Hello from the other side!

Hello my lovely visitors!

Please, come over to my new little virtual world full of beans, turning around travelling, vegan and vegetarian food and the ususal chitchat from my side! See you on the other side!

Of lenses, plans and chickpeas

My dear fellows, I have ignored you all for way too long, have I not? How are you?

My days recently just never have enough hours for me to get to do everything I wanted to do.
But here I am, giving you a vital sign with some announcements up my sleeve. Once again.
Well, admittedly, announcement number one is not particularly exciting for you. Depends. I have a new camera. And I am terribly in love with it. It's basically all I do at the moment. Carefully picking that beautiful thing up and taking pictures of everything and everyone not fast enough to do a runner.
And it's exactly why my days are too short and why I am about to go to an exam nearly unprepared and why favourite curly head only sees me in a static position, slightly bent, winking, with a huge black thing in front of my face, making click sounds.

Announcement number two might be a bit more of interest to you. I am working on a new blog!
I think it's time to do that whole food-blogging thing a bit more professionally and I am working hard on it. So: I hope to meet you soon on my new little virtual food-planet.
Anyways. I did find a little time slot to bake between all the new plans and resolutions. Of course only to get another motif to put in front of my lens. Also, my lovely Mom brought me some wonderful Canadian maple syrup. Good Heavens, I love it. I am addicted to it! Sure that I had to include that beauty in my recipe.

And as aforesaid curly-head and I are having a sports-challenge the whole month of January (classic after-Christmas-crisis) the yummy stuff to be taken a picture of had to be healthy and contain as much protein as possible.
So, to summarize: protein rich, maple-syrup-addiction-satisfying, healthy, quick, easy, yummy.
That's it:

Mellow vegan and gluten-free orange-maple-brownies (on chickpea-basis)

ingredients:

1 ,5 cups chickpeas

3/4 cup coconut milk

1 cup rice flour

1/2 cup cashew butter

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup agave syrup

zest of 1 orange

4 tablespoons raw cocoa powder

preparation:

1. blend chickpeas and coconut milk, then put into a bowl

2. add all the other ingredients and stir well

3. preheat the oven on 200°, fill dough into a baking mould of about 25x25 cm and bake for 20 minutes

4. enjoy with a warm coconut-rice milk

from soup to nuts: vegan sweet-potato-coconut-coup with roasted curry-honey-cashews

Hello Folks!

It is about time to apologize again, is it not? Apologize for not having made a sound for ages. Apologizing for not being about to make a lot of sounds for the time coming. Work and uni having me swalloed, guys. And I can tell you it is pretty dark in here. And I cannot imagine I taste good. Aye, it's getting weird. Anyways. I don't want to complain because there is an announcement to make. Now, that sounds way too interesting. Basically, it is just a food update for you to know what to expect when we hear from each other again: I am gonna eat vegan again for a while. Somehow uni-stress always makes me wanna do that. Is it hormones that trigger the need for vegan food? 

If so, go get that damn vegan hormone injection, for I have some very colourful and tasty stuff coming up!

Last weekend I finally found time to cook again. And that was then automatically the start for my vegan project, because eating vegan basically requires two things: creativity and time. 

Eating out vegan is definitely not an enormous problem anymore. Not for me, at least, but for my wallet. Therefore, I wanna show you guys that eating vegan does not at all need to automatically lead to more costs (great news for all vegan-hormone-influenced students out there).

So, as it is that time in the year, actually the only time in the year, where I eat soup (though the weather decided to be utterly mild in Switzerland recently), I decided to create this healthy and easy grey-evening-illuminator:

Sweet-Potato-Coconut-Soup with Lemon, Avocado, Mango and Curry-Honey-Roasted Cashews

INGREDIENTS (2 p.)

1 large sweet potato

7.5 dl broth

2 tablespoons coconut oil

5 dl coconut milk

1 lemon, sliced

1 lemongrass, finely sliced

1 tablespoon pad-thai paste

1 tablespoon yellow curry powder

a pinch of cinnamon

1 onion

4 garlic cloves

2 handful of cashews

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon currypowder

salt, pepper

1/2 mango

1/2 avocado

thai basil

PREPARATION

1. peel and finely slice sweet potato and onion

2. preheat a pot with coconut oil, then roast sweet potatoes and onions, deglaze with broth

3. add pressed garlic cloves, pad-thai-paste, curry powder, pepper, lemongrass and lemon slices

4. let simmer for about 30 minutes (depending on the size of the sweet-potato-bits) till sweet potato is absolutely mellow

5. take out lemon slices, blend and let simmer for another 5 minutes, maybe add so broth or coconut milk, depending on taste

6. roast cashews with curry, salt and honey on medium heat and slice mango and avocado

7. serve soup with the toppings and some thai basil

 ENJOY!

At Risk for Addiction: Chocolate-Coated Date-Pralines with Pistacchios, Cherries, Spices and Rose Water

People, from today on I am occupied again. Or at least it is slowly but surely time to get ready to pretend to be occupied and busy and assiduous again: It's university-start today. That is actually very positive. Because I have finished Game of Thrones yesterday and now I need employment. Now that sounds as if I had no hobbies. Damn. Well, anyways, let's not go into that. 

There are basically three things you need for your start into the new semester to be a successful one: 1. coffee, 2. nerve-support-food, 3. a shipload of black humour.

Well, I can provide you with one of them or at least an idea of how to get it. And the other two, I guess I totally need for myself. 

But let's be honest, there is no need to rant about good old uni, is there? 

Apart from fees and professors and boring lectures and crumbling buildings and weird topics and even weirder exam questions. But that is all what the above mentioned three things make an effective antidote for.

Frankly, I already see myself sitting there in my armchair as an old lady, telling my dozen of grandchildren how university was the best time of my life. How I could sleep long. How nobody cared if I slept even longer. How I would sit on the lawn in front of the main building at four in the afternoon, chatting about tough academic life, furiously waving with that beer. Or how me and my friend would get the best bouts of laughter only in the most uncomfortable and quiet moments in seminars. See, I am already getting nostalgic now. 

Well, Imma one hell of enjoy that last year, guys (Well maybe it's gonna be, students-style, one-and-a-half years, we'll see). No more ranting. And I want you to enjoy it with me with these awesome, vegan, surprisingly healthy, addictive, sweet:

Chocolate-Coated Date-Pralines with Pistacchios, Cherries, Anise, Cloves, Cinnamon, Ginger, Vanilla and Rose Water

ingredients:

900 g dates paste

1 tablespoon vanilla powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon anise

1/2 teaspoon ginger powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

100 g pistacchios

100 g dried cherries

225 g dark chocolate

1 tablespoon coconut fat

2 tablespoons rose water

preparation:

1. mix dates paste, spices, cherries and pistacchios and work well

2. refrigerate dough, then form bowls

3. melt chocolate, coconut fat and rose water

4. coat bowls with chocolate and refrigerate for 2 hours

5. enjoy with tons of coffee and use that super-power energy!

So people, wherever you are right now, I wish you a wonderful start into the new semester, week, life or day. See you soon with many broken-nerves-healing recipes!

Barberry-Check: Dark-Chocolate Energy-Bites with Healthy Companions

Hello again, dear friends!

How are you? Feeling lonesome in your kitchens? 

Well here I am, guys. Finally. Holidays are almost over and I feel chased. By something impatient. By something that needs some attention. No, not a child. By my Bachelor-Thesis. Darn. How long will I manage to procrastinate that bastard? 

As long as I got ideas for you, honeys, at least!
So what's up?

The time of being forever 21 is over. Now that sounds paradox. Anyways. As a newly minted 22-year-old I really should share some sweet inspiration with you, should I not?

Especially because my environment knows only too well how fond I am of good food, cooking and baking. Therefore I got a lot of somewhat-food-blog-related gifts for my birthday. Should not be too bad for you all, I suppose. And, yes of course, it is not that I did not have enough sweets lately. And, surely, I said one or the other time something like "boah, I had enough sweets for the whole year, I am gonna need a pause". But, people, it's me. That means: I open my eyes the morning after, with my sweet tooth jolting me awake, I run straight to the kitchen and there I go, happily mixing and stiring a dentist's desaster.

However, as you know me, I always make sure that I prepare the sweet stuff in a way it would pass every ever so rigorous health-police. And so I did this time, with some of the edible treasures my Mom gave me: Barberries.

Honeslty? I had never used them before. So it was a little adventure. (Well yeah, adventure is pretty relative. For me it is at the moment, just saying for you to get an idea of how boring my life is right now). 

Anyways, I have tried the result myself (just one little, very very little bite of course) and I must say: those little red guys definitely work for sweets. Additionally, they have a lot of Vitamin C and an antibacterial effect.

Having bought some lovely spices recently, I also decided to metaphorically travel to the middle east in my kitchen today. Which, in the end, added up to this:

Dark-Chocolate-Sesame-Chunks with Barberries, Sunflowerseeds and Honey

These beauties are rich in flavonols, Vitamin C, folate and happiness. In short: Good for your heart, skin, energy and well-being!

And that's how easy you get them:

ingredients:

100g dark chocolate

100 g sesame paste

50 g honey

25 g dried barberries

50 g sunflower seeds

1/2 teaspoon ground anise

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

preparation:

1. roast sunflower seerd and soak barberries in boiling water

2. melt chocolate with sesame paste, spices and hones

3. mix everything, spread on baking sheet (about 0.5 cm thick) and refrigerate for 1-2 hours

Enjoy these little temptations with coffee or as a fuelling snack in between! 

I wish you all a sunny weekend guys (Sunnier than the one that expects me in good old Switzerland, by all means)!

See you soon!

La Vie en Rose: Romance and White Plums for Dessert

Hey lovely folks!

No, unfortunately life is not always 'en rose'. Not for me, nor for anyone else. But I am gonna let you guys in on my magic trick today, which will help a little bit when life seems all confusing or grey or nerve-racking or just way too bitter for a sweet-tooth like you are. 

And, people, lazy Miss Sweet-Tooth has FINALLY managed to finish her papers. Next big thing to do is shelving that Bachelor's Paper that's waving from the corner of the eye. Gosh, certain things never change. Time pressure has always been and will always be the best motivator in the humble history of my life. And, well, I do have some excuses to postpone Uni-stuff. Honestly!

For I have planned some 'totally-worth-looking-foward-to-like-crazy' trips. First of them is a - tadaaaa - surf-trip to the South-West of France. Have I surfed before? Of course not! Am I gonna make a fool of myself? Absolutely!

Second trip is one week of Brighton with my best bud. Hope that's gonna be less of a challenge for my ego and more of an inspiration for the little, hungry, eager cook in my head. I hope I'll be able to convince myself that Britain is more than sausages for breakfast and fish and chips. I am sure it is. Otherwise: Brighton, you have three weeks to make a big change in your eating habits!

But before I leave I am gonna make your lives get a bit more rosy, lovely, tender. I got a bunch of marvelous dried rose blossoms and I could not wait to use them! (With a little thanks to my Dad's girlfriend at this point. Yes, unfortunately these wonderful guys are not growing in my own garden).

In order not to make my new rosy friends feel alone, I thought I'd go get them some roundish juicy bodyguards, also known as yellow plums. And there we go for this healthy, easy, fruity, energising, summery recipe:

Coconut-Roasted Yellow Plums with Rose-Lemon-Syrup

ingredients (4 people)

12 yellow plums

1 dl of water

1 handful of dried rose blossoms

150 g cane sugar

1 lemon

3 tablespoons coconut rasps

2 tablespoons coconut oil

preparation

1. bring water, rose and cane sugar to a boil and let simmer

2. grate lemon, then press and add juice to rose-syrup

3. cut yellow plums, preheat a pan with coconut oil and quickly roast them together with coconut rasps

4. sieve rose syrup

5. serve plums with syrup and add some lemon zest on top

This tastes awesome with some biscuits, black coffee or yoghurt! The whole preparation won't take you any longer than 15 minutes. So, go get your friends and celebrate summer and, of course, la vie en rose!

SEE YOU GUYS!

Tender-Roasted Sweetness: White Apricots

Hello hungry fellows! What's up?

It is so damn hot here in Switzerland! Hot damn! And I am getting ever lazier. There are a only few things left to do for University before I can enjoy my semester holidays and if I finally managed to get up and did this EFFICIENTLY, it would not take very long, frankly speaking. But as you might know, I am easily distracted. And distraction is frequent these days. Like, for example, the sweet distraction I really wanna share with you guys today! 

And my new resolutions about sports and nutrition, well, they have been made use of but...but. Yeah. It was hot outside. And I had to realise that I totally can be knocked out by one single workout. Thanks, Jackie Warner, for your wonderful 2in1 Workout that made me walk like a fool for at least three days! 

But I won't give up, of course. I am gonna have a rendez-vous with virtual DVD-Jackie tomorrow again and I do not know if I am ready for this. I guess not.

So let's turn to more pleasing stuff. More tender, sweet and nice-to-look-at stuff. Like those lovely, roundish guys here: white apricots. God, I love fruit-season!

So I decided to prepare them in a new way. I mean, sure, who does not love fruit smoothies and fruit salad, but it's nothing that would strike you, right?

So I decided the white apricots to meet the oven. And some other tempting, charming sweet and sour companions. For example birch sugar (this is one of my favourites right now: no calories, good for your teeth but damn close to sugar). And basil. And lavender.

And, people, I have to say (sorry for self-complimenting): what came out definitely falls into the category "must-try". Especially because it's easy, ideal for a lovely, warm evening with friends and family. 

So, promise you try these:

Oven-Roasted White Apricots with Lavender-Basil-Lemon-Dressing

ingredients (4 people):

12-14 white apricots

4 tablespoons birch sugar (you can also tak real one, birch sugar is however awesome for thos who want to watch their sugar-intake)

***

3 tablespoons yogurt

6 tablespoons birch sugar

1 lemon

1 handful basil

1 tablespoon lavender

preparation:

1. preheat the oven on 200° C and cut the apricots in half, spread the birch sugar on them and roast for about 10 minutes

2. bring the lemon juice with brich sugar and lavender to a boil, sieve and mix with hashed basil and yogurt

3. serve the warm apricots topped with the yogurt sauce and enjoy!

SEE YOU, SWEETIES!

White Beans in Limelight

Hungry folks, how are you?

I am so sorry! When I logged onto my blog-account today, I had to confront myself with the shocking fact that it's been about two months since my last post! God, time flies, right?

But, good news, I am right at the beginning of long, hopefully warm and sunny, semester-holidays! 

And, believe me, I could really use them right now! I am (almost) totally yours for the time coming! (At least in nutritional terms)

Looking back on the last few weeks, I see an seemingly unending rollercoaster with tons of loopings, ups and downs (Although, when using this kind of metaphor I am never sure if the ups stand for the positive or the downs,  for on rollercoasters it is actually the downs you crave, is it not? Well, never mind.) and, well, I admit it, super-.unhealthy nutrition and little sport. 

But, guys, I am back on track with a huge bag of healthy recipes, a heavy workout-plan, soon-to-be muscle-aches and a soon-to-be Arnold-Schwarzenegger-Body (Be glad you do not see me, can the Terminator even cook?).

The recipe I created for you guys today shall manifest that impressingly. At least I hope so. I will from now on cherish the following foods:

*fruit

*veggies

*seeds

*nuts

*legumes

*raw cocoa

*fish

Of course that means that you, hungry fellows, are gonna be affected by all this, too. But I promise you colourful, light, reviving and refreshing as well as inspiring summer-recipes!

Such as this super-healthy lunch here:

Cucumber-Avocado-Salad and Egg, topped with Coconut-White-Bean-Lime-Dressing and Curry-Agave-Roasted Cashews

ingredients:

1/2 cucumber in juliennes

1 boiled egg

1/2 avocado

1 handful cashews

100 g cooked white beans

1 dl coconut milk

1 lime, zest and juice

1 tablespoon agave syrup

1 teaspoon curry powder

2 teaspoons cumin

salt, pepper

preparation:

1. blend the white beans, 1/2 teaspoon of curry powder, 1 teaspoon of cumin, coconut milk, salt, pepper, lemon zest and juice in a mixer

2. roast cashews with agave syrup, 1/2 teaspoon of curry powder, 1 teaspoon of cumin and some salt

3. finely slice avocado

4. arrange the eggs on a bed of cucumber juliennes and avocado, top with roasted cashews and white-bean-dressing

See you, people! Say Hi to summer if you should happen to see him and send him over to Switzerland!

xoxo, Flo