Traditional French Apple Pie Illustrated Recipe: recette illustrée de la tarte aux pommes

A new illustrated recipe published on They Draw and Cook website!

French traditional Christmas chocolate cake recipe illustrated

Il y a deux ans, j'avais collaboré avec le magazine espagnol Sugar Tremens avec une recette illustrée de ma bûche de noël poires-chocolat.
Je n'ai jamais publié la recette ici, donc aujourd'hui je partage la version initiale (le magazine en a publié une un peu différente), puisque c'est vraiment ma recette préférée et qu'elle mérite d'être connue!

Je sais que les instructions sont en espagnol, donc si vous avez besoin d'aide avec la traduction n'hésitez pas à me le demander.

Hace dos años, colaboré con la revista de repostería Sugar Tremens con mi receta preferida de postre navideño típico francés. Nunca he compartido la receta por aquí así que hoy os enseño la versión inicial (la versión publicada era un poco distinta). Es un postre delicioso así que espero os animéis a probarlo!

Two years ago I was asked to collaborate with a Spanish baking magazine for their Christmas issue.
I never shared the recipe here, so today I show you the initial version (not the one published).
It is really my favourite French traditional Christmas cake recipe, so I hope you'll give it a go!
The ditections are in Spanish, so if you need help with the translation, here I am!

Enjoy!

Lunchbox for kids

Menus for week 2:

Monday

French crêpes filled with sweet potatoes and spinach curry, or roasted red peppers and goat cheese; tomatoes cherry; pear with cinnamon and dried almonds

 Tuesday

brown rice topped with a stew of tofu, chickpeas, celery and carrots, steamed sweet potatoes sprinkled with sesame, apple and homemade granola (made with oats, dried apricots, shredded coconut, almonds, tahini, coconut oil and fruit sweetener)

Wednesday

homemade veggie burger (lentils, brown rice, onion, garlic, basil ant tomato), raw chestnut mushroom and fresh mango

Thursday

leftovers of Wednesday's veggie burger (this time shaped as mini-balls), quinoa and cauliflower gratin (with coconut milk), pear, almonds and dates

 Friday

Fish pie mix (from sustainable or organic source- white, salmon and smoked fish), steamed potatoes, French beans, pear and homemade cocoa cookie (with butter)

Voilà for week 2!

As you can see I always use the leftovers (if not eaten at dinner) and try to incorporate them in a new way. I never throw food away. No waste please, I hate that:)

You can find all my bento shared on Instagram under the hashtag #melimelobento

Watermelon salad

Today, I share an old recipe that I have re-drawn to fit the submission format for TDAC website.
And I love the new version!

I know it's a bit off season though, but you can just keep it until next summer!

(Click on the image to see it full size)

 Ingredients

Juicy watermelon, seeded and cut in bite-size pieces
Feta cheese
Pumpkin seeds
Fresh basil
A bit of olive oil

All mixed up!

Best served chilled, with a glass of rosé please!

Enjoy! 

You can find my other illustrated recipes on TDAC here.

Lunchbox for kids

At the beginning of this month, our son has started to go to school, and I started to pack a lunch for him, 5 days a week.
Although here in the UK, lunch is free at school the first two years, I prefer feeding him with my own organic cuisine:)

I have been sharing his daily bentos (japanese-inspired lunchbox) on my Instagram feed, and I will give you more details of the process here:

To be successful (read consistent and organized and effectively doing it every day), I plan the weekly menus in advance (before I do the grocery), and then I stick the menu list on my fridge so I can check the day before what I need to prepare for the next lunch.

Planning the menus, I try to have a balanced diet on a weekly basis. Because sometimes I want to pack more sugar, or meat or gluten, and I just can't make the "ideal" lunch everyday.

I do my best to cook from scratch, with fresh organic ingredients and possibly seasonal. I also avoid refined sugar.

As I explained in my about page, I am not an expert in nutrition so, please, don't take these ideas as "ideal" healthy lunches.I don't even know if an ideal diet exists. It depends on your knowledge, beliefs and where you're living geographically.

Anyway,  I think my cooking style is decently healthy because we avoid processed foods, we eat organic (vegs, fruits, meat, bread, grains, EVERYTHING), and we avoid refined sugar. But of course, there is always room for improvement, and if you have any advice, please don't hesitate to leave a comment!

For today, I am sharing the menus of week 1:

Monday

french beans, homemade pizza with roasted aubergine and peppers, tuna and goat cheese, grapes

Tuesday

wholemeal couscous (and rest of pasta) with red peppers and soy/sesame oil sauce, cheddar and breadsticks, black olives and chocolate soy yogurt

Wednesday

maki sushi (brown rice) with omelette, cucumber, camembert and tomatoes

Thursday

mashed potatoes, organic sausages, steamed carrots with sesame seeds, apple and rhubarb compote with cinnamon

Friday

roasted sandwich (cereal and wholemel bread) wih ham and camembert topped with garlic and mushroom, hummus, cucumber, dates, almonds and grapes

Tip: When you plan your menus, keep in mind what your kid usually has for breakfast and what you plan to have for dinner, so you can balance the three meals together

You can find all my bento shared on Instagram under the hashtag #melimelobento

Welcome + smoothie recipe!

...to my new blog!

For years I had a craft and scrapbooking blog where from time to time I was sharing recipes, and illustrated recipes. Then I stopped.

Although I never stopped cooking and experimenting, and reading about cooking and nutrition!

So today I am very pleased to write this first post in my new cooking blog, because it was something I wanted to do earlier.

I invite you to read the about page, where you will basically understand more about what has been our family adventure with food and cooking, and what you could expect to find here in the future.

I really hope you will enjoy it!

Let's start this blog with my newest illustrated recipe:
a recipe for a yummy smoothie, full of vitamins, ideal for breakfast!
You will need a blender for this one!

published on TDAC website!

Ingredients:

If you don't know what wheatgrass is, just google it and you will find it's a wonderful product (here a powder) packed with minerals and vitamins. All good for us! 
And I know you can easily grow your own wheatgrass too:)

Anyway, nothing extraordinary in this recipe, but it's a nice way to start your day. Accompanied with eggs (if you're not vegan), and avocado spread on toast (good fat!).