26 years old now

2 days ago i turned 26, which sounds way too old because it feels like i'm way younger =p

For my birthday i went out on the restaurant Hot Wok to eat =p I ordered dish 48: Vegan Gong Bao. I assumed it was vegan due to its name =p The dish was stir fried veggies in spicy sweet chili sauce, topped with cashews =D It was really delicious, and it also came with rice on the side which was nice because it was quite spicy (which was good cuz it was labelled as spicy =p)
It was really a lot of food too, even i had struggles eating all (but i did) xD

I've eaten there before too. Then i ordered 46: Vegan chao Mein, which was woked noodles with veggies and soy sauce. That dish was kinda disappointing because it was mostly noodles and almost no veggies, and i also had to use more soy sauce because i'm a soy sauce addict and it didn't have enough =p Would like it more if it had more veggies and maybe some spice too =p

If i go there again i'll order the 48: Vegan Gong Bao again, or maybe do some adjustments to other dishes (although i prefer doing it the easy way, ordering from what is on the menu xD).

After eating i went to cinema and watched James Bond Spectre =D It was a nice movie with lots of explosions and action and stuff =p I liked this movie ^.^

After the movie i went home and watched Star Wars 4 with my family =p We are doing a slow Star Wars marathon (1 movie/day) this xmas, so we're grabbing every oppertunity to watch one =p

I also got some nice gifts =D A necklace, ear rings, a cutting board, jogging pants, jogging t-shirt, thug kitchen cookbook, cutting equipment, a donation in my name to an animal sanctuary and sponsoring to get my eyes checked and get new glasses =D Thanks everyone for the nice gifts and for making me have a nice birthday =D <3

My Xmas 2015

Yoyo everybody, merry xmas! =D

I'm still alive, even though it doesnt seem like it from my posting frequencies xD

So yesterday i celebrated xmas with my family. As usual norwegian tradition i made xmas rice pudding or whatever it's called in english for lunch, made with porridge rice, soy + coconut milk, vanilla powder, sugar, and grounded almons. With cinnamon, raisins and vegan margarine on top =p Very delicious =D

They got a new vegan margarine in Norway now that was actually whiter than my rice pudding as you can see on the picture, which i found a bit funny, cuz normally the margarine/butter is yellow =p
Also my vegan rice pudding was darker in color than my families non-vegan rice pudding =p


After eating we visited my grandparents for a short while before we drove back home (or i drove back home because i'm training for my driving licence). Then i prepared the nut roast that i would have for dinner. I used the recipe that i always use on veg-veg their sites, except i used some more nuts, regretting i didn't make even more =p Guess i'll write the ingredients on my blog so i have it here for later =p

Ingredients:
200 g mixed nuts (i used cashews, brazil nuts, almonds, peanuts, walnuts)
100 g crumbled bread
1 chopped onion
2 chopped garlic cloves
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon spice mix (i used paprika, cloves, ginger, pepper, chili, garlic, nutmeg)
1 cube vegetable bullion
1,5 dl boiling water
salt and pepper

So i did the nuts and bread in my food processor until it was chopped into pieces, sauted the onion and garlic in the oil, then i added all the ingredients in a bowl and spiced it as much as i wanted, then did it in an oiled bread shape, covered with aluminium foil, and baked in the oven on 180°C for about 1 hour.

Next to the nutroast i had boiled potatoes, brown sauce, mashed rutabaga, mushrooms, onions, brussel sprouts, and lots of soy sauce =p

After eating we opened the presents.

Here's what i got:

A purse, 2 different cooking books, vegan chocolate, tvp chuncks, mini cake shapes, touchscreen gloves, lavendel smelling candle light, hand soap, sweater, pizza pan, circular glass shape, power plug thingy, huge pillow and cash =p

Pretty nice gifts, i'm very happy for all of them =D

After opening gifts we wanted to watch the movie "The Holiday". Sadly we didn't have the dvd in our house, so we tried streaming it. Sadly internet wasn't in a very cooperating mood (slow and falling out), so we could watch about 10 minutes before we had to load it for like 5 minutes to continue watching it, so we only got 49 minutes into the movie before we gave up xD

It was a nice xmas for me and i got a lot of cool stuff that i wanted, yummy food, and i had a nice time together with my family =D I hope everyone else had a nice xmas aswell =D

Raspberry ice cream

Today for breakfast i decided to have raspberry ice cream (although it's cold and not sunny outside xD). Because i have frozen bananas i went for the easy, healthy version =p I also added some leftover vegan yoghurt i had =p I let the frozen fruit rest a bit in the food processor before i started it so it wouldn't be too heavy for the food processor to chop the frozen fruits =)

Ingredients:
Frozen banana
Frozen raspberries
Vegan yoghurt (optional)

Put ingredients in food processor and blend =p Enjoy =D Very delicious, healthy, easy and fast =p Can also be made with different berries =p

Shepherdess Pie

So, time for a recipe again =p I had some leftover boiled potatoes, onion, tomato, carrots, cauliflower and chinese cabbage that needed to be used in the fridge, along with some freshly purchased, boiled and frozen black eyed beans in the freezer, so that sounds pretty much like a shepherdess pie to me (except it's normally made with lentils as far as i know xD) I didn't really measure or follow any recipe (but i looked at some recipes for inspiration), but just added what seemed to be a reasonable amount of each ingredient (typically the remaining of what i had laying around) xD

Ingredients (with +- my use in paranthesis):

Tomato sauce:
Onion (+- 0.5)
Garlic (1 clove)
Tomato (+- 1/4th cuz that's what i had, would have used more if i had more =p)
Carrot (2)
Cauliflower (+- 1/2 kinda small)
Chinese cabbage (+- 1/3 small)
Black eyed beans (+- 1,5 dl, other beans or lentils can also be used)
Canned tomatoes (1 400g can)
Tomato paste (+- 1 tablespoon)
Sugar (+- 2 teaspoons)
Bullion cube (1)
Spices (i used pizza spice, oregano, thyme, paprika, fresh basil, salt)
Water if needed

Mashed potatoes:
Boiled potatoes (i had like bit less than 500 g maybe?)
Vegan margarine (1-2 tablespoons)
Plant milk (i used oat milk, dunno howmuch though)
Salt and pepper

Chop veggies in small pieces, saute them and add canned tomatoes, tomato paste, bullion cube, sugar and spices (i added my basil at the end). Add water if needed. Simmer for a while then add beans (add earlier if not cooked). Make mashed potaoes (i guess everyone knows how to). Taste if they both taste good and add more salt or spices if needed. Pour the tomato sauce in an ovenproof dish and distribute the mashed potatoes on top. Here you can have some vegan cheese on top for extra yumminess =p Into the oven on 200°C for like 20 minutes or more =)

Enjoy =D

Some of the food i have eaten recently xD

Sorry for the lack of updates lately =p To make people happy i'll post some images of some of the food i have eaten xD If anyone is interested in more info about the food feel free to ask xD

Polenta with vegetables

Macaroni with sauce

Pizza =D

Chana masala with rice

Chocomousse (even though it doesn't look like it xD)

Chipsies =D

Nom nom nom =D

Lonely, shy, quiet

I'm back in Bergen (Norway) again now since May, and i will stay here for a while. It's been bad weather here in Bergen lately (10°C or so and rain most of the time), so not really summer weather. Yesterday (and some other days) it was better though, with sun and i guess 15°C (still cold!).

But i couldn't enjoy the beautiful weather to the fullest.

I feel lonely.

When i lived in Belgium i had my bf to do stuff with, going places and just talking with. Now i don't have that (except for my family ofc, but that's not the same :x). I'm quite shy and i rarely take initiative to start talking or doing stuff with people, i wait for people to contact me and invite me on stuff. I'm also not the most fun person to be around. In groups i wait for my turn to talk most of the time, which somehow almost never happens, or i have the awkward moment where i talk at the same time as another person (which is rude of me to do), or i simply don't know what to say or i don't dare to say anything, so i stay silent and just listen to what the other people has to say (this happens most frequently). It's a bit better when i'm just with another person since it's easier to get space to talk then, but sometimes then too i don't know what to say.

I've joined a lot of facebook groups where on some of the groups i am invited on events (when they invite all the people who are in the facebook group). Sometimes i go, sometimes i don't go. It's atleast nice for me to know whats going on nearby so i can decide if i want to join or not, even if i don't know any people there. So since i'm back in Norway i've joined a lecture about climate challenges on the university, watching the movie "Pride", going in the Rainbow march (Pride march), and meeting other vegans couple of times. On the lecture, the movie and in the march i was alone. On the vegan meetings i'm part of the group, and it's nice to getting to know them a bit.

From the Pride march

I've also started talking a bit more on facebook. Not a lot, but more than nothing. Normally i just "liked" stuff xD I've also started adding some other vegans as friends on facebook, even though i've never talked with them before, and after i add them i still don't talk with them xD

So if anyone is in the mood feel free to send me a message on facebook or on this blog xD I like chatting with people, i just don't like taking initiative, so i appreciate every time anyone sends me a message and talks with me =D

Out of date ingredients becomes bread

Have you ever looked at foods in the back of your closet and found out it says "best before: last year" or some other date? Happened to me this week when i figured out i would clean out of the closets. After finding very many products that were out of date i decided to put it all into one shelf for easier and faster use:

We have 6 shelfs in total, so 1/6 of the shelfs were out of date (and probably more than 1/6th of the food since i had to squeeze stuff into the out of date shelf).

When people find products that are past the "best before" date (but otherwise seem fine) there are different kind of reactions:

- throw it in the trash
- use it (after reassuring that it still is fine)

If the products however looks, smells or tastes wrong, it should indeed not be consumed and should be thrown away. Also be cautious with the "to be consumed within: date", because this food might make you sick if eaten after this date. "To be consumed within: date" is mostly used for flesh though, so vegan food is mostly safe eating after this date if it seems to be in fine condition. My family compost food that has gone bad so it will turn back into soil where we can grow new food, and i recommend composting for everyone who has the possibity to do it.

Personally i don't understand the people who throw away fully eatable food once it's past the "best before" date. Depending on the food it can often be consumed several years after this date, although it's better eat it within days/weeks/months rather than years after this date =p Throwing away eatable food is just a waste of food and money. Producing food uses a lot of land, resources, water and causes pollution, especially the production of animal products, so to produce food just to throw it away is very bad for the environment. There are also a lot of people who are starving in the world, and even if eating or throwing away this out of date food won't have any immediate effect on these starving people, it seems rude to just throw away eatable food. If you don't wish to eat it yourself you could donate it to someone poor, who will appreciate having something to eat, even if it has been "best before".

People throw away too much eatable food each year, but this can be reduced by planning so you don't shop too much food, correct storing, being aware what should be used from what you already bought, and by being creative in ways to use this food. Old bread can become bread crumbs, bruchetta, crutons, toast, pudding and more. Old bananas can become milkshake, banana bread, smoothie etc. Old apples can become apple cake/pie/crumble, apple sauce/jam, smoothie etc. Plantmilks can be used in puddings (breadpudding?), pancakes, milkshare (mix with the old banana =p), cakes (applecake?) etc. Vegetables can be used in soups, stir fry, oven baked, lasagne, etc =)

By having all that's out of date in one shelf now me and my family have a better overview of what should be used first, and can plan our meals from that. I found some out of date products i could use to make bread, and since our previous bread was eaten, it only seemed natural to make a bread. Here are the out of date ingredients i used in the bread:

The out of date yeast (9th april 2015) in the fridge was sadly turned bad, so i used a fresh one instead and threw the old one in the compost. I mixed the yeast with 6 dl water, sunflower oil (april 2015), dark syrup (februar 2014), salt, wheat bran (kruskakli, july 2012), psyllium husk (june 2013), various seeds (linseeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, poppy seeds (march 2006)), grated carrots, whole wheat flour, and white wheat flour. I mixed the ingredients together and let the dough rise for an hour or so, then i put the dough in bread shapes and let it rise for another hour. Then i baked the bread in the oven on the lowest rack on 200°C for 1 hour.

Everyone found the bread delicious, and it seems that i have to make more breads since i still have more of all the out of date ingredients =p Next time i'll put fewer seeds on top though and rather more inside the dough, since they fell off too easily.

Product review: Cookies with oat flakes

Yesterday i was wandering around in one of the Delhaize shops here in Belgium and I saw a kind of cookie i haven't seen there before; koekjes met havermoutvlokken (cookies with oat flakes), so i decided to test it out. I had a feeling it might be something like a vegan cookie i love from Norway called Bixit, since they both had similar ingredients and looks. It seems i was right, it tasted just like i remember Bixit tastes like. The size of the cookies differed a bit from Bixit (slightly larger and thinner), but that's no problem, it's the taste that matters ;) They were 1.99 € for 425 g in Delhaize, which is a nice price, and you get a good amount for the money.

These cookies contains oats and whole wheat flour, which is a nice source of fiber. This they promote on more or less all 4 sides of the box. It does also contain sugar and fat though, so it's not health-food, but maybe a healthier cookie-alternative?

The taste is sweet, grainy and a bit salty (and you can also taste the fat if you try to), and it seems like there's pieces of sugar, oats and salt that you encounter while eating these cookies, instead of it all being blended up into a homogenous mass. This makes the cookies more exciting to eat. The cookies are so sweet that they don't seem healthier, and maybe they aren't either if they have more sugar and fat than other cookies xD The pieces of oats helps with chewing resistance which is nice. These cookies would be nice to bring as a snack for outdoor trips, like walking, hiking, jogging or biking.

Since i often do the "let's try to be a bit healthier by adding whole grains, and try to forget about the amount of unhealthy stuff we add", these cookies are definitely within my way of doing things. They are also cheap, which is a bonus since i'm not really the richest person =) And of course yummy, which is quite important =D I'm happy to have found this vegan cookie in Delhaize. I feel that Norway has more availability of vegan cookies than Belgium (thanks to Sætre!), so it's nice to have found another cookie here that is vegan, especially since it taste like Bixit =D Will buy again if i find and if i feel like cookies xD i'm trying to be healthier, so shouldn't buy too often though xD

Sundays lunch and dinner

Seems it's been a while since i've posted any food that i've made, so i guess it's time for a little update =p

Yesterday i decided to make pizza since i had bought some out of date pepperoni slices from vbites for half price (and violife cheese since i wanted to put the pepperoni slices on pizza).

I had some leftover yeast too so i also made cinnamon rolls with that, and some without cinnamon because my boyfriend doesn't like cinnamon, but seems he didn't want to taste them either :x I made half portion and dropped the cardamom, but added some vanilla sugar instead. I also used 1/3 whole wheat flour to pretend to be healthy (and used 1/3 extra sugar cuz it fell too much into my measuring cup... so much for being healthy :x). Personally i liked the cinnamon rolls and seems someone else in my boyfriends house also dared to taste (most of the time they don't dare to taste what i make), and they liked it too =) I ate like half of them and i still had half over that i put in the freezer so they wouldn't go dry. It's nicer with my family in Norway, they would have eaten all =p

So to the pizza. This one was kinda fail. First off i used to much whole wheat flour that it is darker than most of the dark breads (i think 50% is when they can call it dark?). The crust kinda tasted like dark bread (healthy ftw xD). Personally i didn't mind, but i think i'll use more white flour next time and less of the whole wheat one xD Secondly, i first baked it too short so the crust tasted like sponge, so i had to bake it more. Thirdly, the crust was glued to the pan, so i kinda had to do some effort to get this dark bread crust loose so i could eat it.

Failures aside it was still yummy =)

I'll be so nice that i'll provide +- recipe too =p

Dough:
2-2.5 dl medium temperature water
0.5 bag of yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1-2 teaspoon salt
1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Some pizza spices and nutritional yeast (optional)
Flour until nice consistency

Mix ingredients, knead it and let it rise for some time (i did some hours), then shape to pizza shape =) Use more flour if needed.

Topping:
Pasta sauce
Shredded vegan cheese (i used violife for pizza, it didn't shred though :x)
Onions
Bell peppers
Pizza spices (i think i used oregano, but it didnt say on the box what it was)
Corn
Canned mushrooms
Vbites pepperoni slices
Tomatos
Nutritional yeast

So i guess basically slice and dice and put on what is wanted =p Started with tomato sauce, then cheese then veggies then more cheese =p Into the oven on max temperature (remember to use something below the dough in the pan or pizza stone :x) until it's ready (which depends on oven temperatue and some other stuff and is hard to know, but 20 minutes in my case wasnt enough xD).

Since only me liked the bread crust i pretended it was bread and added chocospread on it xD

Dark bread is always yummier with chocospread ;)

In search of vegan pizza places in Belgium/Antwerpen

I kinda want to eat pizza on a pizza place, and i guess it's worth a try even though it will be cheeseless =p I guess pizza can be yummy with a topping of a good sauce and some nice vegetables. Sadly it's not that easy to find a place that serves vegan pizza cuz they often add MILK in the dough. And pizza without cheese and dough would be veggies with tomato sauce, aka not pizza... And i'm not interested in going to a pizza place to eat salad :x If i'm in a pizza place i kinda want to eat pizza =p

So i asked some pizza places if they have any vegan options if i order their veggie-pizza without cheese. So far i only asked the big chains Pizza Hut and Domino's, who have vegan options in other countries, but it seems that apparantly in Belgium they decided to add milk in their doughs... For other pizza places it's pretty hard to find an email to contact them on, which means i have to call them or show up at their pizza place, and i'm a bit shy ;p So much easier to just send an email if they had one =p


Pizza Hut (not vegan!):

Dear Madam,

Thanks for your interest in Pizza Hut.

But none of our pizzas/crust are vegan. Also the dough of the vegetarian pizzas contain milk, so that wouldn’t be an option for you…

Domino's (not vegan!):

Hello Anette, I am sorry, but there is whey powder in our dough, so it is milk. There is no plan to change the dough in the near future.

Too bad, cuz there are vegan options from these chains in other countries if you order without cheese, and in Norway you can get vegan pizzas on the two biggest pizza chains Peppes Pizza and Dolly Dimple's if you order without cheese...

I also worry a bit that people who are allergic to lactose/milk, or who are vegans doesn't know about this, and might think their pizzas ordered without cheese is safe to eat. I didn't find any info about the ingredients in their doughs on their websites, and standard pizza dough has the ingredients: flour, water, vegetable oil, salt and yeast, so most people would assume the dough would be without milk, which it sadly isn't.

If anyone knows pizza places that use a vegan dough and has a tasty vegan topping in the Antwerp area feel free to tell me =D Until then i'll keep making my own vegan pizzas at home =)

Product review: Crispy dark chocolate with puffed rice

Time for a product review again =) I found this crispy dark chocolate with puffed rice from the brand Perle d'Or in Lidl in Belgium, and i've wanted to try it for a while. They also have with lighter chocolate, but that one isn't vegan, so dark chocolate it is =) It costed 1.49 € for 125 g in Lidl.

It kinda looks like chocolate pringles =p

The chocolate tastes quite dark, even though the darkness is only 57%. Also the puffed rice content is only 11%, and the puffed rice pieces are quite small. Personally i would prefer more puffed rice so the chocolate chips would taste milder, and also larger pieces of the puffed rice for more crispiness =) 

This chocolate is nice for an occasional snack, but personally i couldn't eat too many chips at the same time (which probably is a good thing, or i would eat the whole thing in 5 minutes  xD). 

I might buy it again in the future, but i'm not sure. There are other things that i like better. With my suggestions for how it would taste better i would probably buy it more often though. I'm glad i tried it out though =p

Mr. Falafel in Brussel

Since i was working in Brussel i figured i had to at least test out 1 restaurant/eating place there when i had the chance. I searched happycow.net for suggestions and i decided to try out Mr. Falafel.  I found it not too far from the famous "manneken pis", just a few streets away =)

Here you get a pita with falafels, and you pick which sauces and salads you want from the buffet for 4.5 €, which i guess is quite cheap. Of course i had to try all of the vegan options in the buffet (a few had milk/egg in it). I was a bit more hungry so i went and refilled the salad (woops xd) after i saw someone else doing it too. There were only 4 tables there, but that went fine since there weren't much people there either =p It came more people after i had ordered. The falafel was delicious and green =D I love when food has nice colors lol =p They had lot's of different foods in the salad buffet; lettuce, tomatoes, corn, cucumber, olives, sour light green chilies, vegetables in sweet and sour sauce, beets, onions, and more =) Of sauces they had tahini and spicy red sauce (and non-vegan mayonaise). I took a picture half way through eating xD

Would be nice to return, hopefully with company then cuz it's boring to eat out alone =D The food was affordable and delicious, especially the falafels =D So if you're hanging around in Brussel you should visit this place =) It's not so far from some of the famous buildings that are on some of the lowest pictures in this blog post.

Lunchbox Antwerpen

Last week i was hanging out with a friend of me, and we went to a place called Lunchbox to eat lunch. Here they offer sandwiches, burgers, wraps, soups, juices/smoothies, salads and pasta. I'm not sure how much of it is vegan, but they had nicely labelled what was vegetarian at least. The restaurant was quite crowded, but we were lucky to get a seat there. They also have take-out if you shouldn't be that lucky. It's not so far from Meir. I had not been in that street before though.

Me and my friend both ordered a sandwich called "Veganist" for 6.50 €. From the name i assume it is vegan =p It kinda looks like a burger, but it's filled with hummus, olives and vegetables. It was really nice and fresh tasting and i like that they use dark bread with seeds, and that they use hummus. Hummus is always yummy to have on sandwiches! It was also nicely sized.

I also ordered a juice/smoothie called "Paradise Isle", that contained kiwi, banana and orange for 4.50 €. I suspect the banana wasn't as ripe as i like it, but it was still nice. They also have a lot of other interesting juice/smoothie options. I sadly didn't take a picture of the juice.

I'm wondering if their veggie-burger is vegan and if they can make their wrap vegan by replacing the non-vegan part (like the goat cheese in the subway wrap) with hummus instead. I didn't ask them, but it would be cool if they also got vegan burger and wrap too, in addition to the delicious vegan sandwich, so that vegans will have a harder time choosing what to order =p

Anyway, it's a place i recommed to everyone who's hungry in the area and want some nice, healthy, filling vegan food =D I hope to return there some day and eat more of that sandwich =D

Workless again, and pictures from Brussel

Probably fewest of you knew that i even had a job, but i did =p I worked as telemarketer for a company in Brussel where i had to call companies in Norway in Norwegian and try to make them buy long-life light tubes over the phone.

Apparantly I'm not really a sales-talent; i sold zero light tubes in the 4 weeks that i stayed there. Normally i should aim for atleast 25 sales/month... So we can safely say that this wasn't the right thing for me at the moment, but it was nice to try. I learnt some new things, and i got to see Brussel a bit more. Maybe in the future i would be more successful at a job like this, but i think i prefer sales jobs where the costumer tries to buy something and i assist them, or that i do costumer support or something.

It was nice to have something to do at least, but as time went by it seemed more and more pointless to continue, and my motivation dropped. Most of my calls i didn't even get to the part where i sold light tubes, and if i did they weren't interested, or they already had a deal with a supplier.

There was another Norwegian person there too, so i'm not the only Norwegian in Belgium!!! He was better at selling than me (he actually sold something!), but he still had low sales results compared to the others, and he was also losing motivation, so he also ended working when i did. It was nice getting to know him and the other people working there at least =D We were quite multinational there hehe. People speaking French, German, Dutch, Turkish, Danish, Norwegian, English, and maybe other langugages too.

I will miss having a job, but at the same time i enjoy the freedom =D Brussel is also a bit far, so i had to wake up at 6 every day, and spend at least 1,5 hours on travelling each way with both tram, train and by foot. I didn't really mind the travelling. I used the train-ride for studying dutch if i wasn't too tired. The only place i can study good is while travelling lol. Other places i'm too distracted =p

Hopefully i can find a new job that is closer and more right for me, but i guess we'll see =)

Here are some pictures of random buildings in Brussel at least =D Some of you might even know which buildings they are... I don't xD