Quesedillas - cooking with kids

So I guess this is another entry in my new series "cooking with kids":) And this time we made yummy quesedillas. First time I tasted quesedillas was when we lived in Portland and I have loved it ever since. It's REALLY easy to make and kids LOVE it. It's perfect for when you have left overs or you want a quick but tasty lunch or dinner. So here goes:

What you need:

tortillas
grated cheese (a lot)
grilled chicken
creme fraiche or salsa of your choice (I made my own with plain yogurt, mustard, creme fraiche, mayonnaise, ketchup, lime juice, paprika powder, salt and pepper)
any other ingredients you might have on hand:), it's just a question of taste and imagination

First you take a tortilla and smear it with the salsa or creme fraiche:

Spread the chicken, and any other ingredient you might choose. We added some spring onion that we had left over and some ruccola

Add the cheese - plenty - and then it looks something like this (the second pic):

We made a quesedilla with only salsa and cheese as well (the vegetarian choice). Finally add another tortilla on top, and it's now ready to go into the oven.

Cook at 200 degrees (Celsius) for about 5 minutes, slice like a pizza and serve. Bon appetit!

The five of us managed to eat 5 - FIVE! hole quesedillas. The boys ate more than me......:)

Favorites minis....

Like I wrote about in this post last week, I make a little mini album of my favorite photos every year, and here are the two first albums I made. The 2005 album is made in Ali Edwards' class way back when we lived in Portland and contains only 5 photos. In the later minis I have used more than 5 photos - so hard to choose:) and the 2006 mini is made with scrap papers all in brown tones. Now I need to start planning my 2008, 2009 and 2010 album....

My favorite pumpkin soup

So I bought this beautiful pumpkin the other day, to make soup. And yesterday, with the help of my very cute and professional kitchen assistant, we got to work. The recipe is so simple, anyone can make it and in the following Lotte will show you how:). Lotte asked me today if we could make the soup again....:)

First you need:

1 pumpkin (you can use other types as well)
1 onion
1-2 tbs vegetable oil
2 cubes of chicken broth (or 1 liter liquid)
1 liter water
1 tsp paprika powder
salt and pepper to taste
a few dashes of cream
fresh thyme to decorate

First you cut the pumpkin in 2 halves, then take out the seeds. We keep the seeds, dry them and will saw them later (or you can roast them and eat them:)). Then you peal the pumpkin.....

...and slice it to small cubes. Slice the onion and cook it in oil for 2 minutes.

First add the paprika powder and roast for a minute (this brings out the taste), then add the pumpkin, the water and the broth cubes. Let boil/cook for 15 minutes. Use your hand-blender (if you have it:)) to smooth the vegetables and liquid to a creamy soup. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a dash of cream and decorate with fresh thyme. And here are the final results; a heart for my hubby (Jonas' comment: you get a heart daddy, because mom loves you:)) and a star shape for the rest. All I can say, it was a huge success!

I know Christmas is over....

..but I finally finished and photographed my December daily 2010 album and I know some of you wanted to see the finished product. So, here it is! I actually made a book that I can use year after year, only change the daily pages. I have a department for recipes that I will add to every year, one for the yearly Christmas cards/pictures and one for Christmas traditions, that I also will add to as I feel like. I used a Creative Cafe book and CC chipboard tabs and binder papers as a base, added paint, rubons, letterstickers and papers, but kept it very simple and timeless.

Yummy sharon salad with apple grenade and ruccola

After making the weekly trip to the local Turkish shop today, I ended up buying a lot of fun fruits and vegetables like apple grenade, sharon, pumpkin, plantains (steke banan) +++. It's so inspiring seeing all that delicious food, and for SO little money:)

As we were having salmon for dinner, I decided to make up my own fun salad with sharon fruit (I love the sweet taste with the salmon). I had my own little assistant doing most of the job:). And it turned out a huge success with the little ones, so I thought there might be more of you out there with kiddies who might appreciate the recipe.

1 piece of sharon fruit
1/2 lime
a handful of ruccola
1/2 apple grenade
white balsamic cream vinegar
fresh mint

Slice the sharon fruit and spread it on a plate. Marinate with lime juice. Spread the ruccola over the plate and sprinkle with the cream vinegar. Decorate with the seeds from the apple grenade over the top, use as much as you prefer. Finnish of with some fresh mint on top. Bon appetit!



The verdict:)

My 2007 favorites

After taking a class with Ali Edwards way back in 2005 when I lived in the USA (making a mini with my favorite 5 photos of that year), I started the tradition of making a mini album with my favorite photos of every year in the same format. The only problem is I only ever got to make it to 2006 :). I finally managed to pick my favorite photos for 2007 and I was ready for another year. The kit I showed you yesterday inspired me to make this album, and I am in love with the colors. And the papers. As you can see, the design of the album is very simple. I just combined different strips of papers and embellished with stripes of felt and a few Hambly rubons. I stamped every page with a calender stamp and titled the photos with mini letter stickers from Adornit. My favorite part of the book - apart from the photos - is actually the back cover, where I used the confetti pieces (from punching the holes) to frame the calendar stamp. I told you I like to use my scraps.....:) Anyway, I'm off to checking out my 2008 photos......

Use your stash part III

Here is another kit I made of my older papers and stuff and tomorrow I will show you a mini album that I already made with the kit. I really love the color combination....definitely a favorite at the moment....

A fun layout...

I have been quite creative lately, and it feels good:) With the kit I put together myself and showed you here, I made this layout about Lotte and her friend. Using fun stuff, fun colors, fun LO and fun pictures, I think it turned out kinda......fun...:)