Vegan Banana Almond Scones

February 28, 2016


I'll be honest with you: I don't like baking. In fact, if there's anything in the kitchen I dislike the most, it's probably making cupcakes or desserts and sweet treats in general. But, I love to eat what I made, so I keep on baking things. Ya feel? So, when I saw this recipe for scones, I really wanted to give them a try and they looked super pretty, so I had to get baking.

The reason why I don't like baking, is because when something goes wrong (e.g. the dough is too sticky, too runny, too...) I always feel like giving up and I get angry at myself. That's when my lovely mum always comes to the rescue and she makes everything look okay again. So, that's also the story behind these scones, the dough was way too sticky although I already added heaps of flour to the mixture and when my mum helped me out, it looked totally fine. I swear, she's like a cooking God (she makes the most delicious food in the world and she still refuses to believe it, haha!) Anyway, let's get baking!



INGREDIENTS FOR THE SCONES

3/4 cup almonds
1 heaped tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp speculoos spices (or more cinnamon)
2 cups buckwheat flour
3/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp coconut oil (solid)
3/4 cup mashed banana
1/4 cup almond milk
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract

INGREDIENTS FOR THE TOPPING
 
1/2 almond flour
1 tbsp coconut oil (melted)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp maple syrup
1/4 cup almond milk

FOR THE SCONES

Start by preheating your oven to 200°C. 
Toast the almonds in a frying pan for about five minutes, until they smell amazing and look a little bit darker. Chop the nuts into tiny pieces and put them aside.
Mix together the dry ingredients (flour, 1/2 cup almonds, cinnamon, spices, salt), preferably using a wooden spoon, and use a fork to lightly mash the coconut oil. Add it to the dry mixture and make sure it doesn't stick together.
Mix the almond milk with the mashed banana, maple syrup and vanilla in a smaller bowl and add it to the dry mixture and mix it together with your wooden spoon.
Start kneading the dough with your hands and add more flour if it's too sticky. 
With your dough, form a circle on parchment paper and cut it into eight pieces. Spread the pieces over your paper and put the scones in the oven for 15 minutes until they're golden brown. 

FOR THE TOPPING

In a bowl, mix together the ingredients and add the topping to your scones when they've almost completely cooled down. Sprinkle the leftover chopped almonds over the scones and serve! (I prefer heating them up a tiny bit just before serving)

BON APPÉTIT!


(P)Interesting Interiors

February 24, 2016




AN APPRECIATION OF SPACE

Those who follow me on Pinterest, probably know how passionate I am about pinning interior inspiration. Is that weird? I love decorating rooms and I'm a sucker for all white, clean interiors. Whenever I scroll through Pins of white, classy (and preferably Parisian) apartments, I imagine myself living there. I like to share my passions and my thoughts with you, so I just had to post this moodboard as well. I would also love to know your thoughts on white, clean interiors! Do you like them or are they too minimal for you?

Photos from Pinterest

5 Things: Positivity

February 20, 2016



Whenever I write a '5 things' post, I write them for myself. To look back on them and to be inspired. It probably sounds strange, being inspired by yourself, doesn't it? To me it's like writing a diary or it's like making a to-do list of things I'm not supposed to forget. Lately, I've noticed that I haven't been as positive as I used to be a couple of weeks ago and I started thinking 'why'? Why am I being so negative and although yoga has helped me a lot with looking at things more positive, I still wanted to write this list so I can teach myself how to be more positive.



· AWARENESS ·

It's easy to be negative about random events you don't even realize you're being negative about. So, try to ask yourself 'why am I so negative about this?' Also, try to think about how you can be more positive and how you can see the same situation differently. Teach yourself to turn a bad situation into a good one. When something isn't going the way you want it to, try to figure out what you're doing wrong or what a certain situation can teach you.

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” ~Winston Churchill

· SURROUNDINGS · 
 
Surround yourself with people who support you and let go of people who are being negative all the time or who don't give you the opportunity develop yourself. Just like stress, happiness is also catching. If people around you notice the little things in life that are so important you'll soon start noticing them too and I can't emphasize the importance of little things that make you happy enough,.

"The days you are most uncomfortable are the days you learn the most about yourself."

· FAILURE ·
 
It's okay to make mistakes, you're making them for a reason. Things that are going wrong have a reason most of the time. Don't ask yourself 'why is this happening to me again'? Try asking yourself what you could have possibly done wrong and how you can do it better next time. You're not perfect, no one is, and mistakes create opportunity for improvement.

"Fail is better than never try"

· STOP COMPARING ·

It's so easy to compare yourself to other people. Why am I not like them? Why isn't my life that perfect? Well, their lives usually aren't as perfect as they seem to be, they just don't share the bad parts. Social media is awful for young girls (and girls my age or older), because you get so lost in that fake world where being not okay isn't really accepted. 
Everybody has bad moments, everbody feels bad sometimes. It's okay not to be like them and it's totally okay to be your no-so-perfect-self.
 
"To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don't need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself."

· HELP SOMEONE ·

This is my personal favorite when it comes to having a more positive day. Doing something, even the smallest and silliest thing, for someone else can mean so much to that person. I like to empty the dishwasher before my parents get home so they don't have to do that anymore and they can focus on something else. Or, when a random person wants to cross the street and no one stops, be the change and stop for that person because it might not mean a lot to you, but it does to them. 

"Some people make any thing shine. Not because they're happy all the time, but because they're positive."


Caramelized Banana Bread

February 18, 2016

I love banana bread and if I had the time and an incredibly fast metabolism, I'd probably bake one of these every day and eat the whole bread by myself. Sadly, I neither have the time nor the fast metabolism so banana bread is something I don't bake that often. When I found a recepy for caramelized banana bread on Nourish Atelier, I knew I was hooked. I made some changes in the recepy to make it gluten free and vegan, so here is my take on the caramelized banana bread that is the bomb.com!

This banana bread is vegan, sugar free and gluten free.

· THE INGREDIENTS ·

2 ripe bananas
1 cup oats
2 cups buckwheat flour
1/2 cup almonds and pecans, chopped
3 tsp baking powder
1 cup almond milk
1,5 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt
2,5 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp chia seeds

Start off by preheating your oven to 200°C. Cut the banana in halves (I cut them into four pieces) and bake them in a pan on a low heat until they look really yellow. Put them in a bowl and mash them. Add the almond milk, lemon juice, maple syrup and chia seeds and start mixing. I prefer using a wooden spoon when I cook and the recepy from Nourish Atelier also says to use a wooden spoon to mix everything.

In another bowl, mix the oats, buckwheat flour, almonds and pecans, baking powder and salt together. Add the wet mixture to the dry and mix it up! Pour the dough in your cake mold. Bake the banana bread for about an hour, but add a piece of tinfoil about halfway through so the crust doesn't get too dark.

· BON APPÉTIT! ·


5 Things: Yoga

February 16, 2016


It's almost 11 o'clock and I'm sat in my pj's, writing up this blog post about yoga. Maybe it's because I'm so relaxed now, who knows? I just had a cup of green tea (which reminds me that I need to buy some more green tea) and I've just gotten ready for bed. But, my mind was filled with inspiration and things I wanted to share with you so that's what I'm going to do.

I've tried a thousand times to start a proper yoga class and I failed a 999 times. The last time, which is now, I actually succeeded in planning my yoga class into my daily routine and I'm hooked. As a uni student with a blog and a social life, I undergo quite a lot of stress and I can handle a lot of it, but sometimes it all gets a bit too much and I need to take a step back. My mum has been a yogi for nearly three years (or longer? Correct me if I'm wrong, mum.) and she always tells me how relaxing it was and before I started doing yoga myself, I thought it was funny but crazy. I mean, who likes sitting on a mat for an hour or doing weird poses that aren't comfortable at all?

After following Adriene's 30 day yoga camp for fifteen days, I can say I've learned a lot about myself and I'm slowly starting to accept my body and who I am. Yes, it's only been fifteen days but I'm planning on doing yoga for another couple of years. Why? These are the five reasons why I love yoga:

 · ACCEPTING WHO YOU ARE ·

Nowadays, it feels as if being yourself is never good enough. 'Be the best version of yourself', is a quote I often read/hear and it's so true. Being yourself is what makes you stand out and what makes you unique. It's about accepting that you're not Kim K or Angelina Jolie or someone who is more famous than you and has a gorgeous body or a pretty face. No, be proud of who you really are.

· GETTING TO KNOW YOUR BOUNDARIES ·

Maybe you're not as flexible as those yogi's on Instagram or maybe you aren't as strong as they are. Don't force yourself to do things you're not yet ready for. Get to know how far you can push your body before it tells you that you're forcing it to do things you're not trained for. This will figure itself out and before you know it, you'll be able to do those fancy yoga poses without having to force yourself. It will all come naturally.

· TAKING A STEP BACK ·

Hide yourself from the outside world for some time, let go of your worries and obligations. This is your time and you deserve some me-time every day. (I wrote a full post about me-time here.) I like getting up early before the world wakes up so I don't hear any cars, airplanes or noisy neighbours. Although I live in a quiet place (back home and for uni), car noises tend to disturb my peaceful yoga session now and then.


· DON'T RUSH IT ·

Everything takes time; improving your flexibility, adding that hour of yoga to your busy schedule, learning new yoga poses, finding your perfect yoga place in your house, etc. Yoga is about finding inner peace and it helps you to calm down.

· PRODUCTIVITY & POSITIVITY·

You can call me crazy for getting up every single day at 7am to do 30 minutes to an hour of yoga, but to me, it feels as if my day has been somewhat productive. I feel more energized and I no longer feel the need to stay in bed for hours before getting ready for the day. Also, being positive is SO important, because it's so easy to have a negative outlook on life. As I mentioned in 'accepting who you are', yoga has made me feel better about how I look and who I am.

Healthy Valentine's Day Treats

February 14, 2016


Goodmorning and a lovely Valentine's Day! I'm going to spend this day doing some work for uni, eating these yummy treats and watching a romantic movie. Yup, I'm that cliché. (Joking, I'm actually not that cliché.) However, I really wanted to create some delicious yet healthy treats because it is a good excuse for a dessert. I found a recepy for raw vegan ginger cookies on This Rawsome Vegan Life and they looked delicious, but just like my mum, I can't stomach ginger. I dislike anything with ginger, so I had to adapt the recepy and it worked!

These raw vegan almond cookies with raspberry frosting are super yummy and they're vegan so lactose free and egg free, but also sugar free and flour free! They're super tasty and addictive, so let's get started!


· THE ALMOND COOKIES ·

1/3 cup of almonds
1/3 cup of oats
2 tsp vanilla powder
2 tbsp maple syrup
3 dates, soaked in water

· THE RASPBERRY FROSTING · 

1/2 cup frozen raspberries
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp coconut oil

To make the cookies, blend the ingredients until the dough looks sticky. This dough won't look smooth, but that's okay, because you have to press the cookie dough into your molds and put them in the freezer for about an hour to set.

To make the frosting, let the raspberries melt until they're soft. Blend them until the frosting looks smooth. Make sure that your coconut oil is melted and add it to the raspberry moisture. Blend it again. Dip your cookies in the frosting and put them back in the freezer for two hours. You can enjoy the cookies when they're frozen or you could keep them in the fridge for two days.

 · BON APPÉTIT! · 



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