Minimalism

Hi, Y'all!

No public holiday this week but perfect weather - another ideal reason for celebration! 

In order to have more time for celebrating the good things in life I will show you a few projects that need only two to three ingredients and little to no time. And that is in no way diminishing - I love it even more, if I can make something beautiful with little material in a short period of time.

Let's start with a pretty handy utensil - the cable cat:

Cut from SnapPap, the leather substiute made from cardboard, which doesn't fray - no need to serge or hem. Then glue two Velcro dots to the inside of the cat's head, fix it with a few stitches that look like whiskers and you're done. You could make them in different sizes for various cables and - of course - in other shapes and colors.

Not as handy but very pretty: A lantern or hanging basket: 

An old honey jar, a tealight and some twine which is knotted around it, et voilà - a little lantern for the backyard. I didn't have enough twine, thus I crocheted some chains. And you could insert some plant instead of a candle - might be pretty, too.

Then let's go from the DIY table to the kitchen counter - cookies are always a good plan!

Here we have two very healthy snacks: On the right oats mixed with apple sauce and grated hazelnuts and on the left oats mushed together with bananas. And that's it - no sugar, no baking powder, only a hint of cinnamon. We had this as a side dish for our last Sunday breakfast. 

And this is my all-time favorite to avoid a hangry hubby: Bolognese lentils

Boil red lentils (takes ten minutes, only) and put them in the pan together with a can of diced tomatoes. Heat them, add some spices and you're finished! Sure you could pimp it with everything that belongs into an original Bolognese sauce (e.g. garlic, onions, carrots, red wine), but then it takes more than ten minutes and doesn't belong into my minimalistic three ingredients list any longer :-) This basic version is vegan, but to be honest: I prefer it with a healthy dose of parmesan cheese!

And you won't believe but it's true - there are pretty yummy treats you can make with only three ingredients: truffles!

These I made vor my dad's birthday lately, and of course I put some aside for mothers' day :-) Basics are pretty simple: Melt chocolate, add heavy cream, let cool, roll into balls and coat them with cocoa powder - enjoy! 

For the special occasion I spiced them up a little bit: 

a) white chocolate, cream and und grated tonka beans in powdered sugar

b) dark chocolate, cream and rum in cocoa powder

c) milk chocolate with spiced cookie spread instead of cream in a cinnamon/sugar mix 

Originally, my dad wanted these spiced cookie truffles I made for Christmas, but it was impossible to get these Christmas cookies in May... Thank god I had one of these jars of that spread (kind of Christmas-flavored Nutella) and it worked pretty well.

KISS - Keep it simple stupid!