The Tuesday Book Club: The Goddess Experience

With December being around the corner and the weather being typical nasty winter cold, I thought I'd share this magnificent book with you:

Gisèle Scanlon - THE GODDESS EXPERIENCE

This is the ultimate bible on how to be happy, feel like a goddess and appreciate life. At least from my point of view. This book features hundreds of tips on how to enjoy the small things in life, how to enjoy life in general and how make yourself feel that little more extra special. The book covers cooking tips, fashion tips, travel guides, inspirational ideas, home ideas and tips, beauty insiders...EVERYTHING...just like the back of the book suggests: "..any goddess would be mad not to keep a copy by her bed." I think this book also makes for an excellent present which is why I also once gave this as a present to my bestie Nina. Plus the book looks just sooo pretty in the bookshelf..too bad though I spilled water all over it when I once carried it along in my bag together with a bottle of water...dammit!!

xx, V

Tea-licious

For all the tea lovers out there I might just found the best damn thing in the world..5 Cups and some sugar. It's a website where you can mix your own tea and the end result comes in cute packages like above, made from recycled paper. So you're doing something good for yourself and the environment...yayyy to that. The company ships to the entire EU but also mentions on their website (which is in german) that they could ship to other countries if required. When the weather gets colder outside, Tea is always a must for me. Plus, I try to find ways to cut back on my excessive coffee consumption so this website kind of is a godsend..and who doesn't like to customize stuff themselves?! I sure do. So for now I made 3 mixtures of tea of my own:

• Vacation in a Cup (u can name the tea yourself!): contains Rooibus Superior, exotic fruits mix, coconut, hibiscus, apple and rose petals....yummy!
• Autumn Deluxe: contains White tea, fennel, orange zest, cinnamon, sage, cranberry and cactus flower
• Autumn: contains Honeybush tea, liquorice, apple, jasmine, sweet cumin

I think these teas also make supercute presents! Check it out :-)

xx, V

Sushi Heaven

If you want to get Vienna's best Japanes food and end up in food coma...I can 200% recommend Kosu restaurant. Soooo yummy, so delicious, so heavenly. Basically everything off their menu is to die for but if you're there first time I can recommend the Luxury menus that contain a mixture of sushi, sashimi and salmon or bulgogo or duck. Definitely worth a try folks!!!

Wenn ihr Wien's bestes Sushi probieren wollt (duh!!!) dann kann ich euch zu 200% das Kosu Restaurant empfehlen. Das Essen dort ist göttlich!!!! Im Grunde ist echt alles von der Speisekarte traumhaft aber wer das erste mal dort ist dem empfehle ich ein Luxusmenu bestehend aus einer Mischung von Sushi, Sashimi, diverser japanischer Beilagen und entweder Lachs, Rind oder Ente. Als Vorspeise gibts dazu ganz traditionell Suppe aus dem Teekännchen. Probiert es auch :-)

The Biker in me...

So when I was younger I used to go on bike camps every summer and basically spent 2 weeks straight on my bike. I always loved the feeling of just getting on your bike and not really knowing where it takes you. So today I thought why not ceize the day - 34 degrees after all - and get on a bike and take a tour through the surrounding villages. Since I was a bit afraid of getting lost though I lured my brothers into accompanying me by promising them that we would stop at the first ice cream shop we come across. I just love this heat wave. And I love spending quality time with my siblings. They're just cute as buttons and I adore them to pieces. Tomorrow I'll take them to the nearest lake since it will be 37 degrees (outside the sun mind you!). Gosh summer truly is the best season after all!

Als ich noch kleiner war fuhr ich jedes Jahr auf ein Fahrrad Camp mit meinen Kusinen. Dort haben wir dann praktisch immer 2 Wochen auf unseren Fahrrädern verbracht und sind durchs Burgenland gefahren. Ich war immer fasziniert von dem Gefühl nicht eindeutig zu wissen wo man landet sobald man sich mal entschließt einfach drauf los zu fahren. Also ergriff ich heute bei 34 Grad im Schatten mal die Möglichkeit mich auf ein Rad zu schmeißen und benachbarte Dörfer abzufahren. Da ich aber dann doch Angst hatte irgendwie die Orientierung zu verlieren hab ich meine Brüder damit bestochen mich zu begleiten, indem ich versprochen habe beim erstbesten Eissalon stehen zu bleiben. Sommer ist halt wirklich die beste Jahreszeit und die Hitzewelle kommt mir genau recht. Morgen gehts dann mit den Kleinen zum See nachdem wir 37 Grad erwarten und man hier in Norddeutschland ja nie sicher sein kann wann die Hitze wieder vorüber ist! Zeit mit der Familie zu verbringen ist das Beste!

xx, V

Update: A Food Project

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So just as I promised, an update on the food situation. What did I lear from this week? Well, I definitely can't make it without carbs entirely. Especially in the morning I feel like I need some sort of carb infusion in the form of wholegrain bread or something similar. That being said, I definitely feel like eating less carbs makes me feel better overall. Despite my initial belief, I never once felt like I was actually starving nor did it feel like I am following any diet as I wasn't looking at how many calories I take in. Another thing I (re)learned is how good greek salad actually is - totally hooked - and how well greek tsatsiki fits with everything! I also have to admit that I cheated a bit during my week. Last Wednesday I ate 3 small macarons at the coffee shop. And on thursday - due to extra hot weather - I bought some ice cream. I tried to compensate by not eating any other carbs that day but u know, I don't want to deprive myself from the yummy things in life and there was a sale on Häagen Dazs ice cream :-)

So without further ado I though I share my preliminary food plan for the next week:

TUESDAY:

Breakfast: 1 slice of wholegrain bread with ham and a boiled egg. 1 Pro Viva Superfrukt shot and 1 cup of black coffee (black coffee is the best!)

Lunch: Pork filé, grilled Asparagus and Tsatsiki (make it with greek yoghurt!)

Dinner: Wasabi-Aragula salad with tomatoes

WEDNESDAY:
Breakfast: 1 slice of wholegrain bread with scrambled eggs and herbs. 1 Pro Viva Superfrukt shot and 1 cup of black coffee

Lunch: Thai Green Curry with WOK vegetables

Dinner: Tomato Salad

THURSDAY:
Breakfast: 1/2 slice of wholegrain bread and an egg omelet with mushrooms, 1 Pro Viva Superfrukt shot and 1 cup of black coffee

Lunch: Leftovers from Thai Green Curry

Dinner: Insalata Caprese

FRIDAY:
Breakfast: Crisp Bread and Veggie stripes, 1 Pro Viva Superfrukt shot and 1 cup of black coffee

Lunch: Steak with Parmesan-mashed Potatoes and grilled mushrooms

Dinner: Insalata Caprese

SATURDAY:

Breakfast: Crisp Bread with Ham and Eggs, 1 Pro Viva Superfrukt shot and 1 cup of coffee

Lunch: Pork filé, steamed vegetables and Tsatsiki

Dinner: Greek Salad

SUNDAY:

Breakfast: Greek Yoghurt with strawberries & nuts, 1 Pro Viva Superfrukt shot and 1 cup of coffee

Lunch: Tuna Sandwich with Aragula salad as side dish

Dinner: Leftovers from Greek salad

MONDAY:

Breakfast: Crisp Bread and Berries, 1 cup of Black coffee and 1 glass of lemon water

Lunch: Selfmade Gnocchi and Tomato-Red wine sauce

Dinner: Tomato salad

I would also like to note that in between I snack on apple slices with peanut butter, nuts or berries. Also, throughout the day I either drink some green tea,a stevia fruit-water mix or just plain water. I am also not some food guru of some sort nor a nutritionist. I just thought I share what I eat when I try to be slightly healthier.

xx, V

A food project...

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So today I decide to dedicate a post entirely to food. I generally consider myself someone who is on the "rather" healthy side of eating but I am definitely not a friend of dieting in any form. Food is just to delicious to starve myself nor do you actually get healthy and thin from not eating. More like the other way around, the less you eat the fatter you will eventually end up unless you die of starvation since our metabolism can only take so much. Nonetheless, I do think that I tend to stuff myself with a lot of carbs, especially empty carbs throughout the course of a week which probably also stems from typical Austrian eating habits. We eat our bread in the morning and often in the evening, we love noodles and rice as side dishes, cake, etc. Yesterday I skyped with my mum since it was mother's day and she actually told me that her dietician who is overseeing her life long diabetes disease recommend her to signficantly cut down on carbs and not have them with every meal of the day since its above all carbs that make us bigger. At this point I do have to say my mum does not have diabetes type 2 which most often comes from unhealthy eating habits but she's stuck with the disease since childhood where she was an athlete. So today while I was killing a bag of chips I decided to do a little one week project to cut down on carbs since I usually incorporate them in most of my meals throughout a day. So the verdict is, to cut down overall on carbs though I definitely won't exclude them entirely. Note again, I am not doing a complete low carb diet. I just love my carbs too much and most low-carb products, especially bread, taste like shit and are stuffed with gluten which aren't too healthy for me either. So starting from tomorrow I will try to eat less carbs than usual for at least 6 days. And so I made up an eating plan (also to make sure non of my ingredients spoil since food costs in Sweden are massive!) and in case some of you are interested in recipes, just let me know. Here's what I'll be eating throughout this week:

TUESDAY:
Breakfast: 1 glass of lemon water, 1 cup of black coffee and 1 bowl of greek yoghurt with a few strawberries & cinnamon
Lunch: Greek Salad with Vinegar/Olive oil dressing
Afternoon Snack: Peanut butter with Apple slices
Dinner: Wholegrain bread with ham

WEDNESDAY:
Breakfast: 1 glass of lemon water, 1 cup black coffee, 1 bowl of greek yoghurt with a handful strawberries & cinnamon
Lunch: Low-carb asian glass noodles with Thai Red curry chicken
Afternoon Snack: Apple with nuts
Dinner: Salad leftovers from the day before

THURSDAY:
Breakfast: 1 glass of lemon water, 1 cup of black coffee, 1 slice of wholegrain bread with peanut butter and sliced vegetables
Lunch: Thai Red Curry Chicken leftovers
Afternoon Snack: Almonds
Dinner: I am invited out for dinner at a restaurant :-)

FRIDAY:
Breakfast: 1 glass of lemon water, 1 cup black coffee, Egg omelet with sauted mushrooms and cheese
Lunch: Thyme chicken breast with green Asparagus, simple green salad as side dish
Afternoon Snack: Peanut butter with veggie stripes
Dinner: Greek yoghurt cucumber salad

SATURDAY:
Breakfast: 1 glass of lemon water, 1 cup black coffee, wholegrain bread with ham and 1 boiled egg
Lunch: Grilled chicken breast with steamed vegetables and Parmesan mashed potatoes
Afternoon Snack: Apple puree with almonds
Dinner: Vegetable soup

SUNDAY:
Breakfast: 1 glass of lemon water, 1 cup black coffee, egg omelet with mushrooms and tomatoes
Lunch: Glutenfree Pizza Pita (found one here that is smaller in size and has a bit less carbs) with tomatosauce, goat cheese, paprika and olives
Afternoon Snack: Kiwi
Dinner: grilled veggies with garlic and herbs

MONDAY:
Breakfast: 1 glass of lemon water, 1 cup black coffee, greek yoghurt with strawberries and cinnamon
Lunch: Tuna Sandwich with Salad as side dish
Afternoon snack: granola bar
Dinner: Greek cucumber salad

I will keep you updated if I feel any different from cutting back on a few carbs overall and if I actually manage to stick to the plan. Again I want to enforce that this is not some sort of diet, not even an actual low carb diet. I will still continue to eat chocolate, occasionaly candy (do not have the sweetest tooth though) or pizza and burger if I feel like it. Life's too short to keep me from eating all this yummy stuff  :-D

xx, V

Cupcake

Just some snapshots of some Vanilla Cupcakes that I made recently for a university project. If you're interested in the recipe let me know :)

xx, V

Ambassadeur: The perfect Start!

Happy New Year everyone :-)
Last night was one hell of a party night I tell ya. Nina invited me to a 3 course dinner at Club Ambassadeur as a xmas gift. What better way to start the night of all nights what?! I ate grilled asparagus with lemon salad and croutons as entrée, the best parmesan risotto ever as main course and a delicious brownie with vanilla cream and liquorice sugar. Yum Yum! Thank you so much Nina. We also got some superfancy pretty masks from the Club as apparently there was a motto to the New Years Party and almost everyone wore them. I'm gonna keep mine and use it as a reminder of an awesome night with my bestie and also i think it makes great decoration :))) The countdown was the coolest I'd ever seen as the crowd went totally nuts as the new year started. We started 2013 with a glass of champaign! It's been some amazing days in Stockholm. Tomorrow we're off to an art/photography exhibition about David La Chapelle, my favourite! And of course some nice shopping at Urban Outfitters, American Apparel and Zara (duh!).

Love you, V

Cake Pops

The other day I made cake pops for a university project in visual communication. Now you might wonder why baking for a project about visuals?! Well, me and my group came up with a brand derived from the famous Tiffany & Co. brand that makes desserts and we are only allowed to use our own pictures for the visual campaign for that fictive brand. So I spent quite the time here in Germany baking and by the time I am done (still some cupcakes to go!) I won't be in the mood for baking for a looooong time:

Generally the recipe for cake pops sounds quite easy. Just make some cake (u can also use a mixture from the supermarket I guess) and then crumble the cake. I then went on and used a tiny amount of soft butter and a tea spoon of Nutella to make the mixture more sticky in order to form the balls. Since my dough was already quite moist I didn't have to go overboard. If u use too much soft ingredients, the pops will turn out to be creamy like they've already been chewed instead of giving that cake feeling. Anyways, I already had a hard time forming the cake pops. But after I managed to do so I put them in the freezer until they were really hard and once that happened you can just melt the chocolate, glaze it over the cake pops and decorate them. Well kinda easy like I said but for some reason my white chocolate decided to be bitchy and especially runny which made the whole thing a mess and a pain in the butt!!! Unfortunately 2 cake pops came of the stick so I guess its just a cake ball haha Anyways, in the above pic you can see the result. I think they look ok and most importantly, they taste delicious!!

Love, V

Happy Advent!

Just some quick shots of the xmas cookies I recently made :)
Was quite the job to decorate them but they taste and look so yummy! Let me know if you guys want the recipe.

Happy Advent everybody, V

Stockholm

Last Friday I spent in Stockholm due to a research project on Fashion Retailing for university and I can assure you guys this is one hell of a pretty city. I fell in love instantly and would move there in a bit if I'd the chance. Though I must admit the fieldtrip itself was extraordinary exhausting. In total it must have been at least 11 hours on the bus and by the time we arrived in Stockholm temperatures dropped below zero and there was a snowstorm going on. But in all honesty I didn't mind the snow one bit as I've been eager for days to experience the first snow this winter and yep...it kind of was a no brainer that I wouldn't encounter the first snow in rainy Boras! The entire city of Stockholm (at least I guess so ha!) was covered in white and the streets were decorated with christmas lights and shop windows looked amazingly inviting. It was just magical. Almost as pretty as in my beloved Vienna! So we spent the day enjoying some amazing food (Vapiano for lunch duh!) and did a little shopping. I came to realize that Urban Outfitters is even more epic than I remembered and I just found an epic present for my girl Nina. I really hope she likes it! All in all it was an exciting day and I can't wait to get back to Stockholm asap. Btw excuse the lack of quality in the photos as these were taken with my phone cam.

xx. V

Christmas food

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Usually around Christmas time I would bake some classic biscuits...but I don't really am in the mood for baking (not that I ever really am anyways haha....but you got to get those biscuits from somewhere right?!) and then I stumbled across this picture in the most awkward place (in that context)...perezhilton.com. Yes, I do confess it is my guilty pleasure to fill my head with useless celebrity gossip but apparently there is lots of other stuff to find haha and so I ended up obsessing over this picture. Those strawberry snowman are to die for and I am seriously considering making them sometime soon...if I somehow manage to get a hold of big and nice looking strawberries :-D
What do you bake/cook/etc. during Christmas time? Any recipes?

xx, V

Sushi Sunday

So this is what makes a perfect Sunday when it is freezing cold outside:

- A huge cuddly blanket
- A nice couch
- A supergirly movie
- Sweatpants (very important!!!!)
- And last but not least....

....SUSHI!!!!! <3

xx, V

What I can eat...

...well let's put this straight. I love food and I ain't one of those girls that pretends she feels stuffed after one bite of food. I can eat shitloads of stuff. Heck, I can even eat more than my dad. It's like my stomach is a bottomless pit :-D So what did I do today? I ATE 10 CINNABUNS! Yes you're reading right!!!! Cinnabuns or as the swedish may call it kanelbullen are very popular where I live now. They're probaby the Apfelstrudel of Sweden. And you can get them at every corner and even frozen. So yeah, I bought a pack of frozen ones today and like a lil' kid I ate them all at once. That's just how I am haha Fun fact, I don't even feel full at all, if I'd have some left I could probably eat more LOLz

source: google.com

xx, V

Death by Chocolate

If there would be a way for me to decide how I want to leave this world...well, there u have it: Chocolate Overdose! HA!

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 Do u guys love chocolate? And if so, what's your favourite chocolate dessert?

xx, V