Juice Junky

Yesterday’s riveting tale of mistaken identity would have gripped  Shakespeare’s interest.

He is certainly known for things or people not being as they seem. Well, my juicer was not what I expected, but after the great let down, I decided to bite the bullet and buy a new juicer to calm my mind and infuse my body with vitamins.

Unfortunately, I had to call the juice party off yesterday and reschedule for today. Due to busy end-of-term schedules, my party for 6 turned into a party for 2. We still had a good time, sipping the juice of carrots, apples, and ginger. Even while we were talking, my mind was back in the kitchen thinking up my next juice.

I think I’m going to become a juice junky.

Although I didn’t capture the first juice. Here’s the second. Not quite the baby’s first breath, but it will do.

Parsley, celery, lemon, cucumber, apple and lamb’s lettuce

Greens galore!

So, now that I have that off my chest, let’s see what else I ate today! It takes a really special person to find interest in what someone else ate. We’re weird, I know.

Breakfast

Apple oatmeal

Lunch

Lamb’s lettuce, cucumber, tomato, mushrooms, vegetarian schnitzel, balsamic glaze

After School Snack

Leftover pimped out frozen pizza from dinner yesterday. Similar to the pizza here, but this time with tomatoes, mushrooms, black olives, goat’s cheese, and tons of Italian seasoning.

Dinner

Dinner was had on the run between another dentist’s appointment (my TMJ night guard is nearly ready) and my school’s annual general meeting. I went to the best falafel place I know and quickly enjoyed the best thing €2.50 can buy. Sadly, I didn’t have my camera.

What did I do beside eat today, you may ask… well…. I organized the taxi to take me to the airport, packed my bags, cleaned the apartment, and did laundry. This was all after work, but before my appointment and the meeting back at school. I’m absolutely wiped out. I’ll be thankful for the 13 hours of traveling.

One more day of school, then I’m off to the USA to see my family and friends! Can you tell I’m a little excited? I can’t wait!

If you don’t hear from me for a few days, don’t worry, I’m just living it up with the one’s I love!

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Juicer Let Down

Hello All!

I’m going to make this a quick post as it’s getting late and I have two new kitchen gadget owner’s manuals to read. Yes, I’m a dork and love to read owner’s manuals. Gotta know all the nifty tricks, right?

Today was a crazy busy day. I took my class on a great field trip to Museum Koenig to see an exhibition on Argentinian dinosaurs. We’ve been studying skeletons this term, seeing skeletons that have been around for millions of years was pretty cool. I think the tour guide was a bit thrown off by some of the bone-specific questions though. Such as, “That dinosaur only has one bone in its forearm. We have two. Which bone does the dinosaur have, the radius or ulna?“

I’ll write more about the museum later. It certainly deserves more coverage!

Today was the big day for me. The day I have been waiting for since the end of January. The day which I acquire a microwave and juicer. Well, long story short, the juicer was not a juicer, but rather an orange juicer. Total disappointment!

You can imagine my sadness.

I had already bought a month’s worth of fruit and veggies and had organized a juicing party for after work.

This little guy did nothing to my carrot, apple, and parsley.

So, how will this tale of heartache end? Will the girl get the juicer? Will the veggies all rot away in a slow and agonizing refrigerator death?

Come back tomorrow to find out!

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End of term test

Congratulations boys (?) and girls! You have made it through your first semester of Eating Abroad! To celebrate this momentous occasion, I’ve prepared a little test!

Good luck!

1. What was different about this morning’s egg sandwich?

a) first time eating carrot walnut whole grain spelt bread

b) first time eating an egg over easy

c) eaten with cheese today

Answer: B) first time eating an egg over easy (and I liked it!) I love the bread and eat it all the time and never eat an egg sandwich without cheese.

2. Why was my lunch not photographed today?

a) I forgot my lunch at home so went hungry today

b) I forgot my camera at home

c) I had digital photography club so didn’t get to eat until 1:30 and was so ravenous I snarfed it down

Answer: C

3. What new addition will be in my home tomorrow, allowing me to eat all these fruits and vegetables before leaving for the US on Friday?

a) I’m getting a juicer

b) I’m getting a new vegan room-mate

c) I won’t eat it, I’m dressing up as the Chiquita banana woman for school

Answer: A

4. What was the biggest mistake of my dinner?

a) The base: pre-made gnocchi in gorgonzola sauce

b) The veggies: garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, frozen broccoli

c) The protein: sardines packaged with olives

d) None of the above, it was delicious

Answer: D

5. What did I think about the movie I watched last night?

a) I’m glad I’m a vegetarian

b) I want to try to eat more like a vegan

c) I’m glad I live in Germany but still want to contact a local farmer to enroll in a box delivery scheme

d) All the above

Answer: D

5. Which recent cooking creation was such a hit that I was required to share the recipe with 5 colleagues today?

a) Vegan Shepherd’s Pie

b) Lexie’s Healthy Carrot Cupcakes

c) Grown-up Grilled Cheese

Answer: B

Please put your pencil’s down. The time is up.

So, how did you do? I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog over the last busy semester as much as I have enjoyed writing. Thank you to all of you who visit the blog, I hope it provides you with ideas, enthusiasm, and a little bit of knowledge about our great big world!

Have a lovely evening everyone!

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Vegan Shepherd’s Pie

After an incredibly fun night out of talking, eating, drinking, laughing and dancing, I’m taking it slow. We didn’t get back until 4:30 so by the time I showered off the bar smoke and got into bed it was 5am. I slept in today until 1:30, had a strawberry banana smoothie to reload, and have been relaxing all day.

I did, however,  get up to one activity worthy of recognition- dinner!

(Sorry for the yucky photos, it actually is a very beautiful and colorful dish!)

Vegan Shepherd’s Pie with a mashed peas and potatoes topping

I was inspired by Susan’s recipe from her blog. I had planned on following her recipe exactly as stated, only to discover  I didn’t have many of the ingredients I thought I had. Here is Susan’s recipe, the changes I made are indicated in green.

2 pounds Yukon gold or red potatoes  about 1 pound of very old potatoes along with ¼ cup frozen peas
1/2 cup soy milk
salt and pepper, to taste
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 large carrots, diced
2 ribs celery, diced, leaves minced and reserved  ½ cup extra mushrooms and a handful of frozen peas
8 ounces mushrooms, diced
2 cups fat-free vegetable broth
16 ounces kidney beans, cooked ½ cup dry TVP reconstituted with water, a splash of soy sauce, and red pepper flakes
2 cups green beans, cut in 1″ pieces
1 1/2 teaspoons thyme
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, minced (or 1 tsp. dried)
1/4 teaspoon sage
2 cups baby spinach leaves, packed   ¼ cup frozen spinach
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons water (or veg. broth)

Scrub the potatoes and cut them into cubes. (I leave mine unpeeled, but if you want you can peel them before dicing.) Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer until potatoes are tender. (I added the peas just before the potatoes were cooked.) Reserve a cup of their cooking water, if possible, and drain. Place in a large bowl, add the soymilk, and mash until smooth, adding a little of the potato-cooking water if they seem too dry. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste and set aside in a warm place.

While the potatoes are cooking, make the “pie” filling. Spray a large non-stick or cast iron skillet with canola oil. Heat it on a medium-high burner and add the onions. Sauté until onions are translucent. Add the garlic, carrots, celery, and mushrooms, and sauté for 3 more minutes.

Add the vegetable broth, kidney beans TVP, green beans, and herbs. Simmer on medium heat for 20 minutes and all vegetables are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste (I added a littlehickory smoke salt). There should still be some liquid in the pan, but if it has become too dry, add a little of the potato-cooking water. Add the spinach and peas and stir until it’s completely wilted. Mix the corn starch with the water until smooth, and add it to the pan. Cook, stirring, until mixture has thickened.

Spoon the potatoes evenly over the top of the filling and sprinkle with chopped rosemary. If potatoes have cooled, put the skillet under the broiler for a minute or two. Serve immediately while hot.

Makes 6 servings. Per serving: 272 Calories (kcal); 1g Total Fat; (3% calories from fat); 13g Protein; 56g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 46mg Sodium; 11g Fiber. Weight Watchers Core/ 5 Flex Points.

This recipe is so filling and comforting.

There is literally nothing but vegetables in this dish, awesome!

Remember how I said above that my potatoes were very old? This is what I meant…

I usually laugh in the face of expiration dates… this may have gone too far.

Alright darlings, it’s time to do a bit of school work then relax some more. I’m planning on watching Food Inc. tonight. I’ll let you know what I think tomorrow!

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Lexie’s Healthy Carrot Cupcakes

On my last birthday, I was given the most amazing carrot cupcakes as a gift. They were light, fluffy, moist, not too sweet… absolute carrot cupcake perfection. These heavenly cupcakes were baked for me by one of my students. Unfortunately, she and her family have since moved back to Australia, but she left me the secret code to her delicious recipe!

I now share this recipe with you.

I think her little introduction is so sweet!

Lexie’s Healthy Carrot Cupcakes

Although I wouldn’t necisarily, call these healthy, the recipe is healthier than others! Lexie forgot to write how much sugar to use for her recipe so I’ve just taken a guess below.

Cupcakes

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• 9 medium carrots, finely grated
• 300 g (2 cups) wholewheat flour
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• 1 rounded teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 300 ml (1 ¼ cup )sunflower oil- I used half apple sauce and half oil

1. Preheat over to 180ºC (350 ºF) and line the muffin tray
2. Beat the eggs and sugar until they are light and fluffy
3. Pour the sunflower oil in and beat for a few more minutes
4. Fold in the carrots and then the flour with the brown cinnamon, baking soda, powder and salt
5. Then pour the mixture in the cupcake baking trays and bake them for about 20 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean

Icing

• 125 g (just over ½ cup) unsalted butter
• 250 g (just over 1 cup) cream cheese
• ½ tsp. vanilla
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar

1. Beat all the icing ingredients for a few minutes until the mixture is smooth
2. When the cupcakes have completely cooled, add the icing on the top

Now enjoy the pictorial

Today is my dear friend Kate’s birthday party. Her real birthday isn’t until next Saturday, but most of us will be on our Easter holidays by then, so she’s bumped up the celebration.

I’m bringing these beauties out for the birthday dinner tonight.

I hope Kate enjoys this edible birthday treat as much as I did.

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3 Day Winner

Third time’s a charm. After two days of absenteeism, I’m back on the third day! Back in the saddle. Ready to talk food.

Over the last three days, much of my food has gone unphotographed. I’ve bearly kept up with this week- just paddling along to keep my head above water. Between more doctor appointments, weird stuff at school, and the preparation for returning to the US for Easter, let’s just say that I’ve been busy.

So, without further adieu, here’s about one third of what I’ve eaten over the last 3 days.

Breakfast

Banana oats topped with flax, hemp, almond butter, coconut powder and pumpkin seeds.

Coconut Kefir Fruit Smoothie

Winning Breakfast…

Banana oats topped with flax, hemp, pumpkin seeds, brown sugar and maple syrup

Lunch

Two of my lunches looked exactly the same so I didn’t head back to the classroom to sneak a snap one day.

School lunch of cheese spaetzle and herbed tomatoes.

The avocado I brought to school was awful and inedible, luckily the school lunch lady helped me out!

Winning lunch…

Leftover homemade pizza with a salad

Snacks

62% coco dark chocolate with espresso

Honeydew melon… well that’s what it tastes like, yellow shell and all

Winning Snack…

Perfectly ripe and juicy purple plum

Dinner

I have severely neglected dinner photos the past few days. I ate out on Wednesday and ordered in last night. Both meals were great. Both were had in such a hungry hurry that I didn’t even snap a photo. I did capture tonight’s dinner though. Not a winner, but still yummy.

Baked sweet potato topped with butter, cinnamon and coconut powder. Vegetarian schnitzel with barbecue sauce.

Tonight I’m heading out to the movie theatre to see Alice in Wonderland. Unfortunately, the original version showing doesn’t start until 11:15, so it’s going to be a late night! Unfortunately, I can’t even sleep in tomorrow since I’ll have to be at school bright and early for our school open house.

Hope your week has been a good one and you all have plans for enjoying the weekend!

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Neglect

Neglect: tr.v. ne·glect·ed, ne·glect·ing, ne·glects 1. To pay little or no attention to

Oops! This is what I’ve been doing to my other blog. The blog that I’m payed to do. The much more complicated and time consuming blog. My class blog. Due to the neglect of my class blog, I have a lot of catching up to do.

The last few days, I’ve been spending my blog time on the class blog, so please excuse my absence. I hope to be posting away here on my fun-to-do-blog again later tonight.

Have a good Friday everyone!!

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Best thing EVER!!!!!

Thanks to the oh so linguistically clever and geographically knowledgeable Sebastian, I’ve just been given a lesson on British colonization and the spreading of exaggerated and unmeaningful terms like “my favorite,” “the best EVER,” “the cutest,” “awesome,” etc. Now, I believe that this British trend has left me reasonably unaffected. Sebastian on the other hand, disagrees. To make his long lesson short, I’ll share with you a map, outlining the spread of the British language exaggerating epidemic.

Please read in your German-professor-want-to-be-voice. “As you can clearly see in this diagram, the small British Isles were quite influential in the spread of exaggerated terms of endearment on the global spectrum. Interestingly, such exaggerations and commonly used phrases were not integrated into the languages of the Islands’ neighbors.”

In honor of my German-professor-want-to-be boyfriend, I dedicate this blog post on the 16th day of the third month of the year 2010.

Breakfast was the best EVER!

My breakfast was so AWESOME, that I HAVE TO break it down for you!

This was the BEST SMOOTHIE I have EVER EATEN!!

• 1 frozen banana
• 1 cup frozen strawberries
• 1 cup Kefir
• 1.5 Tbsp. coconut powder from the best mistake EVER!
• 3ish Tbsp. orange juice
• 2 tsp. chocolate protein powder

Blend until smooth and eat right up!

I was SUPER SNEAKY and added a bit of the coconut powder into the coffee grounds as well. It tasted AWESOME! Like Hawaii in my mouth!

I also ate one of Anne’s A-MAZ-ING quinoa peanut butter granola bars.

This morning went SO FAST and before I knew it, it was time for work.

I spent the morning working out tricks for the SUPER DIFFICULT 8 times tables.

During literacy, I kicked MAJOR multicultural, generational and cross-curricular ass by connecting an 1842 poem by English author, Robert Browning, with a poem by American author, Shel Silverstein, and a song by the Swedish band ABBA. Have no fear, I only played the song by ABBA, not the visual pleasures of the youtube video. My students have LOVED (no exaggeration) the story of the Pied Piper of Hamlin. They know the story forwards and backwards and now also LOVE ABBA.

Extra Credit for the person who can follow my planning between the three media sources. Here’s your extra hint:

My TREMENDOUSLY TERRIFIC Tuesday continued with the most DELICIOUS left-overs EVER!

THE MOST aromatic dhal EVER! All my colleagues were SO JEALOUS!

The school fun continued with a bit of social studies- including a game I created about Roman homes, class fruit snack, and computers.

I was SO GLAD to come home once school was over. Talk about EXHAUSTION!

I LOVE dark German bread with carrots and walnuts! It is SO YUMMY! Topped with a sliced wedge of camembert cheese, DE-LIC-IOUS!

For dinner, I was the BEST GIRLFRIEND EVER! By the time my Genius-German-professor-want-to-be boyfriend came home from work, I had homemade pizza dough, sauce, and sliced fresh cheese and veggies waiting for make your own pizza.

His and Hers

Because it is SO mentally EXHAUSTING to talk think write like this, I’m going to end my adventure in British exaggerated terms of endearment RIGHT NOW!

Before going, I must make one thing clear I LOVE the inspiration for this post SO MUCH! He is MY FAVORITE, EVER! REALLY, I SO MEAN IT!!!!!

Question: Do you fall under the power of the British language exaggeration epidemic? What phrases do you overuse? I say apparently way too much, apparently.

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Trial and Error

Happy Monday Everyone!

I hope your work week is off to a superb start.

My Monday was busy, as always! Let me tell you all about it!

Breakfast

Started the day with some banana oats in my new bowl!

My normal bowl of oats was topped with berry granola, 1/2 banana, flax, hemp, and a spoon of peanut butter.

Had a great morning with the kids despite the dark and rainy day. I usually find it harder to keep my energy level up when it’s raining. Unfortunately, this affects my students more than it actually does me. Luckily we were all happy and energetic this fine Spring-rain day.

Lunch

Raw red pepper hummus, tzatziki, broccoli, red peppers, cucumber, carrots, zucchini, Arabic bread.

During digital photography club today, the kids printed out two of their favorite photos, backed them on card stock, then cut the photos into puzzles. The perfect activity for a rainy day!

This afternoon went fast. We did some catching up rather than a proper PE lesson but I’ve promised PE later in the week. I tutored after school then headed into the rain to run some errands.

Stop #1: The expensive grocery store near my home to pick up the heavy/ bulky items I don’t want to carry all over town with me.

• Olive oil
• paper towels
• coffee (on sale)
• Milk
• Yogurt and kefir

Stop #2: Indian grocery store to pick up spices I’ve recently run out of. Spices are much cheaper here compared to regular grocers. I also grabbed some unplanned items!

• cumin
• paprika
• oregano
• tamarind paste
• coconut fairy dust (unofficial name)

Stop #3: Public library to return an overdue book. Since the book was borrowed from another library through my library, I had to pay overdue fines for both. Oh, and since the book was on a waiting list for someone else, I had to pay even more. 1 week over due= €7. Yikes!

Stop #4: Bioladen, nope still no almond milk, chia seeds, or affordable brown rice syrup. Walked out empty handed.

Stop #5: Aldi

• veggies (Aldi won over all other grocery stores in Germany for having the best organic food)
• tofu
• tea
• cheese

Stop #6: dm, the local drug store  minus over the counter medicine. In Germany, you must have a prescription for everything, even ibuprofen or cold medicine.

• dish soap
• new rubber gloves
• puffed wheat cereal
• Agave

After shopping, I hopped on the bus and headed home.

All day I’ve been thinking about making Anne’s 5 Minute Peanut Butter Granola Bars. I’ve had her recipe starred for weeks and have been slowly collecting items for the mix. It is because of this recipe that I first bit the bullet and bought brown rice syrup, only to accidentally knock it over the next day. The puffed wheat I bought earlier today, yup, that was for this recipe too. It wasn’t until I reread Anne’s blog post that I realized she had another granola bar recipe. Cranberry Quinoa Peanut Butter Power Bars. Since I had all the ingredients on hand, and 1 cup of quinoa to use up, I swapped plans and baked the Quinoa bars instead. My only changes were halving the recipe and using honey rather than brown rice syrup, almond butter, and adding a bit of vanilla and ground hemp.

Mine turned out a little more wet than Anne’s but they still taste delicious! Thanks for the recipe!

While the bars were baking, I attempted to make  coconut butter with the coconut fairy dust I bought at the Indian grocery store.

I figured that starting smaller would help the coconut “butter up” faster and save me electricity and time. Live and Learn. The powder was so fine that nothing really happened. Perhaps it was too dry, even after adding 2 tsp. of coconut oil.

This is what we call Trial and Error. Luckily my error only cost me €1.50 and still tastes like coconut heaven even in the powdered form.  I’m already thinking of ways to use this coconut fairy dust. I have visions of coconut flavored coffee and smoothies …

After posting a comment about eliminating pre-made food from my diet, I reached into the depths of the freezer and pulled out a yummy looking salmon fillet wrapped in leek sauce and puff pastry. Ok, I did say that making homemade food is just as easy as some of the prepared stuff… but this doesn’t fall under those categories. I rule an exemption.

Salmon, leek sauce, puff pastry and steamed broccoli

Dishes are clean, breakfast is ready for the morning, and I’m off to bed! Night!

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Flea market Frenzy

For 5 long months, I’ve been patiently awaiting this day. It’s official, the flea market season in Germany has begun!

Today the Bonn Bad Godesberg Antik and Trödelmarkt kicked it all off! Before you delete me from your google reader, you must understand that flea markets in Germany are like nothing you could imagine in the US. Our American antiques would be considered gently used in Germany.

Every well organized booth is breathing with history. The hidden treasures tell stories hundreds of years old. There is nothing like it!

Unfortunately, today was rainy, cold, dark, and dreary- not at all how I had imagined this glorious day! Luckily not even rain could stop the vendors from coming out! Although the it did prevent my camera from making very many appearances.

Before the flohmarkt began, Sebastian filled me up with a delicious breakfast.

1 poppy seed roll with cheese and a hard boiled egg, 1/2 sunflower seed roll with almond butter

By the time I made it to the market, it was pouring down. Luckily, I was prepared with my gym bag so waited the storm out while sweating on the treadmill, pumping some iron, relaxing in the sauna, and getting squeaky clean. I even enjoyed a cappuccino in the gym today!

Then, out to the antiques!

I was on a mission to find some new dishes. I’ve noticed my oatmeal pictures are all beginning to look the same. Most of the vendors wanted to keep their dishes in sets, but I was able to convince one family to sell me two lovely soup bowls.

I can already imagine my oatmeal nestled between the little handles.

Once the rain started up again, I decided it was time to go home, but not before picking up my favorite Arabic equivalent to baklava and a flat bread for tomorrow’s lunch.

Rainy weekend = busy bustling kitchen.

I whipped up some avocado chocolate pudding. This jar is heading Kim’s way!

Raw Avocado Chocolate Pudding

• 2 avocados
• 1 banana
• 1/4 cup almond butter
• 1/4 cup sunflower seed butter
• 1/4 cup coco powder
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 3/4 cup agave
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp. coconut oil

Put all ingredients into a food processor and blend until whipped and creamy. Refrigerate.

I also put my food processor to good use making hummus for my lunch tomorrow.

Raw Red Pepper Hummus

• 3/4 red pepper
• 1 cup soaked chickpeas
• 1 Tbsp. water
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 4 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 6 tsp. sesame seeds
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. chili powder (I like it hot, use your own judgement)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 Tbsp. dried basil

Put all ingredients into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.

For dinner, I continued the Indian theme with Red Lentil Dhal

I loosely followed the recipe from HappyHerbivore only adding 1tsp. lemon juice and substituting some ingredients

½ cup red lentils

2 cups vegetable broth

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp cumin  ran out so used 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds

1 whole tomato, chopped (with juices)

3 ounces tomato paste  2 Tbsp. tomato paste

2 whole garlic cloves, minced

1 small onion, diced

1 tsp paprika

1 tbsp ground ginger 1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and quartered

a dash of cayenne pepper  red pepper flakes

1 tbsp coriander

2 tsp garam masala

Instructions:(From happyherbivore)

In a medium pot, saute onions and garlic in 1/4 cup water until translucent. Add spices, except garam masala and coriander, and cook for 2 minutes, adding more water if necessary to prevent sticking, burning or drying out. Add lentils, broth, tomato paste, tomatoes and coriander. Cover and turn heat to high. Once boiling, reduce to low and simmer for 15 minutes, or until lentils are cooked (they will expand and turn orange). Add garam masala and stir to combine. Cover and set aside for 3-5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Sebastian has a fear of lentils so I had this delicious dinner all to myself! I ate the dhal over quinoa and have enough of both for at least one more meal.

Now that the evening is coming to an end, it’s time to bid farewell. I have a skype date with my parents!

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