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!

Raw Strawberry Banana Pie and Rosé Champagne

I love it when my dad gets alcohol as thank you gift from his patients, because my parents happily (most of the time) share it with me.
Yesterday I hung out on the balcony and drank this delicious rosé champagne with strawberries (talk about perfection) as my parents shared the raw pie (I've had mine the day before).



The "crust" consisted of ground almonds and agave syrup. I think I put in a little too much agave, but I want to give raw pie making another chance anyway, this time using more nuts and seeds for the crust (I only had ground almonds on hand).
I laid banana slices on top, spread them with a little mashed banana mixed with vanilla extract and topped it off with a layer of strawberry slices.
I've got to say that even though it wasn't mind blowing I'll definitely make more raw pies in the future and hopefully perfect the crust making soon. Nuts, seeds, fruit... what's not to love when all this combines to a delicious dessert?



On Saturday I made Canneloni following this recipe. Except I didn't follow it correctly because I missed something very important: adding 3 cups of water... whoops!
That said they came out a bit dry and very salty. My parents had it with crème fraîche and were totally happy with it (it was really salty so I guess they used quite a lot of crème fraîche to balance it out). I on the other hand poured some tomato puree over mine to reduce the saltiness a little.

And now here comes... the first time I used soy crisp and I have the following to say: it tastes pretty damn real, consistence and taste like wise.
My mom came home "Did you cook...? Nooo it can't be... but it smells like... did you cook meat?" Ha ha! And my boyfriend, a meat lover, also said that it tasted like the real deal, BUT he would've preferred vegetable Cannelonis. In no way did I ever expect to hear that from him, but hooray! Veggie ones it'll be next time. I think I'll use the leftover soy crisp next time I make Chili to give it more texture.

And I am very sorry that I'm totally behind commenting, but I'm so busy at the moment I really don't know where my head stands (German saying "Ich weiß nicht wo mir der Kopf steht"... probably something completely different in English -- just checked, translator says "I don't know whether I'm coming or going." sounds weird to me, but oh well) =p
I'll catch up on commenting as soon as I can!

I wish you all a great start into the new week =)
Don't melt away!!!

Meant to be.

I am convinced that nature's plan was from the beginning on to have people eat peanut butter and bananas together.



A few dashes of cinnamon and I was in snack heaven!
In that particular moment it was seriously better than any chocolate, cookies or cakes - and that's gotta mean something when I say it, ha ha.
So a big Hooray for finding a new favorite snack... I was set on thinking that I didn't like bananas that much and was an apple-girl, but I think this combination will have me buy bananas on a rather regular basis from now on =)

Carob Blueberry Pancakes = sweet & comforting dinner

Yesterday I had planned to roast some asparagus and have it with tzaziki and baked beans.
But the cupboards where the beans usually are were completely empty (seriously, not even a single jar was left) when I went into the store so I went to the other bio market and accidentally got white beans in tomato sauce - only to discover at home that they contain honey. Wtf? Honey in beans?

Anyway, I had the idea of making spring onion pancakes (I still must do this some time!), but I was actually craving something chocolate-y and sweet.
So I whipped up my own carob blueberry pancakes (I don't have ED&BV so I improvised and surprisingly made just enough batter for 3 perfect sized pancakes) and topped them with banana slices and nectarine chunks (it was so perfectly ripe & sweet, yumm!).



The other half banana was mashed (there were a few frozen blueberries left in the bowl hence the color) with a little agave syrup and vanilla extract.

A Crispy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie that deserves its praise!

Celine, you are the best!

For the first time last night I tried a cookie recipe that resulted in a crispy, not chewy, cookie.
I LIVE FOR CRISPY COOKIES =D
Chewy ones are nice, but I remember having my first American chocolate chip cookie and thinking "Are they kidding me? The cookie is almost raw!" German cookies are rock hard, so I was really surprised, ha ha!
Come to think of it, maybe this cookie was supposed to turn out chewy and I simply used too little maple syrup!?



Ruby's picture totally caught my attention and I had been eyeing Celine's cookie recipes for a while now, I just couldn't decide which one to try.
But after I read what Ruby had to say, I knew I had to make it.

[...] the peanut butter cookie from the Chicago Diner. It's one of the most astoundingly tasty cookies/desserts I've ever had, and Celine's cookies taste just like them. Only Celine's version has chocolate chips, which translates to an even better cookie.

Sadly the bottom was burned. I tried scraping it off at first, but then thought screw it and happily gobbled it up. And the recipe results in 2 big cookies which is just perfect - the other one's waiting at home to comfort me after work!

I also had some of my mom's nut muesli and pimped it with chunks of mango, nectarine, kiwi (all covered up sadly) and banana slices. Then I added a few Tbsp. soy yogurt, mixed it with a squirt of agave syrup and topped it off with unsweetened apple sauce, a few raisins, almonds and flaxmeal. Delicious!!!



Work is crazy today, I can't wait to get home, relax and comment on your posts.
Have a nice day everyone!

Linguine & Kamut Pasta in Avocado Cream Sauce with Asparagus & Broccoli and Grilled Veggies & Potatoes with Tomato-Onion Baked Beans

Yesterday after a long hot day outside I came back home and found a perfectly ripe avocado waiting to be used. I didn't feel like making guacamole so I mashed the avocado, mixed it with 2 Tbsp. soy creamer, a tsp. lemon juice and seasoned it with salt & pepper.



Then I cooked the rest of the Linguine and added the recently purchased kamut noodles. They taste wonderful - how I love whole wheat!
In the meantime I cooked some broccoli and asparagus, seasoned with lots of minced garlic, salt, pepper, a little oregano and a dash of nutmeg.

I tossed everything together in a bowl, added two chopped tomatoes, a few fresh basil leaves and sprinkled on some nutritional yeast and pine nuts.
I'll have the leftovers as a cold noodle salad tonight =)

A few days ago I had the following... and the beans were incredibly good! I used what was left in the jar (about 1/3 cup) and I really wished I'd have more.



Anywho, I just sauteed a medium onion in a Tbsp. water, added a clove of garlic and the baked beans, 2 Tbsp. tomato paste, salt, pepper and 2 fresh tomatoes.



And this is the first time I had a yellow zucchini. Nothing too special about it, my grocer just happened to carry them one day.

Onto the baking. I'm having PBJ sandwiches around the clock it seems and I figured I might be able to losen my cravings if I made PB cookies. I halfed the Crispy PB Cookie recipe from VwaV and got out 7 cookies. Thing is, my natural peanut butter is rather runny (although all it contains is peanuts) yet I didn't add more flour. This lead to a very crumbly cookie. Like be-careful-taking-it-off-the-rack-crumbly, as you can maybe tell from the picture.

I had it with a few Tbsp. unsweetened applesauce. And yeah, I ate the cookie with a spoon =p



Now I'll go back to work and enjoy my first watermelon this year for lunch... SO SO GOOD!!!

Purplelicious Oatmeal, Pink Cucumber Soup & Chickpea Cutlets

I made a delicious oatmeal with alpro's wild berry soy milk, cinnamon and frozen blueberries.
Talk about eye candy! Oh, how I love purple food!



Then I made a cold cucumber soup with red beets, soy yogurt, dill and parsley. I had cooked potatoes on hand which I wanted to add, but somehow totally forgot about.



And I had a good laugh when it turned out - once again - that Isa was right with her prediction in the chickpea cutlet recipe introduction text - that it'd be famous on blogs!



My mom had the cucumber soup while I finished the chickpea cutlets I had made in advance for today (after reading that they taste even better the day after) and asked if she could have one.

She took a bite and proclaimed "Delicious! You can start mass producing them!" Ha ha! Another person hooked on the famous Veganomicon cutlets. I'll buy more chickpeas today and make about 20 cutlets to freeze for my mom & me. It was her request and she reminded me again this morning not to forget the chickpeas =p



She said she especially liked the texture. "Much better than all those veggie patties which are so crumbly they always keep falling apart!"

To go with it I had some lamb's lettucce and tomato drizzled with mustard-agave-balsamic dressing and soy yogurt mixed with mustard.



A very pleasing meal!
I can't wait to have the other cutlet tonight. I'll make yellow grilled zucchini and bell pepper to go with it. And maybe either tzaziki or homemade tomato ketchup. We'll see!

Also on my to-do list: black bean burgers! I need more protein!