Salad deserves more praise then it gets...

So yesterday I spent my day making a great variety of raw food dishes. And while it's really fun and interesting to slooooowly roast things into the perfect consistency and blend up delicious snickers-like pies (that one tasted divine, just saying) it often gets very heavy. Lots of nuts, seeds and coconut oil. Which are all really great but not really a meal on their own. When I have my raw food days I tend to eat a lot of healthy desserts (not that I don't do this otherwise but still…) which leaves me with insane cravings for greens and vegetables during the evening. So after a day filled with indulgence (also know as "heaps of chocolate in all it's raw forms") I whipped up this salad…

Or well I didn't whip it… I chopped, peeled and tossed it. So much greens, so much vegetables! And pine nuts, because they are really crunchy and yummy!

I served this with copious amounts of water and a dressing made with avocado, garlic and lemon juice! A very fresh and crispy ending to a great day!

Now I am a salad enthusiast and eat it in some form every day. But the salad in itself, the spinach, rucola, lettuce, kale and all the other leafy greens out there deserves so much more praise then they're getting! They are so good for you and there is a leafy green for every occasion!

If you have a hard time getting enough leafy greens then I strongly recommend throwing some spinach in your morning smoothie! Easy way to get a cup or so first thing in the morning!

Have a great easter everyone!

A day of liquids!

My "liquid only day" truly did what it was supposed to do! It gave me back my energy and general excitement for life but also made my hungry. Not just hungry for food (even though that was a nice feeling after being sluggishly full for days) but hungry for cooking, learning and exercise! Since I was only consuming liquids I didn't do any intense exercise though! I'll save that for when I am more experienced with fast and the different varieties of it. I did some really great yoga though!

So since this was my first time doing something like this I decided to post pictures of my drinks and quickly go through what I had in them!

Breakfast consisted of a smoothie...

… that contained strawberries, milk, avocado and banana! Really delicious and put together in two minutes. The fact that we lacked spinach made me kinda sad though, since I was really looking forward to a huge, green smoothie first thing in the morning. But as I got a taste of this I decided that I would do just fine even without spinach!

For lunch I had something warm, more specifically this soup…

… that contained broccoli, peas and the spinach that I went to obtain. Deliciously green and a serious health bomb! Might post the recipe for this wonderful and wholesome soup when I have the time to snap some better pictures!

A few hours after lunch I felt kinda low on energy so I made a juice…

… that consisted of the broccoli stalks that got left over from the soup, some carrots and a few oranges. Really nom and really refreshing, just what I needed in order for me to keep on studying for another few hours.

Later during the afternoon I started to get a bit hungry again so I made a smoothie that would serve as a pre-workout snack since I was planning to do yoga within half an hour or so.

I threw some coconut milk, cacao, unsweetened protein powder, a banana and some spinach into my blender and prayed for the best. It turned out really nice and really boosted me for my yoga!

After my yoga I spent the evening chilling with my little sister and as we were watching yet another horse show I made myself an evening snack…

… which may not look very pretty (since it was dark) but it tasted divine! There is some spinach, banana and milk in there in case you were wondering. Really simple and easy!

So that's about it for today. I have really gotten my spirit back and I feel ready for the two long days that is about to come. Seems as if I have a tendency for taking on just a tad too much work… I have to learn how to say no! But that's for another day!

Tomorrow I am planning on breaking my liquid fast with banana pancakes and then I will move on to a potato salad made with heaps of steamed veggies! Aaaaand… then I don't really have any further plans, except for heaps and heaps of raw fruits and veggies of course!

Liquid fast tomorrow!

This weekend and today I've felt a bit "meh" about the entire food thing. Which is incredibly unlike me! Usually I look forward to the next time that I start to feel hungry so that I can think up another yummy recipe! But not this weekend… and definitely not today…
The fact that I've consumed way too much is probably the reason till why I feel so sluggish and tired. My head has been acting up as well. All the things that I eat are super duper healthy but my sugar free chocolate does contain heaps of fat. Which makes my usually balanced diet not so balanced. I am usually fine with a day or so of unbalanced (albeit healthy) eating but this weekend and during the end of last week things just got out of hand. With good reason, I mean who has the time and energy to think about how balanced their diet is when they have a massive test within 72 hours? No me at least. And I usually crave chocolate (more specifically homemade sugar free almond cups) when I am cramming for an exam. So that's what I ate. And it was delicious. But now I ate too much of decadent foods that I usually only have in moderation and ended up feeling slightly icky. Time for some cleansing!

So I figured that tomorrow I'd just take a break from solid food and consume only liquids tomorrow in order to regain my passion for cooking. I will drink green smoothies, juices and probably eat some soup since it's still rather cold here in Sweden! I am thinking broccoli and spinach soup…

Here I come liquid fast! May you bring my love for cooking back to me!

Eating the rainbow!

With an addition of chocolate, of course. Life wouldn't be as good without heaps and heaps of chocolate in all its shapes. Since I make my own chocolate its always sugar free and raw, which is just a huge bonus seen from a nutritional perspective! And also a huge bonus seen from the perspective of my, way too sensitive, stomach...

Now even though I have consumed a considerable amount of chocolate today my breakfast happened to be chocolate free! But not fruit free! I guess that yesterdays low intake of fruit is what caused me to crave it like crazy today.

My breakfast was positively delicious, even though it lacked chocolate, and consisted of an apple layered with mashed dates and almond butter. And some sundried mulberries on the side! Completely raw breakfasts always make me feel so energized and full of life!

Studying on the other hand, makes me feel nothing but tired and stressed. So naturally I procrastinated it by working out, then realizing that I was lacking bananas so I ran to the store to buy some. Now I was actually planning on having a cooked lunch but as I walked into the store I saw that both the grapes AND the strawberries were cheap! And all of a sudden lunch also turned out to be completely raw!

Mmm… bananas… strawberries… omnomnom!

And lets not forget the bowl of almond/chocolate butter that I made for me and me alone. Luxury. Seriously though, fruits (especially strawberries) are just the best! Especially when paired with chocolate!

After lunch I actually got some studying done though, until I started to bake! The recipe for these babies will be up tomorrow since I have some pictures left to take before I can post. But I can tell you this; they are really, really good! And very good for you with their good fats and low sugar content! And did I mention that they taste a like a little bit of heaven? And that they're completely raw?

As you can see I didn't have the patience to wait for them to solidify completely so it got a bit messy as I ate them… also I made waaaaay too much chocolate coating so I was left with a bowl half filled with chocolate. I solved this by eating more fruits out in the garden, dipped in chocolate of course!

Ah… I really need to eat some vegetables now… and study… 

Heaps & heaps of cinnamon!

My day started out with cinnamon tea, followed with cinnamon bun oatmeal!

Today I actually used pre-grounded oats (I usually just grind the whole oats in my hand for a bit before mixing the dough together) so it turned out more like a muffin! A very, very delicious one! Since I have rediscovered this wonderful snack/breakfast I will most likely consume it at all times… for about four days or so. Then I move on to something new! I complemented this lovely bowl of oatmeal with some fruits because a meal without fruits and veggies is an incomplete meal!

When I got back from university I was starving, as per usual, so I figured that I'd make a green smoothie really quick but to my horror I realized that we were out of bananas. And I was way too hungry for a trip to the store. So I made a banana-less chocolate smoothie with some protein powder in and to that I had a few servings of this…

Some dates mashed with lots of cinnamon and a little water then a couple of apples sliced up tasted way better then I imagined it! The date and cinnamon paste is actually the same "recipe" as the filling in my cinnamon bun oatmeal!
I must say that even though my lunch lacked bananas I am quite pleased with it, I am a sucker for fresh fruit and chocolate after all!

After lots of studying and a workout that contained pretty much everything (dance, yoga, strength, cardio and so on) I felt the need to refuel! Since it was dinner time I quick whipped up some veggies, rice and sweet chili tofu.

Easy and delicious has pretty much been my motto of the day it seems! 

Digging in the dirt...

… looking for a good spot to grow my future veggies! Garden work is surprisingly relaxing, and digging is surprisingly tough! I felt that I only needed to do an additional half an hour yoga in order to get a complete workout! The fact that the sun was shining just made the entire thing so much better!

All in all I've had a great day, I would suggest that it had something to do with the fact that my day started with this…

It's so green!
It's so fruity!
It's so healthy!
It's lacking protein though… but oh well, that's what nuts are for am I right?

After consuming this and choosing my clothes with care (for once) I left for school! The fact that I was neither freezing nor overheated due to me actually putting some thought into what I should wear made the day even better! When I later found out that I had passed an exam that I was beyond sure that I had miserably failed I felt on top of the world!

The afternoon I spent with a friend of mine, most of the time went to cooking but we did manage to get some studying done. Oh and I managed to miss the bus. So I ran to the train and made it just in time! When I got home me and my dad had some quality time in the garden. Sweating and moaning about how darn thick all of the roots were and breaking our shovels against the rocks. But it was fun! And really brought forth my appetite!
So I whipped these up…

Now they might not look pretty (since all light was long gone and I could't get any good pictures no matter how hard I tried…) but they tasted amazing! It's portobello mushrooms marinated in olive oil and spices topped with cashew "cheese", then a layer of rucola, some tomatoes and topped off with home made all natural guacamole! Yumyum!

My sincere wish for tomorrow is that I will get some serious studying done, since my exam is this Friday and that's pretty soon (read too soon!) and I am not up to date… But I also hope that it will be warm enough for me to do some yoga outside in the morning!

A fruitful Monday!

Like literally fruitful! I've consumed such copious amounts of fruits today that I am a bit impressed by myself. And that says a lot considering that I normally eat at least 5-8 fruits a day!

The day started with the following…

… a banana, some grapes and some sundried mulberries! Completely raw breakfast completed! Well minus the tea. But I need my tea so I can definitely live with that!

Off to university I went, with some more grapes packed in my bag since I knew that I would get hungry! The lecture wasn't one of the most intriguing but fun nevertheless! Back home I went and then I threw together the recipe that I posted earlier…

And as I previously have mentioned; It is delicious. Like for reals. Try it!

Later I worked out and after that a chocolate smoothie was made (with lots of bananas & dates in because nom) and devoured. Then I studied some, which I really needed to do and when my sister finally got home we ended the day with some of this…

… which also happened to become my dinner! Five apples, one bowl raw chocolate sauce and one bowl raw caramel sauce. And an additional banana for me since the other two ate this as dessert but for me it was a full meal!

And with this I say goodnight everybody, may you sleep well so that you can have another amazing day tomorrow filled with exciting experiences and lots of laughter!

A great weekend!

So the weekend started with a very needed sleep in & after that a wonderful breakfast consisting of banana pancakes! Which pretty much is my standard breakfast whenever I am not making green smoothies! They turned out a little like this...

That looks pretty good now doesn't it? The recipe is suuuuper easy but I will probably put it up on the blog at some point!

I spent my Saturday waddling around a mall & eating a vegan (delicious) potato salad! I will definitely make that again (and then remember to take pictures of it). I bought some new clothes, all very cheap because I spend most of my money on food! Got some great deals in a second hand store which made me really happy!

We also visited the absolute top floor where they had these amazing little things! Enabling us to take a look at what was going on in Denmark. The sun was on its way down though so we didn't see that much after all! 

Sunday morning also begun with banana pancakes which were later followed by chocolate ball making & studying. Then we packed some of the chocolate balls and went for a two hour walk by the river. I carried the camera around until the battery gave up, but managed to get some great pictures before that!

I love that all the flowers are starting to show up here and there, because it means SPRING which means PLANTING SEASON! Which means a happy Trisha who really wants to buy a green house!

I didn't take pictures of only the flower but also the scenery in general, even though it's still kinda brown just about everywhere. But give it a few more weeks and the forrest will be overflowing with color! 

We stopped by the river about halfway and ate some chocolate balls, using a fallen tree as a mossy bench. They tasted even better out in nature!

When we had finished our long walk we felt hungry even though we had stopped for snacks in the middle, I guess we're just constantly hungry! I quickly chopped up a fresh salad for two with lots of fruits because they're just so darn good! The recipe for that will be up later tonight because for once I actually wrote stuff down!

So yeah, wonderful weekend! But the evening will go to studying which is less fun but oh so necessary! So I better start my studying so that I can come back & publish the recipe for this beauty! 

A sunny day!

Perhaps the winter is finally over here in Sweden? Today I've spent almost all day outside & even though I am a rather frozen person I've felt fine!

The day started off with banana pancakes with a healthy marzipan chocolate butter that I whipped together as the pancakes were frying! Then my mom (who by the way is a lovely lady) took a long walk through the forrest & when we got back home I dragged out my yoga mat! Doing yoga outside as the sun is warming you is simply the greatest thing!

After all of this we were quite peckish so I quickly whipped up a green smoothie filled with only good for you ingredients! Completely raw also I may add! Only carrots, oranges, mango, spinach & water blended until super green and super smooth! When your food almost has the same color as the grass then you know that it has got to be good for you!

When we had consumed these beauties then I decided to pick some weeds in my to-be garden! I am so excited about growing my own crops that it's almost a bit silly! I can't wait to make green smoothies with my own spinach & broccoli!

My cat got so curious about what I was doing that she left her spot in the sun only to peak out the window of the conservatory! 

She's so darn adorable that I can barely handle it!

After finishing up in my future garden I sat down to do some studying, until I got hungry that is! Then I quickly fried up some veggies & some tofu that I then devoured out in the sun! But eventually I had to get back to studying! Thankfully I had some freshly cut mango for dessert that kept me company!

When I finally got some studying done I decided that it was time to wrap up a blog post so here I am, sipping an avocado chocolate milkshake with coconut cream (that was devoured before any pictures could be taken) so I won't complain! 

Now have a lovely evening everyone! :D