What's for dinner - Spaghetti with zucchini, basil pumpkin pesto and tomato salsa

As a breastfeeding mom I need to eat healthy. Cooking only for myself has always been a pain in the neck but when I have somebody to feed it’s enough for me to feel motivated. I’ve always loved cooking for Kamil, mainly because he loves everything I cook, literally, he’s such a sweetheart, even when something is really terrible he’ll go all ‘mmm’ and ‘aaaah’. I love him. Lara hasn’t really tasted my cooking yet but she’s a happy little monkey and being on mama’s milk only diet has served her well. I must say our eating habits are generally way better now. We try to care about what we eat so that first of all we’re all healthy and also because we want Lara to have good eating habits from the start. 

I found this recipe on my new favourite blog the other day, the girl is crazy, she cooks such amazing food that I want to try it all out. And here is what we cooked last night only with a few small changes. It’s no longer gluten free but still very, very tasty and healthy. 

Ingredients:

Spaghetti pasta

2 medium zucchinis

2 ripe tomatoes

For the pesto:

big bunch of fresh basil

1/3 cup pumpkin seeds

1/4 cup good quality olive oil

 3tbsp grated parmesan

s&p

For tomato salsa:

2 ripe tomatoes, peeled

2tbsp good quality olive oil

salt

Instructions:

Cook pasta al dente. Julianne zucchinis until you reach the seeds inside. Fry zucchinis on a tbsp of olive oil for max 1 minute, set aside. In a blender place roughly chopped basil, roasted pumpkin seeds, minced garlic and parmesan. Blend well and add olive oil, salt and pepper. If it’s too thick add more olive oil or a drop of water. Chop tomatos and mix with olive oil and salt. 

Mix all the ingredients in a big bowl and serve with pumpkin seeds, pieces of parmesan and drizzle with olive oil. 

What's for dinner - Vegan chickpea pancake with lentils

Chickpea flour pancakes with veggie lentil filling 

Now that we’ve just about quit eating meat we’ve been trying to find healthy substitutes and recipes that will be a good source of proteins, fiber, etc. This and the fact that I’m breastfeeding was very motivating. I found this recipe the other day and it was just ideal. I bought chickpea flour online and it’s been sitting there waiting to be used. Surprisingly, it’s easy to cook and really delicious. I recommend this recipe to those who want to make their vegan diet a bit more interesting and tasty.

What you need: 

For the pancakes:

1 cup chickpea flour

1 cup sparkling mineral water

0.5tsp salt

0.5tsp turmeric

2 tbsp olive oil

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate for 30mins

For the filling:

1 cup of red lentils (cooke according to the package instructions)

0.5 small onion

1 clove of garlic, minced

2 ripe tomatoes

small zucchini (or bell pepper)

spices (I used sweet paprika, curry and cayenne pepper but the original recipe includes cumin)

Chop and fry the onion and garlic, add chopped tomatoes, zucchini and all the spices, cook until soft, add lentils and mix together. 

Recipe from here 

What's for dinner - Pasta shells with ricotta cheese and bacon

A while ago we've teamed up with Termisil, a company which makes heat resistant glass kitchenware. We've been cooking and photographing various recipes every now and then which is kind of cool, plus it's a great motivation to actually make something more fancy than another soup or boring pasta for dinner. I haven't been the brightest cook recently (i blame the pregnancy of course) but Kamil's been a huge help and I don't know what I'd do without him. Not only does he take all the pictures (obviously) but he does half the cooking, too. 

Anyway, here's one of the recipes from last week. It turned out really delicious and it's rather hard to satisfy my taste buds these days. 

What you need:

20 pasta shells

250gr ricotta cheese

50 gr grated mozzarella

10gr bacon slices

big bunch of fresh basil 

tomato passata

salt & pepper

dry or fresh oregano

olive oil

100gr cherry tomatoes

What to do:

Cook pasta until it's al dente

Preheat the oven to 190C

Fry the bacon until golden and crispy and cut into small pieces

Mix together both cheeses, bacon and chopped basil, season to taste 

Pour the passata into a heat proof dish and sprinkle with olive oil and oregano

Stuff the pre-cooked shells with the cheese filling and place in the dish.

Cover with some more grated mozzarella and cherry tomatoes cut in half.

Bake for 25mins

Serve with fresh basil leaves. 

Enjoy!

What's for dinner - Pasta shells with ricotta cheese and bacon

A while ago we’ve teamed up with Termisil, a company which makes heat resistant glass kitchenware. We’ve been cooking and photographing various recipes every now and then which is kind of cool, plus it’s a great motivation to actually make something more fancy than another soup or boring pasta for dinner. I haven’t been the brightest cook recently (i blame the pregnancy of course) but Kamil’s been a huge help and I don’t know what I’d do without him. Not only does he take all the pictures (obviously) but he does half the cooking, too. 

Anyway, here’s one of the recipes from last week. It turned out really delicious and it’s rather hard to satisfy my taste buds these days. 

What you need:

20 pasta shells

250gr ricotta cheese

50 gr grated mozzarella

10gr bacon slices

big bunch of fresh basil 

tomato passata

salt & pepper

dry or fresh oregano

olive oil

100gr cherry tomatoes

What to do:

Cook pasta until it’s al dente

Preheat the oven to 190C

Fry the bacon until golden and crispy and cut into small pieces

Mix together both cheeses, bacon and chopped basil, season to taste 

Pour the passata into a heat proof dish and sprinkle with olive oil and oregano

Stuff the pre-cooked shells with the cheese filling and place in the dish.

Cover with some more grated mozzarella and cherry tomatoes cut in half.

Bake for 25mins

Serve with fresh basil leaves. 

Enjoy!

What's for dinner - Summer salad with spinach avo and tuna

Here is a perfect recipe for summer lunch or dinner. This is definitely our kind of food. When it's super hot we would rather eat like this. Anything that requires 15 minutes of preparation and contains some greens is just perfect. And when you get to eat it in a garden...it's even better.  

Ingredients:

300 gr fresh baby spinach

ripe avocado

a can of tuna in broth

1 medium cucumber

3tbsp olive oil

3tbsp lemon juice

1tsp honey

s&p

In a small jar combine all the ingredients for the dressing. In a large bowl toss together washed spinach, tuna, avocado and cucumber. Add the dressing and stir just enough to combine. Serve with fresh bread. 

What's for dinner - Summer salad with spinach avo and tuna

Here is a perfect recipe for summer lunch or dinner. This is definitely our kind of food. When it’s super hot we would rather eat like this. Anything that requires 15 minutes of preparation and contains some greens is just perfect. And when you get to eat it in a garden…it’s even better.  

Ingredients:

300 gr fresh baby spinach

ripe avocado

a can of tuna in broth

1 medium cucumber

3tbsp olive oil

3tbsp lemon juice

1tsp honey

s&p

In a small jar combine all the ingredients for the dressing. In a large bowl toss together washed spinach, tuna, avocado and cucumber. Add the dressing and stir just enough to combine. Serve with fresh bread. 

Burger fever

We've been considering cutting meat from our diet for some time now. Monika's 30th birthday seemed like a good turning point. So, for some time now meat has been non existent in our house. We'll probably make a different post about this whole "becoming vegetarian" thing but now is not the time.

The obvious downside to this is that places like MoaBurger don't have much too offer to grass eaters. This is why we decided to take matters into our own hands and come up with a burger without meat that would be equally juicy, moist and tender like the ones in the best burger joints. 

One thing is for sure - we nailed it! The recipe provided below is an absolute must try for anyone! Even devoted meat eaters should try it as it's simply too delicious not to. Have a go at it and I'm sure you won't be dissapointed!

Don't forget to heat up the bun in the oven or on a grill pan.

For the patty

1 cup canned chickpeas, drained and mashed

1 cup red lentils, cooked

3/4 cup quick oats

1 grated carrot

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

1tsp ketchup

1tsp dijon mustard

1 tsb ground cumin 

1tsb chili powder

salt to taste

Fry the chopped onions and garlic, add mashed chickpeas, lentils and oats. Add ketchup, mustard, cumin, chili and salt. Mix well and cool down a bit. Form patties big enough to fit in the bun. Fry them on a non stick pan for 1 min on each side. Serve hot. 

Fry 1 medium sized red onion on a tbsp of olive oil until soft. Add dry thyme leaves, a tbsp of honey and 2-3 tbsp of balsamic vinegar. Fry for 2-3 mins until dark brown and very sticky. 

Burger fever

We’ve been considering cutting meat from our diet for some time now. Monika’s 30th birthday seemed like a good turning point. So, for some time now meat has been non existent in our house. We’ll probably make a different post about this whole “becoming vegetarian” thing but now is not the time.

The obvious downside to this is that places like MoaBurger don’t have much too offer to grass eaters. This is why we decided to take matters into our own hands and come up with a burger without meat that would be equally juicy, moist and tender like the ones in the best burger joints. 

One thing is for sure - we nailed it! The recipe provided below is an absolute must try for anyone! Even devoted meat eaters should try it as it’s simply too delicious not to. Have a go at it and I’m sure you won’t be dissapointed!

Don’t forget to heat up the bun in the oven or on a grill pan.

For the patty

1 cup canned chickpeas, drained and mashed

1 cup red lentils, cooked

3/4 cup quick oats

1 grated carrot

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

1tsp ketchup

1tsp dijon mustard

1 tsb ground cumin 

1tsb chili powder

salt to taste

Fry the chopped onions and garlic, add mashed chickpeas, lentils and oats. Add ketchup, mustard, cumin, chili and salt. Mix well and cool down a bit. Form patties big enough to fit in the bun. Fry them on a non stick pan for 1 min on each side. Serve hot. 

Fry 1 medium sized red onion on a tbsp of olive oil until soft. Add dry thyme leaves, a tbsp of honey and 2-3 tbsp of balsamic vinegar. Fry for 2-3 mins until dark brown and very sticky.