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

fast food part 4 - grilled sandwiches

I love my grilled sandwiches.
All you basically need is 2 slices of bread or a  bun, vegan cheese and one of those double-sided grills.
You can add whatever you like. I really like tomato purée and basil. Or fresh tomatoes. You can also add baby spinach or whichever vegetables you like.

Just make one or two and serve them with a salad.

fast food part 3 - baked potato wegdes

This is a fool-proof recipe for my favourite homemade potato wedges.

ingredients:

• potatoes
• garlic
• salt
• chili powder
• olive oil

preparing:

• peel the potatoes and cut them into wedges and put them into a bowl
• preheat the oven for a couple of minutes at 180°C /200°C
• season with garlic, salt, chili powder and a bit of olive oil. Make sure to stir well!
• spread them onto a baking tray
• bake in the oven at 180°C on hot air for about 20 - 30 minutes. It really depends on your oven

I usually just eat a big portion of the potato wedges and nothing else with it. Not even ketchup. They're kinda addicting, just to warn you ;) but sooo yummy!

They go perfectly with salad, a veg stir-fry, steamed veg or anything else you like! Sometimes I put a couple of tomatoes in the oven for the last 5 minutes and bake them as well :)

Enjoy!

Julia

xoxo

fast food - part 2 - Kisir

Today I want to share my recipe for Kisir (turkish couscous salad)
it only takes 15-20 minutes and is super healthy, filling and yummy :)

ingredients:

• couscous + boiling water
• cucumber
• tomatoes
• tomato purée
• spring onion
• parsley
• salt, pepper, olive oil, paprika powder, ground cumin
• lemon juice

The traditional recipe contains mint, but I'm not really a fan of too much mint, so I don't add any.

Optional are garlic, onions, bell peppers and additional seasonings like chili.

preparing the salad:

• prepare the couscous according to the package instructions with boiling water and the seasonings.
• while the couscous is soaking cut the vegetables and parsley (you can actually use frozen parsley but then add it to the couscous before soaking it)
• stir the tomato purée into the couscous. You might need to add some more water for easier stirring.
• now stir in the cucumber, tomatoes, spring onion and fresh parsley (and mint or other veg you're using)
• season with lemon juice and olive oil (and probably more spices) to taste

I think it tastes best when you allow the salad to sit for a while (15 minutes is enough) to infuse the seasonings.

I've made this salad for friends already and they loved it! Also I made it pretty often after I found out how easy it is to prepare.

I assume you can add a lot of optional things! Be creative and let me know in the comments or on Facebook how it turned out! I think sweet corn or chopped walnuts would be good as well.

Enjoy and remember, healthy vegan food can be quick and easy! :)

Julia

xoxo

homemade vegan fast food part 1 - Chili-stir-fry

So.. I've got to admit, there are some days on which I'm just craving salty, rich and most of all quick cooking foods. To be honest, it's usually around lunch-time. I'm not much of a breakfast-person. I'm not even much of a morning person! My energy-peak is in the early evening and I'm working with that! So what do I do when my cravings hit me but still want to eat at least kinda healthy?

During the next couple of weeks I want to share my favourite go-to-meals when I'm hungry!
Today I'm starting with my current favourite:

I call it "Chili-stir-fry" even though the simplicity of this "recipe" doesn't really justify a name or being called a recipe...
So, here we go:
you need:

• (red) onion
• several different colours bell peppers
• kidney beans in chili sauce
• black beans in chili sauce 
• olive oil

(try to find low sodium, low sugar canned beans or make your own from scratch and send me the recipe ;) )

Additionally you can add mushrooms, sweet corn, tomatoes, carrots, zucchini left-over peeled potatoes or whatever you have on hand and suits you best!

how to:

• cut all your vegetables
• pre-heat the pan with a bit of olive oil (approx. 1tbs) on high heat
• add your onions and fry them until golden
• add your vegetables slowly, harder veg first, very watery veg like tomatoes last!
• fry everything on high heat for a couple of minutes
• add the beans, give it a good stir and let it simmer on low heat for a couple of minutes

Serve it with rice, bread, couscous or even fill burritos with it!

I love it, because it's quick 'n' easy, you don't have to experiment with lots of seasonings, it's creamy, kinda mushy and -compared to other fast foods- pretty healthy as it serves you complex healthy carbs, several portions of veg and healthy protein and is low in fat (and sugar & salt if you find a good brand of canned beans!)

Bon appétit and let me know what you think! ;)

Julia

xoxo