anulicious

The most asked question when people get to know that you are Vegetarian or Vegan is:

„Where do you get your Protein?“

A lot of Vegetarians eat a lot of soy products, because  they are very protein rich. This is fine.

Although I am not a fan of all the products with isolated soy like fake-meats, soy milk, etc. and just like consume it in form of Tempeh, Miso, Tamari or a little Tofu.

So what are my favorite Protein Foods?

Beans and legumes. I always have beans canned or dried in my home.

My favorites are chickpeas and navy beans. I love to make hummus or bean puree out of them and eat it with everything!

I also like to add red lentils to my Veggie-Bolognese.

Then there are nuts and seeds: walnuts and pumkpin seeds are my favorite. And you can easily add them to your muesli or salad.

Why people often think that protein in meat is best is because it is a complete protein, meaning it contains all nine essential amino acids. But we now know that it is not necessary to get all of them in one meal, so you can have  for example your nuts with your breakfast, beans for lunch, tempeh for dinner. AND there are actually plant foods, that contain all essential amino acids.

One of them is the wonderful Quinoa.

Often referred to as the Inca grain, it is actually a seed. It is very versatile and you can use it for example like Cous Cous.

A benefit is that it is glutenfree also, if you have issues with that.

Lately I discovered my love for quinoa as breakfast.

I just cook the quinoa, add  almond milk, some fruit (berries are wonderful for this) and a sweetener like honey, agave or stevia.

I even eat this for dinner. It is wonderful. Of course you can add more stuff like nuts or seeds or some flax or hemp oil for the omega 3’s.

xoxo

No food journals from the last week, sorry. It was just to busy.

Also I bumped my head very badly and had awful neck and shoulder pain from it. But luckily I am feeling a lot better today. But what I realized was that when I don’t feel well, my eating habits go a little crazy. I couldn’t stay away from some nasty stuff, what bothered me, but I cannot change it anyway.

I can only learn for the future and try my best. You shouldn’t be so strict with yourself anyway, but I just notice immediately now, when I ate food that is bad for me. I get stomach pain or reflux and stuff. So that shows me even more, I was on the right track of Eating and I should stay there.

Today was really crazy, so I am planning just Smoothies and Juices for tomorrow to get the body back in balance. That is the most important thing: even if there are days where you are dragged to nasty foods and overeat, it is much easier to get rebalanced when you know which foods are good for you. And I know which ones are.

For today I want to leave you with a lovely recipe from canadian nutritionista Meghan Telpner. She has a wonderful website and educates people about healthy eating. I stumbled over her Tempeh recipe and wanted to give it a try and I have to say it was so, so good!

Actually my first experience with tempeh wasn’t a good one. I ordered it in a indonesian restaurant and it had almost no taste at all. I was very disappointed.

But because I always read about the wonderful benefits of tempeh, I wanted to give it another try.

What is tempeh anyway?

It is made of fermented soybeans (so a probiotic food actually, which is always great for your gut) and it is a complete protein, which means it contains all of the essential amino acids (my veggie heart says hurray!).

You can buy it in whole food shops and I would always recommend to buy soy products organic, because soy can be so genetically modified. Don’t be repelled by the looks. It doesn’t look very pretty.

Like with tofu and many other things, tempeh gets great when you do the right stuff with it, like marinating it in a yummy sauce.

And that’s where Meghans brilliant recipe comes in. The marinade is sooooo amazing, I couldn’t believe it.

It is made with balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, olive oil, tamari and thyme. Addictive!

So get yourself some tempeh and bring it on! Here you find the original recipe.

I served mine with brown rice, broccoli and sprouts. Super healthy.

And I tell you, even hardcore meat eaters can be satisfied with this. Promise!

xoxo

So, as you know, on Friday I ended the Raw Food Challenge.

But I can tell you, I luckily didn’t fell in bad old habits, which I am quite proud of.

Although we went out to eat on Friday and Saturday, I ate healthy options, resisted white flour in form of delicious looking Pizza Bread, that was served to us prior to our Meals on Friday and I didn’t have any alcohol, no glass of wine, nothing.

I really wanted to keep this “clean” feeling I achieved over the last weeks. So now here is my food journal from the last days:

Friday I had:

Green Smoothie

Banana

Baby Spinach Salad

Potatoes with Rosemary

On Saturday there was:

Banana

Two Apples

Handful of nuts

Veggie Red Curry with Rice at MoschMosch – soooo good! Here is a pic:

The sauce is just divine! And the great thing about the MoschMosch restaurants is that they have so many veggie options and even a lot of vegan ones. This is not common here. Thumbs up!

On Sunday I enjoyed:

Green Smoothie

Veggie Soup with Cauliflower

Sushi Salad

two raw chai cookies

The Sushi Salad was inspired by this recipe from the Green Kitchen Stories blog. I made some changes: I skipped the Tofu and had marinated oyster mushrooms and added broccoli, red onions, avocado and nori to it, served on brown rice. This was awesome.

The Green Kitchen Stories blog is totally worth a visit. I always find inspirations there for recipes.

It is written by David and Louise, a super cool couple from Sweden. They put so much love and effort in every post and make beautiful pictures as well.

On Monday I munched on:

Green Smoothie

Salad with Avocado, Sauerkraut, Cucumber, Tomato, kalamata olives and Tahini

three slices Quinoa bread with nut butter

half a salad bowl with cucumber, cashews, red onions and black olives and maple vinaigrette

And yesterday I had:

Green Smoothie

Salad with tomatoes, olives, cucumbers, avocado and Tahini

Gluten-free Pasta with Tomato & Olive Pesto and steamed Broccoli and Zucchini

So you can see, the raw food still is very present in my daily meals. On weekdays I hope I can make it up to 70-80% raw.

That would be great.

xoxo

The official last day of our raw food challenge is here. It is very strange that the time past so quickly because I can still remember how I felt when we started and I thought “Oh my God, raw food for four weeks. Am I crazy?” But as it always is in life: you can achieve everything if you just really want to. I am also very proud of my hubby, he stuck with the challenge bravely. And we both had just very little slip-ups when we went out to eat and had some Avocado Sushi, which happened three times over all. And this slip-up is still very healthy.

Now here are the things we stayed away from the whole time:

All animal products (which wasn’t a challenge, because we do this most of the time anyway)

Refined sugars & flours & artificial sweeteners

All processed foods

All cooked food (with the exceptions I mentioned above)

Alcohol

So, what did we consume?

Fruits (Bananas, Apples, Orangejuice, Pears, Berries, Papayas, Figs, Dates, Avocados, Raisins, Cranberries, Pomegranates…)

Leafy Greens (Spinach, Kale, Broccoli, Beet Greens, all kinds of salad)

Other Veggies (Carrots, Beets, Fennel, Celery, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Zucchinis…)

Mushrooms, Shitake

Nuts / Seesds & Nutbutters (Almonds, Hazelnuts, Cashews, Walnuts, Tahini, Brazil Nuts, Pine Nuts, Sunflower Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds)

Nori, Wakame

Fermented Foods like Sauerkraut and Miso.

I have no idea, if I forgot something, but I think that’s quite it.

What I learned & achieved:

A raw diet is not dull at all

I think my normal diet is very clean, because I only had mild detox symptoms

I realized, how often I don’t eat because of hunger but other reasons like being bored, being used to eat at a certain hour, seeking comfort, etc.

My tastebuds changed. I even can appreciate an apple now and eat it with joy

My mind was very clear on raw foods

I didn’t get tired during the day (like usually after Lunch)

 I was actually very light hearted all the time

My cravings weren’t to bad. When I craved cooked food it was something simple like Quinoa or a Pasta dish

Over all this experience was awesome and I even decided that I will stay on the raw path and try to eat about 70% raw and the rest cooked. I will let you know how that turned out and I will keep the food journal so you can see how I am doing.

Speaking of which, today I had:

Two apples, a banana

Sauerkraut with tahini

Avocado

Green Juice

Nuts

I leave you with a little treat, with this lovely video of raw chef Ani Phyo, who shows you how to make super easy apple pie. Enjoy!

xoxo

I am a Summer girl. I love the  sun, the heat, blue skies, the beach, FlipFlops, sunglasses, watermelon,… I could go on for hours.

But unfortunately it is still winter and it is cold, wet and grey and dark most of the time. So when I came home from work I was longing for something summer-ly.

Luckily I had bought a papaya two days ago that was waiting for me in my kitchen.

So I created a Happy Hippie Summer Dreamin’ Smoothie. That’s how it’s done:

Throw together papaya & figs (or other exotic fruit of choice, Mango would be great, too), Nut milk, Nutbutter (I used Hazelnut), honey to taste, chia seeds and ice cubes. Blend well and enjoy!

I really love Smoothies as a Dinner replacement when you come home late and don’t want anything heavy. This was really satisfying.

Today I also had:

Two apples

Banana

A huge rainbow salad at work

Almonds

The Summer Smoothie

xoxo

I can’t believe that these are our last days of our Challenge already.

On Friday we are meeting two friends at a new restaurant in Düsseldorf, so this will be our official End of the Raw Food Challenge.

But I really have to say, even if it sounds weird, I am a little sad about that. I feel better than ever and I am really enjoying the food and got so much used to it.

Let’s take today for example. I made this wonderful lasagna for me and my husband and it was so good. It is just zucchini, tomatoes, olive oil, mushrooms and cashew cheese. No noodles, no cheese, no carbs and bad fats. And it was AMAZING and so filling.

Simple & beautiful!

But before I get all sentimental, let’s recap the last days.

On Friday I enjoyed:

Green Smoothie

Dates, Almonds

Sauerkraut with Tahini

Asian Shiatke Salad with Cucumber, Carrots, Avocado

 On Saturday I had:

Two Apples

A “Hawaii” – Smoothie with Berries and O-Juice

Apples with Nuts and Hazelnutbutter

3 Avo-Sushi & Tofu (yes, cheated again!)

On Sunday I ate:

Green Smoothie

One apple

Raw Macarons (Yum!) with Hazelnutbutter

Salad with Broccoli, Zucchini, marinated Mushrooms, Avocado and Carrots

Yesterday I munched on:

Smoothie with Mango, Banana, Cacao, Hazelnutbutter

Dates, Almonds

two apples

Sauerkraut, Tahini, Bell Pepper, Cucumber

Smoothie again

And today I had:

Green Smoothie

A date and a handful of almonds

Sauerkraut, Tahini, Nori, Cucumber

The lovely raw lasagna

On the next post I will give a summary on the Challenge, the pros and cons, how I felt, what I learned and so on.

So stay tuned

xoxo

TGIFriday!

The last days were a little busy, which is why this is my first post this week – sorry!

I can’t believe it is only one more week to go. Time has been flying.

Staying raw this week was pretty easy, except one little cheating on Thursday, when I went to the Sushi Bar with a friend and had some Avocado Maki with my salad. But that was the only little slip-up.

I don’t remember every thing in detail I ate the last five days, but I can tell you it was a lot of Smoothies, Avocados, Sauerkraut, Salads, Nori, Wakame, Nuts and Dates.

But one dish really surprise me so positively, that I have to tell you a little more about it.

On Sunday I wanted to make some  comfort food, something decadent, if you will. A real treat!

So I searched the Internet for inspirations and finally I found this recipe from the website Choosing Raw. It is a raw carrot cake. Yes, that’s right! Isn’t that awesome? I was really excited because me and my husband both LOVE carrot cake and I was curious how this would turn out.

So I thru all the ingredients together and put the “dough” and “icing” together in little glasses. Pretty!

So, here is the truth: This carrot cake was so YUMMY, I couldn’t  believe it. Just like the real thing.

BUT it was so sweet (I already put less dates, so next time a will put even less) and it was soooooo filling that I couldn’t finish more then half of it. Also my husband couldn’t finish it. It really was ridiculous, because we are actually very, very good eaters.

We put the rest in the fridge and ate the rest the next day. So if you are planning on trying this recipe, reduce the dates and be prepared that this is a whole meal!!! But it is a dream come true, I promise.

xoxo

Happy weekend to you all!

I have been enjoying my weekend juice, which I always miss to prepare during the week.

Why this is, you ask? Well, lets admit: I am NOT a morning person. So I am not good in getting out of bed a lot earlier and prepare a juice. Not that this is very time consuming, but I already prepare a Green Smoothie for my husband and me every morning, I that’s where the green juice is neglected.

But at the weekend I catch up on it. Most of the time I put in some carrots or beets, apples, fennel and ginger, and some greens, like spinach or so. It doesn’t sounds like, but it tastes great and it gives me huge energy. It is like all the nutrients are directly absorbed by the body.

And in a fancy glas it tastes even better.

Yesterday we visited a friend of ours and his Mom (she is so sweet) wanted to serve us something and she knew we are eating all raw at the moment. So she thru on her Juicer and made the most amazing juice for us with apples, pears, carrots and oranges. I really appreciated her efforts so much to make us something we could enjoy. And we definitely did.

So, the food journal… I think I can not remember all the stuff I ate, but I will try…

Wednesday I had:

Green Smoothie

A Salad at work with beets, carrots, sauerkraut, tomatoes, cucumber, arugula and mushrooms.

Olives, Flax Crackers, Nuts

On Thursday I day:

(First I have to say, this was a hard day, because in the morning I was in such a rush, that I couldn’t make our Green Smoothie. My body really missed the nutrients from it. I felt like I have to quit the Challenge, because I had so much cravings. And my husband felt the same way. So this showed me how important and nutritious this Green Smoothie is for me. Luckily I made it through the day without quitting. Yay! Not again I will miss my daily smoothie at this challenge.)

Two apples

two pears

Salad with Sauerkraut, Tomatoes, Cucumbers and Tahini Dressing.

Wakame Salad and Broccoli with Sesame Dressing at a Sushi Place

three Dates (they give me great energy before the gym)

Yesterday I had:

Four dates

some almonds

Avocado

Green Smoothie

Grapes, Two Apples

Lovely Juice from my friends Mum

So, enjoy your weekend, enjoy your food, have fun!

xoxo

Raw Food is not all cucumber sticks and apples.

There are actually some really cool raw chefs out there and they can make some fancy, fancy food I tell ya.

Ani Phyo is one of them. The good thing is, Ani’s recipes are not all complicated and time consuming. Most of them are actually pretty easy.

So on Sunday we tried a recipe from this video:

I can tell you, it was sooo yummy and super easy and fast to make. What surprised me the most was, that the marinated mushrooms really get this cooked texture after 15 minutes of soaking. And the sauce… No words for how good it was. And so satisfying, too.

Girls, when you are crazy about low carb and are looking for some yummy dinner alternatives: that’s your dish!

Here is my complete food journal from Sunday:

Green Smoothie

Vegetarian Salad with Miso Dressing & Wakame Salad at Lunch with my pals

Ani Phyo’s Mushroom Bul Go Gi

Yesterday I enjoyed:

Green Smoothie

Apple

Salad with Cucumber, Tomatoes, Sauerkraut & Tahini Dressing

Avocado

Some Nuts

Broccoli with Raw Cheeze Sauce

What me and my husband both discovered is that we really have so much more energy, while we are eating this way. You know when you had Lunch and after that you really wanna take a nap because you are so sleepy? With raw foods this doesn’t happen. Our mind is clear and sharpe the whole day.

So, we made the first week. Over all it was much easier than I thought and just after this few days I see how much less food I need already to satisfy me. And I also sticked to my Workout Plan and went to the gym five times the last week. So, pretty proud at the moment

xoxo

I have to admit that I never was really into eating leafy green vegetables. I mean, I always liked carrots, beets and all this stuff, but greens?? Not so much. When I leaned to a plant-based diet this didn’t change immediately but soon I learned about this great thing:

The Green Smoothie!

Fruit Smoothies are familiar to most of you I guess, but what the heck is a Green Smoothie you ask?

Well, it is made of fruit PLUS green leafy vegetables blended in. Yes, that’s right. When I learned about all the benefits of this, I started to incorporate green smoothies in my daily meals. It is my  breakfast now.

Now on christmas I got the book “Green for Life” by Victoria Boutenko as a gift. Victoria actually really made this whole concept very popular. She, her husband and her two kids healed themselves from chronic diseases with a raw food diet and are consuming a lot of green drinks on a daily basis.

Victoria explains, that the chlorophyll in the Greens is very similar to the hemoglobin in our blood. So drinking greens gives us extra health benefits.

But who really eats a bunch of Greens every day? That is almost impossible. So Victoria had the idea, to blend them in the Smoothies, with the fruit. The great thing about this is, when you have the right ratio, you don’t even taste the Greens, only the fruit.

Also, when you blend the greens very high, Victoria claims, that makes them easier for your body to digest.

You can read more about the Green Smoothies here at the Boutenko website.

I already started to drink Green Smoothies some months ago for breakfast and I really felt the difference. It gives me so much energy and it decreases my appetite for unhealthy foods. Even if you don’t eat anything else the whole day that is healthy (what should’t be your goal) you have this super healthy drink in the morning.

I always make enough in the morning for my husband and me and I take 500ml with me to work in this pretty jar.

I mostly put frozen banana and mango in there and rotate my greens (read here why this is important), sometimes it’s baby spinach, kale, romaine, lettuce,… And I also like to add some super foods to it for the extra health kick.

I also recognized that drinking my Green Smoothies helps me easily reducing and controlling my weight.

If you now think, this could be a great thing for you, I have a video at the end where Victoria Boutenko’s daughter Valya shows how to make tasty green smoothies.

But first here are my food journal of the last two days.

On Friday I enjoyed:

Green Smoothie

Salad with Cucumber, Tomatoes, Sauerkraut and Baby Spinach

Avocado

Broccoli with “Cheese” Cashew Sauce (Sooo good), Kale & Pomegranate Salad

Raw Bread

Yesterday I had:

Green Juice

Green Smoohie

Red Beet Salad & Tomato Cilantro Salad at one of my favorite Cafés

Wakame Salad & Avocado Salad at a Sushi Place before we went to the cinema

two dates

Have a lovely Sunday!

xoxo