Soak it up.

First days of summer.

Have coffee on the terrace.

Fill the pool.

Just soak it up. The sun. The warmth. The summer.

Bubbles

We have upgraded our entertainment equipment from last year.

Kid got this bubble gun from his grandparents and there was no chance to avoid testing it immediately.

It's ten degrees outside, and in my opinion it's too cold for summery outdoor fun. Apparently, I am very, very wrong.

Enamel

Summer is coming, outdoor kitchen will be built, and old enamel pots and buckets will make perfect decoration.

A great flea market find for 15 euros.

The impatient person that I am, I wanted to make use of these immediately. That is right NOW. So for a while, they serve as planting pots for tete-a-tetes.

Vallila Emerald

Our next big renovation project is the hallway. And how else do you start a huge, tearing down walls and re-doing the whole floor kinda renovation than by buying a rug.

And since you haven't even started your project yet, you actually have no place for the rug.

So you place it in the living room, where it's a bit too small but you like it anyway.

It's exactly the pattern you've been looking for and exactly in the right colours. And it cost 69 euros only. Now all that needs to be done is to take down a few walls and lay some floor tiles.

The better pasta

Pasta bolognese is something we make quite often, but normally it's our fast food. Minced beef & canned tomatoes and it's ready. This is the better, slower version.

It's still nothing more than chopped onions and garlic, seared minced beef, seasoning (salt & black pepper, beef stock cube) and tomato pulp, but it has simmered for two hours in a cast iron pot.

Well, I loved this, but the thing about living with a two-year-old is the immediate feedback. And apparently this time it wasn't good. See, no sauce.

If you'd like to take my word, and not the two-year-old's, for it, here's the very simple recipe for this very tasty bolognese.

700 g minced beef

1 medium sized onion

2 garlic gloves

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp butter 

1 can of tomato pulp

beef stock cube

salt, black pepper

1 tbsp chili seasoned olive oil, optional

Peel and chop onion and garlic. 

Heat your cast iron pot on the stove, add (both) olive oil(s) and butter and let butter melt. 

Add onion and garlic and sauté for a few minutes. Mix so they don't burn. 

Add minced beef and quickly sear it. Season with salt and black pepper.

Add the can of tomato pulp and half a tomato can of water. 

Throw in the beef stock cube and mix until it dissolves. 

Reduce heat to low, cover the pot with a lid and leave to simmer for 1,5 to 2 hours, stirring occassionally. 

 

Coconut chicken

Super easy, super tasty, kid friendly, healthy. My criteria for everyday food. And this coconut chicken ticks each box.

This recipe makes enough for three (the kid eats as much as I do) and you'll probably have enough left overs to make a small lunch salad the following day.

i n g r e d i e n t s

500 g chicken fillets

2 dl flour

2 eggs

2 dl coconut flakes

paprika

garlic powder

Heat the oven to 200 C degrees.

Cut the chicken fillets into 1 cm thick strips. 

Place flour, paprika and garlic powder into a bowl and mix. 

Break eggs into another bowl and whisk to mix the yolk and the white.

Place coconut flakes into a third bowl.

One by one, dip the chicken strips into the flour & spice mix, then to eggs and then to coconut flakes. In each bowl, make sure that the chicken gets completely covered. 

Place the strips then on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Cook in the oven's middle rack until coconut has turned golden and crispy (approx. 15 minutes).

Serve with rice and veggies.

I often get asked if I make simpler versions of these dishes for the kid. I don't. This particular recipe would go down well with any kid, I'd imagine, but whatever I cook, the kid eats the same as we do. Only he eats it from an Angry Birds plate.

Merry Christmas - Hyvää Joulua