Good Morning!

Good Morning to all! I haven't written much this week...but with exams it has been tough to get creative in the kitchen! 

Soon I will be posting some lunch inspiration, but for now a healthy breakfast to start the day: 

Oatmeal with 1 banana and a handful of blueberries! I always add cinnamon for extra flavour! Enjoy your Friday! 

Friendly Dinner

Tonight was another night with beloved friends... Old friends came over for a lovely dinner! 

Even Vela had a friend over!

meet OBI!

What's on our menu: 

Wine (of course) 

Main course: Pasta with asparagus and balsamic sauce 

Dessert: Strawberries dipped in dark chocolate  

Unfortunately we were enjoying ourselves too much, catching up and chatting in the kitchen for me to take photos... :( However, I did get some shots of the final "dishes." 

INGREDIENTS

1 bushel of asparagus spears

2 tomatoes 

1 tablespoon olive oil

¾ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ cup balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon light or dark brown sugar

1 package penne pasta

4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces

DIRECTIONS

First heat oven to 400 degrees. Cut tough ends off the asparagus. Cut the asparagus spears into 1-inch pieces. Put the asparagus on baking sheet and cover with the oil and ¼ teaspoon of the salt and ¼ of the pepper. 

Roast until tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.While the asparagus roasts, put the balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan. Simmer over medium heat until the vinegar is reduced to about 3 tablespoons, about 5-10 minutes. Stir in the brown sugar and the remaining ¼ teaspoon pepper.

 Remove from the heat.Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until just done, 11-13 minutes. Drain the pasta and return to the pot. Stir in the butter and vinegar mixture. 

Toss to combine well. Add in the asparagus, tomatoes, and the remaining ½ teaspoon salt. 

Serve immediately and enjoy!

**feel free to add parmesan cheese for additional topping**

& for dessert... 

break up some of your favorite chocolate and melt it!

Dip strawberries and set on plate

Leave in the fridge for later...

Open Tortilla Salad

Lunch the other day was an "open salad." I grabbed a few yummy ingredients, tossed them together in a pan and onto a tortilla... My plan to make something similar to a quesadilla or wrap but instead I left the tortilla open.

I used:
Handful of spinach leaves
1/4 cucumber peeled and sliced
Broken cubes of feta cheese
2 tomatoes sliced and diced

Share your salad ideas! Always looking to try new ideas!!! :D 

Tacos & Homemade Guacamole

The photo says it all! Last night was a night for tacos! I love entertaining and cooking up a nice meal for friends! After setting the table, cutting up some veggies and toppings, cooking our meat...we were able to sit down and enjoy a delicious meal! 

What you need:

- friends/family..anyone, but know you are cooking a lot more than for one...

- Flour tortillas or hard shells for the tacos (I prefer to use whole grain tortillas)

- 1 pkg. McCormick Seasoning mix (or make your own! see recipe below)

- 400g of ground beef OR turkey

-3/4 cup water

Directions:

1. Brown the meat in a large skillet on medium-high heat

2. Stir in seasoning mix and water

3. Bring to boil. reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes

Serve directly onto tortillas or into a bowl for everyone to make their own!

When the meat looks like this...its ready! You will smell it too! 

Homemade Seasoning Mix:

- 1 tbs chili powder

- 1/4 tsp garlic powder

- 1/4 tsp onion powder

- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

- 1/4 tsp dried oregano 

- 1/2 tsp paprika

- 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin

- 1 tsp sea salt

- 1 tsp black pepper 

Directions:

In a bowl, mix all the ingredients together. 

Store in a container for later use. 

Chop up some lettuce for toppings!

Other good toppings:

- Corn

- Tomatos

- Avocado

- Cheese 

Nachos are always good to have for a mexican themed meal! 

Especially when you have some fresh salsa or guacamole for dipping!

Homemade Guacamole

Ingredients:

- 1 1/2 avocado

- freshly squeezed lime juice

- 1 clove of garlic

- 1/4 cup of water

Directions:

- Dice up avocado and garlic (makes it easier to blend)

- combine all ingredients into blender or food processor for about 3-5 minutes

done! 

Enjoy!

Chocolate Mousse

TGIF! 

Need a dessert for tonight or the coming weekend? 

I have discovered a 2 ingredient CHOCOLATE MOUSSE!

Time to make: 10 minutes!

What you will need:

250 g DARK 70% Cacao Chocolate

1 cup of water

Directions:

- Break chocolate bar into pieces {DON'T EAT THEM! You need them!}

- Mix both the water and chocolate into pot over high heat {be careful chocolate burns FAST!}

*** Meanwhile chill a large bowl in the freezer ***

{some recipes suggest you cool it over an ice bucket, but this is quicker! Faster the mousse is ready... the sooner you get to indulge!}

- Once the chocolate is melted, pour into the chilled bowl and whisk until thick

{If this is your first time the chocolate may seem to look grainy, place back over heat and melt a bit more...whisk again} 

- Once the mousse is nice and thick - serve or place in fridge to cool it off.

INDULGE & ENJOY!!!

{depending on what country you live in... chocolate ESPECIALLY for desserts (easily melted) can be found in your local supermarket!} 

{fight the temptation... I know it's hard!}

{place in fridge for cooling! Enjoy!}

It is DELICIOUS!!!! 

...In a perfect world, your mousse will look like this: 

Feel free to comment & let me know how yours turns out! 

Strawberry & Cucumber Salad

Today I would like to share a quick, healthy and tasty salad... great for lunch on a warm day!

{Can't wait for summer!!!!} 

Ingredients:

8-10 strawberries

1/3 cucumber

2 handfuls of spinach leaves

For the dressing:

1/4 cup natural yogurt (I used Greek yogurt)

1 tbsp honey

pinch of salt & pepper

2 tbsp olivo oil

Directions:

Slice both the strawberries and cucumbers

Add to spinach leaves

Combine dressing ingredients and whisk *add spoonful of water if you want it to be more saucy vs thick.

ENJOY IT!

Delicious! 

Spoil yourself...

Sports day at my university only means one thing...BBQ time! 

Always loved barbecues; sitting outside, music, friends... 

Everyone always seems so happy and chilled!

After teaching a fun Insanity workout I decided to treat myself and indulge!

Delicious! -- Cheese, Avocado, tomatos... all prepared by university students!

Was an overdue bbq ~ until we got rained out! 

Insanity link: http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/insanity.do