Home made Dulce de leche / Manjar / Caramel

Source: http://laylita.com/recipes/2013/03/04/manjar-or-dulce-de-leche/

There is this sweet creamy thing I met already when I was a child and I loved it. We called it caramel. Then I moved to Spain and I met it again under the name of "Dulce de leche" (something sweet from milk). Mhhmmm. I was told it is a big deal in Argentina, but when I went to Chile and Argentina I realized it is not just a big deal. Almos every cake and cookie was made with this this. :) It taste like heaven, but is soo sweet I can eat only a little at a time. Still this technique deserves a blog entry. So in Spain you can buy it in a supermarket for sure. In Argentina it is called Dulce de Leche, in Chile they know it as Manjar (manhar) and it is known on many other names across South-America. If you did ever taste it and you love it, but you can't find anywhere near by I have some news for you. 

You can make it at home! :)

Here you can find the original home made recipe, but I want to share something else with you. When I was in Thailand I stayd in a hippie communitie as a colunteer for a week. It was great, we barely had any civilization around, we made our food every day on camp fire, we had a shover in the garden, and the water came from a river from the mountains, the buildings were built from mud....stuff like that. They say there was an argentinian guy before and he did teach them how to make dulce de leche, and since then they were crazy for it. :)

All you need is a can of condensed milk. Take a cooking pot or crockpot, place in the can and fill it with water. It has to comepletely cover the can. It is very important otherwise the can could explode....yeah we don't want that, it only happens if you do not fill the water above the can. Set the fire on low and cook it for 8 hours. When the time is up you have to let the water and the can cool down, and you may open the can only after this.  Set the fire on low and cook it for 8 hours. We'v made it originally on camp fire and it took only 3 hours.

This is the very easyest way to make it, but if you want to get more safe there is another way to make it in a canning jar.

Before

Source: http://growingnaturals.com/archive/recipes/recipe-milk-sweet-condensed-milk-alt.php

After

Source: http://www.mangiodasola.com/2010/01/crockpot-dulce-de-leche.html

Belt emergency

A few weeks ago I had to realize that some basic items are missing from my wardrobe. As usual. I didn't have a single belt. I didn't need them before, but these days I had to buy some new clothes for work. Apparently I am too tiny,  have some juvenile trousers and still they are just not staying where they are supposed to. I was hoping that this won't be a big issue during the day, but it was so annoying. I had to fix that immediately. This is the story of this post. :)

I was lucky enough to wear a scarf in the morning. So here comes the "missing belt quick fix".

This is how I started the day. 

This is what bugged me all day long. 

And this is how I ended up. It even looks pretty. :)

How to unclog a toilet?

I had to spend some time away from keyboard, sorry for that, but there is a good side of it. I faced some real life issues, and I was also able to solve them. The Thya way. :)  Here comes a technique that I learned back in Spain. And I am so thankful for that. As I am moving a lot, I don't bother spending money on things that I need only sometimes. I leave it up to the universe. Maybe I will be lucky to never need those things or if I need them I will have a nice neighbour to help me out. A thing like this is for example a plumber's helper (toilet pump). Well... life is not always what we expect is it? I was "lucky" enough to rent some apartments with terrible plumbing, and I was so desperate that I even bought some toilet pump, then I made a mess in my bathroom and I even broke the pump (yes while trying to fix the issue). A nightmare. And then a friend told me the secret. :)

The issue: 

Toilet is clogged, you do not have any toilet pump at home/ you already broke it.

To solve the issue all you need is

A mop

common mop

Plastic bag, if you have 2 it is better

bag

Scotch tape

scotch tape / sellotape

The trick is you have to fix the bags around the head of the mop with the tape. I recommend to put 2 bags there.....you do not want the mop to contact the water in your toilet do you? :) Yes and make sure there are no bigger holes on the bags. Once you fixed it we are ready to go. 

ready to go

And the technique is: You have to pump the water DOWN the toilet. It has to force it down and not backwards. So it is good if you have a little water there, because this will give you the pressure to clean your pipe. 2-3 push and it will be ok. Flush it. Wonder that "wow this is actually working"! :) Done. No need to buy anything, no need to call the plumbers.

technique

You are welcome! :)

The 2-ingredient cookie Thya style

Today I have to introduce you a new friend. I found it just 2 weeks ago, and we are crazy about it. Actually it is all over the internet lately because is is:

Healthy

Low carb

All natural 

Easy

Quick

Vegan

DELICIOUS !!!

The 2 ingredients cookie:

Take 2 bananas

Banana


A 3-4 spoons of oat

Oat

Spice it up! :) I added cinnamon and maple syrup. Anyway it is still delicious without those. You can add other things like chocolate chips, raisins, nuts, cocoa powder...etc.

Spice it up

Mash it with a fork

Mash

Place them the onto a greased cookie sheet with a spoon. Put it in the oven for 15 minutes on 350 Fahrenheit / 180 Celsius. 

Ready to the oven

Sevre it. :) I like it better if it is cooled down. 

Eat

As far as I know, instead of bananas you can use pumpkin, apple, peaches or even avocado! :) 

I am telling you it is just great! :) So have fun with cooking and enjoy!

Random vegetables a la oven

Hello there Beauties! 

First of all Happy Valentines to you!

And if you do not like it, well then happy Friday! :)

And if you hate this day, well happy vodka/beer/ whatever day. And don't cry if you are lonely today, you will be tomorrow as well. So no pressure. :) Maybe next year will be different you can never know. :)

I made a little experiment yesterday, and this is my gift for you. :)

The issue was this: 

I has not really hungry, but still a little, I felt like eating some vegetables, but there were other things in the fridge that we should've finished off. This is the situation when we have to get creative. And I almost forgot to mention that I am kind of lazy....this is my motivation to be creative. I like to spend hours in the kitchen to create some really amazing things....once a month...or if I really don't have anything else to do. But not every day. Those times are over when a woman can afford to spend all day in the kitchen.

I have some rules in my kitchen:

No sugar, flour, bread, pasta, potatoes, white rice, corn 

Lots of vegetables and fruits, lots of meat but non-processed if possible, some milk products. 

Not too much brown rice, some millet, some oat. The rest varies. :) It would be too long to explain all those things at once, but more or less that is it. I am never starving, and I feel great in my skin so no problem on this side. 

Once I have all the correct ingredients the rule is: 

There is no rule !  Please play with the food! :)

So..here is the result.
You will need ..

Some left over brown rice

Spring onions (yes they had to go as well) 

Frozen broccoli and cauliflower ( this I just LOVE, add some salt and pepper to it or anything else you desire and cook it until it is defrosted)

Step 1 2 and 3

Take a roasting tin and put everything inside :) Vegetables, rice on the top, the spring onions, you can also mix them if you like. 

It is a good idea to roast them a little bit before you put the cheese on the top, this way the cheese won't burn. Anyway all of the ingredients are ready to eat so it depends on your taste how long you want to roast it. 

Put the cheese on the top of it, and it is ready to go. Roast it until the cheese gets nice golden brown or whichever way you like it. :)

Happy Valentines! 

"Always have a Beach scarf with you" part 1.

Someone mentioned to me that I seem to be a little obsessed with beach scarfs. Well I have to tell you, it is true. I've got quite a few of them, because they are so useful! I love them. They have nice colours, they are light, easy to store, to travel with and in the end I always need them for something.

Moving to a new apartment? Traveling around the world?  Vacation? Always have some beach scarf with you. Here's why:

1. First of all, you can use them on the beach as a beach towel. Wow...amazing. :)

Beach towel

2.  When you are done with the splish splash and look like a crab you can just wrap yourself into it, and there you have your new beach dress. (Actually you can also use it as a towel, but if the sun is shining you don't even need to do that)

/oh and sorry for the model, she didn't know she would be a model one day :)/

Dress

Talking about the dress. There are like a thousand ways to wear a beach scarf as a dress. I will not show them here, but believe me the possibilities are almost endless. Maybe in another post. ;)

3. You can decorate your home with them. Use them as table cloth....

Table cloth

4. ...or protect your couch with them...

Couch protector

5. ...no time for shopping? The curtains are too expensive lately? Or just none of them fits your ideas? No problem. Use your beach scarf!

Curtain

6. Oh this looks so nice! I like the colour and the prints.....alright...so put them to your wall!

Wall deco

6. Too many pillows but not enough pillow covers? (am I alone with this issue??? o_O)

Pillow cover

7. Use them for anything!! You can wrap into beach scarf your whole house if you want. :) Cover your sofa, bed, chairs, walls...anything you want. 

Anything cover

8. Seriously the list is endless. The good thing about it, you don't need to sew anything. All you need is a few pins, and sometimes not even that. You can just put knots onto them. And if you are bored of the colour, you can just change them, ore use them for something else. They are convertible. :D

Jewelry holder

As I mentioned, we just moved here. So what we don't have is: decoration or holders.  ANY holder. No toothbrush holder, fruit basket, shoe holder...etc. 

But, what bothers me most? My earrings. They are just in a box all tangled together. I can't see them trough, I can not decide wich one to wear day by day because I cannot see them. It is annoying! And I have a small collection already which came with me. :) Yes...women..I know. Never mind. The point is....to buy an eaaring holder is not a priority....I get it. So I make some for myself. The other part of the story is that we have heaps of boxes. New furniture and stuff....:) 

Here is the deal. All you need is:

A flat box

 Any textile, i like to use beachtowels for everything. :)

 Some pins.

Step 1: You cover the box with the textile. Nice and colourful. You can even fix it with some pins on the top. 

Step 2: You pin all your stuff to it. You can hang your earrings to the pin. And necklaces and so on.

And "Voilá!"

Actually this box conception has various use in our home right now. We use it as 

...nightstand...

...info board...

PS.: If you do not have any box, but you have some nails, net-type textile and you are willing to abuse your walls, you might choose this option as well. :)