Random - Music video & pic

I recently discovered Ingrid Michaelson's songs when I heard her song 'Be Ok' in an advertisement on TV, and then  I came across this song on youtube :)

Sunday breakfast on Monday

I woke up this morning, and I felt like having a really healthy & tasty breakfast ... it felt like it was a Sunday morning!  Here's what I made:  a health omelette with vegetables & cheese along with a grapefruit and my favourite hazelnut coffee!

P.S. Can anyone recommend a good camera with high sensitivity?  The camera I'm using now is a Sony Cyber-shot 8.1 Megapixels, which is pretty good at focusing but when I enlarge the pictures here they become blurry! :S Any suggestions?

Fantastic Fish Pie

I wasn't too sure about making fish pie, since I've never had it before and wasn't sure how it would turn out.  As soon as I started cooking, and tasted the creamy sauce I knew it was going to be delicious!  I've adapted the recipe from Jamie Oliver's 'The Return of the Naked Chef' and used different fish, cream and type of potato.  Here is my take on it: (sorry about the the blurriness of the pictures, I'm not sure why that happened cos they were clear on my camera! :S)


Ingredients:

2 large sweet potatoes- diced
2 medium sized carrots - finely diced
1 white onion- finely diced
1 cup Half&Half cream
2 large handfuls of cheese (Cheddar or Parmesan)
1 heaped teaspoon of mustard
Juice of 1 lime
Fish  (cut into diagonal strips) - I used 1 packet smoked salmon and 2 tilapia fillets
2 large handfuls of spinach
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Nutmeg (optional)

*Preheat the oven to 230C/450F
1.  Boil the diced sweet potatoes for 15 minutes until tender.  About 1 minute before they're done, place spinach in collander over the pot so it steams a little)
2. In a separate pot, slowly fry the onion and carrots in a little bit of olive oil for 5 minutes
3. Add half&half cream, and bring to boil.
4. Take off heat, and add mustard, lemon, and cheese
5. Once the potatoes are done, drain them and place the pot back on the stove for a couple of minutes so they potatoes dry up a little.
6. Take off heat and add some olive oil, salt, pepper, a dash of nutmeg and mash
7. In an appropriate baking dish, place fish followed by spinach, then cream sauce and finally the mashed potatoes on top.
8.  Baked in oven for about 25-30 minutes, and serve with green peas or salad.

Enjoy!

Aritzia!

I finally have a coat from Aritzia! Yay! I've always wanted one cos I heard they're such good quality, and they really keep you warm especially in Canadian winters.  Now, this is the only reason I'm looking forward to the winter haha!

I also bought a scarf from H&M... I wanted one with a design since all my other scarfs are really plain.

Fresh Ginger Cookies

I wasn't too sure this recipe would work out, but Oh My Glozell,  they were so yummy!!  I'll definitely be making them again... they turned out to be just the right texture - soft and chewy.  Here's the recipe (from allrecipes.com):

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda (or 2-3 teaspoons baking powder)
1/2 teaspoon salt
(My addition: 2 teaspoons cinnamon)
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar (I substitute brown sugar here)
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
1 cup white sugar (for coating)





1. In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinammon, and salt.
2. In a larger bowl, beat together butter, ginger and white sugar (or brown sugar substituted) until it's light and fluffy.
3. Add egg and molasses and beat.
4. Gently fold in flour mixture until it has just combined
5. Chill for 1 hour

6. Preheat oven to 350F (175C)
7. Roll dough into 1.5 inch balls and roll them in white sugar.
8.  Place on ungreased baking sheets (parchment paper), 2 inches apart
9. Bake until edges start to brown (takes between 15-18 minutes depending on your oven). Centres should be soft
10.  Let stand on cookie sheets for 1 minute, then you can transfer to a cooling rack to completely cool ( I prefer to eat them warm, myself! :)).

(I made my dough balls bigger so I got around 16 cookies out of the mixture, otherwise the serving size is 30).


Aaand, a little treat for anyone who used to watch sesame street... I love the Cookie Monster! Haha!

Per i miei amici italiani

Voglio scrivere in italiano oggi perche devo praticare! Ho la mia lezione di italiano il lunedi dalle sei alle otto e trenta! Dunque, sono un po stanca quando ritorno a mia casa e devo preparare la cena.  Comunque, sta sera ho cucinato pollo con la salsa di pomodoro, il formaggio e una insalata mista... era molto delizioso! Forse posso fare un foto e darti la ricetta, la prossima volta.
È l'una e venti del mattino, dunque vado a  dormire ora.  Buonanotte!

from bugbog.com

P.S. Per favore, mi dica se ho fatto degli errori perche ho bisogno di migliorare! Grazie :)

Carrot & Halloumi Salad + Easy Hash Browns

This is a really quick dinner I made, with the very few ingredients I had left in the fridge!  The only time consuming part was the grating of the carrots and potatoes, but if you have a machine to do that then you're good to go!

Ingredients (serves 2):
- Carrots (3-5 depending on size)
- Packet of Halloumi cheese
- Fresh Mint
- Paprika
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
-Salt/Pepper

1.  Peel and grate the carrots into a bowl

2. Open half pack of Halloumi cheese and grate into same bowl

3. Take fresh mint and roll into a cigar shape... chop finely and add to bowl

4. Add paprika, salt, pepper, spray with olive oil and mix!

For the potatoes:
- 2 medium sized yukon gold potatoes
- Salt/Pepper
-Extra Virgin Olive Oil spray

1. Preheat large pan
2. Peel and grate the potatoes
3. Once pan is hot, spray with olive oil
4. Place grated potatoes in pan and use a spatula to spread out evenly
5. Season with salt & pepper and spray with more olive oil
6.  Once one side has browned, flip entire hash brown over to brown the other side.
7. Season with salt, pepper and olive oil again.

Enjoy!