On blogging and working

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Where to start? Since 23d of July when I wrote my last blogpost so much has happened.And I have done so much! I have seen lovely friends getting married, I have baked chewy lemon cookies and driving around Switzerland and beyond in the new car. And I have been doing ALOT of yoga. I am working for a large food company in Zurich and I am also moving from Enge and in with <3. There has been less cooking and more working - and needless to say time and inspiration for blogging. But now I feel like its time.

Now is indeed the most wonderful time of the year. So much to be happy about and inspired by.
Hope to be sharing alot of love and great content with you again.

Love health and happiness

Hiking quinoa salad

Some of you are asking what type of food to bring hiking. Sandwich being the classical choice, this is a great and healthy option! Now the regulars here do already know of my love for quinoa salads. For this one, you'll need:

Red cooked quinoa (Migros have a great organic one)
Cherry tomatoes
Lightly cooked broccoli
Fresh basil
Chickpeas
Olive oil and lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Toss together

2. Drizzle just before leaving with a small amount of olive oil and lemon juice. If you take too much, it will be unbearable to handle on the hike :)

3. Go hiking and enjoy a beautiful and fresh lunch break that for sure will refuel you with good energy.

Love

Monday dinner

What are you all eating tonight? Last week I made roasted veggies in the oven. So easy!

You'll need (for 2):
4 potatoes
3 carrots
Fresh thyme or fresh herb of choice like rosemary
Olive oil, salt and pepper

1. Wash the potatoes and carrots, the peel can stay on. Cut into any shape you like, I like boats :)

2. Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh herbs.

3. Bake at 200 degrees or slightly higher for about an hour.

Enjoy!

Sorry for the silence

I had a weekend off with <3 far away from the online world.

Life

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Broccoli apple ginger juice

Today I finally did my first veggie juice! I am going to a yoga workshop all afternoon and felt like a vegetable juice would be the perfect energy source.

You'll need (for one glass)
1 stalk of broccoli (i already used the top for cooking so this was literary just the rest)
1 green apple
1 small piece of fresh ginger

Throw in the juicer - enjoy!

Love

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Just beautiful.

Sunday dinner

On sunday <3 made me this very fresh and easy sunday dinner. Its salmon with a strawberry salad.

For the salad, you will need (for 2):
2 handfuls of baby spinach
2 dl of fresh strawberries
Olives (black or green)
150 grams of feta cheese
Basil
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Chop up
2. Mix togeather
3. Toss together with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.

Enjoy with salmon or whatever you want to eat for dinner.

Love

Good Morning

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For the evening

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Clean guacamole

Avocado cream or guacamole is such a great alternative to serve with a main instead of a dairy based sauce. On friday we had it with the salmon quinoa salad I blogged about below.

When serving with food (as appose to for example nacho chips) I like a guacamole that is "clean" without garlic and raw onions and dairy. And this is the one!

You'll need (to serve 2)

1 ripe avocado
1 tomato
Lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste

1. Mix the avocado til smooth and chop up the tomato
2. Blend together with salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste.

There are sooo many versions of this and its totally delicious to mix with different herbs like cilantro, olives, garlic etc. But this plain basic one is sometimes just the best to serve with food. How do you make your avocado creams?

Cooking Love

4 lake hike

On saturday me and Elin put the alarm on 7 am in order to get up early for hikng! I was already in Luzern then, so from Zurich you need to leave a bit earlier even, but I promise its worth it! We took the train 08.08 from Luzern main station to go to Sarnen and then bus to Stockalp and the gondola to Melchsee Frutt. It took 1.38 from Luzern, but then we were up on the top! Ready to start! And it was 9.30 on a Saturday morning. Just amazing. 

From here you just follow the signs to Engelberg which is your final destination. Oh I cant even begin to tell you how blissful this hike is! Besides that you get to see not less than 4 mountain lakes as the name reveals, you get such a mix scenery, you get to walk a bit uphill (not steep and only for an hour), down hill (more steep and def. more than an hour), see cows, great variety of flowers and we even saw snow. Now the temperature difference is quite big on the top and when you start so make sure you bring a wind jacket or similar (thanks Elin) to keep warm. Since this is such a famous hike there are also plenty of stops to get water, use the bathroom and buy snacks. 

In the end it took almost 7 hours for us since we did a small detour and on the way back you are def.  quite drained of energy. But in the most amazing way. 

The trains back to Luzern departs every hour at 00. and 25 past. 

This is really the perfect perfect way to spend a sunny Saturday if you ask me. 

Its Monday

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Happy new week! Its monday and its sunny! What have you been up to on the weekend?

Elins salmon quinoa salad

On friday night I went to Luzern for a wonderful girly evening with my lovely Elin. We went shopping in the rain with no real plans, but came back with alot of nice things...for example the ingredients for this smoked salmon and quinoa salad. Very good for you but still festive enough to be a Friday dinner.

You'll need (for 2)
150-200 grams of smoked salmon, finely sliced
2 servings of red quinoa
1 stalk of broccoli
1-2 handfuls of green leafs of choice
1 handful of cherry tomatoes
5 mini pickled cucumbers (if you like them)
1 handful of pumpkin seeds
A few sun dried tomatoes
Fresh basil, lemon, olive oil
Salt and pepper

1. Prepare quinoa according to the package and let cool off slightly
2. Chop up the vegetables.
3. Gently fry the broccoli for a milder taste along with the pumpkin seeds
3. Toss together
4. Drizzle with olive oil, fresh lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with avocado cream and some wine if you like.

Cooking Love

Hiking weekend

Sorry for the absence! I was in Luzern and up in Engelberg hiking for the weekend. It was beyond lovely. More to come soon! Hope you all had a great weekend.

Love

Saturday morning - the best morning of the week!

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Baking time - carrot cake!

I am going away for dinner tomorrow and will be away hiking most of the day. But of course I still want to bring a cake. I always do! Then this is the perfect cake since its easy to make and is even better the next day. The frosting I will prepare tomorrow though. This recipe from Leila Lindholm, swedish chef, is the best I have ever tried.  This is how you can bake it yourself!

Friday and cake love

Good Morning Friday

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Off to my body pump at Holmes Place in a while. Then a phonemeetin and lunch in town.
Afternoon for work and then off to Luzern for quality time with a friend and hopefully a hike in Engelberg tomorrow depending on the weather. Fingers crossed for sun! What are you all up to?

Wise words for your evening

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Book recommendation - What would Audrey do?

Summer time equals reading time! Do you also love Audrey Hepburn and her unbeatable style and her never fading positivity? Then this is a great read for you. Its called What would Audrey do? and is written by Pamela Keogh. Its the most blissful read and very very inspiring. Its divided into 10 chapter such as Romance Central, Zen Audrey (my favorite :) and Home Studies.

The book gives you Audrey's take on almost everything. Would Audrey ask a guy out on a first date? That would be a no.  Or her checklist on how to make a house a home. I actually adored that list, including music, scented candles, flowers and beautiful china.

You can order the book here. Happy summer reading!

Good Morning

Soure

Good Morning all! What is your favourite morning drink? Green tea is so good for you! I do love my coffee first thing in the morning but do make sure to have at least one cup of green tea throughout the day. Especially some time before a workout since its said to burn fat better and improve your improvement. Enjoy the sunny day!

Green pea cream with herbs

So just cooking some dinner. Will be lime marinaded fresh salmon (just let it sit in some lime zest and juice if you like, salt, pepper and olive oil), fresh broccoli and as a side, this green pea cream that really couldn't be easier.

You'll need (for 2)
300 grams Green peas (frozen)
Half a cube of organic vegetable stock
One clove of garlic
Olive Oil
Lime juice
Fresh herbs ( I used dill and chives from my balcony cause I wanted to get that classic swedish taste)
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Boil the peas 1-2 minutes in the vegetable stock and with the garlic (or just with water if you prefer)
2. Let them cool off slightly and mix with a splash of olive oil (doesn't need to be a lot at all), lime juice, herbs, salt and pepper.

Enjoy! Hope you are all enjoying the evening!

Beautiful miniroses

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Amazing day

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Another grey day in Zurich. What are your plans for the day. I am taking my weekly spinning class with Frida at Holmes Place and a lot of work. Happy wednesday!

Mindful Eating

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I found this great picture at Raw Clarity today. These are some basic mindful eating guidelines that you will be very happy if you would incorporate into your life at least for one meal per day.

When I lived in Hong Kong last year I took a mindful eating class that taught me so much about this amazing subject. Especially to remember what it is we are actually doing while eating - giving our body new energy. Can be easy to forget when eating in front of your laptop (guilty) or grabbing breakfast on the run.

Food Love

2 of my favourite things in the world

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Pink Peonies and blue and white pottery.

If you love blue and white as much as me, check out this new read: A passion for Blue and White by Carolyn Roehm.

Be the light

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Mini cherry pies

Yesterday was mine and <3s anneversary (for 6 months!). So there was some baking - but not by me :)
He made me these super cute mini cherry pies that we enjoyed with loads of tea. Basically they are made from ready made puff pastry and a muffin tray - just cover the bottom of the tray with the paste. Fill with whichever fruit you like, we had cherries. Dust some sugar over to taste, add a lid also of the pastry and bake for 10-15 minutes depending on your oven, in about 200 degrees. Love love love

Rainy sunday

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Raining away in Zurich today. I love it! Sometimes there is nothing better than a rainy sunday. Went for brunch at Iroquois in Seefeld with <3 (but forgot my camera!) and sat outside under the roof even though it rained. It was lovely. Big teacups, salmon, parma ham, croissants and cheese. What are you up too today?

Love

Words for a lovely saturday

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Hiking love today!

Took the train to Wil SG today and ended up with a 4 hour hike. Its 34 degrees here and it was soooo warm. But lovely!

Home studies: Alex Berlin

Some home decor inspo for the weekend? This piece on The glitter guide is just amazing. They went to visit Alex Berlin of Things that sparkle. Here home is beautiful!What inspires you for the weekend?

You can read the whole article and see all of the images here:

The BEST chewy chocolate mini cakes in the world!

Ok so I know that I promised a healthy week on the blog. But I just had to share this recipie since I LOVE it and it got so much lovely reviews on our midsummer picnic last week. And no matter how good you eat or how much yoga you are practicing, you still need a good chocloate mini cake recipe to live a happy life, right? :)

The recipe is from one of swedens largest food blogs www.bloggfamiljen.se/matplatsen.  Its run by a lovely and always positive girl called Victoria and she is just the queen of tasty baking recipes. When I saw her post on these filled chewy mini chocolate cakes I just knew I had to try the and that they would be beyond yummy. And they where! And they are so good that they just had to be shared. So voila. I used the whole original recipe from Victoria, except for a bit less sugar.

You'll need (to make 15)
Cake: 
2 eggs
2 dl sugar
2 tea spoons of vanilla sugar
1 pinch of salt (important)
4 tablespoons of good quality cacao
1.5 dl flour
100 gram melted butter

1. Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the melted butter and eggs one at a time

2. Fill muffin forms (preferably the foil type) to about half and bake in 200 degrees about 10-11 minutes- they are supposed to still be sticky!

Filling: 
50 grams butter, melted
1 teaspoon flour
2 table spoons of sugar
2 teaspoons of cacao
1/5 dl of milk
1/2 dl of full cream


1. Add flour, sugar and cacao to the melted butter and stir til smooth.
2. Add cream and milk and boil together until it gets slighty thick, about 5-10 minutes. Stir all the time.
Very relaxing :)
3. Let cool off a bit and then pour a small amount to the middle of each cake. Its only supposed to be covering the middle.
4. Let the cakes cool of in the fridge or freezer.

I promise, these are like little JEWELS to bring to an event or just to have in the freezer for unexpected visits. Try these on the weekend and thank you again Victoria for sharing the recipe!

Baking Love

Friday Im in love

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Post-yoga tabbouleh

Do you also crave vegetarian food after yoga? In march when I had a monthly pass at Sanapura and practiced every other day I just wanted to eat lentil soup for dinner every day after my class. Yoga increases the connection to your own body so stongly, maybe that is why? Anyway. I did a 90 minutes Hatha class at Airyoga in Bellvue on tuesday (tips! that class at 5pm on tuesdays is only 20 CHF for 90 minutes as oppose to 40 normally) and afterwards I wanted...vegetarian. So said and done.

I decided to cook a version of tabbouleh. I am not sure whats exactlly in the original recipe but this is how I did - it litter

You'll need (for 2)
Couscous (or other grain of choice like quinoa or bulgur)
2 tomatoes
1/2 cucumber
1 handful (atleast) of fresh herbs ( I used basil and persil that I grow on my balcony)
Fresh lemon juice
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Prepare your grains according to the package. I always have some kind of grains prepared in my fridge, its really handy and also better from a health perspective since the starch changes when carbohydrates are cooling off and the GI index gets lower. So better for you! Good to know with for ex. potatoes too.

2. Chop up your veggies and herbs. Toss with couscous.

3. Drizzle with olive oil, lemon juice and add salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy! I served with homemade avocado cream and hummus. It was  post-yoga perfection!

Stress less

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Homemade hummus

As promised, I will cook and eat a bit more nutritious dishes this week. This hummus is 100% homemade and good for you since you can decide exactly how much oil etc you want to add.
You can basically flavour it any way you want. This version is without garlic which normally is a classic ingredient, but you can play with it as you want - you are the one that is going to enjoy it!
Thank you Elin for the inspo <3

You'll need:
About 4 dl of chickpeas, ready to use (meaning boiled)
1-2 table spoons of olive oil
A handful of sesam seads
A few drops of seasam oil
Lemon juice to taste
Fresh herbs of choice (I picked lemon thyme that I am growing on my balcony)
salt and pepper to taste.

Mix together and add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy with fresh broccoli, fibre crackers, to a vegetarian meal or anyway you like it.

Happy middle of the week

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Hiking love!

Last week I had another wonderful friend visiting -and we went hiking! Last time me and <3 drove to Milano, we passed through Schwyz and all I could think about was that I wanted to go hiking there. Breathtaking views!

Therefor, I searched for hikes through Pfaffikon SZ since that was the only place I knew about there.
The one we decided on you can see here on wanderweg.ch - a part of the Jacobsweg, route nr 4.

http://www.wanderland.ch/de/routen_etappen.cfm?id=317254

If you walk from Pfaffikon to Einsiedeln its more up and the other way around. Decided. We started in Einsiedeln. Very easy to get to, around 30 minutes from Zurich. In total we hiked for around 4 hours and especially the first part was BEAUTIFUL. Recommended.

Picture of ME at one of the lakes on the way!

Hiking Love

Pure inspiration

You know those people that are just pure inspiration? Elin is one of my dearest friends that I met when I was working in Hong Kong last year. She is currently studying nutrition in LA and living the life over there, but will spend the summer in Switzerland! I met up with her this weekend and just got so inspired. To stay calm, to live in the moment and to eat even better. Since I love baking and also gourmet cooking and wine, my balance and zen has not been ideal for the last few months - which you might have noticed on the number of baking post on here. I have no intention to stop loving or doing any of that, but I am craving more and better nutrition for my body and some new input. And I sure got it from Elin. This coming week I will be trying some of her ideas and recipes on here. More to follow this week!

Photos are of her and our lovely Saturday lunch at Hiltl.

Pick me up - Healthy Chocolate Shake

My favorite place to visit when I go to Stockholm is Blueberry (www.blueberrylifestyle.com)  - a chain of health stores and smoothie bars that never makes you disappointed and always leaves you inspired. They have a smoothie called Pick me up that is filled with raw chocolate and coffee. I haven't been there for years, and still this shake came into my mind when craving a post-workout (Body shape at Holmes place) snack today. This is my attempt to recreate it:

You'll need:
1 frozen banana
2 dl milk product of your choice (almond, rice, normal what ever works for you)
1 table spoon of high quality cacao powder
1 table spoon of raw cacao nibs if you want
A large splash of coffee if you want

Mix together and enjoy! If  you need more sweetness, some good quality honey will do the trick. This really lives up to its name - Pick me up! So much good and instant energy for a creative afternoon.

Smoothie Love

Happy Midsummer

Sunshine and strawberry cake to all of you <3

The best summer drink

My balcony is really a source of happiness for me. Breakfast, computer work, writing, lunch, teas, reading and dinners - most of my activities are out here at the moment. I will post something separate on what I am growing out here later. Its also perfect for drink with a friend. Here are some wine spritzers (half chilled rose wine, light pink or white), half bubbly water. Add ice cubes and a few thin slices of lemon. Perfect for the summer!

Here served with some grissini, parma ham, radishes and sliced Gruyere cheese. Bliss.

Maybe something for the weekend. Its friday!

Happy Friday!

From: http://aphroditesattic.tumblr.com/post/25204972525/faithandpink-literally-one-of-my-favorite

More juice!

The juicing continues. On saturday morning I jumped up and made homemade orange-peach juice for me and <3. Weekend bliss on the balcony.

Words for today!

From: http://mango-watermelon-love.tumblr.com/

Toast Skagen - swedish classic with a twist

Yesterday I celebrated a lovely friends birthday with a nice 3 course dinner. Here is the starter, a toast skagen. Very easy to make and so yummy. To change it up a bit I added some smoked salmon.

To serve 4, I used about 200 grams of prawns and 100 gram of smoked, chopped salmon.  Basically mix together with 0,5dl of half cream fraiche and a table spoon or so of mayo. It shouldn't be too runny.  Add fresh dill, lemon and pepper to taste. If you like horseradish that is also really nice to add. No salt is needed! Fry up 4 slices of toast in butter and slice in 2 in the middle. Top with the skagenmix and decorate with some lemon and dill or rocket salad.

Enjoy with some chilled white wine and be happy.

Cooking love

Sunday love

I found this nice proverb on http://jp6.r0tt.com/l_6c7e8580-b816-11e1-ac20-13d802100006.jpg
Its been pure summer bliss weather in Zürich today. What have you all been doing? I took the first swim of the year and also had the first Banana Split. Happiness!