I'm back from my trip to the Big Apple! Totally loved every minute of it!
While typing this, I have a huge lack of sleep (I kind of skipped a night, since my flight was at night and I couldn't keep my eyes closed for over an hour) but I still don't feel too bad. I just wanted to share my stories, food finds and pictures with you all.
To summarize our trip: eating, walking, shopping, eating, walking, shopping, eating, walking, sleeping.. Etc.. Oh and some sightseeing too.
Both my mom and me had a really great time in New York City!
Finally, my suitcase has been packed and I'm ready to go to NYC! Well, packed, it's still almost empty because I don't need to bring much and it's actually lying open in the middle of my living room. (I'm proud I haven't stumbled over it, so far!) All there's left to do is throw some remaining items in it (hairbrush, facial cleanser and creme, stuff like that), close it and pull my front door closed behind me.
Oh and I still need to go to work tomorrow too.. I tend to forget about that..
Today my colleagues asked me why I acting was so quiet, and I hadn't even noticed I was. My head was in just a few places, but most certainly not at work. I was just physically being there. (I guess my hay fever contributed to that feeling as well)
I'm sure that last day at work will be over before I realise it. My parents will pick me up later tomorrow evening, so we can leave early for the airport the next day.
I'll be back in the Netherlands again next Tuesday morning (the 19th). It's a bizarre idea that next week, around this time, my trip will already be over and I'll be jetlagged at home again. But.. In just 48 hours, I'll be in New York! (even in local time) So cool!
So you can expect an update on my blog again next Tuesday. I'll make sure to take lots of pictures, of the city itself, and -of course- of my food finds and paleo meals and post them all over here.
For now, here's a simple yet tasty recipe for you to enjoy:
For a while now, I've been thinking about making myself some fish cakes. I finally did so yesterday and ended up making these salmon patties with lemon and parsley.
I served them with some stir-fried leeks with coconut milk, curry powder and lemon juice.
I think I'm going to start packing my suitcase tonight, I keep thinking of things I need to bring anyhow so I might as well start putting things in my suitcase..
Just 3 more days to go and I'll be on my way to the airport! (sorry if I'm actually annoying people by telling how much I'm looking forward to my trip, I just can't help myself.. but at least I'll have lots of (food) stories to tell when I get back!)
Yay, weekend again! Only 2 days this time (normally I have 3, I know, I'm lucky), because I switched some days to be able to go to New York without having to take a lot of days off.
I don't have much planned for this weekend, besides going to get some US Dollars and buying stuff to pack in my suitcase (mini-shampoo, mini-shower gel, stuff like that..). I try to take as little with me as possible, so I can bring a whole lot of stuff back, without having to leave stuff behind because I did too much shopping. (yes that happened to me once or twice)
Tonight's dinner was this cauliflower mash. My colleagues asked me what I was going to have for dinner and when I said 'cauliflower puree with sausages' they looked at me as if I was insane. It tasted really good though!
The sausages I used were made of lamb and beef, I'd never had those before but they were very good! I'm going to stock my freezer and fridge all the way up again tomorrow. Although I do need to make sure I don't buy too many veggies, because my fridge needs to be almost empty before I leave next week.
A small update on my trip to New York: I found a wonderful place where you can get organic dairy-free ice cream. And it's not just their sorbet ice cream that's dairy-free, no EVERYTHING is dairy-free!! It's Ice Cream Heaven!
The place is called Stogo, so go check out their website to see their flavours. The ice cream is either coconut-, hemp- or soy-based. Of course I won't have the soy ice-cream (another one of my food intolerances), but the coconut and hemp ice-cream are great options. And the flavours they offer are amazing; toasted almond joy, cookies 'n cream, key lime, peaches 'n cream, vanilla chocolate chip, maple walnut.. Yum!
Everything's gluten-free too by the way!
My mom and me have already been drooling just by reading the flavours on the phone, and we can't wait to try some of them. The place is pretty close to our hotel, but it should've been a little further so we'd have to exercise a little more to work the ice cream off.
On their website they mention that they also feature other gluten-free vegan and raw desserts, and I can't wait to try those either. I guess we'll just have to get 2 scoops to eat right away, 2 for the walk home, and another type of dessert to enjoy back at the hotel. I don't see any other option!
Since I had to attend some classes today I needed to make myself a quick lunch. This fritatta is what came to mind and it worked out pretty well!
Luckily I had a large part of the morning off so I went for a long run; 45 minutes. Had been a while since I ran any longer than 25 minutes but it felt so easy. It hardly took me any effort.
I actually wanted to go to the gym tonight as well, but the whole afternoon has been really hectic and I'm tired now, so I won't go. I guess I'll just go to bed early tonight and go to the gym tomorrow.
I'm still in 'New York mode' today, makes me so happy :) I'm also still listening to the Abercrombie & Fitch playlist a few times a day. Very wrong, I know, but it gives me this summery feeling with songs like 'In The Navy' (Village People), 'Get Up' (Disco Brothers ft. Weather Girls) and 'I Love Saturday' (Erasure) and I removed a lot of depressing songs from my ipod too. Occasionally I find myself browsing NYC on Google maps, just to see if I can find some nice places to go. My mom and me came up with the idea to go to the cinema in the evening over there and we might go to a Broadway show as well. I'm not sure what's on next month, but I'll find out soon enough.
I've also been browsing the USA map again to plan a trip, and I might just start in San Francisco or LA, drive through Yosemite NP, Sequoia NP, Vegas, Valley of Fire SP, Canyonlands, all the way through Colorado, into Utah and visit Salt Lake City and its surroundings, through to Wyoming and of course Yellowstone NP, grab a piece of Idaho along the way and go through to Montana, into Washington to see Seatlle. And if there's time left, down into Oregon because that appears to be a beautiful state too.
After all of that, I'll simply make a stop-over in Chicago for a few days because that's a city I really want to see.
Now all I need is time and money...
Eating Paleo in Amsterdam isn't that hard to do at all. There are lots of health food stores and fresh meat, fruit and veggies is widely available.
Today my mom and me went there to do some serious shopping (and we succeeded!) and besides that we bought quite a lot of food, Paleo food.
No recipes today.. Hopefully tomorrow! At least I do plan on trying a new recipe by then. I do however have something else to share;
I found another food spot in New York!
Peacefood Cafe
Everything on their menu is vegan, and they also offer gluten free options. It's not all paleo, but reading the menu makes me go hungry in an instant. They also have a small 'raw' section on their menu, including a key lime pie, raspberry pie and chocolate mousse. Sounds delicious! Hopefully we'll have some time to visit that place in April.
I wonder what their chickpea fries will be like..
I haven't had decent fries in a really long time, and I must admit that I sometimes crave them. I tried making pumpkin fries and carrot fries, but nothing tastes like the potato verson. I bought a parsnip yesterday so maybe I can try to make fries out of it, in case I don't come up with a better idea to prepare it.
Last Sunday my mom and me made this recipe from This Primal Life; Kohlrabi Casserole with Sausage and Fresh Thyme. It turned out really well! I didn't know you could prepare kohlrabi like this.
Next time we're going to add some garlic and other spices too, because it was slightly too blunt for our taste. (of course we left the salt out, which might have made a difference)
These days all I can think about is travelling.. I wish it was April already and time to go to New York!
Over the weekend I also changed my 'big holiday' plans for 2011. The only disadvantage about it is that I postponed it a few months. My destination will be Australia, and since the seasons are reversed over there it's best to go when it's Winter over here, so I can enjoy Aussie's warm and sunny weather while everyone else is freezing.
Of course I didn't work it all out yet, but I'm going to travel from Sydney to Adelaide (or the other way around) in my own small camper, along the Great Ocean Road. And on the way there and on the way back home I'm going to make a stop over in Asia for a few days. I'm not sure which cities yet, one of them will probably be Singapore, and the other one will either be Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong or Bangkok.
It's going to be my first time camping.. I wonder if I should try it out first somewhere in the Netherlands, in my own tent on a desolate place. Walking to the toilet in the dark, toilet paper underneath my arm.. Being cold in bed or sweating like crazy so I float out of my tent. Doesn't sound appealing at all to be honest. I'm sure a camper will be different, at least I'd have a decent bed and it won't be in Holland. (which probably is the point that makes most sense)
I'll probably go around November or December next year and will take about a month for the whole trip. I can't wait!!
It seems like a really long time away, and who knows what my life will be like by then, but it's what keeps me going, trying to save as much money as possible.
Eating paleo over there won't be much of a challenge I guess, besides having to resist the temptation from all the delicious looking cakes and pies.. I should definitely try and find some Organic supermarkets over there. If anyone has suggestions, I'd love to hear them!
Since I really haven't felt like cooking anything special, nor eating, these past couple of days, I thought I'd share a nice spot to have a meal or to get a snack I found online.
Next April, I'm going to New York City with my mom, so I've been browsing the web for nice places to eat. One of them is "One Lucky Duck", they've got a restaurant, 2 locations for take away (all located in Manhattan) and a lovely webshop. Check it out: http://www.oneluckyduck.com/
Of course I had to take a look at the menu (perhaps it would provide me with some inspiration), they only serve raw food and everything's vegan and gluten and dairy free! How awesome!
One of their dishes I would definitely like to try is this: Brazil Nut Crusted Almond and Sea Vegetable Croquettes
I don't have a clue what it'll taste like, but it sounds really good. I'm so curious about the recipe for this dish. Perhaps I could try and make some sticky paste out of veggies, turn them into balls and roll them through a mixture of ground nuts?
I guess a thick pumpkin puree would do the trick. I'm definitely going to try sometime!
As for the desserts, I wouldn't be able to choose. It all looks incredibly tasty and what's not to love when it's all gluten- and dairy free? "Trio of Dark Chocolate Coated Indian Spiced Ice Cream Treats" and "Lemon Cheesecake with Blackberries". I still have a lot to learn when it comes to raw food.
Their take away menus look just as tasty, so I'm sure my mom and me will be paying One Lucky Duck a visit, and maybe even more than once.
These Chocolate Truffles simply look too good to be true. (yes I know, they're not paleo, but every girl needs a chocolate fix every once in a while, and a holiday is the ultimate excuse to have one)
Even though I've found a place that has great food, I don't feel so lucky myself at all..
This Thursday my therapist found out that I've become allergic to cats, which meant my little kitten Luna had to go.. She's only 12 weeks old, and I had her for 5 weeks. I've never been allergic to cats, but my immune system has gotten weaker at work; I work with lung patients, who cough in my face all the time, giving me a lot of viruses to deal with. If I had to choose which had to go; cat or work, I would definitely have said work, but I can't live without any money (obviously) so the cat had to go.. Luckily my parents are now providing her a loving home, and even though my health will probably benefit a lot of this, I feel really sad and empty and I don't even feel like eating or cooking (which is extremely rare for me). There's simply no one to greet me in the morning or when I get home from work, who's always happy to see me. And it's not 'just a cat', it's my companion. I miss her.. a lot..
So I have to get used to living 'cat-less' for now. I'm going to visit her in 3 weeks, and if that doesn't make me feel tired or anything after a couple of hours, I can have her back. So I'm just hoping I'll be a lucky duck too..
