(Non-Steamer) Easy Chicken Lasagna Wraps

What you need for a serving of 2:

mozzarella or pizza cheese mix
4 lasagna noodles
2 chicken breasts
tomato sauce
cherry tomatoes
mushrooms
(or basically any veggie you like in your Italian food)
Italian spices (sea salt, oregano, basil, peperoncini)

Start by:

boiling noodles for about 2 minutes

Place in casserole dish and add chicken and cheese

and cherry tomatoes and spices 

wrap up and cover with remaining veggies

and sauce

and cheese

back at 200 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes

serve with salad or steamed veggies!

Enjoy!

Mission Statement

Like most of you, I (have to) cook a lot.  And although I enjoy preparing an extravagant meal from time to time, my daily schedule doesn't allow for such menus. However, that doesn't mean cooking cant be enjoyable, creative and healthy.

This blog is mostly dedicated to easy, healthy, seasonal, locally grown dishes made primarily from scratch - yet can be whipped up in no time at all.

cranberry sauce (stove top recipe)

Americans love cranberries.  Some prefer the canned ones and others to make them from scratch.
Here in Switzerland I started making them from scratch.

Here's what you need.

frozen cranberries

brown sugar and orange or multi-vitamin juice

add brown sugar and cinnimon

and cranberries of course

cook until able to smash 

then add a little kick before serving (about 2-3 Tbsp)

serve room temperature as a side

or as jam for breakfast

traditional Turkey dinner (NON-steamer recipe)

The US holiday in which I look back most fondly is Thanksgiving.  Around that date, I make a turkey feast for my girlfriends to show them how thankful I am to have them in my life.  Here is what it looks like ...

First off you need a turkey.  I always order one fresh from a local butcher.  They can tell you how big your bird should be based on how many guests you are serving.

The night before I wash the turkey, coat it with sea salt, place breast down in a baking pan, cover with a plastic bag and store in the fridge over night.

Also the night before I start to prepare the stuffing by cutting up a loaf of toast bread in to squares and leaving out to harden over night.  (I also add croutons for taste and texture)

The next morning I continue the stuffing by adding fresh mushrooms, leeks, onions, and parsley.

In addition you'll be adding a bit of olive oil, vegetable or chicken bouillon, garlic and butter.

dice garlic and heat in melted butter

mix bread mixture, veggies, garlic butter and 1 cup of bouillon together 

rinse salt off turkey

fill turkey with prepared stuffing

use remainder of stuffing mix to fill the bottom of pan

(only do this if you have a feesh turkey that isn't too fatty)

bake covered at 150 Celsius for about 4 hours 

basting with bouillon if necessary

remove cover and bake for about 30 minutes more

serve with your favorite kind of potatoes, veggies and cranberries (recipe to follow)

Mmmmmmmmm

Maybe your peeps will enjoy this as much as my girls do!

Cheesy Spätzlis (streamer or oven recipe)

after a bit of a Christmas break - I'm back with some ideas for winter recipes!

For all my US friends - this is a fun Swiss recipe

Ingredients:

Spätzlis (small dumplings or any kind of fresh pasta i.e. gnocchi)
a few cooked potatoes
carrots
onions
leeks
Gruyere
cream or milk

cut and/ or shred up all the veggies

add to taste:
garlic
sea salt herbal mix
pepper

measure cheese

and milk or cream

mix together cheese, veggies and Spätzlis

separate into portion size casserole dish or into a large one

add milk / cream

sprinkle over with a spoon full of cheese

FOR STEAMERS:

steam at 100 degrees for about 20 minutes

FOR COMBI-STEAMERS:

steam at 100 degrees for 15 minutes and grill at 220 for 5 minutes 

(this gives it a crunchy crust)

FOR OVENS:

double the amount of milk/cream 

bake covered at 375 for 20 minutes 

uncover and bake 5-7 minutes longer

ENJOY!!!!

Apple flame cake (non steamer recipe)

This is a recipe from the Alsace an area in France not to far from where we live in Switzerland.  

Flame Cakes are called "Flammkuchen" in German and "tarte flambé" in French.


Here in Switzerland we can by pre made crusts or dough but the recipe for the dough is simple:

• 300g plain flour
• 250ml cold water
• 3 tbsp oil (rapeseed or any other vegetable oil as long as it is not strong in flavour)
• A pinch of ordinary salt
• kneed and roll out very thin

In addition to the crust you need

• 6 medium to small sized apple
• 150-200 gram quark (or creme fraiche)
• 2 Tbsps brown sugar
• cinnamon
• 2 Tbsps Amaretto (optional)

mix quark, sugar, cinnamon and Amaretto

spread thoroughly onto pre rolled dough

peal, slice and arrange apples onto prepared crust

bake at 190 C for 25 - 30 minutes

enjoy warm and fresh from the oven or cool for up to a day

We often eat half for dinner and the other half for breakfast the following morning.

En guete!

Simple Sustainable Veggie Meal

OK - all you meat eaters - even you need to give your body and the environment a break from all that meat consumption. :)
(An average weekly menu in our house doesn't include more than 1 day of chicken and 1 day of fish)

Here is one of our favorite easy, healthy and sustainable lunches ...

young baby potatoes
leeks and/or onions
carrots

if in season:
zucchinis 
cabbage
peppers

if in the freezer or in season:
beans
broccoli

Or just basically any veggie you like

slice and season to taste

steam at 100 C for 30 minutes

serve either ....

topped with some shredded Gruyere 

or

saute for 2-3 minutes in a Wok with 2 Tbsps soja sauce

enjoy with a clear conscious :)