Spaghetti with white sauce - Quick and easy!

Spaghetti is one of those foods that you can combine with so many different ingredients and sauces that it's worth having it in your kitchen all the time! In this very simple recipe you can - as always- add ingredients you may like such as bacon, salmon or chicken leftovers.

Ingredients:

400 gr of spaghetti (approximately)
1 cube of vegetable stock (optional)
400 gr cream cheese
1 table spoon olive oil
1 table spoon butter
1 medium sized onion
150 gr mushrooms cut in slices
150 gr grated Parmesan cheese


How to:

1. Take a pot and add lots of water to cook the spaghetti. Add the vegetable stock cube. When the water is
 hot add the spaghetti and leave them to cook.

2. In the meantime cut the onions. Get a deep pan and add the olive oil and the butter. Once the butter melts add the onions and the mushrooms and leave them to cook.

3. Once cooked, lower the heat, add the cream cheese and stir. (At about this time the spaghetti might be done, if so strain them while the cream cheese melts and leave them in the pot). After 3-4 minutes add the grated cheese, turn off the heat and stir well!

4. Having strained the spaghetti, add the cream sauce to the pot and stir well until the spaghetti are all well covered. Serve immediately or keep it covered to stay hot.

Cheesy Bread!

My fiance's sister invited us over the other day and made this bread which we found delicious! It can be served with food or as an appetizer or even as a snack! It all depends on the filling that you will decide. I am giving you the basics so build up!

Ingredients:

1 Bread (I used ciabatta bread but you can use any type you like)
Slices of cheese (quantity depends on the bread - I needed 5)
Half pepper (any color / type you like!)
Salt / pepper

How to:

1. Take a bread knife (to make your life easy) and cut the bread vertically and horizontally BUT not all the way down. Cut it a little more than half of the bread's height.

2. Cut the cheese in stripes and put them in all the slits.

3. Cut the pepper in small cubes. We do that because the bread wont be in the oven long and smaller pieces cook faster than bigger ones! Put them on top of the bread and add salt and pepper. Put it in a roasting dish with non sticking paper underneath.

4. Bake for 10 minutes in a preheated oven at 180 degrees.

Enjoy!

Saving Tips - Part 1

Everyone is looking for ways to save money and time. Here are 3 simple tips to save you money so you can spend it somewhere else! (eg. your vacation!)

1. Here in Cyprus summer starts early on so ice cubes are a constant demand in our house. It's not easy going to the store every 1-2 days to buy them and carry them back home nor to re-fill the trays and wait for them when you need them immediately! So what we do at home is fill the ice trays and once the cubes are ready we empty them in a large bowl in the freezer. Then we re-fill the trays. The goal is to have the bowl full at all times so you can have ice on demand for you and your guests. And don't worry if they are stuck. Simply hit the bottom of the bowl on the table or the floor.

2. Don't waste time while ironing clothes. Electricity is quite expensive especially during summer when we also have air-conditioning. So when we use it for other purposes we need to be sure that we are using as much as we need. In ironing for example, don't fold each clothe right after it is ironed. You waste time and money while the iron is on. Instead place the ironed clothes gently on chairs so you can fold or hang them afterwards. Alternatively you can ask a family member to do that for you so you can finish faster! You can have up to two clothes on each chair. Just make sure that they are placed straight to avoid wrinkles.

3. Get a money box (or make your own!) and put all the spare change you have in there. You won't believe how much money you can get just by putting your spare coins! At the end of each month or two get your coins and either deposit them or treat yourself with something special!