Monday, April 29, 2013

I'm back!


No blogging the last few days because I've been so busy with school and work. Last wednesday we went on an excursion with my science class to a place by the coast. We went there to look at different species of fish, birds, sea creatures, flower and many others. It was a great trip even though it rained 90 % of the time.










I signed up to be a buzzador, so today I got a package from them with stuff from veet. I haven't used much from veet before so it will be nice to try it out.I got two different hair removal creams and one body lotion that is supposed to minimize hair groth. I'll let you know how it works :) Have you ever tried anything from veet?










Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Put down the glass!

Someone ones said:
"Let’s estimate that the weight of this glass of water is one pound?
The actual weight of the glass of water isn’t that important.
What is important in this example is how long you can hold it.
Holding it for a minute is not a problem.
Holding it for an hour – now that could cause your arm to ache.
But, trying to hold it for a day, would be nearly impossible
and damaging to your arm, wrist and hand.
In holding a glass of water for a minute, hour or day …
the weight of the glass will never change,
but as time passes, the longer you hold it, the heavier it will become.”

He continued: " our stress and worries are like the glass. Think about the things for a short period of time and they won't mean anything. Think about them a bit longer and they will start to hurt. And if you think about them all day, you will feel paralized and not capable of changing a thing"

Remember to put down the glass!


 

I need to learn how to put down the glass ... that is one thing I'm really not good at!









Monday, April 22, 2013

World's best brownie, with sugar, butter and all the calories! :D

This weekend was spent both in Oslo at a wedding (had a great time, loved it!) and at home at my parents house. Since my mother's birthday is coming up we invited some family over for coffee and cake. I baked a brownie, and this is the best brownie I know, it is sooo good. Of course this is not something you eat every day, it is full of  sugar and butter, but I promise you if you want a sweet treat for a birthday or a special occation this is the brownie for you! This recipe does not contain chocolate only cocoa powder, but it is still so fudgey and just the way you want a brownie to feel and taste.

I did not take a picture this time so i borrowed one from http://meganbagley.blogspot.no/ it looks similar to this one only a bit higher, yummy!

Brownies with sugar and butter and all
250 grams regular salted butter
5 eggs
625 grams white sugar
8 (heaping) table spoons cocoa powder
2 tea spoons vanilla sugar
4,3 dl wheat flour

Melt the butter and let it cool. Mix eggs and sugar lightly until combined. Add cocoa powder and vanilla sugar. Add the cooled butter and the flour, mix until everything is combined. Use a 24 cm round baking spring form or a brownie form. Bake at 170 C for 30 - 40 minutes. Check it often and make sure you don't bake it all the way through, the middle should not set in order for it to be fudgey, it is better to underbake it than to overbake it. 

Eat it warm with ice cream or cool in the fridge. I think it is better the next day when it has cooled in the fridge over night. 






Saturday, April 20, 2013

Another iherb package in the mail

Yesterday I got the other package I ordered from iherb. This is what I bought:

Crystal deodorant without Aluminium Chlorohydrat, I'm looking forward to try this one out, it has no smell and  leaves no white marks on clothes.









 

Cococare 100% cocoa butter, great for dry hands and lips.



Madre Bees, this one was free, contains good stuff so I'll try it out.









 
Slender sticks with acai lemonade flavour, a great refreshing drink with few calories and vitamins and minerals, will buy again!













Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula, this one made my skin so soft and great looking. A plesent smell too!












Fifty50 Sugar free grape spread, this has to be one of the worst things I've ever tasted, do not buy ever!











Remember that ou get $10 off your first purchase on iherb if you use the code rir958 .

A sunny weekend ahead! It has been raining non stop these past days can't wait to enjoy a few sunny days! :D



 

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Fast pizza



I wanted pizza, but didn't want to wait for a dough to rise, so I made a fast pizza using Norwegian lomper (you can also usa tortillas) topped with tomato purée, ham, light cheese and some oregano. Fast and tasty! 

Today I went to school only to fin out that the class was cancelled, again ... It has happened several times lately. So, since I didn't bring any books I took the bus back home. I tried to make a batch of healthy cupcakes, but they did not turn out good, so I'm not using that recipe again. Maybe I'll try to bake something else later, I love to bake! The brownie from yesterday was a success, so I'll definitly make that one again :)



 

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Dark Chocolate Brownie

I was craving brownie when I got home today, so I thought I'd try to bake one. So rich and delicious! I cooled it for 10 mintures and ate it straight from the pan :)




Brownie for one
10 grams ghirardelli 100% cocoa chocolate (or other chocolate)
30 grams sukrin gold (or other sweetener)
4 drops stevia chocolate
4 drops stevia vanilla creme 
50 grams low fat vanilla quark
15 grams cocoa powder
1 eggwhite
10 grams milk

Melt the chocolate in the microwave oven. Add the sweetener and then the other ingredients. Use a small spring form pan or other suitable bakeware. Bake at 180 C for 15-20 minutes. Cool in the fridge or eat it warm straight from the oven.
 
Proteins: 17,2
Carbs: 8,7
Fats: 10,3








Falafel breakfast

Yesterday my good friend Betty from Argentina sent me a recipe for falafels. This morning I thought, why not make some falafels for breakfast? The falafels are nutritious and filling, try them! In this recipe you use dried chickpeas so remember to let them sit in water for at least 8-10 hours. Si'nce I figured out I'd make these late last night, I didn't have time to go to the store, so the falafels I made was with out parsley and garlic, but still really tasty!




Falafels
300 grams dried chickpeas
2 tbs chickpea flour
1 big onion
Two cloves of garlic
Parlse
Salt and black pepper (I also added some cumin)

Put the chickpeas in water and leave them there over night or for 8-10 hours. Cut the onion intro smaller pieces and add all the ingredients to a blender or use a stick blender and blend it until smooth. Set in the fridge for 30 minutes before you make small balls and fry them in the pan or bake them in the oven until golden brown. Delicious!

 






Monday, April 15, 2013

Mail from iherb!

Today, I go really surprised when I went to get the mail, I'd already gotten the package from iherb.com, that I ordered last week. To be exact I ordered the things on April 10th and they were shipped the same day, only five days, that is faster than ever before. This is what I bought: Reduced fat shredded coconut , Stevia lemon drops , Stevia chocolate rasberry , Girardelli unsweetened 100% cocoa baking chocolate , Walden Farms chocolate dip and 100% cocoa butter stick.

 
I've bought both the chocolate dip and the cocoa butter before. The chocolate I usually mix with low fat vanilla quark and low fat cottage cheese for a healthy snack. The cocoa butter I use on chapped lips and dry spots, it is great and has completely repaired my winter dry hands, a big plus for being cheap!


Of course I had to try out some of the new products right away. I mixed a few drops of the stevia lemon drop in some water and added a bit of fresh lemon, a great fresh tasting drink, this one can be recommended. I had a small piece of the unsweetened 100% cocoa chocolate as well, and I have to say, this one is only for baking, it is way to bitter to be eaten by it self. I wonder how it will work in a healthy brownie? Maybe that will be my next project in the kitchen.

 

As for today's dinner we had a taco salad, so easy, so delicious. Some lettuce, spinache, pear, pineapple, salsa and low fat feta cheese, topped with 200 grams of taco seasoned lean ground beef. It can't be much easier than this!



 

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Yesteray's dinner: beer-braised lamb shanks


Today I decided to make beer-braised lamb shanks for dinner, and I don't regret! It was really good! I've made lamb shanks before, but then I marinated them with a garlic marinade, browned them in a pan and cooked them in the oven for 2,5 hours on 125 C. This time I beer-braised them.

Beer-braised lamb shanks

For two people you need:
flour
butter
2 lamb shanks
2 carrots
1 tennis ball sized piece of celery roost
15 very small onions or 2 big cut into smaller pieces
About 2 dl lamb stock (I used "Jacobs beste")
5 dl Newcastle brown ale (or other brand of brown ale)
Time and ground black pepper
(1 ts honey) 
Broccoli 
  
First I turned the lamb shanks in some flour before I browned them in on high heat in a buttered pan. Pute the shanks in a big casserole. Then brown the carrots and celery root  until they got a nice brown color, add to the casserole. Brown the rinsed onions and add to the casserole. Then I added a package of lamb stock, about 2 dl and 5 dl of Newcastle brown ale. Season with black pepper and time. Let simmer on low heat for about 2,5 hours. Remove the lamb shanks and cover them with some tin foil to keep them warm. Remove the vegetable pieces and cut them into smaller pieces if you want to. Now let the remaining stock boil until it is reduced to half. Add a ts of honey if you want. Add the vegetables. Serve with steamed broccoli. Enjoy!


Earlier in the day I made these peanutcookies from Kristine Weber, yummy!




Friday, April 12, 2013

Oven baked stuffed mushrooms


Here comes a recipe for oven baked stuffed mushrooms, the perfect appetizer orside dish for chicken or steak.

Oven baked stuffed mushrooms for two:

4 medium sized mushrooms
½ large onion or one small
2 small or one big tomato
1 tea spoon tomato purée
4 cm leek
½  bouillon cube in either beef or vegetable flavour and 1 dl water
Spices
Cheese

Remove the mushroom stem and put the mushroom with hollow side up in a slightly buttered heatproof dish. Cut the onion, tomatoes and leek into small pieces and fry them in the pan until soft. Add tomato purée, black pepper, chili and bouillon. Let it boil for a few minutes until most of the water has evaporated. Fill the mushrooms and add a spinkel of cheese on top. Cook in the oven for about 15 minutes at 200 C.


Today I'm going to a friends house for dinner, she is serving burritos. I don't think I've ever had that before, but it is always fun to try out something new


 




Thursday, April 11, 2013

Lemonade ice tea



One drink from the US I really enjoy is lemonade and sweet tea, real southern sweet tea. And as I was craving some this morning I tried to make a healtier version as the regular one contains tons of sugar. I substituted the sugar with the natural sweetener stevia, I also find the dark stevia drops to give the drink a bit of a syrup taste which makes it even better. I'll try to find an even better tea for it, but the mix I used today worked pretty good. Fresh lemons give you the best tasting ice tea for sure. If you don't have stevia or prefer to use an other sweetener this will probably work as well, just make sure you add any solid sweetener in the warm tea. Add a bit more water if you want a less concentrated flavour.

So here it goes:

Tea
1 liter boiling water
3 bags of tea
32 drops of stevia sweetener (or to your taste)

Brew the tea and let it cool in the fridge. 

Lemonade
2 dl lemon juice, preferably fresh (takes about 4 lemons)
1 liter cold water
32 drops of stevia sweetener (or to your taste)

When chilled, mix the two half and half and serve with ice cubes, enjoy! (I added a bit extra sweetener in the glass when I served it)


SweetLeaf Stevia Concentrate concentrate from iHerb.com is one of my favorite sweeteners and it is natural. I think it has less of a bitter after taste than a lot of other stevia brands. Use the code RIR958 for an extra $10 on your first purchase :)