Salad and fruity treats.

It's been friggin cold here lately and there was a snow storm today, so I've been craving and eating lots of soup lately and the only raw things consumed were apples and some salads. Here are a few from a couple of days back though.

Lamb's lettuce, red cabbage, zucchini & tomatoes with green olive tapenade and lots of chives and basil.



Banana, pear, raspberries & a date (gotta get more of those soon, I'm hooked) sprinkled with shredded coconut.



Blueberry-Banana Ice Cream (1/2 frozen, 1/2 fresh, 1/3 cup frozen blueberries) with a pear. This stuff is brilliant, even better than the raspberry one due to no annoying seeds being stuck between your teeth ;)



Well, back to hitting the books. Or should I say book, only 1/4th through the 500-pages one. We finally got the topics for the final exam though, so now I don't have any justification for procastination =p

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 =)

Persian Food

Wow it's been quite a while... but I was internetless for quite some time. Aswell as lazy... ;)

First pictures from Berlin. We went to this vegetarian bistro/restaurant/caterer ALSA and the owner is persian and holy moly his food was extremly delicious. I even liked the rice&raisins combo, something I've always detested.
This was a vegan dish, eggplant casserole with beans, lentils, nuts and whatnot. So fucking amazing!!!



And a mix of salads he had left (we got there at around 4 and almost all the plates were pretty much empty already=good sign!).



Anywho, I finally had some money to buy food. Raspberries are so addictive ♥



Spinach with cucumber, raspberries and a surprisingly good tasting basil dressing (storebought dressings mostly suck... or maybe I just always pick the bad ones).



I've been trying to catch up with your blogs and the last days were simply horrible because I had no food/money/whatsoever and your pictures almost made me cry! And realize what amazing chefs each and every one of you would make (this is not neccessarily the starving person from a couple of days ago talking, he he). Anyone up for inventing beaming and starting a delivery service worldwide with amazing vegan food creations? ;)

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!

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! =)

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!!!

The 100th post screams for CAKE PICTURES!

My best friend loved it!!! (And totally cracked up when I said the word "Seidentofu", ha ha ha! I love you Axl ♥)

She was recommending me to open up a vegan bakery in Prenzlauer Berg (an area where many 'alternative' people live... and therefore the area where most vegan Deli's in Berlin are located already), ha ha!



Next time I'll have to put the cake into a pretty cake box, because she was like "I totally would've believed you had you told me that you bought it somewhere."



I have to admit that this cake seriously was incredible. I'll make another one tonight for my dad because he was in Italy and I still owe him something for Father's Day. This time with chocolate mousse & cherries between the layers.



Yumm, I can't wait!

Cupcake Berlin, Baby Chocolate Cakes, Bulgur dishes & Salads

After days of being absent this is a very random post, just this and that!

First of all: Sunday... what a day!



After wanting to go there for at least three months my buddy & I finally managed to go to Cupcake Berlin.



While my friend chose a Cookies & Cream Cupcake I went with the vegan Raspberry Delight.



I savoured the lonely little raspberry and I could've eaten many more (had it been my call the frosting tops would've been loaded with as many as possible, ha ha)!



I'm not a very big fan of frosting. But that pink buttercream top looked too pretty! I ate half of the frosting because I couldn't stand the taste of margarine anymore at some point which is pretty much all it tasted like.
And Jennifer, look! They have awesome fancy vintage plates like you =D



He got another one with Peanut Butter frosting.



All in all we decided to go there again, soon! The texture of the cupcakes was so light and fluffy!!!

Afterwards we went to Café V, my friend's uncle's restaurant.
I had a mixed salad with grilled veggies (& yogurt-balsamic dressing, not vegan =( but I totally craved this salad... yet I was rather disappointed in myself and felt quite guilty afterwards). I couldn't even come close to finishing it. Doesn't look so big to you?



Well then check out my knees for comparison =p The plate was loaded with lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, grilled zucchini, eggplant & bell pepper, olives, shredded carrots and arugula.



But I have to admit that I ate lots of the incredible tomato-garlic bread they served, because this bread seriously just hits the spot!!



I took the salad leftovers with me, but gave it to a homeless guy on the subway.

Dinner yesterday was delicious - my mom cooked for me! Bulgur cooked in some broth, a tomato-veggie side dish she had left over (this was perfect!) and grilled zucchini, bell pepper and eggplant. I had soy yogurt as a replacement for sour cream and I am honestly still amazed by what a perfect substitute it is (as there is no vegan sour cream to be found around here)!



Iceberg & red lamb's lettuce, scallions, carrot, cucumber, tomatoes and mango.



My best friend came back from Arizona so I baked Vcon's Chocolate Cake again. This time without blueberries, but with raspberry preserves and banana slices between the layers and VCTOTW's chocolate mousse. I'll post pictures some time soon!

I saved about 1 cup of the batter, mixed in maybe 1/4 cup blueberries and tried out my new silicone mini tartlett thingy & made 3 muffin sized ones with the leftover batter.



I'm in love! I'll definitely get a muffin sized version of this, too!



Bananas with leftover chocolate mousse and cashews. Wow, that was delicious!



And another Pancake dinner!
This time I had Cocoa Blueberry Pancakes with maple syrup and bananas because I didn't have anything else.



Dinner a few days ago was bulgur mixed with sauteed onions, garlic, broccoli, orange bell pepper, zucchini and scallions.
Side dishes were baked beans (made them before) and mashed avocado with tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, garlic & lime juice.



We also had a salad of iceberg lettucce, red lamb's lettucce, cucumber, tomato, orange bell pepper, carrot, red onions and sweet corn on the side.



Have a great Thursday everyone! =)
I'll try to catch up with all your posts asap!