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

Homemade Lemon Pepper Spice Blend

If you liked the previous post of the lemon pepper chicken recipe, here is the method I found which can be used to prepare your own lemon pepper seasoning! Simple procedure :)

Ingredients

Lemon zest from 4 lemons
1/3 cup of peppercorns (ground) - You can use any type of pepper corns, depending on you taste.
1 tablespoon of sea salt

Method

1. Spread the lemon zest onto a baking sheet and bake on the lowest setting of your oven. 

2. It will take about an hour for the zest to dry out so you need to keep checking and tossing the zest with a fork occasionally.

3. The zest will be ready when it is crumbly and dry. It will be shrunken a bit and you can remove it from the oven. 

4. Using a pestle and mortar, grind the peppercorns and add it to the lemon zest with some salt and pepper. 

5. Store the blend in an air-tight container and you can use later! 

Enjoy! 

Ciklemfusa

xx 

Lemon Pepper Chicken Recipe

Hello! 

I love cooking with lemon juice and zest so here is a recipe which consists of a lemon pepper sauce for chicken breast. I also tried this recipe of the sauce for spaghetti and it was divine!

This is a recipe which is loaded with good zesty flavors for those who love their citrus like me. The sour taste of the zest combines with salt and pepper gives a fresh tangy taste.

You will need lemon pepper seasoning which is the main ingredient but you can also make the seasoning yourself; I will be posting a method for it later. So let's start with the ingredients!

Ingredients

Olive oil 

One chicken breast cut in strips

2 large tomatoes cut in chunks 

Handful of finely chopped coriander

Half cup of Lemon Pepper Seasoning

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Boiled water 

Fresh chili (optional)

Lemon Pepper Seasoning 

Method

1. In a bowl put the chunks of tomatoes and a pinch of salt in order to release more juices from the tomatoes. 

2.  In a separate bowl, combine the coriander, lemon pepper seasoning, freshly ground pepper, some olive oil and mix together. You can also add some fresh chili or chili powder if you fancy. 

3. After mixing well, transfer the chicken strips into the seasoning bowl to combine the mixture with the meat. 

4. Prepare the frying pan with some olive oil and cook the tomatoes on medium heat by adding some boiled water (about 2 tablespoons).

5. When the tomatoes are starting to soften and releasing the juices, add the chicken mixed with the seasoning mixture and cook on medium heat. Add some boiled to get work in the sauce. 

6. Cover the pan and let cook on low heat with occasional stirring.

7. Uncover the pan stir a little more and you will have tender chicken breast in a nice lemony, peppery sauce. Turn off the heat and serve. 

And like Gennaro Contaldo says...''Why am I cooking SO GOOD?!!''  :)  

Lemon Pepper Chicken

Enjoy!

Love,

Ciklemfusa

xx

How To Cook Better Potatoes - Pan Fried!

Hola! 

Here is another way you can make your potato side more interesting. With this recipe you can get a crunchy exterior with a creamy interior combined with some rosemary, salt and pepper flavors. This has less fat than deep fried potatoes and is a more elegant way for the presentation of your dish. It is important to use a non-stick pan.

This amount serves 3 as a side. 

Ingredients

3 medium potatoes - unpeeled and cut in bite-size pieces (they will take less time to boil)

Boiling water

Olive Oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper corns 

Fresh rosemary leaves

Method

1. Boil the potatoes until you can easily stick a fork in them.

2. When they are done, get rid of the water.

3. Prepare about 4 table spoons of olive oil in the pan with the fresh rosemary leaves.

4. Transfer the boiled potatoes into the pan. 

5. Add salt and pepper and stir occasionally until golden brown.

Pan-fried potato

Try it out =)

Love,

Ciklemfusa

xx

Simple Avocado & Tomato Salad

Hello there! 

For today I am posting a delicious and simple salad for you to prepare for your no-meat day! You can prepare this as your side salad and also for a picnic. Oh the options.. =)

The main ingredient is avocado, which I love. It has loads of health benefits and can prevent you from getting various diseases. So, here are the ingredients and method.

The amounts of ingredients serve one as a main or two as a side.

Ingredients

Half chopped avocado 

6 Cherry tomatoes

1 large lettuce leaf 

Lemon juice

Pinch of Salt and pepper (and any herbs you want such as mint or basil)

Olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Some chopped Parmeggiano (optional)

1 teaspoon capers

Method

Just combine all ingredients together and top up with salt, pepper and other herbs! 

If you are using avocado the first time, below I posted a short video by Jamie Oliver, showing how you peel avocado properly and safely. Than you can chop it any way you like.

For a simpler way to eat avocado, sometimes I just sprinkle some salt, pepper and some lemon juice on it. Great mid-day snack. 

                                         

Avocado and tomato salad

I hope you try this! 

Love,

Ciklemfusa

xx

Just Doodling

Hello :)

Today I'm just posting this doodle I have drawn today. 

I used black marker and white ink.

As you may see, I really like triangles and lines. 

Process

Final doodle

Good evening,

Ciklemfusa

xx

15 Simple Ways To Take Care of the Environment

As you already MIGHT know, our planet is our home. Our source of life. And we need to take care of it as much as possible. There is only one chance to make the right choices when purchasing, doing something, going somewhere or communicating with someone. Our health and the planet depend on your own choices of your everyday lives. You may think that this is an over rated situation, but it's not. The earth's climate is changing drastically and because of this, species are being extinct, the risk of cancer has been increasing and so on..

You can make your part in helping our planet. Here I am posting something useful for you to use in your everyday activities in order to help reduce the rate of climate change, the risk of diseases occurring due to the use and/or manufacturing of a certain product and much more!

                                            1. Change light bulbs.

Change your lightbulbs with new fluorescent bulbs. In the US if every family replaces one light bulb, the pollution which is being reduced would be equivalent to removing one million cars from the road.

2. Turn off your computer at night. 

You are saving up on electricity.

3. Recycle!

Every household should recycle glass, plastic, paper and metal. 

4. Use both sides of the paper.

And when you are done, dispose off into the recycling bin.

5.Take a shower with your partner.

It's a good excuse :)

6. Brush your teeth without running water.

Reduce your water consumption and conserve water.

7. Plant a tree!

There are many advantages of a tree. Good for the air, the land and shade. Maybe you can take fruit from it too!

8. Buy Local. Buy Organic.

Consider all the amount of pollution so that the food gets to you. Try and buy local, from local farmers or farmers' market. In this way, you are supporting the local economy too.

9. Do not use any disposable cutlery.

You can use a spoon, wash it and reuse it later. You can also invest in your own mug for work and not use the plastic ones from the machine.

10. Turn off the lights.

When you leave a room, you don't need light switched on. This saves energy, money and the bulb itself.

11. Email and do not send paper letters.

Reduce the amount of paper and use telecommunication.

12. Do not use plastic bags when buying groceries.

Plastic is not biodegradable and it is leading its way to the oceans and seas. Therefore, it is effecting food chains. You can keep using bags made of textile and/or resuing the plastic and paper bags.

13.Use rechargeable batteries.

Buy a charger. There is a small percentage of disposed alkaline batteries being recycled.

14. Avoid buying products with excessive packaging.

A product in order to be produced, takes up a lot of energy. Apart from considering all the transportation needed for the product to be distributed, the materials needed for the product to be packaged needs extra energy. 

15. Share!

That's all for today!

Love,

Ciklemfusa

x

DIY Tin Candle Lanterns

Second post today! 

Following my previous post (Small Outdoor spaces), I wanted to show you a simple DIY project which you can make while recycling used tin cans. Step by step in pictures!

DIY Tin Candle Lanterns

Enjoy! 

Love,

Small Outdoor Spaces

Hola! 

Planning any re-decorating? Maybe updating your outdoor space? I found some cool ideas for a small outdoor balcony or garden for you to get inspired! Here are pictures showing you how you can make the most out of a small space while keeping it cozy and creative =)

Beautiful colors for a sweet balcony

Colorful rugs on wooden floors!

Re-using wooden boxes

Using small lanterns to set the mood

How cool is this! Storage space for cocktails while saving space.

Rugs and cushions create a colorful and cozy atmosphere

Saving space with a DIY pallet planter for your fresh herbs. 

Save used glass jars and re use them to make candle lanterns! 

Transform your outdoors with small efforts while recycling and reusing! I hope you enjoyed this post :)

That's all for today! 

Love,

World Of Colors Under The Lens

Hello again,

Today I am posting about microscopic photos and here is a sample of dry paint layers obtained from a used palette. Here you can see the thin layers of paint magnified under the lense of the microscope. It's a world of colors!

I hope you're enjoying these posts =)