Chicken Tagine

Hi there!
While learning how to cook, I like to experiment with different cuisines every now and then. It started with Italian food: I love a good pasta or lasagne! This Christmas I received a tagine as gift and I could not have been happier! I have been experimenting a bit, and decided to share my last creation with you.

Cooking with a tagine is actually really easy. You need some meat, vegetables combined with many herbs, and some liquid like bouillon. The shape of the tagine ensures all the flavours are combined and kept within the bowl. As a result, you have stew-like substance that is extremely tasty, and contains very juicy meat!

Too good to be true: easy oatmeal cookies

Goooodmorning all!
It's time for a baking recipe, and I've got a good one to share with you today. These oatmeal cookies are a little sticky but have a nice bite to them, and a great taste too: honey and a variation of nuts. Oatmeal is quite healthy, tasty and it leaves you satisfied for a long time. That's why I like to use it so much! (See: apple crumble oatmeal pie for breakfast and homemade granola for example) Last week I tried a recipe of +Chickslovefood for easy oatmeal cookies. Because I used honey as sweetener and coconut oil to stick them together it's not that unhealthy, either. What's not to love...

I'll be sharing more baking recipes with you, too: Gijs (the boyfriend) just started with his placement and I thought I'd give him some healthy snacks for in the train, like this cookie. Also, its my birthday next week!

New site under construction!

Hey all,
I've got the most exciting news: I'm moving this blog to my own website!
That's why for now there will be no new posts, but I hope to finish the new site within 2-3 days.
See you then!
Vivian

Perfect cold winter day Mushroom Soup

Hey guys!
Last weekend has been so busy: we had the activities in Amsterdam (read about them here and here) and on Saturday it was time to work on our apartment. I've been living here for almost a year now, but some things still could use some attention and now that the boyfriend is living here too it's time to do something about it. My parents came over (and brought the puppy, yay!) and the first part of our day was spent in Ikea. Because of the rain it was extreeeemely busy, but we managed to get everything we needed. We finally have a couch that is big enough for both of us to lay down on, and I absolutely love it! Also, the pictures/paintings are finally on the wall, and I have new shelves in my kitchen. I'm very happy!

On Sunday we wanted a lazy day together. Even though there were a couple of days that felt like Spring had arrived, winter is back in the Netherlands. Luckily it's not that bad: no snow or ice, just cold winds and dreary days. So last Sunday I figured I'd make something nice to warm us up: mushroom soup! Gijs (the boyfriend) was feeling sick and had to start his placement the next day, so I hoped to make him feel better, too.

Sunday morning breakfast: Pumpkin Pancakes

Good morning all,
I know it's not Sunday yet, but this way you can make sure to get the groceries in time to make this perfect breakfast. Or maybe you already have some leftover pumpkin from cooking this recipe? Either way, let me tell you that this is the perfect variation on plain pancakes. I don't even know what I was thinking the first time I made them: what if it would have turned out horribly? However, I've already cooked them twice now and I believe this is a winning dish!

Because you swap out sugar for the pumpkin it is less unhealthy, too. It's also a great way to get more veggies into your meals everyday: they taste so delicious you won't even notice it's there! Keep reading if you'd like to cook this gorgeous recipe.

Life Update: Anxiety

Hey all!
I started this blog to be able to share my love for food, as well as to clear my mind a bit. I've always felt that writing things down helps to give certain feelings a place, as well as help understand situations better. The following Life Updates will contain my life for the past couple of weeks: my first experiences with living together, improving our house even more (pictures!), I've been to a Toko for the first time ever (they had wasabi ice cream, really!), I learned a lot about myself and I unfortunately still have to deal with this anxiety. I'm quite busy tackling this fear: I even went to school today after almost a year! Hopefully I'll soon feel confident enough to start going there daily again.

There's so much going on in my head right now I don't even know how I'm going to write this all down! But surely I can't be the only one who feels overwhelmed sometimes, so maybe someone can identify with this. Okay, where do I start...

Tame Impala concert and dinner at First in Heineken Music Hall

Good day all!
Today I share with you another experience. I'll be back to posting recipes soon, I promise! But I really enjoy writing so I'm just going to bother you with these stories first ;) It was a great day, so hopefully you'll enjoy reading about it, too. I've got my fluffy socks on, a cup of tea close, it's bad weather outside so I've got nowhere to be... Good to go!

Kitty Cafe "Kopjes" in Amsterdam

Hey all!
Today I share a post a little different than the others. Last Friday two friends and I visited a café where you can drink a nice cup of coffee, eat a slice of cake and cuddle with cats. What? That's right! We went to the first and only "Kitty café" in the Netherlands! If you'd like to know our experiences, continue reading.

Dinner for one: tilapia fillet, fresh salad and hasselback sweet potato for 3

Hey there,
I'm all alone this evening so I decided to start writing about my dinner already. For the past few weeks I've never been alone in my apartment: I'm living together with my boyfriend now! So I can't really get used to being by myself again. I played "El Camino", a great album by the Black Keys, quite loud (sorry neighbours!) but it's still a bit quiet at the dinner table, haha!

So what did I eat. A bit of a leftover meal, to be honest: hasselback sweet potato, rocket lettuce salad and tilapia fillet. I'm so full.. Seriously, that sweet potato could've fed two more people! Also, the sweet potato was a bit overcooked and burned on the edges. I will write down what I did below, but please make sure it's adjusted to your oven so you won't make the same mistake I did! I'll add a picture at the bottom of this post. First, the recipe...

Perfectly balanced dinner: roasted pumpkin with minced meat, bulgur and a delicious rocket salad

Good morning food lovers!

Today I've got a great recipe to share with you, which turned out to be even better than expected. It was a perfect combination of flavours and we absolutely loved it! I found a recipe online which I used for inspiration, but my friend Noor joined us last moment so we decided to add some minced meat as well. Also, I've got some fresh rosemary which I decided to add to the pumpkin as a nice touch. These kind of "experiments" are what makes me love cooking in the first place: who knows what great dishes result from a little inspiration! Feel free to make your own adjustments and let me know in the comments below, would love to hear from you.

The roasted pumpkin is smooth and sweet, which tastes great with the fresh vegetables and the salty minced meat. Since it was the first time cooking this (I never roasted pumpkin before!) it was a bit of a gamble but I would really recommend trying it, I'm definitely cooking this again! Bulgur is an ingredient I like to use as it can be combined with nearly any dish. 

Delicious roasted tomato soup

Hello dear reader,
If there is one thing you absolutely have to learn when you're into cooking, it's preparing a great soup from scratch. After all, those soups out of a tin just don't cut it... Once you get the hang of it you'll be cooking up delicious homemade soups in no time!

I like to prepare a soup every week. My favourites vegetables to cook a soup from are broccoli, paprika, cauliflower (yes, really!), and of course tomatoes. Yesterday I prepared this beautiful roasted tomato soup with loads of basil and some balsamic vinegar and I will be sharing this recipe with you today. We ate it with some bread, herb cheese and creamy goats cheese, yumm!

Creamy hummus with fresh herbs

Hey guys!

I'm having a bit of a bad day today so the only thing that helps is spending a lot of time in the kitchen, naturally! I've already prepared some really tasty granola, some deliciously creamy hummus and I'm baking some tomatoes in the oven for a roasted tomato soup as we speak. Recipe will follow soon ;)

But first: the hummus. Since it was the first time I prepared it, I used this recipe from +Chickslovefood for inspiration (I'm sorry, it's in Dutch!) and measurements. I added some personal touches and it ended up being so good... My advice: eat it on a cracker with some thinly sliced chicken breast and some fresh veggies such as lettuce, or cucumber. Tasty!

Homemade granola

Good day!
As I mentioned before: breakfast recipes are my favourite recipes to share. And I have so many! Granola for example, which I started making a few months ago. Not only does it taste very nice in a bowl of yoghurt in the morning, it makes your whole house smell nice, too!

It does not take up that much work, you just need to find the right balance. I just keep tasting in between, but if you are more a "recipe kinda person" I bet you'll be able to measure your way through it in no time. Trust me, once you taste this granola you'll crave it for breakfast every day...

Tips & tricks: Rome

Heya foodies,
Today I will share with you some of the things we've learned when visiting Rome. There are some things you should avoid and some things you definitely shouldn't: so I thought I'd write about my experiences! If there's anything you think I should add, feel free to let me know.

Pie for breakfast: apple/cinnamon/oatmeal crumble out of the oven

Okay, admit it: the best part of celebrating your birthday is having pie for breakfast. Well do I have some good news for you: there's a way to have guilt-free pie like breakfasts as often as you please!
That's right, I'm going to share with you today one of my favourite ways to start the day if I have a little more time on my hands. It's also great as a dessert: even better if you add some vanilla or cinnamon ice cream! Continue reading....

Adventures in Rome Part Three

Hi guys! I promise this time I will finish writing about our journey, haha. Continue reading if you'd like to know what we've done on Thursday!
(Hint: it includes monkeys and cats. If that doesn't get you curious I don't know what will)

Adventures in Rome Part Two

Hi again! Thanks for reading my blog :)

This entry will contain day three in Rome, which only leaves the fourth day to write about. (Read Part One here) It was such a wonderful day: we visited the Vatican city and saw so much more, we behaved like true tourists and ate some great food!

Adventures in Rome Part One

Woohoo! It's time for a little holiday with the boyfriend. If you'd like to know our experiences continue reading... 

Monday 

On Monday afternoon we flew to Rome, Italy. We arrived a little before six p.m., and we took a shuttle service to the central station. From there we decided to walk to our apartment, which took us around 20 minutes. It was a little weird at first, because it was already dark outside and that made everything seem different than it is by day. However, there was a still a lot going on so overall we didn't have a negative first impression. 

Okay, now I really introduce myself

Heeeellooo

Okay, I've already said so twice before, but this really will be the blog in which I introduce myself. Not that I'm so interesting or anything, but for those who'd like to know who's talking... Continue reading!

My name is Vivian, I'm 20 years old and I'm a student. As the name of the blog already suggests, I'm really into cooking! (And I am alive..?) Tasting and trying out new recipes is what I like to do in my spare time, and I am lucky to be surrounded by many who are like-minded. This means I tend to gain weight when I'm not being careful: with all those food lovers around me I end up eating a lot of good food! I try to find a balance between "good" days, with many vegetables and little meat and stuff, and "bad" days... Which for me usually means cooking/eating those extremely tasty pasta dishes, or something that involves a lot of potatoes and melted cheese, and always ordering desert when at a restaurant. Oops. But what can I say? I'm a person who believes enjoying good food equals enjoying life.

Tasty home-made lasagne using your leftover vegetables

Hello hello!

Sorry, no picture of this tasty home-made lasagne I speak of: the smell of it made us too eager to dig in! I guess you'll have to take my word for it ;) let me tell you; this creamy, cheesy, salty yet subtly flavoured combination is to die for...

For students, cooking can sometimes be a challenge. Whether it is because you have to eat dry bread until your next student allowance is deposited into your bank account, or because you simply have no idea what to cook or how to cook it... I'm sure we've all been there at least once. This is why my first recipe will be a budget; and fool-proof but extremely tasty home-made lasagne!

Time for a proper introduction

Hey you!

I think it's time for me to tell a bit more about myself. After all, today is a gloomy, sad and rainy day here in the Netherlands so what else am I gonna do ;)

First of all, I have a message I'd like to get out there. I've been thinking about starting a blog for so long, I've even attempted a blog before (which, unfortunately, stopped after the introduction post) but I never picked up the courage to do so. And I'll tell you why.
Social media nowadays is filled with perfect pictures, stories that will make even the happiest person jealous, and people promoting their perfect lives. Which is, of course, great for the folks living these lives but for the many others watching... not so much.

Quick introduction

Hi there!

I see you've found my blog :) I can almost hear you stutter: "But... there's no content yet?" Well [insert your name here], here's the thing: I usually am a very organised person. I like to make lists and plan ahead, and here I am thinking of a blog name out of the blue. I had to make sure "Alive and Cooking" was not registered yet (it was, so I added 'stay' in front of it) and now I'm scared that you're gonna leave me, thinking I'm just another blog that only picks a name and then sits there for ages thinking of something, anything to write about, if I don't post a quick hello.

So. Hello.
My name is Vivian, I'm a 20 year old girl from the Netherlands and am currently on a break from studying. (No, not because I'm lazy, will explain more in later post) This leaves me with a lot of time, which I like to spend cooking! Of course, I have a lot of other hobbies and whatnot, but that is all for a later stage to discuss.