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My favourite kids lunch on the go

By Rasa Pelham on July 6, 2017 in For little ones :), Lunch or Dinner, Recipes, Savoury Delights

We have been traveling lots lately (I am talking day trips not an actual holiday) and to have something handy for lunch is essential (unless you want to spend the money at the cafe or something). This is why these muffins are amazing for obvious reasons. They are dry meaning the mess don’t stick to clothes, they are full of hidden veg (so hard to make Lukas eat veg these days) and they can be frozen for whenever you need them. Besides, they are carbs that children love to eat, su no fuss here ;-). FULL OF VEG SAVOURY MUFFINS

makes 12 muffins

2 handfuls of chopped veg of your choice (I had broccoli and cherry tomatoes)
230g plain flour
3tsp baking powder
140g grated cheese
200ml milk
3tbsp olive or sunflower oil
1 egg, beaten

1. First, finelly chop all the veggies. Especially broccoli as it needs to cook through when baked. 2. Combine the veggies with the rest of ingredients. 3. Mix everything well before spooning the mixture into 12 hole muffin tin (all lined and ready). Bake for around 30min in 180C preheated oven. Enjoy your lunch!

Rasa xx

Pinterest challenge: savoury waffles with blue cheese and bacon

By Rasa Pelham on June 2, 2017 in Break-the-fast, Pinterest challenge, Recipes, Savoury Delights

Lately we have been very tired. One moment I thought we were handling our lot as parents of two really well, the next day I feel like I am back at square one. Tomas is going through a bad sleep patch (hope thats temporary) and I for the first time ever have got a painful back.

At least one thing have not changed! We are still having our luxurious breakfast every Saturday that have become a tradition in our family. We always start our weekend with something special ;-). Here is what we had last weekend, savoury waffles with blue cheese and bacon, from Pinterest of course! I thought they were little rich so serving it with tomato salsa or salad is perfection. SAVOURY WAFFLES WITH BLUE CHEESE AND BACON adopted from What Should I Eat for Breakfast Today

serves two exhausted parents

130g flour
1 egg
250ml buttermilk (or 125ml milk mixed with 125ml yogurt)
3 slices bacon, fried and cut into small pieces
50g blue cheese, cut into small pieces
1 tbsp maple syrup
3 tsp baking powder
30g butter, melted
tomato salsa or salad to serve (optional)

1. Mix all the ingredients in the bowl2. Heat the waffle iron pan or the waffle maker, grease it liberally (I do it with butter) and pour the waffle mixture in ready to fry (1-2 spoons at the time). I use fork to detach the waffles from the pan but this probably would not work with the non stick pans, so be careful. Hope you all have a fab weekend!

Rasa xx

Chocolate oat porridge with dates and bananas

By Rasa Pelham on May 9, 2017 in Break-the-fast, Healthy, Recipes, Sweet Treats

After drowning my post pregnancy sorrows in sugar (as I often say) for past few months, I finally feel like ready to go sugar free again. Ok, maybe not totally cutting out sugar just yet, but definitely reducing it by at least removing added sugar. Here is what I have been having for most of my breakfasts past two weeks, which is a simple porridge that is sweetened with just dates and bananas. Chocolate for breakfast have not been more satisfying than this, yum!

CHOCOLATE OAT PORRIDGE WITH DATES AND BANANAS serves one

1 sachet of 27g oats porridge + milk according to package instructions
1 tsp coco powder
1 tsp coconut oil
3-4 dates, chopped
1 banana, sliced

1. Place all ingredients into microwavable bowl (except dates and banana) and mix briefly to combine.

2. Microwave for 2min or according to the oat porridge package instructions

3. Top the porridge with chopped dates and banana

Sorry but not sorry that it is so simple. I thought I need to share this recipe anyways as it makes a very satisfying breakfast, without giving into sugar

Rasa :-)

Nicola’s birthday cake

By Rasa Pelham on May 3, 2017 in Cake decorating, Let's Celebrate!, Recipes, Sweet Treats

Last weekend we headed down to Devon again to celebrate my sister in law Nicola’s 30th birthday and I was asked to bake a cake (what a privilege!!). It had to be gluten and dairy free so it was a fun challenge to accept. If you have been following me on social media then you probably have seen me doing bake tests over the past few weeks. I originally wanted to make a matcha cake, but was not sure if that would have been a crowd pleaser. At the end I decided to go with more simple flavours such as lemon and poppy seed. I used a very similar method to this chocolate orange cake which essentially uses citrus fruit pulp instead of butter or oil. This method has never let me down producing a very moist and tasty cake. I just need to find a way to reduce the amount of sugar (hmmm…a tough one to do in cake!). GLUTEN AND DAIRY FREE LEMON POPPY SEED CAKE WITH COCONUT BUTTER FROSTING

(for the cake)

16 lemons
18 eggs (it’s a very large cake!)
750g golden caster sugar
750g ground almonds
6tsp baking powder
4tbsp poppy seeds + for decorating

(for the frosting)

1/2 cup virgin coconut oil (butter)
juice from 2 lemons
about 1kg icing sugar

1. First things first, cook the lemons as that takes the longest. Peal them and try to pick out any pips out of them (I know I know this might take forever, but its worth it as your cake might end up tasting a little bitter). Boil the lemons for about 30 min. Once they are cooked, drain them and check any leftover pips. By now your lemons should look like puree, but whizz them anyways with the hand processor just to get it extra smooth.

2. Whisk the eggs with sugar till its pale and creamy. Add the rest of ingredients into eggs (including lemon puree) and mix to combine everything well. Split the cake mixture into three lined baking springform tins. Bake the cakes in 150C preheated oven for 1.5h.3. Meanwhile make the frosting. Sift the icing sugar into the coconut oil and add lemon juice. Mix everything using electric mixer until smooth and creamy.4. As for frosting the cake I did it very lightly. I applied thin layer of frosting between the layers and more on the sides so I could scrape it off later (still keeping a natural “naked” cake look). 5. Decorate it with poppy seeds, berries and flowers in keeping with the “au naturel” look ;-). Hope you are feeling inspired.

Rasa xoxo

Devon in spring

By Rasa Pelham on April 21, 2017 in Outdoors, Spring, Travel

A week or so ago we had a pleasure of visiting Devon again. This time in spring! This is one of the benefits of having family somewhere far and dreamy (many negative aspects as well unfortunately). Like everywhere else in spring outdoors are filled with many bright coloured flowers like daffodils and bluebells, however here I found primroses as well (strangely it reminds me of Teletubbies scenery… hmm). Although we stayed in Honiton we have been lucky to explore further in Devon. We took a tramway to Seaton through dreamy marshes… …and explored the seaside :). We also had a chance to visit Escot Park that happen to have this lovely cafe. Hope you all had a lovely Easter break too ;-)

Rasa xx

Pancake day in a French style

By Rasa Pelham on February 24, 2017 in Book worm, Break-the-fast, Recipes

Since the pancake day is approaching soon (the day surely not to be missed) I have been practicing making pancakes the French way. I of course were learning from the best, Rachel Khoo and her book “Little Paris Kitchen”, that I am reading right now. It turns out that French don’t only live on crepes but also galettes, which is tricky type of pancake made purely from buckwheat flour. While I have made similar pancakes to crepes before, I was clueless about the galettes. This is why I decided to share the recipe with you here.

GALETTES adopted from Rachel Khoo book “Little Paris Kitchen”

200g buckwheat flour
a pinch of salt
about 600ml water
melted butter for frying

1. Mix the flour and salt in the bowl (or jug). Gradually mix in the water, adding only enough for the batter to have consistency of double cream. Don’t overdo as this will make rubbery galettes. Place the bowl into the fridge for an hour at least.2. Melt the butter in well heated frying pan. Pour one spoonful of batter and immediately start swirling round the pan to get nice even layer. Loosen around the edge with a spatula once the top “dries up”, then turn the galette and cook for further 1 minute.These can then be eaten with sugar and cinnamon, or any other filling, I think savoury ones suits best. Like the cream cheese with salmon, Yum!Happy pancake once it comes!

Rasa xoxo

Garlic rye bread and bean salad

By Rasa Pelham on November 28, 2016 in Christmas waiting, Lithuanian, Recipes, Savoury Delights

It’s becoming to look like Christmas and I decided to share a recipe for a salad that is traditional to have for Christmas Eve. It is that simple and tasty that my brother used to voluntarily go on salad making duty because of that. Hope you like it as much as we do! GARLIC RYE BREAD AND BEAN SALAD

Makes one medium serving bowl (I made half portion here)

1 medium rye bread loaf
6 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped
generous amount of oil for frying
salt and pepper to taste
2 onions, finelly chopped
2tsp caraway seeds, soaked in water
2 cans of butter beans or cannellini beans, rinsed under cold water
bunch of parsley, finelly chopped (optional)

1. Slice the bread and then chop the slices into 1cm cubes.2.Fry the bread together with garlic in generous amount of oil (very necessary, sorry for dieters). Season to taste and put it aside.3. Fry the onion together with caraway seeds until onions are nice and slightly transparent. Add the beans and take the pan off the heat. 4. Mix everything together. Hope you don’t miss this humble salad at your Christmas table ;-).

Rasa xx

Baby friendly birthday cake

By Rasa Pelham on November 1, 2016 in Cake decorating, For little ones :), Let's Celebrate!, Recipes, Sweet Treats

Last week we celebrated Lukas birthday and today I would like to share with you the recipe of the cake I made for him. I aimed for something sugar free of course that is suitable for a baby. I made sure to include banana in it just because Lukas loooovesss banana very much (maybe he is a minion who knows :D) and also because it adds some sweetness. The cake of course wasn’t very sweet. I would say it was a brioche sweetness level. I also thought that it is better eaten warm, but I had to cool it down unfortunately to decorate it and make it look a little bit more festive ;-). For “butter cream” I just used whipping cream, so it wasn’t sweet at all, but actually Lukas liked it very much so I guess it’s ok ;-). BABY BIRTHDAY CAKE

(for the cake)

150g banana (about 1-2 bananas depending on size)
1 egg
60ml oil (I used refined olive oil, but rapeseed oil would probably be better)
330g plain flour
27g oats (I used pack of portioned porridge oats that actually comes in 27g)
2tsp baking powder
125ml milk
3tbsp yogurt (I used greek style yogurt, but natural yogurt would work fine too)

(for decorations)

whipping cream, whipped till stiff (one tube of 300ml will do)
no added sugar chocolate (there is no such thing as sugar free chocolate my friends!)
blueberries (or any type of other berries that are sweet)

1. Whizz bananas, egg and oil in the food processor. Add all other ingredients and mix everything to combine.

2. Spoon the cake dough into small lined spring form tins (mine filled 4 tins).

3. Place the tins into preheated 180C oven and bake the cakes for 20min or so.

4. Meanwhile I made chocolate cake decorations. I must admit I got little rusty, because I have not done it for aaaaages! I melted some chocolate, poured into pouch I made out of backing paper and cut the hole in it so I could pipe the chocolate out. I lined a metal baking tin with backing paper and piped chocolate on it in the leaf shapes. Placed it in the freezer for few minutes to set. Done!5. Next up is decorating! Sandwich the cake by spreading whipped cream in between and then spread more on top and around to ice the cake. My tip is to really wait till the cakes are cool and trim the tops off, that really helps to make the cake square and therefore easy to ice.Once the cake is iced, decorate it by piping some more whipped cream on top, sprinkling with blueberries and arranging some chocolate decorations on top if you wish.Hope your baby likes it too ;-)

Rasa xx

Photography challenge: birthday cake “smash”

By Rasa Pelham on October 24, 2016 in For little ones :), Photography, Sweet Treats

I don’t know if you heard of a term “cake smash” (I am sure if you google it it would give you plenty of examples), but I wanted to try it on Lukas real bad! I thought it would be sooooo much fun for both of us, because I believe Lukas enjoys making mess :D. So Lukas birthday comes up (I can’t believe he is now 1 year old!) and I finally come up with a plan of how its going to work. I found a few baby friendly recipes to combine (sugar free of course!) for the cake, which I was very pleased with in the end. I worked out where we were going to do this messy act (in the sitting room on the floor covered with the blanket). I chose an outfit (very important!), although I did not put too much thought in to that as it just had to be something simple. I also read a few tips on how to do such a photo shoot, they all suggested make it relaxing (not rushed) and make sure the baby is in good mood (fed and napped). The result? Not quite what I expected! I failed on napping Lukas well that day, so I had to bake and decorate the cake while he was awake. I was rushed and definitely not relaxed. I finished the cake very late and was worried about the lighting (oh those early autumn evenings!). As I have mentioned in other photography post in the past, when there is poor light you need to compromise with a slower shutter speed which means I had to hold camera steady to avoid blur. But try telling a one year old to stay still, so I ended up with many blurry pics (which is ok I guess as it captures the movement). On top of everything Lukas did not destroy the cake, but picked out the decorations and sampled them. If you are interested, here is a video that Joni took during photoshoot. So my advice if you want to take cake smash photos is to first relax, and pick a day that is completely activity free. Pre-make the cake perhaps? Take picture after babies first nap or something. And most importantly, enjoy!

Rasa xoxo

Haddock Monte Carlo

By Rasa Pelham on October 8, 2016 in Break-the-fast, Lunch or Dinner, Recipes

Few weeks ago we went to Center Parcs for a weekend away and while there I had this wonderful breakfast called Haddock Monte Carlo. When at home I researched about this a little and it turns out its not a breakfast item! I still think it is better suited for breakfast however… you see, you kind of need to eat this as soon as it is cooked and this is not what we do for dinner. At least not in our family! But then again it depends how it works best for you. I like making slow cooker meals for dinner when I can just dish out the food when we are ready and for Saturday special breakfast I like to make something quickish that we eat as soon as it is ready. All I am saying that Haddock Monte Carlo is hard to time but in return it is quick to make!

Another thing I found is that Haddock Monte Carlo comes in different versions, some seem very complicated and needs a some prep the night before! I of course chose a recipe that I thought was the closest to what I ate on our holiday in Center Parcs. And it did turn out pretty much the same, except the recipe that I used was a difficult to understand. Thankfully, after making this dish I can tell how I made it so hopefully you have an easer time with it ;-).

HADDOCK MONTE CARLO adopted from Big Oven

Makes 3-4 portions

600g pealed potatoes (about 3 regular size potatoes)
2tsp wholegrain mustard
handful of chives, chopped
300ml double cream
50g butter (about 2 heaped tbsp)
2 shallots, chopped
3-4 smoked hadock fillets, undyed
250ml fish stock
250ml white wine
salt and pepper
3-4 eggs
2 tomatoes, skinned and chopped

1. First things first, put the potatoes to boil. This takes the longest to do!

2. Once the potatoes are cooked, mash them and add mustard, chives (reserving some for later) and have of double cream. Mix again to make into creamy mash.3. Next up is haddock with sauce! Melt the butter in the frying pan and fry the shallots till golden. Fry the haddock fillets in the same pan on both sides for few seconds then add fish stock and wine. Cover and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Add the leftover cream and remove the pan from the heat. Season to taste.4. Meanwhile pouch the eggs. My tip is to do in in the shallow pan (like frying pan) and with a bit of vinegar added to the boiled but not boiling water.5. Put the mashed potato mixture in the centre of a plate and place the haddock on top. Put the poached egg on top of the fish and spoon the sauce over. Garnish with chopped chives and tomatoes. Enjoy!

Rasa xo

How to holiday with a baby (what I have learned so far)

By Rasa Pelham on August 15, 2016 in For little ones :), Travel

If you are following me on Instagram/Facebook then you probably know that I have struggled with the holidays and a baby combination. I just did not find it relaxing and I was missing the holidays I used to have. But the reality is that this is how my life is going to be for good few years so I decided to find a new ways to find a new relaxing. My first stop was to ask my friends who had experience with it. Here is what came up and how did I apply on our second holidays in France. Lower your expectations, first thing I heard from one friend which I must admit made me a bit sad as it sounded a bit negative. However having high expectations is what made me feel disappointed with my first holidays, so this advice totally makes sense! So when we went to France I decided to enjoy as it comes and it really helped for me to relax (not completely but definitely more relaxing). For example, we used Lukas naps for driving to different locations, that way we did not need to wait around for his naps to finish and we could explore different locations in France.

Babysit in turns, was the next advice from another friend. Joni looking after Lukas while I go and do something I enjoy sounds good! Except we preferred walking and enjoying the sights together, so babysitting in turns did not work all the time. Except once when Joni wanted to go on the tour in Fort National (obviously not my cup of tea). He took Lukas with him while I enjoyed the sun on the rocks (much better and more relaxing than it sounds!). Eat out for lunch and eat in for dinner, because apparently that’s cheaper. Well… it turned out to be true! There are plenty of affordable and good meals available for lunch and in rural Normandy where we stayed there were less restaurants open in the evening and everything is more expensive. However I found that’s not the only reason why this advice was a life saver! Because our habit is to put Lukas to bed around 7pm, it just works much better if we eat in while he is asleep which I really enjoyed (especially eating al fresco!).

I did however found that French like to take their kids to dinner which can sometimes be very late in the evening. But in return they put their kids to nap in the early afternoon. Well that is good alternative to keep in mind! After Lithuanian holiday I could also add another advice.

Pack for everything, if you don’t have luggage restrictions of course! After Lukas sleep was disrupted by the very light bedrooms in Lithuania, I invested in travel blinds. I have not yet had a chance to use it, because in France the window shutters were unbeatable, but I still think it is worth every penny and I am sure it will come in useful. Every time I pack I carefully think through what I need to make Lukas feel at home as much as possible. Because I just love his routine and would love to keep it as it is during the holiday as well.

We will be off to Centre Parcs next, which I never thought of visiting before. Suddenly it sounds like a much more apealing destination when you have a baby with you. Will let you know how that goes!I hope you found this helpful xx

Rasa

Breakfast crepe

By Rasa Pelham on August 5, 2016 in Break-the-fast, Recipes

When in France we enjoyed the crepes a lot. They even have cafes called Creperie! Although they are more like a chain of cafeterias rather then a cafe dedicated to crepes. I of course wanted to recreate the experience one morning of eating my favourite crepe for breakfast. This is when I accidentally woke up earlier than Lukas (which does not happen very often unfortunately). I did not use 100% buckwheat flour like they would in France, but I thought 50/50 will do so I don’t pull all my hair out while making it. The results are here as follow ;-). BREAKFAST CREPE WITH HAM AND EGG makes 4 crepes

50g buckwheat flour
50g plain flour
2 eggs
1 tbsp oil + more for frying
salt and pepper to taste
about 200ml milk or water

1. I start with making the batter first. Place the flour into the bowl together with eggs, oil, salt and pepper. Whisk everything together into the dry mass. While whisking begin pouring the water (or milk) gradually into the flour mass (not all in one go because you might not need it all). You are aiming for a batter consistency that easily drips down the whisk when held up but still leave temporary traces when whisked. 2.You need to fry crepes in well heated pan with oil. Pour one spoonful to the pan and immediately start swirling round the pan to get nice even layer. I flipped my crepe to fry the other side, but this is completely unnecessary. Once the top is dry to touch you can add some ham and eggs on top and carry on frying just a little longer. 3. When the egg is done you can fold the edges and serve it warm.Enjoy

Rasa xoxo

Photography challenge: learning new things on holiday in France

By Rasa Pelham on July 29, 2016 in Photography, Travel

Last week we went on our second holiday to France which was much more relaxing than the first one! While we were there I decided to take up another photography challenge. Except I could not think of what I should learn this time in specific, so I thought lets just go with the flow and see what happens. The result? I did learn something that will tell you later later (I am quite excited about it!). For now I would like to talk how I kept my photography challenge as relaxed as possible. We were on holiday after all!

The pictures bellow have been taken around the place where we stayed close to Buais.Use any photography tool available, whats wrong with taking pictures on the phone? On our first few trips in France I actually forgot to either charge my camera or left it in the house by accident. My phone was a saviour, I was still able to capture all the moments and the quality does not seem too bad to compare with my DSLR. Ok, you have more freedom with the photo camera but I did survive taking pictures with the my IPhone for quite few years before I got a “real”camera. Can you spot the pictures here that I took with the phone? On the first day we have visited Port de Cancale. Local caught mussels in wine and chips were fab (even Lukas loved it)! Rennes was our next stop. Although we went there only for an attic clear out sale (similar to boot sale here in UK) I really loved the city and its architecture.

It’s ok to use an Auto mode! I have been using this setting for years and only now started looking at other settings. To be honest, its good to know the other tricks with lighting and focus, but when you taking pictures of quick moments I think there is not enough time to fiddle with the settings. After all often good pics happen with good composition! St Milo was Joni’s place (maybe because of all the forts and castles).Fort National, accessed when the tide is low!

So what did I learn from my holiday challenge? Is how to take photos in Golden Hour! I read about it somewhere long time ago and it sunk into my brain I guess. So when I woke one morning very early and saw a golden glow of the sun everywhere I could not resist but take pics all around me. No wonder its also called magic hour! You just need to catch the right time either in the morning or evening (found good timeline here) and take the shots outside ;-). What I also liked is including sun glare in my composition, it made my photos extra magical!Hope you are inspired!

Rasa xoxo

Ice cream for breakfast

By Rasa Pelham on May 27, 2016 in Break-the-fast, Drinks, Recipes, Summery

I’m feeling really really hopeful for the summer to come. Hey Summer, don’t keep us waiting here!

Anyways, I am still passionate about ice cream and not having great great weather does not put me off from having some for breakfast. This particular ice lolly I tried making the other day is actually specifically for breakfast. It’s pretty easy to make too! Just what you need when a sunny morning does finally come :-). For these breakfast ice lollies you will need mango lassi that can be bought, although it is so easy to make it yourself. This is how I made mine….

MANGO LASSI adapted from good old Jamie Oliver

3 cardamon pods, seeds out and crushed
1 ripe mango, pealed and chopped
250g natural yogurt
50g ice cubes (if serving straight away)
runny honey (just a drizzle)

1. Place all the ingredients into food processor, whizz a little and voila!2. Serve with fresh mint MANGO LASSI ICE LOLLIES

Mango lassi (recipe above)
Hand full of granola (can be shop bought as well)
Fresh mint, finely chopped

1. Mix the mint into the lassi.

2. Pour the lassi into ice lolly mould and sprinkle granola on top.

3. Freeze for at least 4 hours Happy hot weather longing ;-)

Rasa xoxo

Pinterest challenge: raw berry burst cheesecake

By Rasa Pelham on February 4, 2016 in Healthy, Pinterest challenge, Recipes, Sweet Treats

We called this a fake cheesecake as it actually has no cheese (or any other dairy)! But to my surprise it tasted very cheesecake like and they were quite addictive. I made them for friends get together and by the end of it it was all gone! I adjusted the recipe a little bit to make the process of making go quicker but you can’t skip soaking cashew nuts overnight (they become so creamy when pureed). So before you make them make sure to prepare for it the night before. Other than that I am already searching for another occasion to make them again ;-). RAW BERRY BURST CHEESECAKE adopted from Pure Ella

(for the base)

100g walnuts
110g raisins
3 tbsp water

(for the middle layer)

250g cashews
120g extra virgin coconut oil (important to get a quality one for the taste)
160ml agave nectar

(for the topping)

260g mixed berries (I used frozen ones)

1. First, soak the cashews for 4 hours or more in the fridge, or overnight.

2. Make the base, middle layer and the topping. For each layer combine all ingredients and whizz them in the processor in separate bowls. Make sure you process middle layer really well so it comes out all creamy. 3. Line the baking tin with grease paper and cover the bottom of it with the base layer. Follow it with middle layer and the topping. 4. Use the table spoon to smooth the top of the cheesecake. Pop the tin into the freezer for at least one hour or whenever you want to eat it (30 min before).5. When ready leave it to defrost it for 30 min before cutting it into squares. Enjoy!

Rasa xoxo

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