Salads, Soups and Oatmeal

Thai Curry (coconut milk, curry paste, soy sauce, zucchini, champignons, fennel, carrots, sauerkraut, tofu, bell pepper, broccoli, scallions, red onions, garlic etc.) over romaine & lamb's lettuce and cherry tomatoes.



Some tabbouleh mix over romaine & lamb's lettuce, cucumber and cherry tomatoes with a free soup mix on the side (with the Thai Curry leftovers mixed in).



And breakfast this morning. Oatmeal with cinnamon, ginger, a tsp. maple syrup and peanut butter, 1/2 mashed banana, fresh blueberries and 1/2 pear.

Back in Berlin

Home sweet home... I've missed it!
And I noticed that I missed it a lot more than I thought I did now that I'm back. The dirty air, the bitchy people, the angry faces, the fact that you feel like you actually live in Turkey, the wide streets and sidewalk, the ridiculously small fietspaad, the dog shit everywhere, the smell of Döner on every corner, the late night supermarkets, the ability to drink as much beer on the street as your heart desires, everything!

Oh and of course the fact that there are more than 2 supermarket chains. And the fact that I have two organic ones in a 2 minute walking distance away from home. Stocked up on vegan cookies, crackers, mango strips and all kinds of fruit and yogurts haha!

And since school started I figured I'd need some energy to concentrate (plan didn't fan out though, I was tired as hell and not listening at all...). Spelt müsli with dried pears and raisins, topped with plain soy yogurt, apple-mango puree, fresh apple & banana slices and dried cranberries.



I can't even recall when the last time was that I had breakfast so early in the morning. Realized I don't like eating so early. Give me coffee and I'm in heaven! Oh yeah fuck, I have to start buying coffee again. Means I'll drink much less now that I have to pay 1€ per cup. So I'll probably go from around 10+ cups of coffee a day to around 3 or 4. I know that this is supposed to be a good thing, but I feel like someone who gets their baby taken away from her, haha!

Anyway, I'm glad to have my kitchen back which means finally getting my hands on an oven again. Ah, the simple things =)

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! =)

Weekend Eats!

What do you get when you have no regular soy milk left to make breakfast with? That's right -- Latte Macchiato Oatmeal with Cherries, Banana, Nectarines and maple syrup!

Luckily the macchiato soy milk tasted fantastic in combination with the chosen fruit and syrup!



Raspberry Pancakes... OH SO GOOD! Especially with überdelicious strawberries and banana on the side!
This was quite a pancake weekend. I had these for breakfast on Sunday. Saturday I had carob blueberry pancakes again with lots and lots of honeymelon. They were gone before I could snap a picture!



Bulgur with a zucchini-tomato sauce - my mom cooked this so of course it was delicious (I love the typical mom's-seasoning-taste in her sauces)! This is also the first time I had bulgur and I must agree with everyone else that it tastes great!
I like it better than CousCous (here's an unknown fact about couscous... they didn't add the 2nd -cous until 1979! hahaha I laughed so long about this =p Friends lovers will get it) and will have to pick up a pack tonight.



Then at some point during the weekend I made Gazpacho.



And had it with the last chickpea cutlet, mustard-yogurt dip, red beets & cucumber.



And a Honeymelon-Kiwi Yogurt Smoothie with some flax meal I made - so yummy! I love the thickness of yogurt smoothies... I could've eaten this one with a spoon. I made another shake with honeymelon, kiwi, banana, strawberry and soy milk which was not so good. The soy milk made it taste way too sweet, the banana was pretty overpowering although it was the amount of no more than a Tbsp.! Oh well, I'll keep on experimenting nevertheless.



From my mom's leftover zucchini-tomato sauce & my leftover gazpacho I created the filling for Cannelonis and Lasagna. I forgot to copy the pics onto my USB-stick so I'll post about it tomorrow. Enjoy your day everyone!

Fruit Infusion, Black Bean Burger, Frozen Yogurt & Blueberry Chocolate Cake

Yesterday I enjoyed this colorful fruit medley consisting of strawberries, watermelon, nectarines, kiwis and apples throughout the day.



Started in the morning and put it on top of a delicious berry soy yogurt I recently bought. I also added half a banana... you can see the leftover half crying over the loss of her better half at my photo blog.



For lunch I reheated a black bean burger and had it with cucumber, tomato, avocado and lamb's lettucce drizzled with a mustard-agave-lime dressing and made some more mustard-yogurt dip because it was a rather dry burger. But still a very very satisfying yummy dish!



And for dessert I had fruit salad of course ;)



Oh and the berry soy yogurt I bought - I froze it! I need more of these ice things, IKEA carries them for 2 € so I'll have to make a stop there soon.
Then I'll be able to enjoy individually made frozen yogurts during the hot days, yay!!!



A few days ago I made Vcon's Lower-Fat Chocolate Bundt Cake, but added a cup of blueberries. The cake was extremly delicious. Very chocolatey, yet not at all sweet - just perfect!



I brought a few slices to work and they loved it! I brought more the next day because they kept fighting over the last crumbs, ha ha!

Lemon Corn Pancakes

Yumm, these were good! Inspired by the Lemon Corn Waffles from VwaV I came up with the following.
Topped with black currant jelly and blueberry jam this was a fluffy yet crunchy and very fruity breakfast!



Ingredients (yields 3 pancakes)

4 Tbsp. whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp. corn meal
1/2 tsp. baking powder
pinch salt
1 Tbsp. apple sauce
2-4 Tbsp. water
1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp. soy milk
juice and zest from 1/2 lemon (or 1 lemon, depends on how lemony you like it)
1 Tbsp. agave syrup

Peanut Butter Invasion

First off here's a pic I meant to post in the beginning of March, but totally forgot in the mess that is my images folder ;)
Anyway, I pretty much had the same breakfast today: a pear, Blueberry Raspberry Pancakes with applesauce, blueberry sauce and maple syrup.



And now onto the birthday baking. I apologize because we were in a hurry and when we arrived at his place I honestly just didn't think of taking more food pictures although there was A LOT of food. His mom made many turkish dishes. I had the vegetarian ones: couscous and hummus. And even though her hummus was perfectly prepared I still don't get why so many seem to go nuts over it.

But now I present you the best chocolate cookies! I am not kidding. If you're into the combination of banana, peanut butter and chocolate you will love these! If you're not into the banana taste simply use another egg-replacer.



They were actually supposed to have a PB core inside, but we were out of peanut butter and made only the chocolate cookies. I'll post the full recipe though, they are totally worth it!

Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Munchies

Ingredients (makes 32 cookies)

Chocolate Cookies
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup vegan margarine, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup peanut butter (I used crunchy)
1/2 banana, mashed (or egg-replacer for 1 egg of choice)
1 Tbsp. soy milk
1 tsp. vanilla

1. stir together flour, cocoa, and baking soda, set aside
2. in a separate bowl, mix margarine, sugar, brown sugar, and peanut butter
3. add mashed banana, soy milk, and vanilla, beating well
4. beat in as much flour mixture as possible using a mixer, stir in the remaining flour mixture
5. form into 32 balls, about 1 & 1/4 inches in diameter, set aside

Peanut Butter Filling
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 Tbsp.s granulated sugar

1. beat together powdered sugar and peanut butter until smooth (knead by hand if necessary) and shape into 32 balls
2. preheat oven to 350°
3. slightly flatten a chocolate dough ball and top with a peanut butter filling ball, shape the chocolate dough completely around the peanut butter dough, roll into a ball and repeat with remaining dough
4. place cookies 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking pan
5. bake for about 8 minutes or just until set

The cookie surfaces should be slightly cracked. Cool on pan for about a minute. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Can be frozen for up to 3 months!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cake.
You were right Jennifer, this crunchy but soft cake was fantastic!



Peanut Butter Chocolate Rice Crispy Bars from Have Cake, Will Travel!



The Peanut Butter Cinnamon Rolls which my friend liked the most.
They looked pretty much like those, but we didn't have time left for icing but had already mixed powdered sugar, cinnamon and vanilla sugar together and just put that on top which lead to the picture - lots of sugar, but where are the rolls?



And not very photogenic, but damn tasty! Crunchy, sweet and perfect with the raspberry jam in the middle: Peanut Butter Cupcakes from VwaV. We just added jam and 71% chocolate pieces.



All in all this was a huge success, everything was very well recieved and I was called the MacGyver of baking because everyone was like "I'll call you when I want to bake and am missing an egg so you can tell me what to use instead!" Ha ha =p

I wanted to make a pie with silken tofu, too. But the stores were closed on Friday and when I wanted to buy it on Saturday I looked at the recipe again to read that it was supposed to cool in the fridge overnight. So no pie, but there was wayyy to much food anyway.
Talking about way too much food, I just came back from my best friend who's polish and her mom made Pierogies & Borscht, roasted rosemary potatoes, red beet salad and lamb's lettucce with oranges... SUCH a filling and wonderful dinner!

Classic Breakfast Food

Of course I'm talking about oatmeal ;)



Mhhh, this one was so good. The pear was perfectly ripe and the whole combination was highly satisfying!

Ingredients
1/4 cup oats
2/4 cups + 2-3 Tbsp. soy milk
1 Tbsp. sugar (or sweetener of choice)
1-2 Tbsp. flax seeds
dash cinnamon
1 pear, chopped

I let half the pear cook with the oats and added the other half when it was done. and sprinkled it with almond slices.



This one's a little more fancy. Or let's say it just included more ingredients than the Pear Oatmeal.

Ingredients
1/4 cup oats
2/4 cups soy milk
1/2 mashed ripe banana
1 Tbsp. sugar (or sweetener of choice, I'm out of agave atm)
dash cinnamon
1 apple, chopped
walnuts
toasted almonds

Luckily I still had some Blueberry Sauce from VwaV that went perfectly well with this breakfast!

I'm off to enjoy the beautiful weather now! The sun is shining and I can't wait to cruise on my bike again!

It's Waffle Time!

I made VwaV's Lemon Corn Waffles with blueberry sauce yesterday for breakfast and I can only reccomend them to anyone who likes lemon and corn meal. They were lemoney, crunchy and overall delicious! I didn't take a picture though because my batteries were empty.



This morning I made Vegan Dad's waffles and Jennas Banana-Walnut Waffles.
Since I made the regular waffle batch first I was left with 1/4 cup too little flour, added some corn meal but the mixture was still runny. Anyway, I had to scratch it out of my waffle iron, but the taste was still wonderful! Thanks so much for providing the recipe Jenna, I'll definitely give them another try once I have flour in the house again =)



My messy breakfast table after breakfast(as you can see I made too many regular waffles, there were more left over than the picture shows): green tea, some pear slices, berries, waffles, blueberry sauce, powdered sugar...

I'm on my way to meet some friends now, but I'll definitely comment on your blogs tomorrow. I've been checking out your new posts, but haven't had the time to comment yet. But as always I gotta say: your dishes are awesome!!!

The Plan, Raspberry Oatmeal, Chocolate Temptation Challenge and finally... Mozzarella!

The plan:

Three days each week I will consume vegetables only. Every dish I eat will have to consist of vegetables. As in soups, stir-fries, roasted veggies, mashed veggies... anything really. As long as it's vegetables only! No bread, pasta, rice, whatever.
That way I hope to try out more veggies I have never had yet. And to be honest, I love all-veggie meals!

I will starting next week, because I plan on making pizza, lasagna and black bean burgers this weekend. After that it's veggies-only time!
Anyone joining? =)

And the reason why I'm so eager to make pizza and lasagna this weekend is that last night I finally found vegan cheese!!!
You guys can't imagine how excited I was! Now I can have pizza and Lasagna with 'cheese'!



Besides having this veggie idea and drooling over my Mozzarella find I craved oatmeal last night.
Remember: never judge an oatmeal by its color!



It was delicious, but I have to admit that it didn't look very appealing.
I used the same recipe as in this one, used 2/3 cups raspberries, maple syrup instead of brown sugar & agave syrup, didn't put in any nutmeg and topped it with cashews.

The fair trade chocolate I bought last night for Cookie Mouses Chocolate Temptation Challenge! I decided to buy an Espresso chocolate. Can't wait for Easter Sunday now ;)



Still in my bag (for now)!

Apple Cinnamon Almond Oatmeal

Oh my, this tasted like Christmas morning!

Apple Cinnamon Almond Oatmeal



Ingredients
1/2 cup oats
1 cup soy milk
1 heaped tsp. brown sugar
1-2 Tbsp. agave syrup
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 apple, chopped
1-2 tsp. sliced almonds

1. put all the ingredients in a saucepan (cut 3/4 of the apple in small chunks, keep 1/4 of the apple & almonds for decorating)
2. bring to a boil, turn the heat to low and under stirring let simmer for 5-10 minutes
3. sprinkle with sliced almonds and apple slices

I will try Veganomicons Black Bean Quinoa Mango salad later, I can't wait!!!