Give Me Bananas

 

 

 

 

I don’t know about your family but mine is pretty… strange.
When my sister and I still lived at home we often did spontaneous taekwon-do fights or yoga pose “battles” after dinner.

Yesterday, at my parent’s place, we tried out the sports modus on our new camera.

Don’t worry, our neighbours are used to such behaviour.

 

I’ve been absolutely loving our new camera. It makes food look so much better .

 

I’m sure the boyfriend will miss it when I’ll take it with me to the states but hey, he gets to take it to Colombia in October and I won’t be able to use it for 3 months so I think it’s only fair that I steal it for 3 weeks.

 

My friend Christine is currently house-sitting her aunt’s place and they have a lovely apricot tree. I had to go and help her with those as they were ready to be eaten.

She sent me back home with a huge bag of fresh organic apricots.

I’m thinking about making agave sweetened jam, does anyone have a good recipe?

 

5 days until Seattle! And my to-do list is continuously growing!
No need to hyperventilate. Yet.

 

xoxoK

 

Welcome to Creux du Van

 

But more about that in a second..

First of all I want to let you know that Silvio and I got a baby!!!

 

No, not that kind of baby.

That kind of baby:

(Excuse the quality.. It was late last night.

We admired the little one until almost 1am which resulted in me looking like this today:

Yeah I know, I like my sexy panda eyes too. After all.. bruised eyes are hot, aren’t they?

 

But I’m getting ahead of myself again! So let’s start with today, ok?

Hiking needs good fuel and so I made a HUGE porridge for breakfast today. Into the mix went 1 c water, 1/2 c oats, 1/2 c rice milk and 1 scoop protein powder.

Toppings: Hemp seeds, flax seeds and 1 tbsp almond butter

I almost couldn’t finish it all. Almost.

 

We met up with two of my best friends, Livia and Daniela at 9am-ish at the train station.

 

Awww I love them! Livia is on the left and I’ve know her since before kindergarten! Daniela lived in the neighbour village and went to our school from 5th grade on. They’ve been two of my closest friends for years. You won’t be able to find people more kind and wonderful than them.

 

We headed to a place called Noiraigue (French pronunciation! ) where the route started.

 

 

I wish I would look that fresh-faced in the morning!!!

 

Hmmm which way?

 

Hiking is my favourite activity next to running and yoga. It’s so liberating and calming! I have no idea why “people of my age” aren’t that into it.

 

A quick explanation about our outfit: It dropped from 30+ C° (86F°) to 20C° (68F°) within TWO days over here. I really enjoyed the constant summer heat so the temperature change was a bit of a shock. It was also pretty windy up there.

Hikeface:

The force was with me today.

 

Hiking company!

 

Yes we also hiked, we didn’t only pose for photos..

 

 

The trail was absolutely beautiful..

 

Even though it was so gloomy we couldn’t help but admire the view. I feel very touristy in Switzerland sometimes .

 

After 1,5h we reached the top! It was absolutely scary up there (I’m terrified of height) but the view was still breathtaking.

 

That dude was brave..

 

He too:

 

This is my very first food photo with our new camera. I know, it’s not utterly fascinating but that wrap was great nevertheless . I also had some banana, cucumber, pepper, 2 grapes (hehe) and cookies. Starving Karin!

 

 

(I think I like him)

 

I bet she’ll hate me for posting this but I love how “authentic” it looks

 

 

We posed some more because the sun decided to show up. For 15 seconds or so.

 

And then we walked back down…

I hate walking downhill! It always kills my legs.

 

We also made a necessary stop for hot chocolate. Great for the soul!

 

 

And then we were back down again.

I can’t believe that my first hike this summer was this late. But it was a day worth remembering.

Now I can barely keep my eyes open.

Good night!!

 

Q: Tell me about your favourite hiking adventures! (Ok that wasn’t really a question but hey.. I’m tired! )

It’s Friday.

It’s been raining a lot.

And I had a vegan whole spelt chocolate chip brioche for breakfast.

 

And a chocolate protein smoothie too.

Needless to say that life is good when chocolate is involved.

 

In one week my friend Simone and I will leave for the US of A and I still haven’t wrapped my head around it. So much more is happening right now and I can’t wait to share it with you all but you’ll have to stay patient for a bit longer.

Anyway, we will fly to Seattle on my mum’s birthday, 31th July. My parents will drive us to the airport at 6am. Aren’t they crazy? Aren’t they fantastic? No wonder why my genes are so nutso. Haha!

It still feels like the holiday (or in American English: "vacation" ) is so far away. Is it really true that we will drive down to San Francisco in less than two weeks? Will we really stay in New York for one day on our way back? It all feels pretty unreal right now.

Simone and I have planned everything, besides the exact route we’ll take. We just know that we want to visit Mt. Rainier, Yosemite and Napa Valley on the way. Everything else is still unsure.

Do you have any insider tips? Which restaurants in Seattle, San Fran and New York do you like?

I only know a bunch of (apparently) great places in NY (Pure Food & Wine, Candle 79, Babycakes NYC…) though Simone and I already talked about eating our way through NY. I like that.

It’s odd, I’ve never been that far west before. Also, it doesn’t really feel like I’m leading my life right now. I’ve never travelled that much before (Rrmember Japan in January, Florence on Easter and London in May?) and you know what? It’s getting even crazier! But that’s still a secret. I hate secrets so I’m really sorry that I can’t share it with you right now.

Oh well, I work my butt off so it’s time to get a breather.

I usually spend most of my money on food (who would have guessed) but I LOVE travelling. Cheap. I stay in hostels and do lots of camping which allows me to "save" some money and travel a bit more. Maybe it’s my multicultural background but I always have an urge to pack my bags and explore the world.

 

On an other note, my lovely friends Christine and Janine came around for dinner. We made some whole wheat pasta with tomato/zucchini sauce, served with garlic bread and salad. I was feeling a bit carby you know .

 

Tomorrow I’ll go hiking with my besties Livia and Daniela. I can’t wait! It’s my first hike this summer and it’s already the end of July!

 

Do you like travelling? What’s been your favourite place you’ve ever visited? There are so many great places I’ve seen, it’s nearly impossible to choose one. But I’d have to say that I really love my grandmother’s place (in Japan). I always feel extremely “home” there even though I’ve never lived there. The countryside is breathtaking (except for in winter ) and thinking about it makes me miss it so much.

 

For some weird reason I still remember the first time I made quinoa. I saw a recipe that sounded amazing and had my parents and sis over for dinner so I whipped up a quinoa salad (with spinach, mozzarella and pine nuts). Thinking about it makes me drool. I have make that dish again soon.

Ever since I’ve been in love with keen-wah.

My boyfriend is not a huge fan because he kind of overdosed on it when he was a kid (healthy mum! me likes!) but I wasn’t really familiar with it so I started to cook it extremely often. I don’t seem to get sick of it!

Yesterday night I prepared some quinoa for today’s and tomorrow’s breakfasts. I cooked some (pre-cooked) black quinoa with rice milk, dates, banana slices, almond slivers and a bit of cinnamon and got this really nice porridge.

It might look a bit ugly but it sure as hell is a keeper.

 

Other great quinoa eats:

• Quinoa pasta
• Quinoa salad
• Quinoa with basil and pine nuts
• Quinoa porridge (That post is actually titled with “I Love Quinoa (And My Sister Too)” – guess I really like quinoa, hehe)
• Leftover quinoa in a wrap
• Quinoa pesto mix (oh my what an old post!)

 

There are lots of other quinoa ideas but I could go on and on forever and you’d still be reading the next week .

 

Q: What’s your favourite quinoa-based meal? I can’t decide. I really love the sweet porridge version but I also love it in salads, etc.. It’s so versatile!

 

You know, I really don’t like how the word “diet” has changed over the years. In reference to food it simply means your way of eating. Though these days most people assume that the word diet means a crazy weight loss program. Bollocks!

I don’t like diets (and I am talking about the weight loss programs now). They’re restrictive and when you’re lucky you get one day off where you can eat anything you want. Spending a day eating hamburgers and ice cream is not healthy!
I’m not a nutritionist but I honestly wonder why people mention “weight loss” in the same sentence as “health”. They’re both absolutely different! Sure, there are a lot of people who need to lose weight to get healthy but there’s so much misinformation!

First of all, how come that:

• Carbs are bad? (Seriously?? A grain that is given by the lovely earth is bad?)
• Fruits are bad? (Because fructose makes you fat. Uh huh.)
• Meal replacements are better than real food?

Oh I could go on and on.

You see why I really don’t like diets. They’re silly. They make people stress about food.

With that being said I was extremely surprised when I stumbled upon Tone It Up the other day. Girls who love carbs and most importantly BANANAS (!)?

Well the two founders of Tone It Up look like they just jumped out of Shape magazine (ironically they posed for that magazine, I think) but hey, I will trust anyone who looks fit and healthy and eats cupcakes.

So I decided to join their Tone It Up Fat Burning System.

Oh yes indeed.

Besides the fact that the title is absolutely hilarious, it’s a program that is extremely do-able (as long as you like working out).

You train and you eat. I like that.

What I also like is that it’s about toning up, meaning building muscle (I’m not talking about Arnold Schwarzenegger muscles here!) and becoming fitter. Weight is not an indicator for health. You can weigh 60kg and be an unhealthy couch potato. You can also weigh 60kg and be a healthy, active athlete. (Which would lead me to an other topic.. BMI. Sigh. But that’s for an other post).

I can run 10 miles but I’m not incredibly toned. I have a butt (which I like and also want to keep, haha!) but I over all need to tone up a bit more. Sure, it looks nicer to be toned but I want to do that because I like being stronger (again, don’t think of bodybuilder muscles here!). It makes me more confident. And working out gives me a feeling of complete calmness. I almost never stress out and I really believe that it’s because of my active lifestyle. It gives me a really nice balance.

Anyway, if my (real life ) friends read this they’ll probably think that it’s yet another crazy idea of mine. Or all the blog readers in general will think that I’m nutso.
I don’t care.

It’s not because I’m rebellious but because I know what’s good for me. And I know what’s making me happy. Being active and eating healthily might be living hell for some people. You know, that’s ok. I think it’s great if everyone would appreciate real food but it’s absolutely pointless to force people to think the way I do. We’re all different and that’s good.

So… (breathe, Karin! Breathe!) it’s ok when people think this is silly.

Lesson of the day for you all: It’s ok when people think that you’re a moron!

Just laugh about it and live your life the way you want it too.

Goodness, this post turned out to be a bit philosophical, didn’t it (and it also became a huge RANT)? And I only wanted to write about Tone It Up. I guess I was in a writing mood (so basically the complete opposite from the other day..).

 

Let’s get back to bananas.

I don’t want to be right when banana and chocolate for breakfast is wrong.

Rice milk + ice + flax + hemp (the seeds, silly! Not the weed) + chocolate rice protein powder + banana = Perfect smoothie for this crazy summer weather!

I should take a photo before drinking it. Guess I was (thirsty?) hungry.

Pretty mud water.

Love & Peace

K.

 

Even though we have an amazing farmer’s market in Bern I have to admit that I rarely go there.
Come on! Who am I? Isn’t it the “it-thing” of the health food bloggers? Shame on me!

Well after a long absence I steered to the organic veggies on Saturday. I now only have one zucchini, some radishes, half a head of cauliflower and some celery stalks left. And it’s only Tuesday. I guess I’ll have to go there again tomorrow!

 

My two day long absence can be explained quite easily. I spent the entire Sunday checking my boyfriend’s thesis for grammar mistakes. I now know everything about electrical engineering. Yep.

We worked until 11pm and was really lacking sleep. That’s why I decided to take yesterday evening off. I had dinner, read my book and went to bed at 10pm. Heaven!

 

Random fact of the day #1:

I’m slowly eating my way through the bars I got in London.

 

Random fact of the day #2:

Eating hot oats on a hot day really isn’t cool (ha!). I somehow don’t seem to have any conventional breakfast food on hand.

Tomorrow I’ll make a COLD smoothie.

 

Brace yourself, tonight’s dinner was beyond (!!!) creative.

Tam tam taaaaam…..

I’d say that this is a meal to remember!

JK. Do I really need to mention that I felt like a lazy bum tonight?

 

Have I ever told you that I HATE gyms in the evening? They’re so crowded! I still went to my gym after work though

I usually go to the gym in the morning which I like so much better (even though it means that I have to get up earlier). There aren’t many people around and the free weights section isn’t “filled with testosterone” (if you know what I mean ).

Today I did a very basic HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) on the treadmill:

• 5 min warm-up run
• 1 min sprint
• 2 min run/jog
• repeat sprint and jog 6x
• 10 min cool down jog

(Try doing 5-8 sets)

I hate interval training and feel like dying the entire time but I somehow start to like HIITs because they make time fly by. Also, they’re fantastic if you have little time and want to make the most of your workout.

 

Time to do some yoga now!

 

Q: Do you know/like/hate/?? HIITs?

 

What is it about this day that makes me so H.A.P.P.Y.?

It might be because it’s the weekend. Or because I finished the cleanse.

 

Speaking of it.. Here’s how the last day went:

Breakfast started off with soy yogurt, sliced banana & nectarine and hemp & chia seeds.

Oh and almond butter. Let’s not forget about the almond butter.

 

Surprise surprise it didn’t hold me over for too long and so I had some blueberries and an egg.

Still hungry. Grr!

I basically ran to the health food store to get some tofu and veggies to throw together a salad for lunch. Then I grabbed my food, book and a chair and enjoyed my lunch outside. At least until some dude started mowing the grass. Oh the joy!

Yes, that’s a close up of tofu.

 

Work – snack on apple and AB – work…

 

For dinner I dug out some frozen food – millet with chickpeas, carrots, onion and raisins that I made some time ago. I forgot how amazing this dish is! Need to make that again soon.
On the side I had some edamame. I love edamame.

Kinda look like grandma edamame though.

 

…And then I had dessert.

 

Oh my freaking goodness!!

Well I will tell you all about my baked baby tomorrow but let me just say that this was so good (and perfectly cleanse-friendly).

 

But how did the cleanse make me feel?

Well, as expected, I didn’t feel much different. I mentioned before that I mostly eat that way anyway so it wasn’t a “real” cleanse for my body. However, I noticed the following things:

• No bloating, weird feeling whatsoever
• No chocolate cravings
• “Clear skin”-feeling

Well the last point surprised me. It felt like my skin could breathe (!?!?). Has anyone ever felt like that before? I didn’t particularly feel more energized but my skin felt (and still feels!) great.
What shocked me lots though was that I didn’t miss chocolate. So strange!

 

Got to go now! Will meet up with my friend Christine for dinner at Punkt. I think I’m going to order the Pad Thai .

 

Q: Favourite cookbook? It’s some sort of an out of the blue question but I was just wondering..

Have a GREAT Friday!

 

It’s been a rough day so I’ll keep this short and sweet.

 

Even though it’s been incredibly hot in the past few days I was craving oatmeal for breakfast. Talk about weird. That’s like taking an ice bath in the depth of winter.

1/3 c oatmeal, 2/3 c rice milk, 1/3 c water, cinnamon, 1 sliced banana / topped with hemp seeds and 1 tsp almond butter

 

Work was incredibly busy and I snacked on an apple mid-morning. –>Nothing exciting happened here .

It’s been so nice out so I’ve been eating my lunches outside for the past few days, while reading Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series. It’s so relaxing!

For lunch today I had a huge salad (lettuce, carrots, broccoli and an egg) and some blueberries and an other egg on the side (I actually prefer eating eggs on their own and not particularly in salads).

Sunshine sunshine, I love you.

 

Unfortunately I had to go back inside and continue working. Oh sometimes I really hate being a grown up. Work continued to be crazy (I’m currently organizing things for a small exhibition and it’s driving me NUTS!) but I snacked on a nectarine in between.

I really needed to go on a run and clear my mind after work, so I ate a dried date because I was feeling tired and hungry– I believe that dates are the perfect pre-exercise snacks if you only need a small boost of energy.

 

Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE red lentils? They’re exactly what food should be like – nutritious and delicious!

I cooked 1/2 dry lentils in water with a bit of salt and served them with baked sweet potato “fries” and steamed broccoli & savoy cabbage.

 

 

I feel like I’m going to explode now.

 

Workouts of the day:

- 1 hr Tracy Anderson Method Mat Workout DVD (will write a review soon)  before breakfast
- 40 min run (don’t know how far I ran because I didn’t wear my Garmin) after lunch

 

I will probably finish watching “Narnia: Prince Caspian” and then do some yoga before hitting the hay.

 

Hope your Wednesday was good too!

 

My friend Kirsty told me yesterday about a cleanse she’ll do, starting today. It’s quite simple: Lots of veggies, grains, protein in form of fish, chicken, eggs and tofu. Well I don’t eat chicken or fish (and neither does she) but decided to join her. Mainly because I like “experiments” like these –> Challenges that aren’t too challenging .

I don’t expect it to make me feel completely different because it’s only for three days and I usually eat the same food anyway (I just have to give up on wheat, chocolate and dairy – which is easy since I can live a few days without bread, pasta and chocolate and I rarely eat dairy anyway).

But yeah, I’m doing a “cleanse”.

Tam Tam Tam

When people hear that word they first think of ridiculous juice fasts or other silly things (master cleanse anyone?). I don’t believe in starving, even if you’ll feel “great” afterwards. Fasts/Cleanses that are based on juices might be do-able for some people but not for me. I like chewing.

So in spirit of the cleanse I decided to turn this blog into a food journal for three days. Are you ok with this?

Yes?

Good.

Breakfast was a massive bowl of cold oatmeal (1/3 c oatmeal cooked with 1 c water and ½ banana the night before) with soy yogurt, the other half of the banana, hemp seeds and blueberries (as well as two lone raspberries). You know, I REALLY don’t like berries in hot oatmeal. Something about that bitterness makes me gag. In fact, the only fruit I like in hot oatmeal is banana.

 

Mid-morning snack was a wonderful nectarine that was incredibly sexy to eat.

(It kind of pretends to be an apple in this picture.)

 

Ok, I know that white rice is like blasphemy in the healthy food blogger world but my boss and co. had a lunchtime meeting and my colleague and I decided to order sushi as well. That was last week when I didn’t know anything about that cleanse back then. Oh well. It was a huge but great lunch . (And actually also completely fine with the cleanse rules)

 

I had another “impossible-to-eat-in-front-of-other-people” afternoon snack. Watermelon. Hot.

 

No surprise that the watermelon left me starving when I got back home so I nibbled on some gluten free & vegan crackers that I recently found at the organic food store.

Oh god. I’m addicted. I had approximately 3x of what’s shown above.

 

Dinner was with my sister Selina before Pilates class. We went to the good old tibits and I got all sorts of yummy things and a green juice!

 

Workout for the day:

-1 h pilates class
-lots of walking (actually more than usual..)

 

Other “rules” of the cleanse are as follows (in case you were wondering):

 

How to eat
*Meals should be regular – three a day, and a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack.
*Eat moderate helpings of good lean protein with main meals: fish, eggs, chicken, tofu
*Dandelion coffee, ginger (in tea or added to juice of food) and nettle tea all good for cleansing/supporting the liver.

NO to
alcohol
processed food (except tofu)
no sugar
no red meat
no caffeinated drinks
no wheat or dairy
very little salt

Yes to:
drink at least 2 litres of water/herbal tea a day
eat plenty of vegetables except white potatoes
good veg for detox = artichokes, beetroot, bean and seed sprouts, carrots, pumpkin, red cabbage, spinach, sweet potato, tomato, watercress
Cruciferous veg = broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage, brussel sprouts – important in supporting the key conjugation pathway to the liver
Eat fruit. Esp good for detoxing – apples, fresh apricots, berries, cantaloupe, melon, citrus, kiwi, papaya, peaches, mango and dark grapes.
Grains – a half tennis ball sized helping of brown rice, corn, millet, oats or quinoa
Pulses
Nut & seeds (great for snacks with some fruits)
Oils – use extra virgin olive oil or flaxseed oil.
LEMON WATER

Each morning, start the day with half a lemon squeezed into a glass of hot water.

Here’s how Day 1 is supposed to look like: (The other days are really similar)

Day 1
First thing: Lemon water
before you shower or bathe: – skin brushing
During the day : a brisk walk to help circulation
Treatment Body scrub
Bed: Try to be in bed by 10pm- read or listen to restful music if you can’t sleep

Dang. No skin brushing was done. And it’s already 10:41pm. Oops! Time to go to bed!

Q: What do you think of cleanses? Ok I’ll admit it; it’s quite silly to call this (in my case) a cleanse since I mainly eat that way anyway. However, I’ll just take it as a chance to be more aware of what I eat – in a good way. Sometimes I nibble on things mindlessly – who doesn’t? – but it’s nice to focus on good food for a few days.
As for cleanses: I’m not a huge fan (since I’m lacking major will power). Other reasons for my dislike are stated above

 

There is something seriously wrong with this day.

It flew by! (I swear!)

Somebody’s manipulating time and I am not! a! fan!

Besides the fact that the day only had what felt like 60 seconds it was a pretty good one. We invited my sister and her boyfriend for brunch which was fantastic. I love my sis so much, she’s the most fabulous person on earth.

 

You all know how much I love a good brunch. Give me some fruit, cheese and bread and I am a happy person.

We actually brunched until 3pm and then continued to be lazy and lie around.

Before dinner I watched a few episodes of Glee. I started watching the show yesterday. BIG MISTAKE! Mark my words. Why are good TV shows always so addictive?

 

We only had some salad for dinner and afterwards a bit of raw chocolate!

 

 

I think I never showed you the t-shirt that my boyfriend bought me in London..

Apparently it has my name all over it

 

I think it’s the cutest t-shirt I’ve ever had. Too bad that I can’t wear it to work

 

It seems like you all love summer fruits (which I think is fantastic).
Speaking of fruits.. have you ever heard of that bizarre myth that you shouldn’t eat bananas or pineapples if you want to lose weight? You know.. because all that sugar is making you SO fat. Yeah right. I’d weigh a ton by now.

 

Q: Are there any other strange diet tips that you’ve heard of? My mum once read that smelling grapefruit will help you eat less. I think that’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard.

 

Hope you’re having a good Sunday! My bf is currently watching the world cup. I watched about 20 minutes of the Brazil / Côte d’Ivoire match and was quite bored. Football really isn’t my thing. However, I like watching a good match. Too bad that you don’t know in advance how good it’s going to be, hehe.