You know you’re a bit weird when…

You get more excited about food shopping at a natural food store than about shopping for clothes.

Yeah, that’s what happened yesterday.
In my defence: I have been wanting to visit that food store for ages now and when I’m studying 24/7 every excuse to get out of the house will become an exciting road trip.

So here are the new goodies:

Millet, I’ve never had this before

Another thing I’ve never tried before: almond butter!
And jelly with absolutely no added sugar, it’s made with agave and the natural sugar from the fruit. 

And the thing I am most excited about: yogi tea!
I had a hard time picking a flavour but I decided to go with the ginseng one cause I remember enjoying that at my yoga studio.

Afterwards we also went to a ‘normal’ food store, but one we only go to once in a couple of months so I had to stock up on all the things you can’t find around here:

Some treats: natural liquorice and Lindt 85% chocolate.
The ingredient list of both is just amazing, the liquorice only contains 4 ingredients ( melasse, wheatflour, liquorice extract and natural aniseed oil), the chocolate only contains 6 ingredients ( cocoa paste, cocoa, cocoa butter, brown sugar and a natural Bourbon vanilla-pod).

And did I mention that that chocolate is delicious!!

Food shopping spree with a happy ending indeed 😉

Love, M.

Granola and Cooled Treat

I have a secret to share with you guys….

I kind of have a thing for granola.
Okay, this probably does not come as a surprise when you browse the blog from time to time, but I just had to say it: I love granola! 

And I am proud to admit it! What I am not too proud of though is that lately I’ve also been falling for the high sugary kind…

It starts out with a “They don’t have any “healthy” kinds in my home town corner shop but I really want granola in my yoghurt bowl and a handful won’t kill me, the sis can eat the rest”.
It ends with “Hmmm, what else can I come up with that I can eat that granola with this stuff is credulously good *sugar high*”.

So here’s my consensus:

High sugar granol is great to make amazing (frozen) treats:

Pour about 5 T of chocolate pudding in a container, top with the most unhealthy granola you can find, melt 1 t of peanut butter and drizzle on top. Put in the freezer for about half an hour.

If you want granola with other things (yoghurt bowls etc) make it yourself:

Yoghurt bowl have been my favourite breakfast this last week, due to the tropical conditions in Belgium.

Soy yoghurt (optional: drizzle with some honey);with strawberries, home made granola and “skillet cumble”, i.e. combine 2 T of grated coconut,4 T of oats and some almonds in a skillet on high until golden brown.

Love,M.

Take Me Out

Let me sniff flowers

Feed me loads of fruits and veggies

Snack plate with tomato, radishes, broccoli and cucumber dip,
grapes, a peach and melon.

Lamb’s lettuce, raw broccoli with more spinach dip, rashes, melon, carrots and coleslaw with soy nuggets

Show me magic

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern,
go buy this pronto, install yourself in a chair in the back yard with a plate of watermelon and prepare to be swept away into a world were dreams come true.

Love, M.

Mockery and Compensations

In the theme of either you do it right or you don’t do it at all, I made up for my absence from my yoga mat this week by doing two classes in timespan of of 12 hours. Last night I went to a wonderful vinyasa class, which was extra special because we practised in the beautiful yard of our yoga studio for the first time. I’d recommend everyone to do a yoga practise outside when it’s nice out, you will learn many different things about yourself and your focus.

This morning I attended the mysore ashtangha class at 6.30.
I will repeat that in case you don’t grasp the earliness of the concept: 6.30 a.m.
I’m always pleasantly surprised when I take this class cause I leave it with so much energy and the feeling like I’m on top of the world, and it’s not even 8 yet!

Breakfast get designed in the theme of take away breakfasts.

Overnight oats in an almost empty yoghurt container:

These oats got inspired by Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.

I love Ben & Jerry’s! I’m not normally an ice cream fan but I like Ben & Jerry’s from time to time because it’s so much more than just ice cream.
All the flavours, add ins and different textures… it amazes me every single time.

In the container went 8 T of oatmeal, 2 T of grated coconut, splashes of soy milk, flax seeds, strawberries and smoked almonds. Store in fridge overnight and topped  with some melted peanut butter in the morning.

And an iced coffee on the side:

Yep, I am the creep that stores the container and some spare ice cubes of an iced latte from a café in her tiny freezer in order to be able to use the container again. In my defence , it’s the only way I can make sure I have ice cubes at hand and I will throw the container away after I finish this drink.

Love, M.

One last Week

It’s the final week of classes, the week before the lucky ones among us are privileged enough to be treated with another round of exams.

I just finished and printed my thesis, I’ve been working on some other minor papers and been trying to find some order in the chaos of hand-outs and sheets and sheets of scribbled papers which I call my desk.

I’ve been printing all the documents and articles I refused to print when I needed them, but now I realize I will have to study them anyway.
I went through 2 printer cartridges these  last 24 hours.

I’ve been living on coffee, fresh fruit and veggies with dips, snacks and the occasional meal.

Iced Latte à la maison: brew strong coffee, bonus point if it’s cinnamon coffee. Let cool, pour in a cool container to put it in the fridge (empty Arizona tea bottles are very convenient for this purpose). Pour soy milk (or any milk of choice) on top (about 1/3 or 1/2  of the amount of your coffee). Chill in the fridge and serve with ice cubes.

I haven’t attended a yoga class in a week, but I am doing my very best to make it to one tonight. I haven’t been for a run, but I am running late every day.
I bought an amazing book, but I don’t have time to start to read  it.
I took a couple of photographs but I don’t have time to blog about them.

Yet I am perfectly content and at ease and not even all that stressed in a way.
I owe meditation and uyai- breathing big time.

And as a thanks for letting me ramble for a bit, I present you my favourite treat of the week:

A good treat requires lots of peanut butter on top, obviously!

Dark chocolate heated with a splash a soy milk in the microwave and stirred until it becomes a medium-runny consistency, sprinkle grated coconut on top. Top with yoghurt. Top with granola and smoked almonds (the smoked almonds or not optional!). Top with melted peanut butter.

The ultimate pacifier in a time of deadlines and paper messes!

Love, M.

Refreshing

Chilled Green Tea with lime and lemon slices

Some cucumber salad to dip my carrots in
to help me deal with my hummus addiction

I hope the sun is shining wherever you are and that you’re enjoying it!

Love, M.

Dinner Date

A couple of weeks ago I decided my dad, my sis and I should do dinner or breakfast dates a couple of times a month in order to make more time for each other and see each other more often.

Yesterday night we went on our first dinner date at Het Onderwerp (people who live in Belgium should really go and have dinner or breakfast there, and for the people who don’t live in Belgium: make sure you go eat there when you visit our country).

The photographs are taken with my phone (I did not want to embarrass the sis by carrying around my big camera).

I had the Normandic salad with: mixed lettuce, carrots, zucchini, cucumber, pear, caramelized apples and, most important, gratinéed brie drizzled with balsamic on top of al kind of nuts.

Brie + balsamic + pear/apple + nut on a fresh, still warm whole grain bread = LOVE

I didn’t even think about taking photographs of the sis or dad’s meal until they were halfway through it, better luck next time!

I did manage to take a sneak peek of the sister’s dessert before she magically made it disappear.

Chocolate mouse! I love the way it’s dressed on the plate.

My dessert: vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce and egg liqueur

On here’s one final photograph, which is totally unrelated but I would really like to share it with you guys:

Mona really likes birthdays or events like mother’s day because she loves to play with gift wrapping paper.
She’s been hiding out in there for almost a week and took her loyal yellow scrunchy with here (no scrunchy will ever be safe in the house when Mona is around!).

Love, M.

BitterSweet

I never thought I would say this but…
Sometimes even chocolate can disappoint you!

There, I’ve said it!

I was so excited about trying this chocolate, I brought it from the store on Monday and before I even unloaded the other groceries I had to have a piece of it, just to have a taste.

It wasn’t bad… but “not bad” is not what I’m looking for when it comes to chocolate, I’m looking for amazing!
Like the feeling I have every time I eat this chocolate:

It’s so fudgy! So chocolaty! And so bitter sweet! It’s heaven in disguise for sure.

That Côte d’or chocolate was just.. bitter. Don’t get me wrong, the stronger the chocolate the better, but there still has to be a hint of sweet with that bitterness as well. Maybe it had something to do with its structure as well, I just do not seem to like very thin chocolate pieces, I prefer them thick and fudge.

So I spent the rest of the week thinking what on earth I should do with that chocolate and yesterday I had an epiphany: I would make chocolate sauce with it!

Greek yoghurt topped with smoked almonds, granola and “chocolate sauce”

You just take a piece of chocolate, put it in a bowl and splash some milk with it ( this part can be a bit tricky, you don’t want it to be too runny yet not too thick either, so it could take a couple of tries to get the amount of milk right).
You can even add some sweetener if you think the chocolate is too bitter. Microwave for about half a minutes and stir until you have a sauce.

Hummus oats are back!
Now in an improved version with chocolate dipping on top

Love, M.

Green

Can a person become addicted to broccoli?

If possible, I think I’m addicted to broccoli.
If not possible, I still think I am addicted to broccoli!

I’ve been eating broccoli with every meal except breakfast and even managed to sneak in some broccoli in my snacks, but I did not truly fall in love with broccoli until I ate today’s lunch.

 ‘Quinoa Broccoli Bowl’
serves 2 as a main dish, 4 as a side dish

• 6 T of quinoa
• 12 T of vegetable broth
• half a can of tinned lentils
• half a medium broccoli
• 1 T of hummus
• some lemon or lime juice

Cook the quinoa in the vegetable broth: add the quinoa when the broth boils and reduce it to a simmer, let it absorb all of the liquid (it takes about 20 minutes). Cook the broccoli in boiling water for about 5 minutes. Rinse the lentils

As soon as the quinoa is done, add 1 T of hummus and stir to combine. Add the lentils and the broccoli. Sprinkle with some lemon/lime juice right before serving.

This stuff is so incredibly creamy! It reminds me of when my mum used to make broccoli in cheese sauce.

Fruit for dessert: Melon + strawberries + cottage cheese + sunshine = one happy Maxime!

Happy Monday!
Love, M.

Bits and Pieces

Bits and Pieces: Crappy Phone Camera Edition.

I’d like to start on the note that the weather in Belgium has been extremely weird: it’s been extremely hot and humid but very grey, rainy and stormlike at the same time. It feels we’re in a rainforest out here, but without the constant sun shine!
As much as I love this kind of chaotic weather (for some reason thunder storms make me feel very alive yet tiny and humble at the same time) I appreciate it much more when it results from a week of sunshine and bathing suit temperatures!

Okay, maybe there was a little bit of sunshine from time to time, otherwise there obviously wouldn’t have been a rainbow.

First ice cream of the year: dramatic weather calls for dramatic ice cream!
New York Super Fudge Chunk with pieces of  white chocolate, milk chocolate, pecans, walnuts and chocolate covered almonds.

Warm weather also calls for dinner plates with a lot of small titbits: baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, strawberries and quinoa with mango cubes.

I found the last of the Easter Eggs in my dad’s fridge last weekend, oh how I will miss these guys, can’t wait till next year!

Since it’s still grey pancakes are allowed, it’s been more like a pancake kinda week than a pancake kinda day. Pancake stack with strawberries and raspberry jelly on the first layer, peanut butter and granola on the second one, topped of with coconut milk and more granola.

Mona has been helping me edit my papers… or it least she thinks she’s helping but she’s always begging for me to rub her belly and take a nap with her.
Sorry kitty, can’t nap, have work to do!

She likes to help me take care of lunch as well.
That kitty has been crazy, she follows me around the house and especially likes it when I’m starting to cook, it makes her all zen.

Lovely Lunch: two pieces of bread toasted in a skillet in some olive oil topped with: philadephia and herbs, tomatoes, spinach and a fried egg. Carrots and mini corn and the side.

So, that’s enough random stuff for today!

Love, M.