Tag Archives: vegan

Jul2

My vegan pancakes

Posted on by
Standard

I am a certified baker. By my kid. 

I love to improvise. Food ingredients have no escape. I would certify myself as an impro-baker. 


A dear friend of mine, looking at my recent pics, inspired this post. Et Voila, Nadiusa! 

So here are my improvised vegan pancakes:

2 Ts flax with 5-6 Ts water. Leave it  to combine for 10-15 min. It will be the “egg” in this recipe. 

Add 100 ml almond milk and mix well. Add 100 ml apple sauce, 2 Ts oil of choice, 1 Ts agave syrup (or a sweetener of your choice).   Mix well. Add 1 -1,5 cup flour you prefer. I usually do a combination between almond, rice, oatmeal. A bit of baking powder and salt.

Add a lot of love.   

A heated pan will do the rest. 

Bon app/enjoy!  

May17

Habits’ best friends

Posted on by
Standard

I developed a habit of having a cinnamon cappuccino every morning before taking the stairs to my office. Vegans would say the milk in my cappuccino is a killer. Some doctors would warn against having more than one cup of coffee every day. My dentist would have something to say about coffee effect on my enamel. My supervisor would wonder about the way I start my day. She would approve though I am sure, if I share my secret with her.image
And it’s actually no secret. Habits… Good habits. Bad habits. How we label them is up to us. Though well wishers might want to “help” with labeling. Reading news is a good habit when it helps keeping abreast of developments for our work, financial decisions, travel plans… When reading news turns into creating excuses, procrastinating or “indulging” into the negative side of things, our mind might reach a boiling point. I’ve seen a friend been devoured by news in 2009 in the times of what is conventionally called “the crisis”. What his mind, absorbed by the constant negative flow of news, was missing was that ups and downs happen with a regularity outside our control. How we react and what we do are the only things under our control.

Back to my morning cappuccino, I am ready to trade a bit of my teeth enamel, to absorb a bit of lactose, to face a raised eyebrow of my supervisor, for the lovely smile of the lovely coffee shop lady who makes just the perfect cappuccino in our office cafeteria. Knowing customers’ habits is her habit. The other day I came by with a colleague who joined our team after a four month break. She still remembered how he likes his tea…. habits that are good for our body, mind and soul connect and create an invisible network of what makes our lives beautiful in many shades and on different levels.
Recently I discovered that a habit is also “a long, loose garment worn by a member of a religious order or congregation”. When time to change the “garment” will come, i’ll probably develop a new habit. Harmlessness and moderation are my habits’ friends, who do not object to minor addictions from time to time.

A chocolate and wisdom addiction, for example. Harmless, aren’t they?

Oct1

I am about to go vegetarian

Posted on by
Standard

It sounds appealing to become one with vegetus, as in lively and vigorous, right?

For my birthday party at work I ordered Mexican food: all meat based and spicy. In the evening, I felt a wave of aggressiveness taking over my mind. Nothing pleased me. I was ready to fight for no particular reason.’ Give me a sword and I am willing to join a crusade’ kind of mood :). Now it’s funny. It was not that funny back then.

No wonder my body reacted to the unusual intake of meat. I am a moderate meat consumer and I consume meat only from sources I know and I trust. My mind reminded me of my earlier thoughts about adopting vegetarian or maybe even a vegan diet. The pregnancy and breastfeeding postponed that debate. Maybe its time for another go.

I remember my body lightness and mind’s joy after a six week Lent when all meat, fish, diary, egg products were excluded at no costs and with no particular effort. My mind produced bright ideas. I was engaged fully in all my projects. Stress went down. My energy went up. I was happy and spreading happiness.

Today I came across a study on that issue: „Restriction of meat, fish, and poultry in omnivores improves mood: A pilot randomized  controlled trial” http://www.nutritionj.com/content/pdf/1475-2891-11-9.pdf. References thereto can be found on also on: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/11/vegetarianism-stress-happiness-_n_1335664.html. Another interview I recently came across is pretty inviting:

http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/07/qa-joanna-blythman?fsrc=nlw|newe|7-25-2012|2890091|36966107| with Joanna Blythman, a British investigative food journalist, on her book “You are what you eat” .

So, shall we, dear? as in embrace your body with a conscious mind of what you eat? After all, ‘we are what we eat’.