9 1/2 months, lots of special moments & a scrumptious Bircher Muesli recipe

Gosh! What is going on this month?

For the last 2 weeks I’ve been wanting to sit down and write this blog, postponed it again, postponed it again – I must say, life with a baby is a busy one, much more than I ever thought!

To be fair we had a lot of exciting stuff going on.. we went on a lovely trip to our home country Austria, crossed the country from the West to the East twice by train, went to a funeral, a wedding, enjoyed lots of precious moments with family and friends and soaked up the lush and green beauty of Austria ❤ Yes, it’s always great to be home.. no matter how much we love our life here on the little rock, Malta.

 

Our little traveller enjoying the different views in Austria

Mummy life was pretty exciting too! Zoe spent her first nights without mum and dad and did really well with her granny, she once again proofed to be a super traveller, no matter if it’s in a plane, bus, car or hours on the train, she suddenly began to love all different kinds of fingerfood (yay, little foodie baby!), started to push herself around (not crawling yet, but won’t take much longer I’m afraid!), we celebrated our first Father’s Day and today, exactly 1 year ago my big love P and I got married in Gozo, with little Zoe still in my belly, dancing and rocking for three days in a row! Oh well, I guess she has a little party gene in her – lol!

A very pregnant me – exactly 1 year ago at our wedding pre-party on a boat in Gozo

 

With all this stuff going on, my psychological sanity has been pretty well, with many helping hands when we were at home, which was sooo lovely for a change! And amazing summer weather once we returned to Malta, which makes life so much sweeter, especially if we hang out together in the shade next to the sea and start our first little attempts in the baby pool ❤

It was a good month, I must say. And I must say, I’m also quite excited and nervous when I think about what I’m gonna write in my next blog post, as another big thing is coming up these days: on Sunday, 26 June 2016, my first workshop in cooperation with my dear yoga teacher and friend Sarah, from Pre- and Postnatal Yoga Malta on Mindful birth centred around yoga and healthy eating for all pregnant mummies-to-be. For more info, check out all details on our FB page here.

Our first workshop centred around yoga & healthy eating takes place on 26 June 2016

But enough stories of my life for now, let me share the recipe of one of our favorite breakfasts this month:

A scrumptious Bircher Muesli

This muesli is so simple, quick and so lovely. It’s refreshing, healthy and can be prepared in bulk which I love doing since I’m a mum as it simply saves so much time and trouble in the morning. Recently Zoe even tried some of it when we had it in bed in the morning and she absolutely loved it! (If you try that be careful to pick the nuts out for your little one to avoid choking). Another time I made some more and offered some to a friend, since then she’s pushing me to post the recipe – so here we go, lovely 😉

A scrumptious Bircher Muesli

What you need….
(Serves 2)

• 2 cups of oats
• A few nuts, seeds & dried fruit of your liking (I simply used my good old muesli mix which usually contains oats, sunflower/ pumpkin/ flax & chai seeds, as well as some raisins, goji berries, almonds and hazelnuts)
• 1 apple, washed & grated
• 4 tablespoons of Greek yoghurt (full fat, as I never go for low fat products – good fats are good for you! There’s a ton of information on this topic around, e.g. in this article)
  Vegan version: coconut or soy yoghurt
• Cinnamon

What to do….

Soak the mix of oats, nuts, seeds, dried fruit in your favorite bowls with hot water (just cover them with boiled water and add a bit more). Give it a good stir and let it stand for 10min or while you make yourself a nice cup of tea, lemon water or have a shower. Grate the apple, add half of it to each bowl, add the Greek yoghurt, mix it all nicely and sprinkle with a bit of cinnamon. Dig in 😀

If you want to make a big batch just multiply the amounts written above and store it in an airtight container or a big jar. Very handy indeed!

Hope you enjoy it & spend lots of relaxed & happy mornings while you eat it.

Wish us luck for the workshop & have a great month until next time..
Sunshine, love & lots of good food ❤
N xxx

 

 

 

Advertisement

Soulful Smoothies

All summer long I’ve been hooked on my morning smoothies. They got like a friend to me. I have them for breakfast or as an afternoon pick me up, when I need a little energy during work or I get hungry before dinner time. Everyday a little different, depending on what I have at home. I normally try go along with the 2/3 – 1/3 rule of thumb to keep it alkaline. So, 2/3 greens or veggies and 1/3 fruit. To get an idea about the alkaline way in a nutshell read this article on one of my favorite cooking websites Honestly Healthy.

As for veggies you can choose all different kinds of things… fresh spinach, chard, herbs like basil, mint or cilantro, zucchini, cucumber.. they all work well and don’t taste too strong. As for fruit I always like a banana, or some other sweet fruit like melon, pineapple, nectarine or apple.

It’s always nice to throw in some nuts like almonds, cashews, chia seeds or sunflower seeds to add a bit of protein or you add a teaspoon of protein powder (I like hemp or pea protein). Feel free to give it a special kick with the wide variety of super foods available: maca to balance your hormones, raw cacao full of antioxidants, spirulina, wheatgrass, lucuma for sweetness, acai – you name it!

Finally top it up with liquid. You can take water, coconut water, your favourite dairy free milk (almond, coconut..) or what I like as well cold tea like green tea, mint tea, redbush tea etc. I always make a hug jug of tea everyday while I work and you can easily use those leftovers in your smoothies! Last but not least add a tiny little drop of oil (flax seed, coconut) to ensure the maximum absorption of vitamins of all ingredients. Remember when we were kids, they used to add a drop of oil to your fresh carrot juice in the pharmacies? That’s why.

Now, put your lid on your blender and get started 🙂
Get creative and make it a habit – your body will love it ❤

Enjoy your smoothies & big love,
N x

Alkalising smoothie creations on the photo above:

Top left: Melon zucchini morning bliss
1 handful of cantaloupe, 2 small zucchini, lots of mint, coconut water, maca, lucuma & spirulina

Top right: Spinach Banana Smoothie
Fresh spinach, coconut water, banana, maca, lucuma & spirulina.

Bottom left: Basil Booster
Lots of basil, mint, half a cucumber, 1 banana, some Brazil nuts & maca powder.

Bottom right: Mexican banana chocolate smoothie
This is a sweet kick off for the day which can also be used as a delicious afternoon pick me up.
1 banana, raw cacao powder, maca, almond or coconut milk, tiny pinch of cayenne pepper (careful!)

Enjoy!

Our favorite morning muesli mix

What do you eat as your first meal of the day? Nothing? Coffee? A quick croissant on the way to work or a pre-made sandwich from the corner shop? Well, we’ve all been there and I’m not saying that a nice, lavish brunch should generally be banned. But: on an everyday basis we try to start our day healthily. Sure, it has to be quick – I fully agree. But it should also give me a boost for the day and do my body something good 🙂 Therefore me and my lovely have created our very own special muesli mix.

Since my last detox I kept on eating oats for breakfast. The contain a lot of fibre and keep the guts working (pssst! – that’s also good for people whose bowls don’t move enough if you know what I mean). Besides, they have ton of other health benefits which you can read here and if you wish you can also get them gluten free. In addition to the oats we mix lots of other yummy ingredients and super foods which surely all heard of like chia seeds, goji berries, maca powder, cacao nibs and so on. Just choose what you like and play with different combinations!

To keep it simple in the mornings, we just prepare a recycled box or big jar of our special bfast muesli mix and keep it ready in the drawer. Like this you only have to get your bowl, take a few table spoons of the muesli mix and top it up with hot water or dairy free milk like coconut or almond milk before you have your shower. You can also put it on the hob for a couple of minutes then it’s creamier like a porridge. Chop up a piece of fresh fruit or two (we like apple, fresh Maltese peaches or nectarines, pomegranate or whatever you get locally and is in season) and either cook it with the muesli or use it as a topping. Add a tiny bit of oil to get the best out of your ingredients and mix it. Then take your time to get ready for the day – in the meantime the muesli mix can soak up the liquid. You can also do that over night -that’s what everyone calls “overnight oats”.
If you do it fresh in the morning it sometimes soaks up so quickly that you have to add a tiny bit more liquid. By the time you’re ready, your muesli will be perfect to enjoy and give you the best start to the day! If you’re in a total rush you can also just put it in a jar and simply take it with you. Easy peasy 🙂

So far, all our guests fell in love with it – so we thought it’s time to write up the recipe!
(for our German speaking friends I chose the photo with the original handwritten recipe)

What you need….
(amounts depending on the size of your box, play with it!)

• Oats (about 50%, that’s the base)
• Chia seeds
• Whole almonds
• Flax seeds
• Sunflower seeds
• Pumpkin seeds
• Goji berries
• Dried cranberries, mulberries, apple etc. (whatever you have and like)

Possible superfood additions

• Cacao nibs
• Maca powder
• Baobab powder
• Bee pollen

Possible toppings:

• Cinnamon
• Coconut flakes
• Raw cacao powder

At the very end:

• A tiny bit of oil (I use cold pressed flax seed oil cause of the great amounts of omega 3 but you can also use coconut which tastes much nicer 😉
• Fresh fruit
• Hot water or dairy free milk

What to do…

Mix all ingredients in a big box or jar (apart from the toppings). When you wanna make it, take out a few table spoons per person (seems little but soaks up nicely), top it up with hot water or dairy free milk, let it stand for a bit (10min minimum, no maximum) and finally add some fruit, a drizzle of oil and toppings of your choice.
If you make a warm version, which is lovely in winter, throw it all in a little pot and let it cook gently for a few minutes – warm bfast here we come!

As I said, play with the ingredients – you can add or skip stuff and see what you like best. Only the oats I wouldn’t skip as they are the base for a nicely creamy comfort muesli.

Enjoy and have some great energetic mornings!

Love, N xx

Green morning juices

One of the nicest things of a wild weekend is always the good resolutions at the end of the Sunday. Hey, we are all human, right? So even if we over indulge every now and then, it doesn’t mean you can’t go back on the right track. That’s the sunny side of life! It wouldn’t be fun without those moments. So to get a fresh, energetic and alkalizing start into your new week why don’t you join me with daily green juices? Have them for breakfast and start the day in a healthy way! They are super easy to make and as long as you add at least 1 piece of fruit like apple or banana they are also very tasty. As I wrote last week, the easiest way is to keep your fridge stocked up with green goods like fresh herbs (basil, coriander, parsley, dill etc.), as well as cucumbers, spinach, rocket etc. I mostly like to add 1 apple, sometimes a banana or an orange and some fresh lemon or lime juice. Again I take the chance to add my superfoods like maka or baobab powder (if you wonder what’s that go back to my last blog post for some helping links), don’t forget the tiny splash of oil as some vitamins and minerals get only out if mixed with fat. Throw everything in your blender, mix with water – that’s it, easy as that!

If you would like to try this specific one in the photo, this is the recipe:

What you need..

• A hand full of fresh mint
• A bit less of fresh parsley (quite strong taste)
• Half of a cucumber
• 1 Apple
• Some lemon juice
• Water
• Maca & Baobab powder
• Tiny dash of flax seed oil

As I said above, there’s no limit to your phantasy with mixing those green morning juices. See what you like best  and don’t get upset if sometimes it tastes not so nice. That’s the process of learning 🙂

Any special ingredients which I haven’t mentioned and you love to bits in your green smoothies? Let me know!

So long… have a good, healthy week & I’ll soon be back with more healthy recipes!

Love, N xx