Wise words, Ice Cream & Snacks

When I went to the Karneval der Kulturen on sunday I spotted a man in the crowd wearing a black t-shirt that quoted Mahatma Gandhi.

"I abhor vivisection with my whole soul. I detest the unpardonable slaughter of innocent life in the name of science and humanity so-called, and all the scientific discoveries stained with innocent blood I count as of no consequence."

That convinced me, once again, that I'm doubtlessly practicing the right lifestyle.

That said, my boyfriend's getting more and more used to it. Yesterday his friend told him about a place here in Berlin where you can get vegan Döner and he was like "I instantly thought of you! We should go there!" Yep, he knows how to make me smile!
Of course we're still arguing every now and then. He still insists that you can not and were not meant to live without meat (riiiight...). He's become more open to the points I make though.
And since I don't feel like I have enough arguments I figured it's way about time to buy The China Study(and while I'm at it I think I'll get Eat to Live, too). Too bad it's not available in German, because everytime I try to make a statement to someone even now I don't know how to translate it into German so it'll make as much as an impact as it would in English. Know what I mean?

Onto the food, I had a yummy rye bread roll this morning with soy cream cheese (finally I found one, shouldn't use it for baking though because it's rather salty), basil, arugula, tomato and cucumber.



Yesterday I had half a bread roll with cream cheese and a tomato and bell pepper to go with it.



My mom bought these ice cream waffle "bowls" a few days ago and I considered them to contain egg or butter or something, but they're completely vegan =D
You can see Tofutti's Mango & Passionfruit and Chocolate ice cream(you were right Ruby, it's delicious) with crunchy amaranth cereal on top.



I realize that this is rather a snack post, but I've cooked up this dish again because it's just too yummy so that's why there's nothing new.
Hopefully tonight =)

Mexican Pizza makes my night!

The pizza pan came to the rescue last night. And the result did not diappoint!



I felt the need for a change, not the regular broccoli bell pepper pizza again so I looked through the cupboards and the fridge and decided to make... Salsa (or whatever you want to call it)



Ingredients
1 can chopped tomatoes (omit the juice)
4 cherry tomatoes, chopped (ha ha not neccessary, I just found them in my fridge)
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
1/4 cup premade tomato sauce (or tomato puree seasond with a little oregano)
1/4 cup chopped scallions
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
chili powder (about 1/2 tsp.)
salt & pepper, to taste

I topped our pizza with salsa, black beans, corn, yellow and green bell pepper, scallions, a little onion and put vegan mozzarella on my half, the other half was my boyfriend's with regular cheese and additional mushrooms and peperoni.



Mhh, close-up! The crust was so perfectly crispy, just the way I like it!



This pizza was so delicious! I loved the beans and corn, so good!
I have a little salsa left over, as well as black beans so I'm thinking tonight will be the night I'll finally make burritos. I bought an avocado for guacamole and now all else I need is tortillas.

On another note it's my mom's birthday tomorrow. She requested Vcon's Quinoa Black Bean Mango Salad which she couldn't stop raving about ever since we first had it, ha ha =)
And for dessert I think I'll go with another one of her favorites: the delicious berry crisp by the Happy Herbivore!

Cinnamon Rolls, Berry Crisp, Pizza and Spinach Chickpea Curry

So here we go: food from the last days!

CINNAMON ROLLS! Mhh, they were so good! My boyfriend loved them and it's extremly hard to get him to say something like "Wow, they are delicious!"
Success!!! I used Bjorkedoffs recipe!



Spelt pizza crust with Barilla Basil Sauce, spinach, broccoli, yellow bell pepper, tomatoes, shredded zucchini and vegan mozzarella.





Chickpea Spinach Curry from VwaV. It was a little bland and sure did not look very pretty, but after adding more spices it was really good! Too many chickpeas for my taste, but other than that this was quite a success.



Happy Herbivores Blueberry Crisp. Such a quick and berrylicious dessert!!!



With ice cream - my dad's plate.



And the raspberry version, because I was out of blueberries.



And then I got fresh blueberries, yumm!

Baked Bean and Veggie Casserole & a Survey

Mhhh, I had another all veggie meal for dinner. Except for the MozzarelART on top, but this was the first time I tried vegan cheese. Although it didn't melt(luckily Romina had already told me this) it was good, the perfect finish for the dish!

The casserole consisted of a layer of baked beans in salsa (tomato, tomato paste, onion, garlic, herbs) topped with a layer of gently roasted garlicky vegetables (red & yellow bell pepper, zucchini and scallions) and sprinkled with grated vegan Mozzarella. And not to forget delicious green asparagus with salt & pepper on top.



Delish!

Baked Bean and Veggie Casserole
serves 1

Ingredients

for the baked beans in salsa:
1 (1/2) cups baked beans (I used beans from a jar)
1 onion
2 Tbsp. water (or 1 Tbsp. olive oil)
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1-2 tomatoes, chopped
salt, pepper, to taste
thyme, rosemary, oregano, to taste
fresh basil leaves, chopped (optional)

1. in a saucepan sautée the onion and add water as needed to prevent it from burning, add the garlic
2. add the baked beans, tomato paste and the fresh tomato and stir well
3. on low heat cover up for 2-3 minutes
4. add salt, pepper and herbs to taste

for the gently roasted vegetables:
2 Tbsp. water (or 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil)
1 onion
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 yellow bell pepper
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 zucchini
1 scallion
salt, pepper, to taste
thyme, rosemary, oregano, to taste

1. in a pan sautée the onion, add water as needed to prevent it from burning, add the garlic
2. add the chopped bell peppers and scallion, on medium heat keep stirring for about 4-5 minutes
3. add the zucchini (sliced or in chunks) and stir occasionally for another 5 minutes or until veggies have reached the desired consistence
4. add salt, pepper and herbs to taste

combine everything:
- preheat the oven to 390°F (200°C)
- use a casserole dish small enough that the ground will be covered with baked bean mixture
- before putting the baked beans into the casserole dish, add a handful of fresh chopped basil if you like
- once the baked beans are spread out in the dish, add the vegetables on top
- sprinkle with vegan Mozzarella
- put some green asparagus on top, sprinkle with pepper and some salt
- bake for about 10 minutes and enjoy!



And since Cookie Mouse tagged me you'll get to know a little bit more about me now.

1. What were you doing 10 years ago? In 1998?
Let's see, I was in 5th grade. So I guess I was just being a regular kid dealing with regular kid stuff back then. I believe I invested most of my money in stupid teen magazines back then. And I probably started wearing make-up. Horrible make-up choices like: blue eye shadow and dark red lipstick, oh my ha ha!

What were you doing 1 year ago?
My then girlfriend and I moved from Neukölln to Tempelhof and I was basically just busy with my career training as a mediadesigner that had started 7 months earlier.

2. Five favorite snacks?

• Nuts (Cashews are probably my #1, followed by almonds)


• Nut butter (Cashew or peanut - I dip my nuts in it)


• Fruit (apples and pears or berries if I happen to have some)


• Bruschetta


• Soy yogurt or a Smoothie

3. Five favorite toys?

• my MacBook which is called Le Big Mac (after listening to the wonderful Pulp Fiction conversation in the car)


• my Nikon camera, doesn't have a name (yet)


• my Electra bike (clearly "her" name is Carmen) =p


• my crosstrainer


• my Wacom tablet

4. What I like doing:
I really like photography a lot! I mostly photograph objects or landscapes, but I'd love to do more shoots with people. So if anyone happens to be in Berlin one day, make sure to ring my door bell ;)
Of course: cooking and baking!
I also love doing sketches and scribbles and whatnot, but sadly haven't done that a lot lately.
So apart from that it's basically hanging out with people I love and whose company I enjoy and feel is worth my time, listening to music while having mind movies, reading ... and I have to admit that exercising grew to me lately. I'm thinking about starting Pilates again.

5. My bad habits?
Cookie Mouse, I'm sorry to steal some of your answers, but we seem to have the same bad habits.

• laziness & hardcore procastination


• absent-minded


• takes ages to make up my mind


• too much coffee


• cigarettes

Now let's see, who isn't tagged yet?
I don't have the time to check now, so everyone who hasn't been tagged yet grab this survey and let the rest of us learn a little something about you =)

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)!