Moved To Wordpress!

Hello peeps, we moved!

If you want to keep up with my updates on Ciklemfusa, follow me on my Wordpress blog. Here's the link! 

www.ciklemfusa.wordpress.com

I've posted more recipes, watercolour art and also a new section which tackles benefits on organic and natural ingredients such as Shea butter and coconut oil. 

I hope you will visit my new page !

Love, 

Ciklemfusa

xx 

Happy Week Quote!

A quote from Brené Brown; a great author. You can explore her work by visit her blog here, by clicking on the picture below :)

Don't Hate, Meditate. Ways to Create Your Own Meditation Space

Sunday Post! 

Meditation is one of the best tools we can use to get rid of the brain's negativity. And apart from getting rid of negative thoughts, there are other benefits of meditation which I will be posting later. Today, I am giving you some tips on how to create your very own meditation space in your home. If you love to indulge in a calm space, now you can decorate it and make it fit for your meditation. This will be your personal, sacred place where you can reflect and get rid of all the negative thoughts.

 Choose a space.

You don't need much room, but if you have a small room with good ventilation and light you're good to go. You also may need some solar shades for a window to control the amount of light entering the room. 

 Distraction-Free Room.

Get rid of televisions, radios, cellphones and other devices which may distract you from your stillness.You just need something with a relaxing sound. If you have a playlist for meditation, much better :)

 In this space, you should include something for each five senses. These five senses form the basic human experience, according to some Buddhist traditions.

Smell

You can use scented candles and/or incense sticks.

Sight

Something to concentrate on during meditation. This will be the centre of attention of your space. 

Sound

These tibetan singing bowls produce a sound which induces a deep state of relaxation. This will help you in the meditation's ultimate goal ; reaching enlightenment. These bowls are used both for meditation and concentration purposes by monks and people who just want to relax. 

Touch
You can hold a mala. Malas are used in order to keep count of the chanting or mentally repeating your mantras. 

Taste

A good herbal, spiced or fruit infused tea is ideal such as chai.

Create something beautiful and inspiring for yourself. You can use colourful rugs, fresh flowers and plants, paintings, dream catchers, pillows and more candles! 

I hope you'll try this out :)

Ciklemfusa

xx

Coconut Almond Bites

Hello! 

It's tea time and here is a quick recipe for coconut lovers. Coconut and almond bites! Here we go..

You will need,

Ingredients 

One cup of dessicated coconut flakes

8 tablespoons of all-purpose flour

5 tablespoons of white sugar 

Almond Extract (or vanilla)

One egg

Chilled knob of unsalted butter

Half a teaspoon of baking powder

Some milk if needed

Baking sheet

Caster sugar for serving

Method

1. Preheat oven at 150 degrees C.

2. Combine dry ingredients (flour, sugar, coconut flakes and baking powder)

 3. When well combined using a hand-held blender, add the butter, egg and almond extract. Mix until the mixture is like a pastry dough. It should be a little bit sticky.

 4. If there are dry pieces remaining in the bowl you can just add little amounts of milk at a time while mixing with a fork. In this way you are combining all ingredients well.

5. Using a ice-cream scoop or simply a spoon distribute the mixture into small balls onto the baking sheet making sure they don't touch. 

6. Bake at 150 degrees C for about 15 minutes or until a slightly golden crust is achieved. 
7. Let cool and dust with some caster sugar! 

Have a bite! 

Easy right? :)

Enjoy!

Ciklemfusa

xx 

How To Cook Better Steak

Hello!

Today, I will give you some tips which I learned, on how to cook a better steak. For this recipe I used sirloin steak, which comes from the rear back portion of the cow. (You can see from the diagram below).

If you want a medium steak this depends on the thickness of the meat and for how long you cook on each side. In this recipe I used about 2 to 3cm thick sirloin steak. The sirloin has very low muscle content, making it a tender cut. The more muscle is used by the cow, the stronger the steak would be and therefore, you get a tougher cut of the meat. This is why it all depends on which cut you're cooking.

Do not take the steak out of the fridge and cook it. Before starting to cook, the steak should be at room temperature. Take it out and let it reach room temperature. If the steak is cold in the middle and hot on the outside when you're cooking, you'll end up with a tough steak and it wouldn't be nice to eat. 

Seasoning and cooking the steak

1. On both sides drizzle olive oil, sprinkle salt and black pepper and chopped fresh rosemary. (You can use any herb you like)

2. Push the seasoning into the meat and prepare the pan. I used a thick bottomed pan and drizzle of olive oil.

IMPORTANT: Before transferring the steak onto the pan, make sure the pan is on high heat. 

3. Cook the steak for about 3 minutes on each side. Do not cook for too long, or else you'll loose the juices and you will have to eat a tough steak. During the cooking, make sure that it is being cooked evenly on both sides. In this way, you're keeping the moisture on the inside.

4. After cooking, let it rest for about 10 minutes. When you 'rest' the meat for some minutes, you are letting the meat getting the moisture out and absorb it again so you can have a nice, juicy piece of steak.  

I hope you got these tips useful! 

Enjoy! 

Ciklemfusa

xx

Chicken Tikka and Garam Masala

Today's post is another chicken dish cooked for those who love indian cuisine! Using several spices such as Garam Masala and Turmeric, you can cook this dish simply by following these steps :)

This recipe can serve up to 4 people.

Ingredients 

One boneless chicken breast cut into bite size pieces

Olive Oil

One medium sized onion chopped in chunks

400gr Tomato puree 

300gr Double cream

About 5 cubes of plain feta cheese

1 teaspoon Garam Masala

1 teaspoon Tikka Masala

1 teaspoon Turmeric

Half teaspoon chilli powder

1 teaspoon Cumin seeds

1 teaspoon fresh ginger or powder

Pinch of salt

Pinch of sugar

Half cup cashew nuts

Method

1. In a pan put about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and put in the onion with about half teaspoon turmeric and chicken pieces. Cook until soft. 

2. When the chicken is cooked, now is time to start cooking the sauce. 

3. In the pan with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, add the garam masala, tikka masala, chilli powder, cumin seeds, ginger, salt, sugar, tomato puree and pieces of feta cheese. 

4. Cook on medium heat and stir occasionally. Add the double cream and stir and you can see that the color gets lighter. Let simmer on medium heat until the sauce gets thicker.

5. Now, you can add the cashew nuts. In this way, you won't loose their crunchiness with the moisture of the sauce. 

6. Serve!

You can serve this with some basmati rice and naan bread; which I will be posting the recipe for naan bread soon.  

Enjoy!

Love,

Ciklemfusa

xx

Inspirational Weekend Quote

Six Ways How To Get An Organized, Clutter-Free Kitchen.

Hello!

First April post today and I was wondering how many of you are doing their spring cleaning around the house. I made a short list on how to de-clutter your kitchen. This will help you keep an organized kitchen without unused stuff. Here are some basic tips to get your cabinets and drawers clean and organized :)

 The very first step is to look in your cabinets and get rid of unused things. You should keep things that you will use and get rid of things which were unused for the past 6 months or older. 

This is a great way to start off with more useful space to organize your storage boxes. Also, it is a good excuse to treat yourself to new kitchen tools. 

 Second step is to determine where to store your stuff and why. Example store your pots and pans close enough to your oven so you will get them quickly and easily while cooking your meal. The idea is to create ''zones''. You can organize your stuff according to their use. While you are baking, you may need the electric mixer, so you can just go to the baking stuff cabinet. You will find everything in one place. You can create space for everything and do your best to keep that way. Also this will do with your plates and bowls, obviously. 

Food storage is very important in the kitchen so you will need to consider using boxes and jars to store cereal, pasta and cookies for example. Today you can buy cheap plastic boxes which can prevent food from losing its crunchiness. Also, when storing spices you can find small glass bottles which you can label. In this way you are avoiding clutter of different kinds of containers while having neat and organized storage. 

Another tip for your pantry is that you store serving pieces and/or appliances higher than those things you frequently use so it would be more practical to reach.

 Organize your cabinet with boxes and lids separately. Store lids together because they have similar shaped and boxes in each other. In this way you will save space and might even free another shelf for some other purpose. Store baking dishes in each other according to their size so you will find what you need much more quickly and easily. 

 How many of you put pieces of paper on the fridge? No more clutter! An idea how to avoid an eyesore is to choose a cabinet which is at eye level and mount a cork board to pin pieces of paper of your to-do list and recipes on the inside of the cabinet. An alternative to this, you can find magnetic paint so you can use magnet instead of pinning.

Chopping boards! You can have multiple ones depending on what you're cutting or your only wood bulky board. You can invest in a small shelf for the inside of your cabinet to store your cutting boards on the inside.

This is a very convenient way to keep the boards into place. 

There are loads more of great storage ideas. Here I mentioned only few and maybe the most effective :) If you will ever consider doing some of these, you will definitely enjoy your time cooking in a clean and organized kitchen :) 

I hope this list was useful! 

Enjoy!

Love, 

Ciklemfusa

xx 

Simple And Quick Crispy Sliced Potatoes

Here is a very quick recipe for baked potatoes when you're craving something salty and crunchy. For this recipe I used normal potatoes but you can always use sweet ones if you love the combination of the sweet and salty flavours. All up to you!

You will need....

Potatoes

Salt

Pepper

Finely chopped fresh rosemary

Olive oil

Method

1. Pre heat the oven at 220 degrees C. Do not peel the potatoes so you will have a more crunch edge. Using a fine cutting knife such as a chef's knife,  slice the potato as fine as possible and try to keep them similar in thickness.

2. Put them in a bowl and add olive oil, salt, pepper and the fresh rosemary. 

3. Transfer them onto a dish with a baking sheet for the oven and distribute them so that they do not touch each other. You want them to get evenly crunchy. 

4. Bake for about 10 to 15 minutes. But also check them during the process, you don't wantover baking because the thickness of the potatoes will effect the baking process. 

As simple as that :)

Enjoy 

Love,

Ciklemfusa

xx

3 Favorite Food Blogs

Love and Lemons 

Beautifully photographed food and recipes with a twist! The blog mostly has vegetarian recipes which are made in an interesting way. I love the way the blog lets you search for a recipe by ingredient, season, special diets and meal type. You should take a look and visit this hip website! Also, below are two photos which are linked to their recipes for you to explore.

Dulce Delight

The sweetest Brazilian girl - Raiza Costa cooks in her colorful kitchen with cool video tutorials. She specializes in deserts but also have various savory recipes. Also, she gets creative with presentation of the dish which can inspire you to impress your guests. Truly an inspiration! 

They Draw and Cook

For the cooks and illustrators at one go, the blog 'They Draw and Cook' is your perfect blog. You can filter your search for recipes by type of dish, ingredients and type of illustration. The recipes are written - or better, illustrated in a fun way, like the one below. Here are two nice recipes from the blog; Orange and Cinnamon Cake and Ways To Use Stale Bread. You can click on the pictures to enlarge. 

Enjoy !

Love,

Ciklemfusa

xx

5 Ways To Welcome Spring In Your Home

Spring is a season when you need some changes around the house after the cold winter. 

After your spring cleaning you may want some ideas to feel the season's atmosphere and here are some ideas for your space!

Stock up with local fruit and vegetables.

You need your fruits and veg all year round but if you skip them, this is a good time for you to reconsider. The juiciest natural candy will be in season and also leafy greens. 

Visit the  local marker and make sure you buy the fruit and veg in an appropriate amount so no food would be wasted. Also consider storage for them - some veg/fruit need to be refrigerated and others don't. 
                    

Plant seasonal herbs.

Herbs are very useful in the kitchen. Mostly for those who love experimenting with different flavors. Nature is a very good source for the flavors you fancy for your dish. In spring herbs such as basil, chives, dill and lemon balm can be planted.

 *You can have a look at the post about what herbs to grow in spring 5 Herbs To Grow This Spring!.*

Plant seasonal blooms.

There are endless flowers you can plant both indoors and outdoors. My favorite would be jasmine but you may think of others such as colorful tulips and daisies. 

Make your own candles with some jasmine, lemon or sweet orange essential oil.

It is very easy to make your own candles - choose your wax (eg. paraffin, soy, beeswax), melt it with steam, add your favorite essential oils and pour into glass containers with the wicks attached to the bottom. In this way you are making your own candles with your favorite scents and oils. And you get to also find some creative containers to use. 

Add some floral prints to your decor.

Any floral decor will help you to get the spring atmosphere. You can find a patterned textile and cover your cushions on the couch, or maybe your bed with new sheets. 

 With simple changes, now you can have spring in your home too.

Enjoy! 

Love,

Ciklemfusa


xx 

Modern & Creative Chair Design

Morning! 

Here are some cool modern chair designs you can tease your eyes with. It's a balance between practicality and beauty while keeping it minimal. 

Ludovica & Roberto Palomba for Zanotta

Bellboy Design

Colé Italian Design Label

Danish Chair design

Sean Yoo

Oh Rigami Chair design. Rodolphe Pauloin.

 Sculptural Bookworm Chair

SF Green Labs Chair

Enjoy the first spring weekend! 

Love,

Ciklemfusa

xx 

5 Herbs To Grow This Spring!

Hello! 

It's Friday and the start of Spring! This season is perfect for a lot of herbs so it is important to know which herbs can survive temperature changes - cool morning and warmer afternoons. Here are five herbs you can grow which you can use in your cooking.

Cilantro has an unmistakable flavor and it is best in full sun and some afternoon shade.

Parsley has a high nutrients content and flavors too. And like Cilantro, it needs full sun and partial shade.

Very useful in the kitchen. In cold temperatures grows indoors and hot temperatures grows outdoors.

Has a fresh flavor. Plant in early spring which grows fast in cool soil. 

Chives have a soft onion flavor. It needs full sun and some shade. 

Happy Spring and enjoy the sun! 

Love,

Ciklemfusa

xx