La-la-lunch

Boring post, just my lunch from yesterday snapped with my cell phone camera.

I'll post more interesting things after the weekend.
A hint: today's shopping will include getting a mini muffin pan and sunday we'll have a cupcake brunch here! They have vegan cupcakes, too! Weeee =D

Raspberry-Peach Smoothie, I love this one!



Rye bread with mustard, red lamb's lettucce, tomato, cucumber & orange bell pepper.



Yumm! Cheaper & healthier option compared to Subway (I knew I'd be in the mood for a Veggie Delight, but since they got my last two orders wrong - once with yogurt sauce instead of sweet onion & once with cheese - I don't think they deserve my money).



And HOORAYYYYY WE WON !!!!!
I honestly expected Germany to lose as everyone else around here did. So it was quite a nice late-night surprise! And to see them celebrating with their fans and jumping around with such joy (especially Podolski) oddly enough made me feel incredibly happy!

Sandwiches, Bagels and a Spicy Tomato-Veggie Soup

A few days ago I had the fabulous combination of PB, Jelly and banana on a rye toastie, which I would've never thought of hadn't it been for some of you bloggers! So thanks!



I also bought a mini Ciabatta with Bear's Garlic... not the best buy. It smelled like feet - and sadly didn't taste much different =(



And yesterday I made a yummy Tomato-Veggie Soup. I put in more chili powder than I had intended to, but as the boyfriend put it it was "a pleasant spicyness"!
My best PB friend brought bagels: sunflower seed, everything and spinach! And it really did taste like spinach =D



I sautéed a big onion and 3 cloves of garlic in veggie broth, added a green and a red bell pepper, cauliflower and broccoli, about 2 cups each, 1 zucchini and a pack tomato puree, two jars of crushed tomatoes and about 3 Tbsp. tomato paste, lots of oregano, some rosemary, paprika and chili powder, salt and pepper. No oil needed =)

Grilled Veggie Bagels, Sundried Tomato Zucchini Mix & Linguine with Pesto

Half the fun is getting there... even if it means you have to sit between bikes!



Amsterdam was so much fun! I went with my best friend, the one I made all the PB birthday treats for. He gets along perfectly well with my sister so we explored the city together and enjoyed lovely hours at Cafés & Bars and the Vondelpark of course, where I also spent my birthday lying in the sun!



Ha ha, loved it!



The parrots were there, too! I woke up, looked out of the window and was like "See, the parrots came to greet you!" "Huh, PARROTS???" Ha ha =p



I also experienced Queensday for the first time. Lovely, great weather, great music! Like a small Loveparade ;)



I did not eat out a lot though, because I had to watch my money. I got this Avocado & Tomato Bagel the first day we got there which was 4.40 or something and very tasty!





I spent lots of money at Albert Heijn, basically living on the typical soft toast-like bread that I spread with a tomato pasta sauce, ready-to-eat salad mixes and fresh tomatoes. Oh, and not to forget the tasty ontbijtkoek!

I was more than happy to come home and find a wrapped Veganomicon upon my birthday gifts =D
I was looking at the recipes and pictures going "Ohhh, I craved something like that all week!" at basically each and everything that contained veggies =p

So as much as I missed preparing my own meals I now miss my sister a whole lot and would happily go a week without vegetables again if it meant I could see her again.
Oh well, I'll see her in two months hopefully!



So after my craving for veggies and the rediscovered love for healthy bagels I finally used my grill pan I got at IKEA and it works so well, I can say I'm in love!

The grilled veggies: eet smakelig!!!



I marinated a sliced zucchini, asparagus, scallions, a can white beans, a jar roasted bell pepper and fresh mushrooms (for le boyfriend) in a Tbsp. olive oil, 3 or 4 cloves of minced garlic and lots of rosemary (fresh aswell as dried) and thyme.

With an everything bagel.



My whole-wheat sunflower seed bagel.





Het waar lekker!

Then I made this a few days ago. I don't know what I should call this. Stir-Fry? Side dish? Anyway, it was good ;)



Long grain white rice, wild rice and some special red rice which I can't remember the name of.
I used 1 zucchini, 1/2 cup asparagus and 1 cup sundried tomatoes cut into small pieces. I mixed the vegetables with 2 Tbsp. tomato paste and 3 heaping Tbsp. of a spicy sundried tomato-walnut paste I had bought, along with black olives marinated in garlic on top. This was pretty spicy! I liked the taste, but my stomach isn't used to even the slightest heat so I didn't feel too well after eating it. I gave the rest to my parents and they both liked it very much, it being spicy in particular! Seeing people happily eating my food and complimenting me always makes me wish I had my own vegan Café/Bistro =) Someday... he he!

After buying fresh basil again I finished off the whole plant in one sitting because I craved pesto. I bought whole wheat linguine because I was really in the mood for pasta.
As for the preparation... I had VwaV, HiaV and a vegetarian cookbook lying open looking at the recipes and in the end didn't follow one.



I used 3 1/2 cups basil, 2 cloves of garlic, 2 Tbsp. pine nuts and 3 Tbsp. grated almonds (estimated, I just tipped them into my blender from the bag) and about 1/3 cup water and a little salt.

Then I mixed under some zucchini sautéed in garlic and topped it off with fresh tomatoes!



This was exactly what I had needed! Pesto never fails to make my day when it's homemade. So much better than the jarred stuff!
The boyfriend ate it too. And you know what? He didn't say anything about the noodles. He HATES (better yet fears for a to me unknown reason) anything whole-wheat like so many people do. Just another proof that What the eye does not see, the heart does not grieve over. Hope the translater gave me the right saying here =p

It's good to be back! Hope everyone's doing good!

Chili Con Vegetales & a simple sandwich

Like many people I have trouble sticking to a recipe. I can't help it, when my eye catches something lying around in my kitchen that appeals to me, I throw it in. Most of the time this is not particularly a bad thing though.

I kind of followed the Chili recipe from HIAV. I used kidney beans instead of black beans and also threw in a few cherry tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, some Pesto Rosso, many many spices(a hint too much chili powder) and a tiny bit soy sauce.



Before going to bed I made myself a simple sandwich. A toasted whole-wheat bread roll with a thin layer of my homemade Onion Cream Cheese(I added some garlic and more pepper), followed by a thin layer of mustard and topped with fresh salad, orange bell pepper and tomato slices sprinkled with fresh black pepper. Sometimes it's the simplest things that are the best.



I went grocery shopping last night and bought regular Tofu along with silken Tofu. I really want to try Scrambled Tofu, because everyone around the blogsphere seems to love it. And either I will give the Tofu sour cream another try or bake something really fancy with the silken Tofu. We'll see!
And I bought chickpeas because I'm dying to try out the roasted tomato hummus recipe. That on a sandwich... I imagine this must be simply delicious!

Pita Pockets with Guacamole Dip

Ingredients
1 ripe avocado
1-2 cloves of garlic (depends on how garlicky you want it)
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 red bell pepper
salt
pepper

1. mush avocado well (don't throw the pit stone away)
2. add the lemon juice and garlic, then salt and pepper to taste
3. mix well with 1/4 red bell pepper
4. now put the pit stone into the bowl since this prevents the Guacamole Dip to get an icky brown color !!!

I served it with toasted whole wheat Pita Pockets I bought at our Bio-Supermarket.



I spread a layer of Guacamole Dip and put cucumber, tomatoes as well as yellow & red bell peppers on it.






I used three cloves of garlic, definitely too much (and I love garlic with all my heart so that's gotta mean something) =p
Actually, I can still taste it, ha ha!