Upcoming recipes

Last weekend I heard something that made me super happy. I stranger came to me telling me that she loves my blog and my recipes. She told me she has tried my recipes and that she loved the kale salad. I made a promise to her that I'll keep posting recipes.

These are the next five recipes I'm going to post. Which one is your favorite?

Vegan coconut rhubarb pie 

Vegan hamburgers

thai style salad with sweet chili sauce

Chickpea falafels

Filled zucchinis and peppers

-E-

Library of recipes: Eggplant Rolls

ingredients:

1 eggplant

sea salt

lemon juice

olive oil

1,5 dl couscous

organic corn

kidney beans

onion

1 dl organic tomato sauce

sea salt

cayenne pepper

cilantro

paprika

2 gloves of garlic

black pepper

olive oil

1.Preheat the oven for 175C or 350F. 

2. Take a medium size pan and prepare couscous (directions on the package). 

3. Take one eggplant and cut off the stem end. Slice the eggplant lengthwise into 1/4th inch thick pieces. Discard the two end slices which have too much skin. 

4. sprinkle some sea salt, put lemon juice and olive oil on the eggplant slices and bake them in the oven (175C/ 350F) for 5-7 minutes. You can also grill the slices.

6. To make the filling, add all the ingredients to prepared couscous and cook for 5 mins.

7. Take the eggplant slices, put the filling and roll them as shown in the picture 2.

8. Bake them in the oven for 10 min or until they are soft and done. 

(You can use your favorite vegetables, beans and spices to the filling. With some vegetables,  like zucchini or mushrooms, you might have to cook them before adding to the filling).

ENJOY!

picture 1

picture 2

-E-

Life is good

Madrid 2012

I know this is supposed to be a health blog but since I had such a good time last week I want to share it with all my readers. What can be better than 5 days complete relaxation with a good friend in one of your favorite cities in the world?

To me that city is Madrid. It was my home in 2010-2011 and since I left last year I have missed the Spanish lifestyle and people. Our vacation was made of sunshine, good food, laughter, shopping, dancing and relaxing (....ok and a stolen iPhone, police station, creepy people, a missed flight, missing luggage bags and delayed flights).

 Since I think pictures tell more than a thousand words I'm showing you some pictures of my vacation.

Happy girls in Madrid

Metro de Madrid

Alonso Martinez

Puerta del Sol

My favorite tapas restaurant and grilled vegetables

Madrid at night

On our way to Retiro park

Penthouse

Plaza de Santa Ana

Meriem <3

Plaza Espana

Life is Good

Hyvää Juhannusta kaikille <3 Happy midsummer everybody!

-E-

The importance of friends

I've been posting about a lot of different subjects around health and wellbeing; healthy recipes, protein, fatty acids etc. but haven't talked about one of the most important things in maintaining a healthy life, FRIENDS. I'm very lucky to have the BEST friends in the World (I know probably everybody can say that). I think they are the most beautiful, loyal, supportive, stylish and the smartest people in the whole universe and there are no words to describe how important they all are to me. This summer I've been very lucky to reconnect with some old friends. I've also been in a situation where I needed support, and my friends were there more than I could've asked for.

My point is that It doesn't matter how good my diet is or how much I workout, I wouldn't be healthy without these amazing people in my life. I don't need to write about the importance of my family or boyfriend..they are definitely my best friends too.

I think today could be a day when everybody takes a moment to think about their friends. If you have a friend who you haven't called in a while or someone you want to reconnect with, do it today. Cook a dinner for your mom or best friend, write a letter to someone or just remind your friends how much you love them.

Thank you for being my best friend for 20 years. 

One of the many times we've been crying laughing together

Enjoying summer 2011 in Sardinia with Meriem 

Eve, one of the best things I found in Madrid

Julia, my close friend and roommate in New York

In Paris with Minttu

Sini in Madrid

Tanja

Tiia visiting me in Madrid

My amazing friend Linda

Äiti

Super women

(These pictures represent only SOME of the people that play a big role in my health and wellbeing) 

-E-

Glowing Green Smoothie

Start your day with a glowing green smoothie!

Want to start each day with maximum energy? Do you need to lose weight? Are you busy in in the mornings? Want to do some detoxification to your body?

I think the answer to all that and a lot more is Kimberly Snyder's Glowing green smoothie. Glowing green smoothie is loaded with enzymes, oxygen, minerals and vitamins. According to Kimberly Snyder it is a liquid nutrition that will fuel and cleanse our bodies, and makes it more alkaline. 

Of course, you don't have to use the same fruits and herbs every day. You can mix and match your greens and fruit and vary Kimberly's recipe with kale, chard, arugula, and the like. Just avoid melons, as they don’t combine well with other produce. It might sound horrible to mix celery, herbs and fruits but it actually tastes super delicious! 

I drink glowing green smoothie every morning and I truly recommend you all to at least try it!!

Ingredients (64 ounces / 2-4 servings)

1 ½- 2 cups very cold, filtered water

6 cups spinach, chopped

5 cups organic romaine lettuce, chopped

2 stalks of organic celery

1 organic apple, cored and chopped

1 organic pear, cored and chopped

1 organic banana

1–2 Tbs. fresh organic lemon juice

Optional ingredients

Ice cubes (the extra coldness can help newbies with the taste)

1/2 cup of organic cilantro

1/2 cup of organic parsley

Directions

Add water, spinach and chopped romaine to the blender. Starting the blender on a low speed; mix until smooth. Gradually move to higher speeds and add the herbs, celery, pear, and apple. Add the banana and lemon juice last.

More information about the glowing green smoothie HERE

-E-

Sunday news: A new healthy oil

Hemp seed oil- An alternative fish oil

This Natural News article about hemp seed oil explains perfectly why this oil has became so popular!

 Hemp seed oil: The new healthy oil

Check it out!

-E-

Library of recipes: Vegan tomato soup

I know a lot of people consider soups to be good only in cold weather but this tomato soup is just light, nutritious, inexpensive and super DELICIOUS. It is slightly hot, so if you like it mild reduce the amount of cayenne pepper and red chili.

(2 persons)

6-7 tomatoes

2 big gloves of garlic

1 onion

1/2 fresh red chili

6 sun dried tomatoes

basil

black pepper

sea salt

3 tasp olive oil

cayenne pepper

paprika

Make a little cut to each tomato and take the hard part off. Heat up the oven (200 c) and place tomatoes, whole gloves of garlic, big chunks of onion and fresh red chili in a pan. Add olive oil and cook the ingredients in an oven for 20-25 minutes or as long as the tomatoes are soft and it is easy to peel them. Place the ingredients in a pot, add spices and mash the soup with a hand blender. Cook the soup with low temperature for 10 minutes and ENJOY!