STRAWBERRY, YOGURT AND OAT-FLAKE SMOOTHIE

Hi, everyone! I am glad to be back with a another recipe for you! This is  a very easy but very delicious, creamy and, of course, very healthy smoothie recipe that you can prepare in just a few minutes for breakfast or for any time of the day of your liking!!!  If you add a couple of ice cubes it'll be a perfect refreshing snack for hot summer days. If you don't have much time to prepare a breakfast these kind of smoothies are very handy. You can take it out with you in a closed cup and enjoy it on your way to work!!! This is how my smoothie turned out today!!! I had it as a midday snack with a chocolate biscuit, a couple of strawberries and chocolate mushrooms!!! Oh, that was a fabulous snack! :) :) :)

Now let's talk about the recipe. You'll need the following ingredients for 2 portions:

• Yogurt (1 full cup; I am using plain Greek yogurt, you can use flavored ones (for example vanilla flavored), that will be delicious too)
• Strawberries (1 cup; save a couple of strawberries for garnishing)
• Honey (to your taste, as I used plain Greek yogurt I added 1 tablespoon, if you use sweet, flavored yogurt you can totally escape it)
• Oat-flakes (2 full tablespoon)
• Ice cubed (optional, if you like your smoothie to be refreshing, just a few 5-6 cubes)
• Chocolate biscuits and chocolate mushrooms (this is totally optional) for garnishing

Step by step instructions:

• Add all the ingredients (Greek yogurt, strawberries, oat-flakes, honey and ice cubes (if you decide to use some) into the blender. Blend it a for a couple of seconds until you get a smooth consistency. With the ingredients I mentioned above you'll get 2 portions of smoothie. If you make it only for yourself you can have one portion and save the other in a closed container in the fridge to have it later during the day.

• Pour the smoothie into a glass and garnish it with whatever you like. I chose to garnish it with a few strawberries, a chocolate cookie and 2 mushroom chocolates!

•  I prepared this smoothie for me and my toddler who was more excited about the chocolate biscuit hahaha....He preferred to eat the chocolate biscuit first and then had a few sips from the smoothie. I saved his portion in the fridge and had it later in the evening! 

I truly hope you like this smoothie recipe! I wish you all have a fabulous weekend!!! Bye!!! See you soon! :) :) :)

Pan Fried Chicken Thighs with Roasted Young Potatoes

Hi my lovely friends! Here is another chicken and potato recipe for you! As you have already noticed my family members are all obsessed with both chicken and potatoes, so I make such easy but quite delicious chicken and potato recipes fairly often. Here is how they turned out this time!!! They were very flavorful and delicious and, I think, they looked super appetizing, too!!!

Here are the ingredients for today's recipe. 
For the pan fried chicken thighs: 

• chicken thighs (1 kg)
• fresh garlic with green leaves (1-2 pieces, about 2 tablespoon in chopped form)
• onion (1 medium size)
• apple vinegar (3 tablespoon)
• vegetable oil (3 tablespoon)
• salt (to your taste)
• black pepper (to your taste, I am using 1/2 teaspoon)
• paprika (1 teaspoon)
• chili powder (to your taste, I am using 1/3 teaspoon)
• ginger powder (1/2 teaspoon)
• cumin (1 teaspoon)
• green onions (1 tablespoon chopped for garnishing)

For the roasted young potatoes:

• young potatoes (1,5 kg)
• vegetable oil (4 tablespoon)
• salt (to your taste)
• black pepper (to your taste, I am using 1/2 teaspoon)
• paprika (to your taste, I am using 1 teaspoon)
• chili powder (to your taste, I am using 1/3 teaspoon)
• green onions (1 tablespoon chopped for garnishing)

Now let's talk about the instructions:

• First of all you should marinade the chicken thighs. I recommend you to marinade the chicken thighs the night before. That will save you a big amount of time and the chicken thighs will have a better chance to get marinaded thoroughly. In order to marinade the chicken thighs, first of all you should wash and dry the chicken thighs. Put them in a bowl and season them with salt, black pepper, paprika, chili, ginger, cumin, vegetable oil and the vinegar. Stir them thoroughly. Chop the  fresh garlic (the green leaves too) and the onion into very small pieces. Add them to the chicken thighs and give them another good stir. Cover the bowl with a lid or a plastic film and let them marinade in the fridge for a couple of hours or even better the whole night. 
• As the chicken thighs are getting marinaded you can wash the young potatoes, giving them a good scrub under warm tap water. Drain them properly and put them aside. 
• When the chicken thighs are marinaded, take them out of the fridge, heat a pan on a medium heat and flop over the chicken thighs, together with the marinade. Cover the pan with a lid and cook them for about half an hour.  

•  As the chicken thighs are being cooked, heat another big pan on a medium heat, add the vegetable oil and the young potatoes, stir them, cover with a lid and cook for about 15 minutes. When the potatoes are half cooked season them with salt, black pepper, chili powder, paprika and stir them again. Continue roasting the young potatoes with the lid open until they get thoroughly cooked and perfectly roasted. That will take you another 15-20 minutes. 

•  Meanwhile don't forget about the chicken thighs. Stir them from time to time and fry them with the lid open, until they are cooked through and perfectly roasted. That will take you about 20 minutes. When both the chicken thighs and young potatoes are beautifully roasted, put them in a platter and sprinkle them with chopped green onions!!! That's all, the dinner is ready!!! : ): ): )

 I truly hope you like today's recipe! Have fantastic day! Bye!!! :) :) :)

Zucchini Fritters and A Very Simple Beetroot Salad

Hi everyone!!! I prepared these beautiful zucchini fritters and a very simple beetroot salad for my family for Sunday brunch and decided to share the recipe with you. The zucchini fritters turned out very crispy and delicious (the big platter full of zucchini pancakes was emptied within a few minutes (:) ), the beetroot salad was very flavorful and looked very inviting too!!! If you want to know the details of the recipe and the step by step instructions just keep on reading the recipe below!!!

For the zucchini fritters you will need the following ingredients:

• zucchini (800 gram)
• onion (1 medium size)
• garlic (2 cloves)
• coriander (1 full tablespoon of chopped coriander, you can also use dill and parsley)
• egg (2 medium range)
• salt (to your taste)
• black pepper, chili powder, paprika (to your taste)
• plain flour (5 tablespoon)
• vegetable oil (enough to fry all the zucchini fritters  )

For the beetroot salad:

• beetroot (4-5 small size)
• sour-cream (200 gram)
• garlic (1 clove)
• apple vinegar (1 tablespoon)
• vegetable oil (1 tablespoon)
• salt (to your taste)
• black pepper, chili powder, paprika (to your taste)
• coriander (1 tablespoon of chopped coriander)

Now let's talk about the instructions:

• Wash and grate the zucchinis, sprinkle them with salt, press the substance thoroughly to get rid of the excess juice. There is going to be a lot of excess juice. 
• Chop the coriander, the onion and the garlic into very small pieces. You can use a garlic press to squeeze the garlic cloves if you want. Add them all to the grated zucchini bowl.

• Crack the eggs into the mixture, season with salt, the black pepper, the paprika and with chili power.  Add the flour and mix it thoroughly. You will get a batter like this

• Heat a pan on a medium heat, add enough vegetable oil to cover the surface of the pan and fry the zucchini fritters. When one side is done, flip over and roast the other side!

• Place a paper towel on the plate to absorb all the excess oil. Put the fried zucchini fritters on the paper towel. If you don't have a paper towel use a couple of plain napkins. Fry all the zucchini fritters like this. It will make several batches. I don't know exactly how many fritters I fried but it was enough to feed 4-5 people. :) :) :)

This is how you make the beetroot salad:

• The beet roots I am using in the recipe I have cooked the night before. If you don't have already cooked beetroot I advise you to cook it while you make the zucchini fritters because it takes a while to be cooked (about 30-40 minutes). 
• After you have cooked the beet roots, the rest is very simple and will take only a few minutes. Slice the beet roots into medium slices and marinade them with apple vinegar, vegetable oil, salt and peppers and squeezed garlic for about 15 minutes. You can marinade the beet roots the night before. It will save you a bunch of time!  
• Place the beetroot slices on a plate, put a teaspoon of sour-cream on top of each and sprinkle with chopped coriander. 

I hope you like today's recipe post! Wish you all have a fabulous week ahead! Bye!!! :) :) :) 

Spaghetti with Chicken and Mushroom Sauce, Veggie Salad

Hi friends! Todays I am going to share a scrumptious and flavorful pasta and sauce recipe with you. In general, I love pasta, and this particular recipe is on the top of my favorite pasta recipe list. The sauce itself is very delicious, flavorful and creamy and it can be used not only with different kinds of pasta but also with rice, buckwheat, couscous, etc. The veggie salad is very simple and easy to prepare but it complements the spaghetti very well and adds crispiness and freshness to the main dish! This is how the main dish and the veggie salad turned out!!! Don't they look super and appetizing?! And they tasted delicious too :) :) :) If the whole idea of the meal interested you just keep on reading the recipe below!!!

Now let's talk about the recipe. You will need the following ingredients:

• spaghetti (400 gram)
• salt (1 full tablespoon, dissolved in water for cooking the spaghetti )
• vegetable oil (2 tablespoon, use olive oil if you like)

For the sauce:

• chicken breast (400 gram)
• mushroom (I am using champignons) (400 gram)
• sour-cream (100 gram)
• onion (1 small size)
• garlic (2 cloves)
• ketchup (1 full tablespoon)
• vegetable oil (1-2 tablespoon)
• salt (to your taste)
• black pepper and chili (to your taste)
• paprika (1 teaspoon)
• cumin (1 teaspoon)

For the veggie salad:

• young seasonal cabbage (1 cup shredded)
• cucumber (1 medium size)
• carrot (1 medium size)
• reddish (5 medium size)
• onion (1 small size)
• herbs (I am using dill, coriander, tarragon, you can also use parsley, basil or any kind of herbs you like)
•  vegetable oil (1 tablespoon)
• apple vinegar (1 tablespoon)
• salt (to your taste)
• black and red peppers (to your taste)

Now the instructions:

• First of all you should make the sauce because it takes a little while to be cooked. While you make the sauce put a big pot full of water and put it on a heat and bring to boil. 
• Wash and slice the chicken breasts into thin pieces. 
• Though I know that I shouldn't wash the mushrooms but I wash them anyways and peel the skin from the champignon hats - but this is optional, you can totally skip this part. Cut the champignions into slices too. 
• Chop the onion and the garlic cloves and the herbs into small pieces. 
• Then take a pan, add the vegetable oil, heat it. Then add the chopped onion and the garlic cloves and salute (roast) them for a few minutes. Then add the cut chicken breasts, stir them and cook for about 15 minutes under the lid. 

• When the chicken breasts are halfway cooked add the sliced champignons, stir them together, add the ketchup, season with salt, black and red peppers, paprika, cumin, a little bit of herbs and let them cook for another 15-20 minutes or until everything is perfectly cooked. Before you take the sauce away from the heat, add the sour-cream and the rest of the herbs, bring it to boil and turn off the heat.  

• Meanwhile the water for spaghetti will definitely be boiling. Add 1 full tablespoon of salt to the water, mix it throughly and add the spaghetti. Cook the spaghetti "al dente" taking into consideration the instruction of the package. It will take about 10-12 minutes to get it done.

• As spaghetti is being cooked, make the veggie salad. Shred the vegetables into thin and long pieces. Then drizzle them with the following dressing. Add the vegetable oil, the apple vinegar, salt and peppers into a small jar, cover it with the lid and shake it thoroughly. Voilà the dressing is ready. Drizzle it on top of the vegetables and give it a good stir. The salad is ready.

• As you have cooked all the comprising parts of the meal, now you can assemble them together. This is how my plate turned out!  I decided to serve the salad in a separate dish because I didn't want to ruin the way my spaghetti looked! :) :) :)

I truly hope you like the recipe! Wish you all have a fabulous day! Bye! :) :) :)

Quick and Delicious Lunch Idea with Veggie Salad, Pan-Fried Potatoes and Fried Eggs

Hi everyone!!! One of the most beloved and quickest meals that my family have always been enjoying eating is this very simple but very delicious lunch, which I tend to prepare, I guess, quite often!!! :) :) :) I cook this type of lunches so frequently that I decided to share it with you!!! Hope you don't mind it! :) :) :) This recipe will take you about 30 minutes to prepare or even less, from preparations to the serving but, I assure you, you'll enjoy every bite of it. The crispy and crunchy salad with a bunch of pan-fried potatoes and a fried egg make a flavorful and palatable combination together. This is how the lunch turned out!!! It looks very appetizing, don't you agree with me!!! :) :) :) If you got interested, just bear with me and keep on reading the recipe!!! :) :) :) 

To make this simple but super delicious lunch you'll need the following ingredients.
For the salad:

• cabbage ( 1 cup of shredded cabbage, I am using freshly grown seasonal cabbage; it has much tender leaves)
• cucumber (1 small size, 1/2 of a cup chopped cucumber)
• onion (1 small size, or 1/2 of a medium size) 
• carrot (1 small size, or 1/2 of a medium size) 
• beetroot (1 small size,or 1/2 of a medium size)
• lettuce (just a few (4-5) leaves)
• vegetable oil (1 tablespoon, use olive oil, if you like)
• apple vinegar (1 tablespoon)
• salt (to your taste)
• black pepper, paprika (to your taste)

For the pan-fried potatoes:

• potatoes (4 medium size)
• garlic (2 cloves)
• vegetable oil (3-4 tablespoon; you can use less if you feel like it :) :) :) 
• salt (to your taste)
• paprika (1 teaspoon)
• black pepper (to your liking, I am using 1/3 teaspoon)

For the fried eggs:

• eggs (4 medium range)
• vegetable oil (1 tablespoon)
• salt (just a pinch)
• paprika (just a pinch)
• black pepper (just a pinch)

Now let's talk about how to prepare the lunch:

• First of all you should pan fry the potatoes. Wash, peel and chop the potatoes first. Then heat a pan on a medium heat, drizzle it with vegetable oil and add the chopped potatoes. Close the lid and cook them for about 10 minutes under the medium heat.

• Meanwhile make the vegetable salad. Shred the cabbage, chop the lettuce leaves, the onion and the cucumber. Slice the beetroot and the carrot. Season the chopped vegetables with salt and peppers and drizzle with vegetable oil and the apple vinegar. Put the salad aside till the fried potatoes are ready.

• Meanwhile the potatoes will be halfway cooked. Season them with salt and peppers. Add the chopped garlic. If you like sautéed onions, you can add chopped onions, too. Give them a good stir and roast the potatoes with the lid open for another 10 minutes.
• While the potatoes are roasting make the fried eggs. Take another pan, put it on a medium heat and drizzle with vegetable oil. When the oil heats up, crack the eggs. Season them with salt and peppers. Cover the pan with the lid and fry them for about 5-7 minutes on a low heat.

• As you fry the eggs, don't forget about the potatoes and give them another good stir. After roasting for about 10 minutes, they must be roasted perfectly. Turn off the heat and assemble the lunch together. Voilà the lunch is ready!!! :) :) :)  
• This is how my plate turned out! Mmmm..., that was a delicious lunch!

I hope you'll like this lunch idea as much as I do!!! Have a fabulous day! See you next time! Bye! :) :) :)

Chicken and Carrot Rolls (Lavash Rolls with Chicken and Carrot filling )

Hi, my lovely friends!!! If you have a little more time to spend on making your breakfast or lunch at the weekends prepare this amazing chicken and carrot lavash rolls. In general you can make this kind of rolls with different fillings.There are a large variety of lavash rolls with different fillings, but yesterday I made them with chicken breasts, carrots and cream cheese. They tasted amazing and looked gorgeous, too. You can make this rolls for different events and, I assure you, everybody from adults to kids will love them. If you can't find lavash (Armenian national bread) I think you can replace it with tortillas. I know that they are much smaller but you can use several and cut them in halves. The result will be the same. This is how my lavash rolls turned out. Aren't they super appetizing?!!! I made them for Sunday brunch with a cup of tea to accompany it.  They were very delicious, flavorful, crispy outside and soft inside and very filling too! :) :) :) I hope you will enjoy it as much as my family did!!!!

 Now let's talk about the recipe! You will need the following ingredients:

• lavash (2 pieces - if you can't find it, replace it with a couple of tortillas, I think 4-5 tortillas will be enough)
• chicken breasts (400 gram)
• cream-cheese (250 gram)
• carrot (1 big, or 2 medium size)
• onion (1 medium size)
• garlic (3 cloves)
• dill (2 tablespoon of chopped dill)
• vegetable oil (3-4 tablespoon, use olive oil if you like)
• salt (to your liking)
• black pepper (1/3 teaspoon, use more if you like)
• chili powder (1/3 teaspoon, you can use more, if you like a little bit spicier)
• paprika (1 teaspoon)
• cumin (1 teaspoon)

Now let's talk about the instructions:

• Cut the chicken breasts into small  and thin pieces. Marinade them with garlic, salt, black pepper, chili powder, paprika and cumin and 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. You can marinade the chicken breasts the night before, that will save you a lot of time and will help you to make the roll very quickly the following day.
• If you haven't marinaded the chicken breasts the night before, then just let it sit there about 20 minutes until you wash, peel and grate the carrots and cut the onion and the garlic cloves.
• Heat a pan on a medium heat, add 2-3 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Sauté the chopped onion and the garlic cloves. After a few minutes add the marinaded chicken breasts, roast them a little bit and cook thoroughly under the lid for about 20 minutes. Then add the grated carrots and half of the chopped dill. Stir the mixture and taste it to see if you need to add a little bit more salt or not. Cook it for a few minutes, then take the pan off the heat and let it cool down a little bit. 

• Meanwhile preheat your oven to 200 degree Celsius and prepare the lavash. Layer one lavash on top of the other and spread it with cream cheese. We are using two pieces because they are quite thin and can easily tear while we roll them. If you use tortillas just use 1 layer because they are thicker and won't tear. 

•  When the chicken and carrot filling is cooled down a little bit, spread it on top of the cream-cheese. Then sprinkle it with the remaining chopped dill. 

•  As you have layered everything, it's time to roll the lavash diagonally from one end to the other very firmly.

•  Take a chopping board and cut the roll into individual portions like this.You can eat this rolls even without baking them in the oven, as all the ingredients   are already cooked. But I personally like to grill them in the oven and serve them hot and crispy.

•  Take a baking tin and place them accurately on it.

•  Grill the rolls in the oven for about 15 minutes or until they turn yellowish-golden color. Place them on a platter and serve them. The platter full of this deliciousness will be emptied in no time. :) :) :)  

•  This is how my plate of chicken and carrot rolls looked like. That was a perfect brunch for me!!! I hope you will enjoy it too, if you choose to make it one day! 

And this is my two-year old son enjoying his roll!!! Have a fabulous day! Bye!!! :) :) :)

Making fiends in the park!!! :) :) :)

My son, Karen, loves to spend time outdoors finding new friends and playing with them. Today we went to a new park but unfortunately there weren't any kids of his age to play with. After playing by himself he finally met an adorable teenage boy who was reading a book under the shade of the trees!!! My son came up to the boy and was happy to make friends and play with him!!!

Cottage Cheese Cookies

Hello, my friends!!! Today I decided to share this simple cookie recipe with cottage sprinkled with caster sugar. Today we woke up earlier than usual and I decided to prepare some easy and simple cottage cheese cookies for breakfast. I had some cottage cheese in my fridge which would expire if I didn't use it. So I decided to incorporate it in this cookie recipe. They were warm and tasty and they went very well with a cup of tea. My son liked it too and even munched two cookies one after another, that was a great success!!! :) :) :) This is a very simple recipe, but anyway I decided to share it with. Maybe your kids will also love it!!!

For this simple cookie recipe you will need the following ingredients

• cottage cheese (200 gr)
• plain flour (4 cups)
• eggs (4 medium range)
• butter (250 gr) 
• plain Greek yogurt (1 cup)
• granulated sugar (1 cups or brown sugar, or even honey)
• baking soda (1 teaspoon)
• vinegar (1 teaspoon)
• salt (a pinch)
• vanilla (1/3 teaspoon, the vanilla I am using is in a granulated form, you can freely use vanilla extract 1 teaspoon will be enough)
• caster sugar (just enough to sprinkle on top) 

Now let's talk about the instructions.

• First of all preheat your oven to 180 degree Celsius. 
• Take a deep bowl and mix together butter, cottage cheese and the the granulated sugar with an electric mixer, or even with a regular whisk (you can also use a regular fork). 
• Then add the baking soda into the Green yogurt and mix it. It will immediately start to bubble. Add it into the butter and sugar mixture and whisk it again. 
• Then add a pinch of salt, the vanilla, mix it again and gradually mix in the flour to get a batter with a thick consistency.
• Layer some baking paper on your cooking sheet and spoon the batter to make individual cookies. Make sure to leave enough space for the cookies to expand. Repeat these actions with all the batches. It will make several batches depending on how small or big you make your cookies.
• Bake the cookies in the oven for about 25 minutes or until they get yellowish-golden color. let them cool down on a cooling sheet. Then sift some caster sugar on top and serve. :) :) :) 

I hope you like this simple but very tasty cookie recipe! Have a fabulous day! Bye! :) :) :)