|CUISINE| :: WHAT IF LIDL GIVES YOU 10 EUR TO MAKE LUNCH FOR 4 PEOPLE? ::

Lidl Slovenia had a competition for bloggers (Lidlov blogerski natečaj) and of course, I applied. If you're following me for a longer period, you probably already know that I like challenges, because they push me to do/try  things I otherwise wouldn't and I think that's great.  It's always good to step out of your comfort zone and try new things, meet new people, explore unknown places, attend an event, etc., because that inspires us, right? ;) I don't want to do the same things everyday. That's boring. I already have a job, that's not as creative as I'd like to, so I need to make my free time as exciting as it gets. ;) 

Anyway, let's get to the point. ;) I got 10 EUR and I had to buy ingredients to make a lunch/dinner for four people. My first thought was "ah, ok, that's easy!", but in fact it was not that easy, cuz I wanted to make the best out of it, so I started to think about the menu. I was in Sicily 14 days ago and the food was delicious, so I took that as my inspiration to prepare some delicious Italian food. 

THE MENU

△  Bruschetta with Tomatoes △ 

Brusketa s paradižniki

△  Pasta con le sarde (Pasta with sardines) △ 

Pašta s sardinami

 △ Cookies'n'Pudding in a Jar (mine, not italian)△ 

Piškoti in puding v kozarcu

It took me cca 2h to finish it + 10min for photoshooting and than 10 min to eat it, haha. We were so hungry. ;) I was at the seaside for the weekend so it was the perfect opportunity to cook, because it's always more fun if you have friends that enjoy food and tell you honest critics, which were good btw!  They said it was delicious (it really was!) and that made me happy! ;)

So, you probably want recipes, right? ;) 

The Bruschetta // Brusketa 

Ingredients: 

x Roma Tomatoes (1,29 EUR) // Roma paradižniki (1,29 EUR)

x Baguette (0,39 EUR) // Bageta (0,39 EUR)

+ Herbs & Lil'secrets // (zelišča & male skrivnosti)

x Basil Leaves (I took from my home garden "read: plant on the desk") // Bazilika (lističe sem potrgala kar svoji rastlini, ki jo imam na mizi)

x 2 tbs Balsamic Vinegar (you can use whatever you have at home, some lemon juice as well) // 2 žlici balzamičnega kisa (lahko uporabite tudi kakšnega drugega, kar vam je pač pri roki)

x Salt & Pepper & 1 clove of garlic // Sol & poper in 1 strok česna

x Olive oil // olivno olje

1. Quarter your tomatoes and pull out all the seeds and "pulp" out of the middle with your fingers and discard so you are just left with the meat of the tomato. // Razčetverite paradižnik in odstranite semena in notranjost kar s prsti, tako, da vam ostane samo meso.

*Use a jar to store the seeds and pulp, so you can use it next time as a tomato sauce* // *ostanek paradižnika ne zavržite ampak tekočino shranite v kozarec in jo uporabite za kakšno drugo jed*

2. Chop the tomatoes up into small, bite size pieces. // Paradižnik narežite na majhne koščke.

3. Transfer your tomatoes into a medium bowl and add garlic, basil, vinegar, salt and pepper to taste // V srednje veliki posodi zmežajte paradižnik, česen, baziliko, kis, sol in poper po okusu.

4. Store in the fridge until the bread is ready. // Vse skupaj postavite v hladilnik, dokler ne boste imeli pripravljene bagetke.

5. Slice your baguette (take care of your fingers, trust me, I know. I have a bandage on my left thumb.) // Razrežite bagetko na enakomere rezine.

6. Spread olive oil onto both sides - usually you would use butter for this, but that was not in my budget, so I used olive oil, which is totally fine. The easiest way is to put sliced baguette into a bowl, sprinkle with oil and mix it with your hands. // Z olivnim oljem jih namažite na obeh straneh. Najbolje je da vse skupaj stresete v skledo, pokapljate z oljem in z roko premešate.

7. Place the bread on a baking sheet, and place in a preheated (200C) oven for 10min, then turn it around and bake for another 5min, or until golden brown on both sides. // Kruhke položite na peki papir in jih zapečete že v predhodno ogreti pečici (200C) za 10min, nato jih obrnete in pečete še 5min, dokler niso zlato zapečeni na obeh straneh.

8. Slice the tip of one garlic clove so you have a flat surface and rub it across the top of each toasted bread slice. (I forgot to do this part, so you can decide on this) // Ko jih vzamete ven, jih natrete s česnom.

9. Spoon the tomato mixture onto the bread, top with a lil more basil and serve. Yum! // Nato jih samo še obložite z ohlajeno paradižnikovo "omakco" in servirate. Pa dober tek! ;) 

Pasta with Sardines and Fennel // Pašta s sardinami

I used this recipe, but with my own twist, because I didn't had all the ingredients so I had to improvise a bit. I'll write just the ingredients I used, but please visit the link I gave you, to follow the steps of preparing the pasta, because it's written really good. If you'll have any questions, I'll be happy to answer and help you guys. 

Seriously, try this, because it's so damn good!! // Uporabila sem ta recept s svojim pridihom, ker nisem imela vseh sestavin zato sem morala malce improvizirati. Spodaj sem vam napisala vse sestavine, za postopek pa kar pogumno poklikajte na link zgoraj in sledite postopku, ker je opisan zelo razumljivo in natančno, tako, da ne boste nič zgrešili. V kolikor imate morda kakšno vprašanje, vam z veseljem pomagam. ;) Je pa paštka tako dobra, da so bili krožniki hitro prazni. Sprobajte, ne bo vam žal. ;)

Ingredients:

x Fennel (1,30 EUR) // Koromač (1,30 EUR)

x 4 anchovy fillets, roughly chopped (1,19 EUR) // štirje filetki inčuna, razrezani (1,19 EUR)

x Wide noodles 500g, serves 4 people (I don't know if this is the right expression) (0,89 EUR); Also you can use thick spaghetti or bucatini // Široki rezanci 500g (0,89 EUR), lahko uporabite tudi špagete ali "bucatini"

x Sardines (I used canned ones) (0,89 EUR) // Sardine (jaz sem uporabila konzervirane, pazi, da so filetki 0,89 EUR)

x Shallot (1,19 EUR) // šalotka (1,19 EUR)

x Cooking Cream (0,48 EUR) ! - which was not included in the end, but I took it, just in case the recipe would go wrong and I'd have to save the taste, haha. I admit, I wasn't so sure in myself, because I never done this recipe before, so it was a lil tricky. In the end, I felt sorry I didn't took smth else instead of cream. // Smetana za kuhanje (0,48 EUR) ki pa je na koncu sploh nisem uporabila. Prav tako ni v osnovnem receptu, vendar sem jo vzela, ker me je bilo malo strah, da morda okusi ne bodo pravi in saj veste, smetana vv zagati vse popravi. :) 

+ Herbs & Lil'secrets // Začimbe & male skrivnosti

Olive oil // olivno olje

Salt & Pepper // sol & poper

1 cup Bread Crumbs (*I used the ends of baguette to get bread crumbs) //  pol skodelice drobtin (ker niso bile v mojem budgetu, sem si jih naredila kar sama in sicer iz krajcev bagete)

pinch of sugar // ščepec sladkorja

1/2 cup white wine // pol skodelice belega vina

1/2 cup raisins // pol skodelice rozin

1/2 coriander seeds // koriandrova semena

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes // pol žličke čilija

pine nuts + lemon wedges for garnish // pinjole in rezine limone za okrasitev

Cookies'n'Pudding in a Jar // Piškoti in puding v kozarcu

x Oat Cookies with sesame (0,62 EUR) // Ovseni keksi s sezamom (0,62 EUR)

x Milk (0,73 EUR) // Mleko (0,73 EUR)

x Vanilla Pudding (0,98 EUR) // Vanilijev puding (0,98 EUR)

+ sugar (I always use less sugar than in the pudding recipe) // + sladkor (vedno ga uporabim manj kot je zapisano na embalaži, ker mi je drugače presladko)

1. Crush cookies and make one thick layer in a jar.  // Kekse zdrobite in jih položite na dno kozarca

2. Cook Vanilla Pudding and top it over the cookies.  Place in a fridge for half an hour. 

You can play and make more layers, I just made two, cuz I had small jars so it was enough. I used half of Strawberry for decoration.  // Skuhajte puding in ga "polijte" čez zdrobljeno plast keksov, ki ste jo pripravili v kozarcu. Vse skupaj postavite v hladilnik za pol ure, da se zadeva ohladi. Meni sta zadostovali dve plasti, lahko pa jih naredite tudi več, v primeru, da imate morda večji kozarec. Za dekoracijo sem uporabila jagodo, lahko pa se seveda uporabi tudi kakšno drugo sezonsko sadje. 

*a tip: You can make a middle layer out of fruit to add freshness. I was out of budget, otherwise I'd make a strawberry layer as well. Caramelise it a bit to make it even better. ;)

Extras ** While cooking music is recommended. This would be a good choice.

So, this is it. I hope you liked it and I hope you'll make a challenge for yourself as well. It's amazing how lil you need if you're organised and aware of what exactly you want to cook. Also, don't throw food away, you can use it in another way, like for ex. the tips I gave you: Breadcrumbs out of a baguette leftover and tomato sauce out of the pulp you have to diss while cooking. Enjoy and experiment, dance while cooking and don't forget to smile. Take care of your fingers and have enough liquid to stay hydrated. Haha, I know it might sounds funny, but I'm always so thirsty while I cook. 

Btw, I promised I'll post "MikstejpIsSporty" posts on Monday, but this came today, so I'll post a workout post tomorrow or Wednesday.  Don't forget to come back and check it out. ;) 

If you have any questions regarding the recipes or just want to share your thoughts, leave a comment below or write me an email. 

Also check my Instagram: majarotovnik or add me on snapchat: majarotovnik ;) 

Oh, and if you'll make your own 10 EUR Lidl challenge, let me know. It would be fun to share ideas and recipes. ;) 

Love, 

Maja