Midsummer throughout the years & vegan pancake recipe

Hello and good afternoon :)

Its Thursday afternoon when writing this post, however i have spent the whole day thinking it is Friday, and i have completely lost track of the days and date at the moment.

Tomorrow it is Midsummer and i'll be spending it with my friends and having a Midsummer dinner which will be 90% vegan! I had planned to just make my own food and bring it with me and maybe a vegan dessert for everyone to share, but it turns out that one of my friends who is the host for the evening decided to make 90% of the food vegan and then there will be egg and herring which are 2 typical foods eaten at Midsummer. I still dont know what food will be served, but i am looking forward to it :)

I start off my Friday and Midsummer with a 6 hour workshift from 6am until 12pm and then ill head home, get ready and then into town to meet with a few of my friends before we then travel to our friend who is hosting us for the evening and we'll see where the evening takes us! As tomorrow will be such a long day i am mostly resting up today so that i have energy for tomorrow :)However i did clean the whole apartment just incase we end up being at my place if the weather is bad!

This morning when i was at the gym all i could think about was pancakes, so after my gym session i went to the store and bought the ingredients to make pancakes and they turned out amazing!
-> 3dl flour, 6dl oat milk, 0,5dl aquafaba, 1tsp baking powder, 2tbs melted vegan margarine and sweetner/sugar to taste :) And then fry on medium heat!

I was a little disappointed that i had forgotten to buy vegan whipped cream as that would have gone perfectly with the pancakes :(

The rest of the evening its just rest as im feeling rather tired today!

Are you celebrating Midsummer? (its mostly a nordic tradition!).

Throwback to previous Midsummer pictures!

2010

2010

2011

2011

2012 - the first time i ever got drunk, blacked out and had a hang over the next day


2013

201420152016 - my first vegan midsummer

Summer days - 2017

Each summer i am always baffeled by how happy the sun and warm weather makes me. Each year i notice just how much my mood and even energy levels are affected by the weather, and its not always so controllable. If it rains and is bad weather i'll feel more tired, sluggish, unmotivated and just less energetic but once its good weather i am the exact opposite and it is like my energy never stops!

My top 5 things about summer are:

Walking outside in shorts and a tank top, or being able to walk to and from the gym in my shorts and gym gear!!!

Watermelon and fresh strawberries!!! Nothing beats these two fruits/berries!!

Lying out in the sun - i love it! In the past i used to hate sunbathing as i was far too restless - and still am in some sense. But also i felt uncomfortable lying somewhere if it was sort of public as well as didnt like lying out in the sun on my own. This year however i am not as restless and have found a grass section which isnt so public where i can lie and sunbathe when i have the time for it!

The bright and warm evenings and being able to sit outside in the evening with friends and not get cold!!

The freedom of summer. Sure there is work and other responsibilities but the days are longer and brighter and feels like i have time for more things when i just work. I love studying but it can definitely feel like more than 100% and more like 2 jobs at times haha.


And there are so many more positive things about summer that the list would never end!! But for now i am just enjoying it as much as i can!

How am i spending my days?

Working when there is work available..... this month there isnt so much work which is a little worrying but not so much i can do about it.

Sunbathing when the sun is out!

Listening to ALOT of podcasts.... i think one day i listened to 6 podcasts which is more than 6 hours. hahah. But its different documentaries so i am learning alot about different events and happenings in the world which i never knew details or the backstory of.

Cooking and baking when i have the time for it. Of course when its warm weather its not as appetizing to eat warm food, but i still love my lentil soup and cooked potatoes. However ive now started to cook my food and let it cool down completely so when i eat it it is cold!

Working out when i feel like it. Somedays the gym, somedays walking. But like i mentioned in my previous post, trying to focus on all round fitness and not just do the same thing over and over!

At the moment i am not spending alot of time infront of the computer or even at home which you may have noticed. Trying to make time for blogging but somedays i leave the house at 9am or earlier and dont get home until 8pm or much later like 10 or 11pm. But trying to make one post a day at least :) And still getting around to trying to answer the questions, i havent forgotten them :)



How are you spending your summer? What are your favourite things about summer? And if its winter in your country, how are you spending your winter/autumn? :)

Some recent eats:

Past few days in my life

Hello and good morning :)

My days have been filled up with work, friends, family, hospital appointments and delicious food so havent been able to update my blog. But thats what life should be like :)

Friday i spent most of the day working and then in the evening had time to watch 2  episodes of new OITNB season 5 which i have waited a year for! However that is all i have had time to watch as ive had other things to do, so i cant wait until i have time to just sit down and continue watching, haha!

Saturday morning i worked from 6am to 12.30pm and then it was home time and make and eat lunch, rest a little before getting ready to leave for a "job party". It was staff from the company i work for as well as some of my work colleagues who i had never met before. The staff had arranged for us to play Boule and then we got served dinner. I cant say that the vegan option was amazing, however it was food so i was just happy over that fact and it did infact fill me up. I dont have very high standards for vegan food in situations such as the one i was in, then im just happy if there is something i can eat!

After the job party and dinner i headed off to meet 2 friends and look at some of the Pride festivities before we ended up spending most of the night at a bar with a few glasses of wine, and i got home some time around 2am and being up 22 hours that day.

Then on Sunday morning i got up, did some cleaning and headed off into town to meet my mum who had arrived in Gothenburg. It rained the WHOLE day on Sunday, so it was the perfect day to just go eat lunch and sit there for a while and then browse some shops before coming home, making dinner (rice paper rolls) and then watching a movie before going to bed early!

Then Monday morning it was an early start as we had to be at the hospital before 8am where i first had blood tests done before i could eat breakfast, and then from 8-4 it was a bunch of different tests all checking different things regarding my CF health, and in 6 weeks time i'll go   back and get the results!

During the lunch break i took my mum to the "secret" forest area by the hospital. Perfect to get a little break from the very sterile and sick environment that the hospital is.

Monday evening finished with a workout while my mum went shopping and then food at one of my favourite places - its actually a sort of fast food place, but their fries are amazing as well as the Oumph salad! We sat there for almost 2 hours and had very heated discussions about different topics.... i love having disscussions and being able to hear different opinions and point of view and learn other peoples thoughts regarding different topics. My mum and I have different opinions and experiences of certain things so we can easily spend a long time discussing and sharing our thoughts and opinons on those topics, but its always valuable to hear another persons point of view and i never get angry or mean, instead i am very good at keeping my calm and being able to hear the other person even if we dont share the same opinion!

And then to end the night it was a night snack and a movie before going to sleep! And todays plans i am not so sure what we will do... its finally stopped raining so maybe we can spend some time outside today!

I hope you all have a lovely week whatever you may be doing :)

My dream vegan meal and who would i share it with ?

I got asked the question about what would be my dream vegan meal and who would i share it with? And i loved the question so thought i would do a post about it! But i thought i would add on... if i could only eat one meal for the rest of my life what would it be?

So first off... two scenarios, my dream meal in reality where i pay/make the food, and dream reality where money is not a problem and im not the one making the food haha!! And of course i have to have more than one dish in my meal!!

So... in reality where there are limits to my choices!

Starter:  A fresh salad consisting of spinach, ruccola, sweet corn, baby tomatoes, pine nuts, some form of soy protein, avocado, pickled onion & some type of fresh sallad dressing,

Main: Lentil vegetable soup with potatoes and oat cream & newly baked bread with vegan butter and cheese.

Dessert: Chocolate fondue or vegan creme brulee or vegan cheese cake.... or actually, the vegan saffron cheesecake i made for christmas was one of the best cakes i think ive ever made!!

And i would want to share this meal with my sister and my mum :)

My dream meal:

Starter: Tofu and vegetable skewers with a peanut sauce & Crispy sweet potatoe fries & spring rolls with dipping sauce & freshly baked bread.

Main: A sallad consisting of the best sallad ingredients (XD) and of course with thyme and garlic oumph (lots of it!). Basically a sallad like the ones from Mahalo cafe!  (pictures below)

Main part 2: Cauliflower pizza with pulled oumph on top and lots of veggies. 

Dessert: It would have to be a dessert buffet because i love dessert! So mini versions of everything so i can have a bit of everything! Cookies, chocolate mudcake, cheese cake, donuts, waffles and of course lots of chocolate covered strawberries!

I would want to share this with lots of vegan online people i follow... there are so many so i cant even name them all. But i would want to gather us all and talk and eat and just get to know each other in person!

And if i could only eat one meal for the rest of my life?

Then i think it would have to be thyme and garlic oumph with oven roasted potatoes, some type of oat based sauce and lots of salad/kale with sweet corn and cashew nuts on top and of course freshly baked bread with this meal! Yummm

And if i could live on only one food.....?

I cant answer that hahahah...

Learning about eating disorders in class - after being recovered

As a few of you were interested in the topic i thought i would try to write this post before my feelings and thoughts about the topic disappear.

So last week as part of my current university course, where we are learning about different illnesses and what nutrition advice should be given to people with those illnesses. Eating disorders was one of them. However the course didn't go so deep into eating disorders or even the nutrition advice given as eating disorders is such a broad topic and the advice given depends on the eating disorder as well as the individual. Though we talked a little about refeeding syndrome as well as the fact that eating disorders are mental illnesses (which i like that the teacher mentioned i.e many are quick to just say... oh its young girls who are insecure and go on a diet and end up with an eating disorder). I also like that the teacher mentioned that many people with an eating disorder do end up switching eating disorder i.e from anorexia to bulimia/binge eating or vice versa and that it is far more common than you think, and this is somethig i have written alot about on here as well. Because many people email or message me regularly telling me that they have gone from anorexia to binge eating and feel so ashamed and out of control,  and you have to realise that binge eating/bulimia also requires help and isnt something you should feel ashamed about, its more common thank you think and it just makes recovery even harder and longer if you dont reach out for help.

Anyway, what were my thoughts during that lecture about eating disorders? Well first off i didnt learn anything new as we just talked about symptoms, help, what recovery might entail i.e the different forms of therapy for the eating disorders and also some of the criteria to be diagnosed for the different eating disorders. No new information, if anything i could have gotten up there in the lecture hall and had my own lecture where i could have added so much more advice and information..... but thats for the future i guess!

My thoughts and feelings? I must admit at first i felt very strange, a little panicked in a sense.... "like i didnt want to be there". I think during the whole lecture it felt like 90% of the people were sitting on needles... it was a weird and tense vibe in the room and i think that is because eating disorders are such a sensitive topic not to mention a huge topic which does effect many. I think almost everyone in the room either knows someone who has suffered with an eating disorder in someway or has suffered themselves.

I am guessing i amnt the only one who has had an eating disorder in the class... i know a few who have mentioned that they have had different eating problems in the past and 1 or 2 who still suffer in some form but are "functional sufferers" so to say. Healthy enough to function almost properly and go to school but still very much controlled with their eating and exercise. During the lecture i began to wonder how many people in the room actually had or have had an eating disorder im pretty sure that its more than i think.... after all many people who have or have had an eating disorder are drawn to programs and courses about nutrition or exercise. I know some people in my class have found me on social media so they know that i have had an eating disorder though whether they have looked on my blog or scrolled through my social media very far, i dont know..... but i felt like i had a few eyes on me during the lecture, HOWEVER i think that was just me being paranoid and not actually the case.

It was weird to sit in the lecture when talking about eating disorders, mostly because i just wanted to add so much more information. I used to be embarrassed about the fact that i struggled but as the years pass i am less embarrassed and can imagine doing lectures in the future where i can help to inspire and motivate and give information about eating disorders... not being ashamed about my past.

I also noticed that the teacher was being very aware and cautious as it is such a sensitive topic but he did a good job nonetheless i guess!

I dont really know what more to add.... but it did bring back old memories. When we began talking about the treatment forms i almost wanted to hide under my seat when the memories about inpatient, tube feeding, day patient, daily blood checks and sitting across from a nurse forcing me to eat - began to flow into my mind. .... it almost felt like i had a huge red finger pointing at me showing everyone that in the past i had been through those things, however that once again was just me being paranoid haha.

Anyway, i felt strange after the lecture and glad that it was just a short one and now im wondering if i actually want to take further courses in eating disorders or whether that would be a little to hard/sensitive for me, with my own experience and research i doubt i would learn anything new. However it would be fun to learn more about the psychology behind eating disorders...... in future classes however we will talk more about nutrition advice to people with eating disorders as well as how to talk to people who are sick and how to give advice without upsetting them as well as a more health promotion way of giving advice and inspiring patients rather than just giving 100 pieces of advice and wishing the patient well - instead inspiring and motivating!

Now when i think about it.... i wonder how i would feel if we had a lecture about depression or anxiety... we most likely wont as those are mental illnesses and we are doing physical illnesses and nutrition. But i am pretty sure i would feel sort of triggered and very sensitive during a lecture about those topics.... it would be far too soon for me if i am honest, and i dont even know why i think its just that too many memories come back and suddenly i dont feel "Normal" anymore... suddenly all i remember is the illness and its something i cant push to the back of my mind, i think thats one of the reasons i dont like the lectures about things such as eating disorders or depression....


If you have any questions about this topic or have any other questions or topic suggestions comment below :)

First barbeque/grill of the season - vegan style

Thursday.... a day that felt maximized of all hours and felt very much in the present and enjoying present life.

Thursday morning i ended up oversleeping and missing my lecture which was rather disappointing as it was about eating disorders and even if i dont need to learn about eating disorders, i wanted to hear how the teacher spoke about. I wanted to know what information she would say and how she would teach about eating disorders. We only doing an overview of that topic, as the subject of eating disorders could take years to study and i think later on in the course we might go through nutrition for people with eating disorders but we are studying about nutrition for people who are underweight/hard to eat or people with cancer, overweight, diabetes, highbloodpressure, high cholesterol etc

As i missed my lecture i decided to first head to the gym and then sit and study on my own in school. I wasnt sure whether i wanted to sit outside in the sun or inside in the library, or just go home and sit on the balcony to study, but i knew i needed to get my work done and if i were to sit in the sun i would get distracted and tired. So instead i sat inside, in the cold and got through all my work before i could finally leave the building and enjoy the sun.

Later when my roomie came home from school we began talking about how its the perfect weather to have a barbeque.... and thats exactly what we did! Went to the store for the ingredients, prepared the food in marinade, cooked potatoes, made sauce etc and then we made our way up to a hill/mountain and began to put the small "one time" grill on fire and once that was done it was just to grill the food! By the time we got to the mountain it had begun to get cold and the wind was blowing like crazy, but it was nice nonetheless.... however by the time we actuall ate, 90 minutes after getting to the mountain it was getting alot colder so it was just to eat quick and leave, haha. But it was a really nice time and super cosy anyway, not to mention nice to spend time with my room mates and of course a fully vegan barbeque!!

It was nice to just have a free day and to get my work done not to mention get time to spend in the sun and be social as well! A much needed free day before its full focus on school work and work again :)

Have you had a barbeque for the summer season (if its summer in your country) yet? :)