melania.healthylife

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Portugal
Ericeira
melania.healthylife

- Macrobiotic, plant based chef for retreats & gatherings
- Cooking classes & recipes

11/01/2026

🌿 THE YOGA OF EATING

The alchemy of food, yoga, nature.

We are happy to share a new private retreat format, created for 1:1 experiences or small groups (maximum 4 people), to allow time, space and presence to truly dive deep.

This retreat is an invitation to slow down and experience sustainable living from the inside, cooking together, practicing therapeutical yoga, sharing, walking barefoot in our permaculture gardens and reconnecting with food as medicine.

✨ What makes this retreat unique:
• time to integrate, rest and listen
• cooking together, step by step
• many simple, colorful and nourishing recipes
• introduction to macrobiotic cuisine and the energy of food
• medicinal herbs, edible flowers & seasonal plants
• gentle yoga, meditation and embodied practices
• workshops ( fermentation, aromatherapy )

Here, food becomes alchemy, the kitchen a place of creativity and connection, a quiet temple where nature’s gifts are prepared, shared, and savoured with presence.

A retreat designed to nourish deeply ✨️

📍 ZeeBarn BioCenter · Ericeira, Portugal
🗓️ Private dates · On request from APRIL 2026

📩 For details & bookings: DM or link in bio

03/01/2026

🌿 2026 BOOKINGS ARE OPEN 🌿
Work with me through food, land and presence.

My offerings:

• Chef for retreats & gatherings
Seasonal, macrobiotic & earthy cuisine, seasonal, local and aligned with the rhythm of your retreat or event.

• Private chef at your home or venue
Nourishing meals for intimate gatherings, ceremonies and special moments.

• Cooking classes & workshops
Integrated into retreats, guesthouses or private homes.
Plant-based cooking, food as energy and macrobiotic principles.

• Earthy & flowery cakes (available to book)
Naturally sweetened, seasonal and botanical , for celebrations, rituals and gatherings.

• Pop-up dinners & farm-to-table events .barn
Seasonal experiences in our food forest and cozy wooden kitchen, rooted in permaculture and slow living. You can choose the day !

• Private retreat: The Yoga of Eating
A personalized retreat focused on nourishment, awareness and embodiment through food.
Dates chosen together.

🌱 Based in Portugal | Available for travel
🤍 Open to aligned collaborations
📩 DM me to book or collaborate

Much love and peace

Melania.

15/12/2025

NO VEGAN BERRIES CROSTATA 😊

Pasta Frolla
300 g all-purpose flour
150 g cold unsalted butter, cubed
50 g sugar
1 egg
Zest of 1 lemon
Pinch of salt

Crema Pasticcera
500 ml whole milk
3 egg yolks
50 g sugar
40 g cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla seeds from ½ vanilla pod)

Topping or filling
300–400 g mixed berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries)

Instructions

1) Make the Pastry
Rub butter into flour and salt until sandy.
Mix in sugar, egg, and lemon zest until just combined.
Shape into a disk, wrap, and chill 30 minutes.

2) Prepare the Custard
Heat milk with vanilla until steaming.
Whisk yolks, sugar, and cornstarch until smooth.
Slowly pour hot milk into yolk mixture, whisking.
Return to pan; cook on medium, whisking, until thick.
Transfer to a bowl, cover with cling film, cool.

3) Assemble & Bake
Heat oven to 180°C
Roll pastry to 3–4 mm thick. Line a 24–26 cm tart tin.
Arrange berries on top.
Bake 40–45 minutes until golden.

Cool completely before eating !

Happy rainy day x

04/12/2025

🌼Pistachio Chocolate Vegan Cake
Base
80 g oats
80 g vegan biscuits
60 g pistachios
6soft dates (pitted and soaked)
2 tbsp coconut oil (melted)
Pinch of salt

Method:
Blend oats, vegan biscuits and pistachios until crumbly.
Add dates, coconut oil and salt. Blend until it sticks together.
Press the mix firmly into a small cake tin (16–18 cm).
Chill in the fridge while preparing the mousse.

Chocolate–Carrot Mousse
250 g boiled carrots (well drained)
3–4 tbsp cacao powder
3 tbsp maple syrup (or dates)
2 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla

Method:
Blend all mousse ingredients until ultra smooth and creamy.
Taste and adjust sweetness/cacao if needed.
Pour over the base and smooth the top.

Chill for at least 4 hours to set.

Pistachio–Cashew Cream Topping
60 g pistachios (soaked 1–2 hours)
60 g cashews (soaked 1–2 hours)
4dates
2–3 tbsp plant milk
1 tbsp coconut oil

Pinch of cardamom (optional, lovely!)

Method:
Drain nuts and blend with dates, milk, coconut oil and cardamom until silky.
Spread gently on top of the set mousse

To Serve
Let the cake rest in the fridge overnight and serve.
Nobody will guess it's made with carrots. 💚

18/11/2025

Hugs from autumn..
chocolate crostata cooling on the counter, sweet with custard and blueberries.
Indi the black chicken foraging in the grass, indian runners ducks running freely across the land , flowing.
A rainbow arching across the sky like a whispered blessing..
Tao watching the banana leaves dancing from the window, an invitation to stillness..

A slower life isn’t about doing less, it is about noticing more. Observing more.

Letting nature guide the rhythm.

Letting autumn soften the edges of my days.

Letting gratitude rooting me in the present moment.
This is the lifestyle I choose, rooted in simplicity, nourished by the earth, shaped by the seasons,
and filled with quiet reminders that beauty is always here waiting to be seen and lived.

Enjoy autumn 🍂

12/11/2025

Join me for a regenerative culinary workshop rooted in the rhythms of nature and the nourishing energies of autumn.
Guided by the principles of macrobiotic philosophy and held on our permaculture project .barn.
This experience will be a deep dive into seasonal, wholesome cooking that heals and regenerate.

Together, we’ll explore dishes inspired by the earth’s current offerings, reconnecting with the flavors, textures, and wisdom that autumn brings.

🍁 What will you experience during the cooking class ?

- Introduction to Macrobiotic philosophy and lifestyle
- Introduction to Chinese Medicine
- Discover how to choose healthy ingredients
- Learn how to use wholefoods in your cooking
- Create a balanced macrobiotic menu
- Eat more local and seasonal foods
- Macrobiotic tools and Spiritual approach
- Tips and easy recipes to stimulate your creativity in the kitchen.
- Tips for a sugar free diet, sugar and emotions
- Recipes and Material

📅 Date: Sunday 23th November
⏰ Time: 10am-3pm
📍 Location: (15 min north of Ericeira )
💬 DM us to reserve your spot or for more details
Contribution 40 euros lunch included.

Spaces are limited, reserve your spot in advance

Much love ,
Melania.

19/10/2025

The kitchen as a temple.

A sacred place where earth and fire element meet, where raw ingredients become nourishment, energy and presence becomes a prayer.

Surrounded by nature, I feel guided by an ancient intuition that cooking is not just about feeding the body, but about remembering our belonging to the Earth.

Nature is my muse, with her colors, her silence, her abundance, her cycles and rhythms.

Cooking is a conversation with her, a dance between soil and flame, between hands and heart.
Every meal becomes a ritual of gratitude, every gesture an offering.

This is where I come home to myself.
To simplicity.
To reverence.
To the sacred act of nourishing life.

Gratitude to for the trust , cooking for The Art Of Herbalism 🌿 and thank you to sweet .p.mendes for the beautiful pictures.

Love and peace.
Meli

13/10/2025

RECIPE 🍂 Fig Jam & Custard Tart

Ingredients

-For the shortcrust pastry:

300 g flour (you can mix half all-purpose + half spelt for a rustic touch)

50 g unrefined cane or coconut sugar

150 g cold butter, cubed

1 whole egg + 1 yolk

1 tsp grated lemon or orange zest

A pinch of salt

-For the pastry cream (custard):

500 ml oat milk

3 egg yolks

40 g brown sugar

40 g cornstarch (or flour)

1 vanilla bean (or a strip of lemon peel)

For the filling:

200 g fig jam, preferably homemade and slightly tangy

-Preparation

1. Shortcrust pastry

Rub together the flour and butter until the texture is sandy.

Add sugar, eggs, zest, and salt. Mix quickly until combined.

Shape into a ball, wrap in plastic, and chill for 30 minutes.

2. Pastry cream

Heat the milk with the vanilla or lemon peel.

In another bowl, whisk the yolks with sugar until pale, then add cornstarch.

Slowly pour in the hot milk, whisking constantly.

Return to the pot and cook on low heat, stirring, until thickened.

Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface and let cool.

3. Assemble

Roll out the pastry and line a greased tart pan.

Spread a layer of fig jam, then a layer of pastry cream on top.

Decorate with strips or shapes of leftover pastry.

4. Bake

Bake at 180°C for 35–40 minutes, until golden brown.

Give it a try!

Endereço

Ericeira

Website

http://www.zeebarn.com/

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