Food Friday: Vegetable Pasta x a hint of Garlic

When I was in the U.S. and we were super hungry and needed something very fast, we would do this kind of recipe. Easy peasy, fast and delicious.The kids would love it and it was pretty healthy I guess, since you can add any vegetable you like as well as a salad and some chicken. Have whole grain pasta instead of the usual ones, you will eat less and feel fuller soon.

Ingredients:

Whole grain pasta.

Half an onion, two garlic cloves,

fresh and dried tomatoes, some leeks,

one zucchini, red and green pepper, parsley

just about any kind of vegetable you like.

This was more of a leftover dinner, since these vegetables were the ones I had left. Start with cooking the pasta, since they'd need 8 -10minutes. Cut up the vegetables into small pieces. Put some oil in the pan, stir-fry the onion, tomatoes and one garlic clove.  

Tip: If you're cutting the garlic into big pieces, it won't taste as much, but if you cut it up very tiny and small, the garlic flavor will come out. So, do it as you like, I've cut it up into big slices.

Then add the vegetables, start with zucchini and add the peppers, stir until cooked, put the heat on low. Season with herbs, salt and pepper, add the dried tomatoes. Stir and then add some pasta, mix everything, taste and flavour it. Let it heat up for about 2-5 minutes and then you're done :)

Have some green salad with fruits, and if you like, some protein like stir-fried chicken. I always do chicken very light, until they are cooked instead of brown-fried. Stir the chicken with oil and some seeds, season with pepper, salt and chili pepper. 

Garnish everything with cut up parsley and enjoy your meal!!! :)

Featured on Andy Sparkles

The wonderful Andy Sparkles did an interview with me and has asked me about my internship at the German fashion blog Les Mads, she also asked me about this blog, my must-haves for autumn/winter 2013/14 and what my future plans are.

How come that I know of her? Funny story, though. Back in 2011 I think, we both won a trip to Berlin due to a Glamour magazine hair model contest. We were there to find out who of the hairstylists is getting into the CULT team of Sebastian Professional. We met up there and then I've found out that she was just doing some modeling jobs, too. And now, two years later she has been doing great with modeling and it's so funny whenever I see her on magazines like Neon I'd be like: Hey guys, I know her!!! :) 

This year, she also started blogging and on her personal blog Andy Sparkles, she's showing a lot of outfit posts, but as well as beauty product reviews, her beloved cat and anything what inspires her. The pictures of her outfit posts are taken by her sister Christine, which I like the most because combining the pieces with each other are really striking.

Below are the pictures taken from the CULT style night back in 2011, each with our hair stylists :) .

Unfortunately the interview is in German, but let's see if I'll manage it to translate the whole thing to you ;-) So, to all German readers, follow this link here to read the rest of it! Thank you Andrea for this lovely feature on your personal blog, I hope to see you soon, wish you all the best, much health and many hugs.

Love,

Minh.

Staying healthy x my food routines

How is this post going to be? Let's see.

Sometimes, when you're busy and exhausted, being tired all day and don't have time to think about a recipe or you just don't want to cook, anyone tends to just have a snack or eat something fast. And yes, I have to admit that I haven't worked out since two weeks now (skating is no workout for me, it's more like a pleasure) and I do feel kind of guilty, but I am not saying that I don't have time. 

I honestly don't like it when people say that they don't have enough time for something because if it's important they'd make time. Anyways, my point is that if I do not workout, I have other priorities like seeing friends and doing activities like skating, cooking, visiting the baltic seas since I'm going to leave Berlin in two weeks :( :( 

Still, the thing is you can actually stay healthy when you are aware of what you eat. I just want to give you some tips to stay healthy when your calender is about to explode. And no, there's no calorie-counting or making-oneself crazy about food choices. But I guess, that's everyone's own choice if you want to nourish your body with fuel or rather with a short sugar-spike.

Breakfast: Start your day with carbs and fruits, be it a fruit salad with some bread and cheese, an egg-omelette with a bagel or oatmeal topped with sliced fruits. Load up on carbs, prefer whole-grain and oats. No processed food at all.

Lunch: And then usually I'd have some fruit between breakfast and lunch again, just to have something fresh and enough sugar for the day. For lunch I often have a whole-grain sandwich with protein, salmon or cheese. Spread some vegetable spread on it or have a salad and bread. I'd always try to have some carbs, raw vegetables and protein.

Afternoon-Snack: Working or being at college all day, I usually have a down-turn around 3 to 5pm, in which I just want to sleep or rest a bit. There's no way out but having an afternoon snack since power-napping doesn't really work with me. Try it out, maybe it does work for you? It's recommended to be 20 to 30 minutes long. As an afternoon snack I'd have some fruit again, almonds, dark chocolate, green tea or self-made granola bars.

Dinner: For dinner I usually stay low-carb. Yes, I have to admit that I try not to eat carbs at all for dinner. It's not a diet for me, because I still eat carbs now and then but since living in the U.S. I've noticed that having no carbs at night I do not feel full as much so that I sleep better. Furthermore eating low-carb at night I can maintain my weight and I think it's reasonable that you do not need carbs at night anymore, since you're heading to bed afterwards. 

Oh boy, this is another food post I guess but I think you guys should know what my food habits are, you might question some of my recipe-posts. So, yeah, these are just a few tips to stay healthy and if you try it out, you might feel better, too. Be aware that I'm not saying this will work out for everyone of us and that this is the best to follow. It works for me, so try things out and see what works best for you :) We're all different and therefore have different needs and intentions. Maybe you're an athlete and you need tons of carbs, so go ahead, your body will thank you for ;-) Some of my friends, which have been influenced a bit by me, said that they feel much better and their skin is becoming better from day to day. I sincerely believe that you can eat your way to a healthy body, skin, appearance and will gain more benefits from it.

Start with healthy food shopping. And YES, I definitely indulge in some ice-cream, chocolate bars and pizza now and then, too. My mantra is: Go for 80% healthy, clean and raw and then 20% anything you're craving for (mine would be ice-cream in the summer). Many have asked me: Aren't you lusting for some cheese cake or chips and nutella sometimes? My answer: No, I think it's because I try to eat as clean as possible so that my body does not crave for artificial sugars and so on. Nevertheless, if there's a party or a BBQ, I definitely eat, lots, but do not feel guilty at all since I'm eating clean most of the time.

And never forget: Always have fun by doing it. If you do not want to make small changes in your food habits, then don't. This is a post for everyone who likes to experiment!

Click for more food pictures I've taken of my eats in the past, just found them on my computer...

Food Friday: Chili con Carne

This time the recipe is not as creative as usual, but this here was one of my favorites back in the U.S. I think it's one of the most easiest and you can hardly ruin it. Additionally it always reminds me of my life there, I mean it originated from the South of the States and I was the one always adding tons of chili sauce making everyone laugh. Well, it's called chili con carne, so it has to be hot, right? :) It's just super easy and fast to cook, you can bulk up on vegetables, beans and everyone likes it. And I'd say meat is optional here. 

Ingredients:
Onions, canned beans, corn,
any vegetable you like: zucchini, carrots, peppers, tomatoes.
Seasoning like salt, pepper and chili peppers, have some seeds. 

Start with heating up some onion and oil until they are golden. If you use meat, have some beef, stir-fry and season it with red pepper, chili and salt, when done, put it at the side. I wouldn't use oil stirring beef because it already has so much fat inside. 

So, vegetables I'd do seperatly, after stir-frying the onions, add zucchini until they are softer, then add the rest of the other vegetables like carrots, peppers and tomatoes. When cooking I always use the green peppers because I prefer the red ones for raw recipes like salads and stuff. Did you actually know that the green ones are just unripe peppers? Add the meat and mix everything together in a big sauce pan. The corn and the beans I'd add at last. Since you have the canned beans it gives you the needed broth for the chili. Now or later I'd add a lot of herbs, chili pepper and salt until it tastes desirable. Add some seeds or dried tomatoes for some spice. 

That's it I guess! Simple recipe and nobody will stay hungry :)
Have some rice, bread and a salad with it or have your chili as a dip with raw vegetables like I've did. 
Oh and sorry for the friday delay ;-)

Happy weekend!

1st European Longboard Dance Championship

What a wonderful weekend full of new impressions, Europe's best dancers, amazing people and so much passion and love behind it. When Fränky, the owner of the longboard shop Funky Summer Berlin, came up with the Eurodance and that he still needed helpers, of course I was all in. I was very much looking forward to this event and I was curious about the international skaters and the atmosphere.

Everyone already met up on friday night  for the Eurodance Beachparty just to get to know each other a little bit. We took the usual route like tuesdays and headed to a beachlike area. This was a BBQ and Chill Out thing, so after taking a few pictures and hanging out with the ten-year old super sweet Johanna and her family I shortly left.

Saturdays, the first day of the competition, I arrived around 1pm at the Velodrom Berlin and everything just has started. There were three categories: Men, women and kids until the age of 15. That day the competitors had two rounds to earn points and then to qualify themselves for the finale the next day. I would say that there were about 50 men (+/-), exactly 14 women and two boys. Skaters and longboard friends came from France, the Netherlands and other countries. I was just super excited to meet some internationals and to see what Europe has to offer in the longboard scene. Everyone showed off his talents and tricks. Towards the evening, we removed the bar and helped cleaning, the participants had the chance to take a shower and then come back for the 'aftershowparty'. It wasn't a party, it was more of a: everyone can do whatever she/he wants, be it skating or paddling with your board like surfboards (what my friend and I did >>so much fun, though!!!) or just sitting together and enjoying some acoustic music from Loaded ambassador Lotfi Lamaali.

On sunday, after this lovely night of singing and playing, I had to get up early for my morning shift. Haha, arriving there, there were exactly two people waiting. One of the judges and a french participant. I was like: Okay, where is Fränky? Shouldn't he be here to prepare everything so the participants can start at 10? Well, whatever, he arrived an hour later and we started by noon :) That day the competitors had another round to earn points. In the afternoon the judges counted these and the finale was set. 16 men, 8 women and the two kids made it into it.

 

Peter Markgraf, the skate pirate.

Lotfi Lamaali.

Femke Bosma from Utrecht.

Melanie Golz from Cologne.

Loaded Ambassador Laurent Perigault from France.

The finale started with the kids, and Simon the eleven-year old was actually the only one attending, but just before the contest started another boy came up: Konrad. From now on, it wasn't counting points anymore, it was just the battle between the competitors. It was about flow, technique and combos.

The girls competed until the judges decided for the finalists: Femke and Melanie. Among the men Lotfi and Jeff made it into the end. Due to rain and bad weather forecasts, we had to interrupt the contest and changed the spot of the finale. We went downstairs to the roofed spots and I have to say, it was actually more fun, more exciting and more thrilling.

The girls started and oh my gosh, you had to see Melanie, she was really stunning and super stoked in her element. I hope I'll find a video of her! Femke was also really really good, considering that she's only 15 and she made it into the European's best two! I cannot imagine how good she'll become when she's my age. Melanie danced backwards, jumped around and landed most of her tricks, which brought her the title European's best female Longboard dancer!!!

Jeff Ellis.

Lotfi and Jeff had another super interesting race. The french Loaded ambassador showed his signature tricks like the 'propeller' and jumped over a stick making a full twist. That was just amazing! Unfortunately I have to admit that I did not show as much attention to the other contestant Jeff, but watching him now and then was so much fun. I think he showed way more variety, which is why he nailed it and won the competition.

Jeff, Melanie, Konrad and all the others, you were superdupermega stunning! Congratulations about the titles and for showing your talents!

fränky and Lotfi Lamaali.

Furthermore I want to thank every single one who came to watch, to dance, to skate, to just hang around, to help, to organize, to drive and to make this crazy, lovely, warm, exciting, fun event happen. 

I was totally stoked by the tricks and passion the dancers put into their work, but I think that this wasn't about work or hard training, it was more about having fun, dancing and just being there to meet this longboard community. And YES, these people can really dance their names! Now, I'm super motivated to skate more often and to just enjoy this community, which has opened up. It's like: WOW, there's a whole new world to explore and everything just happened by sharing a hobby, a passion, a love for skating and dancing. 

Stay tuned for more impressions of the last weekend's event and a lovely interview with one of the most amazing people I've ever met. So get out there and go skating!

Love,
 

Minh