Fall is here and that means it's finally apple season!

Apples are a favorite back home. There is no Thanksgiving without apple pie (you will never ever convince my family to switch to pumpkin or pecan or sweet potato). My father eats an apple everyday after dinner. We love our apple cider, our caramel apples, and I am convinced Green Apple is the best Jolly Rancher flavor in existence (am I right or am I right?)

So you can imagine my excitement when this year, after living in the concrete jungle for all my life, Oli told me the apples from his apple tree were ready to devour. I mean come on, fresh apples from the garden? In fact, in Brandenburg, you can pick from random trees growing in public alleys (along with so many other fruits). Oh Mother Nature, I could just write you a love song.


I've been on a bit of a raw food kick lately. I've had a raw food phase before (only in intervals--I never mustered the courage to do it for a long period of time), and I really love the simplicity. Obviously you can get a bit more complicated (you mandolin wielding, dehydrating people I'm winking at you) but some recipes only call for a few simple steps.

Take this Apple Tart for example. If you have all these ingredients already, it's a breeze. Not to mention apples are the star.



Raw Vegan Apple Tart
Serves 1 Ingredients
3 small apples, cored and sliced
3/4 cup walnuts
1/2 cup dates
Cinnamon

Soak 1/2 cup of the walnuts overnight or minimum 2 hours.

For the crust, put in a blender or food processor 1/4 cup dates with remaining 1/4 cup walnuts un-soaked. Pulse a few times until it becomes a nice paste. Take a small flat bowl or ramekin and press the mixture down with your hands.

For the filling, drain the soaked nuts and put them in the food processor with the other 1/4 cup of dates. Add one apples worth of apple slices and pulse the mixture until nice and creamy (you can add coconut oil too if you want it a bit firmer when you cool it later).

Now take the filling and put half of it on top of the crust. Add a layer of apple slices. Then put the rest of the filling on top, and garnish with remaining apples and a dash of cinnamon.

Put in the fridge for about an hour or eat right away if you don't mind it gooey.



Eat. Enjoy. Share the apple love.

Apples in Autumn

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Hey guys, it's Aya! It's been a bit of a hectic 2 weeks over here. Biking to Hamburg, spontaneous trip to Sweden, and overall working on visa stuff (dun dun dun)! I also registered for a 3 month membership at this gym semi nearby so I'm pretty pumped!

Here are a few shots from Sweden! I tagged along with Oli and his father because his father had to pick up some supplies for work.

We docked at Trelleborg via Ferry and went to Malmö by car. Then we went back via bike!

Trip to Sweden

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I know what you guys are thinking--what is this random blip in the posts? I post nothing for a while, then post a few pics from Italy, and then WABAM! We're talking about diets.

Well, it had to come at some point.

Let me first clarify what I mean when I say "diet". People think the worst when they hear this word. It usually conjures images of miserable people doing whatever it takes to shed some extra weight for a period of time. That is often referred to as going on a diet. A diet, however, is simply the food and drink a person consumes.

My diet usually follows the 80-20 rule. 80% healthy, nutritious, whole foods, and 20% whatever I want. I hate restricting myself mainly because sometimes I have huge cravings for random things that I find more unhealthy to ignore (yes, I love french fries and burgers), but also because I am surrounded by so many different cultures that embrace different diets and I like to be open to them. I also enjoy cooking, which makes it easier to control what goes into my body, in case I do want to indulge but not go all the way (bean burgers anyone?)

But how did I arrive at this diet? Actually, it was from going through many other diets!

I love to research the different food choices people make. It's always nice to read that something really works for someone enough that they want to share it with the world! I've been known to do the same from time to time. The problem is, people often make the mistake of comparing results.

Why I wanted to talk about diets is because people need to understand that what works for someone may not work for them. And I don't mean in the superficial sense. I mean in that long term, glowy healthy energetic sense. I went on the Master Cleanse for about a week until I realized that it's just not for me. I was really shocked at how far I went without solid food (in case people don't know, the Master Cleanse is a blend of lemon juice, maple syrup, water, and cayenne, used to flush out toxins and purify the body in the time span of 10-40 days), but I missed cooking and I missed having variety. Do I regret doing it? No, I don't regret doing it. I don't regret any of the diets I've done because I've taken things from them to create my own personalized regimen that works for me and just me.

There are general health tips that work for the masses but at the end of the day, the people writing these articles will not know your activity level, what allergies you have, your daily schedule, your work and social environment, the country you live in (this matters a lot because foods sold in supermarkets are so different between cities and countries), etc. So experiment! Try things out, see if it works for you enough to incorporate into your life. At the end of the day, the diet you choose should become your lifestyle.

So, to sum up my whole post: stop comparing, see what works for you, and enjoy life! That's ultimately what a diet should help you do. It should never become an obligation or an obsession, but something that can improve other facets of your life.

With that, I bid everyone a happy Tuesday. It's chow time for me. :D

Let's Talk Diets

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• diet real talk •
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• by Aya S
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Hello Firenze~!

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Buongiorno! I'm in Rome right now for the week!
Today is the Feast of Assumption (a national holiday here in Italy) so the whole of Italy is practically on vacation somewhere else. Regardless, a lot of the sites are still open and my friends and I are ready to explore.

Here are just a few shots from yesterday. We went to Vatican City.

Roma 2013

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I have limited internet access these days, and even more limited access to my photos! So expect some posts from me, but for the next 2-3 weeks, it may be sparse.

Sorry!!! >n<

In case you were wondering . . .

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