Weekend specials – Second weekend 2019, first real snow :)

On January 20, 2019 By felisrecipesIn Breakfast, Chicken, Pancakes and French Crepes, Photographs, Potatoes and sweet potatoes, Soups10 Comments

Second weekend of 2019 came with first real snow in Toronto.

Snow blanketed the city from Saturday morning to well into the early hours of Sunday.

My initial plan was to go out and look for some flower pots but the biting chill in the air and the eye-watering winds changed my mind.

And it was just as well since I had a few projects to finish while inside: two scarfs that are ready to go to charity to hopefully help someone in need to keep warm this season, as well as starting my new pullover. (I am thinking of making a post sometime next week to showcase the progress of my pullover – if that’s something you think you’re interested in seeing, please leave a comment below!)

I also had plans to spend some time in the kitchen, doing what I enjoy best: cook. Which brings me to the best bit: weekend specials!

Saturday morning for breakfast, I decided to try a recipe that caught my attention: Potato Latkes from jyospassions.

Breakfast in the making: shredding 5 small to medium potatoes, drain well the excess water; season with salt a pinch of smoked paprika and dried dill.

Heat a nonstick pan and with a scooping spoon add the latkes to the pan. I pressed a bit the mixture and arrange the edges.

After the latkes were ready, in the same pan I grilled a few breakfast sausages which made this a more wholesome breakfast.

Shredded potatoes, salt, dill, smoked paprika and a bit of flour

Since Saturday was a day for savory dishes, and so on Sunday we started the day with two kinds of pancakes: Orange oats pancakes – gluten free and double chocolate pancakes-also gluten free 🙂
I was so lucky to discover a very nice blog where I will return to for some more inspirations: giverecipe.

In this post I will show you the Double chocolate pancakes.

Ingredients needed:

two large eggs
1 cups of original almond milk (you can use whatever milk you prefer)
3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1 cup 1/3 white rice flour
1/2 cup peanut butter powder (optional, I used it because I wanted to finish what I had left in the cupboard and the recipe was asking for chocolate chips which I did not have at this time )
1/4 tsp sea salt
cocoa syrup ( the original recipe was asking for chocolate genache and I am pretty sure would have been delicious, I just didn’t have what I needed so I made a cocoa syrup instead )
raspberries for garnish I would definitely recommend this to add some acidity to go with the rich cocoa 🙂

Looking at the snowy white canvas outside the kitchen window and knowing that I had to brave the biting cold come morning, was enough to arouse my craving for some good old-fashioned hot soup. And the winner was Lemon Chicken Soup from Pinchofyum.com. It is rich and hearty and frankly, quite delicious. Just the perfect hot dish for all soup lovers out there.

What I used for my soup: three large carrots, two medium parsnip, a quarter of a celery root,two medium 2 zucchini, fresh dill, two chicken breast, juice from one lemon, almond milk ( about a cup and a half ) and half a teaspoon turmeric, seasoned to taste with salt and pepper.

And of course there has to be another more substantial dish which was my adaptation of a Mediterranean lunch. I had some chicken breast stripes which I grilled in a non-stick pan over medium heat. I seasoned the chicken only with salt and lemon juice. I made a quick homemade tzatziki sauce, with Balkan yogurt, cucumber, fresh dill, salt and a pinch of garlic powder.

Pan roasted chicken stripes, oven roasted wedges with homemade tzatziki sauce

And if you were wondering if there was enough room left for desert I will let you know there was. Driven by the holidays that we just passed I decided to fall back on my favorite Apple crumble recipe.

Apple crumble – a bit messy but delicious

And I cannot end this post without showing you who kept me warm throughout the weekend 🙂

Sherlock , the grey tabby and Steve, the white and orange

Sunday’s Specials and lots of LOVE

On February 13, 2017 By felisrecipesIn Uncategorized14 Comments

When I started this blog back in 2011, I wanted to share the diversity of recipes we enjoy every day and on special occasions, but I also wanted to leave some of the recipes written down for my daughter. However, life is not as linear as we like to believe it is. In the following years, I had to focus on a career change and there was just not enough time to pursue my hobby. Not to the extent that I wanted to. I did, however, continue to photograph the food we ate. It’s a little soft spot of mine: going back and seeing what we used to eat, say, five years ago. It is so different than what we eat today!

As expected, over the years, our culinary preferences have changed. Personally, I had to do some (involuntary) changes due to some health problems. And along the way (and one gruesome documentary later), my daughter also decided to become vegan. My husband, however, is the only one that remains faithful and open to all kinds of challenges and new recipes. You put it in front of him, and if it looks and/or smells appetizing enough, he’ll eat it.

Now, you might ask yourself “Why is she telling us this?” I’ve been asked several times over the years what prompted me to start this blog. As I mention at the beginning of this post, this blog was meant to be a digital cookbook for my daughter to use after I’m long gone. (Bit sentimental but also morbid, as she so often likes to remind me). But now, as I become more immersed in this lovely community of food bloggers, this blog has grown and transformed in more ways than I ever dared to hope. And it is all because of you, dear reader. Now, before we get teary eyed, let me just say a big, warm thank you for supporting me and joining me on my daily adventure with food.

Because this Sunday was closer to Valentine’s Day I wanted to make it a bit more special.

We started the morning with Peppermint Hot Chocolate while waiting for the waffles to be done:

Since my daughter turned vegan, we discovered Yves company with their vegan products. One of our favorite ready done meals are the kale – quinoa bites. We had them on the side with mashed potatoes and veggies. Here you can see my husband’s plate which is quite overloaded 😉

Now for dessert I decided to go for a Vegan Butternut Squash pie. Unfortunately, I made a vegan crust but I lost my courage when it came to the filling .. .However it turned out just as amazing as a pie should be 🙂

Wishing you lots of love and delicious food.

” Love is just a word until someone comes along and and gives it a meaning.” – Paul Coelho

Frittata

On October 30, 2016October 30, 2016 By felisrecipesIn 30 minutes meals, Breakfast37 Comments

As per Wikipedia:” Frittata is an egg-based Italian dish similar to an omelette or crust-less quiche, enriched with additional ingredients such as meats, cheeses, vegetables or pasta. The word frittata is Italian and roughly translates to “fried”.

There are a few rules to follow and mistakes to avoid. Here there are a few rules found in Bon- Appetit magazine, Dawn Perry, BA digital food editor:

1. “Dairy turns an ordinary omelet into a delicious, creamy egg cake.”

2. ” For every dozen eggs you use, you’ll need a half-cup of dairy. Six-egg frittatas get a quarter-cup.”

3. “Whatever oven-safe pan you choose, be aware of how well it conducts heat. Because it retains heat well, a heavy pan like a cast-iron will continue to cook your frittata after you remove it from the oven.

4. “A frittata makes use of fully-cooked leftovers like last night’s roasted potatoes or this morning’s leftover sausage. But if you’re starting from scratch, it’s best to fully cook any addition that might release moisture into the eggs—mushrooms, tomatoes, and summer squash or zucchini are common “wet” culprits than can water down your eggs. Sauté them separately.”

5. “A good frittata should have the texture of custard: trembling and barely set. An over-baked frittata, in contrast, will have all the textural appeal of a kitchen sponge (and its interior will look strikingly similar). “You may want a deep golden-brown top,” says Perry, “But the reality of it is, when the crust is golden, the interior is over-baked.”

6.” Be sure to season your eggs with salt and pepper before adding them to the pan. A surface-level sprinkling of salt won’t penetrate the rest of the frittata”

7. ” Choose your cheese wisely: Although all cheese is delicious, not all cheese is created equal. Know what function you want your cheese to perform. Best options are cheddar, gruyère, and fontina cheese.

Zucchini, Dill and Mushrooms Frittata:

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Oven Ricotta and Spinach Frittata:

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Ham, Spinach, Cheddar Cheese and Green Olives Frittata:

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Reg Pepper, Spinach and Mozzarella Frittata:

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Capers, Parmesan Frittata:

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Enjoy !

Curry Cauliflower with Spicy Italian Sausages and spaghetti

On August 1, 2016August 1, 2016 By felisrecipesIn Pork8 Comments

I find curry dishes so easy and diverse. I bought this Spicy Italian Sausages to cook them with cabbage. You might already know how crazy we are about curry so my daughter made me change my mind and transformed them into a curry dish, again. I know but it’s never too much curry for us 🙂

I knew I would have to use the mild version of the sausages for curry but my hubby added it also some more hot pickled red peppers.

How can he do that is a mystery to me 🙂

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What I used:

1 head cauliflower
4 spicy Italian sausages ( 450 g )
1/2 package curry paste (Kitchens of India)
1/2 package spaghetti
5o ml cream
1 teaspoon dry dill
salt and black pepper
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
chicken broth – home made if you have
1/2 (350 ml) bottle of strained tomato paste

How you do it:

In a skillet add the chicken broth and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes. Take the sausages one by one and remove small amounts ( balls ) with your hand and let them fall into the skillet.

Wash and break the cauliflower in small florets. Put them in a food processor and bring them to the size of a green pea ( approximately )

Prepare the sauce:

Add the chicken broth and curry pasta, tomato sauce and cream into a small bowl and mix well.

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Add the cauliflower and the sauce to the meat and let it simmer for about 20-30 min on medium low heat.

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Now it’s time to put the spaghetti to boil in a large pot of salty water following the package instructions. Drain the spaghetti and add the cauliflower sausage mixture to the pot and give it a gentle stir. Season with more dill if needed and let it cook for about 5 minute so all fragrances combine.

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Bon Appetite !

Good bye 2018 … Welcome 2019 !

On January 1, 2019 By felisrecipesIn 30 minutes meals, Breakfast, Brunch8 Comments

2018 was an eventful year, but that was not the reason for my absence. Somewhere along the way, the drive that once fueled my desire, my passion for cooking dwindled until months had gone by without me realizing it.

Some major personal breakthroughs in 2018: (Not in a chronological order) the best thing that happened was that I found a “cure” for my digestive problems. Looking back, I realize that this was the turning point for me. Little by little, my passion for cooking returned and I found myself thinking of what recipes I could try my hand at again, and most importantly, what the next post could be. Additionally, I changed my department under the same company at work. I am very happy with my decision. I had the chance to learn new things and to meet a bunch of new, wonderful people. And last but not least, we have also decided it’s time for us to buy a condo and move to a new location. Like I said, it’s been a busy year.

All I can say looking back at 2018, is that I am so grateful to have such a wonderful family, including my two furry boys, Sherlock & Steve, of course :); I am so grateful for my friends and coworkers and not at least for being able to improve my health.

Do I have a list of resolutions ? Not really. But I have a few ideas I would love to stick with and achieve in 2019:

to read more: I decided a book a month;
to knit/crochet more: at least on little thing a month;
Socialize more. As my daughter says YOLO.
Blog more; a post a month (at least).

I am pretty sure most of you have a say that whatever we do the first day of a new year, we will do it through the year. So what better way to start the new year with than a platter with grilled cheese and ham sandwiches.

What cheese and ham did I use? Soft goat cheese, Old Cheddar cheese, Parmigiano Reggiano, Brie and Camembert cheese along with Black Forest Ham. Who doesn’t want to eat cheese all year round?

Happy New Year 2019!!!

Ham and cheese sandwich ready for the pan

Grilled ham and cheese platter for the first 2019 breakfast

Am I going to get a sandwich or not ?!?

Bon Appetite!
and
Happy New Year 2019 !!!

First Weekend Specials 2018 and Happy New Year!

On January 7, 2018 By felisrecipesIn Breakfast, Brunch, Cakes, Pork, Uncategorized13 Comments

Happy New Year everyone! I had so many plans to cook and to post many delicious meals and recipes for the first weekend of 2018, but unexpected bronchitis got my plans ruined. 😦

Anyway, I tried to satisfy some of our preferences for the first day of the year and to indulge a bit from breakfast through dinner 😉

Me and my daughter, we started the day with a chocolate chia pudding that I prepared the day before and let it in the fridge overnight. For that, I mixed three tablespoons of chia seeds with one tablespoon of each cocoa and brown sugar and 2 cups of unsweetened cashew milk. Give it a good stir or shake to mix all the ingredients in a jar and let it in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Now, you can imagine I had to let mine warm up for a while as eating right from the refrigerator was not an option at this point 😉

While the two of us continued with some delicious Ricotta Chocolate Overloaded Pancakes:

my hubby decided to move to the savoury side and enjoyed an Italian Sausages Omelette with Sauer kraut and homemade pickled beets. While the Sauer kraut was store bought I like to make the pickled beets at home. I just boil the beet with skin on. Let them cool down, peel them and cut them into cubes or chunks depending on your desire. I just drizzle the beet pieces with lemon juice ( I use the juice from a small lemon ) and half teaspoon balsamic and a pinch of salt.

With such an indulgence for breakfast, you can imagine that our lunch was quite late, or we could call it an early supper. But this gave me a chance to take care of the cake. I made the same cake for my daughter’s birthday, early December 2017. The cake was quite a hit after a try like ” mom, really I am not little anymore. You don’t have to make a cake every year …yadda, yadda, yadda. ” And because we all loved it I decided to make it again as the first dessert of 2018.

While the lunch was cooking, I prepared the ingredients for the cake. As a Romanian tradition, we would serve cabbage rolls for New Year. However, I did not go for the original recipe, but I made something to remind us of cabbage rolls. I had left two Italian sausages, and I made some pan-fried turkey meatballs from extra lean ground turkey. I cooked the sausages in a large pot. After they turned quite brownish, I added the sliced cabbage. I seasoned all with salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, dried dill and oregano. I give it a stir and let it cooked until the cabbage softened a bit. I added some more hot water and the turkey meatballs on top and let them simmer on low heat for another hour or so. If you are wondering why did I add boiling water instead of just water, is because the sausages and cabbage were already cooking and by adding the hot water you won’t stop the cooking process. I had to admit the combination of pork, turkey and cabbage was just delicious.

And we end our first day if 2018 with a decadent Chocolate Tiramisu:

You could check the original recipe, my inspiration for this delicious cake here.

Here is what I used. I changed a few ingredients, but the final result is very close.

500 g ladyfingers
500 ml coffee, sweetened with 1 tbsp of brown sugar ( I made it again, and I skipped the sugar and was just okay as well )
1/4 cup of brown sugar
500 gr smooth ricotta
300 gr semisweet chocolate
1 teaspoon instant coffee ( optional)
1 teaspoon rum extract
a few amaretto biscotti for decor, optional.

Here is the result. I think that the pictures talk a thousand words :

You could add a beautiful festive ribbon around. I just couldn’t find mine, and I had no energy to look for it. Like my daughter says ” mom, don’t put it away too well, you know that you never remember after that” LOL

I have only one more comment to make about the cake: with every day that passes it becomes more delicious, the ladyfingers will be so moist and soaked with the coffee, and the cream cheese just melts into your mouth. Now it depends on how long you can resist it but in my opinion, the third day was the best, so maybe if you have guests, it’s better to prepare this one day ahead. 🙂

Weekend Specials

On December 3, 2017 By felisrecipesIn Brunch, Salads, Soups, Uncategorized12 Comments

I don’t know about you, my dear reader, but when I go groceries shopping I pretty much have in mind what I want to cook throughout the week, and I also go for what’s in season. Sometimes I do the groceries shopping by myself and hubby just picks me up when I am ready. Sometimes he likes to come to explore the shelves. We both love to explore the International aisle for new spices and other goodies.

Anyway, Saturday was one of those times when he decided to come along. We had just reached the pasta section when he asked: “do we have pasta? ”

Me: ” actually we do, but I bought cabbage to make ” Pasta with cabbage” ( a dish we both liked as kids, back home in Romania). So I need a special kind of pasta.”

Hubby: ” I like this funny shape” train wheel pasta ” and he puts the bag in the buggy ”

Me, quite sceptical: “No way that will go with the cabbage dish.”

He, stubborn: ” I want this one. They are so funny … ”

I took both pasta packages as I was really concerned the one he chose will not turn out right for his lunch.

Now you might ask what’s the reason I told you this pasta story? Well because it turned out pretty gosh darned delicious with the Cabbage and I also ended up stealing some of my Tuna and Veggies Salad, and I just loved it so much as I made twice already 😉

Train wheel pasta with cabbage:

1 green cabbage, chopped.
1/2 a red onion, chopped
salt and black pepper
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)
1 teaspoon dried basil ( optional )
grapeseed oil, about 5 tablespoons
3 cups of pasta, boiled as per package instructions ( 2 cups were enough, so I end up stealing some 😉 )

In a big pot heat the oil and add the chopped onion, When translucent, add the shredded cabbage and mix well. Sauteed the cabbage stirring frequently for about 40 minutes.

While you cook the cabbage, boil the pasta as per the package instructions.

Drain the pasta and wash it in cold water. Add it to the cabbage. Season with salt, smoked paprika and black pepper. Black pepper is a must in this dish.

Tuna Pasta Salad with Veggies:

2 zucchini halved and sliced
a handful of grape tomatoes
1 tablespoon of fresh chopped parsley
1 small tuna can drain
lemon juice
1 teaspoon of olive oil
salt

In a large non-stick, skillet heat the oil. Add the zucchini and sautee them until light brown. Add the tomatoes. Season with salt and lemon juice. Add the parsley.

Add the veggies to a large salad bowl. Add drained pasta and tuna and stir gently.

Enjoy it.

Becuase it was pretty chilly and wet here in Toronto this weekend I decided to warm up with a Mushroom soup – Vegan, Creamy, Mushroom Soup. Not as creamy as I wanted because I added a bit too much broth 😉 )

And there can be no weekend without a dessert. The winner was:

Raisins Cinnamon Sticky Buns.

Weekend Specials

On October 22, 2017 By felisrecipesIn Muffins and other sweets, Uncategorized16 Comments

Saturday morning I woke up way too early for a weekend morning, but I decided to get some things done instead of going back to sleep, so I choose all the ingredients to make some muffins: Carrot Raisin Muffins that my husband said they were one of the most delicious I’ve ever done 😉

Here are the ingredients:

2 eggs
3/4 cup of sugar
1 cup of apple cider ( I use it to soak the raisins )
2/3 cup of raisins
2 cups of grated carrots
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1 stick butter, melted
1 2/3 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
juice from half a lemon ( to activate the baking powder )

Directions:

Beat the eggs with sugar until creamy. I didn’t use the electric mixer as it was too early but you could do so to save your energy and time ;). Add the melted butter and whisk a bit more. With a wooden spoon mix in the apple cider and raisins followed by the grated carrots. Add the sifted flour mixed with cinnamon and the baking powder on top. Activate the baking powder by adding the lemon juice. Fold in the flour careful not to over mix the batter.

Carrot muffins

If you believe it or not all 12 muffins disappeared on Saturday as we had them for breakfast, dessert and some of us, the luckiest ones, for dinner. For the Butternut squash Muffins, I used exactly the same ingredients and directions, but I substituted the carrots with the squash. And because I started with the butternut squash I decided to continue on the same note for lunch and snacks for the day.

Butternut Squash Muffins

Sunday’s lunch: Spaghetti Squash with Oven-roasted Butternut Squash:

And the weekend’s snacks: Backed oven Acorn Squash and Butternut squash …

Well, I think it enough squash for this week, don’t you? Lol

Pumpkin cream cheese swirl – Giving Thanks

On October 9, 2017 By felisrecipesIn Cakes9 Comments

We enjoyed the warm and beautiful weather here in Toronto for the 2017 Thanksgiving weekend. Like the weather channel announced a June-like weekend in October, the temperatures reached 24 Celsius in the afternoon, and it felt like Spring was around the corner, instead of the cold and rainy Fall that will soon be upon us. But the Auburn colours outside and the stores full of all kinds of pumpkin helped me come back to reality, so to speak.

When I asked my peeps what dessert they’d prefer, I was given two choices: Creamcheese cake was my daughter’s preference and Pumpkin pie my husband’s. At first, I decided to give both of them their options, but I ran out of time, as it’s often the case during long weekends. You know how it is, we think we can do so much each day, and we fill up our schedules to the brink. Sounds familiar, right?

Inspiration soon knocked on my door, and I decided to combine the two deserts, instead; and this, dear reader, is what came out. A delicious dessert to be enjoyed by all.

Here are the ingredients for the crust:

3 cups cracker crumbs ( I used Maria’s cookies )
2 sticks of butter

Ingredients for the pumpkin cream cheese filling

2 packages of cream cheese
1/2 cup of sugar ( pumpkin pie filling has also sugar added )
3 small range free eggs
small can of pumpkin pie filling
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Ingredients for the cream cheese filling

2 packages of cream cheese
1/2 cup of sugar
3 small range free eggs
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation:

Prepare the pan: spray it with some oil ( optional) Wrap the bottom pan with aluminium foil and place it in a rectangle pan.

In a food processor crumb the cookies. Melt the butter. Mix together the cookies crumbs and the butter. Place the mixture into the pan and even it using the bottom of a glass or your hand. I always like to raise a bit the crust sides with my fingers just to avoid the filling from seeping through the bottom of the pan.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Some of the recipes ask to bake the crust for 8 to 10 minutes. I usually skip this step because of my old oven, as in the end, my crust would always look burn on the outside.

In two large mixing bowls, using an electric mixer beat together the filling ingredients. Add the pumpkin filling to the pan. Pouring in the middle of the pan add the cream cheese filling. Using a knife make circular moves from the centre to the edges of the pan.

Bake the cake for an hour. When the sides are firm, and the middle slightly jiggle the pie should be ready. Let the cake cool down to room temperature for a few hours.

I baked the cake around 09:00 in the morning so we were able to indulge around 5:00 pm. I put the cake in the fridge for the last hour.

Apple Compote

On August 23, 2017 By felisrecipesIn 30 minutes meals, Brunch, Uncategorized12 Comments

Last week I made a so called childhood desert. Some of you might know is also as “Compot de mere”. I think we all have those moments when we crave a childhood dessert. I will share the recipe, and the way my mother used to make it for us, although I noticed that French compote is more like a stew, I love the extra juice from mine. As a kid, I always thought the more juice, the better 😉 I still like it this way.

Ingredients:

7-8 apples (I used green apples)
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp cinnamon powder
5-6 cloves
1/4 cup sugar
juice from two lemons
about 2.5-3-litre water

Directions:

Bring a large pot with water to boil on medium high heat. When the water starts to boil add the sugar, the cinnamon sticks and the cloves.

Wash the apples thoroughly. Peel and core the apples. Cut them in pieces. I love mine a bit bigger. While I cut the apples, I put them in a large bowl, and I squeeze the lemon juice over the apple pieces so they won’t oxidize.

If you like it sweeter, you could add some more sugar. If you are not fond of cinnamon, you can use only the cinnamon sticks or the powder. Simmer all together for about 15-20 minutes. You can serve it hot or cold. I like it mostly cold, from the fridge.

You can serve it hot or cold. In the Summer I will definitely have it cold ], right from the refrigerator.

You can keep it the compote in the fridge up to two weeks if such a thing is possible. Mine will probably vanish in a few days 😉

Enjoy !

Turmeric Sandwich Bread

On August 7, 2017 By felisrecipesIn Bread and Pizza, Breakfast, Brunch33 Comments

I love to make home made bread. The smell of freshly-baked bread is simply…mouth-watering. Most of the times I make buns. I think they are easy to share and eat at home, work or school and they are suitable for all meals: breakfast, lunch dinner.

Last week I wanted to try something different: a sandwich loaf. I followed pretty much my usual recipe, and I was impressed of the high bread I got.

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. Instant yeast (or active dry yeast)
1 Tbsp. Sugar (it helps using sugar but it works without as well, so it’s optional)
One tsp salt
2 cups of warm water
2 Tbsp. Olive oil (or any grape seeds oil)
1/4 Tsp turmeric
about 1/4 cup additional bread flour to work the dough and flour the work surface

Directions:

1. In a medium size bowl, add the warm water, sugar, and yeast. In about 10 minutes the yeast should be activated.

2. In the large bowl add the flour, salt, and turmeric; stir all together. Add the yeast mixture and the oil. Work/knead the dough for a few minutes or until it comes off easily from your hands. You might need to add a bit more flour when you work the dough if it’s too wet or still sticks to your fingers.

3. Put the dough in an oily bowl. Brush the top of the dough with oil and cover it with plastic wrap. Place the bowl in a warm place aside from any draft. Let it rise for about an hour. The dough should double the size.

4. Oil a loaf pan. Set the pan aside. Place the dough on a floured surface. Knead it for a minute by folding it a few times. Form a loaf shape and add it to the prepared loaf pan. Cover it with a kitchen towel and let it rise for another half hour.5

5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the bread for about 35 to 45 minutes until the top is golden brown. If you noticed that the top of the bread turns brown too soon, add a piece of aluminum foil to stop it from burning.

6. Let it cool completely on a wire rack.

Here is the result:

I hope you enjoyed a slice of the turmeric sandwich bread!

♥

Tuna melts

On July 23, 2017 By felisrecipesIn 30 minutes meals, Bread and Pizza, Breakfast, Brunch12 Comments

When it’s time for grocery shopping, I always check the fridge and pantry for the items I have already. It’s good to know what I have left around because those should go first.

One of the things I hate the most is wasting food. I think most of you would agree with me that it can be pretty challenging to do the groceries to stay in the budget but also to buy healthy and nutritional food.

There might be a few reasons why I haven’t used left items through out the week: we were not in the mood for a particular recipe, or I had a missing ingredient from the recipe that stopped me. However, on Saturday mornings I am more eager to use what we have left around, and sometimes ideas come quickly, and the missing items are not as important anymore.

While the coffee was brewing and the kitchen started to smell of good things, I checked the fridge: half of tuna can; a little bit of cheese ( no more than 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella). Some white baguette that my hubby bought but that was not as fresh anymore. So it took me around 30 seconds to figure out how to use all of these ingredients before the new ones come to fill the fridge shelves. In other circumstances, I would love to have had some tomato slices or olives or maybe more fresh cheese, but everything that’s left has to be used. I sliced the baguette, added the little bit of ketchup left in the bottle, put the tuna on top and sprinkle with cheese and bake for about 8 min in the preheated oven at 350 F and the last three minutes on broil.

I sliced the baguette, added the little bit of ketchup left in the bottle, tuna on top and sprinkled the cheese. I baked the baguettes for about 8 min in the preheated oven at 350 F and the last three minutes on broil.

The result I think speaks for itself: Tuna melts

Bon Appetit! 🙂

Weekend specials

On July 18, 2017 By felisrecipesIn Bread and Pizza, Breakfast, Brunch, Muffins and other sweets, Uncategorized3 Comments

As much as I wanted these days to stay away from the kitchen, and mostly for the oven, we still had to eat something. The idea to stay away from the oven it’s not as easy as it seems.

Like almost every Saturday, we indulged a frittata for breakfast. Usually, when I make the weekend frittatas, I just check the fridge and decide pretty quick what should I throw into the pan. This time the winners were: green olives; red pepper and tuna. The greens you can see in the picture is fresh dill. In my opinion, there is no frittata without fresh herbs. They make such huge difference in frittatas. I have to admit though, that I don’t have them always handy so I will use dry herbs instead. The herbs I used the most are dill, parsley, oregano or basil.

Saturday’s lunch followed with a homemade (from scratch) pizza: Artichoke, Tuna, and Feta Cheese Pizza. Some of you might think tuna again? Well, the tuna can in olive oil I like to buy is pretty big, so I try to use it throughout the day. When it’s not possible, I would store the rest in an airtight glass container and use it in the next days. Most of the time the other half of the can will end up in a Greek Pasta Salad or Potato Tuna Salad.

What I like about making pizza is that you have just enough for lunch and dinner and you have time to focus on other projects.

And, of course, there’s no such thing as not indulging our sweet tooth during the weekend 😉

I checked what we had in the fridge and pantry, and the winner was chosen: Cinnamon – chocolate chips buns! You might ask: why chocolate chips in a cinnamon bun but it was my daughter’s request to try them this way, and I have to say I will most definitely make them again. They were yummy!

And because is Summer and it’s so hot, and it’s very humid here in Toronto, one way I ensure that we all stay hydrated is making citrus infused water that the whole family can enjoy.

Stay chilled!