Food Friday: Homemade x Whole-grain Pasta ♥

Everyone who is following me on my instagram or twitter account already saw that I have been into eating and cooking a lot lately. I went out to eat, met up with friends for brunch or baked bread to calm down after a long day of school :) But it wasn't until two weeks ago, my boyfriend had the idea of making our own pasta as well. So, today I am actually sharing his recipe :) Both of us always wanted to do this one day, but we do not own a pasta machine, so we thought: hmm.. might be too strenuous, but hey! if you put some effort and time in it, it's actually NOT! 

Make this an event with friends and family, get together, make your own pasta and cook different sauces to eat with :) I promise, this is so much fun!!! 

Ingredients:

300g whole spelt flour,

200g semolina (dt. Hartweizengrieß),

6 egg yolks,

1 egg,

2 teaspoons olive oil,

water,

1 pinch of salt.

Serves 4 hungry people :) 

1. Mix all ingredients together and knead until you have a nice dough. Add so much of water that the dough does not crumble. It should not be liquid either. 

2. Shape a ball and put it in a bowl. Let it sit in your refridgerator for 30minutes.

3. Pour some flour on your table and take out your rolling pin. Tear off parts of the dough and roll out until it is super thin. Since we had no pasta machine, we used a pizza knife to cut out thin pasta slices :) At this step you can be creative and cut out whatever you like or even use cookie cutters ;-)

4. Now it's up to you, are you hungry and wanna have some pasta immediately? Then cook some in hot water, but be aware: they only need 3 to 4 minutes to be al dente ;-) If not: you can hang them on a cord and let them dry, so you can enjoy them the next days.

That was it! Cook your different sauces and invite some friends over to share them :) I also have to say that these are super filling! because they are whole-grain, so have an empty stomach ;-) That night, I had my pasta with some sautéed zucchini, onion and green pesto :) The pasta definitely tastes different, but really really good and I think, it makes a difference whether you actually know what's inside your food instead of guessing what these chemicals at the back of the package mean.

Happy cooking your homemade pasta without a pasta machine! ♥ 

Featured in NYC Issue by OFF COLOR

                

Last night, my dear friends from the online magazine Off Color dropped their 4th issue about one of the most amazing cities on this planet!!! Katrin, one of the two sisters, just came home from her short trip to New York and wanted to share with you what she has experienced. Not only do I share my love for the city with them, but I was happy to be featured in this issue again :) This time, I was asked to answer a few questions about what? Yes, of course, the city!!!

Inside you will find a NYC guide, some cool stores to visit and hot shots from people she met there, but I don't want to talk too much. Dive into it and let the pictures, texts, mood inspire you from the city that never sleeps and where Off Color was born.

Thank you for featuring me in this issue again :) I think you guys did an amazing job ♥ Please, keep up your work, do what you love and stay strong. Embrace the difference and stay true to yourself. Words from the NYC Ghost story:

You've got the resources, two hands and a brain.

You can make it anywhere.

Mindful Monday: Stress as my Friend?

             

As everyone of us, I am still dealing with stress and I guess, this will not pass away that easy and fast, but I am definitely feeling better now because I listen more and more to my body's needs. Today, I've just found this super interesting Ted Talk in how to turn stress to your best friend as the Health Psychologist explains. Please take 15 minutes of your time to learn about how to deal with stress. It might save your life and the only thing you have to do is: believe. 

Chasing meaning is better for your health than trying to avoid discomfort.

Food Friday: Rye x Whole Spelt Flour Bread

Oh boy! I've just checked the Bread Recipes and the last one I've posted was in August 2013!!! Really need to post more of them because I'm always baking new ones with different ingredients or specialities :) This time, I've tried out a mixture of two flours, whole spelt flour and actually rye flour. I don't know why I've never done this before, but since I'm adding more rye flour to my breads (oh yes, I've tried this one out a severeal times, didn't want to give you a-never-tested-recipe), the result is more rich, dark and delicious!!! We've tried out only rye-flour before, but the bread was too dense and too heavy on the stomach. This is the perfect mixture now :) Have a try!

Ingredients:

250g whole spelt flour,

250g rye flour,

2 cups (150g) different seeds'n nuts

like almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds etc.

500ml luke-warm water,

1 package yeast,

2 teaspoons salt,
2 tablespoons vinegar (balsamic, cider).

1. Mix the flours in a big bowl, form a small hollow (dt.Mulde) in the middle of the flour mixture and place small parts of the yeast in that. Add salt and vinegar. Pour the water gradually in the bowl while mixing the dough with a spoon, or hands (how you prefer).

2. Step by step you can add the seeds and nuts, keep on mixing until all ingredients are evenly distributed in the dough. This is the step, at which you can add anything you want :) Chia? Thin Carrot or Zucchini slices? Pesto? I've tried it! Go for it ;-) But be aware that you might need less or more water, see how it turns out. The dough should be a bit moist, but not too much.

3. Prepare a baking sheet and form a bread ;-) Have some oats on top if you like. Put it in the not-preheated!!! oven for 60minutes at 400°F (200°C). 

Et Voilà :)

Your freshly baked, homemade and superhealthy bread is done! Enjoy with hearty or sweet spreads, I promise you'll love it ;-) And baking bread was never that easy!!! ♥ 

More Recipes to come under Breadlove :)

The Brother's Sweater

As the title says, I've did it again and borrowed this light-grey sweater from one of my family members. When I woke up this morning, I've checked my schedule and did not feel like wearing something too fancy for school and my date with a dear friend. 

Hmm.. what to do when most of your clothes are still in the washing machine? Look around and see what you can find :) This morning, it was my brother's sweater and I've knocked on his door - he was still sleeping - and asked for permission like 'Hey there, can I have your sweater?' Haha, he answered with 'Just do it then!' :D I guess, he was a bit annoyed because it was 6.30am, but had no problem with me wearing his stuff. He really finds it weird that I like wearing Men's Clothes :D :D Teenagers -.-' duuuh :D

Having this relaxed and sporty item, I've tried to work everything around and put my personal touch on it. Oh and layering also mattered because the weather here is changing every second. So I first put my Urban Outfitters Tank Top with the NYFucking City Print on and then a more chic-item - the dark-grey sweater from Vero Moda - really don't know how to say it, but I usually wear that in a different combination, see here and then actually some blue jeans, which I didn't like, you know how it is, right? ;-) I've changed my mind and my running thermal pants made it to this outfit. Black sneakers, golden Vintage jewelry from and &Other Stories and a bit of Neon by Maugold did the rest ;-) Today's outfit was more comfy and sporty, but still had an edge, you like it? :)

This is one of my favorite summer shirts because on the day I've got it, the Urban Outfitters Store in Soho, NY had a promotion event going on and they were printing shirts and bags with different NYC prints for the customers for free!! :) Read more about my last days in NY back in 2012 :) Oh and you should go out and play ;-)

Thanks for the pictures K - OFFCOLOR.