Hummus

Last Summer in Spain 1,2,3 visiting my boyfriend's auntie Nici I was totally taken by the small home cooking of hers. One of my favourite vegan foods since then has been Hummus, a tasty paste made mainly of Chickpeas. I've made it a few times since alone and bedazzled a crowd of people in my Uni with it as well. Try it out, here's the recipe!

You need:
1 glas of cooked Chickpeas
Olive Oil
2 toes of Garlic
Lemon juice
Tahini, a sesame seed paste
Paprika spice
salt duh

You do:  
1. Put the cooked peas into a big bowl and fill it with water to wash them. Take a handful of Chickpeas and rub them strongly against eachother until the white skin peels off. This makes the peas a bit easier to digest!

2. Filter the skins off and throw them and the water away.

3. Add some 2 table spoons of olive oil, the garlic, 1 tea spoon of lemon juice and 1 table spoon of tahini to the peas. Now mash all of it in a blender to a thick paste.

4. You might have to add oil or water to get the wanted texture. Nici said it shouldn't run of a spoon yet be creamy! Add spices, lemon juice or tahini to your taste.

5. Serve with paprika, olive oil and bits of bread. Nom nom.

Trick:
If you're using dried Chickpeas, one should leave them in big a bowl of water with a bit of baking powder in it over night to.. umm.. pass less gas later on.

Finnish Semolina Porridge

Hi there!
I have had a few of the best weeks this summer at home in Finland and thus haven't even touched my blog in ages. Like I said before, there are some about 200 Photos to check through before being able to post any and as it happens I also have less than 2 weeks to finish three big University homeworks. It might be that I won't be posting much until the beginning October, sorry guys.

A few days ago I cooked vispipuuro, a finnish whipped semolina porridge, with lingonberries! My mom gave me a lot of berries before I left back to Germany, berries she herself had picked for me in our backyard. Thank you mom, that's really sweet of you and although the berries got a bit squashed and juiced in my luggage, I feel simple happiness of having those super organic roly-polys in my fridge now.

So back to Elli's Cooking Corner again!

Vispipuuro aka Klappgröt

What You need:
   8 dl water
   ca. 4 dl lingonberries
   1 dl sugar
   1¼ semolina grains
   a bit of salt

What you do:
1. Boil the water with the berries for about 15 minutes.
2. Add sugar and salt and check if you like it. Don't worry you can add stuff later on as well but keep in mind that lingonberries are sour and the porridge should be a bit as well
3. I reckon your berries are boiled by now? Ok, then we whip the semolina in tiny parts into the berrymush, we don't want clumps and dollops now do we.
4. Let the semolina cook with a low temperature for 5-10 minutes and then to cool down all together. It would be the last point to check the taste and add your spices.
5. Is the porridge cold? I'm amazed if you managed to wait patiently. Now is the time to dig out that electric mixer of yours, and whip the shit out of the porridge and into a rosey foam!
6. Consume your creation warm or cold, with sugar on top or milk around it.

Receipe: Arja Savela, Myllyn Paras Oy 

Mine ended up much darker as it should be as I  failed  had a weeny bit more berries and don't have that mixer in my cupboards to make it foamy. For authenic taste my mom had mistaken some leaves and sticks to the berrybag, which I casually had to pick out of my mouth later on.

blueberries from the backyard at home

Trying to post again asap!

Dope Dishes

I'm a big fan of pies and even a bigger lover of vegetarian quiche. Being pretty hungry at the moment, but forced to push forward with my homework ahem okay I'm updating my blog hehe I'm just having lunch with my eyes, remembering the Birthday party of Josi.

cheese-spinach quiche

Josi's mediterranian wonder, my personal favourite!

We baked various quiche to the party and as blueberrypie has become somewhat of my specialty here, I modified it a bit and baked 1 raspberry pie and 1 mixed-berry pie. Yummy!

mushroom, onion & sourcream

my tiny allthewayimprovised paprika-curry-pie turned out super tasty!

The key to a tasty veggie quiche, in my opinion, is the ass load of spices! Never forget: the more the merrier.

My hobby since winter has been collecting all awesome etiquette labels from varied lemonade bottles. I'd be happy of ALL the help I can get so collect with me, if you like! They're to be a part of a tiny project I'm working on but which'll take place only after I've gathered enough of funny material. I love everyday design! It's so inspiring and I sometimes wonder if I should have studied product or graphic design after all. Who knows, maybe I'll do that too one day haha.

I'm meeting Roscoe later today, and hopefully we'll be able to create something artistic and inspiring too this evening. Wish u all a nice Wednesday, don't forget to be awesome!

Foodball

Achtung! Food post coming up.

my tastiest half-warm-salad yet with tofu cubes, nuts, cranberries etc.

So I've kept my vegan diet for about a month now give or take a few days. I'm happy to announce that it has actually been so much easier than I expected and has totally changed my view of cooking and eating for good! Infact, I think I have been eating better and with more variety for the past month, than I did before. I suppose it has something to do with the fact that I have to plan my mealtimes with more care now and cook more often at home.

..Darn it, my sweet tooth demands something delicious..

A trip to the local Organic grocery-stores and taking my vitamins has given me great pleasure, and the child as I am, I've been enjoying this experiment to it's fullest! Such tiny projects really boost my lifequality and keep everyday things interesting!

normal oatmeal cookies wouldn't do, so I threw in everything tasty for extra flavour

So why stop now?
Hmm.. a very good question. I think I wouldn't, were it not for my holiday in Spain (!!!!) from the 15th till the 20th July. I'm visiting my boyfriend's auntie for her birthday and concider it somehow inpolite to bust in and start making special demands for food as I'm the guest. Finding a suitable restaurant to satisfy my hunger alone, might also cause unnecessary trouble and headache, thus I'm fine with cheese and milk for one week. Furthermore I've been to Spain only once before and don't like skipping any chances of the local food culture (ok, I won't go as far as to eat meat, yuck). After all, my greatest goal in life is to experience and understand as much as possible before I die.

...poo poo?

oh yes, that is how the poo pellets turned out!

The biggest vegan problems till now have been:
a) birthday cakes,
b) finding food at a friend's place
c) ice cream in Summertime
...oh yeah and did I mention my passion for cheese?

My cookies turned out a super healthy success after I added raisings, müsli, grinded haselnut and a few drops of rum and honey to the normal oatmeal cookie recipe! The taste and texture reminded me a bit of mueslibars. Please try this at home!

Cooking Green

What, VEGAN? Like no milk, no eggs, no butter, no chocolate, no cakes, no cheese, no pizza, no NOTHING?!

That was my reaction some years ago when my boyfriend went through the same phase of trying this mysterious way of life out. Back then I thought the whole idea insane, and couldn't come up with a single dish without animal products. I am still not imagining this to be easy but it's definitely worth a try.

yellow curry with coconut milk in the making

Why do I do this? I'm not planning to become a vegan for the rest of my life. I have lost weight since I turned a vegetarian three years ago, have now lost a few more kilos and went down in bra size since the beginning of my studies. I love cheese, milkshakes and baking but I do want to change some of my eating habits permanently, however not with the risk of my health.

coconut-creamy mushroom sauce with rice

My big plan is just to minimize the usage of animal products in my everyday life. I think I will still eat them in the future but I want to cut down the amount and pay more attention to their origins. I am willing to pay more for organic products, knowing that the animals there hopefully get better treatment and attention than the ones in mass production. To get more into the scene I've decided to have a completely vegan month.

This way I have to spend more time and thought to keep my diet healthy. Talking from experience, I will now also develope a whole new view in food shopping and within 2-3 weeks see more variety and options in vegan cooking. I've been to my local supermarket last week to check out their supplies for vegans and believe it or not, they have made it actually quite easy for us!

pancakes from soy milk, water and egg substitute flour - as tasty as ever

Instead of cheap Ja!-cow milk, I now picked soy and oat milk into my basket and replaced cheese with tofu and got even soy yogurt for breakfast. As easy as that! If I had wanted, I could have taken tofu sausages, nuggets, burgers and gyros to fill my plate! The only obsticles till now have been a few cases of not being able to eat in a normal restaurant nor to buy something to eat at the University cafeteria. I have to plan my eating a bit more and double check everything I buy in case of half-innocent milk powder.

my vegan banana muffins look like shit but taste like heaven

I think I will have to go and check Habibi for their vegan ice cream this week! If you have any suggestions or nice receipes in mind, I'll gladly take any help I can get on my way in becoming a better person.

Have a great week buddies!

Evolution

News! Oh well, some of my friends & readers might already know but I turned vegan last week. I've been a successful vegetarian for about three years now and have given a lot of thought to the topic, eventho it all started as kind of an impulse then. Throughout my childhood and teen years I have been a passionate meat lover and into chicken and beef in any form. What can I say, food is my element!

Long Story Short:
The change came slowly as meat first started to repulse me in my year in China and later in school lunches, where the vegetarian dishes always turned out to be simply tastier than the grayish meat option. After giving the Theme a bit of thought and trying vegetarianism out, I no longer could find reasons to continue as a carnivore. This is my way to contribute in making the world a better place, slowing down the global warming  and stirking against overproduction and bad treating of animals in the food production. Nowadays you do have a choice and the responsibility to think matters thoroughly.

Leaving things at that, being a vegetarian has become slowly so easy that I kinda decided to face a new challenge and push myself to try harder. The milk production, even organic, is still not okay to the animals and as milk is not the only source of calcium, drinking milk is not a must to humans. Are eggs a must? Well I don't think so and neither is the unethical treatment of chicken and chics. I mean, I don't eat babys just cause they might taste good, right? Good taste is not an argument for eating meat and animal products. I don't want to get all evangelical about this, and as most of you possess a brain, I will not preach further about the reasons of becoming a vegan.

I'm now heading out to a laid-back garden party and will tell you further about this experiment and how it has turned out in everyday life later. With cooking photos!

Till then, enjoy the Sunday my chicadees.

Housewifing

Rotting in my 13m². I'm forcing myself to study hard but I'm failing. No, I really am. There is a huge load of stuff to do on top of the up coming exams.. These multiple, complex projects are killing me softly one after another. Running out of food and caffeine supplies is one of the huge obstackles at the moment as I don't have the time to stock up my hermit cave. Oh yeah and sleeping.. Sleeping takes so much time although I've already reduced it to 4 hours per night. Would it not be awesome to be able to turn of the need of sleep altogether sometimes?

Anyhooo this is my emergency solutions to those mornings when you realise that butter and pickles (=the insides of my fridge) won't be enough to start the day.

What you don't do google translate? Well neither do I as it mostly sucks donkey balls with Finnish.

You need: 
2 dl (DECILITRES) graham/rye flour u know the darker one
2 dl normal white flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
salt as your taste and conscience allows
2 dl water or soy milk normal milk didn't taste as nice
2 tablespoons oil  

The experimenting cooks: add sun-dried tomatoes, herbs or seeds of your liking for more variety

You do:
Mix first all dry ingredients. Add liquids, mix them together and BAM you've got a dough. I prefer using my right hand for the mixing. Now form the stuff into flat breads and if you may, slice them lightly into four pieces on the tray. I also put some grated cheese on top but if you're planning to put marmalade on it, I'd recommend you leave it out. Cook the breads in oven about 15 minutes with 200-225° degrees. Not in Fahrenheit.

= cheap home made instant breakfast

Happy home moments to yall!

Quality Time Cheesiness

WARNING: THIS BLOG POST INCLUDES A HIGH AMOUNT OF GIRLY CHEESINESS AND LOVEY-DOVEY TALK

 

There I was, troubled and down because of the issues in my previous post, when my darling boyfriend came to save the Damsel in Distress with a wind of Christmas in his sleeve. Because we'll spend the holidays in different addresses this year, we decided to steal some time for us the weekend before. In Finland we'd call it "Pikkujoulut", a Christmas Party before the actual date. Anyways my gloomy shitty Friday was thus saved by a late night movie and cozy cuddling.

My mister won't like me adding the photo but I can't help AWWing to this one

Saturday's programm consisted of minor shopping, BoboQ and cooking the traditional Finnish Christmas dishes for dinner. I have to say, I was seriously surprised by the taste and success of our attempt! It all tasted like it should have, even if we used some time-saver-cheats with the receipes! With those homey flavours, music and candle light it really felt like the real Christmas Eve.

the dining table made more chic with Marimekko details hohoho

The biggest surprise on that evening, however, was the present we shopped ourselves online. My boy had been scouting for Playstation 3 ever since -I dunno- last summer when we decided to skip the Christmas presents and get ourselves a video game console. The favouring opinion has varied between Xbox 360 & PS3, and some extensive background research has been made ever since. (I've always been a loyal PS-player tho).  Later when the decision for Playstation's victory was settled, we only waited for the budget-friendly bargain to pop up some day. The prices have been dancing wildly between 260~360 euros, when suddenly on Saturday night, on our fake Christmas Eve the humble ad appeared: brand new Playstation3 with 199 euros!! Ka-ching, the Visa-Card flashed, slashed and the order was sent.

dressing up my room to match the holiday spirit

On Sunday we got up late, had a royal breakfast with honeymelon, fresh fruit juices and warm Brötchen. We had decided to study hard on that day, yet somehow it was forgotten in the hot bubble bath and watching the several Youtube-reviews for PS3-games. We have now Lost Planet 2, Katamari Forever and Unchanted 2(/3) on our Must-Buy-Play-list, but we're very open for suggestions! So PS3-people with experience, fans with ideas and knowledge, comment please.

A real highlight was that my Schnupferich (aka Nuuskamuikkunen aka Snusmumriken) isolated my windows from the in-blowing wind and the racket of the street! Ain't nothing more attractive than a man who can cook, fix up your crib, treat you nice AND look good while doing it. Thus once again, I fell head over heels with my baby ♥

♥

Ellie's Cooking Corner gathers again! This time introducing my childhood favourite,

Le Spinach Soup

This is an insanely delicious yet simple soup! So if you're Popeye a fearless home cook or a Spinach friend, give it a try. The original receipe is from here but incase your Finnish isn't enough for a more high-skilled cooking vocab, I'll happily translate it for yous.

What you need:

2 tablespoons butter

2-3 tablespoons flour

1 litre milk (I used less as I think it should stay a bit thicker)

150 grams frozen spinach

1 teaspoon salt (I used more)

(pepper & nutmeg)

boiled eggs to party in the soup

What you do:

1. Melt the butter in a pot big enough to carry 1 litre of soup. You shouldn't have too much heat or the next phase will get tricky. Add the flour and -I-dunno- mix & cook the stuff for a bit but don't let it get brown!

2.  Pour in some of the milk, little by little, and beat the shit out of  it with whirlybird aka eggbeater aka whisk to sort out the flour lumps. Keep adding milk and cook for about 6 minutes.

3. Add le Spinach and your spices and make the whole mess warm again. Serve with boiled eggs and a spoon.  

~Guten Appetit~

I've been a big fan of this dish for as long as I know. Strange child that I am was. In Finland you usually find the soup in every supermarket ready-made in the frozen food section. This was the first time I tried making it by myself from the scratch and I assure you: this is a fool proof receipe! I approve.

Now I'm going to have a nice & quiet evening doing my favourite nothing. Drinking tea (bought 4 different sorts today), listening music, burning candles and handicrafting some Christmas secrets!♥