Success recipe of the week

This week, the first week with a baby at home and a husband at work (read: difficult combination of being alone and have to do all of the work by myself), I wanted to try out a new recipe I saw on "Save with Jamie", called "Fish Pie with Sweet Pea", a real British cuisine dish. I love all his money-saving tips and tricks and how he always finds ways to use expensive ingredients over various meals.

In this recipe Jamie uses frozen fish and vegetables. I like that and in my circumstances it is like the ideal world. I got frozen tilapia fish (between you and me, I opted for this fish because I had it in my freezer) and did not add any prawns to the dish, although this might be a very good idea to add some extra texture.

The pea puree not only completes the dish with a sweet touch, it also gives a beautiful mint green colour to it.

A perfect balanced dish for a perfect new week! Enjoy!

Recipes © Jamie Oliver www.jamieoliver.com

Homemade pastry and pasta

Two easy recipes! One for the sweet tooth, and one for the healthy ones!

For the "petite tarte avec des fraises et crème fraîche au citron" (sorry, it sounds so much better in French) you will just need the puff pastry you want to use, depending on how many pieces you want to make. Cut the pastry into squares or whatever figure you want to make and make sure to cut the edges and "paste" them on to of the base pastry with a little bit of egg yolk. Once you have all the little pies ready, put them in the oven (220°C) for about 20 minutes.

While there are in the oven or cooling down you have enough time to make the whipped crème fraîche make sure it is well chilled, use a chilled metal bowl and beaters or whish and simply whisk or beat until soft peaks form and it attains a thickened yet lightened texture that allows you to dollop it nicely. You can add some powdered sugar, add the quantity that you like. You can add, just as I did, the lemon zest of one or two lemons to give it an extra fresh taste.

Just put it all together, adding on the top a sliced strawberry and you will hopefully enjoy this small pastry with a cup of tea or coffee!

This week I had the time to cook a very easy-to-make pasta dish with green beans and soy sauce. It is this easy to make:

While the pasta is being prepared, cook the beans until they are soft. Drain them and fry them with some soy sauce and garlic until they are crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. You can also just fry them without cooking, that is totally up to you! Once the soy sauce has been absorbed by the beans, add a complete egg and stir fry it (just like a scrambled egg). Add the cooked pasta, some philadelphia cheese and cream, to make it, well, creamy...if you are a sesame seed lover you can add some of those, fried or just raw, which will just give that extra taste.

Easy? I think so! 

I hope you enjoy this two very easy recipes!

10 tips to lessen impact on environment

After seeing "No impact man" on Facebook (yes, the maternity leave has begun, so I finally have time for those kind of things), I started to think about what we, as an individual, can do to lessen the impact on the environmental. I think it is a question each of us has to ask his-/herself once in a time...just little details in your day-to-day life can help!

Let me share you some tips you can use at home!

1. Use CFLs, Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs, instead of the traditional incandescents.
2. Tighten the gas cap of your car until it clicks three times. Apparently gallos of gasoline literally evaporate into the atmosphere because of loose, damaged or missing caps. This is not only better for the environment but also for our economy!
3. This one I had to read two times to actually believe it. Scrub your wheels at a car wash, not at home. A drive-through uses less than half the water per car than the typical do-it-yourselfer and many of the establishments re.use there soap water.
4. Eat meet-free at least once a week, as producing a pound of beef consumes 145 times more fossil fuels than a pound of potatoes.
5. Use bar soap instead of liquid soap that comes in plastic packaging. Before I married a Mexican man I really wasn't used to use bar soap in the shower, I had no clue how to wash my body with it, but, as many ne things, practice solves that problem!
6. Use cloth napkins, eliminating disposable napkins. Something that we really need to learn in Mexico where the use of disposable plates, glasses and napkins is very normal.
7. Recycle. Recycle, recycle, recycle, what more do I need to say?!
8. Read your water meter. Check the meter, then wait an hour without using your faucets or toilets and check again. If the number rises, call a plumber!
9. Switch your computer display to go to sleep mode after 5 minutes of inactivity, as the sleep modus consumes 90 percent less energy than an animated screen saver.
10. Use reusable bags. Always have a reusable bag in your car for errands! In a lot of countries plastic bags are no longer free in supermarkets, which is a very good beginning but we really have to get used to bring our reusable bag everywhere we go!

10 simple tips to introduce in your household! Good luck!

Lunch at Entre2 Bistro

A normal Saturday...working from 9AM to 1PM and always trying to leave a little bit earlier what normally results in a five minute "early check out" of the work place...which is almost the same as nothing! But...that's how this is!

You have to enjoy the little and short moments of relax that the Mexican law gives us and enjoy to the fullest! Past Saturday we decided to go for a complete European lunch at the very recommended French restaurant "Entre2 Bistro", a small local business, owned by a real French cook, who brings one of the best European flavours to Guadalajara. We tried a lemonade with lemon, mint and lots of ice, wonderfully refreshing! While waiting for the first course, some pieces of bread that, by the way, smelled like heaven, were served with a twinge of olive oil. Again...heaven, on a plate! The bread is that good, I couldn't almost believe that I was actually eating a perfectly baked piece of bread in Guadalajara. This is one of the things I miss the most here in Mexico, a daily portion of bread!

To accompany the bread we ordered some melon with serrano ham. The combination of those three things and the olive oil...heaven! And the best was yet to come...after around 30 minutes the paella arrived at the table. A small casserole with quite a lot of ingredients was placed in front of us, shrimps, octopus, mussels, pieces of meat,...a variety of seafood to accompany the paella. The portion is perfect for two people (taking into account that I am pregnant and my husband "suffers" the cravings together with me). And once again... heaven on a plate!

If you every visit Entre2 Petit Bistro you should also try the chocolate fondue, made with Belgian chocolate. It is AMAZING!!!! Certainly worth avisit when you are in Guadalajara!

Fresh stuff for warm days

Who doesn't want a fresh something on a hot summer day? Well, here some tips to make the fresh stuff right in your own kitchen!

You can make any kind of lemonade with some lemons, ice and agave syrup and add whatever you want to give it a personal touch: cucumber, mint, strawberries, mango, etc.

I made a special ice tea today with a new brand of tea I found this morning in the supermarket, which is called "Aromas del cielo" or "Heavenly aromas", a Mexican product. I could only find two flavours: "chamomile blends calm" and "green citrus" but on the website I find that they have a great variety of teas, as Chai Tea, apple with cinnamon, passion fruit and raspberry with hibiscus, etc.

"Aromas del Cielo" Tea

My ice tea this Sunday was a mix of two bags of green citrus tea with four lemons and sweetened with agave syrup. Once cooled down in the fridge just add a couple of ice cubes and some fresh mint.

This lemonade in the garden while reading a book...just like heaven!

Ice Tea and book in the garden, just like heaven!

Nothing more renewing than a homemade lemonade with fresh ingredients!

And something very similar to the lemonade are the very famous and totally hip pop sicles. Just as the lemonade you can make the mix of fruits you most like! You can even add some alcohol to make it even more amusing! It's totally up to you!

Here some tips!

Watermelon, Strawberry and Mint Pop Sicles | Recipe here

Blueberry and orange Pop Sicles | Recipe here

Guilt Free Pop Sicles | Recipe here

Coconut-Mango Pop Sicles | Recipe here

I hope you can use this tips to create a refreshing moment in the oh so hot summer days!

What do you do to revitalize your days during summer? Any tips are welcome!

A weekend focusing on nature...

This weekend we planned to chill out after a busy week and that is exactly what we did!

On Sunday morning we went to the local market to buy all type of delicious fruit. It is a market that only takes place on Sunday. They arrive in the (for me very) early morning, laying out all the fruit and vegetables. They have great prices, really a lot cheaper than when you go and buy food at the supermarket. And if you go aroung 7-8AM, it is not so crowded at all. I was going to take a picture of the market, but forgot my iPhone and my camara. But I did take a picture of some of the fruit we bought, nothing exotic but doesn't it looks all so fresh?!

Afterwards we were invited by our friends to the Metropolitan park, which is a wonderful, peaceful place in the city. They have some amazing trees that looks like they felt down and relived. 

The park is the perfect place to go for a walk, a run or use your bike for a small tour. There are hundreds of small paths and go-throughs, places that are specially designed for a BBQ with family and/or friends, and there is also a small lake with a grass court where all types of dogs are running around, playing, refreshing themselves and most of the time also the people walking around, but it is great to see how they enjoy the space and the contact with other dogs. Next time we will take our Doberman, Zeus, so he can make some friends!

Our friends were supposed to take some picture and make a video. They are going to get married on May 02nd and contracted a photographer to make some beautiful pictures of them and their son. Unfortunately, due to local policies, they only could take three pictures before someone of the guardians came to tell them that taking professional pictures was prohibited. Very weird as the park is a public place, so you would think...

But it turned out great, I got to know another park I had never visited before, which is called "Parque hundido de Jardines Vallarta" or in English "Sunken park of the Vallarta gardens". Why sunken? Because the sides are on a higher level than the centric part of the park. It is a small but peaceful place, perfect for the video.

We had a great time and enjoyed the small surprises that nature gives us on a daily basis.

And when we came home, we found this beautiful, lonely flower in our garden. Isn't  nature something mind-blowing?

A normal Saturday

This past Saturday was for me a special one, the last one before my so long-expected vacations to my beautiful native country, Belgium. This will be the first trip for me and my newlywed husband, For him it might be a slight nervious trip because he will finally meet his parents-in-law and has been preparing himself as never before, not only learning English, but also buying clothes for the very cold weather in February and, most importantly, buying local gifts for the loved ones.

We looked for several options for each one of them and finally got the following souvenirs. The plastic and colorful bags for my grandma, mum, sister and beloved 4 year old niece. I already look forward to receive their picture actually using the bags to go to the supermarket!

The lion puzzle is for my nephew, Leon, which means lion in Spanish, The two plates are an example of "Huichol art", elaborated by the Huichol and Coras who dwell in the Sierra Madre Occidental. Beautiful figures representing the gods of the sun, rain and others. The small hand painted clay cross is another example of real Mexican folk art. This one we bought for my 81 year old grandpa.

And specially for my dad we bought some real Mexican herbs and special mixes for Mexican cooking. He really adores to cook so these spices might give him a total new inspiration for some great meals! I will certainly let you know what he makes from it!

So, now we only need to get all of this stuff with all the clothes in two small pieces of luggage and get on that plane to arrive to my favourite country, my amazing family, that I miss so much! But nevertheless, it is too amazing to get to know so many new things in another country, that I would not exchange anyone's life for mine here in Mexico (at this moment). Who knows where the wind will bring us?!