Things I'm Loving Lately:

1. My Aesop Geranium Leaf Body Balm.
I don't think I have ever bought myself hand cream before this tube, and now I'm hooked.
I treated myself to this beauty whilst in London and have only just learnt it's an Australian company, ha.
The smell is divine - not so strong that I feel it is suck up my nose like I feel with most perfumes - the sensation on my skin makes me feel like a goodess and I notice I've been giving myself spontaneous hand rubs! 

It was way more expensive than I would ordinarily spend (I've never bought handcream, remember?) something like $40! But will last a long time and is a saviour to my dry and often eczema covered fingers.


2. ZUU!
Do you ZUU? You should!
(from www.thezuu.com.au:)

... ZUU is based around "primal pattern" bodyweight exercises. They have been constructed into high intensity full body workouts with very specific sequences. Every workout targets all major & minor muscle groups while engaging both the aerobic & anaerobic energy systems. Basically that means every time you do a ZUU workout it will be one of the most comprehensive and intense experiences you'll ever do!

It's such an intense, hard work out. I always reach my fail point and have to take a moment to recover - it makes you move in ways you'd never believe to be so hard! Give it a go - it's super satisfying!

3. Blogs? Meghan Telpner's UnDiet Living and Angela Liddon's Oh She Glows
Meghan Telpner
Last week I mentioned my decision to let the 'diet plan' go. Finding Meghan's blog reinforced this idea. She has written a wonderful book UnDiet Living talks about letting go of this silly 'diet' idea that every second person seems to be forcing into our faces. It encourages us to eat whole, fresh, real food and understand what and why you're eating it! It's fabulous and I'm trying to keep her philosophy alive and present in my mind!

Oh She Glows
'Glow from the the inside out' is her motto and I love it. Oh She Glows has so many brilliant vegan recipes that promote healthy, nutritious and delicious eating! When I open her blog I feel myself become more motivated to be the best I can be - thanks Angela! 
Whilst flicking through her recipes I came across point 4...

4. Chocolate Chia Puddings - from Angela Liddon's Oh She Glows

This beautiful dessert is light and chocolatey. I would happily eat this in place of chocolate mousse! And what's better..? It's healthy enough to eat for breakfast! Which is what I did with some delicious breakfast cookies and a perfect cup of black coffee as you can see above. And maybe I had it for lunch as well.. Check out Angela's recipe HERE.

I used rice malt syrup for the sweetener to make it fructose free and only used chia, almond and cocoa powder (no carob .  You might notice the white layer on the top of two of my photographs - this is     from adding extra almond milk to that glass before refrigerating.

5. Walnuts in salad.
Close your eyes (not really - then you can't read this!) and imagine taking a mouthful of beautiful crispy green salad with soft mushrooms and chunks of cucumber.. You're loving it, but aware that it is just a whole lot of green stuff and something else might be a bit more satisfying... But it is tasty, and healthy, so you feel content. Then suddenly BAM!
What is that? Dessert? Your salad tastes like crumble? No? Cheesecake? No? Biscuits?!

You open your eyes and discover a weird brown brain looking thing staring at you. OH man, these babies transform that bowl of greenery into something decadent you cannot wait to eat.

I added them at the start of the week when I burnt a few when toasting them.. Burnt walnuts are good, but raw ones are delicious.

Yeah, yeah, we've had walnuts in salads before. But if you haven't had them for a while toss them in and take your salad to a new level.


My lunch this week looks like:
I'd show you a picture but I've already eaten it...
Heaps of torn mixed lettuce leaves
1/3 cucumber
2 mushrooms
Handful of green beans
Handful of crushed walnuts!

Who am I?

Why does my mind constantly argue with itself when it comes to food choices?
Am I incapable of saying no? Or am I forcing myself to make ridiculous decisions to stay 'in control'.
I have taught myself that I need a plan to be healthy, or face the consequences. This is not working.

A new plan? Have no plan.
Listen to my body and ignore my arguing, clouded brain. Leave my mind for more tedious university-related thoughts.. urgh.

It's time to let go and stop being so.. irritating.

My body definitely likes being sugar free. I will make this effort. The rest I will just let happen.


Hello, I'm Ally.


What I learned while being SUGAR-FREE
1. Less sweet food tasted sweeter.
2. I stopped craving chocolate. I don't need it to make it through an evening shift at work. Huh? Yep.
3. It's not that hard.
4. It feels good.
5. I don't have to cook special foods to make it work, I just have to make the right choices. And have a few handy snacks for emergencies.

I am procrastinating

This is an old questionnaire I discovered circulating between Finnish food blogs. I was interested in reading other peoples answers so thought I would answer it myself (...and I don't want to continue with the study I'm doing).

How do you enjoy your coffee/tea?

Black. No sugar.
I want to taste the tea or coffee that I am drinking, not milky sweet stuff.

What's your favourite breakfast?

Fresh, homemade Flax and Sunflower Seed bread with a smothering of peanut butter, then mashed banana, then a heavy sprinkling of cinnamon, then a top slice of bread with a layer of honey. Placed under the grill. Oh my.

Peanut butter?

Give it to me, baby. On fresh white bread. With celery. With a spoon...

What kind of a dressing do you want with your salad?

None, please :)

Coke or Pepsi?

Coke zero. I can feel it eating away at my stomach lining.. why doesn't that stop me?

You're feeling lazy, what will you make?

Toast and peanut butter! For someone else? Proper macaroni and cheese.

You feel like cooking, what will you make?

I'll spend an hour searching through the millions of saved recipes I have.. Then produce something with lots of vegetables, cooked in my beautiful red casserole dish.

Does some dish give you bad memories?

Hmm, nope. Although mushy peas and spam give me a laugh.

Does some dish remind you of someone?

Mushy peas and spam? My grandparents. Pulla? My mummi. Thai green curry? My mum.

Is there a dish you would refuse to eat?

Lanttukukko (Swede rooster).

What was your childhood favourite food?

Pizza! I now work in a pizza store.. hmm. 
And mummi's Zucchini box :)

Is there a food you hated as a child but now love?

Olives and liquorice. And nuts.

Your favourite fruit and vegetable?

Mangoes and pumpkin.

Your favourite junk food?

Is chocolate in that category? I don't think it's junk! If not, liquorice allsorts.

Your favourite snack?

A muffin or piece of fruit.

Do you have any weird food habits?

I don't think so..

You're on a diet. What shall you eat?

Lots of salad.

You finished your diet. What would you like to have?

A massive bowl of rich chocolate mousse with rich chocolate cake with chocolate shavings. And some raspberries and tea so I'm not sick as well.

How hot do you order your Indian/Thai food?

Medium - hot.

Something to drink?

Water, please.

Red or white?

Red.

Your favourite dessert?

Is this really necessary? Chocolate.

The perfect nightcap?

A cup of tea, or three.

What's your first baking or cooking memory?

Making pulla in mummi's kitchen.
Actually, making birthday cakes for my dolls - a jam sandwiches with the crusts cut off, cut into a circle.

Who has most affected your cooking?

Mummi.

Do you have a photograph as an evidence from your early cooking?

No :(

Do you suffer from any sort of a cooking fear, does even a thought of cooking a certain dish make your hands sweat?

No! Usually I don't know it's supposed to be hard until I've done it.

What's your most used or valued kitchen utensil and/or your biggest disappointment when it comes to your kitchen utensils?

My bar-mix. And my rubber spatula always provides a high level of satisfaction. Thinking about my oven gives me a migraine.

Name a funny or weird food combination that you really like.

I cannot for the life of me thinking of anything. Though someone did tell me my love of peanut butter and banana was bizzare.

Coconut and jelly??

Name three eatables or dishes you just can't live without.

Chocolate. Coriander. Mushrooms.

What's missing from your cooking?

A new oven, damnit.

Finnish pleasures: Pulla

Every member of my family has grown up with the wonders of warm pulla. Fresh out of the oven or microwaved out of her freezer stores, Mummi's pulla will always warm you from the inside out. We have all visited Mummi and asked her to make pulla for multicultural days at school. Our Aussie friends may not understand the obsession we have with this divine bread, perhaps because they don't have a Mummi who pours her heart into each bun of scrumpciousness.

I do not know if this recipe is identical to the imprint inside my grandmothers head, but my six year old cousin consumed almost an entire batch of my pulla while he was visiting from Finland - language barriers aside, I'm pretty sure that's a stamp of approval!

I have adapted this recipe to be vegan. If you would like to use butter and eggs I have written the alternatives beside the ingredients I use. My (very) Finnish father can't tell the difference between vegan pulla and the dairy-filled version so don't worry about it skimping on authenticity!

Finnish Pulla - Korvapuusti

Step 1: Adorn Mummi slippers and apron.

Ingredients

500mL warm milk (I use almond, also works well with soy),

2 egg replacers: 2 tsp psyllium husk mixed with 6 tbsp boiled water

150g raw sugar (dextrose works well here for a fructose-free alternative)

1 tsp cardamom

1 tsp salt

900g + 200g plain flour

3x7g sachets yeast (equivalent to 6 tsp)

200g vegan margarine (or butter)

Cinnamon, sugar and margarine for rolling

Method:

1. Mix warm milk, eggs, sugar, cardamom and salt together in a large mixing bowl until the sugar has dissolved.

Note: if your milk/egg mixture is too hot it will kill your yeast - if you have a thermometer test the mixture before proceeding to the next step - your wet mixture should ideally be 37°C.

2. Whisk 900g flour and yeast together.

3. Add flour to milk mixture a spoonful at a time. Combine using a spoon until a sticky dough consistency is reached, then ditch the spoon and knead with your hand. Continue kneading and adding flour until the dough comes off your hands - you may need to add some extra flour to achieve this, but also don't be concerned if you haven't used all the flour mix. I find it varies with each batch I make.

Ditch the spoon, get messy!

Pre-butter

4. Melt the margarine and let it cool slightly, then work it into your dough. It will take some work to be absorbed but it will happen. Continue kneading until you have a soft, flexible dough. If your dough is sticky add some of your extra 200g flour - the amount will vary, today I used about 150g extra.

Keep kneading. 

Don't stop.

When your dough reaches the soft, flexible consistency you will know it, there will be an obvious change. When this happens knead a little longer. 

The dough WILL become soft and elastic

5. Cover the dough with a tea towel and put it deep into your bed. Mummi puts her electric blanket on its lowest setting, I just let the blankets perform their magic. 

Tuck your pulla dough into bed :)

Let your dough rise for about an hour, until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 180°C.

6. Tip your dough onto your bench and punch down once, then break into 5 pieces. 

7. Work with one piece at a time, rolling/stretching it out with your hands to form a long rectangle. Smother the surface with margarine, then sugar and cinnamon. Add more cinnamon. And some more.

Be generous with the cinnamon!

8. Roll the dough into a long sausage and cut diagonally - this is important to get the traditional pulla shape. Now press each piece down firmly with your thumb at the narrowest point in each slice. 

Cut diagonally

Find the narrowest part of the slice..

.. and press down

9. Leave on a baking tray to rise for another half an hour - about the time it takes to cut the rest up. 

10. Bake in the oven for 20 - 30 minutes. Keep an eye on them, they should be just brown and slightly firm to touch. 

Pulla are heavenly straight out of the oven with fresh, strong, proper Finnish coffee. Don't forget the coffee, please. 

I find the flavours develop when they pulla are left overnight, but maybe it just takes me that long to forget how much I enjoyed eating them straight out of the oven..

Pulla freeze great - microwave to defrost and heat up and you have an instant cake for afternoon tea!

My freezer isn't stocked until there is a good supply of pulla inside. I'm curious to know what other peoples freezer essentials are...

10 Tips for a Healthy Life

Ally's 10 Tips for a Healthy Lifestyle

1. Eat fresh food! Try to reduce the amount of food you eat that comes pre-packaged/cooked. Up your fruit and vegies to those recommended 2 fruit, 5 veg per day or more!

2. Perform cardiovascular exercise for a minimum of 30 minutes, 3 times a week. This doesn't mean you need to join a gym - take the dog for a walk, or get someone to play frisbee with you for half an hour!

3. Know what you're eating. Take note of appropriate portion sizes, but more importantly the ingredients in the food you eat - this is where point 1. comes back in - if you cook it fresh, you know exactly what's in your meal!

4. Beware hidden sugars. Back to point 3, beware foods like pre-marinated chicken or breakfast cereals that often contain sugar. Don't forget that all fruit products (whole, pulp, juice) are mostly sugar too.

5. Treat yourself! Your body benefits from change in the quantities you consume - it's ok to have a big breakfast on Sunday mornings, or a slice of cake for afternoon tea once a week. Not only is the change good for your body, it keeps you sane!

6. Get some sunlight! Go outside and catch some rays in your lunch break - a great way to do that 30 minutes of exercise. You'll be surprised how good it can make you feel, not to mention how much your body will benefit from that vitamin D!

7. Drink up! All that water the health experts recommend you drink is not a way to make money, you know!

8. Talk to the people who sell you your food! If you can, source your foods from farmers markets where you have the opportunity to chat with your provider and find out a little bit about what happens to their food before it hits your plate.

9. Be aware of what your body likes and dislikes. Try keeping a food journal for a month and note when you feel tired, or get a headache, or when you have lots of energy. Have a rash that comes and goes? Right down when this flares and check if it is associated with food or perhaps different washing powders. Identifying which foods your body doesn't react well to can really improve how you feel each day.

10. Have fun! Get out and enjoy your life - it's happening NOW!

Vegan Eats: London

This summer I spent 7 weeks in England, visiting family and being a tourist. 

One of my favourite things about London was the popularity of Vegan eats. Here are some of my favourites:

Cookies and Scream (website)

Camden Market

Vegan and gluten-free bakery.

Hosts the best brownie I have ever eaten.

Their Chewy Wookie Bars are also delicious - almost too big to take a bite out of, a great vegan version of Hedgehog Slice.

If you want to find a giant vegan cookie, this is your place, too.

Whilst I wasn't particularly impressed with their chocolate chip cookies, their ginger cookie provided a delicious sweet-spiced hit.

Next time: I'll try their vegan donuts!!

                                                                                      Ruby Tuesdays (website)

                                                                                      Greenwich Market

Vegan cakes and cupcakes.

Hosts the best double chocolate muffin I have ever eaten.

Ruby's cakes, which you can buy by the slice, are divine. I tried her Chocolate and Strawberry Gateaux and it gave me that warm-fuzzy feeling that only cake can!

My brother says her carrot cakes are spot on, and I particularly liked her chocolate, coconut and raspberry cupcake!

Next time: I'll try her Chai Spiced Choc-Chip cupcake!

Mildred's Vegetarian Resturant (website)

45 Lexington St, Soho, London

I have blabbed and blabbed about Mildred's.

Hosts the best vegan meals I have ever eaten.

Vegan Ethiopian Stall

Brick Lane Market (Sundays)

Hosts the best Ethiopian food I have ever eaten.

I don't know what the stall is called. I have no pictures. All I know is: when you go to London you must find this place!!! 

After my first lunch there I made a day of the markets so I could go back for dinner. I then returned to the markets just to find this food on my last day in London. Go there. Now.

Wholefoods (website)

Piccadilly Circus and Kensington High Street (and many other locations)

A supermarket designed for lovers of food.

Their Banoffee Pie (in a tub) is a fantastic vegan dessert, and while many of their products are not vegan - they have a fantastic range of cheeses, and meats, and anything else you can imagine - they have a great range.

I found vegan and soy-free iceream that was delicious. 

I found vegan chocolates in their chocolate counter. I found cookbooks. I found amazing breads, and a great range of vegetables, and nuts and seeds and oh my.. 

My sister-in-law and I both admitted to popping in to pick up some milk and spending a whole hour in there just browsing their shelves.

If you possibly can, find the time to visit these places. They could not let you down.

I Quit Sugar

Yes way.

I've been following Sarah Wilson and Jules Clancy's blogs SarahWilson and The Stone Soup and learnt a lot about the joys of quitting sugar.

Recently I've been doing a lot of baking for various birthdays and using a lot of sugar. This means I eat ridiculous amounts as I taste test while I'm going and I noticed how awful I felt afterwards. Headaches and mood swings and general unwellness. I identified these feelings as sugar drops, and recalled my doctor suggesting I be careful with my diet after I confided my sudden 3-o'clock drops, particularly when I'm in the kitchen.

I know sugar is bad. We all do, really. So today after a week of feeling rubbish I declared myself sugar-free.
I don't know how long it will last. I don't know if I'll decide to keep at it, or become lazy and throw it in the too-hard-basket for next week or next year etc. But for now, lets have a crack.

Day 1: horrid headache, withdrawals I think. And moody. Doesn't help that I'm babysitting a screaming 1 year old. Nor that I had too much sugar yesterday.

DAY 1
Breakfast: oats cooked with water, seed mix added inc. chia, and a dollop of coconut cream. Not bad.

Lunch: lettuce, tomato and cucumber salad with a tin of lemon-pepper tuna (<1g sugar per 100g).

Afternoon: tin of 4-bean mix.

Evening: 4 sundried tomato corn thins and a handful of almonds.

Dinner: 2 celery sticks with hummus and peanut butter.

Drinks: 800mL bottle and 3-5 glasses of water + 1 black tea + 1 green tea