As winter takes hold, this is a super delicious winter warmer - Fresh Pea & Mint Pesto with Butter Beans & Roasted Tomatoes. And, as far as I can tell, it's vegetarian and suitable vegans if...
Lifestyle…
Slow design. Slow life.
This doesn’t mean we’re lazy – far from it. It just means that we’ve stood back, taken stock and slowed down the pace of things. We’ve (largely) stopped the 9-5 working day and we spend more time living. It hasn’t been easy making such big changes – coming from a city that never stops to a rural village has taken some getting used to, but we’re getting there. Our whole lifestyle is becoming much more balanced.
Our lifestyle now much more takes into account what we buy, what we eat, how we cook, how we relax. How we’ve largely weaned ourselves away from convenience and are now taking a much considered approach to how we live our lives. We still work full time from home and we’re planning our next adventure, but we do try to make time to live life.
Slowing down has had such a positive impact, that we want to share what inspires us and what has enabled a shift in our lifestyle.
What we’ve done isn’t rocket science. It’s just about savouring moments that we might have missed before, because we were just too busy. Too pre-occupied. And even if it’s just watching a sunset, getting in the car and having a night away or making a spicy curry on a Friday evening, listening to Kylie Minogue, well – we savour it…
recent lifestyle blogs
reducing the plastic : hello ecofiltro
Over the years we've been finding that, especially over the summer, our use of plastic water bottles increases significantly. We always recycle plastics, but we were creating our own small mountain...
zoco home
I've followed Zoco Home on Instagram for a while now, always drooling over their Andalucian/Ibizan/Mallorcan inspired furnishings and accessories. I've never really clocked where they are...
when the bread recipes just get easier…
It's been a while since we've made our favourite Irish soda bread - https://wearelifestyles.com/cheesy-irish-soda-bread/ - because we've not had our own oven for so long. But, we wanted to get back...
brussels sprouts risotto…
Yes, you read that right. A risotto with brussels sprouts. A rich, blue cheesy, creamy risotto packed with those little green globes of gorgeousness. You might guess that I love a sprout - and if...
tasty tapas in malaga…
“Traditional” tapas restaurants and bars are abundant in Malaga and we’ve yet to experience one other than very good. Value is always exceptional with most providing complimentary tasters if you’re...
salmon & potato bake…
We're doing a whole lot more cooking at home these days - as everyone is - but we're dreaming of the time we can occasionally escape the kitchen from time to time, again. Until then though, we're...
winter walks…
It's absolutely freezing in Istria at the moment. That's right, freezing. Not the wall to wall sunshine & heat we'd naively thought we'd be experiencing, all year round 😉 But, we're also just a...
christmas : 2020
Well, it's definitely been a funny old year. Since returning from our Christmas road trip, back to the UK, in January, we have been nowhere. Coronavirus quickly put paid to our usual kind of year....
walnut pesto…
There are certain foodstuffs that we buy, that I know should be so easy to make ourselves, but for some reason, never get around to it. Either, there's something we don't have from the ingredients...
smoked tuna with pasta…
Almost with the flick of a switch, summer seemed to end yesterday, and autumn arrived. The temperature dropped and grey skies replaced the bright blue sky we seem have had for weeks and weeks....
oprtalj : step into the past…
Our nearest town, Oprtalj, isn't really a town. At least not in the sense of what we'd regard as a town back in the UK. Oprtalj is not much bigger than Burton Road in West Didsbury, but with a...
waste not want not panzanella…
Waste not, want not. We're trying very, very hard to live a much more sustainable lifestyle and to really take note of what we buy. In the past, we might have popped into Manchester and come bag...
cauli cheese – with a twist…
I'm a big fan of easy-peasy dishes, which include as few pots and pans as possible. And, as little time spent in the kitchen, as possible. Summer here has been very hot and currently we don't have...
damson gin time…
For the first year since we've been here, the damson trees around the garden, are absolutely laden with fruit. Maybe they have been in previous years, too, and possibly we've been too busy with...
greek style tuna stew…
I have absolutely no idea if this dish has any Greek roots but it just reminds me of those oh-so-wholesome stewy-fish dishes that you often find in Greek tavernas. The ones located right next to the...
country life…
Although I grew in the semi-rural North East of England, it's been a long time since I've lived in a house and looked out of the windows and seen fields. The move to Manchester in 1985 lasted until...
smoked salmon & leek pasta…
We've been getting very good at using nearly everything we buy food-wise, and reducing our waste massively, and raiding the back of the cupboards for forgotten tins and packets. Most of the meals...
looking back on lockdown…
Like the rest of the world, we've been living the Covid-19 lockdown, here in Istria, since March 17th. This was the day the country offically started staying at home, although we were feeling the...