Kolak Biu - Balinese Delicious Banana Pudding (cooking around the world)

Welcoming drink, lemonade

A good way to get to know a new country is through it's flavors. Food is bound to so many different aspects, furthermore than taste and flavor. Food is culture, tradition, location and belonging, so I decided to besides eating, to take cooking classes, learn at place . 

Happy New Year & The blessing of luck in everything

HAPPY & HEALTHY

NEW YEAR

2015!

And a New Years Story!

It's about the traditional new years cake with a coin hidden inside - the coin posses the "magic" power to give luck to the one who will be blessed with the good fortune to find it, and therefore enjoy a yearlong favor from fortune herself, wealth and abundance. The cake is cut in equal pieces, one for each person in the family and any visitor present at the happening. The blessing of luck in everything, you can imagine, everyone wishes to have that coin. If you want to know the winner of the year the story behind the tradition and the recipe scroll down. :)

New Year Cake. Photo source: cookoo.gr

Easter Inspiration - Food + Love & Deviled Eggs

Settle the table with the most important main ingredients - Food + Love & Deviled eggs :)

Easter holidays, celebration and gathering in good friends company, special loved ones and family. A reason to meet with family members we perhaps don't have time to see in our daily busy life, an opportunity to reconnect have fun and sometimes also have the chance to correct misunderstandings. It is after all a celebration of rejoice, forgiveness, deviled eggs and the chance to practice love :)

On the menu - Shakshuka

Paprika Tomatoes and Poached Eggs – Shakshuka

          

If you aren't familiar with Shakshuka, I’m happy to introduce this culinary concept to you!  It’s a healthy, delicious dish that is easy to make, easy on the wallet and a simple, go-to meal that works as a breakfast/brunch, lunch or dinner. It is also a vegetarian one-pan meal that is easy to make and can be served directly in the skillet. Many reasons that make shakshuka to one of my favourite dishes and I always have the ingredients on hand for an easy to make nutritional meal whenever.   

On the menu - Fragrant Tomato Curry Sauce for Delicious Healthy Light Stews

"eat real food to enjoy real good life"

A simple, budget friendly, versatile and quick curry recipe to prepare and make dinner in no time with a rich and delicious taste. In this recipe I used chickpeas but i love the variety of dishes you can make with this sauce as base. I use the same recipe to make chicken curry from chicken leftovers, fresh chicken breast is perfect too or with white beans, which is a staple food I have either in my pantry, cans, or homemade in the fridge. You can also make a vegetarian dish with cauliflower or bell peppers. 

This is the kind of food you want to have on your menu repertory either because you want to eat a real home cooked meal done in less time or you have friends over and they stay for dinner. This recipe is a sure card to use as long as you have your staples as tinned tomatoes, canned legumes or frozen veggies. It is a light recipe and a great add to a diet plan.

Simple to make with great results, home cooked light delight! 

 Fragrant Tomato Curry Sauce for Delicious Healthy Stews

Fragrant Chickpea Tomato Curry Stew

On the menu - Mushroom Omelette & mixed salad

" Omelettes are not made without breaking the eggs"

 - Robespierre

 A most satisfying meal can I say, if omelettes and mushrooms aren't already in your menu I hope you will try this easy made and delicious meal.  It's a perfect meal really, I explain about how to make a  super-meal in that post. This is a tiptop meal when you are hungry, after an workout or just want to eat good budget friendly food made with less effort.  You can cook this tantalizing meal in less than a half hour. Bon appetite :)

Mushroom Omelette & mixed salad

Mushroom Omelette & mixed salad

serves 1

Ingredients
• 2 large eggs,
• sea salt, freshly ground pepper
• 3-4 nice mushrooms ( I used button style)
• a small knob of butter
• olive oil

Crack the eggs into a mixing bowl, add a pinch of salt and pepper and beat well with a fork.
Quarter or slice the mushrooms and add to a frying pan on a high heat with a drizzle of olive oil, a small knob of butter and a pinch of salt and pepper. 
Fry and toss around until golden, then turn the heat to medium, add the eggs and spread the mixture out evenly by moving the pan around. 
Use a spatula to ease around the edge of the omelette, then fold it in half.
When it starts to turn golden brown underneath, turn off the heat and slide the omelette on to a plate. 
Serve with a salad and enjoy a delicious meal!

Tip
If you want a more protein-rich omelette or are concern about cholesterol, then use 1 whole egg and only the egg white from the second. 

for the Mixed salad 

In this salad I used half half arugula and half spring mix, but you can use any greens that you love actually. Personally I adore arugula for its peppery flavor, I love to spice up my food as it is a good thing to do to sped up your metabolism. But I understand if everyone isn't as enthralled by it. You can simply use a spring mix blend or a 50/50 (half spring mix, half spinach) blend of greens if you aren't into the arugula as I'm but if you can give it a try and mix a small amount your body will thank you as it's very healthy. And make a huge bowl to enjoy!!!

Ingredients

 50/50 half spring mix, half spinach or/and arugula
celery
tomato
parsley
red onion
sea salt, fresh cracked pepper, to taste
extra virgin olive oil
lemon or apple cider vinegar, to taste

make a huge bowl of salad, after thoroughly washing everything, slice the celery, tomato and onion, hack the parsley and toss drizzle slightly with extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon, salt, pepper and mix the deliciousness together :)
Serve with your omelette or any other day. 



Good food for tummy

thank you for sharing..
cook, taste & tell me how it was would love that ;)

My Green-Power Juice - Green Power Nectar

" A green juice a day keeps the doctor away!"

Fresh juices is a powerhouse of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and living enzymes. Green juices says to be extra beneficial and with highly potent because of the high concentrations in nutrients! 

After introducing some of my delicious "Golden Treasure" juices and i did so because I found it easier to start with carrot juices as their taste is more gentle to the palate for beginners. Now it's time to introduce you to my "Green Power" juices and my first one is such a green deliciousness, unbelievably tasty, my juices are tailored to be pleasing as I strongly believe nourishing is and should be pleasurable for the best results :)

Perfect Balanced Meal & The Smartest Food

"treasure your body with good food" - I.A

I love food and I know you can eat well, good food and much more fun food without bland meals or suffering by hunger.  Either you are on the journey to weight loss for better health or to come inside those jeans you desperately want to fit, or you decided to add healthier foods to your diet as it is a must for a healthier fit life and a life with less sickness and high doctor bills, you are suppose to eat good and love it. So be it ;D

I love to cook all kind of food but I believe that most of our daily food should be the kind of food that is good for us and is easy to prepare, done by one ingredient foods, fits the budget, easy to cook, so that nutritional food can be on the table everyday. Important is also to make in advance meals and have in the fridge for a couple days and refrigerate the rest. By doing that you will always have the right food on the table, tasty, homemade, budget friendly, nutritional food and be able to keep a healthy you with less daily effort if you make the effort in advance. Isn't it perfect how it works, it's like magic and everything goes your way!!! :)

And now I will share with you a couple examples on easy to make nutritious meals with eggs. And I choose eggs as it is the smartest food on earth, indeed they are, one egg contains all the nutrients your body need the only you would need to add is vitamin C and that's easy done by squeezing fresh lemon juice and flavor your water, magic again! 

My banner
Simplicity+Smart Choices=Geniality= Good Results 

3 of My Egglicious Perfect Meals

Egg Plate with Cheese & Greens

Recipe - Egg plate with cheese greens

Mushroom omelet & mixed salad 

Wrap meal with eggs, tomatoes & parsley

My Hot Egg Wrap Recipe

(1 serving)

1 large wrap of your choice or lettuce salad*

2 boiled eggs (check how to boil semi-soft eggs in my recipe for the green plate )

1 tomato

1 handful parsley

season to your taste and add a couple tablespoons hot yogurt sauce, serve and enjoy :)

Hot Yogurt sauce

Mix grated cucumber, salt, tomato past, hot pepper sauce, a pinch of vinegar all together in a bowl and stir, let stay for 10 - 30 minutes in the fridge, serve. 

(I don't give any measures as you can actually do as much as you like taste your way to find how you want your sauce, it will stay fresh in the fridge for 5 days)

Bon appetit!

Tip
*You can make the wrap with lettuce, it's a perfect way to reduce carbohydrates and lessen the calories when you want to loss weight. Do remember to hard-boil your eggs for the same reason.




Make your food as colorful as possible to get the variety of the beneficial nutrients each color provides (green, purple, red, yellow, orange). Greens and veggies are also low in calories so feel free to load up on them!
Bon appetite!  



thank you for sharing...

Egg Plate with Cheese & Greens Recipe

I love food plate dishes there is so much one can do, you can make the simplest of food to look luxurious!  You have maybe seen one of my banners which says;

Simplicity+Smart Choices=Geniality= Good Results 

That is what food plate dishes are to me, a creativity field full of possibilities to create magic, I know I like that word but it is a very suitable word when it comes to plates. 

In this post I will take the most simple food and serve a colourful well balanced meal. The dish is perfect to serve as brunch or lunch. It is also an easy dish to prepare the evening before in a lunchbox to work or for the kids lunchbox. Add crispbread and a fruit for a more filling meal. 

My Mediterranean Cold Beatroot Salad for optimal health

                       "Good Food is the Foundation to Good Health"

Living my early years in Greece I grow up with the best of foods, cooked with love and affection for what is the best to serve to the family. A well cooked meal was always on the table and I was never of the children who disliked any food. I knew and felt that it was made with the greatest ingredients and the most important one was the ingredient of love and the wish to provide the best to your loved ones. I think that was also the reason I always ate what ever my family put on the table. I had the best served to me. 

One of the dishes on our family table was this cold beet and garlic salad. It's not only delicious and simple to make, beats are one of the healthiest foods you can eat. They help the body in the detoxication process due to an unique source of phytonutrients called betalains. Betanin and vulgaxanthin are two of the best-studied betalains from beets, both have been shown to provide antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and detoxification support.  

Besides all that beets promote optional health and add the most beautiful and strong shot of color to the table.

GOLDEN TREASURE BELL PEPPER WONDER

"Nature itself is the best physician."

Hippocrates

Are you going to drink juice then make your own! And fresh made juices are greater then any expensive bought vitamin supplement! 

It's more preferable to eat all the greens and fruits to get the fibers for a healthy gut but also chewing is good to add digestion so make sure you eat some. Juicing is good to refresh your body and in a fast way get the nutrients those babes provide, not all can eat what's needed always so juicing is a great alternative and we all love to have a tasty refreshing juice so instead of buying expensive and not so nutrient juices go ahead and make yours or keep you to water drinking the most excellent refresher with zero calories!

But hey I love homemade juice they taste like heaven and I know this is also a great way to make tricky kids have their share of the natural food we need for a good health so come along juice with me and get to know my golden treasures. I feel like a true treasure haunter and indeed we are that whenever we eat and drink natural food. :)  

My golden treasure juices are beneficial to enforce immunity as they are high in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory components and depending on the blend beneficial to many different issues. Enjoy the blends mmm delish, love to you.

For this blend I chose bell pepper for it's high vitamin C content that boost immunity, important antioxidants which protect against free radicals. They also are a good source to vitamin B6, thiamin (B1)  good for supporting cellular metabolism, a good source for vitamins A, K n E n carotenoids who provide antioxidants and anti-inflammatory health benefits and they also contain the healthy omega-3 n omega-6 fatty acids. Also benefit from phytosterols, help to lower the  cholesterol. The more ripen the pepper the higher in the above qualities but the green pepper i used is worthy and good as used.  Perfect may I say. Look at those colors blending. Cheers ;D

Golden Treasure Bell pepper Wonder

1 medium bell pepper

1 inch/ 2.5 cm ginger 

2 medium carrots

1/4 lemon

2 green apples

1/2 tsp turmeric spice

How!

Wash, cut in pieces and juice. Add the turmeric in the glass and pour the juice, stir, serve, enjoy!!!

To consider: for the note bell peppers as many other foods in the group of nightshades food as potatoes, tomatoes,eggplants.... they are not good for sensitive people and those with joint diseases. Researchers recommend elimination of nightshade foods from the meal plans of individuals with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, or problems like gout.


Golden treasure juice/ "the little ginseng"
Health supporting powerjuice

thank you for sharing... :)

My New Year Favorite Food/ Sandwich cake & yummies

CHEERS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

It's time again for the last big party of one more year, the good bye of the past year and the welcome of the New Year! Symbolic and grandiose with all the rituals that's created around the big event. 

And we need to have rituals and mark occasions which can help us to make a closure to what we need to leave behind which no longer serve our goals and start with new spirit, fresh mind, renewed strength, knowing that we do have all the possibilities to make true what ever we want to achieve. 

Over to food for the New Years Eve, it's always a couple of foods I don't want to be without at the time and that is cured or smoked salmon, preferably both  and shrimps.  I love buffet as it makes it possible for me to gather and have fun with guests, and this food is perfect for that. I  serve either on trails on salad leafs decorated with dill and lemon slices, how easy isn't that or I make shrimp salad and seafood sandwich cake. I can tell you I'm  a queen in making sandwich cakes and decorate them they are delicious feast food and a sandwich cake is a most have in my New Years party! :)

Golden Treasure Juice with "the little ginseng"

An old Chinese saying says that  "when radishes come onto the market people will not need to go to the pharmacies anymore."

And since the white radish with the nick name little ginseng does impart numerous health benefit I recently also started to use them in my golden treasure juices.  More often I add radish to give my salads a punch of peppier taste and increase the health value while it's good to digestion and prevent constipation. I love to use this wonderful rot vegetable as it has a deliciously tangy taste, adds texture and crunch to any dish and also withstand long cooking times without losing its taste and texture and absorbs the flavor of the sauce, in other words perfect food for soups and stews, delicious!


Over to the juice benefits. I discovered that white radish is beneficial to symptoms of cold, clear stuffy nose, respiratory problems and that makes my juice perfect during winter when many suffer from those ailments and made this recipe as a winter booster coctail . To make an even stronger anti inflammatory drink I added curcumin which is proved to be a superspice.  So add radish to your juice to help clear sinus cavities and calm a sore throat when you are sick. My Golden treasure juices are also good in strengthening the immune system as they content good amount of carotenoides, vitamin C, A, E, K potassium, manganese and many others which help to make the healthy cocktails good immunity booster and good cancer fighters! 

What's for Dessert and a Good One

"Fruit only angers my need for chocolate.  ~Jason Love"

and I can proudly say; Love I solved your problem

Who don't have an issue with desserts, good ones, bad ones, light, heavy, eat not eat, sweet how sweet, what to sweet with, healthy .... in to eternity. So

Mediterranean Chicken breast & Green Bean Stew

 my Mediterranean healthy, hearty but light Chicken breast & Green Bean Stew -  

This dish is inspired by the greek cuisine, a very healthy dish, good both as a weightloss dish as it is, but can also be even lower in carbs if you don't use potatoes for those who prefer a low carb diet. And a dish worth to make to maintain weight, we need hearty healthy dishes to comfort especially the cooler season. I also love the warm feeling of summer this food awaken,

The Mediterranean diet is proved many times to be one of the healthiest cuisines in the world and also one of the best diets for weightloss and to maintain a healthy weight and a good life with health. Well it has it all!!! 

Green & Tangerine Cranbery Salad

“Food is symbolic of love when words are inadequate. ” 

The wonderful art of cooking is loved by many and creates togetherness, warmth and memories! Let us create memorable moments with great tasty food that nourishes our body soul and waistline, enjoying many years with good moments creating vital body's adding vital food to our diet. That's what my first dish I share will be about. Health, vitality and good taste!