Lemon Lime Corn Waffles & Veggie Ricotta Lasagna

May I present you vegan waffles that were requested by a person who thinks soy milk will kill him.



That's right, my boyfriend asked for his own waffles (Jennifer, you can do the I-told-you-so dance now ;)) when he arrived at my apartment and saw me eating these Lemon Lime Corn Waffles with the most delicious strawberries & blueberries.



He had a few bites and declared he'd go for vegan waffles aswell. I made his with oil instead of apple sauce and white flour so they wouldn't be too healthy and scare him away =p

And here's a picture of the yummy Lasagna my mom & I made when my sister & her boyfriend arrived.



I had my vegan corner and the rest had regular lasagna. We used soy creamer instead of bechamel sauce and nobody noticed. I also crumbled my basil tofu ricotta inbetween the layers and nobody complained. I LOVED my part of the Lasagna, that's for sure!

Yumm yumm... and yes, I eat my Lasagna with applesauce ;)



Last night I made another dinner requested by my boyfriend: Potato Soup!
I had my mom's potato soup in mind which was very creamy and mild in flavor, but of course I improvised (as I pretty much always do) and got out something totally different, yet extremly delicious: Curry-Potato Soup!

I served this to my parents, my sister, her boyfriend and my boyfriend and everybody LOVED it! You know, when I started cooking my sister replied with an "Ew." when I said I'd be making potato soup, my mom said she wasn't hungry yet when dinner was ready everybody raved about it! Seriously, stuff like that makes me so happy, ha ha! I mean how often do you cook something and everybody likes it? I'll post pictures later, because I made a huge pot. Leftovers, hooray!!!

Other than that I want to apply for an internship in Amsterdam. I have found three agencies I'll apply at and I specifically favor one of them. Oi, please cross your fingers, I am so nervous! I really really want to do this, it would be like a dream come true!

Apparently I made an impact.

"I can't even imagine having a girlfriend who eats meat anymore! I got all puzzled when you told me what a meat lover your best friend is... it just seems so hard to believe now [that a girl likes meat]."

My boyfriend randomly said this the other day, ha ha!

Ping Pong Paddles & Vöner

"When he gets going he can rattle a headboard like a sailor on leave!"

Ahh, the joys of living in an apartment building! 

Last night my boyfriend and I spent some quality time listening to my new neighbour downstairs fucking his girlfriend like a madman, ha ha! Seriously, the walls & ground were literally shaking and it sure did sound like lots of spanking action was going on (I sensed a ping pong paddle was involved). 

She sure did get some good lovin' from what I heard... which was so loud that we might just aswell had been sitting right next to them. Kinda made me wonder if they were just really really reeeally loud or they can hear us just as well... 

Anywho, now for those who want to read about food instead of loud sex I am proud to say that, inspired by Mihl, I made a trip to Vöner. 

And I got THE LAST ONE! It was 22:15 (they close at 22:30) and there was basically nothing left so I asked if it was still enough for one Vöner. It was. 

Seconds later the guy behind me who knew the woman ordered a Vöner, too. She made a sad face and apologized. He was like "Noooo, I've been at work all day and was so looking forward to this!" She made him a fancy burger instead, all good!

I ordered it with garlic sauce and hot sauce. The hot sauce was amazing! Extremly hot though, my tummy ached afterwards. I think the garlic sauce may have been made with tahini. The consistence kind of reminded me of the tahini sauce they put on falafel.

I apologize for the mess that I call "pictures". Cell phone camera at night... need I say more?

Now I've tried Seitan only once before and wasn't too blown away by it. This time the taste was great, but it were huge chunks (not the thin slices you get in real Döner), but that was only because there had been so little left over that there was no way to make thin strips out of it. While chewing I was like "This kind of reminds me of Leberkäse!" Once again I realized I'm not a fan of meat substitutes, especially if it's big chunks like that. 

Since it was so chunky and therefore too much for me and my boyfriend didn't want them (he tried the Vöner and loved the sauces and said the Seitan was quite alright, too) I started picking out Seitan strips. 

And honestly, I felt bad! Because when I looked down I figured the guy behind me could've easily gotten his Vöner. And Mihl could've gotten more Motor.

I'm off to make Lasagna now since my sister will be here soon! She's gonna stay for a week, hooray!!!

Ricotta Filled Pasta Shells With Beets & Borscht

What a perfect lunch! I had craved this for aout a week now and finally made it: pasta shells filled with VwaV's Tofu Basil Ricotta with chunky beets and borscht.



This time I pureed some beets to make it a little thicker.



Yummm!

Cocoa Chocolate Chip Banana Waffles & Italian Inspired Veggie Tomato Stew on Brown Rice

Oh man, for dessert last night I made - you guessed it - WAFFLES again! Sadly no picture since I was charging my batteries.

I can't help it but get excited everytime I say the word waffles, ha ha! I look up into the air and look like Spongebob...



I made Cocoa Chocolate Chip Banana Waffles.
Had them with maple syrup (heavenly) and fresh raspberries, banana slices and blueberries (whatever comes after heavenly, this was it)

Ingredients (for 2 waffles)

3/4 cup flour (I use spelt)
2 heaped Tbsp. natural cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup soy milk (I used Soy Macchiato which gave it a lovely coffeeish flavor)
1 Tbsp. mashed banana (I used about 1/4 of a big one)
2 tsp. maple syrup (more or less depending on the sweetness of your milk)
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (optional)
2 Tbsp. chopped chocolate or chocolate chips

This was chocolate heaven on a plate. Seriously, waffles combine everything awesome: crispyness/chewyness of cookies and doughyness like pancakes or cupcakes.

I know I will make these again! Probably tonight, because how else could I use up the leftover half banana? Ha ha! I'm also thinking of cutting up cherries and throwing them into the batter... mhhh!


For dinner I cooked up some brown rice and threw together a bunch of vegetables to accompany it.

I used
- 2 cans of tomatoes in juice
- 2 chopped onions
- 5 crushed cloves of garlic
- 1 huge zucchini, chopped
- some leftover frozen italian vegetable mix which fit very well (it was zucchini, onions, string beans, bell pepper, mushrooms (eh!) and black olives seasoned with oregano)
- 1/2 cup frozen spinach
and seasoned everything with thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper.

It was very garlicky, but not in an overpowering way. Very delicious, the rest agreed with me!



My dad asked my mom for Parmesan cheese, but there was none. I couldn't really feel for him because I had tons of nutritional yeast to sprinkle over my food ;)
Seriously, sprinkling nooch on stuff makes it so much better, at least if one's looking for a cheesy kind of flavoring.



My boyfriend even asked for another serving at 1 AM. Ha ha! Luckily I still have a small serving leftover for myself tonight.

Chocolate Blueberry Lemon Corn Waffles

The WAFFLE HYPE continues!

An adaption of VwaV's Lemon Corn Waffles turned into Chocolate Blueberry Lemon Corn Waffles by adding about 2 Tbsp. blueberries and chocolate chips each. The batter turned out a little thick though, but they tasted good nevertheless!



My mom got me elderberry jelly from her trip. So sweet! And it was quite good, too!



I had my waffle with raspberry jam and the elderberry jelly because I was all out of fruit.



Gotta get back to work! I'll check your blogs & comment later. Oh, good morning and happy monday, btw!

Chocolate Chip Ginger Waffles & Lemon Corn Waffles

The 40 € I spent on my new waffle maker/sandwich maker/grill were well invested!

Today as a pre-dinner snack (odd I admit, but I craved some yummy waffle-berry action) I had Ginger Chocolate Chip Waffles with selfmade apple-mango puree, red grapes, blueberries and raspberries.
The combination of ginger and chocolate really has become a new favorite of mine ;)



I used Jennas recipe for Chocolate Chip Whole Wheat Waffles, using spelt flour, a Tbsp. of apple-mango puree instead of oil, an additional Tbsp. corn meal and 1/2 tsp. ground ginger (definitely could've used more).



They were devine!



I wish I had my own Niles at home who'd bring me a plate like this to bed every morning!



Yesterday I invited my Dad over for some Lemon Corn Waffles (from VwaV).



Lots of fruit on the side (honeydew, watermelon, cherries, blueberries, raspberries, apple, grapes and banana) and a soy macchiato of course...



... aswell as strawberry jam... (can't you just feel the crispyness from looking at this picture?)



... and apple-mango puree (1/4 cup mango chunks blended with 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce)



Nothing beats those crispy crunchy fantastic Lemon Corn Waffles!!! Especially with blueberry sauce as she recommends.

I'm off to cook soon. My mom's coming back and I'll make Pesto Spaghetti (they also taste incredible on their own) with Pesto and my standard salad: lamb's lettucce with mango and roasted sunflower seeds!

Hope you had a nice weekend! =)

I can foresee an addiction to Scones here...

Alter Schwede, have I been missing out!



After putting a scone recipe to my to-try-recipes about 5 months back I never got around to try them. Too busy, not in the mood, out of some required ingredient... yadda yadda!

But yesterday I craved some sweet snack because I resisted and didn't buy my beloved Schoko Haferlinge (Quit Now Challenge).
I rediscovered a cookbook I got back when I was 14. It's called 1001 Keks Rezepte (Cookie Recipes) and I wanted to remake another favorite store bought cookie: Spelt Ginger Cookies with chocolate chips.
The cookbook contains about 8 different ginger cookie recipes, but all of them require cooling the dough for at least 45 minutes and up to 24 hours. It was close to 11 pm already, so this was out of option.

Then I remembered an appetizing recipe at Isa's blog for Ginger Chocolate Chip Scones. My mind was set! I made half a batch and had three straight out of the oven, ha ha! Truth to be told, when it comes to sweets I have no self-control. I could've easily eaten the other three - my head definitely wanted to - but my tummy was full as I had eaten my leftover Equilinia & Veggies not long before.



They were delicious! Only thing I would change next time is add more ginger and make them flatter to get more of the awesome crispyness.

Had another one for breakfast yesterday morning. They taste much better fresh & crispy so next time I'll freeze some unbaked scones so I'll be able to have fresh ones within minutes! Yeeehaaa for Scones =D

[edit] I made them again last night. This time flatter with more ginger and baked them for, oh I don't know maybe 40 minutes!? I lowered the heat at some point and they came out extremly crispy but had lost a lot of the ginger taste.

I also made Lindsay's Carrot Cake Cupcakes. This time with 1/2 cup less applesauce, some ground cloves and an additional 15 minutes in the oven.

I used my new silicon muffin "pan" (after buying a mini version first). They are slightly bigger than the usual muffins and SO EASY TO TAKE OUT! I love how you don't need to grease them and they still come out perfectly easy. Nothing's left in the pan!
My cupcakes often used to stick hardcore to the liners, so much that you were only able to eat about half of the muffin because the rest stuck.
Well, not anymore =D



My best friend will come over later for Coffee & Cupcakes, yay!

Pasta Squares with grilled Asparagus & Zucchini, Basil Mint Cucumber Yogurt Dip & Messy Equilinia with Slow Roasted Veggie

(two posts in a row from various days where I was either at work and forgot my USB-stick at home or I was at home and my internet didn't work)

I purchased these Spinach-Leek Pasta Squares last week and had two left over aswell as half a jar of pasta sauce so I used my leftover veggies and made myself a delicious dinner last night.



Although it was only two pasta squares I felt so stuffed afterwards. One would've been sufficient as they are filled with a mixture of tofu, flour & potatoes all of which fill you up quite well!

The zucchini & asparagus were grilled on my newly purchased 3-in-1 Grill, Sandwich- & Wafflemaker.
I still have a waffle maker at home, but it's my mom's... and I ruined it (whoops) aswell as a sandwich maker that my sister took to Amsterdam with her. Last time I was there I considered taking it back with me, but it didn't look very appealing (she wasn't using it anymore either). So this was a very good purchase =)
The grill works like a charm, it's so fast and easy. I just hope my boyfriend won't get the idea to buy meat and grill it on there... *waggles finger* It was hard enough for me to let him use my non-stick perfect pancake skillet for his burger patties... I always fear my pancakes might taste like meat at parts. Ha ha, das ist Paranoia, mhh hmmm mhhhh!



The Basil-Mint Cucumber Yogurt Dip was great! I think this would go great with some fresh baguette or crackers. Sadly I didn't have any.



Ingredients
1/4 cup soy yogurt
1/3 cup chopped cucumber
~ 10 mint leafs, chopped
~ 10 basil leafs, chopped
dash salt, black pepper & cayenne pepper

The slow roasted vegetables were so good I made them again this week. This time with more red onion and 2 cloves of garlic.
To go with it I made Vcon's Messy Rice (with an addition of cayenne pepper which everyone but me seems to have... now I do, too and I must say 'I liiiiiike'), but with 7 Grain-Equilina (a mixture of brown & wild rice, spelt, oats, barley, rye & wheat, used it here before) instead of white rice. Mainly because I didn't have any.



It was a nice dinner, the perfect balance of grains and vegetables with a hint of spicyness.

While the Equilinia was cooking I realized I didn't know the exact cooking time and when I took the box out of my cupboard to check the quinoa pack fell straight at me, top down and open. And it was a new full pack. Quinoa everywhere, ugh!
That left me cursing and smacking cupboard doors for a while... it was worse than when I dropped the open bag of mustard seeds because it was only a few Tbsp's (annoying nevertheless), but I assume I had about 4 cups of quinoa splattered in my kitchen.

Banana Chocolate Chip Bread / Mini Muffins

Yumm yum yum!



Everyone who raved about Vcon's Banana Bread wasn't lying! It's great (although a tad bit too sweet). I shared some with Spongebob who was clearly satisfied with the result =p
Yeah, I love Spongebob! I wouldn't go as far as Marc Jacobs and wear him on my arm, but I do love my little Spongebob and Patrick dearly ♥ I'm ready for motion! Watching Spongebob always makes me happy, he he!

I didn't add enough chocolate chips though... but then again this came out more bread-like than I had expected (probably because I only knew Banana Cake before) so to have only a little chocolate chippy here and there probably won't kill me. It tastes great with some strawberry jam and fresh banana slices on top!

I took a slice to work with me yesterday and enjoyed it with red grapes.



Last night I was getting the munchies and (here comes the missing chocolate in again) totally plucked the mini muffins to pieces in quest of finding more chocolate, ha ha!
But the leftover pieces will go great with some yogurt and fruit - sounds like I'll have a trifle soon!

Cookies, Snacks, Lunches, Dinner & Fruit

I've been trying more store bought cookies: the midget one is a gluten-free carob cookie and tastes, well, not very good. The Chocolate Chip ones in plastic taste awesome though!



Such milky chocolate chips and a yummy crumbly chocolate center. These are delicious!!!



Washed them down with hot & foamy cocoa latte. 2 Tbsp. cocoa powder with hot regular soy milk & 1/4 cup soy macchiato milk and foam.
♥ I love drinking cocoa through a straw!



Another lunch/snack from some day.
Seitenbacher chocolate cereals & oats with cocoa soy milk (2 Tbsp. cocoa powder plus soy milk) & strawberries.



Boy, and this was by far the best lunch I've had in a long time!



Pita pocket, grilled in a non-sticking pan with raspberry preserves, banana slices, shredded brazil nuts and pieces of 85% chocolate. With red grapes on the side, of course ;)






Probably not exactly eye candy, but look at the gooey goodness going on there (and on the plate, ha ha)!



On Saturday I finally baked something I had been wanting to make for a long time!



All seemed so well... the top was sticky, the way it's supposed to be.



And it sure did look right!



But it was way too sticky. The piece in the photo remained unfinished, it was just too heavy. Too bad though, I really craved some Ontbijtkoek!
I guess that means you can't replace molasses with the same amount of sugar beet molasses. Oh well, I'll ask my sister to bring some when she comes here.



Yesterday I made slow-roasted veggies (bell pepper, carrots, fennel, asparagus, zucchini) and with quinoa (haven't had it for quite a while) for dinner.



The veggies were sooo delicious! The red onions were caramelized... oh my, so good!



Ingredients
2 bell peppers, sliced
1 red onion, sliced
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 zucchini, quartered
2 carrots, quartered
1/4 of a big fennel bulb, sliced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
handful of green baby asparagus
rosemary, oregano
salt, pepper

1. preheat the oven to 320° F
2. chop all the vegetables
3. in a baking dish combine the bell peppers, carrots, fennel, onion, garlic and drizzle with olive oil, mix well & sprinkle with herbs and salt & pepper
4. after 30 minutes in the oven add the zucchini and asparagus, stir again and add some more salt & pepper (if needed)
5. another 30 minutes in the oven et voilà, dinner's ready!



"Dessert"... I've discovered red grapes as you can probably tell since they're in almost every picture in this post =p



My fantastic new Magic Bullet made a smoothie: watermelon, banana, raspberries, blueberries, nectarines (all frozen) and a splash of soy milk.



A White Bean Stew (white beans, carrots, zucchini, red & yellow bell pepper, tomato puree, onions, garlic etc.) I made last week. Topped with leftovers from my mom's bulgur salad (bulgur, tomatoes, cucumber, yellow bell pepper, tomato paste, parsley, chili etc.) which went very well together!



I'm looking forward to bake Banana Bread tonight & getting home in general. Work is so boring and I would much rather go home and keep on cleaning my apartment since I had a deep-cleaning phase yesterday... my kitchen almsot sparkles (which it usually never does... erm) and I still have some leftover energy lingering around!

Anyway, enjoy your start into the week! Hope you'll have a great day!!!

Chocolate Chip Oat Cookies

They're Vcon's Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies. Delicious, delicious! I just had one for breakfast ;)



Go make some!!!

Lately I've been addicted to Schoko Haferlinge and wanted to make my own version. So far I still like them better than the Vcon ones though. They were more neutral and on the crumbly-crispy side (but I guess all American Cookies are supposed to come out chewy so I didn't expect them to taste like my new favorites).
I added some cornstarch to the batter and doubled the baking time to get crispier cookies. I was also out of vanilla extract and used 1/4 cup less sugar.
Next time I'll try relpacing some of the oil with a little applesauce and make the cookies smaller and flatter so they'll hopefully be Lizzy-crispy enough when they're done!