Out with the old in with the new.

There should be some time to introduce myself to you guys! 

I am Jana, almost 19, from Germany. 

I just got my matrix and now I am heading off to rule the world! 

...Just kidding. 

Obviously I am not doing all the crazy stuff you could ever imagine but I do what I love and I do what I can do best - I cook. Of course that is not all that I do currently but it takes plenty of my spare time to be honest.... and basically I wouldn't want it any other way. 

I would like to study nutrition as soon as I am able to start college so right now I am practising what I love most - learning about food and nutrition.

I myself changed a lot these days and so does my lifestyle. Today was the first time my mother and I went to the local weekly market to buy some fruits and veggies and I must say I am so impressed. I used to always look for local foods in supermarkets but there is no better choice than buying from your local farmers. Just have a look at our great variarty of goods:

So as much as these fruits and veggies are shining as much do I want to shine from within - which is why I eat those - duh! I feel like finishing school is a very fresh start for me and does make me shine a little more so now I am working to keep that sparkle up and make it grow day by day.

To have some space in the fridge for all the new goods I needed to make so space which ended in a great leftover mix baked deep dish!

Veggie Deep Dish bake (Serves 4)

• 1 packet Tofu
• 4 Eggs
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• seasonings ( I was using salt, pepper, red bell pepper powder, chive, garlic)
• Veggies of choice, I used:
• leftover potatoes (around 1|2 cup)
• 3 scallions
• 1|4 cup corn
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1|4 white cabbage
• 1|4 cup peas
• 1 yellow onion

1. Preheat oven to 200°C and grease baking dish
2. Cut all the veggies and mash together with crumbled tofu and remaining ingredients
3. Pour mixture into pan and bake for 35-40 minutes
4. Enjoy your healthy leftover meal <3

Ginger Smoothie Bowl

Don't judge - just try!

Ginger Smoothie Bowl:

• 1 banana
• pinkie tip size ginger
• 1|2 cup water
• orange
• 200g natural yogurt
• 1|4 cup cottage cheese
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 1 tbsp coconut flakes
• 1 handful goji berries

1. Blend the first four ingredients in a smoothie blender
2. Mix with yogurt and cottage cheese in a bowl
3. Top with chia, coconut and goji
4. Enjoy the mix of delicious flavors <3

Chocoshock

Needy of chocolate? Trust me - we know that feeling!

Powerful Chocolate Protein Bowl:

• 200g Greek yogurt
• 1 scoop chocolate protein
• 1 tbsp unsweetened chocolate powder
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 1 Banana
• tigernut slices, coca nibs and goji berries for garnish

Just mash the banana and mix all ingredients. If the consistancy is too thick - which for me was the case - just add a little water or milk to have a more creamy consistancy.

Tropical Carrot Soup

Tropical Carrot Soup (serves 4)

• 5 carrots
• 1 onion
• 3 tomatoes
• 1 orange
• 1 potato
• 1 cup of pineapple
• seasonings (Kurkuma, Curry, Pepper, Salt, Black Cumin, sweet soy sauce)
• 2-3 cups veggie broth

1. Cut all Veggies and Toss them in a deep dish for around 5 minutes
2. Add 2 cups of veggie broth
3. When all veggies are cooked trough blend them into a soupy consistancy and add more water and milk if you want it to be more creamy.
4. Let fully cook and add seasonings.
5. Top with green aspargus tossed in a pan with maple syrup if you want to
6. Enjoy your soup with a twist! <3

Learning by doing

This morning I felt like tyring something new. We all should try something new every once in a while, right?! So I wanted to create a simple waffle recipe and you should know - I have had some trouble with our new waffle pan here and there. So it was not really a big surprise my new batter did not turn out totally great to bake but man - it was totally great to taste!

Lemon Puppyseed Waffles (makes 2 belgian waffles)

• 1 cup oats
• 1 banana
• 1|2 cup greek yogurt
• 1 tbsp lemon
• 1 tsp poppyseeds
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• dash of baking powder
• 3|4 cup of water (to consistency)
• Blueberries

1. Mix all ingredeients except blueberries
2. Fold in blueberries and bake in buttered waffle pan
3. Enjoy if not falling apart :D <3

I will let you know when I made the perfect recipe - until then keep on reminding yourself - you will only reach success if you stand up one more time than you fell down! 

Finally - asparagus!

I really don't know when it happened that food got me more excited than everything else in my life but ohwell .. so as you can probably guess by the title this time being excited was all about finding green asparagus in the grocery store for the first time this year which obviously meas spring is finally here - duh!

Fresh spring platter (serves two)

• a bundle green asparagus (around 20)
• two servings of tiny potatoes (around 10)
• 1|2 apple
• 1 onion
• Cauliflower Muffins
• Veggie seasonings (Thyme, Rosemary, black pepper, orange pepper, bell pepper powder, garlic, salt)
• Sprinkle of oil
• 1|2 cup greek yogurt
• 3-4 scallions
• 1 tbsp cream cheese
• Dip seasonings (bell pepper powder, salt, black pepper, basil, fresh chives)

1. Preheat oven to 200°C
2. Trim aspargus and cut potatoes into quarters. Slice apple and onion into thin slices.
3. Spread on a baking dish and sprinkle with a little oil and seasonings.
4. Bake for around 25 minutes until crispy golden. You can add the cooled cauliflower muffins 5 minutes before taking out the rest to heat them up
5. Meanwhile you can whip up your dip using the reminding ingredients
6. Enjoy your meal <3

Cauliflower Muffins

Tonight I am going to hang out with some friends and we all bring food. I decited to go for some cauliflower Muffins, as they are not only healthy but also tasteful, easy and quick. I also mixed up a little dressing using the rest of the sauce from todays lunch and mixed it up with some more avocado and plain jogurt.

Cauliflower Muffins (makes around 25)

• 1 head cauliflower
• 1|4 cup cheese 
• 3|4 cup cottage cheese
• 4 eggs
• seasonings (I am using: salt, black pepper, thyme, rosemary, basil, garlic)
• 2-3 tbsp pure tomato sauce
• poppyseed and sesme seeds to garnish

1. Prehet oven to 200°C
2. Grate cauliflower until it becomes all ricy
3. Mix all ingredients except toppings
4. Fill greased muffin tins or silicon wrappers and top with poppyseeds and sesme seeds
5. Bake for around 25 minutes until crispy golden-brown
6. Enjoy warm or cooled :) <3

Tropical Noodles

So what's for lunch I asked myself and I'm telling you - I'm just all about that zucchini lately. Searching through the fridge I found half a mango et viola: Lunch is going to be slightly tropical today!

As I felt like my platter looked to green I added a little red as well - eat the rainbow <3

Tropical Noodles (serves one small portion)

• a handful spinach MusclePasta (I'm using this brand)
• half a zucchini
• 3 Scallions
• 1 cup of chopped mango
• 1|4 cup avocado
• Seasonings to taste (I am using: LemonPepper, Cilantro, Curry)

1. Spiralize your zuccini and toss into a pan with a little oil. Meanwhile cook your Pasta until it reaches desired consistancy.
2. Blend together the white ends of the scallions, avocado, mango and seasonings. If you want the sauce to be less creamy feel free to add a little water.
3. Throw the noodles into the pan next to the zucchini and toss with sauce. 
4. Add to plate and garnish with green ends of the scallions, tomato and chilli flakes if you'd like to. You could also add different toppings like chopped walnuts or roasted pine nuts.
5. Enjoy your green meal <3

Please keep in mind that this recipe only serves a small portion. If you are very hungry feel free to add more pasta and|or zucchini! There will be a lot of sauce so you will not have to worry about the amount of the sauce. Have fun cooking!

Zoats

Win for finally creating the perfect Zoats Recipe! 

Zoats? What does that even mean? Zoats are a great low carb glutenfree oats replacement and - which is so much more important to me - a great way to sneak in some veggies into your daily meal plan starting with breakfast already! Also, this is a great way to reuse the Zucchini parts you removed for the boats (wink, wink! ;)
It actually took me a while and a lot of not-so-yummy-creations until I now found the right combination of ingredents that work perfectly well together.

Zoats

• 1 cup Zucchini 
• 1 small banana 
• 1 tsp flax seeds 
• 1 tsp coconut flour 
• 1 tsp chia seeds 
• 1 scoop protein powder 
• 1 egg 
• 1|2 cup water 
• Pinch of salt, cinnamon and baking powder 

1. Mix everything and cook on slow heat until it reaches right consistency. Stir a lot! 
2. Add toppings and enjoy warm or cooled 

Have a great day you guys! <3

Zucchini Boats

So today was a very slow kind of day. One of those days when you are really happy you already planned what to cook the night before (since the leftovers need to disappear).  Now that I finally got my matrix I feel like there is nothing to do but hang around and enjoy life. Does not sound bad though I guess :)

We had some leftover ground meat that was cooked already and since I really wanted to cook zucchini in a loooong time this was a decision made really easy today ;)

Zucchini Boats: 
(serves around 3-4)

• 3 Zucchini
• 1,5 cups ground meat
• 2 tomatos
• 3 Tablespoons pure tomato sauce
• 4 mushrooms
• 1 onion
• 1|3 cup cheese
• seasonings to taste (I was using salt, black pepper, tumeric, red bell pepper powder, hot pepper, gerlic, oregano, soy sauce)

1.  Preheat oven to 200°C. 
2. Dice onion and mushrooms together with seasonings. 
3. Add meat (mine was precooked as mentioned already but you could also use uncooked). 
4. Once Everything looks well cooked so far, add tomatos and sauce. 
5. While your sauce in cooking prepare the boats. Cut the Zucchini in half - vertically and horizontally. 
6. Scoop out a little cave in the middle of the zuccini and put the halves into an oven-safe-pan. Add sauce to boats and sprinkle with cheese.
7. Bake for 20-30 minutes until golden and crispy on top.
8. Enjoy your meal :)

Start your day off right

In order to have a great day it only needs one thing. A great start! For me personally - a great start means to go for a (very short!) jog in the morning, have a warm espresso afterwards and enjoy a great bowl of power-filled-muesli! Also, I start my day off with a loooot of water. Keeping yourself hydrated is the number one rule for being perfectly awakened. Here is the basic recipe for my Power muesli <3

Power Muesli

• 1|3 cup Oats
• 1|3 cup seeds such as Sunflower seeds, Pumpkin seeds etc.
• a handful nuts 
• a handful dry fruits such as raisins, goji berries or apricots
• 1 cup of fresh fruit such as strawberries
• one ripe banana
• 1 cup of greek jogurt mixed with cold water for perfect consistancy

Just mix and match & of course - enjoy! <3