Salmontartare

This recipe is one of my favourites on a hot summer evening when you are seeking for something fresh and full of flavours; a real joy for your tastebuds! The ingredients go suprisingly well together, and you just can't get enough of this delicious creation.

What you will need (4 portions):

• 1 lemon
• 300 grams of salmon
• 8 grams of dill
• 3 branches of parsley
• 1 spring onion
• 2 tbsp capers
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp mayonnaise
• 2 tsp horseradish

Preparation:

1. Grate the yellow skin of the lemon and press the juice out of the fruit. Slice the salmon into small blocks. Slice the dill as well as the leaves of the parsley into tiny pieces. Cut the spring onion as well. Blend the lemon grater, the salmon, the dill, the parsley, the spring onion, the capers with one tablespoon of olive oil. Additionally you might want to add some peper or salt.
2. Blend the mayonnaise and horseradish in a bowl and flavour it with lemonjuice.
3. Make a tartare of the salmon (you could use a bowl or a cup for this). Serve the tartare with the horseradish mayonnaise. You might also want to decorate it with another branch of dill.

Leave a comment letting me know what your opinion on this recipe is, I would love to hear from you! Have a great day. x.

On my way to Uganda!

That is a little odd... Let me explain: this heading is the title of my other (Dutch) blog, on my way to Uganda. In February 2016 I am off to Uganda to work as a volunteer for development project in the pearl of Africa. This expedition is instead of my internship to an English speaking country. I chose to join this expedition because of two reasons. First of all, I am eager to give my share in the development and building of the country of Uganda, including learning about the culture, the people and the traditions. Second, I believe this expedition could really help my own development flourish. I would love to broaden my view on the world and learn about other societies and lives.

As said before, in the two weeks I will spend there I will be doing voluntery work. Think about building a stove out of clay, teaching English at a school, working on the land and playing football with the local children. For these local projects, I was asked to raise money. I have found a, in my opinion, fun way for doing so. Every so often I invite two couples (whom each bring another couple) for a fancy dinner at my house. My mom and I will make a 3 course dinner based on the season. My guest will pay for a lovely night out and good company. All the profit of such a dinner will be for the local projects in Uganda. The previous two dinners were a great success and I am looking forward to more good experiences. 

If you would like to know more about my expedition or the raising of money, do not hesitate to leave a comment! I would love to hear from you guys.

Have a lovely day! x.

A morning workout

Since my fieldhockey season only starts in the last weeks of the summer holiday, I try to stay fit via other sports. During the 3 weeks I spent in France, I went mountainbiking with my dad, did some running with my mom, practised some exercises in the pool (think about swimming laps, aquarunning, etc.), did some kayaking and went hiking for a few days. Now that I am back at home my mom and I go for a nice morning run in the forest at least 3 times a week. 

The reason I am writing about this, is because I figured I would tell you something about my motivation to start running and about my workout routine. My main motivation to do sports is because it is healthy. We all have those days where you are just not motivated to do anything, let alone getting up and start exercising. I too have those days, it is normal I guess (?). 

I have been playing hockey for quite some time now, and it is a great way to exercise and meet new people. My weekly hockey routine consists out of two trainings and one match in the weekends. Still, I chose to start running next to my weekly hockey routine. My mom started running a couple of years ago, She wanted to become strong and fit and she has really inspired me to start running. It is a lot of fun to hear about all her stories evolving around running and if you want to read for yourself, you should check out her (Dutch) blog, under the label: 'rennen'.

So, back to my motivation to start running. I really wanted my body to become stronger (which is also very handy for hockey) so I decided to join my mom in a run on a sunday morning. What suprised me very much is the freedom and energy you encounter during and after the workout. Gosh, how great it feels when you have started your day all healthy. You would think you get very tired after a morning workout, which indeed is true, but the energy you gain outweighs the tiredness. So I started joining my mom every sunday and we always picked different routes through the forest so we won't get bored. Our loyal dog always comes with us and it brings me a lot of joy to see him so happily running through the forest (after which he will lay outside in the grass for the remaining day resting). 

Now that the previous hockey season has finished, we were asked to do some intensive sporting each week. So I decided to go and do running 3 days in a week. And, if you were wondering: yes, I still face those days where I am just not motivated to do anything. However, I know now how important it is for your health and how great it feels, coming back after a refreshing morning run, ready to start the day!

Recipe: Pastasalad with tuna

I have tried out this new recipe today and decided to share it with you right away. It is a very refreshing salad perfect for those typical summer days, when you are in for something light but still delicious. The great thing about this salad is that you can make as much as you want, put the left over in the refrigerator and have a great lunch the next day!

What you will need (4 portions):

• 350 grams of pasta 
• 65 grams of pine nuts
• 1 courgette
• about 20 small tomatoes
• 4 teaspoons of capers
• 500 grams of tuna (in sunflower oil)
• 2 spoons of greek yoghurt
• 2 spoons of mayonnaise
• pepper
• salt
• italian spices

Preparation:

1. Cook the pasta following the instructions on the wrapper. After, put the pasta in a colander and wash with cold water
2. Heat up a frying pan and put the pine nuts in there for a minute (keep tossing them in the pan). Afterwards, take them out and put them in a bowl
3. Slice the courgette and put some salt and italian spices on it. Put them in the frying pan with some oil and bake the courgette until it turns a little brown. Take it out of the pan and put it into the bowl with pine nuts
4. You can now add the pasta, tomatoes, capers and tuna into that same bowl and mix the ingredients
5. For the dressing, which is additional, mix the greek yoghurt and mayonnaise with some salt and pepper. You can also put in some orange juice for the sweetness
6. Put the dressing over the pastasalad and mix it all together, and there you have your healthy salad!

I like to have a little bit of bite together with my salad, this is why I also made bread snacks (see the picture).

What you will need (you can make as much as you want):

• a couple of slices of bread
• some olive oil
• salt
• italian spices

Preparation:

1. Put the slices of bread into a toaster
2. Take the toasts out of the toaster and cut them in strips
3. Take a bowl and mix a dash of olive oil, some salt and some italian spices
4. Dip the strips of toast into the bowl one by one for a few seconds
5. The bread snacks are done!

I would love to hear your opinion about this recipe and if you have tried it, let me know! Don't hesitate to leave a comment. Have an awesome day! x.

Recipe: Eggbowls with bacon and spinach

So let me just describe my current situation: I just got back from a morning run in the forest, which I really enjoy during the summer time. I am now sitting outside with my laptop while eating my breakfast, which consists out of a slice of bread topped with strawberries (this is good, trust me). Today I decided to share with you this recipe I found out about a year ago that is so good, and very easy to make. You can make it for a lunch, snack or an entree. It only consists out of a few simple ingredients.

What you will need (4 portions):

• 100 grams of bacon strips
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 teaspoon of paprikapowder
• 4 eggs
• 300 grams of spinach
• 1 baking dish
• 4 caserroles (one for each person)

Preparation:

1. Heat up the oven at 200 degrees Celsius
2. Heat up a frying pan (without oil) and bake the bacon
3. Take the bacon strips out and let them leak out in a bowl
4. Wash the spinach and put that in the frying pan after the bacon is out, press out the garlic into the spinach and steer a little (make sure the garlic does not burn)
5. Let the spinach diminish and afterwards put it in a strainer to let go of most of the moist
6. Divide the spinach over the 4 caserroles, crack 4 eggs and put them in each of the caserroles and lastly divide the bacon strips over the bowls
7. Place the 4 caserroles in the baking dish and fill the baking dish up with some water. Put this in the oven for about 18 to 20 minutes, or until the eggs have solidified
8. Take the baking dish out of the oven and sprinkle some paprikapowder over the caserroles

I hope you like this recipe and try it out sometime! Have a great day. x.