Sweet Avocados and Spaghetti with Tuna sauce

Sweet avocados are <3

 

In my guacamole post yesterday I mentioned my grandmother's sweet avocados recipe and it got me craving for some so I made it for lunch today with a few minor modifications--I mixed skim milk and evaporated milk and I added cinnamon to it. 

For the tuna sauce, just sautee some onions and garlic, add some tomatoes, anchovies, and tomato sauce, then add the canned tuna. Once everything is mixed together, add the cooked spaghetti, toss in some freshly chopped cilantro, grate some cheese over it and enjoy!

Roasted Lamb and Asparagus

This recipe reminds me of home. We love roasted lamb. It does take a bit of time and effort to make but it's well worth it. 

I used lamb cutlets for this. The secret to making it tender and flavorful is to let it boil over low heat. Slice a small onion, put it in a pan with some water, a beef bouillon cube, some salt and pepper, and the lamb cutlets and let it sit over low heat for a while until it's tender. 

After it's tender, get the meat, grate some pepper on it and stick it in the oven for about 10-15 minutes. 


That's it. Simple ingredients that make a fantastically delicious meal. 


Enjoy!

Anchovy and cheese sandwich with guacamole

I remember the avocados in milk and sugar that my grandmother used to make when I was younger. I grew up thinking that avocados can only be eaten with milk and sugar. I feel stupid admitting to this, but I only discovered that avocados were the main ingredient in guacamole a few years ago. :)

It took me a while to get used to eating avocados as guacamole but now I absolutely love it. And I make a mean guacamole too!

Just get one ripe avocado, mash it in a bowl, add some salt and pepper to it, some garlic powder, freshly chopped garlic, some lemon juice, cayenne pepper, cilantro and tomatoes sliced into little squares and that's it--yummy guacamole.


The sandwich is just as easy--it's just anchovies, gouda cheese, garlic powder, and tomato slices. Put it in a sandwich maker, wait a while..and there you have it.

Lunch!

The joys of pre-marinated fish

The supermarket close to my apartment has these packaged pre-marinated pangasius fillets that go for 0.89 cents. Really cheap and the marinade isn't half bad either. There are days, like today, when I'm either too tired or too lazy to cook anything and it's on days like this that these pre-marinated fish packages are a God-send. 

I just sliced some leftover red bell peppers to go with it. easy enough.

The past week we had hotdog sandwiches, tacos, and sloppy joes at the office for lunch--I really wish I brought my camera. I miss eating junk. My boss makes a mean beef taco--really really goooood stuff.


Anyhoot, thinking about it makes me hungry so I'm gonna go cook dinner.

Happy eating!

Tandoori Chicken and Rice

I loooovee Indian food. Well, actually exotic food in general, but Indian food is way up there. I was absolutely thrilled that my tandoori chicken turned out so well. Plus I got to use the Japanese-rice topping thingy on my rice!

The whole process of making it is a bit time-consuming and I've been feeling very lazy lately so no posts on how to make it but there are instant masala mixtures available in most supermarkets that taste equally good so that's an idea right there!

Anyway, it was a really good lunch. :D

Happy eating!

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes with Light Maple Syrup and Blueberries

Haven't had the chance to post anything until now because I've been eating out for the past week. We had Italian in town on Monday, Greek on Tuesday, traditional Austrian food on Wednesday and hotel food on Thursday and Friday. It's been ridiculous! Such good food, I've been eating like a crazywoman! But that's over and done with and now, about two pounds later, I'm back to reality and cooking again!

I bought this Archer Farms Apple Cinnamon Pancake mix in the US a few months ago and about six or so pancakes later I've finally discovered the perfect way to make it. The box calls for butter but I use olive oil and low-fat milk so it's a teensy bit healthier. 

I'm too lazy to go into detail about it but I think it's easy enough to follow the box's instructions. Fresh blueberries are a nice touch and eat it with yoghurt for a more filling breakfast.

Okay, I should really go running now. Will post again for lunch!! 

Happy eating!

Happy mornings!

oatmeal with berries and wild honey

half-and-half croissants: one half with cherry jam

..and the other half with peanut butter and bananas

If I had to pick my favorite meal of the day, it'd be breakfast. It's just that breakfast stands out. I mean, you can eat the same stuff for lunch and dinner but breakfast, breakfast is special. And my past two breakfasts have been special because it's the weekend! and I get to take my time in making breakfast. Not that any of these breakfasts I'm posting actually need tons of effort, but you catch my drift. :)

Happy mornings!

Baked Lemon and Onion Pangasius with a Tomato and Radish salad

Look Ma, vegetables!

So we never got to go to the traditional Austrian restaurant overlooking Italy because I had to leave last minute for a business trip to London. And when I say "last minute," I mean LAST MINUTE. But it was a fun trip and I got to help a child out which more than makes up for the lack of sleep and craziness of the other night. But I digress, so we didn't get to eat Austrian mountain food, but hopefully we'll still go next week or the week after that so I can post pictures! 

Anyway, back to this dish. I went for a run after work today and was starving when I got home so I didn't really have much time to be inventive for dinner so I ended up making an oldie but a goodie, my baked lemon fish. I've been making this dish for years, it's super easy and is full of fresh flavors.

Just season a fillet of any white fish (I used Pangasius) with salt and pepper, squeeze the juice of half a lemon on it, throw in some garlic, diced onions, some chili flakes and pop it in the oven for about 15 minutes. That's it!


The salad is just as easy: tomatoes, radishes, olive oil, and crumbled feta cheese. Then mix some balsamic vinegar, garlic powder, and Mrs. Dash together for the dressing and you're done!


Happy eating!

 

The fantastic view from the plane on my way back to Innsbruck

Mussels and Chicken Macaroni Soup

Nothing says "perfect winter meal" better than soup. I LOVE soup. I've been planning on making this soup for a few days now and I wasn't supposed to add macaroni to it but they had a sale on macaroni at this Turkish grocery store I went to over the weekend (0.49 Euros for a big pack wudjabelieveit?!) so I thought, what the hey and good thing too because I don't think it would've tasted as good without it. 

So to make this tasty little soup, I sauteed some garlic and onions, added some chicken meat, red and green peppers, mussels, and some chicken stock. I let it boil a bit then I added the cooked macaroni. After letting it sit for a few minutes, I added some evaporated milk and some cheese--stirred it all up and it was good to go! Oh yeah, I also seasoned it with some salt and pepper of course. 


Mmmm, souppppa!


So tomorrow we're going to this traditional Austrian restaurant up in the mountains overlooking Italy. I haven't really had that much Austrian food since I've been here but what I have had so far, I've liked so let's see if tomorrow's fare will be any good.


I'll post pictures!


Happy eating!

Snack time! Tomato and cheese :)

I've always loved this recipe--it's my go-to snack recipe. I love it because it's not only easy to make, it tastes great, and it's healthy! 

All you have to do is slice a big tomato, drizzle some olive oil on it, season with salt, pepper, garlic powder and add the cheese(s) of your choice. I prefer feta cheese but any cheese will do.

That's it! Easy, right?

Snack away!

Chicken and Bell Pepper with Onion Confit

Confit n. - A condiment made by cooking seasoned fruit or vegetables, usually to a jamlike consistency.

I posted that definition because before making this dish, I didn't even know what the hell a confit was. And now I do! So see, cooking is fun!

I was really excited to make this dish for dinner yesterday but I ended up having Italian in town with a colleague so I made it for lunch today instead. It's simple enough to make and ended up tasting really good. The bell pepper and onion confit had just the right amount of sweetness in it that complimented the chicken really well.

To make the confit, just sautee some garlic and onions in olive oil..add the bell peppers, some chicken stock and let all the ingredients cook over a low fire.

While that cooks over a low fire, season the chicken breast with salt and pepper, cover with some flour and fry in a pan..after both sides are slightly browned, stick it in the oven for 10 minutes.

Now, back to the confit: once the bell peppers are soft, blend all the ingredients together until thick and tah-dah! You're done!

Get the chicken out of the oven, pour that confit on it and enjoy!

Garlic herb and sesame-crusted pork chops with an arugula and sundried tomato salad

Being that I'm trying to swear off red meat pork red meat, this will be the last pork dish I post about. I have this Japanese mixed herb thingy that I really enjoy on rice but I haven't used in a while so I decided last minute to crust my pork chop with it, and it turned out great! 

Okay, I don't know what the Japanese thingy is called but I seasoned the pork chop with salt and pepper, added some lemon juice and garlic and then the Japanese stuff. I put in the oven for 15 minutes or so and that was it.

To make the salad, I just mixed some arugula, sundried tomatoes, anchovies, and goat's cheese. It was a great side dish. 

Hopefully I'll be able to keep my promise to swear off red meat. Let's wait and see!

Tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich with prosciutto

Austria is cold. One of the fun things, food-wise, about living in a cold country is that you can make lots and lots of different soups! And I absolutely LOVE soup. I recently bought a hand blender and I've been going crazy making soups. One day I made a broccoli and asparagus soup, another day I made lentil soup and yesterday I made tomato soup. I also made a grilled cheese sandwich with prosciutto. It was the perfect winter meal. 

I used canned tomatoes for this soup. Just empty the canned tomatoes into a pot, add chicken stock, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and a bit of lemon juice. Let it boil. When it's boiling take it off the stove and blend everything together using a hand blender or any plain old blender. After everything is blended, put it back in the pot, back on the stove and then add shredded cheese to it. That's it!

To make the grilled cheese, I got two slices of whole wheat bread--put in lots of gouda slices, some garlic, and the prosciutto. Just put it in a sandwich maker and voila!

Happy eating!

oatmeal with tahini-cinnamon crunch

Here's the thing, I suck at baking. I really do. It's embarrassing how bad of a baker I am. 

Exhibit A: my failed attempt at tahini cookies. I had half a bottle of tahini left from the hummus I made and couldn't think of anything else to do with it so I searched for good tahini recipes and found a recipe for tahini cookies that seemed pretty easy and didn't need that many ingredients. The recipe called for tahini, honey, cinammon, and oats--that's it. I just had to mix it all together, glop in on the baking sheet, stick it in the oven and wait--easy enough right? Nope! Of course something goes horribly wrong with my "cookies" and they fall apart. But when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. and when life gives you failed tahini cookies, make tahini-cinnamon crunch! 

I put it on oatmeal, in vanilla pudding, on vanilla ice cream--it's fantastic! 

Another idea is to fry bananas, add maple syrup, the tahini-cinnamon crunch and some vanilla ice cream and you'll have a perfect little dessert!


Happy eating!

Tinumis

I've been craving tinumis since I got back from the Philippines a few weeks ago. I've had the perfect tinumis recipe ready for quite a while now but I had trouble finding chicken's blood anywhere. Good thing a colleague of mine knows someone who knows a butcher so I got my blood a few days ago and this is the result--the fulfillment of my week-long dream to eat tinumis!

I used only ground pork for this and chicken's blood instead of pork's blood. I don't know why but the idea of using pork's blood just icked me out more than chicken's blood. 

Okay, so I sauteed the ground pork very well in lots of garlic and onions, once the pork was a bit brown I added the green peppers (the large kind) and some powdered sinigang mix, after that I added the chicken's blood..mixed it all up, added a little bit of vinegar, more sinigang mix and that was it!

Yum!