In our house there are always some small pieces of bread left that nobody wants to eat. As I’m really against food waist, I have my own way of reusing it.
Simply cut it into on small cubes and freeze in a bag. I keep filling the same bag with different kinds of bred.
So, whenever I need croutons, I just grab some frozen bread cubes, put them on some butter or olive oil, add seasoning (rosemary & sea salt are my favourite) and fry until golden. And in 5 minutes I have lovely, fresh and crunchy croutons to be added in the soup or on top of a salad.
Remember that the salt of life is selfless service, the bread of life is universal love; the water of life is purity.
Hence serve, love and be pure.
– Swami Sivananda-
Have you tried using scissors in the kitchen?
I find them to be a very useful tool.
And it saves time – definitely 🙂
Many people use scissors just to open food packages.
But I think that scissors can be of much greater help.
I use them very often to cut a lot of things. You don’t need a chopping board, it’s easier than with a knife. You can cut meat, vegies, spices, greens, pasta, sausages and cheese… anything you want.
So if you don’t use chopping boards, you don’t need to wash them after.
There are special kind of scissors for herbs but the ordinary one will do fine.
Also if you don’t want your escallops to wrap when frying, cut them with scissors in several places (1cm towards the centre).
Well, choose your favourite colour of scissors and enjoy easy cooking.
Do you know the expression “rotten apple”?
This metaphor is used in many countries.
Basically, a rotten apple is a bad individual among many good ones, especially the one that spoils the group.
You can also use “rotten apple” to talk about a person who is dishonest and therefore causes a lot of problems for the group they belong to.
One rotten apple in the basket will make the others start to root as well. So just make sure that to avoid “rotten apples” and most importantly be careful that you never take on that role.
And for the end, a little note about dreams, if you believe in that. To dream of a rotten apple denotes your lack of sympathy for people, especially the ones who’re not being honest with you. Your dream also represents a revelation of fake friends, breakups, or similar pain. It also signifies worries too.
Here we are with one of the most popular essential oil – lavender.
I have to be honest with you – I could not bear the smell of lavender before.
But as all aroma therapists say – the oil you don’t like is the one that you need the most. In the beginning I refused to believe in this, but after years and years of my friendship with essential oils I can tell you in all honesty that it’s the truth.
Now I love lavender, it even became one of the oils I use on a daily basis.
Many years ago my yoga teacher made us a refreshment drink that everybody loved. When we asked her what it was – she simply answered water with a drop of lavender oil. Just be careful, one drop of oil is enough for 2 litters of water.
Or you can make lavender lemonade – just add a drop of oil in it. You can also add it to orange juice and lime juice for an equally good taste.
Honey is lavender’s best friend. I discovered that a long time ago when I first tasted honey and lavender bread. These days I love using this combination in muffins and other cakes. Just mind you, use only pure essential oils, and one drop will be enough to flavour the whole cake.
Except calming your mind, body and spirit, lavender essential oil can help you in the following situations:
- with burns – apply 2-3 drops directly to the affected area
- sun burns – add few drops of lavender oil into the 1 tbsp. of coconut oil and apply liberally on sunburn as often as needed to relieve discomfort
- cuts – apply a drop or more few times a day
- for better sleep – diffuse or inhale, or simply rub a drop of oil on the pillow before going to bed
- ear pain – place one drop of lavender oil on a cotton ball and carefully place inside the outer ear
I have listed only a few situations where I used this lovely oil successfully. But this oil can be used in many other ways, which you will surly find out for yourself.
What I especially love about this oil is that lavender reduces the feeling of anger and helps us adapt to new life situations. Try to rub the oil on the kids’ feet, when they start going to a kindergarten or to a new school.
Do you know what millet is? It looks like something you would feed your parrot with, but in fact it’s very healthy and naturally gluten-free. It’s being used in diets of about a third of the world’s population.
Millet has a mild corn flavor taste and once you start using it, you will discover more and more ways to involve those great seeds in your cooking. For starters, it’s rich in iron, B vitamins and calcium.
There are plenty of benefits in adding millets when cooking for yourself and your family. I will just list a few as:
- Helps in weight loss
- Reduces diabetes
- Reduces high blood pressure
- Helps in relieving menstrual cramps
- Treats Coronary artery disease
- Aids breast milk production
- Reduces the risk of colon cancer
- Gives good sleep
Cooking millet is very simple. My mom thought me to rinse it before cooking, although it isn’t necessary. Just put one cup of millet and two cups of water, little bit of salt and cook for 12-15 minutes.
You can eat it as breakfast porridge, in that case you can cook it with your favorite milk. Adding coconut oil, nuts, and fresh or dried fruits will make a delicious morning start.
Add a handful of millet in your favorite soup, it goes particularly nice with tomato soup.
You can add ground millet to bread, muffins, and sponge cake recipes.
And of course it’s always a nice alternative to rice or potatoes, as a side dish.
I encourage you to find your own original way of using this wonderful “bird food”. Go ahead, try it and refine it 🙂 ♥
I guess most of you have already seen the “Ratatouille” cartoon. For those who still haven’t, I hope this post will inspire you to, as it’s an amazing and heart-warming story.
This is a story about a Remy, a rat that’s very skilled in the kitchen, who dreams of becoming a famous chef. His taste is so refined that he refuses to eat general garbage, as most of his friends and relatives do (they use him as poison detector). He meets Linguini, a garbage boy working for a famous Parisian restaurant. They become friends and Remy helps Linguini climb his way to a respected chef by hiding under his cap and guiding him by pulling his hair. Linguini especially hopes to impress Colette, one of his co-workers he has a crush on. And that’s where the trouble begins.
Throughout the movie, Remy finds himself torn between his passion and his other fellow rat associates who do not support his dream. He learns an important lesson about friendship and life, all while staying true to himself and who he really is.
Chilled beetroot soup – made with love ♥
Here is another lovely creamy soup for you that can be eaten cold or warm. As beetroot’s available all the year-round, the making process is the same. When the cooking is done, just choose to put it straight on the table, or in the fridge to chill.
As for the majority of cream soups, start by frying roughly chopped onion (red ones if available) on some olive oil. My granny taught me always to salt the onions and believe me, you can taste the difference. When the onion is nice and glassy, add roughly chopped beetroot (washed and peeled). Stir for a few minutes, pour in soup stock to cover the veggies. Bring to the boil slowly, and let it simmer for 30 minutes, or until the beetroot is soft. Add seasoning, pepper, garlic powder and extra salt if needed. Leave it to cool until lukewarm.
Blend the soup with a stick blender or in the food processor. Put in the fridge to cool completely overnight. My family loves the combination of beetroot and Greek yogurt, but that’s just our preferred way of eating it.
Love is … when your family says that no one makes it better than you. Make this beautiful chilled beetroot soup with care for your loved ones.
Dates – the fruit the most deserving of the title “the fruit of paradise”.
I remember having dates in the fridge since I was a kid. At that time we use to buy them in a packet of 16pcs on a small plastic stick. We collected those sticks and played with them. At that time we only ate dates as sweets, but now I use them in a variety of recipes, mostly as a substitute for sugar.
Dates are also delicious when added to smoothies and/or salads. They can be stuffed with walnuts, coconut, and ginger. They are almost irreplaceable in homemade energy bars and desserts.
They can provide a wonderful energy boost and help revitalize the body at any time of the day. Dates can be eaten out of hand as a quick snack. I always have a few dates with me, a great solution for emergency cases. Although they are sweet, it is great to eat one date two hours before bedtime for better sleep.
There are so many benefits you can gain from by consuming dates:
- Improved energy and brain function
- Helps to build bone and muscle strength
- Good source of vitamin A and B-complex
- Rich in minerals, such as iron, calcium, manganese, copper
- Contains anti-inflammatory and anti-infective properties
- Helps to control heart rate and blood pressure
- Could be irreplaceable in the fight against colds and infections
- Regular use of dates helps the body recover faster after a disease or surgery
- Dates contribute to the removal of excess fluid that causes swelling from the body.
Some interesting historical facts: Date palm is probably the most ancient cultivated tree in the world. The earliest record comes from Mesopotamia 3000BC. The Ancient Egyptians used the dates to make date wine. And there is a legend that the date palm was the tree of knowledge of good and evil and that the date was the fruit Eve so generously offered to Adam in the Garden of Eden.
However, I invite you to include dates in your diet and soon you will feel all the blessings of this paradise fruit.
At this time of the year you can find all kinds of zucchini on the market, so let’s make some stuffed yellow zucchini today.
Comparing to other kinds of zucchini the yellow ones are so much easier to stuff and they look very decorative. As you can see in the picture, my son eats them with tzatziki salad and lots of turmeric powder 😀
Start by pan-frying finely chopped onion on olive oil. Add salt and smoked sweet paprika. After a few minutes, add minced meat, squashed garlic and keep frying, stirring from time to time. In the meantime cut off the top of the zucchini and scoop out the centre. Chop the centres and add them to the meat mixture in the pan. Put some tomato paste or one roughly chopped tomato. Make sure the meat has started getting a nice colour before you add zucchinis. You do not want your meat to be cooked, It should be fried (believe me, it makes such a difference in taste). Add more spices according to your preferences (pepper, turmeric, chilly…) and chopped parsley. Optionally you can also add a cup of half-boiled rice in the mixture.
Stuff the zucchini and place them in a baking dish. Don’t worry if you have some filling left. You can always pour it in a small dish and bake it on the side.
Cook them in the preheated oven at 200°C for an hour, or until the zucchinis get soft (you can always check with a fork).
There is something magical about yellow food. It brings joy and warmth on the table. The same goes for yellow flowers. So, enjoy your stuffed yellow zucchini.
I read this years ago but somehow it remained in my mind. I’d love to share with you what a great writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez said about yellow flowers:
“Nothing awful can happen to me if there are yellow flowers around. To be absolutely safe, I need yellow flowers, preferably yellow roses, and to be surrounded by women”.