Slow cooker Lentil Bolognese

Today, there's lentil bolognese in my Slow cooker 󾌧
Add:
300-350g lentils
2 carrots, diced
1 red onion, diced
1/2 can sweetcorn
3 cups boiling water
Spices: salt, paprika, chili powder, cayenne pepper (all to taste)
Cook on high for 1-1.5hrs

Layer on top: (all diced)
2 bell peppers (I used red and yellow)
1 small zucchini
3 cups of mushroom
Fresh basil to taste
1 jar of pasta sauce  (I used "arrabiata") + 1 Tbs powdered tomato soup (you can substitute with tomato paste and adjust the spices)
Cook for 1 more hour on high, then stirr everything together and cook on low for 3-4 hrs
You may want to take the lid off for the last half hour or so.
Serve with pasta or rice or use it for a lasagna :)

Side note: I'm sure you could layer everything in your slow cooker and turn it on low for 7-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours. Just make sure to seperate the lentils from the tomato sauce for a while. It'll also make a difference in texture. My vegetables turned out cooked but still had a nice bite to them. If you prefer softer vegetables, cook them for longer.

Pressure Cooker Mediterranean Pasta Stew

I made a Mediterranean pasta stew in my electric pressure cooker today. I planned to make one pot pasta but it turned out rather soupy. Still delicious!

Recipe:

Step 1:
1 small zucchini
5-6 medium mushrooms
2 bell peppers
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
--> diced and water sautéed in the pressure cooker (use the "sauté function")

Step 2: 4-5 medium tomatoes diced, layer on top, don't stir to prevent burning

Step 3: layer approx 300g of pasta on top, add spices (I used salt, pepper, chili and paprika)

Step 4: add water to just cover the pasta. Do NOT stir

(I switched step 3 & 4 which I do NOT recommend! The tomatoes burst all over the place in the pot and it took a while to clean the lid afterwards)

Step 5: cook for half the recommended cooking time the pasta asks for minus 1 minute with low pressure, do a quick release
(Be careful, there's quite a lot of water escaping as well!)
Cancel the keep warm mode before the QR!

Step 6: stir in approx. 100g of cut up arugula and let sit until wilted (leave the lid open)

If it's too runny or not tomatoey enough you can simmer it down (don't recommend this as the pasta can get mushy), add tomato paste or powered tomato soup  (I added the powdered tomato soup) and it turned out delicious!

Will definitely make this again! :)

Slow Cooker Plum Jam / Plum Puree

This is hardly worth its own blog post but making plum jam / puree became the easiest thing in the world once I discovered I could make it in my slow cooker instead of making it in a pot on the stove top! And since it's my favourite jam I usually cook up a big batch when plums are in season and enjoy it all year long! :)

My Slow Cooker has a 3.5 litre capacity so I can stuff in 3 kilos of halved, de-stoned plums cut sides down. It's filled up to the rim and might even touch the lid but that's ok.

Once you've filled your slow cooker with plums, put the lid on and let it cook on high for 3 hours OR on low for 6-7 hours. (I use high when I start cooking in the morning and low when I have it cook over night)
Once that's done take the lid off, stir and keep it cooking on low for up to 24hours or on high for approx. 12-16hours depending on the desired consistency.

DO NOT put the lid back on!

Stir every 2-4 hours.

Add spices. Personally I only add cinnamon  (1 teaspoon or so), but you can come up with your own spice mix. Nutmeg, vanilla, cardamom and cloves are some I'd think would be good. Any spice that tastes like Christmas cookies should work just fine.

Make sure the jars are clean and the jam is still hot when filling the jars. Close them right away and let cool completely.
Mine usually keep all year (actually only the last surviving jar) but since the jam doesn't contain any added sugar it doesn't keep well for too long once it's opened.

If you don't have a slow cooker you can also make this recipe on the stove top and in your oven:
Cook the plums on the stove top until they are soft and release liquid. Add spices now if you want to. Then transfer everything to the largest baking pan you have and cook it in the oven for 8-12hours, stirring every 2-3 hours. Make sure to leave the oven a few cm open by sticking in a wooden spoon.  Otherwise the released steam can't escape.

Your plum jam is ready when it's got a rich dark colour and rich taste as well as the desired consistency. You're looking for a reduction by at least 50% if not 2/3. My 3kg of plums make approximately 1200-1400ml of jam.

Miso soup

Miso soup is a traditional Asian dish made from fermented soy bean paste and there are several different kinds of miso. Every family has their own recipe, which is given from one generation to the next so there is no "one" recipe for this and mine isn't always the same either!

In Japan miso soup is served for breakfast and we love it for breakfast too!

I usually begin with the base of leftover rice (or any other grain) and then I add some vegetables. More often than not I use any combination of carrots, radish, green peas, spring onions and napa cabbage. Sometimes I add mushrooms like shiitake. Then add water and bring to a light boil until the vegetables are tender.
Once the vegetables are soft enough for your liking,  reduce the heat and stir in your favourite miso paste. I use a 50:50 combination of hatcho miso and mugi miso. (when stirring in miso make sure to use a very fine sieve to make sure the miso dissolves completely!) Use approx. 1 teaspoon miso per every 200ml of water.
Let it sit for 2-3 minutes and serve with a tablespoon full of you favourite homemade quick pickles!

Sometimes I add sriracha - the very hot asian chili condiment - which makes the miso soup a very warming dish! Skip the sriracha if you're having digestive problems!

Side note: do yourself the favour and use unpasteurised miso and never boil it to keep the good fermentation bacteria alive!

Bon Appetit!

Winterporridge

I know it's summer, but the weather is more like fall most of the time so I'm already very much in comfort-food-mode!
So today I came up with a new combination for porridge and it tastes a lot like Christmas :)

I cooked it in my rice cooker to make it a hassle free meal but you can make it on the stove top as well!

- 3/4 cup steel cut oats
- 1/2 cup ground nuts (I used almonds and hazelnuts 1/4 cup each)
- Cinnamon
- 1 handful of dried fruit, chopped (I used apples, but would've added raisins as well if I had any)
- 1-1.5 cups plant based milk (I used oat milk)
- 1.5-2 cups of water
(You need a total of 3 cups of liquid, you can divide them as you wish or even use water only, it's not as creamy though!)

Mix everything together and cook for 5-10 minutes. If you're using a rice cooker make sure NOT to close the lid!! Then switch your rice cooker to "warm", close the lid and let sit for 20-30 minutes until your oatmeal is soft :)
You can add fresh fruit or nuts if you like! I'd say banana and pecans would be a great addition ;)

I'm so looking forward to having this for breakfast tomorrow!! :)

Quick pickles

Recently I started experiencing with quick pickles and I became a quick pickle junkie!
If you've never made quick pickles, let me tell you, they're way easier than you might think they are!

All you need to do is thinly slice up some veggies and either make a brine or sprinkle the vegetables with enough sea salt so they release enough water by themselve. Then use some kind of cloth to cover the jar and let sit outside the fridge for 1-3 days to let fermentation do its job. By then you can store them for a few days in the fridge and add them as a little something special to any meal. Personally I love a bowl of fresh rice with a selection of homemade pickles! It brings me back to basics and calms the digestive system.
In macrobiotic "medicine" pickles are used for several health problems as they're supposed to have a healing effect on mind and body.

For making a brine I simply use 1-2 parts of water and 1 part umeboshi plum vinegar (you might find this in your health food store, if not order it from a macrobiotic online store!) - I use the Clearspring Ume Su. Ume Su has a salty sourly taste and a beautiful pink colour.

Veggies I make with Ume Su brine:
- carrots
- radishes (any kind of the radish works great!)
- red onions
- spring onions

You can mix them up or pickle them separately. I don't recommend combining red onions with other vegetables though as they overpower the taste of everything.
You can reuse the the brine 1-3 times when making a new batch or use it as a condiment over fresh rice. (Add some finely chopped fresh tomatoes and avocado!)

For "salted" pickles I use:
- cucumber
- the white long kind of radish / daikon

For a 500ml jar I use approximately 1 tablespoon of coarse sea salt, sprinkled in between layers of vegetables. You might want to shake the jar up every now and then until enough liquid is released.
Cucumber pickles are ready to eat within a couple of hours.

Your pickles will get saltier the longer they ferment, but if they're too salty you can just rinse them in cold water before eating.

I might add veggies to the list when I try other veggies :)

Ginger-Lime-Shot

This Ginger-Lime-Shot is your new coffee! It wakes you up with its sour and tangy taste and nourishes your body with vitamin C and ginger's anti inflammatory properties! Ginger is also helping if you suffer from indigestion. For pregnant women ginger can help reducing if not cure morning sickness. For me personally it did help a bit, but I had an extrem case of morning sickness and there's only so much homemade ginger ale you can drink!
Limes contain flavonoides which have an anti carcinogenic, antioxidant and disinfectant effect. Also vitamin C lowers the body temperature and can help when you're having a fever.
Also limes regulate digestion and help with weight loss when consumed regularly.
So this juice is basically a combination of two easily accessible superfoods and will have a nourishing and even healing effect in your body!

Juice:
- 1-2 limes
- 1-2" piece of ginger

If you are new to juicing ginger make sure to go light on it until your stomach adjusts. The essential oils in ginger are pretty strong and you wouldn't want to upset your digestive system with something that's supposedly good for you!

If it tastes too strong for you, you can water it down by adding 100-200ml of water or add the Ginger-Lime-Shot to a 1 litre bottle of water and add some fresh fruit, mint or even cucumber for a flavour infused drink throughout the day.

If you're not a fan of limes, you can swap 2 limes for 1 lemon or 1 small apple to make it a ginger-something-shot.

Enjoy!

Buddhabowls

You might have already heard of the #Buddhabowl trend and I recently jumped on the bandwagon and I'm telling you it's worth it! They are delicious, nourishing, quick and easy and you have endless options of creating them! Also they are an awesome way to use up leftovers and small amounts of vegetables that don't really fit into anything else.

To make a Buddhabowl you need a bowl with a wide rim as you lay all the ingredients in a row to create a fancy looking dish.

Start with a base of a wholegrain or grain alternative.
My favourites: brown rice, quinoa, millet, couscous, buckwheat
I like spicing things up with a little garlic and chili (cook'em right in)

Add some kind of legume
My favourites: sprouted lentils, sprouted chickpeas, adzuki beans, small black beans

Add a whole bunch of vegetables and herbs. You can bake, steam, fry ... or leave them raw. I usually make a mixture of steamed, fried and raw veggies.
For frying I use peanut or sesame oil and shoyu (soy sauce) to add flavour.
Fried favourites: bell peppers, mushrooms, red onions, zucchini
Steamed favourites: green asparagus, bok choy, broccoli, green beans, cauliflower
Raw favourites: shredded carrots, cherry tomatoes, avocado, spring onion, cilantro, shredded red cabbage, sprouts

Add a healthy sauce or dip. Even a nut butter or simply shoyu or ume vinegar would be great!
Favourites: guacamole, hummus, tahina-umeboshi-dressing

Top it all off with a sprinkle of your favourite nuts or seeds.
Favourites: sesame, pumpkin, sunflower, crushed pecans

I love getting creative with these bowls and always make it a little different!
My son loves them too! :)

For a toddler bowl I use smaller quantities of each ingredient and cut some veggies small enough to spoon-feed him and leave others larger for him to munch on by hand.
He usually eats approximately half of it for lunch and the other half for dinner. That way he gets a whole rainbow of veggies into his diet! :)

You could also make sweet Buddhabowls for breakfast with a whole bunch of fruits. You can skip on the legumes and add dried fruit and more nuts and seeds instead :)

Enjoy!

A word on sprouts

You've most likely seen different sprouts in the produce section of your grocery store. Or at least soy bean sprouts at the Chinese supermarket.
And while they are tasty, they do get pretty expensive if you include sprouts in your diets regularly, which you definitely should do as they are
1) really tasty
2) add a little special something to a meal
3) are really healthy! I don't want to get into too much detail here, but a sprout is essentially the youngest form of the plant and is never richer in nutrients. Sprouts add important micronutrients to a meal and can help balancing out any deficiencies if you have any. Personally I feel healthier and have more energy even though I'm still nursing in most nights and don't get to sleep through the night!

So sprouting seeds at home is very easy, fun and actually a great thing to do with kids! Especially if you don't have a garden. Within a few days you grow little plants in your kitchen without big effort. Even my one year old toddler seems to find it interesting to watch them grow! Of course I do some explaining but sometimes I catch him standing in front of the sprouter just watching :D

All you need is a sprouter or sprouting jars (there are even tutorials on how to make a sprouting jar at home with old jars), seeds and water.

You can eat most sprouts raw, but have to cook any kind of legume sprouts (beans, chickpeas, peas, lentils) for 5-20 minutes. The larger the legume the longer you cook them.

My personal favourite seeds to sprout are:
Radishes (on bread, avocado, hummus, salads..), chickpeas (make awesome hummus), lentils (for soups and daal), buckwheat (great for breakfast instead of oatmeal), arugula (on bread, avocado, hummus and salads), broccoli and mung beans (for stir frys and any Chinese recipes), red clover

So as you can see, there are plenty of options. Make sure to buy organic seeds and legumes!

You can find photos of meals with sprouts on my instagram account as well as when searching #sprouts #sprossen

Do yourself the favour!

"Tropical" / piña colada smoothie

Another rather simple but rich and filling recipe for a busy morning:

Blend:
1/2 pineapple
2 bananas
1 cup frozen mango
Shredded coconut or coconut butter (not oil, use butter like nut butter!) to taste
Lemon juice (optional)

It'll send you straight away to your tropical dream holiday ;)

Also it makes a yummy vegan cocktail. So for a party you could even add alcohol to this as it tastes a bit like piña colada! Be careful though as the fruit sugar will increase the impact of alcohol!

Enjoy.

The "Orange is the new vegetable soup" juice

Whenever I feel like a cold is coming on I like to make a big pot of vegetable soup. It always makes me feel better, delivers a bunch of great nutrients to help my body fight the cold and it's good to have something healthy on hand to eat if the cold really kicks in.
Though it's nice to have the soup several times a day (yes, it's that good!), I still enjoy my morning juice. So whenever I feel a cold coming I make this bright orange juice. Also it's my favourite and my son loves it too so we actually make it all the time! ;)

Juice:
2 apples
6-8 carrots
1 lemon
1 orange
1-2" of ginger (optional, but definitely a must have if you are having a caugh)

Enjoy!

The "Back to the roots" juice

For this juice you need a bunch of root vegetables. As the recipe makes a smaller serving (300ml) I suggest doubling it up or blending a banana and 1/3 of an avocado in to make it a meal:

Juice:
1 medium apple
3-4 carrots
1 beetroot (peeled for a milder taste / unpeeled for an earthier flavour)
1" piece of ginger
1 lemon

I just added this recipe to favourites recently as I didn't try beetroot before. I'm sure there'll come more beetroot recipes in the future!

The juice is not as sweet as others and has an earthy taste to it. I prefer it on mornings that I'm craving something heartier and like to eat some veggies and fresh sprouts along with it.

Enjoy!

"Banana-Mango-Tango" smoothie

It takes two to tango or so they say and two ingredients is all you need for this recipe. This one's a quicky!
It's very filling so it definitely makes a meal and I like it when I overslept and need to get going!

Blend:
2-4 Bananas with
1-2 cups of mango  (I like using frozen mango for this recipe)
Add water for the desired consistency

A squeeze of lemon juice would round it up, but it's great on it's own already!

Enjoy!

Beginner's Guide to juicing / blending

As you might know from previous blog posts I love having fresh smoothies for breakfast. Usually I like to add juices to my smoothies but since I'm not a big fan of the packaged stuff (also they don't give you as many nutrients as freshly homemade juices and you are quite limited on the combinations of fruits and vegetables) I bought a juicer a few months ago.

I found quite a few recipes that I love and so I usually make more juices than smoothies for breakfast now. For the most part I make a juice and blend in a bit of fruit like a banana or 1/4-1/3 of an avocado. I either have that on it's own or eat some nuts/nut butters, dried fruit (dates or cherrys) or some veggies, sprouts and fresh hummus with it. I usually drink this on it's own though as I don't have time to sit down for longer in the mornings (seriously, I'm  a single mom of a busy toddler ;) ) also they usually fill me up until lunch. (I have 750ml- 1250ml for a meal)

My favourite ingredients for juices are:
root vegetables (carrots, beets, ginger), citrus (lemons, oranges), other fruits (apples, pears, pineapple), cucumber (peeled)

My favourite ingredients for smoothies are:
Berries (all sorts you could possibly think of), stone fruits (cherrys, peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots) bananas, mango, avocado, baby spinach, baby kale, lamb's lettuce

Any combination of these will create a rather sweet drink.
I'm not a fan of broccoli or other stronger veggies from the kale family for eating raw. I love all these vegetables in my cooked meals though!
Personally I don't like celery at all in any meal or combination. If you like it, you  should try juicing it though since many people seem to like it and it's certainly a healthy option on the food market!

My rule of thumb for juicing vs blending is: juice harder fruit & veg and bigger leafy greens as well as citrus (because of the white skins) and blend softer fruit and young / baby leafy greens.

Use a good balance of fruits and vegetables to avoid ending up with a too sweet drink. Root vegetables add a lot of sweetness themselves!
If your drink doesn't taste as good as you've hoped for, try adding lemon or ginger. They usually do the trick!

I'll post some recipes in the future, so make sure to check back for those ;)

Our Bento Boxes // follow me in Instagram // vegan lunch

Since my Son became pretty good at eating regular food, I started packing lunch boxes for us 3 times a week for when he goes to a nursery and I'm in classes or studying.

If you're interested in what we (a 8.5 months old and his mommy) eat on a regular basis, please follow me on Instagram to see photos of our bento boxes / packed lunches. Make sure to ask for the recipe if you see something you might want to try!

As always: 100 % vegan und 100% yummy! :)

organic food delivery (post-delivery opinion / first impression)

So I got my first organic fruit 'n' veg order yesterday! Yay! :)

I have to say it's even better than I expected! The quality is perfect - even better than at my local organic shop! And it is SO convenient to have food delivered :) Also for me it's like a present, because from the day I ordered to the day it is delivered I will most likely forget what I ordered these days :D

So I started cooking right after I got everything and made two lovely dishes:
roasted veg and also swiss chard with potatoes. It was so delicious! There seems to be a whole world between locally organic grown veg and the veg you get at the supermarket. In taste I mean! I barely used any seasonings and the dishes were so full of flavour.

So in conclusion I will obviously keep using the service in the future!
For next week I ordered several veg, apples (I'm usually not a big apple-eater but the ones I got this week are so delicious, I want some next week as well!) and a variety of  4 different breads.
My service offers a mix of 3 different sliced spelt-breads in small portions as well as a small portion of slice six-seed-bread. They're yeast-free as well. Although I don't particularly avoid yeast I seem to prefer sourdough-bread digestion-wise, so that is another plus for me personally!

I can only recommend to anyone who is too busy or doesn't have the option to go to a local farmers market to try out a local organic delivery service!

Also if you use a service, make sure to at least think of a couple of meals you'll make with your order. This way you won't overbuy and won't throw your food away and save money in the long-run.

Julia
xoxo

p.s. Since I only tried half of the swiss chard so far I'll post two recipes for it soon-ish!
Also, at least the first one was pretty quick 'n' easy, so it'll be another one of my fast-food recipes! So stay tuned :)

organic food delivery (my pre-delivery opinion)

I tried something new and I thought I'd share my experience since it is food-related. So, I recently ordered organic fruit and vegetables from a local farm (approx 30km away from where I live).
So what you do is either put your own box together, which you can do online every week, or you can choose a certain size and subscribe to a weekly or biweekly delivery. If you subscribe, you can adjust the box yourself during the week before it'll be delivered. And if you don't want your usual subscription because you're on holiday or whatever, you can easily cancel it with no extra charges. After your first order they call you to discuss all the details and the lady I talked to was really nice and helpful! So they have great customer service as well. At least the service I use!

So what I did was a one-time-only order to try them out, but if I like the quality of the fruit & veg I'll subscribe to a weekly delivery.

All you do is buy your organic food online and have it delivered to your door. The service I use comes to my town every wednesday anyways so there's no extra pollution due to additional transportation going on, which makes it a little inflexible as in "the perfect timing for me being at home", but if you're not home they can leave your order in a safe place, with your neighbors or whatever you're asking them to do. And I think it just makes more sense than driving the same route several times a week b/c the delivery time is a little inconvenient for someone.

So as you've probably noticed I'm a little hyped about that :D
It'd just make a lot of things much easier for me, I mean I don't have a car so carrying groceries is not exactly fun, esp. if you're not supposed to carry heavy stuff, my local organic shop is a 20 minute walk away (make that 30 on the way back home) and when classes start again, I won't be home until late most days, so I'm really not up for the whole getting groceries thing. Esp. with the cold and rainy season coming up it's much more comfortable ;)
Also it makes eating healthy easier, because they deliver it right to your door! The only thing you have to do is cook it, or make a salad or whatever you're ordering (they offer bread and other organic foods as well). Easy-peasy I'd say!
Another great thing is you actually get to try several new things which are in season in your area. I strongly believe that the food which grows locally nourishes you best for local weather conditions! And it's so great to be able to try out small portions of new fruit and veg! (This week I'm trying swiss chard for the very first time and I'm pretty excited about it! New recipe will come up if I like it!)
Also I think /hope it'll save me some money because I don't get into "oh I need this and that and 500 other things that are not on my shopping list"-thing.

So yes, I am raving about it and can't wait for my first delivery of fresh organic fruit and vegetables :)
I'll keep you posted about my impression when I got my order! So far I think it's an absolute must-do to make your life easier.

Let me know what you think and your experience if you tried a local service!
Julia
xoxo

Being vegan - kind of a review

Yesterday, July 14th, marked my 4 year vegan-anniversary so I figured I'd share a few thoughts about my experience, the pros and cons that came with that decision. I celebrated by making some delicious Falafel, going to the cinema, and buying myself a present: the audio books of  "Die Känguru-Chroniken", "Das Känguru-Manifest" and "Die Känguru-Offenbarung" :)

So a couple of pros

• I learned a lot about healthy food
• I found my love for cooking and experimenting in the kitchen with new foods
• My regular meal-repertoire expanded widely
• I am more open to trying new alternative things like reusable menstrual products, cloth diapers (once I'm a mum), using less chemicals and only natural cosmetics
• I never considered myself to be inspiring for other people, since I think I'm a pretty regular person, but friends are telling me about their occasional flirting with veganism - I'd lie if I pretended that this doesn't make incredibly proud ;)
• I am SO much healthier than before and my PCOS is now pretty much only a slight hormonal disbalance
• I eat like a horse but don't have any weight problems (no, I'm not super-skinny. I'm a very healthy weight and have the curves exactely where they need to be)
• I am a lot calmer than before. I don't get angry as much and I'm more relaxed in general
• I learned to judge people less than I used to and learned to give up a lot of prejudices I learned in my childhood
• I found a more kind and loving outlook on everything which makes life easier and me happier

A couple of cons (yes there are a few)

• When I go to a non-veg* restaurant, I always have to have "the vegan talk" with the waiter - unfortunately the world isn't as ready for veganism as I am - but so far everyone was incredibly accommodating, friendly and helpful. If there was nothing vegan on the menu I got delicious special creations!
• If I'm craving something special like Indian food I have to cook it myself. That was WAY easier when I lived in Berlin. I have to admit, living in a small town when you're vegan is not the most convenient way to do it
• Ignorant people ask stupid questions to provoke you and get upset if you either confuse them with facts or ignore them
• Quite a lot of people ask you to explain it. I like teaching about this healthy alternative, but sometimes I feel like "man.. just google it!" or wish I'd have a chart of why, when and how to. I know the ones who ask those questions are really interested and want to understand and learn. But I have explained it a lot of times and sometimes I just don't feel like explaining ;)
• Some people will feel judged or judge you. Even though I don't! I believe that every person is entitled to eat or not to eat what they want or don't want. I wasn't vegan, before I was vegan either. I don't have the right to judge anyone for eating animal products. I did it myself for 20 years. Do I wish I never did? Yes! It would have changed a lot of my health issues and how I felt (physically) after every non-vegan meal. But I didn't. Maybe this person isn't ready yet to become veg*. Maybe this person will never be ready. So what?! It's not my life and not my problem so what do I care?!
  I've heard of vegans judging vegetarians for being hypocritical. In my opinion this is really stupid. We all know that the world will never be completely vegan, so why not encourage people to make tiny steps into a veg* lifestyle. If it means 1 veg* meal per week, then it's already a huge step into a perfectly healthy direction. If it means being vegetarian, even better!

Hope you have a lovely summer day (or winter day if you're on the other half of the world!)
Julia
xoxo

the day I went vegan..

My name is Julia, I am 24 years old and I study Business Administration. Since 3 years I live a vegan lifestyle. How did I get there? Well - it was the Summer of 2010 and my holidays must've been a little too long, because one morning I woke up thinking "why would anyone possibly want to be a vegetarian??" I have to admit I know quite a few people who are vegetarians, but I was always one of the people who kind of admired it, but never thought I could do it myself. Also I did feel sorry for the animals, but somehow not enough to stop eating them. I never really thought about it and I probably didn't really want to know up until then. So I started researching and thanks to google I found a lot of articles and videos about being veg*n. I read a lot, watched quite a few videos, including "Earthlings", which is a 1.5hours long documentation about how animals are used and abused in our society. You can watch it for free on google videos. I took me months to watch it, because I couldn't watch more than 10-15minutes at a time. My eyes were filled with tears and my stomach felt like it was turned upside down, everytime I watched any of these videos.

So after doing my research for about half a day I decided, that it couldn't be that hard to try this vegetarian-thing. Only for a week, to see how it goes and if I missed anything - apparantly I didn't!
So I did more research on milk and finally realised, that cow's milk is breastmilk for a babycow. Just like human's breastmilk is for human babies. Sounds completely logical, but I never thought about it. So why is the human the only mammalian, that drinks another animal's breastmilk until we grow old? Every breastfeeding mother and most probably pretty much everyone else as well, has heard about swollen, sore, inflamed nipples - and did you know, that the cow's udder is, just like a woman's nipples - can be swollen, sore and inflamed? But cows still have to keep giving milk, but not to their babies (they are taken away after birth) but to a machine which kind of pulls the milk out of the udder. So due to that extrem suction of these machines the inflamed udder starts bleeding. So often blood and pus are in the raw milk, but don't worry, they filter and boil the milk, so there shouldn't be many germs left. Sounds disgusting, right? That was the main reason for me to stop eating milk and milk products.
So anyways.. I wanted to try this veg*n-thing and it took me the first 2 days to getting used to it, but after that I felt great! I felt healthier, my stomach wasn't bloated after meals, which was the case after every meal prior to going veg*n and overall I felt calmer and de-stressed.
And now? I had my 3 year vegan anniversary on July 14th, 2013 and I can't imagine ever eating anything non-vegan ever again!
A lot of people actually say that they feel more calm and de-stressed after going veg*n and there are theories, that you consume the animal's stresshormones when you eat meat, but I'm not sure if this is actually true or the reason for feeling de-stressed is a lifestyle-change in general.

and btw, July 14th is my mother's birthday, we were out for a picknick that day and she brought chicken wings for everyone (not for me, I told her I'd try this vegetarian-thing for a few days).
But the moment everyone else started eating their chicken wings, I felt so disgusted, that I said to myself "this is it - I'm going vegan! Forever!" - So far it went pretty good I think :)

So what's your story? Are you living veg*n? Do you want to try it, but don't know how? Leave me a comment :)

Julia
xoxo

Der Tag, an dem ich vegan wurde..

Ich heiße Julia, bin 24 Jahre alt und studiere Betriebswirtschaft. Außerdem lebe ich seit gut 3 Jahren vegan. Wie es dazu kam? Das erzähle ich euch jetzt.. im Sommer 2010 hatte ich offenbar zu lange Urlaub, denn eines morgens bin ich mit folgendem Gedanken aufgewacht: "Wie kommt man eigentlich auf die bescheuerte Idee Vegetarier oder so'n Quatsch zu werden??" Ich muss schon zugeben, ich kenne viele Menschen, die Vegetarier sind und ich gehörte eben eher zu den Leuten, die gesagt haben, dass sie das ja irgendwie schon toll finden, das aber selbst nie könnten.
Aussagen wie "Doch, klar tun mir die Tiere leid, aber eben auch nicht genug irgendwie.." und "Ich werde niemals Vegetarier, weil mir die kleinen Tofus so leid tun.." wurden von mir auch des Öfteren kundgetan. Ich hätte mich also keineswegs als "vegetariergefährdet" eingestuft. Little did I know.. das muss ich schon zugeben. Also zurück zu meinem Gedanken, wie kommt man eigentlich auf sowas absurdes und macht essen dann überhaupt noch Spaß?
Google sei Dank, hatte ich jede Menge, mehr oder weniger professionelle, Literatur und Filme zur Auswahl. Ich las also eine ganze Menge, über die Auswirkungen der Fleischproduktion auf die Landwirtschaft, den Welthunger, Verletzung der Menschenrechte durch den Futtermittelanbau und Ausbeutung der Arbeitskräfte in dritte-Weltländern. Außerdem habe ich mir Videos angeguckt..und zwar eine ganze Menge. Bei google kann man "Earthlings" gucken (eine 90-minütige Doku darüber wie Tiere in unserer Gesellschaft benutzt und verwendet werden) und YouTube gibt auch jede Menge her. Die meisten Videos zeigen mehr Gewalt, als mich in jedem Mainstream- Film hätte berühren können. Ich habe Monate gebraucht, um Earthlings einmal zu gucken. Länger als 10-15 Minuten konnte ich mir das nicht angucken. Und auch in dieser kurzen Zeit, standen mir die Tränen in den Augen. Nach einem halben Tag intensiver Recherche war ich also davon überzeugt, dass der ganze Quatsch ja nun nicht so schwer zu bewältigen sein könnte und das ich es doch wenigstens mal ausprobieren würde. Nur eine Woche, nur mal gucken, ob ich irgendwas vermissen würde und auch nur vegetarisch. Von vegan war keine Rede! Allerdings hab ich dann darüber gelesen, dass Kuhmilch ja eigentlich nur Muttermilch für das Kalb ist. Klingt logisch, hab ich nur früher nie drüber nachgedacht! Der Mensch ist also das einzige Säugetier, das bis ins hohe Alter Muttermilch trinkt, aber nicht von der eigenen Mutter, sondern von einer Fremden.. Klingt irgendwie seltsam.. So weit so gut.. wer schonmal in einem Eltern- Forum für stillende Mütter unterwegs war, oder selbst ein Kind gestillt hat, hat auch schonmal von entzündeten Brustwarzen gehört - Glaubt ihr, das ist bei Kühen anders?? Wenn die Rohmilch abgemolken wird, sind da durch die permanente Entzündung Blut und Eiter drin, aber keine Sorge, das wird rausgefiltert und dann abgekocht, da sollten die meisten Keime abgestorben sein.
Ok, zugegeben, das war jetzt echt eklig und für den einen oder anderen sicherlich auch mehr Information, als er haben wollte, aber das war für mich der Hauptgrund, auf Milch und Milchprodukte zu verzichten.
Ich wollte es also versuchen. Die ersten 2 Tage waren gewöhnungsbedürftig, aber ich hab mich irgendwie besser gefühlt. Und danach? Na da hab ich mich super gefühlt, ist doch klar! :)
Ich habe mich tatsächlich sehr schnell sehr viel gesünder gefühlt und auch der ungeliebte Blähbauch blieb nach dem Essen aus. Offenbar hat mir so einiges nicht gut getan. Und jetzt? Am 14.7.2013 hatte ich mein 3-jähriges veganes Jubiläum. Essen macht noch viel mehr Spaß als früher und ich kann mir nicht vorstellen, jemals freiwillig wieder irgendwas tierisches zu essen, ich bin insgesamt gesünder und fühle mich besser und irgendwie leichter und ruhiger. Es gibt Menschen, die behaupten, man würde die Stresshormone, die bei der Schlachtung im Körper des Tieres ausgeschüttet werden, aufnehmen, wenn man Fleisch ist. Einen wissenschaftlichen Beweis dafür habe ich nicht, aber wenn das nicht stimmt, warum fühlen sich dann so viele Menschen innerlich ruhiger und weniger gestresst, nachdem sie Vegetarier o.ä. geworden sind? Und ich persönlich habe diese Erfahrung auch gemacht.

Der 14.7. ist übrigens der Geburtstag meiner Mutter und wir haben ein Picknick gemacht und sie hatte Hähnchenschenkel im Ofen vorbereitet. Ich hatte schon im Vorfeld dankend abgelehnt, aber der Moment, indem meine Familie um mich herum saß, die Hähnchenschenkel in der Hand.. als dann alle hungrig in ihre Keulen gebissen haben .. das war für mich der Moment in dem ich dachte: "Ok, jetzt reicht es mir! Ab heute vegan - für immer!" - Ich finde, bisher habe ich mich ganz gut geschlagen :)

Und wie ist deine Geschichte? Lebst du auch vegetarisch oder vegan? Würdest du gerne damit anfangen, weisst aber nicht wie? Unten ist genug Platz für Kommentare :)

Julia
xoxo