Why hello there everyone, it's me, Aya. It's not a name you read often on the blog these days because my posting speed is about as rapid as a sloth strapped onto a turtle walking towards a fan blowing in the opposite direction. But I also understand that you guys are not waiting in front of your laptops all day, waiting to hear word from me (although you guys could lie and tell me you are anyway to inflate my ego because my ego loves that).

Lately I've been obsessed with this red smoothie. I'm usually a green smoothie kind of girl but I started buying beets every week and now I can't get enough of this stuff. It's a drug, it's an addiction, it's real life. For fun and because Halloween is right around the corner (in 2 weeks time to be exact), I'm also calling it blood juice though it tastes better than blood and is cruelty free!

Healthy Appetite's Blood Juice
Serves 1

Ingredients
1 large banana, sliced (ripe, with spots)
1 medium large pear, diced (I use two here but they are very small and had many bad spots that I cut off)
80 g cooked beets, diced (about 1 small beet)
1/2 cup frozen or fresh raspberries
1 teaspoon acai pulver (optional)

Place all ingredients into a blender and blend with 3/4 cup of water or coconut water. Pour in a glass and enjoy!

Blood Juice a.k.a. »my« Red Smoothie

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I'm not gonna lie, I put this blog on the backburner. Let's be real for a second: how would you react if you yourself were a spectator to the slow decline of your foreign language skills not to mention your roommate is an unfinished portrait of Jesus that seems to just stare and judge you if you even think about having fun on the weekend?

Oh hi there, it's Aya, a drama queen and sometimes writer of this blog Healthy Appetite.

Many mornings are spent eating breakfast and poring over my German workbooks lately. Mainly because I developed a serious[ly bad] habit of doing all my school work the morning of the day that it's due. Funnily enough, I had a conversation with a 10 year old who just stared at me and told me, verbatim "What's the problem? It's so easy. Just take 10 minutes after school, get a glass of water, and do it." I say funny because the answer is so simple that even a 10 year old could figure it out.

I also recently got incredibly sick, so I took a good amount of time slicing up fruit to make a fruit ombré, because you know, YOLO.

Do you guys know the book? Well here's the game version! I picked it up to better my German skills and to play with my friends. I actually shockingly won the first go-round because I am incredibly good at guessing and one question was about shopping (no, I'm not fulfilling a stereotype, I am merely enhancing it).

Oh, and breakfast? I'm pretty much obsessed with smoothies nowadays. I'm gearing towards less green ones and more dessert type ones because I've subconsciously cut back on baking and thus need to replace the sugar with smoothies (I'm an energizer bunny). Here's a quick recipe for a super energizing, naturally sweet, pick me up smoothie!



Vegan Vanana Smoothie
Serves 1

Ingredients
2 medium ripe bananas (the riper the sweeter)
1 in/2.5 cm piece of vanilla bean
4 medjool dates/6 deglet noor dates (you can soften them in hot water 30 minutes before if hard)
1 cup almond milk (or whatever milk you desire)
ice (amount depends on the preferred thickness)

Place all ingredients into a blender (no need to scrape the pod for vanilla beans--just put the whole piece in) and run until smooth (a full minute or 2). Pour into a glass and enjoy looking at all the tiny little vanilla flecks in your smoothie.

Variations:
If you want to get creative, add 2 tbsp of carob powder for a slightly chocolatey flavor.
If you miss Christmas, add 1 tsp of cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg.
If you want to feel refreshed, add a few mint leaves to the blender and blend away!

Die deutsche Sprache and a smoothie

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It's officially the end of the first week of my 21 day vegan challenge and might I say it went smoother than I anticipated. I thought I would go coo coo bananas over not having a bit of something sweet here and there but honestly, fruit is amazing and I've been dropping a few drops of stevia into my lemon water to make lemonade to tote around. I admit there are a few things that I miss but I realize this is all just a way for me to get more creative in the kitchen.

I recently took a trip out to the LPG Bio Market in Mitte. There are many bio stores in Berlin where all products sold are organic (different from America where there are many health food stores but not necessarily everything sold is organic). I really love LPG . . . it's pricier than some of the other bio stores but their selection is great. I can't find another place that has this specific peanut butter I like (without salt, sugar, or oil, but also tastes like the PB I buy in NY).

Here are some of the purchases I made:


Vegan Breakfast Yogurt, Soybeans, and 92% Dark Chocolate.

The yogurt is great! I love to eat yogurt but I can't actually stomach dairy that well. This one happens to also be sugar free.The soybeans are for my fermentation (I make my own fermented soybeans aka natto because it's cheaper, tastes great, and reduces waste). I also found some interesting chocolate!


I see this brand in bio stores a lot and this one particular bar happens to contain coconut blossom sugar instead of refined! Dark chocolate also contains a good amount of fiber and anti-oxidants (if you didn't know why people are obsessed with anti-oxidants, it's because it reduces the risk of cancer and signs of aging)! I like dark chocolate for snacking especially.

Speaking of snacks, my favorite at the moment is smearing peanut butter onto rice crackers and topping it with bananas.



Simple yet satisfying. Try it with a sprinkle of cinnamon and let the goodness sink in.

Finally, I've been really loving the Detox tea from Kusmi.


The first time I tried Kusmi was when my sister got me a sampler pack for my birthday a few years back. I haven't looked back since. I keep a variety of different teas and brands around but when I feel like splurging on myself, I go for Kusmi. This one in particular does exactly what it says and it has an overall cleaning and calming effect. Kusmi has many stores and distributors around the world so if you're ever nearby, definitely check out their selection!

I think that will be all for today. I hope you guys have a lovely Sunday!

New and Old Favorites

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Hey guys and welcome to another edition of Share it Saturdays!

Let's just have a moment of silence right now to mourn the consumption of this milk.

This is Hazelnut Milk. Hazelnut Milk and I met a long time ago but we never really got to know each other until just the other day. It was like Romeo and Juliet. We both kind of noticed each other in the aisles of REWE. There were other non-dairy milks that wanted my attention but to the utterly sexy exploding hazelnuts, I just couldn't say no.
I took him home with me and I soon realized that although it had been only a day, I loved him. But with it's 2.69 euro price tag and my declining bank account, I found this to be a forbidden love affair. The next morning I found him lying there, like the end of a dream.

Okay, sorry for the drama guys, but this stuff is awesome. If I were not well educated enough, I'd say they squeezed milk from the non-existent udders of a hazelnut. I think I prefer it more than almond milk. Almond milk is more neutral but I love the nutty sweet flavor without it actually being sweetened.

Another thing I'd like to share (and I am way late on the bandwagon) is this documentary:

Jiro Dreams of Sushi

My father went to go see it when it came out. Most of you don't know that my father doesn't do movie theaters. He likes watching movies on the tv maybe 10 years after their release but theaters are just not his thing. What a shock when he came home and was raving about this documentary.
The reason why it only recently hit me to watch it is because the apprentice Nakazawa (the one who dedicated 6 months to perfecting his tamago dish) has opened up a new spot in NY called Sushi Nakazawa. It's one of the most raved about eating establishments in NY right now, due largely to his role in the film as well as the master he worked under (that and I'm sure it's just really good).
This film is not for everyone. I watched it with Oli and a flatmate and they didn't understand Jiro's mentality, which makes sense if you don't understand Japan's work ethics and ideals. Japan is comprised of extremely hard working people and also people that I find act more with their mind than with their physical being. Jiro had to join the work force at a very young age and he's constantly pushing and striving to be the best. It's a bit manic and I guess if you can't relate to it, it's hard to appreciate it. But I thought overall it was a good portrait of a man who is considered to be the best in his field but doesn't stop trying to learn new things and become better.

This week's Share it Saturday will be just those two things because they really spoke to me. Stay tuned for No. 3 next week! Ciao everyone!

Share it Saturdays No. 2

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