gift . It makes
3 mins read
511 Views
31Aug

Minute steak sandwich with plum chutney

As a student nurse I have been doing placements in several different offices and hospitals and right now I am based at an office. Unlike hospitals the working hours and the pace at a clinic are a lot more slow paced, which I love, however it leaves a lot of spare time to ‘’pop’’ to the kitchen and rummage the cupboards for biscuits and cake during both the morning and afternoon munchies. You often don’t find any and in days like that my munchies make me walk 2 miles to get a vanilla crown at a nearby bakery. Often someone will bring a few baked goods and leave it in the kitchen for everyone but the only treat this week was a massive box of Victoria plums from someone’s garden. No vanilla crown I’ll tell you.  On their own they are not my favourite afternoon snack. Unless they were in a cake. But their little translucent skins looked so beautiful I couldn’t help myself and picked up a few, all this recipes flashing through my brain. I think most people would have chosen to do something sweet with plums but my brain immediately thought: chutney. I love chutney and I have mentioned before
4 mins read
794 Views
25Aug

Lime and lemon tart

Exactly a year ago my friends got married and some of the guests brought to the reception a cake or tart to have a traditional Kaffee und Kuchen as it is known here in Germany. Coffee and cake often happens at around 3pm when families and friends meet up to eat something sweet. So a few days before the wedding I gave this a lot of thought and in the end decided on a lime and lemon tart, my husband’s favourite. At the reception there were several lovely cakes, but most of them with very simple decorations. And in less tan 5 minutes my tart was all gone and the few that had tried it were so impressed by it that they left the guests who hadn’t tried any feeling a tad frustrated. Do I need to say that I loved to hear all the compliments?!? My husband and I have been trying for months to have a get together, a garden party for friends as we have something very important to celebrate: I am pregnant and in four weeks we’ll finally meet this little boy who has been kicking my ribs for months. But my hormones made me cancel
3 mins read
1033 Views
18Aug

Chicken and lentil stew with cumin pitta

I feel that in the recents months I have become more adventurous in the kitchen. I think it might have to do with the fact that together with my boyfriend I have just bought a flat so after many years of renting and sharing kitchens it is nice to have one to call my own. So I get very excited about this, which is overtly expressed in kitchen gadget purchases and new, exotic ingredients. Enter Harissa. I have heard so much about it and at first did not know how to use it exactly and this was my first experiment with it. This stew recipe was created based on leftovers and a few cupboard items, including a last moment addition of cranberry sauce. I did not tell my boyfriend about this addition because he turns his nose up to sweet and sour combinations, but he enjoyed it, it was just the right amount to get rid of the acidity of the tomato. I am a true believer unplanned recipes often turn out the best for me. Maybe because your expectations are not as high and any success however little tastes so good. And rather than making a pot of potatoes to
5 mins read
649 Views