Strawberry Dream

Hi,

Do you like smoothies as much as I do? If the answer is yes, then you'll love the following easy recipe. Today I want to share a strawberry smoothie recipe with you. This smoothie isn't only delicious, but also healthy. The ingredients I used are for two to three people.

Ingredients:
three cups of almond milk (750ml)
two handfuls of strawberries
three teaspoons of chia seeds

Instructions: 
- Put the ingredients into a blender and blend everything until smooth.
- If necessary, add more almond milk to get your desired consistency.
- Optionally, you can also add two tablespoons of soy yoghurt.

I hope you like the quick and easy recipe.

Bye for now,

Nicole

Food Diary Amsterdam

Hello everybody :)

As Lena and I have been to Amsterdam from Friday until today we decided to blog about the food we have eaten there. We were really excited to try some traditional Dutch food but unfortunately I didn't find anything vegan except fries. However, you can check out Lena's post to see what she has tried :)
We went by train and left on Thursday evening. On Friday morning we arrived in Amsterdam so I will start with lunch on Friday.


Friday, 27.03.2015

Lena has known from a friend that everyone eats fries all the time in Amsterdam but we weren't prepared to see a fries stall every four meters wherever we went. So of course this was the first thing we tried and they were way better than those at McDonald's ;)

In the evening we went to a little Italian restaurant. I had Spaghetti Puttanesca which are Spaghetti with tomato sauce and olives, artichokes, asparagus, paprika and capers. The dish was really good but the portion was quite small and therefore also priced too high with nearly 12€.

Later that evening we went to the Happy Hour at our youth hostel and decided to try out a typically Dutch shot called Dropshot. This is a shot of liquid liquorice. We didn't know that before however, because if we knew I think we wouldn't have tried it! It didn't taste that bad actually, a little bit like Jägermeister.





Saturday, 28.03.2015

We had breakfast at our hostel and there was a large buffet with quite a wide range of food to eat. I actually had two more slices of bread and a cup of tea after the serving you can see here but forgot to take a photo :D
I ate the slices of bread and the roll with strawberry jam, apricot jam, Zwergenwiese Paprika spread which I had brought from home and the last slice I buttered with margarine and sprinkled with chocolate sprinkles, which was my vegan version of Hachelslag.

For lunch we just bought a snack in a supermarket because we weren't that hungry after the huge breakfast. I had bulgur with chickpeas, radish, leek, raisins and goji berries. And yeeees, this is a spork! :D I was delighted when I found one in that supermarket!

Between the meals I had an apple and raw bite cacao bar while strolling through the streets of Amsterdam.

For dinner we went to a small Dutch cafe but as I said before, they didn't have any traditional dish that was vegan. So I ordered a tomato soup and a potato salad. The soup was delicious and also the bread tasted heavenly good.





Sunday, 29.03.2015

We had breakfast at a youth hostel again, a different one however, as there were no beds available for another night at the first one. I had toast with strawberry jam and raspberry jam, a cup of black tea and a glass of orange juice. I couldn't eat more because we got up really early to get into the Anne Frank museum and I can never eat much when I have to eat before 9 o'clock in the morning.

For lunch I had a big focaccia with tomatoes and spinach and a cup of tea because it was freezing cold. We bought this at a really nice restaurant and shop called la Place.

In the evening we went to an Italian restaurant again. I had ravioli ai funghi con tomato sauce and a chamomile tea. Again the Italian dish was pretty expensive, I think I paid about 10€ for it.






Monday, 30.03.2015

On Monday, our last day in Amsterdam, we had the same breakfast as on Sunday. I forgot to take a photo so I'll just show you that from yesterday. That time I helped myself to two more slices with orange jam as it was already half past nine :P

When we walked through the famous street market I couldn't resist this delicious looking (and tasting!) smoothie. It was a smoothie made of spinach, bananas, apples and oranges.

Later we had a quick lunch at an vegetarian fast food place called maoz. They had fries and falafel sandwiches there. Lena took the fries and I had a small falafel sandwich. These were definitely the best falafel I have ever eaten! I could choose between a white and a whole wheat bread and then there was a big buffet of vegetables and sauces I could put into the bread, without any limits. I ate a whole wheat sandwich with falafel, tomato and onion sauce, lettuce, carrots, cucumber, cauliflower and some unidentifiable violet vegetable.

Soon after that we already had to go to the railway station to catch our train to Düsseldorf. At the train station we had to wait a little bit so I bought some yummy grapes.

On the train I ate a muesli bar while reading Stolen from Lucy Christopher :)










Once we were in Düsseldorf we had to wait two hours until our train to Vienna arrived. We went to McDonald's where Lena had a salad and I ate this focaccia with olives that I brought from la Place in Amsterdam.

After that we had tea at Starbucks. I chose my favourite tea: Earl Grey with soy milk. Yummy :D





So that's everything I ate in those four days in Amsterdam :)
I hope you enjoyed reading and looking at the pictures. 

Have a nice evening,
Larissi ♥

Savory Seitan

I have quite a strange relationship with food. I do not only enjoy eating, preparing or buying food, I even like to only look at it. I just love the colours, the smell, the texture and of course the taste of different food items. On the other hand I also try to eat as healthy as possible in order to provide my body all nutrients and enough energy. Having tried many different diets and lifestyles together with the fact that I simply adore all kind of vegetables, made me end up as a vegetarian, but I tend to cook vegan meals if I prepare them for myself. This works best for me and my body, so that I feel the most energetic, dynamic and motivated I have ever felt in my entire life. One reason why this diet works so great for me is that I simply adore carrots, tomatoes, eggplants, celery,... and as well as starchy vegetables like rice, potatoes, bulgur, buckwheat and quinoa. However, sometimes I just like to add something with a bit more protein to my meals. Most people only think of tofu when it comes to vegan protein, but there are a lot more options, such as beans, lentils or seitan.

Sei...what?

Seitan! Seitan is made from pure wheat protein, better known as "gluten". It was traditionally used by Zen-Buddhists as a substitute for meat and therefore is a meal of Chinese and Japanese origin.

Attention!!! If you suffer from celiac disease or if your body has any other issue with digesting gluten, then you should not try this recipe!!!

There are basically two different ways to prepare seitan. The more common one is to buy whole wheat flour and rinse it with cold water until the water runs clear, so that only the gluten is left. This can be quite tricky, so I am going to show you the other option.

You will need:

- 250g of gluten
- 250ml of water
- 2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1.7 liter of vegetable broth
- 2 tsp. soy sauce
- approximately 100g of tomato paste
- ½ small onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, crushed

• 
  

At first, combine wheat gluten, salt and garlic powder in large bowl. 

Add water and the soy sauce and knead the mixture until a dough forms. You may need to add more water if necessary. 

Continue kneading the dough in the bowl until its consistence turns elastic.

Cut the dough into smaller pieces and place them in a large saucepan.

Now add the diced onion, the tomato paste, the garlic, and enough vegetable broth to cover the seitan. 

Bring everything to a boil over medium heat, before reducing the heat in order to let it simmer 30 to 45 minutes, until the seitan is firm.

Now remove everything from the heat. It is important to let the seitan cool down in the vegetable broth, as it soaks up the flavours over night. 

The seitan is now ready to be steamed, baked, fried or used in any dish that ordinarily requires meat. Feel free to play around with flavors and shapes!

Enjoy!