Du bist so wunderbar Berlin

My very first home was Berlin. I was born a west-berliner. I don't remember it until I was 10 years old when we moved back from Africa, but I thought I did. I thought I remembered walking hand in hand to the bakery in the morning to get fresh buns with my brother while my mom watched us from the balcony.

When I moved back to Berlin at age 10 I hated it. I thought it was such a sad place where people weren't free but boxed into these apartment houses with  freaky neighbours. There was no real sunshine and you had to play at designated areas (playgrounds). It took me about one year (according to my mom) to learn to like this city. 

I loved being here by the time we moved to Copenhagen, I was 15. I haaated my parents (but I'm sure I would've found anything to hate them for at that age) for choosing a place that wasn't as big, as cool nor had my friends. Again, it took me quite a while to accept copenhagen as my new home. The city change had a part in that but most of all the schools. The school I went to in Berlin was big and had all sorts of crazy awesome people to choose from where as the school in Copenhagen was so tiny it was hard not to be pushed into friendships. Regardless, I made some amazing friends and I started to feel good in Copenhagen. 

After 10 Years of living away from Berlin (my stop after Copenhagen was Vancouver) I moved back to berlin 4 Years ago to THIS day. I like it here. I like the directness of people, it makes them less superficial. I like the fact that I can ride my bike any where and feel safe. I love that I can buy Organic food and not be broke from it. I like the feel of this city, its grittiness, its amazing greenness, and its multicultural-ness. I could do without all the dog poop though and can't believe it hasn't been brought under control yet (!). 

We have planned to move away in a year, give Asia a try and see how that treats us. I am curious to see if I will miss Berlin this time around. 

Here a nice german meal (sorry for the quality of the pic)!

Asparagus!

500g Green/White/Mixed Asparagus
500g potatoes
Parmesan Cheese
dash of lemon
chives/parsley/cilantro
salt and pepper
tea spoon sugar
tea spoon butter

Bring water with a pinch of salt, pinch of sugar, tea spoon of butter to boil.

Peel the white asparagus, and the ends of the green asparagus, chop in pieces.
when the water is boiling, drop the white asparagus in, after two minutes drop the green asparagus in.
let boil for about 4 minutes (check the consistency with a fork and see how you like it. I like to boil them until they are through but still have a bite)
drain the water (or use for soup) 
sprinkle parsley/cilantro/chives, dash of lemon juice and parmesan cheese (and also more butter if you wish)! Enjoy with the boiled potatoes!

Guten Appetit!

Definition: grown-up (grnp) n. An adult.

My Husband is turning 30 next week. I'm turning 30 next year. It is a big deal to me.. because I don't feel almost 30. 

When I look back and think what I thought I would be like with 30... hahaha. And what I think I will be like when I'm 40? Most likely not like I will be! I just keep thinking that at some point I will just be an adult.
You know those people that already seem like an adult when they are 20? And then when they are 30 they are SO grown up? I'm not one of those.

To me, grown up means that you live your life the way you want to live it. No rules from other people (apart from the law maybe), you have your space the way you want it, you can DO whatever you want, eat whatever you want, live wherever you want, sounds really free, doesn’t it?

I forget that sometimes. It’s hard looking around and seeing ‘stereotypes’ and social boundaries all the time.
Now that my friends are also getting older, they are getting married, having children, starting a family, getting stable jobs. I am married, yes, I want a stable job…mhmh, I want to start a family, yes… but is my age putting me under pressure? Because society (and for women the biological clock) states that in your early thirties you start a family if you want one?

I met an acquaintance the other day and she said she doesn’t want children. It doesn’t fit into her life and she doesn’t feel like it’s for her. GREAT! Why should she have children if she doesn’t feel that it’s something she wants? She is 32 years old and who knows, maybe in ten years she might change her mind and ether way, no biggie.

I think age doesn’t matter as long as you are happy with yourself in the moment of your life. What does 20, 30, 40, 50 mean? Why do we always ask how old are you? And then measure it as if it has anything to say about the person? 

I think it is difficult living a free life with the pressure of society. Do people measure other peoples lives to their own? If you don't live the way most of this society lives, do you have to justify yourself to yourself and others?

The 'standards' of life are different in every country, maybe I will find my standard someday... somewhere. lol. 

Maybe this meal will make me grown up?

Sweet Potato Falafels

Ingredients:
2 medium sweet potatoes (orange inside), around 700g or 1 1/2 pounds in total
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 small cloves of garlic, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 big handfuls of fresh cilantro/coriander, chopped
Juice of half a lemon
a scant cup chickpea flour
a sprinkling of sesame seeds 
                                                                                    salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 425F degrees (220C) and roast the sweet potatoes whole until just tender – 30 minutes to 1 hour (depending on size). Turn off the oven, leave the potatoes to cool, then peel.
2. Make the chickpea flour by putting about 1 ½ cups of dried chickpeas into your blender and grind on high for a few minutes until the flour stops falling into the middle of the container (you will understand this once you do it). Pour blender contents out into a fine-mesh sieve and sift until the fine gram and coarse legume bits are separated. You should have just less than 1 cup of fine chickpea flour – if not, make more. 
3. Put the sweet potatoes, cumin, garlic, ground and fresh coriander, lemon juice and chickpea flour into a large bowl. Season well, and mash until smooth with no large chunks. Stick in the fridge to firm up for an hour, or the freezer for 20-30 minutes. When you take it out, your mix should be sticky rather than really wet. You can add a tablespoon or so more of chickpea flour if necessary (the water content of sweet potatoes varies enormously).
4. Reheat the oven to 400F/200C. Using a couple of soup spoons (put a well-heaped spoonful of mix in one spoon and use the concave side of the other to shape the sides) or a falafel scoop if you have one, make the mixture into falafel-y looking things and put them on a tray lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top and bake in the oven for around 15 minutes, until the bases are golden brown.

Yummy Tahini Sauce
Ingredients:
1 cup Tahini (sesame seed paste)
½ cup lemon juice
3 ­ 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
¼ tsp. ground cumin
1 to 1 ½ tsp. salt (to taste)
¾ to 1 ¼ cup water (depending on how thick/thin you want the sauce)

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Using a whisk beat briskly into a smooth sauce. This takes about 1 to 2 full minutes of beating (you can also use a hand-blender). 
This sauce can be served at room temperature or chilled. Refrigerate leftovers. Keeps well for 5 to 7 days. Makes 1 1/2 cups (360 ml).

(www.mynewroots.com and 101cookbooks.com)

Guten Appetit!

keeping it fresh

I would say that I grew up in a health conscious home. My mom always made us breakfast (oatmeal.oatmeal.oatmeal. and... I still eat oatmeal for breakfast lol), packed us a very german lunch (home made bread with cheese and carrots to snack on) and cooked dinner every night. When we lived in Africa it was a lot of fresh fish and vegetables, but also meat. When we moved back to Germany we stopped eating red meat and my mom bought quite a few things at an organic food store (Reformhaus... oh that smell). 

During my teens I ate whatever I wanted, as much chocolate as I could scarf down in one sitting, mc donald's as often as I wanted and don't get me started on pizza. It was not until about ten years ago where I stopped eating meat for a while and started looking at what I was eating. I did stop eating mc donald's but I didn't stop eating junk food. 

The big change came about a few years back, I met a new friend who lives a whole food organic diet and I also watched a few documentaries and became acutely aware of not knowing what I was actually eating. I realised with shock that I hardly ever looked at the ingredients list on packaged food (!) and once I started looking I again realised with shock that I didn't even know what more than half of the ingredients even were, yikes. That didn't seem right to me. 
I slowly changed my eating habits, it wasn't all new to me but I came at it from a different angle. I am way more aware and I really care about what I put in my body. I remember during my teens I knew mc donald's wasn't good for me (who doesn't, right) but I really didn't care if it was or wasn't. I think that is what really changed. I care what I do to myself now.

I know that some people don't put in the extra time to eat healthy, and/or do some research on it, for whatever the reason may be (it is their choice, no judgement). What I don't understand is, if they do know that fast food is full of toxins, bad bad bad grease, insanely processed food, and yet still give that food to their children (very upsetting). Adults can make their own choices and can be aware of what they are doing to themselves but I think it is vital to make the right choices for the next generation. Learn what is healthy and then teach children what is healthy and what is not and maybe all the serious health problems caused by processed food could be reduced!

I follow a few food blogs now and try out different recipes and make stuff up while I go along as well. It has opened up a whole new way of life to me actually. How simple eating healthy can be. 
Take pesto for instance, you can buy it at a supermarket all ready made, but if you read the ingredients there is normally (unless bought at an organic store) something in there that seems unnecessary (I saw they added dex bla bla no idea why or what... does my body know how to break that down? where does it go?) and if you want pesto all you need is basil (or parsley or whatever fresh herb you want to make it with), add olive oil, sunflower seeds (or other seeds/nuts), lemon juice, salt and pepper, some cheese if you want and then grind it all up and maybe add a tiny splash of water if it needs to be thinned out. Honestly it takes 5 minutes max. It tastes fresh, you know what's in it and you can have the great feeling of having made your own pesto sauce! mhmh. mhmhm. mhmhmhmhmhmhmh. 

Since my teens, I had this idea that I wanted to be thinner and I wanted to be fitter, I didn't feel good. well. let me tell ya. The biggest change of all is how I feel about myself. I really have come to love myself (this is a big one for me)! I have more energy overall, I never feel so full that I feel ill... I mean, I still overeat (how can I not, I LOVE food) but it's a different feeling, its not the 'I just did something really bad to myself, I might barf' feeling its more a 'oooh that was good but I should've had less' feeling... oopsies!

I'm a vegetarian, I eat fresh and I love home made junk food. 
How do you eat?

Brocoli Salad (on CousCous)

• 2 Heads of Brocoli
• 1 Red Onion
• 3/4 Cup of Chick peas
• 1 Cup of small tomatoes
• 150grams (a block) of feta cheese
• Handfull of sunflower seeds
• handfull of pumpkin seeds
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 1 TBSP vinegar (your choice, optional)

Steam the brocoli. Add all the ingredients together, mix well. Dish on top of a grain (I used CousCous, you can use brown rice, quinoa, whatever you wish) 
Delicious! Fresh! YUMMY!

Guten Appetit!