Vegan Christmas Gingerbread Cookies

Vegan Christmas Gingerbread Cookies

It's that time of the year again: Christmas baking! I wouldn't call myself a good cook and even less so a good baker, so I was happy to have Vic's support in making these vegan, gluten free, refined sugar free gingerbread men. Yep, you heard that correctly, these cookies are void of literally ANYTHING that might upset your stomach. Christmas is saved, people.

In my house we usually make fruit loaf, cinnamon-flavored-star-shaped-biscuits and lemon-butter-biscuits, all of which are filled with refined sugar, glutenous (is that a word?!) flour, eggs and butter. Before becoming the health freak that I am (cause let's face it, I am), I didn't mind and it was just kind of normal. But since two years I always make sure I come prepared to our Christmas get togethers by bringing my own batch of healthy cookies. I have 0 self discipline when it comes to saying no to food, so if I don't bring a healthy alternative and someone offers me a 'normal' cookie, there is no way I will say no to it. Ever.

Almond And Cashew Yoghurt With Baobab

Almond And Cashew Yoghurt With Baobab

November means that days are getting even shorter and nights are getting even colder. Hello cold and flu season. If I think about it, everyone around me gets sick at least once or twice throughout the winter, not even mentioning the chronic-sniffers-and-caughers. And it seems to be accepted as completely normal, as part of winter. But it doesn't have to be like that! I haven't had a serious cold in suuuuuch a long time; and if I do, it disappears again with 1-3 days and doesn't stick around in the form of a feverish-flu for two weeks.

What's the answer? Prevention, baby! Prevention is the best way to stop those sore throats and coughs in their tracks - by keeping our immune systems nice and strong.


Raw Hummus with Zucchini

Raw Hummus with Zucchini

Raw foods don’t have to be categorized in a different way than the foods we already know and love. Most of us already eat a lot of raw foods without giving it much thought or even categorizing it as such. Now isn’t that encouraging; it shows that choosing raw doesn’t have to be boring or complicated. Aspiring raw foodies can just take a look at their current diet and eat more of the already raw foods they currently consume.

Hummus is a funny one; it’s not raw but most people assume it is since a lot of dips are raw and you normally eat it with some veggie sticks. Only once people want to make hummus at home, they realize they actually need to cook the beans. And yes, buying canned beans still means it’s cooked even if you don’t do the cooking yourself.

From my education with IIN, I have some mixed feelings regarding a raw diet. I see both the pro’s and the con’s, but don’t subscribe to the idea that one is better than the other. I believe in bio individuality aka figuring out what is best for you, for your body, for your lifestyle and I also believe in balance and moderation.

Banana And Maca Power Pancakes With Blueberries

Banana And Maca Power Pancakes With Blueberries

I wish I could say that my last weekend was a lazy weekend. The kind where you sleep for the better half of the morning and then spend the afternoon on the couch with a good book and some tea. But no, my weekend was jam-packed with celebrating #activenationday in Zurich and taking workout videos with Vic (watch this space, we'll be posting weekly workout videos soon!). This weekend I won't be hitting the snooze button either; I have planned to do a last big 30km run before my first marathon on the 25th of October. I've never ran this long before - so just in case I won't survive it, I wanted to let you know that I love you all dearly.

Also, I would not be able to leave you without sharing this one last recipe with you : warm, rich and moist banana and maca power pancakes. And power do they have! Thanks to the Peruvian superfood, these babies are an energy power house and will fuel you for the day. Note to self: Have a full stack of pancakes before going on this dreaded run. 

Delicious Low Carb Raw Vegan Thai Tomato Salad

Delicious Low Carb Raw Vegan Thai Tomato Salad

I know I promised it a long time ago, but I am only just now getting around to posting the first Phuket Cleanse inspired recipe. My time there was a whirlwind of experiencing new flavours, new ingredients and unexpected combinations that created the most delicious raw dishes. I have never had raw vegan food like this before, and let me say, it has been slightly life changing. I came back from my holidays with a list of things to buy: nutritional yeast, spiralizer, sprouter, deydrater, water filter and the list goes on. Two weeks later, and I've at least gotten myself a spiralizer. Step one, check. I already found all the recipe inspiration I need thanks to a blog called "Inspiralized", now I just have to find the time to get busy in the kitchen.

So, back to the recipe; as someone who is completely freakin’ obsessed with Thai food, I just had to post a Thai dish first. Thai cooking places emphasis on lightly prepared dishes with strong aromatic components and a spicy edge. There's always at least 3 flavours involved: sour, sweet, salty, bitter, or spicy. It's not a secret that I have a bit of a sweet tooth, so maybe the fact that many dishes are sweet is the reason I'm hooked on Thai food. Latest after my Thai Cooking Class at Mai Kaidee, I have become inspired to bring the Thai cuisine to my own kitchen and start experimenting with some recipes. Expect some more Thai recipes to follow soon. But first, let's take a look at this simple tomato salad.

Vegan Lemon Coconut Cheesecake With Nutmeg

Vegan Lemon Coconut Cheesecake With Nutmeg

Holy Mother. Why haven’t I done this before?

I'm talking about this delicious raw cheesecake. I've done raw cakes before, but never have they tasted anything like this. One bite of this vegan cheesecake and you'll never look at cheesecake the same way again. It's made with all natural ingredients, requires no baking and the citrus flavour makes it the ideal cooling dessert for warm weather days. Trust me, wether you're vegan or not, you will fall in love with this cake. In fact, if there is one dish I would have to make for someone to prove to them vegan food isn't boring, it would be this recipe.

Ginger And Coriander Sweet Potatoes

Ginger And Coriander Sweet Potatoes

Over the holidays I've been rummaging through my iPhoto collection in the search of nice pictures for a scrapbook that I'm currently working on for me and my boyfriend. As I was going through the different folders I found a bunch of food pictures that have never seen the daylight because they were taken before I started this blog. Such as these shots of the Leon - inspired ginger and coriander sweet potato dish. It's not a secret that I'm a sweet potato fan. My favourite way of indulging in them is to make sweet potato fries, but I've ventured outside the box a little lately with a sweet potato dip, sweet potato patties and even sweet potato brownies à la Deliciously Ella. But with this dish I'm bringing it back to the basics. Sweet potato, ginger and coriander. That's pretty much all you need. Clean eating doesn't have to be complicated and it doesn't always have to require exotic ingredients that you can only purchase in special health stores. Sometimes less is more.

Healthy Green Falafel With Tahini Sauce

Healthy Green Falafel With Tahini Sauce

Having lived in Dubai for two years, I have a deep appreciation for Middle Eastern cuisine. Tabouleh, hummus, pita bread, baba ghannouj, you name it. I am obsessed with all of them. And falafel deserves a special spot in that list. As much as I love eating this dish in a restaurant, I have always found the idea of trying to replicate the creamy texture of falafel very daunting. I've struggled making hummus in the past, so this seemed even more impossible. Note: Before moving out of my parents house to go to university, my cooking skills were limited to making omelette and even today I don't really consider myself a good cook. I need to follow recipes on the dot, otherwise I freak out that the end result won't be good and I absolutely don't trust my taste buds when it comes to adding spices. Anyways...

Buckwheat Chocolate Granola

Buckwheat Chocolate Granola

Good morning and Merry Christmas to ya’ll! Depending on where you are, you might still be eagerly awaiting christmas eve and the unpacking of presents, like I currently am. The rest of the fam is out doing some last minute grocery shopping, so I decided to seize the moment to turn on some cheesy christmas jingles and get busy in the kitchen. The smell that wavered out of the kitchen half an hour later made me feel like I had landed in Willi Wonka's chocolate factory, to say the least.  I’ve actually been meaning to share this recipe with you guys for a while, but I’m still struggling to take nice pictures with this gloomy winter lighting and just couldn’t get the pictures right. They finally turned out to my liking, I hope you agree.


Caramel Tofu Mousse With Rebel Kitchen Mylk

Caramel Tofu Mousse With Rebel Kitchen Mylk

It's easy, it's decadent, it's super rich, and it's made of tofu. Yes, you read that right - tofu.  Tofu blended with my favorite non-dairy milk, a little sweetener and some nuts makes the perfect vegan caramel tofu mousse. I have to admit: I eat this for breakfast as opposed to dessert. It's that good. To me, it tastes like a delicious batch of caramel cookie dough and since I used to be a Ben & Jerrie's cookie dough ice-cream addict (scratch that, I still am), this is like heaven to my taste buds.

Products I Love: Rebel Kitchen Mylk

Products I Love: Rebel Kitchen Mylk

I'm always on the lookout for new healthy and "clean" brands, so you can imagine my delight when I discovered Rebel Kitchen during one of my last visits to Hiltl in Zurich. I was even more excited when the Rebel Team contacted me a few weeks ago and proposed for me to try their full range of mylks. Of course I jumped at this opportunity!

Rebel Kitchen’s mylks are the definition of wholesome, unprocessed drinks as they only contain few basic ingredients: Coconut milk, water, date nectar and cacao. I’m a coconut addict, so the fact that they’re made from coconut milk is a big tick in my box. They contain absolutely no additives, no preservatives and so, no worries. I'm also thrilled that they use cacao instead of cocoa. In case you didn't know, cocoa is the processed, heated version of raw cacao and hence only contains a small percentage of the "feel good" nutrients that it's natural alternative has to offer. It just goes to show that we don't need loads of unpronounceable chemical ingredients in order to make our food taste good.

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Healthspo Talk with Elle

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Healthspo Talk with Elle

There are two reasons why today is extra special. One, I am launching my first Wholesome Stef segment called #healthspotalk. The idea is to introduce you to the amazing ladies (and hopefully sometimes gents) behind my favourite blogs and Instagrammer's and to provide you with a good dose of inspiration from around the world.

And two, I’m introducing you to the talent behind one of my favourite Instagram's @livewellewithelle: Ellie Ficken, a psychology graduate and personal trainer from Melbourne Australia. She has a beautiful and inspiring mindset and truly walks the "wellness talk". I for my part can learn the one or the other thing from her, and I hope that you will too. She has been very supportive of my blog plans since day 1 and I am happy that she pushed and encouraged me throughout. As busy as she is, she allowed me to pick her brain for this Q&A session and I couldn't be more excited to have her kick start this segment!

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