Tag Archives: cheese

Style Your Fridge for a Healthy, Organized Space

When you travel a lot, having a beautiful home to return to is more important than ever. And if you love to maintain a healthy diet, your kitchen is one of the areas of your home that matters most. Not everyone gives a lot of thought to what their refrigerator looks like. They consider what’s in it but perhaps aren’t as concerned with style. However, there’s something satisfying about looking into a perfectly organized fridge. Paying attention to the contents of your fridge could help you eat more healthily, even when you’ve just got back from your travels. Sort out your refrigerator with these design tips.

fridge.PNGSourced from Kathleen Franklin

Choose the Right Fridge

If you want to style your fridge, choosing the right one is the first step. They come in all shapes and sizes, and you might not be satisfied with your current one. Perhaps it isn’t big enough, or you feel like it’s not modern enough. You might want to choose one with an ice maker, or even one with smart technology installed. Some newer fridges can remind you when you need to buy things or if something is about to go off. You should take a good look at the layout of the fridge to make sure there’s enough space.

Use Stylish Drinks Containers

Many people might have cartons or plastic bottles full of drinks in their fridge. However, if you want it to look more organized, you might consider other containers. You could keep your drinks fresher and, of course, make your own drinks too. For example, you can use sleek glass containers to hold your fresh juice. You could also add a WillowAndEverett Coffee Maker to your fridge so that you always have fresh coffee. It uses the cold brew method which allows you to make both iced and hot coffee. The coffee maker looks great in your fridge door, as well as on your table.

outside.PNGSourced from Eloise L

Separate Containers for Organization

We can have a tendency to simple put our food in our fridges without much thought. This can end up with a messy and disorganized space. It might also mean that you forget about some of your food and it goes to waste. Make your fridge smarter by using different containers for your food. Put your butter in a covered dish or your eggs in a smart tray. You can use a range of containers that look stylish and help to keep your food fresh. Make use of jars, paper and string, or cheesecloth bags.

Group Your Foods

Your fridge will be easier to navigate if you group foods together. Keep your vegetables in the crisper draw (and not beer) and group your dairy products together. You could also organize things by the date on them. This will help you keep track of when you need to use them. Everything will look neater and be easily accessible if you arrange things with some thought.

A stylish and organized fridge can help you eat more healthily. It will look good and be a welcome sight when you come home.

Chester Christmas Market 2015

During my latest travel to the UK, between the 19th and 24th of November, we came across the Christmas Market by chance. It was a lovely surprise as Christmas Markets have always been a pleasant memory of mine, of the time when I lived in Stoke-on-Trent and went to Birmingham year on year for this particular event.

When we made it to the Christmas Market, the place was already buzzing with people looking and buying items. The decorations and a sense of happiness from the people, really put me into the Christmas vibe. More so because the day was rather cold (it even snowed in the evening!). Cheese with cranberry bits and the cheeky mulled wine helped in all this too.

christmas_marketchristmas_market2christmas_market3

This year, the Chester Christmas Market will last a week extra – In fact it will be open 7 days a week, from 10am to 6pm for just over a month. So make sure you make your way there any day between the 19th of November and 20th of December for some fantastic gifts, ranging from home-made stuff, to food and high-end items.

More information can be obtained by reading here and here.

Cheese-Burger Pie

Today I will share with you a recipe I have conjured while experimenting in the kitchen. I have been sick the past few days, and I thought I needed an extra boost, so decided to make a meat pie. I also felt like eating something a bit more on the lines of junk food, so I came up with the idea of making a cheese-burger pie.

Here are the ingredients I made use of:

For the pastry:
– 250g plain flour
– 110g butter
– 90ml cold water (might not need it all)
– pinch of salt

Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl. Cut the butter into rather small pieces and add to the flour mix. Using the ‘rub-in method’, rub in the butter into the flour. Once this is done, start adding the cold water gradually until the mixture can hold together when pressed. Form the dough into a ball and let it chill.

For the filling:
– 300g ground beef
– beef stock
– 1 large onion, chopped
– cheddar cheese (you can use as much as you want)
–  few pickled gherkins
– mustard (I used german, but you can use your favourite)
– red sauce or ketchup
– salt and pepper

Put some butter in the pan, and once it warms up, put in the ground beef. While it is cooking, at some salt and pepper. When it is half way cooked, put in the chopped large onion and add the beef stock.steffisays-cheeseburgerpie1 Let this cook until the onion is slightly brown and soft. At this point, I added 3 table spoons of red sauce.Once the mixture is less watery, add the chopped picked gherkins and a few drizzles of mustard. You can add more, depending on how strong you like your mustard.
While I left the filling on low temperature, I greased the pie tin with butter, and started to prepare the crust.
Once this was done, I spooned the pie tin with the mixture and added 4 slices of cheddar on top and added some more pepper.
Finally I kneaded the top part of the crust, and added some sesame seeds for decoration.

I cooked the pie in a preheated oven at 180° for about 30 minutes.

steffisays-cheeseburgerpie2

Pasta Omelette (Maltese: Tarja Moqlija)

One of the ‘fry ups’ that I really love eating, but which I do not eat so often since unfortunately it is far from healthy is known as Tarja Moqlija. The English name I’d like to give it is a Pasta Omelette. If you are not sure if this is something you’d like to try, I still urge you read the recipe, it might make you hungry, or in the least: curious!

Recipe for two

Ingredients:
– 200g Vermicelli / Spaghetti
– 2 handfuls of Parmigiano Reggiano
– 2 large eggs
– 2 handfuls of cubed ham or bacon or sausage
– 1 small onion, chopped
– 6 average sized mushrooms, chopped
– Salt and Pepper to taste
You can add or change ingredients according to your taste

Method:
1. Boil the pasta until it is rather soft
2. Cook the mushrooms in some butter until the pasta is ready
3. Beat the eggs and add the other chopped ingredients in the same bowl and season it
4. Mix the cooked pasta in the same bowl
5. Put a bit of oil in the frying pan and wait until it is warm
6. Spread the pasta mix into the frying pan.
7. Fry from one side until is golden brown and then turn it around slowly
8. Serve piping hot (and crispy!)

tarja

Notes:
– Do not put too much pasta mix in the pan because if the omelette is too thick it will break
– If you feel like there’s not enough egg in the mix, you are better off adding an additional egg. The omelette will still taste as good!

My Bacon & Cheese Savoury Pancakes

This is one of my comfort light on the stomach dishes I make from time to time. It is easy, tasty and gives you a feel good vibe. This is my method and I hope you like it 🙂 Continue reading My Bacon & Cheese Savoury Pancakes