Food Friday: Strawberry x Mango Juice

What's better than a healthy, nutrient-dense juice to freshen up yourself in this heat ;-) ? Well, okay, maybe a pool or a visit to the lake, but since I'm in the middle of Berlin, I need to hydrate my body from the inside out, and if it's not a green juice, which is more vegetable loaded, maybe a sweeter one? :)

In addition to that, Strawberry Season is almost over!! So go out, grab your bike or board and ride to the next organic supermarket to get the last strawberries this summer! Here comes the Strawberry x Mango Juice:

Ingredients:

Half a mango,

some strawberries,

slices of ginger.

Another fruit if you like,

in here it's half an apple.

Chia Seeds & Goji Berries.

1. Slice up everything into small chunks or cubes, blend in with your blender or food processor.

2. Add some chia seeds and goji berries on top of the juice. You can easily stir in the chia, so it mixes in your red juice ;-)

And that was it! 

Super-easy to make, and sweet in taste :)

Have a wonderful & sunny weekend guys ♥

Food Friday: Green Juice #1

Hey guys! Sorry for my lack of posts this week, but I still have a Food Friday in store for you :) I've been juicing a lot lately since the weather is becoming warmer and a variety of delicious fruits are available on the market. I guess, there will be a Juice-Series because another one is already shot as well :) Read about the benefits of green juices in a previous post here. Today, I am showing you a more vegetable-loaden juice which is perfect for anyone who needs to get back on track or maybe is suffering from a cold right now, is the weather changing every hour at your time zone, too? Crazy, right? Anyways, here comes the Spinach-Fennel-Ginger-Apple Juice :)

Ingredients for 1-2 glasses:

Spinach as a base

1/2 Fennel

1/2 green Apple for sweetness

slices of ginger

water as much as you like :)

1. Cut the vegetables and fruits into small chunks or slices.

2. Mix everything up with your blender :)

3. That's it! Add some Superfoods like Goji Berries, Chia Seeds or Almonds on top to garnish or blend in with your juice.

If you find it too hearty, add more apple as you like. 

I chose Fennel and Ginger because they are amazing for your throat, you know fennel tea? Yeah, but the raw vegetable is even better! And I also eat tons of ginger whenever I don't feel well, so pack this in your juice, lunch and dinner and you will feel better afterwards :)

Have this juice to kick off your day and get well soon :)

Happy Weekend ♥

Food Friday: Vegan Tomatoe Spinach Mushroom Quiche

Hey guys! For anyone following me on Instagram & Facebook, I've decided to postpone the Green Juice Recipe to next week and show you a wonderful dish for Mother's Day instead :) Sorry that I'm a bit late, it's 11pm in Germany right now, but there's still time to get the ingredients tomorrow and bake it Sunday Morning ;-) 

What is actually the best gift for your mum? I believe no material things but rather time, attention, a walk in nature or only you. You being there for her, being grateful and pampering her, so what about cooking for her and your family? :)

So, this Food Friday Recipe was adapted by the Vegan Food Blog Oh She Glows and I was really curious how everything turned out because I wanted to do a Vegan Quiche with Tofu for such a long time now. As usually, I transformed it a bit and did not use all the ingredients stated. I also thought that it sounded a little bit of too much an effort, but except from the cutting your vegetables into small pieces, it's actually not :)

Ingredients:

For the crust:

1 cup almonds, ground into flour

1 cup oats, ground into flour

2 teaspoons of dried herbs, 

I've used the Organic Italian Mixture from Sonnentor

1/2 tablespoon salt

2 tablespoon olive oil

1o (less or more) tablespoons water

whole-grain flour (if needed)

For the filling:

1 block tofu (400g), I usually get tofu from an Asian Food Store

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, sliced

3 garlic cloves, sliced

1/2 cup of dried/fresh herbs

some dried tomatoes

1 cup of spinach

salt & pepper to taste ;-)

1. Preheat the oven at 375F (190°C). Start with the crust, ground the almonds and the oats, mix them together and stir in the other ingredients. I mixed it thoroughly with a spoon. The crust need to be sticky, so that you can easily press it on your quiche/tart pan. Place the pan into your oven and let the crust bake for about 10minutes until it's a bit brown. Let the crust cool down after baking.

2. Well, I actually wanted to show you the block tofu, but forgot to take pictures before I already pressed it :D Anyways, put the tofu in a clean towel and press the water out, put it in your food processor and mix until it has a creamy texture! 

3. Chop all your vegetables and cut them up into thin slices. Put oil into your pan and stir fry the onion, garlic and mushrooms. Add the herbs, the tomatoes, the spinach and season as you like :)

4. After stir-frying your vegetables, remove the pan from the heat and mix in the creamy tofu into the pan, mix and taste :) See if you like it or not, add salt & pepper here and there, and if you want to add some seeds :)

5. Spread the filling evenly onto your crust and place it in the oven at the same temperature 375F (190°C) for about 30minutes. That's it :) Let the Quiche cool down for 15minutes and enjoy with some green salad! 

Except from preparing the ingredients, this dish was super easy to make and it was super-duper-mega-delicious!!! My friends, who had this for dinner tonight, really liked it and couldn't tell that this was vegan :) I really want to try this with different vegetables now :) and I also fell in love with the nutty crust, I just love almonds and this is such a great healthy dish without any excess of eggs and cheese. Tofu, you became my next best friend because I've never used you in a non-Asian dish :) Enjoy cooking my loved ones!

Never forget, Mother's Day is actually every single day!

Happy Weekend! ♥

Food Friday: Eat your Dark Leafy Greens ♥

Why? Because the Greens, Chlorophyll and Bitter Substances are beneficial for our well-being and health. I don't know how it is with you, but whenever I am sick, I don't feel any appetite of heavy meals but rather the need to eat something fresh, fruits and salads raw :) Raw because that's the most natural and best state for your greens to keep its minerals and nutrients. Today, I just wanted to show you some inspiration for your future salads ;-) And did you know you CAN eat Sunflowers and Dandelions? The blossoms, the buds and young leaves are the best part of it because they are full of vitamins, find these out in nature and sprinkle on top of your salad :) And don't forget to send some Thank Yous to Mother Nature when you go collecting Sunflowers!

Well, you don't actually need much for your own salad. The only thing you need is a tiny bit of time and preparation :)

Ingredients:

different types of vegetables, 
lettuce, leaves and fruits,

seeds, nuts, herbs,

maybe cheese? maybe spelt? 
Anything you like and have at hand :)

1. Have a dark, leafy green base like these Indian Lettuce (dt. Postelein) or Lamb's Lettuce (dt. Feldsalat) or Arugula (dt. Rucola) or even Spinach. I always prefer these instead of normal, iceberg lettuce because normal lettuce only contains water and not so much of the bitterness and its own taste, but of course it is better than nothing ;-)

2. Cut up some vegetables like Zucchini, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, and fruits, whatever you prefer and have at hand: Strawberries, Apple, Kiwi?

3. Cut up some herbs, put them on top with nuts (I love almonds in my salad!), seeds and maybe Chia Seeds? Add anything you like :) Be it cooked Spelt, feta cheese for a more hearty salad or more fruits for a summery and sweet one :)

4. A fast and easy dressing would be only two tea spoons of Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar, that's it for me :) If you like, you can season or use a different dressing ;-)

The very first picture of the salad was only out of Indian Lettuce, Seeds, Sunflower Blossoms & Buds, and Nettel, yes you can eat these, too :) Just cut them up in very small pieces! 

The more colorful salad is made out of Indian Lettuce, Zucchini, Red Pepper, Strawberries, Sunflower Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds, Almonds, Chia Seeds and a bit of Cilantro. I am also eating more and more plants, less and less animal products and I do feel much better now :) When the temperature is climbing up higher, I am also more up for salads and fresh ingredients. Oh and sorry for the overload of food pictures, I just LOVE taking them with my new camera and want to share them with you :) 

Mix and match your own salad and happy chewing ♥  

Food Friday: Easy Vegan Spelt Pan x Greens

The other day a dear friend of mine came over for lunch and we did not know what to cook. So usually, I just come up with something eatable and always hope it will taste nice :D The result was a Vegan Spelt Dish with Greens mixed up all together in a pan. It turned out so good that I had to cook it again and use this as today's Food Friday Recipe :)

How come Spelt? Well, I am always curious and want to try out new things. When I first bought it, I added it to some of my breads, just the pure grain and some of my friends might have noticed it because it sometimes would be still hard inside the bread. Additionally, I use spelt as a side dish like Quinoa, so you can easily substitute it for rice, pasta, bread etc. But be sure to soak it in water the night before using it or let it sit in warm water for about an hour. Pure spelt also has more minerals and beneficial nutrients compared to processed wheat. 

Ingredients:

2 cups of spelt, soaked in or cooked with 4 cups of water.

1 zucchini,

1 onion,

some celery,

some cilantro,

some coconut oil for the pan,

any spread (here I've used a paprika cashew one).

More of leftover vegetables as you prefer, add anything you like. This pan serves about 2 hungry people, oh, and spelt is pretty filling ;-)

1. Let two cups of spelt sit with 4 cups of hot water, cover up the bowl with a plate. This takes about an hour OR cook the spelt as you would do it with rice OR let it sit with water overnight.

2.Cut up all your vegetables into slices, squares, just as you like ;-)

3. Put some coconut oil in the pan, heat it up and sauté the onion, add the other ingredients. Cooking a vegetable pan, I always go from the hardest to the softest one meaning e.g. after the onion, the zucchini, spelt, spread, celery, cilantro.

4. Add some salt and pepper as you like or don't season at all since you have the spread, which gives the pan its sauce. Put 2-3 table spoons of it into your pan and mix everything up while its on the stove.

5. Add the celery, mix up for another 5min. and garnish with some chopped cilantro :)

Hmmm.. this is really yummy :) healthy, vegan and super-easy to make ;-) I just love improvising with food and new ingredients. I also love cooked spelt because you have to chew it thoroughly in your mouth, you will notice ;-) And although this is filling, it won't give you that full and stuffed stomach. So do not hesitate to grab a package of Spelt on your next food-shopping trip and try out some delicious spelt pans with vegetables yourself ;-)

Happy cooking and experimenting! xx

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! ♥ 

Food Friday: Vegan Banana Pancakes ♥

Oh my! I really do have a thing for vegan everything although I am not one. How come? Just so, I love trying out vegan food and cooking and baking with meat/egg/milk-substitutes :) Right now, I'm having a semester break, but not really, anyone who understands me? Yeah, I still have to work on papers'n stuff, but there's never no time for cooking delicious meals :)

Earlier this week, I was lusting for some banana pancakes, so I've tried out some recipes and this is how it turned out.

Ingredients:

1 cup of whole-grain flour (spelt etc.)

4-5 teaspoons of brown sugar

1 teapsoon baking powder

1 pinch of salt

1-2 teaspoons of cinnamon (depending on your taste)

1 cup of soy milk

100g almonds

2 ripe bananas

1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

1 banana or 1 apple to slice up separately

1. Smash the ripe bananas and mix them with all the other ingredients. If the almonds are too chunky or too big for your taste, you can also chop them up.

4. Slice up the banana or the apple into squares and add them to the dough. You will love the big pieces in your pancake later ;-)

3. Put some oil (olive oil, coconut oil) on a pan, heat it up and put two-to-three spoons of dough onto the pan to form one pancake. Depending on your pan, two to three small ones will fit in. Thinner is better and faster, and don't forget to turn them around ;-) Serve pure, with some honey or jelly. 

 Et voilá, that's it! 

Enjoy and happy weekend :)

Food Friday: Raw x Vegan Oatmeal

Today, I just wanted to give you a small update of my everyday breakfast: the oatmeal :) It started in the U.S. with the homemade oatmeal from the stove. Whenever we were busy, it had to be the packaged one. Back in Germany again, I've did it with some milk and the microwave and tried out adding other ingredients like dark chocolate squares :-P Later, I left the microwave and the dairy. Instead I added hot green tea to my oatmeal, yes! Try it, it's delicious ;-)

And now, throughout the summer I went all raw and vegan, how? 

Ingredients:

1 banana, oats and/or crunchy oats, chia seeds, linseed oil, nuts, additional fruits (apple, kiwi, slices of oranges, berries).

Utensil: a fork and a knife.

Slice the banana and mash it up with the fork in a bowl, add some oats, add two to three tablespoon of chia seeds (prepare the night before with clear water), add the nuts (I love ALMONDS), two teaspoons of linseed oil and slice up some additional fruit, mix it all up and have an oatmeal party :)

Haha, well, there you go, you'll have an amazing start for your tummy and it's raw, vegan, healthy, delicious, filling, what else do you want? :) And no worries, it won't be too dry because of the chia and the oil, add some more if you want ;-)

Food Friday: Vegan Banana x Chocolate Crumble Cake

For today's Food Friday recipe I'm showing you this wonderful Vegan Banana x Chocolate Crumble Cake I've made for my own birthday a few weeks ago ;-) Why vegan? Well, just because I love to experiment with different ingredients and since I don't drink milk at all, I also try to substitute eggs and so on :) So, this is a good recipe for any party, that's why I'll make it again for a friend's bday tonight ;-) have fun baking and share, share, share!

Ingredients:

For the dough:

100g Coconut Oil

120g raw cane sugar,

150g whole spelt flour

30g cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

75ml soymilk

5 spoons soy yogurt

Filling:

3 Bananas, 60g Chocolote Flakes,

2 Packages of Vegan Cream , 4 packages cream stabilizer.

1. Mix all ingredients for the dough together and put it on a pie pan, bake for 30min. at about 170°C (345°F). 

2. After that, carve out the upper part of the cake and leave the ground at the side. Crumble the rest for the topping.

3. Cut the 3 bananas into slices lengthwise and put them on the ground (look at pictures).

4. Whip the cream, you really have to stir and stir and stir, pour the stiffener in and it will work somehow, I promise. Vegan soy cream is just not as easy as the usual one, so don't give up ;-) Mix in the chocolate flakes. Pour the cream on top of the bananas until everything is covered, should look like a hill :)

5. Spread the crumbles on top of that hill of whipped cream and voilá, there you go :) You have your Vegan Banana x Chocolate Crumble Cake. Leave it in your refridgerator for about 2hours and then, serve friends and family :) 

My friends didn't realize that it was vegan, and it really doesn't taste different. The cake is not too sweet as well, depending on your sweet tooth: add or subtract sugar ;-)

Tip: Enjoy right away, it won't be as good the next days since you're using bananas ;-) and sorry for the blurred picture of the dough.