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.

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.

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.

Warning! Highly Addictive

A new month calls for new food addictions.
Go to a grocery store, buy the following and thank me later.
(or blame me because I got you hooked on it, it’s your choice).

Smoked Almonds
I actually bought this by accident cause I thought they were just normal almonds, but now I am never going back again.
But what were the people creating these thinking, like almonds an sich aren’t addicting enough?!

Coconut Milk
Tried and loved in: coffee, green tea, oatmeal, to finish off yoghurt bowls, cooking quinoa in it, plain.

Coffee flavoured chocolates
I got these for free when I went to pick up my photographs, thank God for leftover Easter chocolate that gets handed out for free, especially when it tastes like cappuchino.

More Avocado!

Bulgur and Falafel
I’ve only been eating meat replacements regularly for a week now and so far I have tried an array of veggie burgers by Damhert and Greenway falafels.
As far as the bulgur is concerned: better than rice and easier to prepare than quinoa, so  what’s not to love?

Spinach salad with strawberries and mango.
Sprinkle some lime juice on top, you’ll love it! It’s Spring in a bowl!

Love,M.

The 10 “Take Care of Yourself” Commandments and Cookies

Time for me to go back to all these things I preached but stopped practising:

1. Thou shall think positive thoughts
2. Thou shall pick up meditation again
2. Thou shall be mindful, especially when eating
3. Thou shall practise yoga at least twice a week
4.Thou shall treat your body right and not load it with crap
5. Thou shall eat when hungry and stop eating when satisfied
6. Thou shall not deprive yourself from anything
7. Thou shall drink shitloads of water and tea to stay hydrated
8. Thou shall be kind and patient with yourself and other people
9. Thou shall do exciting things and live without regrets
10. Thou shall love yourself !

And on that note I present you a recipe for some amazing cookies.

I decided that I will not tell myself I can’t have cookies or treats any more cause I know that will just lead  to eating loads and loads of sugary,processed food I don’t even feel much for .

So from now on, when I want cake or cookies, I will have it on the condition that I really crave them, not because I’m bored or sad. I will make them myself so I know what’s in there and savour them.

‘Salty Chocolate Cookies’
makes 8 cookies

• 10 walnuts
• 1 T of peanut butter
• 1 T of maple syrup
• 3 T of vegetable oil
• 2 T of soy milk
• 8 T of oats
• 10 to 20 gr of dark,bitter chocolate, in chips
• sea salt, to taste

Chop up the walnuts and the dark chocolate. Preheat the oven to 180°C (360F).
Melt the peanut butter and combine it in a bowl with the maple syrup,vegetable oil and milk. Add the oats, nuts and chocolate chips, stir to combine and add a generous amount of sea salt.

Line a cookie sheet with wax paper and sprinkle some oil on the paper. Place dollops of dough on the  cookie sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

Love, M.

One busy Easter

I threw an Easter brunch
For the whole family…
That’s 15 people.

Just to make sure you really grasp what I just said: I prepared a brunch for 15 people today, and since brunches are actually two meals in one, you could say I made two meals for 15 people, impressed yet?!

I enjoyed myself, but I forgot to bring my camera (I wouldn’t have had time to take photographs anyway), so you’ll have to do with your imagination and the photographs of some small things I took home.

It’s important to imagine lots of chocolate and coloured Easter eggs.
I baked croissants and pains au chocolat (I did not make them myself though, just baked them), my nanna and I bought sandwiches and all types of bread and we had cheese and meat (for some of us at least) to eat with them. My gramps made soup and I prepared appetizers with mozzarella and smoked salmon,a quiche with broccoli and mushrooms and ricotta – spinach cakes.
I also fried bacon and eggs, which may sound weird, but I don’t have any problems about cooking meat and serving it to other people as long as you don’t expect me to eat it.

‘Ricotta Spinach Cakes’
makes 4 medium or 6 small cakes

• 100 gr of spinach
• roasted pine nuts
• 2 eggs
• 150 gr ricotta
• grated cheese
• 100 gr of flour
• lemon zeste
• garlic powder, pepper, salt, nutmeg

Chop up the spinach. Whisk together the ricotta and the eggs in a bowl. Add the spinach, the toasted pine nuts, the lemon zeste and the flour. Combine everything and season. Grease 4 medium size or 6 small ramekins.

Preheat oven to 160°C (320 F). Divide the mixture over the ramekins, sprinkle some grated cheese and some extra pine nuts on top and bake for 15 minutes. When done, you can eat them out of the ramekin or transfer them to a plate (which should work out just fine if you’ve greased your ramekins).

Flowers for the host!
I should throw brunches more often, I like cooking for people and taking care of them. My aunt was present too today, her belly has become huge and I was able to feel the baby kick for a couple of times, in less than a month I will be a real godmother!

Happy Easter,
Love, M.

Chocolate Fix

The ultimate solution for all your chocolate cake cravings, even when you don’t have an oven at your disposal:

• 4 T  of oat bran
• 2 T of cocoa
• 2 T of Greek yoghurt
• 1/4 of a banana, mashed
• 4 t maple syrup (or any other sweetener to taste)
• 1 egg
• handful of pecans
• 20 gr of very dark chocolate (about 2 small squares)

Melt one chocolate square (10gr). In a bowl combine the oat bran and the cocoa, mashed 1/4 of a banana and add this as well with 2 T of Greek yoghurt, an egg and 4 t of maple syrup. Chop up the pecans and the other chocolate square. Add the melted chocolate to the bowl with the other ingredients and mix well, stir in the pecans and the chocolate chips. Pour the mixture into one big mug or two smaller ones.

Microwave on high for about 2.5 to 3 minutes. Done and done!
A quick, healthy and extremely tempting substitute for chocolate cake, just for you!

Love, M.

Eggcited

My mum brought out the Easter decoration yesterday!
Lo and behold, the first chocolate Easter eggs in our house.

I don’t know how this works in other countries, but in Belgium we also have ‘normal’ eggs around Easter time, painted in bright colours , which taste amazing!
Everyone knows I’m a bit of a chocolate addict, but during Easter time I don’t even care much for the chocolate eggs, those bright coloured eggs are all want!

Someone once told me they get steamed instead of boiled and that’s way they taste so great. Well, I should really try this and if it truly is the case I’ll never eat a boiled egg again in my life…

after this one of course:

It’s sad how chocolate Easter eggs make me want to eat normal eggs.

And those strange things on the left of the plate don’t have anything to do with eggs, in case you were wondering. Those are wasabi covered peanuts, in their spicy and perfect glory!

Love, M.
Did you see what I did in the title, clever huh! 😉 

Breakfast for Dinner or Dessert for Dinner?

Well, don’t worry cause you can have both!

To celebrate the end of the exams I had lunch with my dad in Leuven today, I had to most amazing mushroom tortellini (of anyone has a recipe to make this, you have to share this with me!).

And the celebration continued during dinner, I didn’t really feel like eating “real” food and since it is snowing again I was in the mood for a damping bowl of oatmeal again.

So I had breakfast for dinner… or was it dessert for dinner?
You decide:

Oatmeal with some milka chocolate with daim caramel, chocolate covered nougat and pretzels. Some way to celebrate my regained freedom huh!

Now I’m going to snuggle with the cat on the couch and I’ll probably fall asleep in front of the tv in less than an hour.

Love, M.