Give Me Bananas

When I was walking to yoga after work I was completely stressed out. All I wanted to do was to curl up in bed and hide from this world for a couple of weeks.

And then we did all sorts of poses that I absolutely hate and I was cursing up a storm on the inside but pushed through it.

And in shavasana I felt pure bliss.

Life is like yoga: there are a lot of things that get in your way that you don’t like but you just have to suck it up and go through it. And you know what? It’s not too bad.

As I was walking to the open air cinema site after yoga (yes! open air cinema in April!) to go and see “The Big Lebowski” with my friends I realized that I was the one who put unnecessary stress on myself.

First of all it was all for pleasure. It’s not like I had to study hard for an exam! I played squash with my friends, had great dinners, went to a runner’s event with my dad and so on.. it’s all things that I wanted to do!

So why the heck was I complaining? Well I guess I just often wish that I wouldn’t want to do so many things at once. And to be honest, I just wanted a night off for myself for some blogreading, hehe..
But again, I wanted to do these things or else I would have been a bit annoyed.

Sorry for the rant but maybe I’m not the only one who sometimes feels like that.

I set my alarm for 5am though it’s nearly 00:30am. Guess that sleeping in for an other hour is ok .

Tomorrow we’ll spend the day with Silvio’s family and I have no idea what we’ll do. Hiking was planned but it’s supposed to rain like crazy. So we’ll see.

Despite my whining there has been some amazing stuff going on. Like the chocolate banana cake that I made for my friend Simone on Wednesday (which was my secret mission – she sometimes reads the blog so I couldn’t write about it. )

Also.. I think I found the best sandwich ever. Tibits makes a great one with asparagus, sundried tomato paste, bear’s garlic pesto (with tofu), tomato and lettuce. (I had it before but fell in love again hehe)

To. Die. For.

Too bad that it’s only a spring-offer. Good that I ate the exact same sandwich today for lunch again.

It tastes especially well with a green juice and some magazine on the side..

For Simone’s birthday we went and had dinner at an Indian restaurant yesterday! We started with samosas and something else… Ha! I ordered it but forgot the name. Too bad..

I had a veggie curry with garlic naan which was heavenly.

My camera’s battery died right after taking this photo.

So you see, life isn’t all too bad. Though I must say that too much good stuff often sometimes put unnecessary stress on us too..

I guess it’s time for bed. Or better: my yantra mat!

I read so many good things about it and decided to order one. It arrived today and I can’t wait to try it and loosen up my neck and back muscles.

Whoooo party time!

Have a wonderful weekend! I just realized that it’s already May now. What the eff?? Where did the time go?

It was an other busy day in the magical land of Karinawhooo and again it’s almost 10pm. Well I got back home at 9pm and had to work on a secret project (that I will write about tomorrow) and couldn’t start typing my little heart out earlier.

Anyway, it seems like most of you think that sleep is important but you don’t get enough of it. What shall we do now ? I for my part really need to do more meditation. Or maybe we should go the traditional way and let someone sing us lullabies. Mum, are you there??

My day started harmless with a glorious breakfast.

I topped three pieces of sesame seed bread with

1) almond butter & honey
2) almond butter & apple slices
3) soy margarine & agave sweetened jam

And I also had the rest of the apple slices on the side..

At the same time my vegan rice bread was steaming away. Yes steaming. I made it in a rice cooker!!

I followed this recipe but used 50g rice syrup instead of sugar. I kind of thought that it would be a bit crumbly since rice flour is like that and the result turned out just as I thought..

Still ok to eat. But very crumbly. I have to use some xanthan gum the next time (aaah!Janetha hun! Thanks so much! I got it in the mail the other day. Love you!).

Work was nuts as usual and lunch rolled around soon. I made the mistake to make chinese noodles with carrots and zucchini. It was good but way too filling. Now I get headaches when I think about it..

Ugh get that picture out of my sight! I didn’t know that the noodles were only made of mung beans and pea starch. Ewwwww! (I wikipedia-ed it. I wasn’t aware that it was starch only… I thought that it was just peas and mung beans. Ugh)

(insert huge space so I don’t have to look at the picture anymore)

My dessert of sorts was so much better. I’m kind of obsessed with these armanth “cakes” with chocolate. So good! I had one of those and went groceries shopping afterwards. (Yes I had room for one. I’m weird, I know)

My afternoon snack was an other beauty. Soy yogurt with almond butter and some raspberries.

Only morons would take a snack bowl outside to take a picture of it with a flower.

5:15pm came quickly (thank god!) and I raced back home, put my groceries into the fridge and headed back out. I went to hear a few speeches on sports nutrition with my dad. The event was organized by the organizers of the race that I’m participating in and the Insel hospital, which is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) hospitals in Switzerland.

To be honest: I heard nothing that was new to me.

However, it was still fun and made me realize yet again that I did EVERYTHING wrong last year .

Also.. when I was walking from the bus stop to the hall where the speeches were held I saw this tall gangly guy in front of me and laughed out loud when I realized that it was my dad. He lost 13kg or so in the last 6 months and it’s really weird getting used to his skinniness. He’s always been “normal” but didn’t do much sports. In the past few months he started strength training and now does much more running and yoga. He also completely changed his diet. It makes me so happy to see that he’s feeling so positive with his healthy lifestyle. He told me that I was an inspiration to him which totally made my.. year! It’s so amazing to make people aware that it’s not boring or silly to live a healthy life.

Have a good one! The weekend’s near!

Q: Have you ever “inspired” friends or family members to make healthier changes in their life?

Thanks for all your kind comments on my last post! I believe that catering would be a teeny tiny bit too exhausting but I’ll definitely throw an other finger food party again. It was lots of fun!

Edited to add: I totally forgot!!! Of course I’d invite you all to my place so we can have a huge food party together. Just imagine how much fun that’d be! Foodies among each other.. that must be such a hilarious experience!

But let’s change to something different altogether: SLEEP!

I’m not sure about you but I LOVE sleeping. It’s pure bliss to me. And let’s be serious, what’s more comfortable than a lovely bed and maybe a good read? …Exactly.

However, lately I’ve been wondering a lot about sleep. I’ve tried getting up after 6 hours of sleep in the past two weeks and it didn’t work. It’s like my body was completely against it. 8 hours on the other hand are completely perfect.

The only down side about sleeping 8 hours is that I don’t really have the time to sleep that long at most nights. Let’s take today for an example: I did some speedwork at the gym and went straight to the 8:15pm pilates class. I got home at 9:50pm.
Now, I could go to sleep right now or I could write a blog post and read some of yours (I really miss your posts – my work computer drives me to tears). Needless to say that I’d choose blogging.

But I try to respect my body as much as possible. The trip to the gym was planned for the morning but I just rolled over and slept for an other hour. It was fantastic. And it was important.

Sleep is so good for you though most people tend to be too busy with everything else (myself included). It’s that freaking world we live in. We have so much on our plate and want to get this and that done and forget to listen to our bodies in the end. No wonder why there are so many burn-outs.

Is sleep important to you?

I have to admit that a great breakfast helps me get up much quicker. Lately I’ve been really into the almond butter & honey combo. It’s great on spelt crackers…

with some banana and tea!

Ok, let’s not waste more time. I need to read some blogs. (I’m sure you’re all familiar with that urge).

Have a wonderful day/night.. wherever you live.

What a birthday! We started prepping everything at 9am and were still at work when the first guests arrived at 4:15pm but we luckily didn’t stress ourselves and took it easy.

I just realized that I didn’t take any pictures of all the people, not even the birthday boy! Boooh!
Guess I was too busy eating food and talking to everyone .

Some people probably thought that we were nuts.. preparing all that food and such but I was having the time of my life.

Here’s what we made:

Stuffed mushrooms with herb cream cheese with pepper (I had no time to make hummus)

..which was then baked..

Focaccia

Puff pasty “snails” with cheese and bacon

Some.. meat.. rolled up.. something.. (which –needless to say- my boyfriend made )

Mini sandwiches (filled with guacamole, red bell pepper, grilled aubergine and basil)

Tortilla filled with cream cheese and cucumber

Bruscetta (the bread is obviously unpictured)

Crema catalana cupcakes! (Without the caramel topping – we stopped trying after burning the sugar 2x)

I actually forgot to take pictures of the guacamole, salmon appetizers, tarte flambée and prunes with bacon. Bad bad food blogger!

I should start catering or something .

It was such a lovely but exhausting day. I couldn’t believe it when the alarm went off at 6:30am this morning. I’m not feeling like cooking dinner (ha!) and so I’ll go and have dinner with my sister and her friend. Afterwards we’ll go and see “Date Night”. I can’t wait! I love Tina Fey and Steve Carell.

My internet at work has been annoying since the security got upped a bit. It’s always been super slow but now it’s even slower. Seriously, it’s much more fun to watch the grass grow. Unfortunately I can only read blog entries on my google reader but I usually get an error message when I try to comment. So frustrating! What should I do on my lunch break?

Hope you’re having a good Monday!!

Q: Have you ever thrown a bigger foodie/dinner party for your friends?

Hello lovely people! I’m quickly stopping by to simply say hi because I’m on the run!! Not literally of course but I’m already late and should wrap Silvio’s present. Needless to say that I’m running around like a headless chicken right now.

I’m sorry but I won’t be able to read your blogs today and tomorrow (it’s my boyfriend’s birthday tomorrow and we’re throwing a huge finger food party in case you didn’t know..) as I’m really really stressed. But it’s ok .

So today I did the yoga, had a quick breakfast, ran 8 miles, got my hair cut, made a braided bread and went groceries shopping. The bread is currently baking which is giving me a break. Though I have to hurry because I’ll meet up with my friend PJ at 4pm for a drink. I can’t wait to have a cold beer!

Seriously I’m losing my head.

Inhale.

Exhale.

There has been food though!

Yesterday’s breakfast: Porridge!

Today’s breakfast: bread with almond butter and honey!

Yesterday’s dinner: Onigiri with Azuki beans with kabocha squash à la The Kind Life( but with carrots instead of kabocha)

Today’s lunch: salad with sweet potato & buckwheat noodles with pesta sauce and tofu

Got to go!!

I’m sorry that I don’t have more time but you know that i love you anyway, right?

Have a wonderful weekend! Over here it’s super sunny – I love spring!

I like being busy though it’s weird to check the clock and realize that it’s almost 10pm. Where did the time go?

Thanks for all the ideas for the finger food party! I was actually thinking of making stuffed mushrooms though I didn’t know what to stuff them with. Amanda had the amazing idea to fill them with hummus. Why haven’t I thought of that earlier? (Thanks hun!)

I will write a huge post about all the food when the party’s over. I just hope that things turn out as planned.

Today for lunch I had the last of my sweet potato curry. It froze so well and I already miss it. Time to make a new batch soon!

Heaven. Multiple foodgasms. Pure bliss.

I got some new chocolate after lunch. Because I was craving chocolate and because this was kind of laughing at me. Organic, fair trade dark chocolate with cranberry? Yes please! (Pure bliss!)

Since I’m a Foodbuzz publisher (which sounds fancy but which food blogger isn’t a Foodbuzz publisher? ) I got a free set of Moo cards!

I love how cute and small they are. I was definitely excited. Selina claimed that I constantly get packages (I wish!). Ha! It’s just business cards baby. Now if that doesn’t make me super fancy..

..though I still have to find out how to develop some amazing super powers (well besides the ones that I already have of course ). I had to skip squash because I had too much on my plate and knew that getting back home at 8pm would be a no-go.

When I got back home I went on a quick 4m run though. I ran 2 miles by the river, took a break and sat at the riverbank and ran the 2 miles back home. It was fantastic. Running outside is so wonderful (especially when the weather’s nice but not too hot).

Enter: Weight training (arms) 10min, laundry, chatting with my sis, shower, making dinner.

I threw everything together that I craved.

A SSS (Say that out loud! Now… who said ass? Huh?? Ok, I sound like a 13yo boy now ). SSS stands for super simple salad of course.

+ Steamed broc and cauliflower with almond and sesame tofu (which is like crack to me. SO good!)

And then Selina brought me a cone. That evil little devil. I was actually quite full and wasn’t really fancying a dessert as I had one yesterday (I like desserts but rather have the “unhealthy” kind as a special treat once in a while). However, she said that I mustn’t refuse. So I obeyed .

She isn’t even that much into sweets but she thought that the wrapping was fun. lol.

I LOVED this organic treat but I’m super stuffed now.

After dinner I made some preparations for Sunday (I was on a gift-mission. Top secret because the boyfriend sometimes reads the blog and you’ll never know…). Speaking of Sunday.. We’re going to be in such a huge food coma. I spent ages making a shopping list and writing down a schedule (yes a schedule.. I hate being stressed!) and had the best time ever. And after what felt like a few seconds it was 10pm.

So again: WHERE DID THE TIME GO?

Could also someone please tell me why time seems to drag on when work’s boring? Just wondering..

I’ve got to hit the hay now. I’m supposed to get up at 5:30am tomorrow and get my bum to gym. Wish me luck!

After work we went to shopping paradise, aka Ikea, and got tons of goodies.

But I’m getting ahead of myself now…

My morning started off with a nice and easy breakfast.

2 rye crackers with almond butter and agave sweetened jam, 1/2 apple, 1 banana, 1 hard boiled egg

Work was crazy busy for some reasons. I had to get something done before lunchtime and worked like a maniac. Since I’ve got superpowers it wasn’t a problem though .

Lunch was some broccoli (one small head – I love those dudes!) and a smoothie in a bowl.

For the smoothie I blended 1 banana, 1 scoop chocolate protein powder, 1 cup rice milk + a tad bit of guar gum. Topped it with some pumpkin seeds and pecan nuts.

It’s my boyfriend’s birthday is on Sunday and we’re throwing a lovely finger food party. I’m so excited! Seriously, nothing thrills me more than a great food party.

We needed some big plates and serving trays for the party and so we went to Ikea.

I guess that the Ikea stores the same all around the world though I’m not sure if they sell those hot dogs and panzerotti (?) everywhere..

I got a panzerotto (is it really called like that?). Which is organic and therefore good for you. Or so I like to imagine.

Tons of goodies later we went back home and I started making dinner while chatting with my sis and her pal and drinking some wine.

Olive oil and garlic. Lots of garlic. The Cullens didn’t approve.

I made a pasta sauce of sorts with garlic, olive oil, chili flakes, water and bouillon powder

Served with sunflower seeds. And whole wheat pasta of course

Salad on the side…

For dessert we had some Prinsessbakelse. Got to love those Swedes and their hilarious language.

It has definitely been a super indulging day but it was lovely and perfect.

Now I’ve got to run and check the internet for more cool appetizers. Do you have any ideas? What’s a winner in your book?

Please excuse the short post. Love you anyway.

Hello lovely people!

How are things? Tuesdays are always kind of better than Mondays and I’m currently watching old “The O.C.” episodes and wonder why that Hercules guy plays Ryan’s dad. I think that actor can pull nothing else than a leather skirt off.

Anyway, do you want to hear more rant? No? Ok, I’ll ramble on anyway .

My running shoes suck! I don’t mean the fancy Nike free but my “normal” Asics..

First of all they’re really start to hurt my feet. I also more and more have the feeling that it’s because they’re too small. I mean, my toes touch the.. front (front?? huh??).. Yesterday I was meant to run 3 miles but my feet hurt so much that I cut it down to two. For today’s run I used the Nikes but these shoes aren’t fit for races.

My real “problem” is that I haven’t had the Asics for long and I’m not really thrilled about buying a new pair of expensive running shoes (they are MUCH more expensive over here than in the states). However, I’d rather buy new shoes than spend a long time being injured.

It still sucks. What should I do with the Asics?

I went back home on lunch to pick up my cell phone that I forgot and found something in the mail waiting for me.

Yay! It’s the bar that I won in Tamzin’s giveaway! Thanks hun it made my day! (haha only foodies can be thrilled about receiving bars )

You know what also thrilled me? The envelope!

I have a thing for cute stationery as I’ve been writing letters to pals for years. Even though I appreciate the internet and everything it has to offer it doesn’t beat snail mail.

After getting back into the city I still had some time to pop by the health food store. I got some staples (quinoa flakes, tea, tofu..) and a new to me product: Wasabi hummus!

I honestly don’t know what to think of it.. I guess it has to grow on me first.

The hummus worked well with some pepper..

Other fun stuff: I officially signed up for the Grand Prix of Bern 2010 today! It’s a 10 mile race that is going to take place on 22 May and I’m really excited.

Today I had 40 minutes of speed work on my schedule which went smoothly. Dinner was with the sis. It’s weird because even though we share an apartment we rarely eat dinner together! We’re busy people.

I made some steamed fennel with basil tofu…

…and a salad with a sauce made of olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, pepper, salt, salad seasoning and estragon mustard.

+ a beer

I’ve got to go and clean some stuff. Don’t get too excited, I can hardly contain myself either.

I hope you’ll have a lovely evening/day (depends on which time zone you’re in.. )

Q: Have you ever had issues with running shoes? What did you do?

What a wonderful weekend that was! We arrived at the camping place in Doussard (which is close to Annecy) at 11:45am (after getting lost a bit.. ) and I still can’t believe that you can get there so fast.

The group went paragliding in the morning but they returned just when we arrived at the camping site.

After some chatting they went off again and I laced up my Asics. I did a nice and easy 6 miles on a road which is mainly for bikers (no cars allowed). The weather and view was gorgeous but the road itself was super boring. That’s why I did a lot of running/walking/taking in the view.

Then I read a bit (I finished “The Elegance of the Hedgehog” and cried like a baby though I had to hide the crying because of the other people there.. ) and chatted with the other women. It was so relaxing and lovely.

After the first group got back we decided to start making dinner. I hate doing nothing so I volunteered to make the pasta dish. I cooked what was suggested – pasta with mascarpone sauce and veggies.

I decided to wait for “my” boys (aka the dad and boyfriend) and eat dinner later. Too many crisps were enjoyed on the way to France . The rest got back at 8:30pm or so and I made a second pot of pasta, as well as a veggie patty pour moi.

There was also some amazing cake that someone made and lots of wine .

Ps: Yes, I packed way too much food. As expected. It seems like I’m not the only one who over-packs though.

Sunday started off with a nice cup of green tea and a huge breakfast.

Everyone was actually way older than me but we had such a fun time. Age is only a number and doesn’t really matter much anyway.

We then had to leave the camping site by noon and so we decided to go to Annecy and “explore” the town a bit (some of us have never been there before). Annecy has such a beautiful old town!! I completely fell in love.

There was a marathon (and half marathon) going on which was fun. Seeing the people run through the finish was great. I could have spent the entire day there but I’m not sure if the others would have liked that .

There was a market too. Lots of sausages and cheese – as it is common in France .

I really like taking photos of markets even though none of the products (ok maybe except the wine and jam) really appeals to me..

It was rather difficult to find a restaurant where you could sit outside (because we were a group of 11 people). We found a nice crêperie though but had to split up. I got a crêpe (which was made with buckwheat) with onions, tomatoes, egg and salad.

I loved it but both my dad and boyfriend weren’t huge fans of theirs. Sigh…

Then it was time to go back home again! We arrived at my parent’s place at 6pm and had dinner together – lovely way to end a lovely weekend.

I can’t wait to go back to Annecy soon! It felt like we were on a holiday even though it was  rather “close” to home and only for two days.

By the way, do you remember the day when I forgot my camera at my parent’s place? Well I got my precious baby back and thought I’d share the photos of the homemade ravioli with you. This is hands down my favourite meal on earth. My mum makes everything from scratch, even the dough. The recipe is from Jamie Oliver’s first cookbook.

The (vegetarian) ravioli are filled with sundried tomatoes, mozzarella and basil and taste like heaven.

We always drizzle them with olive oil, pepper and parmesan cheese. A sauce would totally ruin the amazing flavours.

Mmmm these photos make me hungry!

Anyway, I better be off now. I hope you had an amazing weekend too!

Take care!

Every time I pack for a trip I’m worried about food. I always think that we haven’t packed enough when in fact the whole lot could feed a small army.

Forgot a towel or the toothbrush? That’s ok as long as I’ve got the sandwiches and bananas for everyone.

Is this something that foodies do or is that some weird motherly instinct that wants to make sure that everyone’s got enough food?

Today I got up at 5am and got to work on the sandwiches for the road. Just like with salads I am bored to death by boring sandwiches (cheese and butter anyone? No thank you.)

Aubergine, Almond + sesame tofu, tomatoes, spinach.

I also packed some other things. 30 seconds after taking this photo I filled the bag with produce and other goodies.

Got to finish packing now. Have I packed my toiletries?

Q: How do you pack for a trip?

ps: Yes, my friend Karin made that cake. Isn’t she an artist?