Quick and Easy Recipes by Ella

Soup recipes seem to be very easy to make. But this is only at first sight, because you can easily spoil the food by very small things that you don’t respect when you follow a soup recipe.

For example, is the soup recipe says that you should put in this and that ingredients, them boil it for 20 minutes, and only after that add the potatoes, you may think like this: well, soup recipes are all the same and I don’t see what difference it makes if I add everything in from the very beginning.

You just do that, and instead of a delicious soup recipe, you get some boiled vegetables which are hard to swallow and scratch your throat. This is because potatoes boil faster than other veggies, and if you boil them the same amount of time like the rest of the ingredients, they would be smashed into tiny fragments which would stick on your throat.

So, remember that all indications in soup recipes are there for a reason. Just follow them, and you’ll prepare soups which you’d be adored for.

My mouth is watering when I think of those delicious gluten free cookies that my best friend was cooking. It is true that because of those fantastic cookie recipes she was fat like a whale at the young age of 23. But she was such a good cook, you cannot even imagine. Her cookies really melt in the mouth.

They were so fluffy and flavoured that all neighbours would come to ask her how’s she doing, because there was such a nice aroma on the hallway the days she cooked any of her secret recipes. Cookies are not so easy to prepare, I was never able to learn how to cook them properly, despite the fact that my friend even gave me a special cookie recipe cookbook which she printed out in several copies to give it to all her friends. Because she suffered from a series of health conditions among which coeliac disease, she has been forced to follow some strict cooking rules. Leaving gluten out of the ingredients was one of these rules. Staying dairy-free was another one. Yet, she knew how to substitute harmful ingredients with healthy ones without lacking the great taste. I believe the secret was in the spices she used, but she never felt like disclosing those deep secrets to any of us, whom she used to call her best friends.

In my opinion, the black cookies were the best of all. They contained milk chocolate, cocoa and raisins, and some flavours I don’t remember now, but this combination made them really delicious.

How I miss my friend’s cookie recipes, now that she’s moved to another country! I know I haven’t given you any recipe in this post, but every now and then it just feels so good to share some feelings and thoughts, that I hope you’ll forgive me.

This is an update for all people who suffer from coeliac disease or from other digestive disorders caused by wheat: the complete list of gluten free foods, which I hope will help you stay away from foods you shouldn’t be eating.

How cool would it be to travel hassle free and to see a lot of places without having to carry all that heavy luggage which I’m sure you hate as much as I do?

If seeing lots of places while laying in the sun is your preferred style of travel, you may consider getting yourself a cruise. If you don’t know where to start your search from , go to Cruise Vacation Center and you’ll find there lots of cruises, from Princess Cruises, to Royal Caribbean, or even Norwegian Cruise Lines.

The website is easy to search, as it provides the visitors a few filters, such as the destination, the sailing date, the duration of your desired cruise and the cruise line you’d like to travel with.

By taking a look into the Hot Specials section, you’ll discover the latest discount offers, and you may be able to grab a good deal and save a lot of money. The website offers you the facility of booking online, which is by far the most convenient way to book your trips.

Due to a new policy that forbids cruise lines to show their discounts publicly, sometimes you may get better deals if you call the Cruise Vacation Center at the toll free number provided on the website.

Wouldn’t you rather go on a cruise, than on a common trip?

Casserole recipes are amongst my to favorites when it comes to cooking for my family. Everybody just loves them, and it is very hard for me to stop them from over eating, every time I prepare my already famous tuna casserole recipe which I learned from my grandmother.

My son likes mostly the chicken casserole recipes, while my mother prefers cheese and macaroni casserole. Recipes are not very hard to prepare, but you have to keep in mind that a lot of preparation is needed, plus the oven time, which is very important. Just keep a casserole in the oven 10-15 minutes over the due time, and you spoil it just like that. Keep it too little, and the ingredients in the casserole won’t be cooked as they should be. My best friend told me that she makes a great breakfast casserole recipe, but my opinion is than in the morning we should eat lighter things such as fruits.

The best ones I’ve ever prepared are the lamb casserole recipes, which besides the lamb meat contain white sauce, yellow cheese, herbs and spices, and sour cream for the final touch.

This is not shameless self-promotion, but when you cook so well, it is very hard to find a restaurant where they cook the casserole recipes better than you do.

I don’t know about others, but I’m getting lots of troubles with my dry skin. I always have to use a lot of skin moisturizing products, and leaving aside the fact that they cost me a lot of money, they are difficult to carry when traveling. The most annoying is that the new regulations of plane travels are very strict, limiting very much the amount of liquids somebody can take inside the plane, in the hand luggage. The big luggage, the one you check in, is restricted to 20kg weight, so it’s not too much, if we think of all the clothes, shoes and other accessories a person needs when going on a trip.

If you have a delicate skin, it is very difficult to find an appropriate skin moisturizer, because most of them will give you adverse reactions like swelling and redness. Some people say that the creams based on natural products, like Ginkgo Biloba are the best, while others claim that the extremely expensive, fashionable brands of cosmetics are much better.

Probably each skin has its particularities, so everybody should test some skin moisturizers to see which one is better for that particular type of skin, and then stick to it.

People who get out at night are usually seeking for entertainment. But not all of them understand entertainment in the same way. For some, entertainment can mean loud music, dance, crowded clubs, while for others it can mean a romantic dinner in a cozy place. Anyway, getting out at night, especially during weekends is a common way of spending some time with friends, while enjoying a good drink or a nice meal.

The moonstone lounge in San Diego is a place where one can find whatever he means by entertainment, from a romantic, quiet atmosphere, to the club, disco-bar animated life. Belonging to several venue types, such as Hotel Bars and Lounges, Cocktail Lounges, Dance Clubs and Nightclubs, Moonstone Lounge also serves food, so you can have a dinner with your friends and go dancing after that, without being obliged to change the place.

The lounge is situated at the top level of Hoard Rock Hotel in San Diego, so you’ll have the chance to see the city from above. But don’t worry, you don’t have to climb the stairs: you can always take the elevator.

I got sick during my stay in Paris. For three days, it was a stormy weather. My asthma reacted immediately. One week with fever and all the rest.

By the time I had to leave, my luggage was a mess. I was too tired to put it in order, to throw away the unnecessary thinks.

In the Airport, the machinery started to make funny noises when my bag went through. A customs officer appeared and took the bag to be checked out. Good for him, he used gloves. With the flow I had, touching my thinks by a healthy person required gloves. Few minutes later he discovered the metal objects that made the machinery sing. He took out the case I kept all the thinks needed for the nails, the eyebrows, the tooth, the ears, e.t.c. in.

It is hard to imagine the mess in there: powder all over the place, stacked on the objects, pieces of toilet paper, a rest of toothpaste, few cleaning ears sticks warped in a piece of toilet paper.

He picked all the metal objects and put them aside, one by one. Because of the stories I heard before, from lots of people whose belongings were confiscated, I got scared. I was not sure what his intentions were, so each time he took an object, I immediately defended it, with desperation: “Please, don’t take that, I need it.”

At first, he said nothing. The next objects he put aside, the same reaction from my side: “Don’t take it away, it’s important.”

Very calm and serious, the custom officer asked me: “is this important?” showing me the old tweezers.
- Very important. They don’t do this anymore. Is a present from my mother. It is very good and very important.

He realized that for me, everything from the messy case was vital.

He took out the ears sticks, looked at it and asked:
- Are those important as well?
- No, those you can take, if you feel like.
- I won’t take anything. I’m just going to put them in a bag.
- Thank you!

While the custom officer did what he said and sealed the bag, he asked me:
- What country are you from, Mrs.?
- From Romania.

Ingredients

• 600 g. spinach
• 750 g. calamari without the head
• 5 spoons of olive oil
• 3 onions
• 70 ml. of white dry wine
• 50 g. of dill
• 3 spoons of mint (cut small)
• salt, pepper

Cooking Procedure

1. Cut the calamari 1 cm. thick.
2. Cut the onions and the dill small.
3. Fry the onions for 3 min.
4. Add the dill, the mint and the calamari pieces. Salt and pepper them.
5. Fry for 5 min.
6. Add 200 ml. of hot water and cover the pot.
7. Leave it on the fire, at low temperature, for 20 min.
8. Cut the spinach small.
9. Put it in the pot with the rest of the food.
10. Add 50 ml. of water and boil for 10 min.
11. Add the wine and boil for 5 min.

If you still don’t know how to cook calamari, you’d better go have dinner to your favorite sea food restaurant.

Lamb can be a delicious meal, if properly cooked. Moreover, if you can’t eat everything at one meal, you can use the rest for preparing some great leftover ham recipes. This is only a matter of creativity, to combine leftovers with fresh food, in order to create original meals. Ham is a great ingredient in such cases, as it helps a lot.

Ingredients

• 800 g. lamb pulp
• 150 g. butter
• 2 lemons
• 5 spoons of olive oil
• 500 g. of small potatoes
• salt, pepper

Cooking Procedure

1. Cut the meat big. Salt and pepper the pieces.
2. Fry them in hot olive oil, for 10 min, on each side.
3. Take the pot off the fire.
4. Squeeze the lemons.
5. Pour the lemon juice over the meat.
6. Cover the pot and leave it for 5 min. like this.
7. Add ¼ l. of water.
8. Put the pot on the fire, at low temperature, for 30 min.
9. Cut the potatoes in cubes. Salt and pepper them.
10. Fry them for 5 min. and put them in the pot with the meat for the last 15-min.

Ingredients:

• 600 g. pork pulp
• 4 onions
• flour
• semoline
• 2 eggs
• paprika
• tomato juice
• vegetable oil
• salt, pepper

Cooking Procedure

1. Cut the meat in medium pieces.
2. Cut the onions small.
3. Fry them for 3 min., than add 1 cup with hot water.
4. Stir from time to time until the water evaporates.
5. Salt and pepper the meat and the onions.
6. Add 50 ml. of vegetable oil.
7. Continue to fry for 3 min.
8. Add 500 g. of hot water.
9. Leave the food, at medium temperature, for 10 min.
10. During this time, scramble the eggs. Salt them.
11. Add, bit by bit, flour and semoline (equal shares) and stir until you obtain a thick cream.
12. Boil 400 g. of water.
13. Put, spoon by spoon, the cream in it.
14. Don’t stir.
15. Wait for the cream to become hard.
16. Boil it for 5 min.
17. Take them out and put it in the meat and onion sauce.
18. Add the paprika.
19. Put the food in the oven, at medium temperature, for 10 min.
20. Add the tomato sauce and put the food back in the oven for 5 min.

If you want, you can replace the pulp with bone-in pork chops, thus creating original pork chops recipes for your dinner guests.