coconut vanilla cupcakes & gingerbread crib!

It was my Grandpa's 85th birthday this weekend so I decided to bring homemade coconut vanilla cupcakes to the big event! The recipe is adapted from the best vanilla cupcakes. Once you've found the perfect cupcake recipe there is no need to try any new ones, especially when it's so incredibly versatile. I simply exchanged the soy milk for coconut milk and put a raffaelo in the middle of each cupcake, before they went into the oven. And who doesn't love Raffaelos with their crunchy almond and cream in the middle? Topped with coconut mascarpone and then they started their journey to Styria. The cupcakes were a huge hit at the party, even after 4 courses people kept eating them, so I really take that as the biggest compliment. Massive amounts of food and Schilcher Sturm were consumed, I'll maybe post pics later! Hmmm... family events are awesome ♥

Also, we set up the gingerbread christmas crib I bought for my grandma! You know, the one I told you about. It's so cute, we had such a great time glueing the pieces together with sugar :) And probably I had the most fun of us all. Haha, just look at the Three Kings!

10 reasons why you should eat breakfast!

You've probably heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but why???

Eating breakfast is good for everyone, but especially for YOU.

Here are 10 reasons why:

1. jump-starts your metabolism

2. refuels your body with some of the nutrients it requires for good health

3. replenishes glycogen stores after an overnight fast

4. gives you higher levels of energy throughout your day

5. prevents that annoying tummy growling during your lecture

6. lowers risk for diabetes & cardio-vascular disease (!)

7. lowers risk for obesity

8. makes bingeing on junk later in the day less likely

9. makes getting up in the morning A LOT easier

10. there's nothing like enjoying breakfast together with a loved one ♥

and that's what we did at NENI yesterday. I ordered the "Israeli breakfast" which was the huge tower shown in the picture above with pita bread and J♥ had some kind of eggs (sunny side up) with bell peppers and sauce? He wasn't crazy about it, but I loved mine!! I of course had to tease him that he always orders the wrong things :)

I ate almost all of the homemade cream cheese with olives..

ALL of the scrambled eggs with chives (I need my Vitamin B12)

and all of the tomatoe-cuke salad!!

what I'm currently loving..

First of all, I want to say thank you Mirela for featuring me on your blog and WELCOME to all my new blogreaders!!! I will try my best to keep you entertained. Today I felt inspired by all of you to do a post on my current favorites. Here are four items that I am loving so far:

1. Derma Sel Dead Sea Acai Berry Face Mask

It works wonders, smells delicious, what more can a girl ask for? Especially after a hard week or long exhausting day. Acai is THE ultimate antioxidant superfruit! And I love face mask in general, I just instantly feel the rejuvenation :)

2. Dry Shampoo

Bought my first bottle last week and loving it so far. Really easy to apply and helps with limiting my neverending hair washing procedures. Has anyone else tried it yet??

3. Alverde Hand Soap Mimosa

Oooooh Mimosa, you smell lovely. Thank you Mommy for buying me this. It's a limited edition, so I don't know if they still have it in the stores, but you should keep your eyes open for it.

4. Red Wine

Oh yes, I definitely have reached a point in my life where I enjoy the occasional glass of wine at home. By myself. Not ashamed to admit that. Even Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, more commonly known as Paracelsus, an ancient physician/alchemist, recommended a daily glass of wine for various health benefits and to boost metabolism. But only red wine, my dears. If I remember correctly, the skin of the red grapes contains polyphenols, that have antioxidant effects. Also, Paracelsus is famous for his saying "the dosage makes the poison" aka red wine in MODERATION. If you think one glass is good for your health then the entire bottle must be even better, you might be greatly mistaken. Emphasis on the "might" ;)

Kale chips ftw!

KALE CHIPS!!

Today I finally made them. All by myself! I am so proud, let me tell ya. It is so easy and the result is delicious. I had a whole bunch of the yummy kale chips with homemade guacamole (from the boyfriend). The recipe for the kale chips is from Angela, I just adapted it a wee bit. Preheat the oven to 350F (175°C), wash the kale and rip into small pieces. Sprinkle with extra virgin olive oil, pepper, paprika and iodized salt (for goiter prevention obviously!!)

Bake for 15 minutes, then flip them over and bake for another 10 minutes.

Take out of the oven and enjoy! They are unbelievable crispy and taste really great, you almost don't know the difference between regular chips ^^...and btw kale has so many health benefits:

*high in fiber

*high in antioxidants

*omega 3 fatty acids

*vitamin K

*vitamin C

*vitamin A

and many more :)

these do go great with a glass of wine (preferably red. Hello Mr. Antioxidant!) and a good movie. They are really crunchy, even J♥ was surprised and he kept stealing them from me.... oooh MEN ;) what can I say?

Here's what they looked like pre-baking:

review of the week

Saw finally caught up on all the true blood episodes plus the new season of Grey's anatomy. I used to hate Grey's and now I basically only watch it because of Dr. Avery haha (you can't blame me obviously. I guess the producers know why they are giving him more on screen time) Heard radio Read science papers and found so many new amazing blogs!! I could spend all day reading blogs, it's becoming quite a problem Did take a relaxing bubble bath and bake chocolate chip cookies Ate here and above mentioned chocolate chip cookies Drank organic red wine ..it's the best after a long day/week Thought I definitely have to go to Müller next week to get 25% off my favorite perfume. Thanks Mirela :) and I can't wait until my favorite almond butter gets in next week Bought a do-it-your-self gingerbread christmas crib kit to set up next week with my little sister at my Grandma's ...it's quite amazing and comes with the cutest little figures!! Also I finally found extra virgin coconut oil ♥ Happy as a clam! Annoyed by all the stuff I have to print out (or not) for med school, where to start??? and by the fact that I can't get chia seeds in Europe!! not approved yet aaaaaah! Got more butternut to roast!!muharrr Workout I'm crazy but you like it! exercise challenge by Zuzi

I found this in the store the other day, I've never seen it before so I just had to try it. In Austria we don't have that many crazy options to choose from (yet) when it comes to store-bought cookie dough. While I'm usually not a fan of it, sometimes it's quite convenient and comes in handy. And they were certainly very yummy.

Honestly, who doesn't love chocolate chip cookies, raise your hand!

...Well that's what I thought :)

If anyone knows where I can get chia seeds from in Austria or anywhere in Europe, pa-leaseeee let me know. I fear the day when I finish my bag from wholefoods :( ..love them in my yoghurt with dried figs, apricots and honey!

turning into a pumpkin

P-U-M-P-K-I-N season has started and I have to admit I fell in love. Never before have I eaten so much pumpkin in a single week and there is no end in sight. Soup, curry or homemade pumpkin mashup - you name it, I'll eat it!

For the delicious homemade dish you see in the picture above, I just cooked peeled carrots with chia seeds in coconut milk on the stove, used cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger to spice it up a little bit, then added roasted pumpkin (for 350°F in oven for about 35 minutes) and chickpeas. Top it of with some raw almonds and you have an amazing tasting meal!

I made this again the next day and sprinkled shredded coconut on top and was it ever delicious! Doing this again soon, with the coconut of course ♥ It just tops it off perfectly! I honestly think everything tastes better with coconut ;)

I also munched on these: homemade coconut macaroons. the recipe is supereasy (coming up soon!) and they were so good I actually didn't share a single one of them. You can ask my boyfriend, he will confirm. But I will make them again fo sho! Muhaha

P.s.: Also, today I found out that my resting BP is 91/56 mmHg... craaaaazy! I wonder how I even get out of bed in the morning, but I guess my morning coffee usually takes care of this issue.

Dear coffee, THANK YOU. Love, Me ♥

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Homemade Chai Latte!

I just treated myself to a homemade chai latte... that tastes at least as good (maybe even BETTER!) than the original. And I have to say this goes perfectly well with some yummy coconut cookies =) I also have the store-bought chai syrup in my pantry but today I wanted to make my own, because then I at least know what's actually in it. I feel like the chai syrup is far from anywhere near healthy, so many preservatives, I'd rather just not put those in my system.

For 1 serving of homemade chai latte you'll need:

• 2 teabags of chai tea (I used the alnatura kind as shown above) in 1 cup of hot water
• 1/2 cup of lowfat milk (or soy/almond/whatever you prefer)
• dash of vanilla
• 1 tablespoon of maple syrup to sweeten

Enjoy! ♥

watching the rain from inside

so that's what Vienna looked like two days ago. And now the temperature's dropped and there's only rain and cold and wind. Nobody wants to see a picture of that. Two days ago we enjoyed this frozen goodness, but now all I want to do is cuddle up with a mug of hot chocolate on the giant polar bear carpet by the fireplace. Too bad I don't even have a fireplace, let alone such a carpet. By the way, I hate when carpets are made out of fur, it's disgusting.

I want to spend all day in bed, but instead I am doing the cancer research run today...it is for a good cause afterall even though it costs me quite an effort. Brrrrrrrrr. But as a reward I will have my second breakfast there... can't wait!

P.s.: I bit into a fig and there was a tiny worm in it. I almost puked and I think this little incident might even have affected my infinite love for figs.

Fall in Vienna

The weather in Vienna is absolutely amazing right now.. and it is October already! According to the weather report however, those nice sunny days of late-late summer//fall are numbered. Rain, cold and snow are predicted, starting on Friday. I'm bringing out my boots and scarves and looking forward to the superduper romantic christmas markets :)

Yesterday I met up for lunch with friends at the Kunsthalle Café Karlsplatz and we shared a nice spot in the lovely sun. I ordered the lunch menu, which was 7,50.- I believe and let me tell ya it was worth every cent:

chickpea-pumpkin-curry ..and I do believe I tasted some coconut. I was in heaven.

Before the main curry concoction I was served garlic soup with croutons which I loved as well. They brought it out really quick and that was wayyyy better than having to wait FOREVER for the salmon filet to grill (which I usually order there)

J♥ & M♥ both got the avocado quinoa salad, but I didn't really care for it AT ALL. Look at the picture! The papaya looks mushy and according to my friends the avocado was overripe. I don't mean to be vain but OBVIOUSLY I did a way better job. What do you think? Which one would you rather eat?

KOO

KOO!

Honestly I do not know why I don't go there more often. The staff is superfriendly and they bring out free appetizers and dessert everytime! Also they have this great sushi & maki-50%-off deal. Actually they've had it since they opened last year. Sometimes this worries me actually. I mean, you gotta be careful with sushi, right? Raw fish, fish tapeworm and all of that... Prof. Graninger (inofficial faith healer and official cynically world-weary superstar) at the Institute of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases must have taught me better!

He would never eat raw fish. EVER. Also he would probably never pee into the amazon because of a delightful creature named "candiru" aka penis-fish. Lovely little fellow. Swims against your urinary stream right into your urethra and eats you up from inside.

But you do get a very good price/quality ratio at KOO, so I definitely recommend this restaurant. Great for ordering take-out too.

Lo.Oking back (review of the week)

Saw all of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills episodes that I missed while I was away...and Jersey Shore (don't judge!)... so great to have an actually working internet connection again Heard classical baroque music and "solidarity" from the billy elliot broadway show ..and finally could turn on the radio again! Read way too many scientific papers and caught up on all the blogposts of my favorite blogs Did finally (thank you, Lord!) sleep well again in my own amazing bed. so grateful for it! Ate cupcakes, a lot of crappy plane food and then made up for it with NENI Drank coconut chai at Bonobo's, my first annual Schilcher Sturm and camomile tea for my tummy.. oh and starting the day with a giant mug of nespresso w/ 1/2 l of vanilla soy again! yayyy Thought how I missed the Austrian sense of humor! Bought my last vanilla soy latte at starbucks in NY, a beautiful tie for the boy at Tiffany's, and an awesome do-it-yourself gingerbread house-kit with lots of decorations to set up and glue together with confectioner's sugar in December!! Happy to be home again and get back to my normal everyday routine Annoyed because I couldn't buy the semester subway pass online, I was getting constant error messages booooh! (So I had to be there today at 6 AM! and waited 30 minutes for the booth to open up just so that I wouldn't have to wait later in the day...oh irony of life -.-) Got a beautiful flower ring & wallet, carpets for my apartment and lights haha Workout starting running again & did 1 bodyrock workout (caught stripping fat workout) so far. sandbag swings are the worst, my tummy is so sore!

window decoration at Tiffany's: ice cream cones with rings on top: Like!

stroll across brooklyn bridge with fabulous view of the skyline

slurping a Trader Wic’s pineapple coconut & Peanut Butter Frrrozen Hot Chocolate (not in picture) at NYC's worldfamous Serendipity. the waiter asked me whether I wanted whipped cream on mine since my friend ordered without.. ha! I hesitated at first but then I thought it's either Go big or go home :D ..It was divine.

cupcakes at Chelsea Market ♥

food, food and more food

my last month was really stressful and didn't leave any time for me to blog. All I did was readings tons of papers, getting up super early, hustling & bustling around the entire day, leaving me feeling extremely worn out and tired. I couldn't sleep through a single night due to the noisy traffic, which was really bad and made me feel even worse. Also, I am SO happy that I finally have great internet connection again yaay. Now I guess I really learned to appreciate what I have even more.

During the past couple of weeks I got to taste more of the American cuisine so to speak. Of course my daily vanilla soy latte at starbucks was never missed!! How could I? I am addicted and when I don't get my caffeine fix I suffer from the world's worst headache :( .. for now I just leave you with some impressions of the yummy food I remembered to take pics of. I am too lazy to actually do reviews about every single restaurant I went to, it would take forever and bore you and -most importantly- me to death ;) So just some impressions for now and a question for you:

Have u ever tried banana-almond butter sandwich? It's soo delicious, I am actually having it as we speak since I need some energy for my morning run :D

yankee candles!

I am seriously considering placing an order for Yankee Candles!! I really want a lavender vanilla scented one for my bedroom since it has such soothing & relaxing effects. Does anyone want to place an order as well? In orders over 40 € there's free shipping! They really do have great christmassy scents as well, just go to their website and make your choice and let me know asap :-D

good night ... xo

I'm baack fans :D

I am so happy to be back in Vienna after all!!

I ADORE (almost) everything about this city and missed it so much ^_^! In my opinion Vienna is a cosmopolitan city with a quality of life you can barely find anywhere else. I mean come on, in Austria we have beautiful deep blue lakes and the greenest meadows, great infrastructure and the buildings in downtown are historic and absolutely gorgeous. Also the people are kind and warm-hearted and the "wiener-schmäh" is simply unique. My heart belongs to VIENNA and as for right now I couldn't imagine me living anywhere else. And that's coming from a girl who just returned from NYC - which is supposedly the coolest city in the world :) so it must count -at least- DOUBLE.

Glad to be back and will keep you guys posted!

P.s.: Right after my mom picked me up from the airport we went here and had a feast!

Pps.: what do you guys like best about Vienna??? (except for the cupcake bakery on Josefstädterstraße hehe)