Sun, Scenery and Horses

Today the weather took a turn for the better; the cold and icy winds actually gave it a rest for the day. The sun made it feel like a spring day in April! Of course my mom and I had to make the most of it so we trailed out horses to and old carriage road that goes from Ogna to Hellvik (location south west coast of Norway) During the old days the road was actually used mostly by people traveling by horse, either riding or in a carriage. Today people use the road mainly for hiking, running and bike riding, but we like to keep old traditions alive. The boys, meaning the horses, were eager and ready to get moving and enjoyed the ride just as much as mom and I did :) Fun day!  

Other horses roam around in the area we ride through.

 

 

Mom and the boys! Prins in front and her Icelandic horse Ketill.

 

 

Norway at its best :)

 

 

My view while taking up the rear.

From the Garden with Love

Hey guys! Today I’m going to share with you how to make my amazing tasty and healthy vegetarian pizza. For most people I know that pizza and meat go hand in hand, kind of like ying and yang, ebony and ivory… So I'm sure some of you might be skeptical of trying a pizza without meat, but give it a chance and I’m sure you’ll enjoy it :) And you’ll feel good after eating it, especially if you don’t go overboard with the cheese! If you absolutely want meat with the pizza I can recommend garlic and herb marinated chicken strips or something down that alley.  

Ingredients:

For the pizza sauce

-          1 onion
-          2 garlic gloves
-          400 g (14 oz.) finely chopped tomatoes (I use canned tomatoes from Heinz )
-          180 g (6 oz.) tomato pure
-           Fresh basil and oregano (dried spices will do if you can’t get them fresh)
-          Balsamic vinegar (optional)

For the pizza crust

-          2,5 dl (1 ½ cups) spelt flour
-          1 dl (1/2 cup) whole spelt flour
-          ½ dl (1/4 cup) almond flour
-          ½ dl (¼ cup) buckwheat flour
-          ½ dl (1/4 cup) coconut flour
-          2 tbsp. hemp powder
-          2 dl (3.3 fl. oz.) water
-          1 egg
-          Olive oil
-          Salt (I use Himalaya salt or unrefined seasalt)

For the topping

-           ½ red and ½ green paprika
-          Pineapple
-          Champignon or other mushrooms of your choosing
-          Black kalamatra olives whole or chopped
-          ¼ Zucchini (thinly sliced)
-          ¼ cup soy protein
-          1 Tomato
-          1 Spring onion
-          Cheese (mozarella and parmesan blend tastes great)

Now don’t get scared off by the long list of ingredients. You don’t necessarily have to use all of them. If you want to leave something out that’s not to you liking, go right ahead. Do be sure though that it all adds up to the same amount if you are leaving out some ingredients to make the dough. Say if you want to leave out buckwheat and hemp powder just add the same amount in spelt flour instead.

Okay, so you want to start with the sauce since that should simmer for at least 45 minutes to an hour. Dice you onion and sauté it in oil on medium heat for 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and stir for another minute or so. Then you add the can of chopped tomatoes and let it simmer for 20 minutes. Now that you have cooked out some of the excess liquid in the sauce you add the tomato pure and the freshly chopped basil and oregano. Let simmer for at least 20 minutes and add a tbsp. balsamic vinegar if you wish. I think it gives the sauce more taste!

While your sauce is working it’s own you have lots of time to prep you vegetables and make your dough ready. Just slice or chop the veggies however you feel like. I like them sliced, but whatever works for you is good :) If you are using soy protein be sure to leave them soaking in water for at least 2 hours, depending on the size, before use.

Before making the dough preheat you oven to 200 C or 390 F. When you make the dough you want to mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix the water, the egg and oil before blending with the dry ingredients and just work it till it’s the right consistency. It shouldn’t be sticky but don’t make it to dry and flakey either. There should be enough dough for 2 small or one large pizza.

When you have got you’re dough rolled out I recommend popping it in the oven for a few minutes just to bake it a bit before putting the sauce and topping on. It makes it more crispy!

That done, spread the sauce on your crust. Put your choice of topping on. If you’re using zucchini I recommend putting it on the bottom so it soaks up the flavor from the sauce. Finish it off with the cheese, sliced tomato and spring onions on top and let the pizza bake in the oven till the cheese is nice and golden J    

Congrats, you have just made a yummy AND nutritious, healthy pizza! Well done :)

Enjoy!

 

I serve my pizza with a beautiful, green fresh spinach salad…

Raw Homemade Chocolate

Let me be honest with you! If you have never made your own chocolate before, you’re missing out on something too good to miss out on. And it’s a lot easier than you may think. Let me break it down for you nice and simple.

You need:


-          Cacao mass (the brown stuff) 100 g (3.5 oz.)
-          Cacao butter (The white stuff) 50 g (1.8 oz.)
-          Natural sweetener (Whatever you feel like but NO SUGAR or any kinds of artificial sweeteners please! You can use yacon syrup, agave nectar, raw honey, molasses, date syrup, stevia…
-          1 tsp. raw vanilla powder
-          Decoration/topping if you wish
-          Something to let the chocolate stiffen in

Step 1: Mix the cacao mass with the cacao butter in a bowl and place the bowl in hot water to make the cacao melt slowly. Make sure the water isn’t too hot since we want to keep our chocolate raw to preserve all the nutrition. When the cacao has melted add the vanilla powder and stir it in, that done continue with the sweetener.

Step 2: I’m letting you decide yourself how sweet you want to make it. But please don’t put too much in at once. A little at a time so you don’t end up making the chocolate way to sweet! Yeah, right! Like that could happen... trust me it can ;)

Step 3: To make the chocolate even more nutritious I like to stir in some shelled hemp seed or crushed flaxseeds. But this is optional.

Step 4: I always put my chocolate in silicone forms before decorating. For topping or decoration you can be as creative as you feel like, but stick to something healthy. I love dried tart cherries on my chocolate! Cranberries, gojiberries and raisins work nicely, chopped nuts perhaps… walnuts and hazelnuts are great in chocolate. Or you could do a combo with berries and nuts. As I said be creative and experiment with different spices, nuts and berries, even adding some chili powder to spice you chocolate up is surprisingly good! Find out what trips you trigger :) 
  
Step 5: When you are finished decorating your chocolates pop them in the fridge and wait about half an hour to an hour, depending on their size. I use silicone forms because the chocolate doesn’t stick and they are easy to clean.
Congratulations on making your own delicious chocolate! Now you’ll never have to buy the sugar loaded stuff again ;)


Step 6 ;) Enjoy your well deserved treat with good conscience! 

   

Kakaosmør = Cacao butter

Melting process

Here I believe I have sprinkled both cacao nibs and chia seeds on the chocolates. Goji's next!

Look good? You bet they are! Bon appetit :)

Berry Power

For today's lunch I created a 7 berry smoothie blend. It was delicious!

Makes about 2 tall glasses as the one in the picture.

I used about a handful of frozen strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and aroniaberries (also called chokeberries, but to my ears that name makes them sound poisonous ,so I stick with aronia) The goji berries I like to soften in a little water before adding them to the smoothie. Add a small banana and 2 tsp. acaiberry powder. Now you have already created an antioxidant bomb! But you're not done yet:) 

For the liquid I used rice milk with coconut flavor this time and I also added some coconut yoghurt. Be sure to get the quality stuff without a lot of preservatives and sugar! Don’t throw away the water the goji’s have been soaking in, use it as part of the liquid. As always though, be careful not to use too much liquid or you smoothie may turn into soup. Don't want that!

I always like to give my smoothies the little extra so this time I blended in some chia seeds and crushed linseeds/flaxseeds for healthy fats.  

Get you blender moving and when you have achieved the right consistency pour into a glass and decorate it if you wish. Today I decorated with some tart cherry syrup from Pure Planet as my 7^th berry, sprinkled some cacao nibs from Navita Naturals and for the finishing touch some  healthy oil from Aman Prana called Happy Delight.

Lots of Love, Enjoy!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

On the South-West coast of Norway the cozy, let it snow, let it snow, snuggle by the fireplace winters usually don’t come our way that often. So when one does come along, either it lasts for a couple days or weeks, we try to make the most of it :)

First time I can remember the salty sea water starting to freeze!

Itza is wondering what all this white stuff on the beach is??

The water from the waves has frozen in layers over the sand!

My Lovely Animals

Bjørngaardsprinsen or Prins as he is called is my 12 year old Nordlandshest/Lyngshest (Norwegian North country horse) gelding. He’s a gentleman with a big G and always does his best to please his rider. I use Prins mostly for trail riding. We enjoy long rides on the beach, in the woods, mountains, or wherever we feel like. Not a big horse but strong and sure footed, he has an iron will and need for speed. This boy does not give up easily which makes him a great companion for me since I enjoy a challenge! Prins has been mine since 2006, and we have had so much fun together. He's like an exclusive wine, keeps getting better ;)

Sand dunes at Brusand

Not difficult to understand why his name is Prins :)

My other horse Hølestøls Enja, or just Enja, is a three year old mare. The is the same breed as Prins. She loves people and follows me around like a big dog. I bought her as a yearling and plan to start riding her this summer. Her personality is outgoing and playful and she's pretty confident for such a young horse. I believe she'll do good given some time to mature and learn. She is absolutely gorgeous with her special silver-black color.

Baby Enja

 

Enja how she looks now

Itza is my beautiful Chihuahua! She’s hands down the most gorgeous Chihuahua on the face of the earth, I think :) She’s four years old and about 3 kg (5.5 lbs.) Not a small Chihuahua but cute as can be. She loves going for long walks, and believe me I have trouble tiring her out, she can go for hours. Her favorite spot is on her lamb’s wool pillow or on my lap. She loves watching me cook and keeps me company in the kitchen, hoping I’ll drop something probably:) Dislikes: clothes, being carried in a dog carrier, not getting her treat and being disturbed while she's tired or sleeping. Loves: being on patrole outside, digging, hiding bones, playing, getting dirty and conversing with other dogs from a distance.  She has a lot of personality, and despite her tiny size she's not easily intimidated!          

Itza puppy, sooo cute :)

Itza now all grow up, but still cute :)

   

Sunday Breakfast

I usually start the day of with a lazy breakfast on Sundays. Today I made a smoothie and a bowl of oatmeal topped with fresh fruit and berries. This breakfast is both tasty and healthy without being a lot of work to make.

I start by making the smoothie and I always use a base of frozen fruit and berries. Today I had a mango, pineapple and papaya blend and I mixed in some frozen raspberries. I also use half a banana (not frozen) which really puts the smooth in the smoothie. For the liquid feel free to use whatever you want, but know that citrus juices like orange juice contain a lot of acid and can be hard on the stomach in the morning. Personally I like using apple juice. Vanilla or coconut flavored rice milk is also a great choice. Don’t use too much liquid at once, less is more in this case so be careful to not overdue it! Now I’m into super food so I can’t leave out that part, but it’s optional! In this smoothie I added a handful of goji berries and 1 tsp. of: activated barley, acai powder, maca powder, hemp powder and raw cacao powder. Don’t worry, your smoothie will be great without, I just like to ad it for extra nutrition. Get you blender crackin’ and your smoothie will be ready in no time! Pour your smoothie in a tall glass and decorate with whatever you got. I put some plain Greek yoghurt, aman prana happy delight oil and chia seeds on mine!

For the oatmeal I like to use gluten free oats. I’m not allergic or anything but I do believe gluten is something we should be careful about eating too much of because of the possibility of developing allergies. I also use either rice milk, soy milk or almond milk mixed with water. You could use regular milk if you prefer. I never use measurements when I make oatmeal, but a good rule is to put as much liquid in that it just covers the oats. Make it as thick and gooey or as “liquidy” as you prefer. When it’s cooked to the consistency you like just pour it in a bowl. And then for the best part, the topping. I love fresh fruit and berries on my oatmeal; you can use whatever you have got handy actually. Today I had grapes, strawberries and the left over half of the banana from the smoothie making. I used organic honey from  Forever Living as sweetener.

If you're wondering what the green stuff in the glass is, it's green tea from http://www.hggreentea.com/  

If you are interested in purchasing any super foods www.iherb.com is a great place to find what you are looking for.      

Enjoy :)   

             

A short introduction

Hello, and welcome to my blog Nothing but Everything! Now keeping my blogs to one subject will be like trying to pin a wave upon the shore… or catching a cloud in your hand. So the one thing I can promise you is versatile blogging! If you read my description of myself you’ll get a better idea of what I’m about. As you may have seen in my interests I like cooking! But like doesn’t sum it up; I love cooking clean and healthy meals that will give me and my family lots of energy, vitamins and all the good stuff we need to stay active all day. I have studied nutrition and I read anything I can come across that may benefit to my health. Super foods, raw food, vegetarian and organic, it’s all very interesting to me. I also love nature so if I’m not in the kitchen cooking up a storm I’ll probably be outside enjoying some fresh air! Being outside walking the dogs by the ocean or riding my horse wherever I want is such great therapy for a mind working overtime. It’s something I really enjoy in life; just being alone outside, surrounded by beautiful nature and listening to what mother earth has to tell me. I do work out a lot as well, as often as I can actually, so if I’m not in the kitchen or outside having a conversation with a tree (haha), it’s most likely I’ll be at the local gym, sweating like a racehorse. I’m into almost everything from kickboxing to Yoga and I took dance lessons in Jazz, Contemporary and Ballet for 3 years. I’ll be starting on a skincare education in August this years and hope to become a certified skin therapist/massage therapist by May/June 2013. I like anything that’s “real”, either its food, people, clothing… Quality before quantity is the key! Hope you will enjoy reading my blogs, I’ll try to make them both interesting and educational, nice pictures included as often as possible!