Foodie Goodies

This is Me:

Hi, my name is Julie and food has always been a passion of mine, that’s why I started this blog, to share my experiences and to give some food advice. First of all, when it comes to food, I can be very picky and when it does occur to my mind, I will definitely say something about it, even though I’m not such an outgoing person. My food motto is after all: “Quality always stands above quantity.” No matter what, I just can’t eat food that I don’t like, even when I’m hungry. While some people just eat what they get on their plate, I just don’t get it. But, I guess everyone is unique, right!?

I’m going to share some crazy, interesting food hacks that will amaze you! I hope you like those as much as I do and that they will be pretty useful for you. However, enough about me and food, let’s together dive in some food facts and life hacks…

~Julie xx

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My favourite dish

I don’t really have a favourite dish because I mostly like all kinds of foods. But if there’s something that I have noticeably eaten a lot of and I would like a little bit more than other food, its calamari. You’ll find the recipe that I use down below. I think it tastes fresh and healthy and this recipe has a crunchy taste to it.

Ingredients

• 1 lb fresh squid cleaned
• 1 egg beaten
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• Coconut oil for frying (about 1/4 cup)
• Minced cilantro optional
• Sliced Fresno chili optional
• Squeeze of lime optional

Harissa Mayo

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon prepared harissa

Instructions

• In a small bowl beat the egg. In another bowl combine the coconut flour and spices.
• Pat the squid dry and dip into the beaten egg then dredge through the flour mixture.
• Heat the oil in a 10″ or larger cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat.
• Frying in batches making sure to not overcrowd the skillet, fry 2 minutes per side until golden and crisp. Drain on paper towels
• Either serve as is or toss with cilantro, chilis, and lime and serve with the harissa mayo.

Or you can check the website at https://www.castironketo.net/blog/keto-calamari/

Some interesting facts

Little known facts about fruits and vegetables, so here they go:

Did you know that bananas are berries? Wait what?! Yes, indeed it is true. And guess what, you might think that a strawberry is a berry, but it is not! What a surprise, isn’t it? It’s because a misconception of food consumers, we don’t know what the categorical terms mean and how to recognize a fruit of its kind. So basically berries are fruits stemming from one flower with one ovary, typically with several seeds, like kiwis, pomegranates,… In the meantime strawberries, raspberries, etc. stem from different flowers.

Even though, it’s publicly known that fruits are healthier than sugar products, studies show that dark chocolate is as healthy and even healthier than fruits. The researchers found out that chocolate in its pure form, has more disease fighting antioxidants than fruit juices. So next time you want to eat chocolate, you have a good excuse ;). But be careful with milk or white chocolate, because of the addition of milk, it doesn’t tend to be as healthy as it tastes.

In the early 1800s, it was believed that tomatoes had magical healing powers. If anyone had stomach problems, they were supposed to eat a lot of tomatoes. That’s why the doctors would make some ketchup as medicine. Later on, the substances even got compressed in some pills. Can you imagine it, eating only ketchup the whole day long?

Did you know, our genes are for 60% identical to bananas, even though our DNA exists out of 3 billion building blocks? This percentage is commonly shared because bananas, just like us, have basic cellular functions, such as controlling the cell cycle, dividing cells, DNA replication,… So the main qualities that make us human, bananas don’t have in their DNA. That’s why we are still so different, despite our commonalities.

Many people believe that lemons and limes are the same fruit, except for the colour. But I bet the difference! I know for a fact, that if you put lemons and limes in water, the lemons will float and the limes will sink. Isn’t that odd? It’s because lemons have the same density as water, which causes them to float on the surface. The density of limes is lower, so they will sink.

I hope you learned a lot of this ‘cause little did you all know! 🙂

Sources: https://www.thefactsite.com/100-random-food-facts/ https://www.buzzfeed.com/justinabarca/food-facts-that-will-blow-your-mind

My favourite restaurant

One of my favourite restaurants in Antwerp city centre, is Da Giovanni. It has delicious Italian food and they are well known for this. Their restaurant is know divided over two houses, because they didn’t have enough space. Above all, it has a quick service, with very friendly waiters. The energy feels like you are in Italy and I just adore Italy. Above all it is just really cozy and it looks quite pleasant on the inside. Mostly if I go to an Italian restaurant I would recommend to eat pizza because they just prepare the best!

You can contact the restaurant on the number: +3232250096 The address is: Jan Blomstraat 8 at the Groenplaats. Go to their website for more info and menus at: https://www.dagiovanni.be

I hope you did enjoy my blogposts! Hopefully until the near future, see you later, alligator! 😉