Duyvis's vegan products (coated peanuts)

One day i found a Crac a Nut Barbecue (coated peanuts with barbeque taste coating) from Duyvis in the closet, and i wondered if it was vegan or not, so i emailed the producers and asked which of their products that are vegan. Here is the reply i got.
Sorry for the dutch btw. Those that are listed are vegan. Always check ingredients in case there are any changes in recipes or so.

Hieronder vindt u een lijstje met de Duyvis producten die geschikt zijn voor een veganistisch regime:
Oven Roasted Crac a Nut Szechuan Pepper, Sweet Paprika en Fine Herbs
Oven Roasted Peanuts
Peanuts Zout
Crac a Nuts BBQ, Paprika

Aangezien onze recepturen ten allen tijde aangepast kunnen worden, geeft dit lijstje alleen de huidige samenstelling van het product weer.

Ons advies luidt om steeds de ingrediëntenlijst op de achterkant van de verpakking goed te lezen om de correcte nutritionele informatie terug te vinden.

Which basicly means that most of their products are vegan, but not all.

I've found some pics from Colruyt and Delhaize their websites to show in pictures which are vegan. These products are sold in Belgium in Colruyt, Delhaize, and probably other shops too like Carrefour, but i'm not sure which shop has which products in stock.
 

 

 

I really enjoy eating coated peanuts. My favorite is the Rema 1000 chili nuts from Norway. Sadly they don't have that one here in Belgium, but luckily they have other coated peanuts here that also are yummy =D

Previously i have only tasted the paprika one, and now also the barbecue one, which both were yummy. Now after finding out more of them are vegan i guess i'll try out the rest too =D

In Belgium again

Trying my luck on the belgian work market again. Hopefully something will turn up, although everyone tells me when i told what my degree is that it will be hard or nearly impossible to find anything :x So if i'm so unlucky that i cant find any job i guess i'll have to take a more specialized and job oriented bachelor (seems i'll be forever student :x).

Since i'm a newcomer in Antwerpen it seems i can join an integration program where i can learn more about belgium and also learn more dutch, but first i need to get my official address in Antwerpen, which takes some more time than i hoped for. I asked for an appointment to fix it more than a week ago, and i didn't get any reply so far.

Also, the internet here is so slow that it's a nightmare doing anything that requires internet. I tried checking the speed with speedtest.net, but apperantly my internet was too slow to check it :x Normally it is faster, but atm we have a 100 GB download limit for the whole family, and after that is used up, the speed drops to nearly nothing. Luckily the limit resets soon, and we will soon get unlimited download limit so we have fast internet all the time and not just half a month =D

So with this slow internet and depressing job market i sometimes try to look for a job, but it seems i always need something i don't have, like dutch, french, experience, correct education, or driving licence. I applied for a job where the language requirements were norwegian and english, cuz those i know. It's not really based on my education though, but something is better than nothing atleast =) Hope there's no other norwegians around here that steals it :x

I also checked out voluntair work, and there i felt more happy since i
reached requirements more often. So i might sign up for some voluntair work so i'm a bit useful atleast =p

Halloween 2014

I love holidays, they give a good opportunity to celebrate =D

As always, halloween is a time for spookiness =D And gross (but still yummy) food =D

So for this years meny i chose to eat mummies, larvaes, blood, and gore ^.^

Followed by way too much candy (and also before and while making the dinner xD)

And some chips and popcorn too =p

I even made some green spooky muffins with some bugs, brains and other nasty stuff in it, but everyone was too full to eat, including me :x

I dressed up as a witch who had been in a witchfight xD

In the evening we watched a movie called the collector. This movie had too much torture and blood and stuff so i was watching computer screen instead luckily, else i would have nightmares still. My brother and sister weren't the biggest fan of it either, but they wanted to know how it ended so they kept watching. I read the summary on wikipedia instead, gave me enough info, without all the visual details :x

Was a nice halloween, looking forward to next years halloween already =D

Curried veggies

This was my dinner today =)

Ingredients i used:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
0.5 onion, chopped
0.5 garlic, minced (can use 1 too, i had 0.5 leftover from yesterdays hummus)
1 chilipepper, chopped
1 mushroom, in pieces
1 carrot, in pieces
3 small potatoes, in pieces
Some tablespoons of red curry paste
Soy sauce to taste
2 teaspoons tomato paste
Some dl of water
A little bit of leftover chickpeas
Pepper
Freshly squeezed lemon

I sauteed the veggies, adding water when needed, then i added curry paste, tomato paste and soy sauce and some more water and let it simmer a bit before adding chickpeas. When water was more or less evaporated it was ready to eat so i sprinckled on some pepper and freshly squeezed lemon juice =) It's probably yummy with rice, but i figured that out 2 minutes before it was ready to eat, so maybe i should start with boiling some rice next time xD

Jacques Chocolate with Banana Filling

Next up for my reviews is the Jacques chocolate with banana filling. These chocolates comes with different fillings, such as vanilla, banana, blueberry, pistache, almond, and cranberry-orange.

I bought mine in Colruyt. For 200 g it was 1.68 € for the banana filled chocolate. The prices varies from taste to taste, with the highest for about 2.14 € and the cheapest for about 1.38 €. They also have smaller sizes.

I kinda like these chocolates, but at the same time i feel that they have too much sugar. The main ingredient is sugar. The banana filled chocolate tastes like banana, but the taste is overpowered by the sugar, making it too sugary. It would have tasted much better if they filled it with more banana, and less sugar. The banana content is only 0.9 %, and should have been way higher! The dark chocolate covering tastes good and has minimum 53% cacao. The pairing of dark chocolate and filling is nice, with the downside of the overpowering sugariness.

Oops, i ate half already

Another thing i feel i feel could be improved is to divide the chocolate rows into smaller pieces, so it's easier to divide it and not eat so large pieces at a time. There is 6 rows in a 200 g chocolate, making each row about 33g each. If they would make for instance 4 pieces per row it would be better i think.

I think i have tasted all the different tastes, and i more or less like them all even if they are too sugary for my preferences, but i will probably buy random tastes every now and then whenever i feel like some filled chocolate. I think my favorite is the cranberry-orange taste.

I will give this chocolate 4-/6 cuz its a nice alternative for vegans who wants some filled chocolate, but has too much sugar taste, so it could definitely be better if they replaced some(much) of the sugar with more of the filling that's actually supposed to be in it.

Anyone has tasted these chocolates? Did you like them? =) Feel free to comment! =D

Alpro Soya Lime-Lemon Yoghurt

Here in Belgium/Antwerpen they got many vegan products that they don't have in Bergen/Norway, so it's fun trying out new stuff =D Figured i would tell a bit about what i think about some of the products =D

First up is the alpro soya lime-lemon yoghurt (Alpro soya Mild & Creamy Limoen-Citroen in dutch)

I bought this yoghurt in Colruyt for 2.68 € for 750 g.

 

This yoghurt was mild and creamy just like the title said, without any chuncks of fruit. It's a sweet yoghurt with a nice fresh taste of lemon and lime without it being overpowering or too sour.

Personally i like lemon/orange yoghurts very well because of their freshness, and this is no exception! I think it may be my new favorite yoghurt too =D I will definitely buy it again, along with some other yoghurts to test out =) I give it 6/6 for score =D

The only bad thing i can say about this yoghurt is that it was a bit hard to get the last spoons of yoghurt out of the packaging. I tried doing the carton upside down for a bit and that helped, but i was impatient, so a little yoghurt ended up in the sink instead of in my stomach when i cleaned out the carton with water. It may help waiting longer, or by opening the carton to get the last bit of yoghurt out =p I don't like draining yummy yoghurt down the sink, even if it's just a little bit xD

Anyone else has tasted this lime-lemon yoghurt? Did you like it? Whats your favorite yoghurt taste? =D Feel free to comment =D

In Belgium

I asked again to get free from work, and this time i got it =) So now i'm in Belgium =D

I arrived yesterday, after taking the 6:30 flight from Bergen to Amsterdam with KLM, followed by bus from Amsterdam to Antwerp =p

In the plane i sat in the seat next to a nice woman who also was travelling to meet her boyfriend. We chatted the whole trip! It's kinda cool that i'm not the only one who finds a foreign boyfriend =D And it was also nice having someone to chat with who i have stuff in common with =D

In the bus we were only like 3 passengers xD I think most people use the train instead if they go from Amsterdam to Antwerp since it's about 1 hour quicker, (it takes 1 hour instead of 2-2.5 hours), but I wanted to try out bus this time since then i got to see more of Netherlands + it was cheaper :x
I slept the first 30 minutes of the bus trip before i woke up and felt too curious of where i was and to look out the window xD Seems the part of Netherlands i got to see was the highway, and i had no idea where i was most of the time xD The bus had wifi, so that was a bonus =D My phone was low on battery though so i tried to preserve the battery a bit. Also the wifi stopped working bit before the belgian border i think (its hard to know where i was since everywhere it looked the same xD)

Below are some photos from my trip.

Outside Amsterdam Airport

I amsterdam

Me in the bus

Somewhere in Netherlands i think

I found windmills =D

In Antwerp

Also in Antwerp

When i arrived in Antwerp they had some car-free event or so, including a Ferris wheel xD We didn't try it out though, instead we went to house with luggage.

I didn't have much sleep during the night, so I ended up sleeping when i got to the house xD After sleeping we went for a walk before sleeping again =p

Now i'm in school mainly just hanging on the pc doing more or less useless stuff while my bf has class =p

It's nice weather here, a bit cloudy every now and then though, but it's more than 20°C during day. In the morning, evening and night it's colder, but it is fall after all =p

Here is a photo i took while walking to the school.

Somewhere in Antwerp

Hope it will be a nice vacation =) I'll continue searching for a job, and hopefully improve my dutch too while i'm here =p Anyone have any suggestions for things to see and do while in Antwerp btw? =D

Mountain trip

One of the days this week i was on a little mountain trip close to my home.

Currently my status is that I'm waiting for free from my work so i can travel to Belgium to see my boyfriend. Nowadays I'm working only 6 hours each Saturday, plus i work whenever people are sick. Actually a guy was sick so i sometimes get random hours during the week also, but I miss my boyfriend so i hope that i can travel soon. I didn't get any reply on when i can go even though i asked more than 2 weeks ago though. It would be a bit too costy to go forth and back for just 6 hours of work each week, and I'd rather want a longer stay than just 5 days. So I'm hoping for better news soon.

I'm also searching for jobs in Antwerp in Belgium. This is a bit tricky since my dutch isn't that good and my self esteem is low, so i don't feel qualified for anything. I also think that my master in renewable energy is not that desired for, it would be better if i did something in IT or something more practical. If anyone got any suggestions for jobs then please shout out.

For time to pass with something more useful than me hanging in my room and watching tv shows and playing games, i went on a mountain trip this Tuesday. Here are some images from the trip taken with my phone. From the top of the mountain you can see the airport of Bergen =)

Now just to hope for better times.

Pink coconut curry with rice =p

Hihi i love when my food is colored, i should do it more often =D
I made pink coconut curry with rice for breakfast (i sometimes make dinner for breakfast), and i thought it was cute that it was pink, so i decided to post it =p The pinkness comes from the red beet that i added =D

I'm not gonna specify how much of each ingredient i used, and also if anyone wants to make this you can use other ingredients of course =p

Ingredients:
Onion
Garlic
Chili
Red bell pepper
Carrot
Zucchini
Red beet
Cabbage
Celeriac
Coconut milk
Water (i wanted it more liquidish)
Green curry paste (other colors are nice too =p)
Lime juice (i had a little remaining that i wanted to use xD)

Directions:
Chop veggies, stir fry them a bit, add coconut milk, water, curry paste and optionally lime juice and let it simmer for a while. Served with rice or anything else that sounds yummy =p

New icecream maker =D

Seems I'm not the pro, much updating blogger xD

I'm now done with my master thesis, finally =D but i don't really know what kinda job i want. Seems there's not so many jobs where you need a master in renewable energy...

Some weeks ago i bought myself an ice cream maker in a Norwegian shop called Europris =D It was on sale so i got it for 100 Kr instead of 300 Kr =D

With this ice cream maker you must freeze the bowl for minimum 12 hours, then you pour your cooled ice cream mix into the bowl while the rotating blade is spinning and wait for it to become ice cream =) It should take about 30 minutes before it's slushy consistency. If you want the ice cream more frozen you can put the bowl back into the freezer for an hour or so.

Of course i had to test it out by making various ice creams =D

Pistachio ice cream

Strawberry ice cream

Chocolate ice cream

I'm very satisfied with this ice cream maker, I'm happy i bought it =D Now i can make any ice cream that i want =D

For more inspiration and recipes check out veganeren and vegetarbloggen, or google =p

Anyone got suggestions for more ice creams to test out? =p Or any favorites? From these three i prefered the pistachio and chocolate one =p

Foccacia

This is the recipe for foccacia that my mom use, and i enjoy it quite a lot, so i will share the recipe here. It's a very simple and quick recipe, and it yields quite a lot. We have to use the biggest bowl in the house so it wont run over when rising, and in oven its baked in a 30x40 cm cake shape.We freeze the leftovers though =D

You can add the stuff you like in it, personally i like to have olives and sun dried tomatoes inside the foccacia, and salt on top xD

Ingredients:
1 kg flour, it taste best with white, but i normally add some whole grain flour for extra nutrition
20 g salt
1 50g package fresh yeast (or 1 package dry)
1 liter body temperature water

Suggested fillings; olives, sun dried tomatoes etc
Suggested topping; olive oil, coarse salt, rosemary etc

Mix the ingredients together in a big bowl along with the filling (it's simpler adding it here than later).
Cover the bowl with plastic and let the dough raise for about 30 minutes, then put the dough in the cake shape, add the topping and put in oven on 250°C for about 25 minutes.
After it's done, remove the foccacia from the cake shape, and transfer it to a cooling rack.

Enjoy =p

Almond cake with banana and chocolate

I had some remaining almond pulp after trying to make almond milk inspired by oneingredientchef *english*. I also had a brown banana (actually i had 2 xD), and i wanted to make a cake.

I kinda wanted to use the almond pulp as flour, and not as filling, although i drooled a bit at fyrstekake/macaroon cake *norwegian*.

Inspired by veganeren her almond cake with raspberries *norwegian*, and her chocolate chip cookie bars *norwegian*, i decided to make an almond banana chocolate cake xD

Ingredients:
2 dl almond pulp
3 dl flour
2 - 2.5 dl sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
0.25 teaspoon salt
0.75 dl vegetable oil
3 dl vegetable milk
1+ teaspoon almond essence
1 banana, chopped in pieces (not mashed, i divided mine in 3 lengthwise along the natural division and then chopped in cubes)
100 g chocolate, chopped in pieces

First stir together the dry ingredients, then add the wet ingredients and mix. Then add the banana pieces and chocolate and mix them carefully into the dough. Put in cake shape sized about 20x30 cm and put in preheated oven on 175°C for about 35 minutes. Check if ready.

Probably best when cooled, but we didn't wait that long, too impatient xD

Sorry for the horrible picture xD It was nice taste though =p

Everyone should also try the almond cake with raspberries on veganeren, it's also really delicious =D <3

My dinner today - Moussaka

Today was really busy at work, there kept coming costumers xD Unlike yesterday when we went hours without any customers xD It's nice though that so many wanted to visit our store today =D

I didnt really have time to eat or drink at work after 11 or so, but i drank a bit orange juice (more like orange pulp xD) after we were closed before i left.

Then i testdrove with my dad around. This time we went to an island i havent been before called Bjorôyna or something. It was pretty nice there =D I wanna drive back there another time =p

When i got home after some chilling i made moussaka =D It was in some recipe collection i found in my local shop (rema 1000, they have like monthly recipe collections in their shops).
This was so yummy i wanted to have the recipe on my blog =p

For about 2 persons:
Red sauce
0.5 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
TVP, i think i did like 1.5-2 dl or something, soaked in warm water along with a veggie bullion, and i also added some taco mix and a little bit of nutritional yeast, but thats not neccesary. Other vegan minced meat style can work also =p then no need to soak unless its dry like TVP
1 tablespoon tomato puree
0.5 can chopped tomatoes (1 can = 400 g)
Salt and pepper to taste

White sauce
25 g vegan margarine (i used alpro <3)
25 g flour
4.5 dl plant based milk (i used oat milk)
1 garlic clove, chopped
Nutritional yeast, to taste. I think i used maybe 3 tablespoons or so
Salt and pepper to taste

1 eggplant
Vegetable oil

For the red sauce: saute onion and garlic, then add TVP, tomato puree, and chopped tomatoes and simmer for a bit. Taste with salt and pepper.

For the white sauce: melt the margarine, stir in the flour, then add bit and bit milk while stirring. Simmer for a while and add nutritional yeast, salt and pepper to taste.

Cut the eggplant in 0.5 cm thick slices. You can also salt the eggplants if wanted to get out the bitterness. I was too lazy to do this xD

Grease an ovenproof dish and add a layer of eggplant, then a layer of white sauce, then layer of red sauce, then eggplants and sauces again until out of all. Finish with a layer of white sauce. Put in oven on 200°C for about 40 minutes. After removing from oven let it cool for about 10 minutes before eating. Yummy with a salad as side =D

 

And it was really yummy even if the pics arent the best xD