Author: Anita

About the Author: Anita is a crazy cat lady, a fashion enthusiast and a writer (yes, an online marketer, too). She likes to cook, eat, travel and drive. She is also crazy about planes, design, photography and fast cars. Follow her on Twitter or .

Ratatouille – the not traditional way

Published on by Anita1 Comment

I have seen quite some recipes about this French dish, and it is made differently everywhere I looked.

According to the traditional recipes, it consists of aubergines, courgettes, peppers, tomatoes and onions basically cooked together. Not only it is totally vegetarian, gluten and lactose-free, but a very healthy option.

 

Now, I am still in the process of transforming to a healthy eater. I got to the stage where I try to balance my fat, sugar and gluten intake, but I still like to eat what I truly love. I am almost completely off fast food (oh, some chinese take-away still somehow magically makes its way to my home) and I swapped my crisps to millet balls. I do try my best. I don’t eat out anymore (unless it is an occasion and/or some pre-booked restaurant pampering with the Man), as I figured I can only trust the food I make. So tonight’s meal will be ratatouille. Not the way the French make it, BBC Kitchen makes it, or as it is seen in the matching named cartoon. I make it as my grandmother did. Maybe a little less healthy but the taste gives back for it all.

lecsó mouse

 

Grandmother's Ratatouille

  • Servings: 2-4
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients:

– 1 medium onion

– 4 tomatoes

– 5 green peppers

– 1 hot pepper

– 6 German/English sausages

– 1 traditional Hungarian sausage (optional, but this gives the great taste, and can be bought in several shops around Europe, even Tescos and Sainsbury’s have it.)

– paprika spice

– salt and pepper to taste

– olive oil

Peel the onion and cut it finely. If you have the Hungarian sausage, dice it up, too. Tomatoes and Peppers don’t have to be peeled, and can be cut to any shapes you like.

Get a medium sized pan and heat some olive oil. Add the chopped onions and cook them on medium heat until they look caramelized. Add a teaspoon of paprika spice (pay attention to it, as if it burns it tastes awful) and quickly add the diced Hungarian sausage. Give it a few minutes until it cooks a bit and add the tomatoes and a tiny splash of water. Cover it up and let it cook until it looks like a fine tomato sauce. At that point, add the peppers and let it cooked (covered) until the peppers are half raw. Add the sausages (can be cut in halves, diced however you like it to be) and cook until ready.

I usually eat it with some prokorn bread.

lecsó_friss_kenyérrel

 

Enjoy!

Daily cat # 1

Published on by Anita4 Comments

So Blac(k)at has a new habit. He eats flies. Gross. At first I got really nervous about the fact that he does. I mean, how disgusting is a fly? The other day, a really big green coloured one came to the kitchen and when I hit him/her with a newspaper little worms came out of the dead body instantly! So I figured I should look into this fly eating case. After doing a little research, I figured the best option is always…. just to think logical, and don’t panic.

feket 2

Is it dangerous for your cat to eat flies?

Well, think about a cat’s natural habitat. If he (say it is a him) lives out in the wild what would he eat? Mice? Squirrels? Less disgusting, but do they carry diseases as well? Of course they do. Even though it is icky and gross, your cat is designed by nature to be a predator. It is in his instincts. The only reason why eating mice can be dangerous is the fact that people poison them to keep them away from their home and storage. A weak, dying mouse is a very easy target for a cat, and he will probably catch and eat it. The poison is not designed to only kill mice and rats, it is deadly for our beloved pets, dogs or cats, too. This is something to worry about, and not the fly eating.

Is hunting flies good for your cat?

Definitely. What does your cat do when a fly is in? Concentrates. Good. It is good for kitties to use their brains and improve their senses. They also learn a few new good moves. They learn to jump, and to jump higher. They run around, and running surely burns some calories. Neutered, in-home cats can go lazy and put on some excessive weight which is a lot worse for their overall health, than the bacteria the fly carries.

Is this whole fly thing good for you?

We all know the funny sound they make when hunting for flying prey. Think about it. You are smiling already. Imagine them running and jumping around. They stumble and fall and get angry and meow, and meow harder, and the fly doesn’t care, and they use their paws…….. You are actually burning 1.3 calories per minute while laughing at this.

Oh, and after a good hunting session, they sleep for hours. They might let you sleep at night as well (naaw, don’t really get your hopes up).