Cook with me: Bruschetta

“Always start out with a larger pot than what you think you need.” - Julia Child

Hello everyone,

have you ever been in a situation when you were home alone and hungry? When you didn't want to eat junk food or any kind of food out of the tin, but actually prepare yourself something delicious and healthy? That happened to me a few days ago. The fact is I like to eat clean (as much as possible) because this makes me feel better and look better (besides regular exercise). That's why I like to cook by myself - I know exactly which ingredient was used.
Now onto the dish I decided to share with you. It is called bruschetta, an Italian dish. But this is not the original recipe, it is modified a little bit. It is easy to make and no skills are required except you should know how to use an oven!

Ingredients (which I used):

cherry tomatoes

paprika/peppers

parsley

grilled chicken

olive oil

salt and pepper

slices of bread

cheese

(There are no numbers because the amount is not fixed.)

Method:

1) Preheat the oven to 150 degrees C. 

2) Chop veggies and grilled chicken into small pieces, put them into a bowl, add a little bit of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix everything together.

3) Bake the slices of bread in the preheated oven for 5 minutes, then take them out of the oven and cover them with the mixture and cheese. Put them back into the oven and bake for 5 minutes or more.

The other time, I added prosciutto instead of grilled chicken (picture here). Yum!

Keep in mind that you can add whatever ingredients you prefer! This versatile dish is perfect for experimenting with unknown flavors.

Good luck,

Vanja

August Favorites

"Every year, August lashes out in volcanic fury, rising with the din of morning traffic, its great metallic wings smashing against the ground, heating the air with ever-increasing intensity." - Henry Rollins

Hello everyone,

another month has come to its end. Sadly, the month is called August which means summer will be also almost gone by. But... I'm going to wear shorts until September will be over, and I don't care about freezing my legs off in the morning time. It is still summer! If I didn't shock you with my previous sentences, please keep on reading and maybe you will learn something new about me.

1) What is the funniest thing that happened to you?
I had a lot of funny moments but I laughed so hard when I got an attack of laughter. It happens often, sometimes for no reason. And I cannot stop laughing for about 5 or even 10 minutes! Great exercise for the muscles, right?

2) Did you read any books?
I consider myself being a book worm so my answer is yes! I read Fifty shades of Grey (in Slovenian) and Fifty shades darker (in English). These books are pure addiction, trust me! I almost ate them because they were sooooo good! I needed only 7 days to finish both of them. I cannot wait to get my hands on the last part. You HAVE to read them, okay?

3) Did you watch any movies?
Actually, I remember only the one from last night, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Overall, I didn't have time to watch any movies due to studying.

(Source)

4) Something that made you proud of yourself?
This is a tough one... Maybe being able (especially mentally) to study during the hot summer time?

5) Did you play any games?
No.

6) Did you travel anywhere?
I was in our capital city Ljubljana for a few days, climbed on Šmarna gora (669 m), watched the swans at Zbiljsko jezero, visited my friend from Koroška and was on the top of Uršlja gora (1699 m)!

7) Which foods did you try and loved?

I tried the Rolled grilled cheese sandwiches. I had some troubles with rolling them because they would not obey me. I prepared them with my bf and we almost set the kitchen on fire thanks to the overheated pan. Anyway, they taste really good!

8) Which songs did you like?

Capital Cities - Safe and sound. Constantly on replay. When I hear it, I think about summer, holidays, driving to the seaside... Music to my ears.

9) Which products did you like?
Forever 21 earrings
Essie nourish me base coat
Fa Cream&Oil shower cream

10) What did you learn?
I learned about some "new" issues that I have with myself. And I was studying for my exam. That's learning too, isn't it?

I hope you enjoyed reading this post!

Have a nice week,

Vanja

DIY: Hair bow

“You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” - Maya Angelou

Hello everyone,

it's been a while ago since I've done a DIY (do it yourself) project so I decided to make a new one and write about it in this post. Today I will show you how to make a hair bow! I bet this is one of the easiest DIY's ever! No sewing required. Great, right? And you need only a few supplies. I wonder why I did not make myself some cute hair bows before...

Let's start!

What you will need:
1) some pieces of fabric (mine are the leftovers from the crop tops I made out of old shirts, tutorial HERE)
2) scissors
3) fabric glue (or glue for every material)
4) one or two heavy books

How to make it:
1) Take a piece of fabric, fold all four edges to create the shape of a rectangle and glue them to stay in place.
2) Put the rectangular fabric under a very heavy book (or two, like I did) for 10 to 15 minutes so the glue has time to dry a little bit.
3) Now take the fabric and fold it in the middle (as shown in the picture) to create the shape of a bow. Then, with the glue bond the folds and squeeze them together for a few minutes so the glue can dry.
4) From another piece of fabric, cut off a strip of fabric, put it around the center of the bow and of course, glue it.

5) Leave the bow to dry completely for a couple of hours.
6) To convert it into a hair bow:
     - take one or two bobby pins and put them through the strip of fabric on the back, or
     - take a larger hair clip and glue it on the back of the bow.

And you are done! You can make a ton of them, I know I will. Next time, I will show you how to use this cute little thing in a hairstyle. Now I have to get back to studying.

Happy Sunday!

Vanja

July Favorites

“We don't need to have just one favorite. We keep adding favorites. Our favorite book is always the book that speaks most directly to us at a particular stage in our lives. And our lives change. We have other favorites that give us what we most need at that particular time. But we never lose the old favorites. They're always with us. We just sort of accumulate them.” - Lloyd Alexander

Hello everyone,

I know that it is already August but July is not that far away, right? So I decided to write something about my "favorites" from the previous month. Just to warn you, this will be a little bit different from the favorites posts that other bloggers write - it is not just about cosmetics and beauty.
In the next lines, there are 10 questions which I took from a Youtuber named Marzia. I think they are quite interesting and different. Have fun reading my answers!

1) What is the funniest thing that happened to you?
This is a hard question. I'd go with my dog Blue because he is such a trouble-maker but in a good way! My little fellow always makes me smile.

2) Did you read any books?
Oh yes, I did! *jumping up and down* Besides the big, fat and heavy Textbook of Medical Physiology (which I needed to read a couple of times because of an exam) I read four other books: Kirurginja, Bes angelov, Pretrgana naveza in Čipke. Two weeks were enough for all of them. :)

(These books are pretty old as you can see.)

3) Did you watch any movies?
Of course, who does not watch movies? Last Monday, I went to the cinema with a good friend and we watched Grown ups 2 - our abdominal muscles were in pain!

(Source)

4) Something that made you proud of yourself?
I finished my 2nd year (or 4th semester) of studies! Studying medicine is not so hard, at least until now.

5) Did you play any games?
No. Games are not my thing.

6) Did you travel anywhere?
Is traveling to my boyfriend's house included? Not really, right? Unfortunately I have to say no... Hopefully I will go somewhere in August.

7) Which foods did you try and loved?
I tried a Japanese dish, I think it is called Yakisoba (or maybe Yakisuba?). The combination of noodles, vegetables, roast duch and soy sauce is delicious.

8) Which songs did you like?
OneRepublic - Counting stars
Billy Talent - Pins and needles
Nicci - The summer is magic

9) Which products did you like?
I picked one beauty and one fashion item that I liked the most:
Essie Mint Candy Apple nail polish
White high-waisted shorts

10) What did you learn?
That I need to be more honest with myself. Oh, and I learned a lot of physiology stuff, as mentioned before. :)

Have a nice start of August!

Vanja

Cook with me: Summer smoothie

"Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside." - Mark Twain

Hello everyone,

it is getting hotter day by day here in Slovenia. Perfect weather for going to the seaside. But, there is one problem - when the temperature rises, my appetite falls. It is hard to eat the same kind of food that we consume during wintertime, right? 

From my experience, the best thing to keep my stomach full for a while is a freshly prepared smoothie. It contains a lot of vitamins (which is super good for the body) and its taste is also delicious. This is why I decided to share with you my favorite smoothie recipe which I named the Summer smoothie - I bet you don't know why I named it like this!

Ingredients (for 2 smoothies):

5 to 8 ice cubes

2 cups of milk (regular, soy, coconut, almond, rice etc.)

1 banana

1 cup of raspberries (fresh or frozen)

1 tablespoon of oatmeal

Method:

Just mix all ingredients listed above in a blender for a minute or two and it is done! Serve in a glass jar and enjoy your creation.

(Donkey likes this smoothie too as you can see.)

What do you like to eat/drink during hot summer days?

Best wishes,

Vanja