Turkish - the rest

I got really busy over the last few days and couldn't visit the blog but here is an update of the rest of our Turkish week. I must say I absolutely enjoyed our Turkish adventure. Could live there just for its food :) We're going back to Iran this week since It's Persian new year! will post pictures soon xx

Borek - Feta Cheese and pine nuts

Kofta with Pitta and yoghurt

Menemen 

 Veggie Dolma (vine leaf parcels)

Thursday

Ahh..loved this. It was just perfect. very simple but comforting.  off to do a bit of climbing now.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1944/turkish-lamb-pilau

Lamb Pilau with apricots, mint and pine nuts

Wednesday

Our scratch world map has arrived and gone on the wall above our dining table. Every country we've done is scratched away. Aryan very excited about it all.  Love it!

Wednesday : Imam Biyaldi. 

Belated Tuesday Post

Went climbing straight after yesterday's dinner so didn't have time to post.Yesterday I made Pide. The Turkish pizza.The dough didn't rise as much I thought it would.. but it tasted ok. Aryan finished a whole one. I had another one (cold this time) after coming back from climbing. Was starving! Loving the smell of the house... Its familiar.. garlic..herbs... 

Pide with beef and herbs

http://www.food.com/recipe/stuffed-pide-turkish-pizza-477418

 Monday

Courgette and Feta cheese Fritters

Husband coming late tonight. throat is still very sore...and one very tantrumy toddler. Is this a sign of  the terrible twos.. never had that with Aryan. Didn't feel up for cooking today but had to feed the kids..and had to think of a child-friendly Turkish recipe. So found these courgette fritters in a little book. They came out nice and the kids had a little, although they had more of a butternut squash soup I had made for Arvin (that's all he wants to eat these days). It's just hard doing anything be it cooking or checking mails if your little one is not at his best. Even the good old TV wouldn't work... Now feeling tired.. sipping tea and honey..hoping the boys would sleep well.. oops! spoke too soon! Arvin just woke up... 

Goodbye Thailand!

We finished our Thai week with this simple Beef and Broccoli stir fry ready in less than 20 mins. I had never tried this vegetable 'Kailan' or 'gai-lan' which seems to be the Chinese Broccoli. I found in the Chinese supermarket See Woo. Amazing place! I also used fresh noodles for the first time which had to be soaked in hot water. Lots of firsts in the Thai week which I like! The recipe from a cook book I have at home. If interested, let me know and I'll send it your way. 

We're heading to Turkey!! Love it!  I have just ordered a scratch world map! We're going to stick it to the wall above our dining table and scratch away each country we try. Bet Aryan would love it. Excited about next week!

Saturday's Climb and Crab Cakes

Took Aryan climbing and he gave me the best mother's day present by climbing all the way to the top of the wall this time. Something he had thought was almost impossible for him. He worked hard for it and faced his fear of height and made me one proud mommy! Came back home and made these lime and lemongrass crab cakes.Still full of cold so didn't taste much but Joy and Aryan liked it. Arvin is yet to try...I always leave the chillis out for them.

Came down with a nasty cold and couldn't cook yesterday but tried to get back on track today. Made this veggie red Thai curry. It was quick and simple but a bit too sour for my taste. We had it with Jasmine rice. First time tried Tofu! It's nice!

Tuesday (2nd day of our Thai week)

Prawn Pad Thai

This was a success with the boys! It was so quick and easy as well. I used Jamie Oliver's recipe http://www.jamieoliver.com/magazine/recipes-view.php?title=prawn-pad-thai

Aryan had a whole plate and said he absolutely loves the Thai week! We'll see what he'd say by the end of it though! lots of leftovers so tomorrow's lunch sorted.

Hello there!

I am a mom of two boys and live in South East London. I love a bit of adventure and normally head to the mountains or the rock climbing wall to have some. But you can't do that whenever you want when you are a mom! So I thought about going on an adventure right at home! A foody adventure! I realized we normally buy the same stuff from the same supermarket every week and cook more a less the same stuff week after week. Now I am Iranian and my husband is Indian. So apart from Persian and Indian food, we did also cook a lot of British, Chinese, Thai and etc. But still not much variety especially if you have a kid who'd live on plain pasta if it was up to him! Yes I have one fussy boy! So this new year I decided that every week I will cook one country's food. . There'd be a meal from the chosen country for each day (tea or dinner) and two meals on the weekends. I want my kids to try different flavors, learn about various food cultures from around the world and have an open mind when it comes to food. We started with British food as we live in England. Then moved on to Persian, Indian, Austrian (having lived there for some time), Chinese (around Chinese new year), Italian, American (coz my boys were desperate for burgers), French (coz it's very elegant :)) and now Thai! Yes week 9! Sorry The blog idea came to my mind a bit late... and I am all new to this! ! but hey!... Welcome to my foody adventure!

Here are the photos of the last 8 weeks' dishes! 

Week 1 British

Fish Pie

Cornish Pasty

Sunday Roast

Chicken Pie

Jacket Potato with cheese and beans

Jacket potato with Prawn

Week 2 Indian

Bengali prawn curry

Vegetable Pakora

Dosa (not very successful)

Chapali Kebab with home made roti

Lamb Biryani with Raita

Chicken Tandoori

Coley Korma with fluffy rice

Dal Makhani

Aloo Gobi

Naan

Week 3 Persian

potato and minced beef Kotlet

Kabab Koobideh

Cauliflower Kookoo :)

Barley soup

Zereshk polo 

Pasta Iranian style with Tahdig

Ghorme Sabzi (Herb stew) with Shirazi Salad

Ash-e Reshte (noodle soup)

Istanbuli polo (a simple rice dish with tomatoes and potatoes) 

Week 4 Austrian

 simple Schinkenfleckerl and a spinach and feta cheese strudel

one of my all-time favourites - the wiener roastbraten -

Faschierte Laibchen

Wiener Schnitzel

Alt wiener Suppen topf

Week 5 Chinese

 sea bass. Apparently fish symbolizes abundance in the Chinese new year.

Prawn stir firy

Chicken with Peking lemon and ginger sausce

Week 6 Italian

Spaghetti with mussels cooked in basil and white wine sauce

Sicilian-style fish stew with ciabatta

oozy mushroom risotto (from Jamie's 30 mins)

Macaroni and cheese ( 4 different cheeses)

Minestrone soup with crusty bread

Pizza - this is a cheat though coz its from Sainsburys :) its still Italian :)

Week 7 American

Here's our very much awaited Burger with Aryan's American flags.

Chicken, sausage & prawn jambalaya (from Louisiana)
Big success. really recommend it!

BBQ chicken with slaw

Sloppy Joe

Sticky spare ribs with roast potatos

crab and sweetcorn chowder - goodbye America! :)

Week 8 French 

a potato Gratin - Aryan ate a big portion of this! he never ate anything creamy before! I am so glad I am doing this!

Mussel Stew with fennel  in aioli sauce

ratatouille

Salad Nicoise

A french dinner , Coq au vin and a mushroom and leek quiche

Cheese souffles in their glory

sunken glory!

Beef Bourguignon eaten unceremoniously!

Week 9 Thai

The shopping

Salmon with cucumber