Minestrone, garlic bread and…new clothes

Good eats I’ve recently discovered or made:

Homemade garlic bread, I love the smell of this! All you do is cut slices in a baguette (or other bread), but don’t go all the way through. Between each slice, you spread some butter (I used butter with garlic and herbs, but you can use regular butter and add garlic and parsley). Wrap the bread in foil and into a hot oven for 15 minutes. You have to try this  for the smell only, it’s so good!

And with that bread, I served a vegetable minestrone-like soup. I brought some chicken stock to a boil and added lots of veggies (you can use everything you have!), some chicken meatballs I made earlier (you can easily add uncooked meatballs, they will be done in minutes in the hot soup), a handful of small pasta shapes en my secret trick: a rind of parmesan cheese. That cheese will make the soup taste so good! I simmered this for about ten minutes (until the pasta and meatballs are cooked) and took out the cheese rind. I served it with the garlic bread and some extra cheese to sprinkle over the soup. Nice!

X

And a muffin with chocolate chips from a mix, but this time I added some extra spices to it: cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and cardamom. Made this muffin taste even better!

X

XX

XX

Realisation I’ve recently made:

Yesterday I did it: I went shopping for new clothes in the size I worked towards all this time! It felt great, I felt great…to see those clothes fit and suit me. How healthy I look. I felt so proud. And it’s also something to remind me of the importance of having this body and this mindset. Wow…

Julia

Fish burger & a Coffee Story

Good eats I’ve recently discovered or made:

I made a fish burger and it turned out really nice. I putted a white fish filet (I used tilapia, but most fish will work) in a food processor and added a small, red onion, breadcrumbs (I made them myself by toasting a slice of bread first), lemon juice, parsley and salt&pepper. You can also add more herbs or spices, but I wanted to taste the fish. Then I mixed this in the processor until the mixture was like ‘ground fish’. I shaped this into a (huge!) burger and putted it in the fridge for a while.

When it was time for dinner, I cooked the burger in some olive oil until the flesh was white. I served it on a italian crusty bun with  ’honey-mustard dille sauce’. I bought that sauce this weekend and it was the perfect finishing touch of this dish. Mmm…

X

X

Realisation I’ve recently made:

Things can change. A little event made me realise this again last week.

Up until last year, there wasn’t a Starbucks here. So when I went abroad (to the US for instance) I loved to go to a Starbucks and have a Frappucino, a piece of lemon pound cake or something else. It was almost a ‘holiday tradition’ and I liked it a lot. Things changed during my ED-days. I would still visit the stores with my family, but changed the things I ordered. From a Frappucino with whipped cream to a Frappucino light, to a cappucino, to a coffee with syrup, to a coffee with sugar-free syrup, to just some tea…

Luckily for me, things have changed again! But there wasn’t a Starbucks I could visit…

A new store opened closed to me the other day, so I new I had to visit it this week. And while I eat and drink everything without any problem these days, it still felt a bit special to tell the barista what I wanted. A Caramel Frappucino and yes, I would like whipped cream on that!

Julia

Easy, delicious and so different

Don’t forget: if you would like to do a guest post on ‘Taste of Living’, see the end of this post for more information!

Good eats I’ve recently discovered or made:

Easy and good: I cooked some store bought tortelloni (filled with walnuts and three cheeses) and made a quick pasta sauce in the meantime. I cooked some garlic, an onion and a little bit of red pepper in olive oil, added a can of peeled tomatoes with lots of salt&pepper and let this simmer for a while. In the end, I mixed in soft blue cheese (I used gorgonzola) to make the sauce really creamy. Drain the pasta and serve with the sauce, finish with big pieces of blue cheese (they will melt into the sauce, mmm…).

Some jummy chocolate chip muffins I made. I love the fact that the mix I used contains lots of little chocolate chips, so the muffins have a lot of ‘gooey chocolate spots’!

XX

Realisation I’ve recently made:

A few people who are very close to made told me this week how happy and proud they were, to see me in a totally different state than last year. Healthy, laughing, enjoying good times…these holidays are gonna be so different. I’m so happy I’m able to do more and more of the things I love to do again…If anyone wonders if recovery is worth it, I can say yes. No…I can scream YES! Because it’s so, so worth it:)

Julia

Cute cocottes and guest posts

Good eats I’ve recently discovered or made:

I bought these little cocottes (individual casseroles) this week, aren’t they cute? I immediately had to try them, so I made a individual chicken stew. I cooked some chopped chicken breast with a chopped garlic clove in olive oil until brown, then set that aside. I cooked some veggies (mushrooms are nice) with onion in some oil and added two teaspoons of flour. Then I slowly added 1/4 cup of chicken stock until the mixture became like a sauce. Then I added 1/4 cup of cream and heated this through. I finished with some herbs (parsley) and salt&pepper. I didn’t have white wine, but that would have been nice too.

Into the cocotte: first some sauce, then the chicken and the rest of the sauce. With the lid on in a hot oven for about 20 minutes and that’s it! I served it with some potatoes, rice or pasta or bread (for dipping!) are perfect too. So jummy, and such a nice way to serve a dish!

X

And a lovely sandwich I bought. Dark brown sourdough bread with marinated spicy chicken, cream cheese and a sundried tomato spread. I know this sounds strange, but believe me: it’s a great combination!

X

X

X

Realisation I’ve recently made:

Thanks to the wonderful Taylor, who gave me this:

Thank you so very much! This truly made my day…

Something completely different: at the end of this year, I will be away for almost two weeks (more about that later!). I don’t know if I will be able to blog, maybe a few times, but not much…But a blog without new posts isn’t too nice, so I came up with something! Hope you’ll like it too:

I would like to do some guest posts on my blog. It can be about everything, but I think it would be a cool idea if you also write something about your experience with one of my recipes. I was thinking: if you would like to do that, let me know which of my recipes (you can find them on the recipes-page) you wanna try and why YOU would like to do a guest post. I will pick one (or maybe more!) blogger(s), so there won’t be a blog silence here… I’m curious!!!

Julia

Chicken in autumn

Good eats I’ve recently discovered or made:

Bang bang chicken: for this Chinese dish I cooked a chicken breast and stir-fried some veggies. Then I shredded the chicken in small pieces and mixed it with the veggies.

Meanwhile, I made the star of this dish: the sauce! I mixed 1,5 tablespoon of tahini (you can use peanut butter, but that’s less authentic), 1 tablespoon of (sesame) oil, 2 teaspoons of sweet soy sauce and some grated ginger and garlic. I needed to add a little bit water, to make it ‘drizzable’.

I served the veggies and chicken with some rice and drizzled all the sauce on top. So good!

Roti with chicken massala: I marinated some chopped chicken breast in oil, garlic, salt, pepper and a lot of massala powder(or you can use curry powder and cumin). Then I cooked the chicken in some oil with a chopped onion until the pieces were brown. I added a tablespoon of tomato paste, half a chicken stock cube, some extra massala and enough water to cover the chicken. I brought this to a boil and let it simmer (with a lid) for half an hour. The last minutes, I uncovered the skillet until the sauce reduced a bit. I served this mixture with a roti and beans. Eat with your hands!

Realisation I’ve recently made:

The sweet Hannah tagged me in a food survey, so here I go:

1. Favorite variety of apple? Pink Lady and Jazz

2. Apples dipped in..? sugar, raisins and cinnamon

3. Favorite way to enjoy pumpkin? In a risotto with goat cheese

4. Favorite soup? With crackers or bread? Difficult: pumpkin soup or vegetable soup. With bread (and butter!)

5. Do you eat orange foods all year round? Yes! (Carrots, pumpkin, pepper…)

6. Most used spice in your autumn cooking: Thyme and cinnamon

7. You are baking some homemade bread, what flavor combination of bread would you like to make? Mixture of nuts.

8. Favorite autumn vegetables and ways to eat it? Pumpkin in risotto, chicory in casseroles.

9. Hot chocolate, hot cider, coffee or tea? Tea and coffee (don’t make me choose!) and sometimes hot chocolate…

10. Favorite seasonal dessert? Cooked seasonal fruits with yogurt or ice cream, or a creme brulee with autumn spices.

11. Lets make a fall stew! Pick any 6 ingredients to create your one: Pumpkin, onion, garlic, chicken, tomatoes and herbs.

12. Pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts or almonds to snack on? Walnuts!

13. Popcorn flavor/seasoning? Plain: only salt.

14. Bowl of hot cereal you have been wanting to try: If I wanna try something, I do it immediately! I love the combination of oats and a mix for chocolate, or with mashed banana.

15. Post a link to a recipe that you recently bookmarked: Haven’t tried it yet! link

 

If you haven’t done this survey: try it! I tag YOU!

To be honest: I prefer the spring and summer over this autumn season. Bring me some sunshine and I’m happy! But thinking about my favorite autumn foods for this survey made me realise there are also ‘good things’ about this season. I say candles, blankets, fires, christmas, hot chocolate…and you?

Julia