Irish Soda Rye Bread

My friend Sveta made this bread when we were over at her place and I loved it! It reminded me about Russian rye “lepyoshka” or pancake. I liked it so much that I decided to make it myself. It was my first time to bake bread but it turned out pretty good! Here is the recipe:

2 1/2 cup rye flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 sea salt
2 cups light buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix dry ingredients, make a hole for buttermilk and pour it in and mix all together. Form a ball of dough on the counter, cut a cross on the top. Then take a wooden stick and punch holes throughout the dough to the bottom. Put bread in the oven for 30 mins, flip and bake for another 10 mins. When its ready it should feel hollow inside.

Enjoy!

Staying fit and stress free

Past several months have been very busy for me and I started feeling how the stress and physical and emotional tiredness is building up in my body. I’ve never been a fan of running as I was scared of falling and hurting myself. Yes, it might sound funny for some people but it was an actual reason why I was avoiding running outside and always preferred the gym.

Kısır and ground turkey köfte

My Turkish mama makes the best kısır, a Turkish dish made of bulgur, lettuce and other greens. It can be either a salad or a side dish.  However, as we don’t have our Turkish mama around, we tried to make it ourselves. The first try was not so successful but we had more luck the second time. I’d like to share the recipe with you.

Coconut Flour Chocolate Cookies

Last year I was on a gluten free diet kick and I experimented with different kinds of flours. I got this coconut flour from Home Sense a while ago but never got a chance to bake with it.

New Guilty Pleasure: Korean Cosmetics from eBay

Lately I got obsessed with eBay and Korean cosmetics. This is my second shipment and I’m very excited! This is MISSHA,s line for problem skin Super Aqua. It includes Clearing Moisturizer, Control Toner and Purifying Foaming Cleanser. I’m yet to try it and I will post my experiences and opinion about this line in few weeks of use. Oh yeah, and I love getting extra bonuses in form of samples! This time I got plenty!

Cobb Salad with Quinoa

Busy life and lack of time often makes us eat unhealthy and on the go. This week I’m trying to change this cycle and make healthy meals for us. I don’t usually like salads for dinner and don’t really consider them to be a meal on its own, but this one was very feeling and satisfied all our cravings.

Happy Maslenitsa or Pancake Week!

Today is the first day of Maslenitsa week in Russia. This year Maslenitsa is falling on March 11 to 17. Maslenitsa is a week-long Russian tradition of saying good-bye to winter and getting ready for spring. Every day in Maslenitsa week is different and has its own meaning. You can find out more information here: