Hamburgers!!

Since my teenage years, I've never eaten a burger in a fast food restaurant. Seriously. Well, I did eat once a fish burger in Sweden, but that was like 10 years ago. I just don't find aaaaanything appealing in such a burger. Neither do I like fries. And I don't drink coke. So.

But then there are self made burgers :) So good! Self made rolls, soya steaks, cheese, egg, onion, lettuce, pickles, ketchup and mustard. Brilliant Monday food :)

Macaroni casserole awards winner

My boyfriend makes THE BEST makaroonilaatikko - macaroni casserole!! He's away celebrating his friend's baby and I'm left home with this <3 I'm not completely aware of the secret recipe, but it has tons of spices and cheese, some basil and.. soya of course (instead of meat) and.. lots of love, I suppose :)

Gyozas and mango pomelo salad

After a week filled with traditional eatings and tons of chocolate, these gyozas and the mango pomelo salad tasted just heavenly. My boyfriend is a real talent when it comes to asian food. These gyozas (or fried dumblings) were made following Jamie Oliver's recipe. Only the minced meat was replaced with soya. Me no eat meat. When eating, the gyozas are dipped in a sauce, that is a mixture of soya sauce and sesame oil. You can also use rice vinegar in it.

The salad was done according to the book, published by the best asian restaurant in Finland (at least in my opinion) - Farang. Hahah, I wrote here "nipple knowledge" because this.. detail knowledge is in Finnish called "nippelitieto" :D Oh well, yes, just for your knowledge; farang is thai and it means "foreigner". The restaurant Farang opened a sister restaurant this spring, called Gaijin. And gaijin, also means "foreigner" - in japanese :)

Gyozas filled with soya, spring onion, garlic, ginger, cabbage

Green mango, pomelo, mint, chili, roasted peanuts, ginger and nahm jim sauce

Raw challenge day thirteen

You know those days when you are feeling tired, the darkness is bringing you down and you just instinctually turn to something good to eat. And there's nothing wrong with that (occasionally)! Turns out, even on a raw diet, with a little bit of imagination, you can satisfy your sweet tooth easily with raw chocolate, dried plums and like.. mixing apple, maple syrup and peanut butter. Way too good. So, not the healthiest day, but at least better than a pizza and a bowl of Ben&Jerry's! This being said in all respect and love to BJ. 

Ok, pretty much NOT interesting information. Actually, I just wanted to come here to say thank you for all you kind people, who have been reading this blog and commenting to me on these topics. It feels so great to deliver some ideas and inspiration! I will not be posting on daily basis from this challenge forward, but I certainly hope to keep you reading :)

Today's dinner was stuffed mushrooms with salad. It's a small portion - the lines above explain pretty good why I wasn't too hungry :) The recipe was fantastic, however.

Recipes from Raw Food for Dummies by Katja/Moments-blog

Raw lasanga - boy, I'm in love!!

When I still ate meat (about seven years ago), my favorite food in the entire world was lasagna. So, in addition to the risotto the other day, I was a bit suspicious with this one. But boy did this knock me off my feet!! By far the best raw food I have ever tasted! My boyfriend also loved it. The taste is so amazing, you totally forget you are eating raw food. You are just in lasagna heaven. Ok, maybe that's enough :) I'll let now the pics speak for themselves. But please, try this one out!

The recipe is in Katja's blog in the Raw Food for Dummies section. It's in Finnish, but I'm happy to translate it in English/Swedish if someone asks for it.

Raw challenge day nine - risotto!

Risotto is my absolute favorite food. If I spot risotto on a restaurant menu - I'm done with the choosing. So there is no way even trying to compare real risotto with the raw version. But then again, it's not surprising that this recipe instantly became my favorite - it's a risotto! *say it with an italian accent*

Raw Cauliflower risotto
3-4 dl minced cauliflower
1/2 dl cashew nuts (soak, if you remember :)
raisins
coconut flakes
lens (or other) sprouts
avocado
salt
curry
jeera (cheese cumin?)
black onion seeds

I love these naked bars as a snack. So delicious and easy to carry around. I guess the brand is "nakd", but for me it first looked like "naked" so naked it'll be. These are raw wholefood, gluten/wheat/dairy free, no added sugar or syrups, cold-pressed, never baked. This choco orange bar includes only dates, cashews, raisins, cocoa and a hint of natural orange & chocolate flavor. If you make these bars yourself, you can use orange peel and be even more raw :) Homemade bars are nevertheless way cheaper. But these are yummy, as said :)

Independence Day Raw Dinner

Had to come back here to show you my lovely dinner. This salad is definitely my favorite on this challenge (so far) and since it's the independence day and Tuesday and December and all... chocolate ice cream as a dessert :)

Strawberry salad
Rucola
Strawberries and raspberries
Avocado
Pine nuts
Coconut flakes
Black pepper
Olive oil
(honey and salt)

Chocolate banana cashew ice cream
Frozen bananas
Cashew nuts (soaked)
Raw cocoa powder
Lucuma
Honey
Little bit coconut oil

Raw food challenge day five

I've been feeling a bit nauseous and cold today. Not sure if it's because of the food or because of the lack of sleep last night. It is interesting, they say that feeling nauseous in the beginning of a raw diet is just because all the toxins in your body are starting to move and exit - then again, you can wonder if it's just that your body is lacking something it needs. The body is truly amazing and it can adapt to SO many different diets, so quite naturally it will also get used to changes. So is the feeling better a symptom of the toxins being gone, or is it just habituation?

Have I noticed any significant changes so far? Well, at least my food digestion is working a lot better than usually. And I don't have such a sugar cravings in the afternoon and evening. It's also quite liberating not to have to think about what you are going to eat. And funny to be so excited about getting to mix a BANANA in your smoothie! Well, it just makes such a difference to the taste :) Also, I had some natural organic yogurt yesterday evening, because I felt like something milky. And has a bowl of yogurt ever tasted so amazing!? Gosh :) 

Coming back to body adapting to different diets - one thing that I definitely notice, is that I'm getting used to the real flavors and pure, clean food. If I now think about what I'd like to have, if I could eat anything, it's not the usual risotto/pasta/Ben&Jerry's/mudcake - I feel more like having a warm oatmeal! Or rye bread with butter! 

Ok, there were some thoughts, here is the picture of my dinner salad. Have a lovely evening! 

Riceless sushi

Today I made some sushi without rice. This would be a good meal for a carb-avoider, but for me the reason was just that there wasn't any rice vinegar in the fridge :) As I also had only fresh ginger (instead of what you normally have with sushi), I made a lovely ginger tea with honey as a warm drink. For dessert I had a piece of that amazing raw orange chocolate cake.

Sushi (nori, cream cheese, tahini, salad, carrots, surimi sticks), ginger tea and soya sauce.