recipe

How to grow your Instagram Following

von

I wrote this Blog Post for all the people who are interested in my Instagram growing and for those people who follow me and supported me at any time. I also wrote it for people how like to grow with their own Instagram account and for those people who wants to start one.

I recently reached 100.000 Followers on Instagram and I’m overwhelmed about the heartwarming nice words and congratulations from all of you.

To be honest I wasn’t a social media fan in the past because I don’t want to see others regularly daily routine or boring videos. But when I started Instagram I recognized the otherness on this platform. The difference for me is that I can follow only people who are interested in my niche and who are follow the same passion. The passion of a vegetarian, vegan and healthy diet and living. So I don’t have the feeling to get spammed with input I don’t like to see. Sure Instagram changed a lot but I know my favorite accounts and I can decided who I
give a visit. This and other points are reasons I felt in love with this social media platform. As you can see in my social media activities I focused myself on Instagram. Why? The simply answer is: Because I really love it!

I’m lucky to choose this platform because Instagram is the fastest growing social media platform. Instagram announced a new milestones: 500 million users per month, of which 300 million use it daily. Eighty percent of the total users live outside the US. Instagram was established in 2010 with 1 million user. So if you like to decide to invest time in social media you should use Instagram.

Back to me. When I started with Instagram one year ago I never expected to grow in that way I grew. When I uploaded my first food pictures I don’t had the idea to collect lots of follower. I only want to share my first food pictures to see what others think about it and to learn how to take better food pictures. I already read two food photography books and thought my pictures wasn’t that bad. I quickly got a response from others and I was so proud when I got 30 clicks on my picture.

I like to share some tips which helped me to grow in that way I grew on Istagram.

1. Helpful and creative content

Instagram is a photo community and special platform. Your first intention should be to produce good, helpful and creative content to give others an idea. As you can see in my feed I pay attention to vegetarian and vegan food. I found my personal niche. It’s so much easier to focus yourself on only 1-2 topics in your Instagram feed as well its easier for your follower. Content means not only the picture you show. It’s even more. It’s the caption you choose, it’s the context you choose and it’s your personal style. Don’t confuse your follower by changing your style or context too often. To produce helpful and creative content is the best way to promote followers loyalty. For me is isn’t difficult
to publish helpful content because I mostly publish all the things I learned new by myself. LOL. Don’t be afraid to be creative and try out new things. It’s often new for others as well.

2. Photography and Videos

In the last year I met lots of Instagramer who produce really good and high quality content. Because Instagram is a photo community it IS necessary to upload mostly the best pictures you have. Please be realistic! Don’t match you with high professional photographer or Instagramer who are already have a big experience. In the beginning I matched myself often with the wrong people and was really frustrated. In the meantime I focus myself more on me and the possibilities I have. Keep in mind to use the best content you can produce with your own possibilities. I recognized videos are watched 10% more often than pictures. I tried out if I have fun with producing my own videos and it works good. But I’m sure if I won’t have fun by producing them I wouldn’t do it only to get more likes or follower.

3. Have fun and be authentic

One of the most successful way to grow your follower is to be YOU! This is the difference between you and others! Don’t be someone else. You will only have success when you are authentic. I can’t be some else who is more successful or who have other possibilities like me. Instagram is a place you will invest a lot of time. So it’s is really important to have fun with what you are doing there. If you don’t have fun don’t start with Instagram.

4. Be social and interactive

Instagram is a social platform. Means you need to be interactive with follower. In the beginning you need to learn from others. I was and I’m still interested in other feeds. When I see a picture I love I like it, when I stop to looks at a picture and think “Wow, what a great shot!” I give a comment with a compliment. I notice that I’m really interested in other feeds so I give an authentic comment. I often see short comments from others. It seems the people try to be active on more feeds to get the possibility to “collect” follower. That’s not the way it works. You will have more success by comment less pictures but more extensive. If you have some experience or knowledge don’t share it only on your feed. Share it with others in other feeds as well. Because others can learn from you and maybe they think you are interesting enough to visit your feed as well. Be nice. Be kind. Be real.

5. Find others in your niche and engage with them

One of the best I did on Instagram is to connect with others in my niche. I already have a close relationship to some of my first Instagram friends and we support each other as best as we can because we respect each other’s work so much. We sometimes send us DMs (direct messanges) or e-mails with questions we don’t want to share official. Here you find a list from my favorite Instagram
accounts and friends:

Janine from @nutsandblueberries (my account)
Kathi from @blackwhitevivid
Ellen from @ellencharlottemarie
Karin from @theofficialkalista
Niki from @rebelrecipes
Dee from @greensmoothiegourmet
Marisa from @missmarzipancom
Traci from @vanillaandbean
Klara from @klaraslife
Bo from @boskitchen
Marie from @8thandlake
Maya from @delicious_and_healthy_by_maya
Bettina from @Bettinas_kitchen
Heike from @tastyashek
Lynn from @heavenlynnhealthy
Tiina from @myberryforest
Amy from @amylecreations

6. Real Follower

Your Goal should be to have REAL loyal followers who are really interested in what you are posting and not those ones who follow you to speculate in a follow back from you. And don’t buy follower. Please don’t! I never bought follower because it wasn’t my intention to have thousands of follower. In my opinion it’s wrong to buy follower. Instagram isn’t collecting follower. Instagram is more than that. Instagram is a place where you can share your love, your passion. A place where you can learn so many things from others.

7. Contests and celebrating’s

In the beginning of your Instagram journey it’s a good way to share your pictures as well in contests to find connections to others in your niche. This one is tricky, sometimes difficult to manage and time investing, but it works. If you can get yourself featured by bigger profiles, it will get you a lot of followers quickly sometimes. You can arrange an own one or join others. When you publish a picture in a contest and the organizer like it, he / she will give you a feature on his / her page. When you are lucky you find more follower with this way. You can also organize an own contest with your own idea. I run one contest alone and one with other Instagramer. The topic was #healthytoppings and
#nabhealthysummersnacks. I featured some people with the best ideas on my feed. Some people are also celebration their milestones on Instagram to share their happiness and to “give something back”. Your Follower can share a picture from you and if you like it you will share it on your account. I only celebrated two times. When I reached my 20.000 and when I reached my 60.000. I’m not a fan of it because you have lots of other content on your feed.

8. Don’t spam others

On the downside of contents and celebrating’s is that you will have many other pictures on your feed which can confuse your follower. It is a nice way to grow a little bit faster and I often see people who are celebrate a lot. But in my opinion it isn’t the right way to build up a stable Follower base.

I really often implement nice words about other people and Instagram feeds in my page because I really love their work and love to share it with others and I love to support them. It’s a great way to spread some love and support others without having other pictures in your feed. To make sure the people will see your comment tag them in your picture.

9. Please do not follow by follow

As I said it is tricky, sometimes difficult to manage and time investing to get featured by bigger profiles. I get ask so often if I can feature someone on my feed (because it’s big now) or if we can do a follow by follow. To be honest I did it two times without thinking about it. After thinking about it I stopped it because I DON’T want to feature someone I don’t “know”. Call me vintage but I only want to feature or recommend people I really like. I’m sure it hasn’t a real authentic character to make follow by follow.

10. Analyzing

A high professional way is to leant when you can publish your post as best. I read about a program called Iconosquare. You can analyse your Instagram posts and see what works good and what not. I’m sure it’s a great idea to fill Instagram more professional. Unfortunately I don’t have the time to use it at the moment. I listen to my body and work with regularly publishing times.

11. Regularity

At the moment I publish one picture regularly in the morning (Central European Time) because it’s MY BEST TIME. It’s my morning ritual I really love. Sitting in my blue chair, enjoying my espresso and write my post. Sure, I could reach more people if I would make another post on the United States Time Zone. But this would stress myself to much and that’s the reason I don’t do it.

12. At least something about the Instagram Changing

I’m sure if you are already working with Instagram you heard or feel about the changing. The posts are no longer in chronological order of newest posts first. Instead you will see posts in the order that Instagram deems the most important to you. It’s how much Instagram thinks you care about that particular Instagram user. For example, a photo with 5 likes and no comments from two hours ago from
someone you occasionally engage with is several posts ahead of a photo with 140k likes and 420 comments from an hour ago from a celebrity with a verified profile whom you rarely engage with. If you want to ensure that you see specific people’s posts more often, you have 2 options. First, visit their posts out and get active with them, means like and comment. You can do it on my account if you like to see more from me. Or simply give a regularly visit. The other way is to click on the triple dots at the top right of their photo or their profile and select Turn On Post Notifications. I don’t want to tell my follower to clock on the triple dots because I’m sure they already read about it and when they like
to see my posts they will do it.

Instagram published a new function calls

“Tell your story”

a few days ago. You can show your follower what you are doing in time and it will be online the next 24 hours. I tried it out and think it’s a nice way to tell your follower more about you without posting it on your feed. It is similar to snapchat. But unlike Snapchat, you can tap on the left-hand side of the screen to rewind the feedback to an earlier post.

If you like to know more read this article: Instagram Tell your Story

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Walnut Oat Cream with baked Banana

von

Walnut, Cashew Nut, Oats – mix whatever you want! Welcome simply Breakfast Creams! I already published one of my favorite nut creams, my base Cashew Cream. After eating it for a long time I wanted to try another version of a nut or grain cream. So I decided to mix some of my favorite breakfast ingredients and await the result eagerly.

Walnut, Oat and baked Banana!

What a mouthwatering combination. I love to smell the flavor of the baked banana when I fry them in the morning. It’s only a few minutes of work and the result is so amazing. As you already read in one of my previous posts “Dietary Change” it’s one of the best decision to start with changing little things in your life to change your diet. Start with your breakfast! Prepare this walnut oat cream in advance to have a healthy and tasty breakfast for 3 days. You only need to fry the bananas in time because they are not that flavorful when they are cold. Instead of baked bananas you can use any other fresh fruits like apples or simply unbaked banana.

Walnut Oat Porridge with Baked Banana nab (3)

Have you heard about the disadvantages of phytic acids?

Phytic acid has a strong binding affinity to important minerals. Soaking nuts or grains is really healthy because oats contains phytic acids. You need to soak the nuts or grains to break it. For more information read this article: Phytic acid

You can also add a pinch of apple vinegar to make the oats more digestible.

Oats are one of the best breakfast ingredients to make you feel full for longer. They are also one of the grains with the highest protein volume.
And they taste very good and are really versatile. You can soak them, cook them or simply add them cold to your muesli.

Vanilla Almond Butter for everything

By the way: I love to top EVERYTHING with my home-made Vanilla Almond Butter. I always stock a jar of it in my house to have it on hand when I need something sweet. Topping your nut cream or your baked banana with this nut butter brings you to another level of taste! I never know it until I tried it out. You find the simple recipe here: Vanilla Almond Butter

So guys, as promised on Instagram here is the recipes for this walnut oat cream you asked for 😉

Walnut Oat Cream with baked Banana

Serve 4

Cream

100g Walnuts
100g Oats
4-5 Dates
1 Tsp ground vanilla
1 cinnamon stick (or ½ tsp)
200 ml water

To Serve

4 ripe bananas
Coconut oil for frying
Vanilla Almond Butter for topping

Preparation

  1. Soak all ingredients for the cream in 200-300ml water and store in the fridge overnight
  2. Mix the cream in the morning
  3. Fry the banana over medium heat in coconut oil
  4. Serve with baked Banana and Vanilla Almond Butter

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Walnut Oat Porridge with Baked Banana nab (1)

Muesli and Granola as a simply, fast and healthy breakfast version

von

Muesli is one of the best healthy Breakfast ideas ever! As you maybe read in one of my previous posts about „Dietary Change for a better wellbeing“. I publsihed the tip to make your own muesli to avoid unhealthy additives. I’m sure not everybody loves to spend a lot of time in the kitchen especially in the morning. As a result of this I like to inform more about muesli and granola as a simply, fast and healthy breakfast version.

A few years ago I started to buy my ready muesli in the supermarket. I don’t know that is wasn’t that healthy I thought. All the hidden unhealthy additives like industrial sugar or sweetened dried fruits wasn’t clearly evident for me. Especially sugar is used in thousands of supposed healthy products you can’t clearly realize by reading the ingredients. There are some titles you can recognize sugar. For example glucose or sucrose. If you like to learn more read this article: Refined Sugar – The Sweetest poison of All…

Muesli is definitely a perfect base to have a healthy breakfast. As I can see in my food community muesli is used really often as a base. Mixed up with everything you like it’s totally flexible. Muesli makes full for longer because of the cereals and roughage.

I prefer walnuts and sunflower seeds in my muesli while my husband loves coconut chips and apple. He use the 3,8% organic dairy milk and I use plant based milk like hemp milk or my self-made walnut milk. I only use natural sweetener for my muesli like dates, apples, bananas or sometimes honey. The best is to top your muesli with a good and crunchy granola like my Coconut Granola with dried flowers

Granola – What is that?

Granola is a little bit different to muesli because it is baked until the ingredients form crunchy clusters. Granola contains dried fruits, healthy oils and liquid sweetener. It is only used for topping mueslis or smoothies. It is really difficult to find high quality granola in the store. I only found this one which is really good. Sure it is a bit expensive but high qualified as well: Lizis Granola.

Beside my Coconut Granola I love this Crispy Granola version from my friend  Heike @tastyasheck. As agreed with Heike I’m so happy to publish it here on my Blog. Heike is one of my absolutely favorite inspirations. She takes care of a fair food use and her Food Photography is always colorful and makes me smiling. You can see more from her work here:  Heike @tastyasheck

Thank you so much Heike for this stunning recipe!

1-Heike (2) 1-Heike (1)

RECIPE
CRISPY GRANOLA from Heike @tastyasheck

Ingredients

1 cup quinoaflakes
1 cup glutenfree oats
1 cup buckwheat (sprouted if you like)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup pumpkinseeds
2 ripe bananas
1 tsp vanilla powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup coconut oil @royalgreen2008
2 tbsp nutbutter or coconutbutter or tahini
3/4 cup coconut flakes

Optional
dried berries like green raisins, mulberries, gojiberries or cacao nibs

1-Muesli and Granola (1)

Preparation

  1. Preheat the oven on 170°C/335°F
  2. Line a baking tray with 2 baking sheet, overlapping the tray on every side.
  3. Mash the bananas until soft
  4. Add the melted oil, vanilla powder plus the melted butter (melt over a water bath) and mix well
  5. In a large bowl mix the dry ingredients except coconut chips and dried fruits
  6. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and incorporate with a spatula
  7. Press evenly on the baking tray
  8. After 10 min. remove from the oven and flip over
  9. Place back in the oven for another 10min
  10.  Repeat as before and place back for 5 -10 min depending you oven, before it starts to smell fragrant
  11. Remove and add the coconut chips and toast for another 5min
  12.  Remove and let cool down completely
  13. optional: add 1/2 cup of dried berries/cacao nibs and store in a airtight container for up 2 weeks or in the freezer for up to 2 months (no need to defrost before…)

1-Muesli and Granola (3)

Here you find my personal tips for making a good muesli:

• 1/3 Cereals and Nuts
• 1/3 fresh fruits
• 1/3 Yoghurt, Dairy Milk or plant-based Milk
• Dried fruits like dates as a natural sweetener
• Crunchy ingredients like Granola
• Soft ingredients like fruits
• Use a happy and nice bowl you like to serve
• Cut the fruits in bite-size
• Try out and write down your favorite combination
• Mix your muesli in advance to reduce stress

Have Fun and enjoy!

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Healthy Beetroot Sandwich with smoked Tofu

von

Who don’t love to eat a sandwich? I never made lots of sandwiches in the past because I don’t know how to prepare them. But life is learning right? So I tried out my own Sandwich Version and it worked well as you can see in the picture. Really proud. Haha. I love to combine different colors and ingredients. Soft ones, crunchy ones, warm and cold ones.

Who didn’t get mouthwatering by starring at a sandwich like this? I searched for an alternative for hot summer days. Normally I enjoy salads like this one from my friend Tracy: Broccolie Slaw. But sometimes I need another idea instead of eating salad all day long. Burger are also a classic and nice summer meal idea. For example my Mr. and Mrs. Chickpea Burger.

Tofu on a Sandwich

I love to use Tofu in my kitchen since a few months. I already learned that preparing tofu right isn’t a wonder and its really tasty when you know how to prepare it. You can use the smokes tofu cold or fry it to get a crunchy mode and a warm flavor. Take care of GOOD QUALIFIED TOFU. There is a big difference between the brands.

Vegan or Vegetarian

If you don’t want a vegan Sandwich you can simply switch the vegan mayonnaise in a vegetarian one. Or add some cheese. I was totally overwhelmed about the taste of vegan mayonnaise. Have you ever tried vegan mayonnaise? It don’t taste really different to normal mayonnaise.

This Sandwich is made with a light flavored red beet hummus which is made within seconds. I got this really nice inspiration from my friend Niki (www.rebelrecipes.com). You find the original recipe here: Beet Root Hummus. Because I have a garlic allergy I made my own one without garlic. Beet Root is a natural superfood which your body will love. Beets are full of potassium, magnesium, fiber, phosphorus and iron. Beets are also particularly beneficial to women whom are pregnant, as the vitamin B and iron are very beneficial to new growth cells during pregnancy and replenishing iron in the woman’s body.

Grated carrots and Red Cabbage is such a crisp benefit for this Sandwich. It’s the perfect balance between softness, crunchiness and the smoked flavor from the tofu.
I love to prepare the ingredients for this Sandwich in advance and make it IN TIME when I need it. You can store the ingredients up to 3-4 days in the fridge. Perfect for days you don’t have many time to cook. And you can eat the Sandwich whenever you want. It’s the perfect start in the morning as well as a great lunch or dinner.

Bread

The right Bread is really important for a Sandwich. Therefore I use a wheat whole grain bread which is fluffy and healthy as well. Don’t use a Bread which is too strong. Use one which is light and fluffy. One which have less seeds or nuts.

 

Healthy Beetroot Sandwich with smoked Tofu
 
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Author:
Recipe type: sandwich
Ingredients
  • 2 Slices of soft bread (I use wheat whole grain)
  • 4 Slices smoked tofu
  • 2-3 tbsp vegan mayonnaise
  • 1 carrot, grated
  • red cabbage, grated
  • basilicum
  • Red Beet Hummus
  • 2 red beets (I used cooked ones)
  • 4 tbsp walnuts, raosted
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 tbsp tahini
Instructions
  1. Mix up all ingredients to make the red beet hummus. Season with salt and pepper.
  2. Fry the smoked tofu slices over high heat for a few minutes until crispy
  3. Spread one half of the bread with red beet hummus
  4. Add smoked tofu and spread the vegan mayonnaise on top
  5. Final add the grated carrot and red cabbage. Sprinkle with some Basilica leaves if you like
  6. Top with the other half of the bread
  7. Enjoy.
  8. It’s a mess but it really worth it :o).

 

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Dietary Change for a better wellbeing

von

Dietary Change. I feel a lot of uncertainty in our society when I talk about diet. A lot of people don’t be sensible of the danger based of a wrong diet. They need to know how they can optimize their own wellbeing by changing to a healthy diet. My own experience and research confirm my feeling about the industry lie. Most of the people trust the manufacturer and marketing and eat lots of food which are seemingly healthy. They don’t know that most of the food they eat aren’t healthy.

Do you answer one of the following questions with YES?

You want to raise your wellbeing?
You like to get better skin?
You like to have strong nails and shiny hair?
You like to have dense tissue?
You like to sleep the whole night?
You like to reduce indigestion?
Or only feel better, fitter and livelier?

Then you can continue reading.

1. Dietary Change begins in your head!

Dietary Change

No Win without effort

The human is a creature of habit. We are living in our own comfort zone. If we like to change something in our life it isn’t easy. But it is easier when we accept. It is very important to accept the changing to implement something new in your life durable. A new and more healthy diet requires more organization and you need to think about how to find this time in your life.

Think in small steps

Have you ever been tried to inform yourself about a healthy diet? Maybe you feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start. You are not alone. A dietary change need time. It’s a durable process. Be relaxed and don’t set to ambitiously goals. Everybody has another reason to change the diet. What’s yours? When you know what’s your reason you can start with some steps which fits perfect to your Vision.

Be honest with you 

I think the biggest point is to be honest. Sometimes we do not know about the unhealthy food we eat but sometimes we know it and we beautify the facts. It’s totally ok when we eat something which is not healthy but it isn’t ok when you tell yourself it IS HEALTHY. For example: When I eat unhealthy fatty French fries I can tell myself: “These French fries are not that unhealthy because they are made from potatoes!”. But that’s a lie. I tell myself: “I want to eat these unhealthy French fries although I know they are really unhealthy!”. In this case I can enjoy my French Fries but I won’t eat them very often. Haha.

2. Analyze: What / When / Where do you eat?

Be aware

I’m sure you tried to change your diet in the past but you haven’t changed it in that way you really want? Have you asked yourself why you failed? Have you asked yourself what you eat in a day and what’s healthy and what not? First you need to analyze your diet and understand what’s wrong with it. My tip is to make a quick mental calculation what you eat in a day. In this way you find a first point you can change. I’m sure there is something you are satisfied with you don’t need to change. But there are some point you are unsatisfied. Begin with snacks or meals you are really really unsatisfied with and search for a healthy Option.

Understand what you eat

Do you know what you eat? Do you know what is healthy and what not? I’m sure there are a lot of food ingredients you think they are healthy but they aren’t. I made my own experience in that case and recognized that the food industry is more interested in making money than in your health. You need to act in your own responsibility. You will have more success and more fun when you know exactly what you eat. Find time to learn about the food you eat.

Feelings and eating behaviours

We are emotional souls full of different feelings. Our eating behaviours are depending with our feelings we have. If you are nervous and angry you will not think about your diet very well. You will eat uncontrolled and often unhealthy because your diet isn’t important in that moment. When you feel good and happy you will think about more because you like to be kind to yourself. You need to discover yourself and your eating behaviours. First when you know your eating behaviors you can counteract. You can carry some healthy snacks with you during your busy work to have something healthy on hand when you need something and when you are stressed. Otherwise you will pick up the best food you find and that isn’t really healthy most of the times. And there are so many healthy Food idea out there. For example Jessie’s Roasted Blueberry Ice Cream & Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookie Sandwiches.

3. Dietary Change Step-by-Step

Avoid radical Dietary Change

I’m often full of enthusiasm when I’m confident of something new. I put all my time in my new project and recognized I worked too hard very often. I learned to avoid stress and think first before approach new projects. Please don’t be too enthusiastic – even less when the project is Dietary Change. Growing on your own experiences and foil is much more effective than act before thinking.

Match your diet to your life

Think about your Dietary Change. Be honest to yourself and asked yourself if your plans are really realistic. You need meals and food which you can integrate in your daily life. For example: You like to bake your bread by yourself in the future. But is that possible? Are you able to bake it 3 times a week? For me it wasn’t. So my solution was to find a trustful store who sell healthy bread. Instead of baking my own bread I spend lots of time in my kitchen in the morning to prepare my breakfast variations. This point is more important for me. As you can see you can’t do ALL THESE amazing things in the kitchen when you have another real life. You need to set priorities.

Start with ONE change ONLY

Sense of achievements are the base for a permanent motivation. And you need motivation to learn all that stuff to live more healthy. When I think about my last years I learned a lot and I’m still learning what is good for me and what not. Dietary change is a process and you need to learn it slow and step by step to integrate new food and meals in your day. Best decision is to start with only one thing you like to change. And then change and listen to your body if you feel good or not. Some food which is really healthy mustn’t be healthy for you. I can’t eat lots of raw vegetables for example. I prefer to cook them or make a smoothie. Some other people feel really good by eating raw vegetables. Find your own way!

Here are some idea to start with:

Müsli

Replace your muesli with a healthy muesli. Look at the Package label to make sure there are no unhealthy additives in it. And avoid sugar in your muesli. Best is to make your own version. Use seed, nuts, oats and fresh fruits and top with milk. You can use dates as a sweetener. You can also buy good quality musli in an organic store but it’s much more expensive than a self-made version.

Bread

Dietary Change

Do you love bread? Make sure you use full-value bread and no bread made from superfine flour. The difference is the health value of the bread you eat. You will get full for longer when you use full-value bread. You make sure you don’t get hungry to fast because in this case the risk is higher to eat uncontrolled and unhealthy.

Meat

A great way to implement more healthy food in your diet is to reduce meat and sausage. It isn’t necessary to avoid is completely if you don’t like to avoid it. But try to reduce and replace. You can eat some organic cheese or a vegan / vegetarian spread instead. In my optinion the best waay is to live without meat and sausages because I made my own experience with the changing. Since I don’t eat animals I implement much more fruits, vegetables and legumes in my diet and I feel much more better. If you need to know more about the benefits of a plant-based diet read this book: China Studys

Milk

Who reads my Blog Post about dairy milk vs nut milk? After my change I feel much more better. I feel more in order and I don’t feel bad in my stomach. I’m not lactose-intolerant but I feel dairy products aren’t really good for my body. This is one more opportunity to eat / drink more healthy. If you buy nutmilk take care of the ingredients because they are often additives inside which are not healthy. I make my own or buy it in an organic store. You can create so many special Drinks with nut milk. Like this Black Sesame Latte from Sophie.

Eat not to late

Another idea is to eat not too late. The human has some habits and they can be change if you want to change it. It isn’t really a problem to change habits. You only need to be patient. I learned to eat not too late to help my body to process during the night. It also encourage your metabolism.

Don’t wait! Start now with your Dietary Change!

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Fast Naan for everybody

von

When I ate Naan the first time I can’t believe the bread is made within minutes. You only have to let the dough rise and then bake the Naan simply in a pan for minutes. It’s one of the delicious things I ever ate. Sure, in this version it is not the healthiest food I eat but I don’t want to change anything. I have some meals I know they aren’t the healthiest in the world but I don’t want to miss them in my life. I try to bake this Naan in the oven first but I don’t get the right result I get in a pan after frying it in butter. Yes, it’s not vegan, it’s vegetarian.

Vegetarian or Vegan

If you want to make a vegan version it’s really simple as well. You only need to replace the honey in syrup, the butter in coconut oil and the yoghurt in soy yoghurt. I prefer the vegetarian version because I really love love butter so so much. I often replace butter but in some meals or for this bread I really need the unique butter flavor. You can enjoy this Naan with some Dips, serve it with a chickpea stew or eat it as a garnish to a salad. We enjoyed it to Harissa Eggs. OMG! Soooo good. I promise you! Best combination ever!

I’m already working on my next Blog Post about dietary change because I made my own experience in the last years I like to share with you. I hear about dietary change very often. Lot of people try to change their diet in a suffer way. They want to much in a short time. But dietary change is hard work, learning and listen to your body really carefully. You can learn more in my next Blog Post. Can’t wait!

This bread remember me on this Post because it isn’t completely healthy but I’m sure it isn’t that bad for me because 90% of my diet is really really healthy. Life is enjoyment and this bread is a part of mine.

So let’s see what’s inside and how to prepare this unbelievable warm fried Naan Bread:

Naan (1)

Fast Naan for everybody

Ingredients

480g spelt flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp honey
60ml water
1/2 tsp dried yeast
120ml Yoghurt
90ml Almond Milk
Butter for Frying

Preparation

  1. Combine yeast in warm water and stir around until the yeast is dissolved.
  2. Add flour, salt, baking powder and honey to a large bowl.
  3. Add almond milk and yoghurt to the yeast water.
  4. Use your hands to mix a soft ball.
  5. Cover the bowl with a towel and let sit on a warm place for about 1 hour.
  6. Form 8 Balls from the dough.
  7. Roll each ball into an oval shape.
  8. Warm a pan over medium heat and give in a piece of butter.
  9. Brush the oval Naan with Butter and fry 1-2 minutes each side.

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Make the perfect Smoothie more filling

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Doesn’t sound that good? Perfect Smoothie?

Self-made smoothies are a perfect breakfast for everyone who like to give yourself a treat.
A lot of people asked me a lot of questions about my smoothies. I was really surprised about the big interested in how I make my breakfast smoothies. So I am really happy to share my experiences with you.

Banana Strawberry Milkshake

The Top-Smoothie Questions from you:

  1. Do you get really replete by drinking a smoothie?
  2. What are the best ingredients for a perfect smoothie?
  3. What fruits are the best for making a smoothie?
  4. Can I really add vegetables or greens in my smoothie?
  5. What do you use to get a creamy smoothie?

1. Do you get really replete by drinking a smoothie?

Most of the people are really thinking drinking a smoothie can’t make you replete until lunch time. Sure, it depends on what you are use in sour smoothie. If you are only use water, a salad leaf and an apple you will never get replete until lunch time (about 4-5 hours). But if you add nuts, seeds, chia seeds or coconut milk you will get full for sure. I don’t calculate my smoothie on calories, I normally eat until my stomach said stop. But a friend of my calculate one smoothie from me and came to 500-600 calories per jar. So in this case I drink one big smoothie in the morning and eat normal lunch 4-5 hours later.

2. What are the best ingredients for a perfect smoothie?

If you like to keep you full for longer you need to add nuts or seeds to your smoothie as well. I prefer soaked cashew nuts because they have a light nutty taste. Oats or soaked buckwheat are also a great smoothie ingredient. Soaking the nuts, seeds, grains or buckwheat overnight makes them more digestible. If you like only to provide your body with amazing healthy vitamins and minerals you can also drink a “light” perfect smoothie (only water and some fruits or greens) here and there. My preference is to use a smoothie as a breakfast so my smoothies are really substantial. I try to bring a big variety in my smoothies during the week. Sometimes I only make fruit smoothies, sometimes I mix up some kale or spinach with a banana and mix it up. Most of the people who saw my Kale smoothie talking about it: “Kale in a smoothie? That couldn’t be delicious!” Trust me! It is. Because I don’t mix up ONLY KALE. It is the combination of kale, natural sweetener like dates, some fruits and milk. Why not use greens in a smoothie to get a big burst of vitamins and minerals to start in the day?

3. What fruits are the best for making a smoothie?

The biggest tip I read in the last years was to freeze bananas. Because it is so hard to have perfect ripe banana at home all the time. I freeze them peeled in cubes when they are on the best point. Pick them up directly from the freezer is such a benefit because the smoothies get cold after mixing. I also freeze kale to have it during all seasons at home. So bananas are really really the best fruit for a smoothie. I often mix up banana with other fruits. Banana makes a smoothie also more creamy as an apple. I also often use frozen berries which I combine with ingredients to make a smoothie creamy.

4. Can I really add vegetables or greens in my smoothie?

To use a smoothie to eat more vegetables during the day is such a great idea! I need to learn who to add greens and vegetables to get a smoothie I really like to drink. Because drinking a smoothie which taste like a zucchini is not my favorite. My perfect smoothie need to be sweet. So my trick is only to add some leafs or a piece of zucchini. You don’t taste it but you get all the healthy benefits. It works really good! Greens are the best source of secondary plant substances and chlorophyll which are so healthy for your body.

5. What do you use to get a creamy smoothie?

First of all: Don’t use to much liquid. Whatever you use! Don’t use to much! There are a few tricks to get a creamy perfect smoothie. First one is to soak nuts, seeds, grains or buckwheat overnight. Second is to use ripe bananas and third is to use nut milk instead of water. Fourthly is to add avocado because avocado is one of the creamiest fruit on the planet. And my last tip is to use a good blender to mix it up. I started with a good blender but since I have my Vitamix my smoothies are on the top of creaminess.

I hope my smoothie tips will help you to prepare your perfect smoothie my friends!

Here you find some of my favorite smoothie recipes:

Perfect Smoothie

Blueberry Amaranth Smoothie

Creamy Kale Detox Smoothie nab Perfect Smoothie

Creamy Kale Detox Smoothie

Kurkuma Cashew Smoothie NEU Perfect Smoothie

Turmeric Cashew Smoothie with Lemon

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The Breakfast Basis: Cashew Cream

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I prepare my breakfast in the evening to have less stress in the morning very often. A light Cashew Cream is the base of my favorite breakfast variations. This cream is season independent. You can enjoy it in the summer months with cold fruits or in the winter months with baked banana or hot berry sauce. Whatever you want. The possibilities are amazing! You can store this cream up to 3 days in the fridge in a closed container.

For my it is always really special to discover new diet ideas like this Cashew Cream. You only can discover new ones when you release old habits. Sometimes it is really difficult to release them but it worth it. Trust me. Change is often a possibility to grow in your own way.

Healthy Nuts

Nut are a big component in my daily diet since years. Nuts have such a high nutrient content on a small size. You get lots of vitamins and minerals when you enjoy such a small amount of nuts a day. They are also really filling and a perfect ingredient to make you full for longer. This is really important for me because I’m a 4-times eater and don’t eat between breakfast and lunch. Cashewnuts are used very often in my kitchen. Not only for breakfasts. They are perfect for soups as well or smoothies because you get such an amazing creaminess by adding them. My absolutely favorite smoothie with Cashewnuts is this one: http://nutsandblueberries.com/turmeric-cashew-smoothie-with-lemon/

The fat rate of 40% in Cashewnuts is low by comparison with other nuts like Walnuts (60%). They also contains healthy high valuable protein, vitamin B and folate.

Fresh Fruits

I love to add cherries in my Cashew Cream. I’m so happy cherry season began here in Germany. They are perfect when they are really cold and fresh so take care to use them within a few days. To avoid an attack from bacteria keep the stalk. It protect the cherry.

Favorite Topping

One more high recommendation is use almond butter as a topping. Have you ever made your own one? It’s so easy and bring you to another level of enjoyment. Trust me! I eat it nearly every day. I use almond butter as topping on smoothies, smoothie bowls or simply eat it together with apple slices. I added the recipe as well if you like to try it out. Give it a try. Please!! You won’t be sorry about it. I make mine with ground vanilla and nothing more. You don’t need to add other sweetener because the almonds are sweet itself.

Cashew Cream (3)

Recipe
The Breakfast Basis: Cashew Cream

Serve 1

50g cashew nuts, soaked overnight
30g buckwheat, soaked overnight
2 dates
1 tsp ground vanilla
pinch of nut milk (I use my self-made walnut milk)

My favorite Topping
handful of fresh cherries
Almond Butter (Recipe below)

Instructions

  1. Rinse the cashew nuts in the morning
  2. Mix them together with the dates, the vanilla and a pinch of nut milk
  3. You can mix it completely or not if you prefer a crunchy structure

Cashew Cream (1)

Recipe
Vanilla Almond Butter

Serve 1 Jar

500g raw almonds
2 tsp ground vanilla

Instructions

  1. Add the almonds and vanilla in a high speed blender
  2. Mix it until you get a creamy nut butter
  3. The time dependds on how strong your blender is (I need 7-10 minutes with my Vitamix)

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Nutmilk vs Dairy Milk

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Nutmilk vs Dairy Milk – which one is more healthy?

A lot of people asked my why I stopped drinking dairy milk and started drinking nut milk instead. The most of the people who drinks dairy milk don’t know what it really means. Like me! I never know about the immoral aspects of drinking milk. Dairy milk was a big part of my diet. Since I change my consumption I feel so much better. Nobody need dairy milk in my opinion.

The first reason to stop drinking dairy milk was the animal abuse. I don’t like to support any animal abuse with drinking milk. Sure I never hurt a cow by myself by drinking milk but it feels like I hurt it by myself. I really felt bad after reading lots of animal reports about the housing conditions of conventional milk cows. I never know it! Did you know the calves are moved within a few hours after birth? Because we like to drink dairy milk?

The health facts of dairy milk are not that high as many people thinking. Did you know that many scientific studies have shown an assortment of detrimental health effects directly linked to milk consumption? The story about the health benefits has spread around the world based on the flawed belief that this calcium-rich drink is essential to support good overall health and bone health. But that isn’t true. I am sure you will find the same answers if you are starts to read more about the true health benefits of dairy milk. The industry are ruthless! They earn money because people like me don’t know about the truth.

Cows are intelligent and brisk animals. They suffer when they need to produce too much milk. They need to milk 50 Liters a day instead of the normal 8 Liter. You don’t need to be clever to recognize the animal abuse. Apart from this my heart is broken by recognizing the calves suffer. The calves are moved within a few hours after birth. That’s a shame. I feel co-responsible by drinking milk.

Nutmilk ist better. I experienced about the negative health aspects of drinking dairy milk. Here are some Facts:

• A lot of scientific studies have shown an assortment of detrimental health effects directly linked to dairy milk consumption
• Today’s milk is a processed food and not a natural product
• A lot of the vitamins get lost by pasteurizing the milk
• Antibiotics are used on many farms to treat infections. This Antibiotics remains in the dairy milk. Our body don’t need antibiotics.
• Dairy milk is often contaminated with lots of heavy metals and Dioxin.

Sure dairy milk also have some positive benefits. But a lot of negative ones. So why should we drink milk?
Only because it’s tasty? That’s reason is not enough for me so I decided to use Nut Milk.

Here are one of my favorite recipes:

Sweet Walnut Milk

Nutmilk

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How to make sweet walnutmilk

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Walnutmilk – Ultra-Delicious-Tasty-Super-Amazing-Stunning-New-Basic-Food-Without-I-Would-Die!
I am SO happy to have this milk in my recipes.
And I am sure others will call me crazy because I am so happy about a NUTMILK! But I feel super alive when I discover new food, recipes or ingredients.
I am also sure some of you totally understand me ;o). Foodimaniaaaaa!

At the moment I make a research about dairy milk because I get ask why I stopped drinking dairy milk very often. I will write a blog post about my opinion to share my feeling and findings. In the meantime I share this easy and healthy walnutmilk recipe with you which I prepare 3 times a week to use it in muesli or smoothies. In the beginning of drinking nut milk I started with a classic almond milk. Because it taste so good I don’t want to try out another and miss my almond milk. The end result was almond milk for months. I don’t see walnutmilk very often and I asked myself if it would taste really good because of the light strong walnut flavor. Now I am so happy I created this easy version because I can’t stop drinking in.
Maybe it’s my next milk for the next months :o).

Walnutmilk

Sometimes I felt too lazy to prepare my own milk and I bought it. During this time I cook not that much and I’m sitting in my blue chair most of the time to read my fantasy and science-fiction books (yeahhhhh… I am a totally Avatar, Lord of Rings, Tributes of Panem and Game of Thrones!). My cats are with me in these lazy times. I love them. This time and my cats!

In this time I heard about the unhealthy effect of nut milk, the people told me “Why are you drinking nut milk? It’s unhealthy! I read an article in the press about it!” No guys it isn’t, you only need to take care which QUALITY you buy. Please please don’t trust any publications without make a little research. The press can make us so stupid. I learned that they are many differences in the bought quality. You can get healthy nut milk in organic stores. These ones I found in normal supermarkets are full of unhealthy ingredients. Have a look on the ingredients bevor you buy nut milk. Much more better is to make it by yourself. But I know sometimes we don’t have time or we are too lazy to make it.

You can store home-made milk up to 3 days in the fridge and it is so delicious and you can sweeten it however you want. I prefer my milk sweet and add some dates. It is up to you how sweet you like it.

Walnuts are one of the healthiest food. They contains more than 2/3 healthy polyunsaturated fatty acids which are very very good for your body.

You need round about 10-15 minutes to prepare your milk and nothing more than walnuts, water, dates and a laundry bad. You can also use a special nut bag. They are a bit more expensive. I never used a nut bag, I stared with a laundry bag and never changed it because it works very well.

Recipe Sweet Walnutmilk

For 0,75 Liter

250g Walnuts
1 Liter Water
4 Dates

Walnutmilk

Preparation

  1. Soak the walnuts overnight in 1 Liter fresh water.
  2. Rinse them in the morning.
  3. Mix them together with 1 Liter fresh water and dates.
  4. Strain the milk carefully through a nut or laundry bag and use a big bowl to collect the milk.

Walnutmilk

Walnutmilk

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