Open omelette with greens, walnuts and baked potatoes / Omelete aberta com grelos, nozes e batatas

Simple an OMG so delicious! It’s a good way to clean your fridge too just before you go to do your next food shopping. This is a open omelette done with 2 eggs, some leftover greens that I had cooked the day before and some baked potatoes cut in really tiny pieces and a handful of broken walnut pieces. First warm the greens and potatoes on the pan, after add the beaten eggs (already with salt and pepper) and nuts and try to incorporate all the greens and potatoes within the egg. Let it cook for 2 to 3 minutes and serve with some bread ❤

Este prato é super simples e delicioso, ótimo para acabar com as sobras que temos no frigorífico 🙂 Para fazer esta omelete usei 2 ovos bem batidos com sal e pimenta, “verdes” que tinha pronto no frigorífico (pode ser qualquer tipo de couves, espinafres, estes eram mais tipo grelos), uma mão cheia de nozes partidas e batatas assadas cortadas aos cubinhos (que tambem ja tinha pronto). Aquecer os grelos e as batatas numa frigideira anti aderente durante uns 3 minutos e depois adicionar os ovos ja batidos e as nozes e deixar cozinhar até o ovo ficar com a consistência desejada. Servir com uma fatia de pão de cereais. Bom apetite !

Lots of love,

Sandrina xx

Delicious veggie and egg “risotto” / “Arroz” de ervilhas e espargos com ovo escalfado

Before this recipe I just to say that my Yoga classes and going super well, I’m so happy I can’t quite believe it…Every class is now sold out and I was given an extra class and maybe some more will be added after if needed. I’m so grateful and happy that everyone that comes to my classes are enjoying it, they are such a lovely bunch, couldn’t really ask for more ❤

This dish came to me after I remember my sister commenting on a dish a friend of her made, he was from Turkey, but I am not sure if it is a traditional dish or not. She told me that he used to make rice with little pasta shaped like rice, and that kind of got stuck in my head and I remembered it a couple of days ago and decided to give it a go, my way. I have to say that the result ia absolutely fantastic, and that is saying a lot from a person that LOVES rice like me, I eat it like 7 times a week.

It is very quick and simple to put together. Chop 1 onion and i clove of garlic and cook it in olive oil and add fresh chili and a bay leaf (it is important because of the savory flavor that gives it), when they start to get a bit of color, add a splash of white wine and let it cook off the alcohol. Add 1 fresh and chopped tomato, 1 cup of frozen garden peas and some asparagus. Add around 300grs (allow 100grs per person) of the little pasta and and quite a bit of water, enough to cover and have a couple of centimeters above the pasta. Season to taste with salt, black pepper and some turmeric. Crack open 1 egg per person , it will be nice and poached when the pasta is cooked. Cook for around 10m or until cooked and creamy (the pasta is not meant to be al dente, but not in a paste either. And above all, enjoy it, it’s amazing if I may say! ❤ ❤ Ah! And this meal comes easily at way less than 1 euro each, maybe like 70 cents, and I only use organic eggs and good quality vegetables.

Ola a todos 🙂 antes de vos dar esta receita que é mesmo saborosa e rapida, quero sò fazer um update das minhas aulas de Yoga, porque ando mesmo contente. Tenho tido bastante sorte e por isso estou muito agradecida 😀 mas acho que nao é tudo sorte, porque eu preparo-me muito e procuro sempre aprender mais e mais. Mas de qualquer maneira, as minhas aulas tem estado sempre lotadas ultimamente e isso deixa-me mesmo feliz. E’ bom saber que as pessoas que vem fazer a aula comigo se sentem bem e gostam do meu estilo 😉 Ate me deram mais uma aula extra e tudo! Eheh mas agora falemos de comida..

Lembrei-me de fazer esta receita porque a minha irma um dia contou-me que um amigo dela Turco fazia um arroz muito bom, mas que em vez de usar arroz usava aquela massinha da canja, os pevides. E quando vi a massa no supermercado, decidi comprar e fazer. E’ uma receita super rapida, facil e saudavel 😉

Picar 1 dente de alho e 1a cebola e deixar alourar em azeite, adicionar 1 malagueta sem sementes cortada e 1 folha de louro (indespensavel), quando começar a mudar de cor adicionar vinho branco, so um bocadinho e deixar evaporar. colocar 1 tomate fresco bem madurinho coratdo aos pedaços, 1 caneca de ervilhas congeladas e aspargos (se tiverem, eu usei congelados que aqui em Italia nem sempre se arranja frescos), adicionar 100grs de massa por pessoa, eu fiz 300grs para ter uma refeiçao extra para quando estiver mais preguiçosa 😉 adicionar agua suficiente para cobrir a massa e ficar uns 2 dedos acima da massa. Adicionar pimenta preta, sal grosso e açafrao das indias se tiverem. Abrir 1 ovo por pessoa na agua mesmo, para ficarem escalfados. Cozinhar durante uns 10 minutos, ou até a massa ficar cozidinha. Na minha opiniao, para este prato nao quiz massa al dente, mas tambem nao em uma papa, deve ficar cozida e cremosa. E sirvam com uma salada e bom apetite! Espero que experimentem e gostem ❤ Esta refeiçao fica facilmente a menos de 1 euro por pessoa, eu uso sempre ovos bio e ingredientes de boa qualidade.

Lots of love,

Sandrina xx

Spaghetti squash “aglio, olio e peperoncino” garlic,oil and chili / Abòbora esparquete com azeite, malagueta e alho <3

Have you ever tried spaghetti squash?It’s type of pumpkin that when baked and forked out (you use a fork to take the flesh out) it resembles spaghetti and can be eaten as such! It’s wonderful. I always read about it on american blogs and was always soo curious but it’s not easy to find in Europe, but at last I found it in Italy, surprise, surprise as they are not even huge fans of pumpkins…This was my 1st time ever trying it, it’s really easy just cut it i half and scoop out the seeds after grease with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Turn it upside down, flesh down and bake it for 50m at 220 degrees, or until soft at touch. Once you take it out, let it cool for a few minutes and with a fork take out the squash.
You can add anything you like to it, any pasta sauce. I added some more olive oil, salt, fresh chilies and black pepper. I served it simply with purple sauerkraut and cucumber salad. What do you think, do you love it, or not so much? 😀

Jà provaram abòbora esparguete ? Como o nome indica é um tipo de abòbora que quando cozinhada assemelha-se à massa esparguete e pode ser utilizada em vez da tal, aumentando assim o consumo diario de vegetais e é claro, muito mais saudavel! Jà tinha ouvido falar muito especialmente em videos/blogs americanos, mas pela Europa nao se sente tanto…Por isso fiquei mesmo contente quando encontrei esta variedade aqui em Italia e nao hesitei em experimentar.Preparei esta semana pela 1a vez e gostamos muito. A preparaçao é tambem muito facil. Cortar a meio a abòbora e retirar as sementes com a ajuda de uma colher. Colocar um fio de azeite, pimenta preta e alho em pò (ou outras especiarias que prefiram). Colocar a parte da polpa para baixo num tabuleiro de ir ao forno e assar durante 50m a 220 graus ou até ficar mole ao toque. Com a ajuda do garfo retirar a polpa da abòbora da casca e sairà aos fiozinhos. A esta massa vegetal pode-se adicionar qualquer molho desejado, eu simplesmente coloquei azeite, sal rosa e mais um bocadinho de pimenta preta e malagueta fresca. Servi com sauerkraut roxa e salada de pepino.Espero que experimentem e me digam que tal 😉

Lots of love,

Sandrina

Back with vegetarian pasta dishes and some life updates, Yoga related!

Hello! I know it has been sooo long, but I have a good excuse this time! I trained to become a Yoga teacher and started working straight away 😀 I feel so blessed with the opportunities i have been given here in Italy..

Besides my teaching time in the beach during all summer I was working 3 days a week in my other half parents restaurant, so that took a lot of my time too, and it was exhausting.

We had a proper summer 3 months of sunny 35 degrees, actually i couldn’t take it anymore, after living so many years in London it will take awhile to get use to . As I was alone most part of the summer I really couldn’t justify cooking fancy food, or cook at all…I mainly ate salad from my garden, eggs, cheese, fruit and all the veggies you can eat raw 😉 It was quite healthy and refreshing actually.

But now I’m settling back in my routine and actually did a proper planner of my days, so they don’t go idle (watching series and instagram eheh) and I am back into the kitchen, when I a not practicing Yoga or teaching classes ( I still don’t have that many, but hopefully they will increase) or studying (which I tend to do a lot).

So I decided to pack a few pasta dishes, some vegan and some vegetarian, they are mainly for inspiration as they are very simple and quick to make, so we cannot use the excuse that healthy recipes take long time or are hard work. And pasta is healthy, just eat in moderation, with really good fresh ingredients and you are ready to go, and if you _really_ want swap regular pasta for wholewheat or quinoa or brown rice pasta, I don’t as I eat very once in awhile, may 3 times a month, as I am a rice kind of girl 😉

Enough of blah blah and let’s look at this delicious dishes, if I may say :

This is a really easy fresh pasta dish (which you just boil for 3 to 4 minutes) Mixed with a simple sauce of white beans, cherry tomatoes, good quality olive oil and some parsley ❤ Delicious and super healthy and quick, Can be done under 15 minutes.

This is the old school Pasta with Peas that is part of Italian tradition, I added some carrots because I had one laying around, the original is without but I love my veggies and I think it gave a nice sweetness to the dish. This is a one pot dish, so even better, it takes around 20m beginning to end. Fry onion and garlic in olive oil until soft and add fresh chilies to taste, add the carrot chopped as small as you can so it cooks really fast and let it be here for 5 minutes, add a touch of white wine (optional, but if used wait a couple of minutes before adding another ingredient). Add the peas, stir for another 2 minutes and add half a cup of tomato sauce (passata, good quality). If you would like add half an organic vegetable stock cube and some black pepper. Add boiling water to this mixture, enough water to cook the pasta and have some sauce left. You can add little by little too if you are not sure. Season with sea salt, and serve as soon as the pasta is ready ( to 10 minutes).

Hope all is well, and get used to see me often now! Have a lovely day/night depending on wherever in the world you are ❤

Best Dal / Dahl ever! Delicious lentils dish :) Estufado de lentilhas

Versao portuguesa mais abaixo 🙂

Best Dahl ever! But before just let me know that I finally bought my camera on amazon, so from next week no more bad quality pictures, yay! Now on to the recipe, this dish is amazing, really tasty and filling, can be eaten with bread, rice or by itself, it can be made heavier or lighter according to the amount of fat used. I kept mine quite low. This dish requires a few spices, but you can always adapt to suit your taste or pantry. This recipe serves 3 if served with rice, or 2 (that eat a lot, like me) if by itself.

-250grs of brown lentils soaked overnight (or yellow, red or black, but adjust cooking time)
-200grs of black beans,or kidney, white… (have been previously soaked and cooked but you can use either canned ones or just soaked like the lentils)

In a pressure cooker, fry 2cm of fresh ginger with 3 cloves of garlic, both finely chopped in a little olive oil, when the garlic starts to have a bit of color add the lentils and the beans and cover them with water ( not a lot, I wanted a thick dahl) maybe 3 to 4 cms above the lentils.Add 1 teaspoon of black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of paprike, 1/2 teaspoon of chili flakes and sea salt to taste, bu don’t be too shy, otherwise it will be bland. Cover the pan and cook for 30 minutes, if after this you think they are under cooked, just let it cook other 10m.

On a frying pan fry 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds with 1 teaspoon of nigella or black seeds, when it starts to kind of pop add 2 cloves of garlic,1 large onion, 1cm of ginger and half a fresh chili, everything finely chopped, add a pinch of salt, let cook down for 10m. Add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and let it cook for another 5 to 8 minutes, stirring often.

Once the lentils are cooked (you can mash it a bit with a spoon or not, up to you), add the tomato/onion paste to it and cook for 5 m and serve. I can’t describe the party in my mouth ;D
It may look long, but if you do both at the same time, you will have this epicness in 35 minutes. Enjoy x

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Dahl e’ um prato tipico da India, Paquistao, Banglades, etc e consiste de um estufado feito com lentilhas e /ou feijao, e bastantes especiarias. Acompanhado normalmente por arroz ou pao. Se nao tiverem estas especiarias podem sempre usar as que tiverem por casa, mas diria que e’ mesmo necesario pelo menos o gengibre, o chili e os cuminhos. Este prato ‘e super saboroso, acolhedor, perfeito para uma noite mais fria ❤ Esta receita serve 3 pessoas com arroz ou pao, ou so’ 2 comiloes como nos 😉

-250grs de lentilhas castanhas (ja demolhadas durante a noite, tambem se pode usar outra qualidade de lentilhas, mas tem que se ter cuidado com o tempo de cozedura)
-200grs de feijao preto ( omeu ja estava demolhado e cozinhado, mas pode estar so demolhado, ou tambem se pode usar de lata. E tambem se pode variar a qualidade do feijao)

Colocar numa panela de pressao um fio de azeite, 3 dentes de alho e um pedacinho de 2cms de gengibre, ambos muito bem picados. Quando o alho ganhar cor adicionar as lentilhas e o feijao e agua suficiente para cobrir, talvez uns 3 ou 4 dedos acima das leguminosas. Adicionar 1 colher de cha’ de curcuma(acafrao das indias), 1/2 colher de cha’ de pimenta preta, 1/2 de parika ou pimentao, 1/2 de chili seco e sal marinho grosso a gosto, nao colocar pouco,pouco senao ficara’ desenssabido. Tapar a panela e deixar cozinhar durante 30m em lume medio. Usar o senso comum, se nao estiver cozinhado tapa-se e cozinha-se durante mais uns minutos.

Numa frigideira, colocar azeite , 1 colher de cha’ de sementes de cuminhos (ou po’, mas a semente tem mais sabor), 1 colher de cha’ de sementes de nigella (ou pode-se substituir por sementes de coentros, ou po’ ou fresco, ou por 2 colheres de sementes de cuminhos, tambem se pode juntar louro). Quando as sementes comecarem a fritar adicionar uma cebola grande picada,2 dentes de alhos,um bocadinho de gengibre fresco por volta de 1cm e meia malagueta, tudo bem picado e uma pitada de sal (pouco, so para ajudar a cebola a caramelizar), deixar cozinhar durante 10m, quando a cebola estiver translucida adicionar 2 colheres de sopa de pasta de tomate (nao e’ polpa, aquela mais concentrada) e deixar cozinhar por mais 5 a 8 minutos.

Quando as lentilhas estiverem bem cozidas, adicionar esta pasta ja feita de cebola e especiarias. Deixar cozinhar durante 5 minutos e servir. Espero que experimentem pois e’ delicioso! Parece bastante longo, mas nao e’, se for feito ao mesmo tempo em 35m estara pronto o prato 🙂 Bom apetite x

Fall jams, falafel and other stories… Update on my new Italian life! :)

A few months have passed since I made a proper post, but it had to be this way. Had so much to do during summer, it flew by almost without a notice. So I left London and moved to Italy where I worked really hard during summer, 10 to 12 hours a day without days off, so that meant no summer for me 😦 but it’s ok, no hard feelings… After that my other half and I had to go back to London by car (with a stop in Switzerland where he has family) to ring back all our things, specially mine as I was living in there for 8 years, so imagine the amount of crap I accumulated 😉 It was very tiring the trip, but really wonderful to see all my friends and sister ❤

Anyway, it took me a long time to get internet in our house, but now it’s all working good, so I can update my blog more often. I did update Instagram and facebook as it requires less bandwidth..

A note on Italy so far, I love the country, it’s wonderful full of colours and flavors and nice people AND bad bureaucracy….omg…it takes ages to do anything and it’s very frustrating but if we keep calm and be patient at some point things happen, which is the most important thing..

Regarding my food , lately we have been eating even less meat and fish than before, for our health and for our wallet too. Choosing high quality over quantity. And nowadays, more than ever before, I make everything from scratch as I have the time and we are given so much produce by my new family 🙂  And I do have a small allotment with fruit trees, and I want to start planting a few things too, if anyone knows any tips for beginners I would appreciate!

Onto some food now :

Figs, walnut and seeds jam Very easy recipe just cut in 4 500gr of fresh figs. In a pan add a heaped teaspoon of cinnamon, the figs, 2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup or honey( I used maple), a dash of water, 4 dates cut in 4 ( or maybe another tablespoon of sweetener of choice) and let it cook in low heat for 20m. Check for liquid content if its too dry add a bit of water ( I needed extra and I had organic apple juice at home so I used that, but water is just fine). Mix 2 tablespoons of mixed seeds like flax, sesame, poppy and let it cook for a further 5m. Chop 10 walnuts and add to it at the end ( when it’s not cooking anymore). Let it cool and put it in some jars. I leave 1 out and freeze the rest. As it doesn’t have any chemicals it last around 1 week in the fridge. It’s so lush!! Sweet and amazing. Over bread, yogurt, pancakes, oatmeal…so many options..

Here is a link for a bread recipe of mine :

Adventures!

And one for pancakes :

Yes, pancakes 🙂

Persimmon, apple and chia jam :

6 ripe gooey persimmons

2 apples

2 TBS of organic brown sugar

1 TBS mixed spice like cinnamon,cloves, nutmeg, cardamon, but more cinnamon!

1TBS of chia seeds

3 TBS of apple puree, not really necessary but I had some open

add a bit of water if needed

Cook for 40 to 60m until very soft and blend, if it’s not thick enough just add a bit of tapioca or potato starch (1 teaspoon is enough) just to thicken it a bit 🙂

From my garden.. we have figs, rosemary, persimmons or khaki, tomatoes and onions 😀

Presents from the south of Italy, what more can I say??

For the Falafel : soak dry chickpeas for at least 6 hours. On a food processor mix the drained chickpeas with raw garlic, onion, parsley, cumin, chilli powder, turmeric, salt , black pepper and a bit of olive oil. Don’t over process. Fry or bake I have been on a spice kick, like to try new things. What is your favourite spicy dish ?

The rice is a normal plain rice cooked with garlic and olive oil. The cabbage was kind of steamed with chili flakes and garlic, chinese inspired 🙂

Living below the line – day 1

Day 1 of live below the line challenge, it wasn’t as bad as I thought food wise but being out with friends makes it more difficult! Having their lovely curries in the sunshine and some wine, that’s when I had my banana snack yumiiI 😉 actually didn’t eat both bananas just 1.. breakfast was porridge and lunch was crispy rice with beans

Don’t forget to donate lovelies! Go to live below the line website and put stcarvalho in the search bar .
And if you did this challenge before share some tips and recipes with me!

How to make frozen fish and veggies tasty!

Everyone knows that frozen food is much cheaper  ( I would say this meal costs around £1.20 pp) than fresh food, and if well done it tastes really good. While fresh food needs less herbs and spices, frozen will need more to make it a bit more special 🙂

This is a very simple recipe, but totally worth it 🙂

This coley fish was boiled from frozen with bay leaves, onion and salt for 15 minutes. On a separated pan put some olive oil,garlic, chili flakes and fennel seeds,let it fry until the garlic is cooked but not brown, add fresh carrots ( just use the peeler to do the stripes ), cook for 5 minutes, add spinach ( I bought fresh but I didn’t have the time to cook it, so decided to freeze before it went bad) and cook for another 5 to 7 minutes. Add salt to taste, drizzle with olive oil (extra virgin) and sprinkle with dried oregano. Such a light dinner and very fragrant, you wouldn’t say it’s from frozen ❤

What are your tricks to make frozen food tasty? And how often do you cook with frozen ingredients? xx

Instant noodles but better!

This is a very quick post,  grab your favourite packet of instant noodles and throw the powders in the bin, instead use miso soup paste. For my noodles I added frozen prawns and peas, that cook as quick as the noodles! And if you have add some seaweed.  Serve and enjoy! Quick tasty and a bit more nutritious 🙂 If you don’t have prawns and have some leftover meat it would work too.

Have a good weekend xx

Pasta dish peppers, carrots and sausage and a stir fry !

Time is tight in this house lately, changing houses in a couple of days, starting to pack, no time for food shopping, but we are still able to do some very tasting dishes.

For this one fry some onions with garlic and red chilli , to this add the sausage meat, let cook for around 10m and add the green peppers and carrots, let it cook to your taste. We like it quite raw, so 5m was enough. Add a bit of water so it doesn’t stick, add salt and pepper. In the meantime boil the pasta, when done mix it all together, italian style and it’s done 😉 The heat from the chillies are really good for you, it boost the metabolism, so don’t be afraid to use it!

Stir fried chicken/turkey with leeks and caramelized onion with a simple rice made with fresh tomatoes and beans! Enjoy

Have a lovely weekend happy bloggers, and enjoy the beginning of fall xx