Simple healthy Italian Recipes

Whip best World Cup football recipe

2018-06-10T04:04:00.000-07:00

As we get into fifa 18 world cup mode let us not forget what characterizes this period; family and friends get togethers. As many of you will be organising world cup watching parties, this blog shares some ideas for you who want to spend little time in the kitchen preparing food for such gatherings.

Light home made desserts.

Ricotta berries delight.


Pan di spagna, ricotta 250g, 1.5dl of whipping cream, mixed berries, 2 spoons of sugar and an egg.

Whip cream and sugar separately in one container , in another container mix ricotta and eggs plus a spoonful of sugar. Mix the the 2 and compose them as in the picture. Be creative! Enjoy your 2018 fifa world cup football matches.

Forget Weight Loss e-books

2018-05-02T10:56:00.000-07:00

Forget Weight loss, Ketogenic diet‬,Carbohydrate‬,‪nutrition‬ experts eating healthy and sustainably is the future. Home made easy simple food is all you need.

Eat homemade food as much as you can, spoil yourself sometime with a bit of tiramisu here and Ricotta cheese cake there.

Eat seasonal food.
Eat locally produced food.
Eat less meat.
Enjoy food life!

Pineapple Experiment

2018-05-02T10:42:00.002-07:00

Pineapple Cake

400g flour, 4 eggs, 200g butter, splash of lemon juice, 4 spoonfuls of yogurt, 300g sugar (However sugar you can decide on more or less) Pineapple, 10g of baking powder

Beat eggs and sugar ,add melted butter, yogurt plus lemon, mix with flour at low speed.

Bake at 160°c

Simple Easy Chickpeas Salad

2018-03-18T07:28:00.002-07:00

Simple Quick way to eat Chickpeas.

Refreshing way to eat chickpeas
Ingredients:

Chickpeas (tinned)
Parsley
Mozzarella cut into pieces
Olives
Sun-dried tomatoes.
Olive oil.

Garnish all with Basil if you like. Serve with bread.
Simple healthy and ready in few minutes

Risotto easy and fast: Cooking in Skane, Sweden

2018-01-26T00:14:00.000-08:00

With cold weather comes coughs, sneezes and many times when kids get cold they are not in food mood. So, as a mother you have to think of easy food they can appreciate.
This I have found out this week. Risotto, velvety, easy and tasty to appeal.

Spinach Risotto
for 3 people 200g of arborio Italian rice which you can find easily in imported food department. 1/2 a litter of broth will do, onion,cubed frozen spinach have worked for me, parmesan and black pepper.

Steps :
cook onion with olive oil in a pan, add rice toast it, add 1/3 of broth mix, cook until it is absorbed, add more broth, during the second add of broth I put in the spinach, let that absorb as well and then add the last part of broth and cook slowly till its absorbed but not all. You can taste the rice if its not cooked you can add boiling water and this helps you to know the broth dose for next time you cook your risotto. At the end add the parmesan and a little butter. Butter adds to smoothness.
I had a little left over of cooking cream in the fridge which I substituted the butter with and it was nice, very nice. Fold in with parmesan and serve. Great for kids who are un well and lost appetite. Try it .

From African sunshine to -2°c ,African girl survives it all

2018-01-23T01:52:00.000-08:00

To me and my son, our beautiful sunny days throughout the year seems a little far away. East Africa is blessed with beautiful sunshine. I winter Nairobi becomes cold, and we could cover ourselves with layers of coats and scarves.
Not knowing that is just autumn kind of weather some countries experience.
I have been lucky to have lived in different parts of the world. From heat in Bangkok to 40° I experienced in Oman and UAE region, I always went back to my beauful mild conditions of weather in E.Africa.

Now, fast foward to January 2018 in Sweden, and ooh, me dear! I'm in a freezer zone. It is unexplainable, all I can do is send my family pictures of the white blanket that covers roofs, countryside and let the imagination take them to what I am going through.
But, all in all, this African girl will survive this -2°c.

Home cooking in Sweden

2018-01-15T09:55:00.000-08:00

Home Cooking in Sweden

My cooking skills testing new tastes - Swedish food the Italian way.
With a lot of snow forecast today, there is no better way to keep my family warm than coming home to find this homemade 'Torta Salata'.
I did not want the hustle of making the base from scratch so I went to the supermarket to see what I can use.
I found ICA (local supermarket ) has this PAJDEG - Mat och bak

This makes my work extremely simple and leaves me with a lot of time to do my Swedish lessons without worrying about late dinner. One habit I am not going to pick is dinner time, Swedes eat dinner early - from 6 pm, I love my dinner between 7.30-8.30.

Putting together:
Ingredients
Parmesan, cottage cheese and spinach

First: I fried the spinach on pan with just olive oil
mixed together with grated parmesan and cottage cheese and all as in the picture.
Cooking for around 200° in oven for around 15 minutes.
Ready to serve.

Simple food Ideas - Skane - Sweden

2018-01-04T07:16:00.000-08:00

Cooking in Lund Sweden

A few months ago I moved to Skåne area of Sweden. As I get settled and learn the new language, let's get busy in the kitchen. I love to cook especially Italian food. Please join me and explore the love for simple way of cooking, eating healthy and great on a recession budget here in Sweden.

I love potatos, when I was growing up in Kenya, area around Mt. Kenya , we had potato every day, its not a joke. Whether marshed, boiled, fried with beans, there was always space for potatoes. And potatoes there are yummy. So, I still have the habit, potatoes and more potatoes - I just cannot bring myself to say no to potatoes.

So whats cooking today? As you can see from the plate it is as simple and yummy as it looks.
Marshed potatoes served with rucola and fresh tomatoes. On the side you have chicken breast roasted on the pan with only garlic, rosemary and sage.
If you have some basil, you know how lovely that goes with a tomato and a crushed garlic a bit of olive oil for rucola and tomato - you are on your way to impressing your guests.

Ps. Here in Sweden you can just pick instant potato puree it's great.

Swedish 101

Potatos - Potatis
Tomato - Tomat
Garlic - Vitlök

Happy New Year - Gott nytt år

Enjoy! 2018 the year of great cooking on a budget.

Simple Christmas table

2017-12-25T04:16:00.003-08:00

My First Christmas in Sweden. Over the years I have had opportunity to celebrate Christmas in different parts of the world. This is Sweden, where my family and I moved 5 months ago. We love it here, though it has been hard for me with the darkness coming soo early. I am doing good and settling well.

Well, Sweden is home of Ikea and so all Ikea in my house. I look forward to sharing with you all my experiences here in the south of Sweden.
To you all, a Merry Christmas from Happy Housewife blog

I am all simple stuff. I try to work with minimal possible. This is my Christmas table ready for lunch.

1st we are having 'tortelli in brodo'

Followed by boneless chicken thigh rolled with Italian ham, served with boiled potatoes and a side of beetroots and feta cheese salad

Dessert is classical Italian tiramisu

Fruity Christmas Eve dinner dessert

2017-12-24T04:47:00.002-08:00

Christmas in Sweden

It's Christmas once again, year 2017, as we prepare to for the big day tomorrow here is a quick recipe for what I have just prepared for today evening dinner.
There is no snow but Christmas will be beautiful all the same with alot of rain.

I have prepared a Ricotta cheese topped with beautiful Christmas colors of Swedish berries

Sponge cake
Ricotta 250g
3 spoons of whipping cream
Sugar 200g

Mix sugar and cream
Add ricotta
Whisk with hand no need for electric one. When smooth, decorate your sponge cake layers and finally decorate with berries. That is how simple it is.
Here's to A Merry Christmas to you all!

Pre Christmas - Perfect home Christmas eve dinner

2017-12-24T01:11:00.000-08:00

Food Diaries from Lund, Sweden
Simple is best!
Eating at home can be equally rewarding as an evening eating out at a restaurant. At happy Housewife's - home made meal is always something everyone looks foward toward to. Sitting at dinner, catching up on the day's happening, is something every family must make time for atleast a few days a week. This Pre- Christmas dinner, with family visiting us from Italy At happy housewife we love to make those dinners as beautiful as when you eat at a 5-Star restaurant Menu: Special HappyHousewife Chicken rolls in white wine
Served with Potatoes (boiled and garnished with parsley)
Tomatoe Salad
Buttered Brocolli

Dusting old recipes in time for Christmas

2017-12-07T07:29:00.000-08:00

Cooking from Sweden Dangerously delicious homemade pies
With Christmas just around the corner, family getting together and expecting a lot of cooking, its time dust old recipes from the shelves. This is called Torta salata in Italian - 'Salty cake'
This is very easy to make at home: Filling Ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese and spinach. A detailed step by step recipe you will find it here
Cook Italian way torta salata step by step You can always use what you have around as filling. Mushrooms, marshed potatoes and pumpkin and all other vegetables you love. Keep cooking and enjoy!

Children Mixing their own fruit cocktails: Creativity in the Kitchen

2017-05-14T07:45:00.000-07:00

You can never know childrens creativity until you let them do things. After school, a bit of play time and the child is all very tired but with homework to do there is not much time to waste. A mix of fruit juice is what my son came up with today, he never likes mango juice, so this last weekend I bought mango juice by mistake. When he came home from school and poured wrong juice into his glass and realised it was mango he went nooo...he thought of adding orange juice to see how the mix goes, plus with a bit of grenadine syrup to add some colour he loved it. Here is the look from that!

Tiramisu the Italian way right here in Nairobi

2016-02-25T01:48:00.000-08:00

Some friends came over for dinner and were surprised to the original taste of this tiramisu. Here in Nairobi. It costs a little bit to make it the original way, but at the end it is worth it.

Chicken Recipes - Easy Recipes

2015-10-13T00:12:00.003-07:00

This is for you all looking for new chicken recipes ideas, or just easy recipes like a simple mom. Here in this blog you will find food recipes that are simple and healthy Imagine this recipe and make it. It is easy to make recipe and from a Mom it is healthy too. Thin slices of chicken are first, flavoured (I do with black pepper grinded fresh plus salt) then covered with white wheat flour, then in eggs after that bread crumbs. Put them in hot oil to deep fry. when ready golden place on paper napkins to absorb extra oil. Serve with salad, boiled potatoes instead of chips. If you can serve with pan cooked broccoli with garlic and butter -that will be super cool. Broccoli is good for health.

Mom I hate Pumpkin - Not any more!

2015-03-09T22:33:00.000-07:00

We often hear our kids every now and then say this and not only pumpkin but other kinds of food like vegetables.

This is what my son told me, and I said ok, lets see if he changes his mind.

Steps: Boil the pumpkin and or cook it in the oven. Then marsh it, if you have some parmesan then that is great, but if you don't have it is all the same. You can change my recipe and add also potatoes and make a pureè of potatoes with pumpkin.

(Dough Std recipe- 100g of wheat flour will mix well with one egg. No need to add water )
When you have rolled the dough into very thin, cut into small squares and add using a spoon the pumpkin. Close as in photo, placing them on a kitchen cottoc cloth on the table. When finished
put cook them in boiling water for 3 minutes and sieve.
Serve as you like. I served with garlic and tomatoes.

Fresh sage and butter would be great.

Read older articles in this blog for serving ideas.
Im sure you will hear more of "I WANT MORE"

If you love this recipe and any other in this blog donate to it

Happy Birthday Home Made Cake

2014-08-01T01:16:00.000-07:00

Think...Eat...Save As we get ready to celebrate Easter holidays with the above theme we revisit some of our own home made cakes for birthdays, saving us a bit of coins. I can say my cake decoration skills are getting better. You can visit my earlier posts on cake recipes in this blog and make one at home for your family or friends. I usually do recipes that are easy for anyone to be able to make and with little.

Family Parties Nairobi - Happy Housewife Helping Moms

2014-06-26T06:57:00.000-07:00

Family Parties in Nairobi

Pizza time!

2014-01-08T01:30:00.000-08:00

Yesterday evening my son was in a mood to participate in pizza making for dinner. Below is the picture of us preparing (mushrooms, mozzarella) ready for the oven.

I have in the past posted steps for making your Italian true pizza just like the Italians do.

Enjoy!

Eating Healthy In Nairobi - Home Made Signature Chicken

2013-11-29T03:24:00.000-08:00

I call myself a Happy Housewife for a reason. I love what I do, cleaning, cooking and being the manager for my domestic ltd and my talented 10 year old singer (recording artist) and actor. Being a stay home Mom allows me to be creative in the kitchen. This is the chicken I love most, boneless thigh you find a nice one in Uchumi...(Uchumi should pay me for saying this :-) There are many ways I serve this chicken, with chapati, Piadina( Bread made in the area where my second home is),boiled potatoes (meru potatoes)or with oven baked potatoes and veggies. Accompany with Salad (as you can see in the picture it is rocket-rucola with olive oil and shredded parmesan cheese) my son loves this to bits.

LUCA - A BETTER PLACE [OFFICIAL VIDEO]

2013-10-08T22:05:00.001-07:00

Burden of an African Woman: Food Glorious food

2013-08-02T05:55:00.000-07:00

Water the drop of life.
Rural Africa; most women do not have the pleasures of modern technology and luxuries. Last week I visited my sister just few minutes outside the capital Nairobi.
From fetching water with help of donkeys or getting from pits after rains, raising children this is just part of the reality:

Healthy Snack Happy Housewife's Way

2013-05-21T00:19:00.001-07:00

What is it that you do sometimes that is quick, healthy and tasty? Eggs sure, but when I do that egg scramble I go a step higher and use my Pizza technique to make a pizza from eggs. What I need Eggs, Cheese (mozzarella), tomato, oregano, and other topping that I might have whether veggies or ham. The only difference is that I cover it when cooking plus at very slow heat. It makes a perfect snack or just a light meal. You will enjoy it

A healthier way to decorate your birthday cake: Great Moms love fruits

2013-04-28T01:01:00.000-07:00

Every now and then I have a mother requesting me to do one of those fruity treats for their kids. Here is what I just composed for yet another healthy birthday cake here in Nairobi. With a few fruits in season and your son's birthday can be as fruity as you wish it to be! Happy Birthday!

Home Cooked Meal VS Eat Out

2013-04-18T00:56:00.000-07:00

As a stay home Mom, you will always find me around my kitchen or market hopping, I do all my house chores. I love Meru potatoes for my purees and or gnocchi di patate.

..here I go to wash my clothes..will continue in a bit.

..and I am back :) clothes out to dry.

My favourite Dessert is Tiramisu as you can see here if you have friends over for dinner I can always make you same quantity as you see on the picture.Can serve 8-9 good portions.