Fine dining/boozing in Vilnius

Myself and my boyfriend have just returned after a spending a food (well... šaltibarščiai, mainly), beer and family-filled week in his home city, Vilnius (Lithuania's capital city). Yet again, my obsession with the traditional cold beet soup returned in full force; two portions of the glorious pink stuff every day was the norm for me, much to my boyfriend's amusement!

A late discovery of our previous holiday there, our go-to for fast, delicious and fresh meals (plus the odd gigantic-sized cocktail or beer) was the trendy Carré bar and restaurant, positioned fairly centrally along the main street in town. Though I only ate šaltibarščiai there, my boyfriend went for a dish of grilled chicken with sweet potato and sundried tomatoes. I can confirm that it was top-notch (nosh?), and something akin to what we'd expect in a top-rated brasserie at home (doubtlessly at quadruple the price - this dish cost less than a fiver!).

For anyone who considers themselves a bit of a 'foodie', Vilnius should be considered at the top of your destinations list for the simple reason that its food is consistently brilliant - high quality ingredients, plates offering perfect combinations and an expansive selection all coming in at a fraction of the price you'd expect to pay in England (read: šaltibarščiai soup with a side plate full of sautéed potatoes generally ranges from £1 to £2. A freshly stone-baked 30cm pizza from Charlie's isn't a lot more than that, either.

So to say I enjoy the cuisine of Vilnius is an understatement! Tipples of choice ranged from freshly-squeezed carrot juice (sold in even the most obscure places, such as the indoor Aqua park we spent a day at) which cost from £1 each, to beer (Svyturys Baltas is just amazing, and less than £2 for a pint), or the whopping 800ml cocktails (as mentioned before) served in Carré. Most cocktails, including my mint mojito and 'jack in the beans' (ingredients of which remain a mystery) was around £4.25, whilst my boyfriend's hangover-inducing long island iced tea was 27 litas (around £6.75).

But enough of the details for now, moving swiftly on to the photographic evidence of our various gastronomic delights. And, on a side-note, I know for certain that If I lived in Vilnius, it would be seriously difficult for me to avoid eating (and drinking) out every day. Not to mention the potential damage to my waistline - following a healthy diet would be almost soul destroying due to the ease of eating out for the equivalent cost of purchasing your food from the supermarkets - and definitely not helped by the fact that pub snacks of deep-fried brown bread with melted cheese/mayo combo are available everywhere, complimenting a beer to perfection. Oh, Vilnius; how I miss thee already!


The soup of all soups, šaltibarščiai

A plateful of Lithuanian 'sashlik' (their equivalent to our BBQ food, bought from a street market stall)

Me avec icecream - kiwi and mango (spot the Sashlik!)

A typical pizza from Charlie's

JUICE!

My boyfriend, posing like the pro he is! (he practices)

Me with an alcoholic-style grin, and my Jack in the beans cocktail. Yum.

The Art of Homemade Granola

In the current climate of my life, early morning awakenings seem to be a common trend - alongside a diminishing timescale in which to get ready and leave the house by (all in the hope of getting to work on time). It's times like these that porridge just doesn't quite suffice; though it ticks all other criteria, there's no getting around the fact that it is somewhat time consuming to prepare in the morning (besides the issue that once it is cooked, you need to wait yet again for the damn stuff to cool! So not cool, porridge. Sort it out mate).

Fretting over, I found me a delicious way to satisfy my morning cravings for oats in a way that doesn't involve incessantly boiling them on the stove with innate precision). Well hello, good-ol' homemade nutty granola. Where have you been all my life?

There must surely be very few people who dislike granola. Though whilst supermarkets often have a huge variety of every kind of granola you could imagine, chances are that these oh-so appealing boxes of oat-y deliciousness are also full of unnecessary added sugars, and are likely to be made with not-so-good-for-you oils as 'stickeners' (Check the ingredients on the back of the box if you don't believe me!).

This - along with other factors, namely being the price tag - is why homemade granola is a hellalot better than your average pack of Jordan's (who apparently have 41% of the £13 million granola market. See what I mean about price now?!).

Making your homemade granola mix is simples, and you can easily adapt the following recipe to suit whatever nuts/seeds you prefer (or rather, whatever you have stocked up). It also fills the house with a gorgeous whiff reminiscent of breakfast time - the sweet warm scent of oats, nuts and honey is practically unbeatable (perhaps only just capped by the amazing smell that is banana bread in the oven. Oh, heaven's above!).



Ingredients (dry):

150g porridge oats
40g almonds
25g walnuts
25g cashews
2 tablespoons pistachios (can sub for seeds, i.e. sesame seeds or flax)
1 tablespoon ground almonds
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (ground)

Ingredients (wet & optional additions):

3 tablespoons coconut oil
1 tablespoon manuka honey
a few drops almond extract (optional)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste
2 tablespoons dried fruit of choice (I chopped up 6 dried apricots)

Pre-heat the oven to 300C/gas mark 2 and line a baking tray in (suitably organised) preparation. Place your oats into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, place all of your nuts and crush slightly, until they're a suitable slap-dash mix of whole and somewhat crushed/chopped/battered nuts. Combine all dry ingredients and stir.

Meanwhile, melt your coconut oil over low heat before adding the honey. Once the coconut oil has liquified, remove from heat and add your optional almond extract and vanilla bean paste. Pour the mix into the dry ingredients, and stir well to incorporate every ingredient, until the oats/nuts are fully coated and a little sticky.

Spread your mix onto the baking tray and place in the oven for up to 30 minutes. Remove from heat, and leave to cool before adding your dried fruit (an option for those looking for sweetness to enhance and balance the nutty-oat-y flavour of the granola. Place in an air-tight container to keep your homemade batch fresh for around a few weeks (if you did it right, though, your granola shouldn't last even half that long. Trust in the power of homemade granola!).




And there we have it. This recipe was based on a post over at Iowa Girl Eats - my granola totally doesn't look a patch on hers, though admittedly I did reduce the amount of additional natural sweeteners that Kristin originally used.

Ginger Fudge

Yep - we're still on the ginger theme. It's likely that this phase will indeed last out until the end of summer - let's see if it stands the test of time, shall we?



Moving swiftly on to this recipe for gingery fudge - my take on the original recipe over at the magnifique Protein Pow. I wanted something to satisfy a few criteria, being: 1) Snack for whenever I have time to breathe tomorrow at work, and 2) Something small yet substantial enough to seek out for a quickie energy burst, 15-20 minutes prior to exercising (at the moment I've taken a fancy to having a coffee about half an hour before working out (it seems to be aiding my runs tremendously going by my improved running times - 4.1 miles in 29 minutes today, woo!) - plus sometimes a little sweet hit in the form of a pitted date, for example.

And so, here we are. Not a lot to these little balls of er, gingeriness - just a bit of cottage cheese (protein packed), honey (added sweetness), ground almonds and peanut butter to stick it all together nicely - PLUS ground cinnamon and ginger, of course. Match made in (fitblr) heaaaven. Can't say no to that.

Ingredients: (makes 11 bite-size balls)

1 tablespoon peanut butter (smooth)
3 tablespoons ground almonds
3T cottage cheese (non-fat)
1 teaspoon manuka honey
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Small handful raisins (optional, for added sweetness)

Simply blend the cottage cheese, peanut butter and honey together to form a smooth paste (to fool those unsuspecting friends of yours. Nope, no cheesy substances in this fudge at allll!). Next in goes your ground almonds, one tablespoon at a time, and the spices. Finally, add raisins, and roll into balls. If the mixture is too dry, add a drop of milk to moisten the mix a little (I added around a tablespoon). Place on a plate/tray and store in the fridge for a few hours, or ideally overnight so that they're as 'fudgey' as possible.

Having literally only just made these, I'm already seriously struggling to resist against the urge of removing them from the fridge (and then entering them straight into my mouth). It almost makes me want work to come sooner, just so I can eat the damn things! Drat...well, maybe just the one won't hurt...

Nutritional info per fudge ball: 25 cals ~ 1.6g fat (0.2g saturated) ~ 1.8g carbs (0.4g fibre, 1.1g sugar) ~ 1.4g protein

Grubs Up (in 15 minutes flat!)

Today has been a mixed bag of emotions for a number of reasons. First and foremost, I had my induction for my new job - which was a fairly long and tedious process, and finally ended with me heading over to my designated position/department (being the foreign exchange bureau at M&S) to get a feel of what I'll be doing in the not-so-distant future (i.e. 8:30AM tomorrow - eek).

Mind = boggled. I presently feel slightly out of my depth with all the new processes I'll be needing to learn - however, I'm also really excited to actually be able to use my brain , as opposed to using my strength/balance/co-ordination in the form of carrying trays and plates and what-not.

Another reason why the day seemed to drag somewhat would be the lack of water and food available throughout the day! This really reminded me of how I get so tired and grumpy when I'm hungry/thirsty - ohhh my god. But to compensate for a lack-lustre day food-wise, I decided to cook one of my favourite fast-track meals this evening - baked harb and garlic-y salmon fillet with vine tomatoes, broccoli and peas.

Salmon as a basis of an evening meal will probably never tire my tastebuds (unless I had it everyday, in which case yes; yes it would). Given that I'm a lazy cook at the best of times, it certainly helps that it cooks in a matter of minutes (well, 15 to be precise), plus the fact that the fillets were half price helps a tad. (note: I found these in Tesco, but as soon as my M&S discount card finds its way into my grubby ickle hands, it'll probably be not-just salmon fillets...but M&S salmon fillets).



It's a well-known fact that salmon contains an abundance of Omega-3 fatty acids which helps your brain to work better and improve your memory (a necessity for me given my current situation in a brand spanking new job role). Not to mention that your average salmon fillet contains plentiful amounts of vitamin D (>100% of your RDA, believe it or not!) which notably helps to alleviate bad moods - something especially relevant to me, plus it helps one to come to terms with spending the entirety of a really sunny day indoors. Such is employed life, I suppose! (though granted, I did manage to catch a few last rays from the comfort of my desk/mac station post-salmon binge - as you can see. Cringey).

This plate was so colourful that I just had to snap it. Salmon: perhaps the most photogenic of all (cooked) fish? Wouldn't you agree?! What is your favourite 15 minute meal to whip up after a long and tiring day?