What I Ate Wednesday {summer’s coming}

Tags

arizona ice tea, french toast, greek yogurt, green smoothie, summer, vegetarian, what i ate wednesday, wiaw

Oh my, it’s Wednesday again. And how I couldn’t wait for Wednesday this week. I have to listen to presentations until 8 pm, but afterwards my weekend starts. Tomorrow is holiday in Germany and since I have no classes on Friday the only thing to do is prepare presentations and case studies and enjoy the unbelievably beautiful weather outside.

Due to the sudden arrival of summer, food around here became light, simple and fresh. (And sadly mostly not pictured. I promise to be better next week….)

Green Smoothies are my go to breakfast for weeks and especially when it’s warm and sunny outside they are the perfect thing to devour.

Yogurt mess, anyone? You can never go wrong with applesauce, right Amanda? Put some blueberries and brazil nuts on top and munch away a side of whole wheat cereal.

A few days ago 4 bottles of Arizone ice tea were waiting for me when I arrived in the office. Best co-worker ever? He surely is. What cools down better than an ice cooled green tea with honey!?And the best way to use up stale bread? Make french toast, put agave on top add a side of apple sauce and Greek yogurt and call it breakfast.

Have to run to university now. Hope you all have a beautiful week!

Favorites {yours and mine}

Tags

favorites, popular posts, popular recipes, search engine terms

Skipping the Wednesday party, no post for 5 days – what’s happening here? Me being busy, like always, but also me making time for friends and family. Two important persons in my life are celebrating their birthdays this week (boyfriend and best friend had a good timing) and after studying and working and preparing presentations all I want to do in the evening is chilling out with friends.

But enough of the excuses: truth to be told, I had nearly no good food pictures to share (though there was a lot of good food enjoyed) and decided that it’s a great day to have a little recap of the posts you enjoyed the most and those I liked best, since next month *drum roll* Health Ninja will turn 2!

Healthy Mac’n'Cheese {dairy free and oh so delicious}

Your favorite recipe and who could blame you? If I hadn’t had dinner already I would make a batch right now!

Almond Fig Protein Balls {let’s celebrate the 100}

You like a good party! Good thing that the next anniversary is just around the corner. I should probably start working on a good recipe…

Wednesday Food Musings {plus healthy cookie dough frozen yogurt}

What I Ate Wednesday’s bring the whole foodie network closer together and it is now surprise that this one is under your (and my) favorite posts: I mean greek yogurt, cookie dough and ice cream in one?!

Barbell Workout for Women {grab the weights girls}

Ha! I do also write about fitness from time to time and I am happy that so many of you girls are not afraid of weights. Though I am more into yoga at the moment, I think hitting the weights is a great opportunity to get in shape and women should not be afraid to get bulky by doing so.

The Eggy Oat Revolution

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day and oats are what I eat most of the time – happy to see, that you share my addiction. And I can just recommend my secondpost regarding the topic: An Ode to Oatmeal {my new recipe for fluffy oats}.

The 3 most popular topics I wrote about:

Vegetarian, Vegan & Chinese Food

Those are also the categories I do enjoy to cook mostly from and some of my personal favorite posts are build around the Asian food culture:

Congee 2 Ways {asian comfort food at its best}

Thai Green Curry {ninjas like it hot}

Most popular search engine terms:

what to eat before a 10k; this one refers to my 10K recap and my issues with running on a full stomach – I get sick easily and that’s why I need to consider what food my body digests fast enough to not bother me on the run.

hunger directed eating; I guess if you are interested in HDI you should go through my Intuitive Eating page which sums up my posts regarding this topic.

I also wanted to share a few funny/strange search engine terms with you, but they were so many that they deserve their own post. Coming soon. Promise!

Why do you visit my blog? What would you like to read more about?

Cooking for Friends {isn’t it the best?}

Tags

asian food culture, chinese food, cooking for friends, gongbao jiding, kung pao tofu, vegan, vegetarian

I had some friends over on Friday – one who wanted to taste some vegan cooking, one who lived with me for over a year and is a pretty good cook himself and one who always eats what I make, with the happiest face ever (kisses to Sina, who took this somehow unflattering picture of me making face-gymnastics).

I don’t know anything more fulfilling than cooking for friends or family… probably, having Asian food with friends or family. There is just something about the Asian food culture which makes you feel warm and welcome. Sitting around a table, everyone has his own little rice bowl and sharing everything else in the middle is so  homely and makes you feel a lot closer to everyone at the table, than each having his own separate plate and sometimes (especially when eating out) everyone eats something different without sharing the diversity of tastes with each other.

But enough of the sweet talk – let’s get down to the nitty-gritty: The veganized recipe for Kung Pao chicken was so delicious, I knew from the first bite that I need to share it.

Kung Pao Tofu

(宫保豆腐)

yields 4 portions

(And I made 2 variants: one with garlic, one without – you read right: there are people who do not like Tofu… I would have never believed it myself)

•  2 blocks tofu (extra firm)
• 3/4 cup soy sauce
• 1.5 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1.5 Tbsp sesame or peanut oil
• 1 Tbsp ginger (grated finely)
• 3 cloves garlic (pressed)

————————– 

• olive oil for frying
• 1 small fresh chili or 1 tsp chili flakes
• 2 or 3 multi-colored bell peppers (green, red, yellow)
• 1 cup peanuts

————————– 

• 3 T rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup agave syrup
• 1 tsp arrowroot powder (or starch of choice)
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil *optional
• scallions as topping

First you need to wrap your tofu 2 hours earlier! You need a clean towel for that and wrap both blocks as firmly as you can and let them sit in the fridge for 2 hours. This will press some liquid out of the tofu and make it even firmer than it already is.

Cut the Tofu in cubes afterwards and mix all ingredients from soy sauce to garlic in a huge bowl. Add the tofu and mix until everything is covered with the marinade. Let it soak for around 1 hour, mixing in between.

In a large pan (I prefer to use my Wok for all these steps) heat 1 – 2 Tbsp olive oil and fry the chili, bell pepper (cut into cubes) and peanuts until slightly browned. Set  aside. Add a little more oil and fry the drained tofu cubes until golden from all sides. Mix ingredients from rice vinegar to sesame oil and add to tofu cubes as well as the peanut bell pepper mix. Cook until the sauce is thickened. You can serve this directly or prepare and heat up when your guests are arriving (that’s what I did).

Sprinkle with scallions, serve with warm rice and some quick-steamed greens and you got yourself some happy eaters!

I also made a quick and easy vegan dessert. But I’ll save the recipe for another post. Just a quick glance:

What is your favorite cuisine to enjoy with friends? Do you like to cook for friends or family? Do you prepare the food or cook just in time?

What I Ate Wednesday {food that makes me smile}

Tags

cashew butter, lovechock, pad thai, raw, raw chocolate, sandwich, what i ate wednesday, wiaw

Happy Wednesday, foodies! After a week of two full blown posts I am kind of exhausted and surprised that Wednesday came around so soon Jumping from work to classes to sustainability lectures to marketing club meetings and getting in some valuable family and friends time, it seems impossible to get all the topics on the blog I’d love to share with you. (Like my favorite inspirations regarding self love and body image!) Nevertheless, I refuse to skip today’s What I Ate Wednesday!

First this one: how cute is that? Made me smile… and here’s what else does:
A group of over 200 foodies getting together virtualy every Wednesday sharing there love for healthy and delicious eating. Thanks Jen for throwing this party again and again and love to all my fellow bloggers!

A huge portion of Thai take away: Pad Thai with tofu, chicken and a lot of vegetables. Which makes me really happy, since I had not to cook for two whole meals.

Dishes which are 90% cooked by my rice cooker. That’s why rice congee is eaten a lot around here when times get stressful.

Beautiful filled lunch-boxes (cashew butter nectarine sandwich anyone?) make me smile when I am sitting in the office, dealing with too much work in the time I have and still manage to have a satisfying meal.

And the food, which probably made me smiled more than any other:

Fair trade, organic, raw chocolate with heaps of minerals and an amazing taste.

Containing a surprise message: “My inner child loves to play.” (sure it does!)

And is wrapped in 100% compostable foil. If it wasn’t that expensive, I would base every single meal on lovechock.

Which foods make you smile?

Congee 2 Ways {asian comfort food at its best}

Tags

asian food, chinese food, congee, poached egg, rice, tofu, vegetarian

I promised you a recipe on Wednesday, remember? So finally, thinking about the next WIAW coming around in just two day’s, I managed to sit down and write it. But good for you, I will give you an additional variation, which is probably a little less healthy, but oh so satisfying and closer to the original congee which you would get in China.

(source: http://www.noodlies.com/2012/01/congee-breakfast-woosung-st-temporary-hawker-bazaar-jordan-hong-kong/ )

So what the hack am I talking about, anyway? Congee (let me show off my chinese skills: 米粥 , pronounced “mizhou”) can be best described as porridge made out of rice. The plain dish itself contains only 2 ingredients: rice and water. Usually it is served with additional ingredients, which could be proteins (meat, fish, egg or tofu) and/or seasonings (coriander, roasted peanuts and scallions are typical). In China it is a widespread breakfast dish, but also consumed throughout the day and known as food for sick people. Congee needs to be cooked for hours, which makes the use of a rice cooker quite recommendable.

Traditional Congee with a Poached Egg

yields 2 generous portions

• 1/2 cup white rice (dry)
• 6 cups water

toppings:

• 2 eggs
• pulled beef *optional(I had leftovers, you could also add roasted peanuts for some crunch)

sauce:

• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 scallions
• 1 tsp sriracha
• 1 tsp mirin (rice wine) – can be replaced by 1 tsp neutral vinegar
• 1 tsp honey

Place water and rice in your rice cooker and let steam – this step will take about 1.5 hours. (If you make a bigger batch, it will take longer.) The rice should have a porridge-like consistency. Poach the eggs (which truly is a science – I failed mine, the yolk wasn’t liquid, as I intended – as soon as I master it, I will make a post just about poaching eggs. Until then, just learn from Jenna!) and roast some peanuts. Chop the scallions and mix the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Pour some congee in your bowl, top it off with the poached egg and roasted peanuts (or whatever other topping you chose… only the egg can even be enough), drizzle the sauce on top and enjoy.

Brown Rice Miso Congee

yields 2 generous portions

• 1/2 cup brown rice (dry)
• 7 cups water
• 1 tbsp light miso paste
• 1 medium carrot
• handful dried mu’err mushrooms
• 1/2 cup spinach
• 1/2 cup smoked tofu (cut into cubes)
• 1 soft boiled egg
• 1 tbsp scallions
• sriracha *optional, but recommended

Prepare the congee as described above: brown rice and 6 cups of water -> rice cooker. Broil the mu’err with boiling water and let soak as long as the rice steams. Cut the carrot in small chunks and the spinach in stripes. Add the vegetables and tofu to the rice as soon as all of the water is evaporated, also add the last cup of water. Let steam again. Stir in the miso paste and serve topped with scallions, sriracha and half an egg.

Hope I could get you interested in this slightly different Asian dish! Do you have any recipes, which you brought home from a vacay or stay abroad?

Health Inspirations {work on your body image, girl!}

Tags

body image, dream body, health inspiration, healthy weight, ideal weight, real beauty

You probably heard of my best friend before. I might have mentioned and praised her in one or the other post. And today’s post is not just inspired by her – most of the sources I am pointing out today were passed on by her. So credits to my amazing soul-sister Sina!

I talked a lot about intuitive eating earlier this year and I am still working with that approach myself. Some of you were asking me “How are you doing? I am struggling with intuitive eating a lot and fall back into calorie counting from time to time.” So let me tell you: I do, too. I struggle. I fall back. I count calories from time to time just to realize how free and happy I am when I am not counting. I feel stressed out by asking myself “Am I really hungry now?” before I take a bite of something. And I take a step back and realize that it isn’t about being perfect all the time – being perfect most of the time, is just enough for me. Being happy all the time is far more important to me.

And today I will share with you the most amazing thing I gained from intuitive eating: looking into the mirror without make-up or a pretty dress, just me, maybe after taking a shower and passing the mirror in my hallway, thinking – that’s a hottie, way to go, girl!

That is what makes me smile and enjoy being in pictures instead of jumping out of the frame every time someone tries to take a photo. And that is why I would like to pass on some resources which I find inspiring to enable you to make the first (or further) steps on the way to self love and a good body image.

Healthy Is The New Skinny

I just discovered Healthy Is The New Skinny this morning and I already managed to spent over an hour on this site. The movement connects so many amazing and inspirational women and should be spread throughout the whole WWW!

Get Your Dream Body In One Week

It’s a German source, so you might wanna use the google translator but the post is worth it. Make the experiment and tell me how big of a narcissist you became!

Dove Campaign for Real Beauty

Who doesn’t love the Dove advertisements? I am a huge fan! And they do provide a lot of material on their website. Check it out, you’ll probably find something you can give your small sister, daughter, niece or friends child to spare them the insecurity we had to go through.

Your Ideal Weight (by Sarah Jenks)

<3 Sarah! If you are already on her site check out her “live more + weigh less” and sign in for her newsletter – it’s one of my favorites.

Blondinbella

Isabella dealt with body image her whole life and reached a happy, healthy place finally. But her blog really isn’t all about that – it is about women and success and how to achieve a good balance when it comes to private life vs business.

Fierce Fabulous Free

Soul searching with Nisha? Always!

Gabrielle Bernstein – “Next Generation Thought Leader” & “Spirit Junkie”

Gabrielle is not just a spokes person for everyone who’s interested in exploring her spiritual side, but deals with topics like self-esteem, motivation, how to get what you want…

Marie Forleo

Business, business, business! That is what Maria knows best. For women who want to make the best of themselves and the most of their talents. Her YouTube-chanel is especially recommendable.

I hope you’ll find your Groove with these Ladies and share the Amazingness!

What I Ate Wednesday {pass me the veggies, please}

Tags

asian food, greens, smoothie, vegetables, vegetarian, what i ate wednesday, wiaw

Happy Wednesday! Look at me, trying to make a habit of the pre-running pictures. Oops, it’s a shame when you are not able to hold still and look like a ghost in them… could be kind of cool if I aimed for such an effect, though…

Nevermind, let’s just move on to the food pictures and the heaps of vegetables I am going through on a weekly basis at the moment. Somehow that’s all I crave at the moment (ok, truth be told, there might have been some unpictured chocolate and gummy bear eating … but it’s about the bigger picture, right?).

My beautiful rice congee, which I cooked this sunday for hours. I leave you with the picture and will share the recipe over the next days.

My first attempt to make Turkish style eggplant mousse. First: roasting veg in the oven.

Next: pureeing them in my magic bullet.

Finally: Digging in with some rice and tofu. Concluding, that it still needs to be worked on.

Salad to go. How much I love this salad cup! Filled with everything good and fresh.

And my new breakfast love (re-discovered): place greens, fruit, some oats, hemp protein and nut milk in your mixer.

And enjoy the freshest breakfast possible: Yay, for green smoothies!

Hugs to you all – enjoy your Wednesday!

What’s your favorite summer breakfast? Do you crave more veg when the weather starts to get warmer? Any suggestions on my eggplant mousse?

What I Ate Wednesday {running edition}

Tags

fitness, jpgging, morning run, oatmeal, protein pancakes, running, runny egg, vegetarian, what i ate wednesday, wiaw

Happy Wednesday, Foodies! How’s life? Hopefully a bit less stressful than mine… or should I say hopefully so full of interesting new projects, learning new things, exploring your possibilities, coming together with friends and familiy and getting back into the sports routine? Because, truthfully, I enjoy every minute of my packed-to-the-top days. I mean seriously… is there any better way to start your day with some fresh air and a sweaty shirt?

Check this out, shameless self-documentation:

Me, before heading out for my morning run, filling up my watertanks:

 

… and the sweaty mess I turned into when I came back …That’s kind of a long excuse for why I did not take as many food pictures as I usually do. Hope you still enjoy those I have.

Let’s start with the breakfast for champions I devoured after my run:

Toastie with turkey breast and my fried egg, sunny side up.

Check out this egg yolk porn… with a variety of peppers.

Breakfast for dinner: eggy oats with banana and peanutbutter … btw the green-ish shade comes from the added hemp protein.

One more breakfast: protein pancakes with pb-yogurt-fluff and raspberries

And if you’d like to see something more savory, check out Monday’s post and my secret restaurant test:

What is your favorite breakfast after a morning workout? Does anyone else get as sweaty as me after 30 minutes of running ( I bet after 15 I would have already looked like this)? Do you enjoy being busy?

Juice Reboot {heaps of greens}

Tags

burger, greens, juice feast, juice reboot, juicing, restaurant test, salad, vegetarian, veggie burger

After some days of vacation indulgence, I decided that my empty fridge was the best opportunity to start a juice (and greens) reboot. First thing I did on my birthday morning: hitting the grocery store for veg and fruit and juicing up some

Mean Green Juice

This beauty was made of:

• 4 cups spinach
• 2 cups red leaf lettuce
• 2 cups iceberg lettuce
• 1/2 cucumber
• 1/2 broccoli stem
• 3 apples
• half an orange
• 1 lemon

(makes 3 glasses)

I also enjoyed a lot of my all time favorite juice:

Carrot Apple Ginger Juice

• 2 medium carrots
• 1 medium apple
• 1 thumb-sized piece ginger root

But don’t worry, I am not a girl to deny myself solid food. One meal of the day needed to be more substantial. And it is not the worst that my boyfriend took me out for sushi my birthday evening (including cake for dessert) and I had to test a healthy restaurant chain on Saturday. Favorite side job ever, by the way! Secret restaurant testing is so much fun. Especially if the restaurant is anything like this one was:

Check out the beautiful interior:

The theme is “Hans in Luck”, a fairy tale by the Grimm Brothers. And I seriously felt like having lunch in an enchanted forest.

Even the menu’s looked like small books of fairy tales.

And the food was made exactly as we wished for: Fresh, green and full of taste.

Oh and look: there is a veggie burger hidden under all the salad!

Why had no one told me that rebooting can be THAT delicious? Oh… and boyfriend, would you mind if I take you out to “Hans in Luck” for your birthday?

What is your favorite juice? Have you ever secret tested a restaurant? And If you could assemble your dream burger: what would it be?

What I Ate Wednesday {picture bomb from Istanbul}

Tags

eggplant mousse, fish, hummus, istanbul, macaroons, mezze, paris, seabass, vacation, what i ate wednesday, wiaw

We enjoyed our Istanbul vacation so much! But sadly the best times are over in the blink of an eye. Though I am on the run to the airport and packing the last bits I still really want to take part in today’s WIAW party and share some of my Istanbul eats. Excuse my lack of words, but regarding the time issues I thought that pictures are more important for today. Macaroons at the Paris airport:

Beverages:

Pomegranate Juice

Turkish coffee

Tea on the boat to the Princess Islands

Breakfast breads sold all over the city in those small red wagons.

Mezze love:

my favorite was the eggplant mouse, but you can never go wrong with spicy eggplant or cheese

or hummus!

Wasn’t such a fan of the lamb stew though… toooo oily!

my aunt made the better choice!

Freshly grilled fish at the Bosporus… and what was left of it.

Seabass on the Princess Islands…. best fish I ever ate.

And the luckiest girl in the world after she got her hands on a pear – best dessert ever!

And after all those feasting on delicious (often expensive) and worth-every-bite food, now I need to reset a bit. So juice feasting is on next.

And more yoga…