Five things.

Hallo meine Lieben,

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend!
I love to read my friend Celeste's Five Things posts because she always writes about some awesome things I want to check out, purchase, read, watch, look at, eat etc. So I thought it might be a fun thing to kind of "steal" that idea from her and also do a "Five things" post. 
By the way, you should all go over and visit her blog The Good Girl. She is such a wonderful, warm, smart, funny, interesting person so that you should all meet her.

So here are my five things. 

1. This little puppy.

My weekend guest. She is one cute little doggie, full of energy and very playful and cuddly. I did not get much sleep last night but I am enjoying the time with her. Sadly we have to give her back to her owner tonight. 

2. This bracelet.

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It reminds me of my mom and I am just in love with the bracelet. I am also a huge fan of gold jewelry. 

3. This make up set. 

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Obsessive Compulsive cosmetics is definitely one of my favorite beauty brands. Their stuff is vegan and cruelty free and the Lip Tars are heavenly! Such beautiful colors! I haven't tried their nail polishes yet so I think this set is perfect.

4. This book shelf.

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It is probably not the most practical book shelf ever but I love the idea. And you can never have enough book shelves.

5.  This author. 

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I started to read a new (for me) series of crime novels. Because I have read all the books of all the crime authors I like. So I am discovering some new writers right now and I have to say that I am really enjoying these books. One reason might be that Arne Dahl is Swedish and all Swedish crime novels I have read so far were great.

Have a lovely weekend! I am sure I will have some more fun with the little puppy who is sleeping on my left foot right now. 

Random Thursday. Favorite easy recipes.

Hallo meine Lieben,

time for another Random Thursday! I hope you are having a wonderful day and it does not rain as much where you live as it does in Ohio. 

This is the topic.

1. Here is what I do when I have no idea what to cook.

I look into the fridge and see what vegetables I have. I choose 2 or 3 of them and roast them in a pan with lots of spices. Then I add some potatoes, rice or pasta and maybe some vegan Asian chili sauce. Done. 
I usually add a salad, preferably spinach. 
And this is how I make the dressing:
Mix horseradish mustard, soy sauce, oil, lots of spices and some water. Done. 
Sounds pretty easy and tastes delicious.

2. Kohlrabi Schnitzel.

I tried this for the first time a while ago. You can find the recipe here.

Don't burn them as much as I did. 

3. Potato-peanut butter-vegetable-curry.

I love curries. I really do. Especially when they include chick peas. One of my favorite vegetables. Well, I love all vegetables except of onions.
You can find my recipe here.

4. Red lentil soup with coconut milk and chili.

Here is my recipe. It is so easy to make and does not take very long so I always make a huge pot full of soup so that I can eat it for a couple of days. I tend to go crazy on spices but you don't have to if you don't like the soup to be too spicy. 

5. Roasted asparagus.

I am German and I think all Germans love asparagus a lot. White or green, I love them all. 
So what you have to do is to peel the asparagus and roast it in a pan for ca. 10 minutes together with some brown sugar, chili, salt and pepper. And that's it. So good. 

What are your favorite easy recipes?

Have a fabulous Thursday!

Ten On Tuesday. Vegan chocolate spread, a winner and a small island.

Hallo meine Lieben,

hope you are having a wonderful Tuesday! It's time for this:

1. I finally started running yesterday and I have to say that I am a little proud. I really want to stick to it because it is kind of fun. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I am definitely not in the greatest shape ever but I will work on it.

2. But I have to say it is not a good idea to put your key in your socks when you go running because it might start to hurt. My running pants have no pockets so I might have to get one of these armband-thingys where you can also put your iPhone in. 

3.  I really don't understand air-conditioning. Why do you want to have cold air blowing out of some holes in your wall or floor? It is just unpleasant. 

4. My new favorite spread is called "White chocolate wonderful" and it is indeed wonderful. And certified vegan.

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5. I am also addicted to zucchini and Irish breakfast tea.

6. We started to watch "By Any Means" yesterday and it makes me want to travel to some awesome places so badly. Charley Boorman travels from Ireland (!!) to Australia using 112 modes of transportation and only uses planes when he can't avoid it. Unfortunately he travels without Ewan McGregor this time. But Charley is such a fun and entertaining guy so I think the show works without Ewan.

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7. I want to ride one of these.

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8. I am currently reading "Notes from a small island" by Bill Bryson (among other books, I never only read one book at the same time) and I have to say it makes me very happy to read about England. 

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9. I need to find a similar book about Ireland. Any ideas? Or can you recommend other books about traveling?

10. I won a Shabby Apple gift card from Miki!!!! How exciting is that? Miki absolutely made my day when she told me about it (Miki, thanks again, you are so wonderful!). And now I need to decide what to get. I think I might end up ordering a dress but they have so many cute dresses and it is hard to decide.  I am in love with this one I think....

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What do you think?

Have a lovely Tuesday!

This is the end.

Hallo meine Lieben,

how's your weekend going? I hope you are having a great one!

We went to the cinema to see "This is the end" and it made me laugh so much. I definitely want to watch this movie again. Right now. And that does not happen very often. 

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Six friends  (Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jonah Hill etc) are trapped in Franco's house during the apocalypse. I don't want to spoil anything but you can trust me that strange things happen in there. If you don't mind strong language, blood, violence and drugs and if you want a good laugh and 2 hours of great entertainment, then you should definitely check out this movie.

You even get to see lots of famous people such as Rihanna, Paul Rudd, Emma Watson, Channing Tatum (probably in his best role ever), Michael Cera and the performance of a very famous boy group from the 90's (which made me laugh out loud).

Check out the trailer. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Desert Island: five items I'd want to have with me.

Hallo meine Lieben,

how is your week going? I hope it is great and full of sunshine!

I am linking up for another round of Random Tuesday. You can join the fun here.

And here's the topic.

I assume that there are at least some palm trees on that island which means that there is plenty of food (yummy coconuts) and water. So I don't need to care about that stuff. Because I can get pretty grumpy when I am hungry. 

I would also want to have some company. I guess David and the pets don't count as items but it surely would be nice to have them with me. 

So here is what I would take.

1. A bad ass knife.

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Well, these knives can pretty much do anything so I guess they should be very helpful in a situation like this. They definitely have fire-starters which I definitely need because I hate to be cold. 

2. Lots of books. 

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Because I always need some reading material. Plus I have no idea how long I will be stuck on that island so I guess it is great to have something to do. 

3. Warm socks and a blanket.

Because I always get cold. A fire is probably not enough.

4. My ipad. With unlimited battery.

I am assuming that there is free wi-fi on that island. So yeah, I guess it would be nice to have an iPad. It would provide me with even more books. And it would be nice to write emails to the people who don't have to spend their time on a desert island. 

5. A toothbrush.

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Because I am pretty sure that coconut will get stuck in my teeth. And it is really nice to be able to clean your teeth once in a while. 

What items would you want to have with you on a desert island?

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Ten On Tuesday. Childhood heroes, shoe love and stuffed animals.

Hallo meine Lieben,

time for another Ten On Tuesday post! You can link up here.

1. When I was a teenager I named my cat after Spike from Buffy. Spike is one of my favorite characters from the show and my cat was even more awesome. Loved (and still love) that little guy so much.

2. I am absolutely in love with these shoes from Alternative Outfitters. Aren't they adorable? They are vegan and absolutely perfect. I would loooove to own them.

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3. My childhood hero is Pippi Longstockings (Pippi Langrstrumpf in German).  I mean, she rocks because: she has her own house, a horse and a monkey, she is independent, her dad is a pirate and she is super strong. I have always wanted to be like her. 

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4. I need to write down notes for everything. I forget things. And I am old school. So I use paper and pen.

5. I got a couple of new books and I want to read all of them at the same time: some crime novels by Ian Rankin, Kathy Reichs and Arne Dahl, The know-it-all and a book about Ireland.

6. My latest food addiction are watermelons. I can't get enough of them. I eat them with the seeds because it is too much work not to. The problem is that I always call them "waterlemons" and I have no idea why. 

7. I love to fall asleep while I watch a show or a movie. I don't know why but it feels very comfortable. 

8. I still own my first stuffed animals and I love them so much. One of them is a bear which I got from my Mom. She already owned him as a child. And the other one is a donkey named "Esel" (which means donkey in German). When I had to go to the hospital as a child,  he always went with me.

9. I also still own this train-thingy. I really had a fun time as a child.  I love to look at old pictures. 

10. I love to wake up in the middle of the night and realize that I can fall back asleep and don't have to get up.

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Vegan Kohlrabi "Schnitzel" awesomeness.

Hallo meine Lieben,

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!
As you may know, I love to cook and I love to eat. So I thought it might be nice to share some recipes once in a while. Let me know if you hate the idea. 
This recipe is easy, doesn't take much time and the end product is very delicious. Let me know how you like it if you decide to give it a try.

I am talking about Kohlrabi-Schnitzel. Schnitzel is a very popular thing in German speaking countries but I don't eat meat as you probably  and that is why I have to to be a little creative when it comes to Schnitzel. There are many vegan and vegetarian alternatives made of soy, seitan and so on but I got pretty excited when I heard that you can make a Schnitzel out of Kohlrabi (also called turnip cabbage). 
Kohlrabi is this thing here.

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And this is what you need.

- 1 Kohlrabi

- some flour

- some water

- some breadcrumbs 

- some spices

- a pan, an oven, some oil, a knife. 

You don't need very much as you can see.

And here here is what you need to do with that stuff:

- remove the leaves from the Kohlrabi and give it to your bunnies. They will be happy about it. Not too much at a time though.

- peel the Kohlrabi, a simple potato peeler should work fine.

- cut the Kohlrabi into thin slices. 3-5 mm should be fine. It depends on how you prefer it.

- mix the flour with some water. A soup bowl would be perfect for it.  You can already add some spices to this mixture. I love it spicy so I usually use a lot of spices. Again, it depends on how you like it. Put each slice of Kohlrabi into the flour-water-mix so that everything is covered.

- put some breadcrumbs in another bowl. You can also add some spices. Then put the wet Kohlrabi slices in the breadcrumbs. The slices should be covered with breadcrumbs because of the sticky flour stuff. 

- repeat this with every slice of Kohlrabi.

- put some oil in a pan and roast the slices in there. 5-1o minutes and they should be ready. If you excessively roast them, then they will look like mine.

- I added some more spices in the end but just because I really love spicy food.

- enjoy!

You can eat them with pretty much everything you want. I love potatoes and salad for example. 

Oh, another thing.

I don't know what will happen with Google Friend Connect but if you like my blog you can also follow me via Bloglovin here. Thank you!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Random Thursday: Give us a tour....

Hallo meine Lieben,

time for another Random Thursday post! Please feel free to link up here.

I am excited for this week's topic because I can't wait to read the other girls' posts.

I have thought about this topic a lot and I wasn't sure if there is anything worth giving a tour. I guess the house I live in would have been an idea...maybe I will do this another time. I ended up with the idea of giving you a tour through the place I grew up: the wonderful state of Saarland, Germany.

This is the town I spent my childhood in: a small village in the south-west of Germany with a nice population of 700 fantastic people. In this fantastic place you can find lots of gossip, a bakery, a hair dresser, a playground, volunteer firefighters  and a bus stop. That's it. 

As you can see the options in that place are limited but it was a perfect place for a wonderful childhood. I was always able to play outside and be in the nature. My best friends lived next door. There was no crime. Everybody was friendly and gave you candy. 

Another plus of my hometown is that it is located very close to France, Luxembourg and even Belgium isn't very far.  Great to do some awesome trips. And to get cheaper gas, coffee and alcohol. 

When I started to go to the "Gymnasium" - which is not a place where you work out but one of the school types in Germany - I had to take one of the 3 buses that stopped at my village each day to the next "bigger" city. Which was exciting for sure. I mean, come on, it was a city with a population of 30.000 people. Wow. That place even had stores!

When I started university I moved to an even bigger city. Unbelievable but true: the capital of my home state has a population of 176.000 people. I know, you can't really compare this to any of the bigger cities in America but it was still the biggest city in my home state. 

That places had good stores. Not just stores. No, stores you want to buy something. And clubs and restaurants and museums. Wow. 

There are different things my home state is famous for. 

Some disgusting sausage called Lyoner. You can see me eating it in the following picture. Probably one of the last times I ate meat.

A company which is world famous for making dinnerware and stuff like that.

We don't use a grill, we use a "Schwenker". If you dare to call it "grill" you must have to leave the state. 

And some other really fascinating things. As you can see, the place I come from is the most exciting place ever. 

I hope you enjoyed my little tour.
Have a great day!

Ten On Tuesday. Kohlrabi, a vampire slayer and a good fat.

Hallo meine Lieben,

how's your week going? I hope it is full of sunshine and happiness!
I am linking up with Lin, you can join the Ten On Tuesday fun here.

1.  My latest food addiction is Kohlrabi Schnitzel. So yummy, vegan and easy to make. I want to eat them every day.

2. I was surprised to hear that you can use the word "Kohlrabi" in English too. You can also say "cabbage turnip" but I don't know if it is very common. 

3. I rediscovered my love for "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".  I am watching season 2 right now. It is fun to see my favorite characters Spike, Oz and Giles again. 

4. It is weird to see David Boreanaz as Angel after you've seen him as Agent Booth in Bones. I need to figure out if he is more of a vampire or FBI agent. 

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5.  I love to eat potatoes (I am pretty sure every German does) but I hate peeling them. I should hire a potato peeler. I would probably eat potatoes every single day if I would not have to peel them.

6. I am refusing to drink out of jars. They are for marmalade.

7.  This tote bag rocks.

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8. I don't know if somebody told this kid to say these things or if he is just really smart...but that is pretty awesome.

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9. All the time I have preferred wearing contact lenses but right now I am absolutely in love with glasses. I just think it is time for a new pair. I already found a really cute one I adore. 

10. My mean word of the week is "miscellaneous" because I have no idea how to say it. I never use it. Never ever.  I am glad you can easily replace it.

I hope you enjoy your week, lovelies!

Alphabet style old school blogging.

Hallo meine Lieben,

hope you are having a wonderful weekend!
My lovely friend Susi from BocaFrau - she is a fellow German who lives in the United States by the way - tagged me and wants me to join this fun game. Thanks, Susi!

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I am planning on having a lazy weekend by the way. What about you?

A. Attached or Single? 

Attached to this great guy here:

B. Best friend?

David is my best friend which is very important to me. He's not "just my husband", he is also my best friend and partner in crime. 
My other best friend is Julia. I have known her for my whole life, we've grown up together, went to kindergarten together, watched ER together...She's the best. 

C. Cake or Pie?

I have to admit that I still have no idea what exactly the difference is. Maybe it is like "Torte" and "Kuchen" in German. I don't know. All I know is that I don't like anything with frosting or whipped cream etc. I like dry cake or fruity stuff. 

D. Day of choice? 

Well, Saturday. It is the most relaxed day of the week and that is why I like it. 

E. Essential item?

Do pets count as items? I guess not. Then I have to go with a good book and my iPad. 

F. Favorite color?

I like all colors. It really depends. For clothes I usually prefer black but I also love green and purple a lot. In my house I like brown shades and white with a splash of color. I like pink flowers. I told you...all colors are pretty. 

G. Gummy bears or worms? 

I don't care as long as they are vegan. 

H. Hometown? 

A little town with a population of 700 in the state of Saarland, Germany. Not far away from France, Luxembourg and Belgium. 

I. Favorite Indulgence?

Hmm, I really like chips a lot. And going shoe shopping. 

J. January or July? 

July because my birthday is in July. It's also way too cold for me in January. 

K. Kids?

Furry ones. Cats and bunnies. Tiger and Lumpi for example. 

L. Life isn’t complete without?

David, animals, my family, a reason to smile. Oh, and books.

M. Marriage date? 

November 17, 2011. 

N. Number of brothers/sisters? 

I don't have any brothers or sisters which is kind of sad because I would love to have some. But David's siblings are basically mine too now...so that's cool. 

O. Oranges or Apples?

Both, please. I like all fruits. 

P. Phobias? 

Oh yeah. I am scared to death of deep water. And with deep I mean deeper than 1 m (3,2 feet). I don't get scared very easily but water really freaks me out. 

Q. Quotes? 

We must fight against the spirit of unconscious cruelty with which we treat the animals. Animals suffer as much as we do. True humanity does not allow us to impose such sufferings on them. It is our duty to make the whole world recognize it. Until we extend our circle of compassion to all living things, humanity will not find peace. ~Albert Schweitzer

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. ~Gandhi

Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.

~Albert Einstein

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R. Reasons to smile?

Sometimes I struggle with findings things to smile about. There is so much cruelty in this world which makes it hard. But you need to be able to see the good things too. David makes me smile, my friends, animals, reading a good book, spending time in nature, a beautiful flower. The little things in life are the ones that make me smile. 

S. Season of choice? 

Spring and fall. Because you can see all the beautiful colors then. 

T. Tag 5 people. 

Beate, Celeste, Meg, Niken, Martha, Lissa,  Chrissy and Cassie. And everybody who wants to join of course! And yes, I know, I can't count. 

U. Unknown fact about me?

I have an annoying kidney disease. 

V. Vegetable? 

Oh yes, please. I love all vegetables except of onions because onions are evil. I would say my favorites are broccoli, asparagus, chick peas, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, kale, sauerkraut. 

W. Worst habit?

I check a hundred times if the oven is off and the doors are locked. I talk too much when we watch TV. 

X. Xray or Ultrasound? 

None of them if I can avoid it. But I have to get my kidneys checked by ultrasound every once in a while.

Y. Your favorite food. 

I love eating. My favorite is Indian food. I could eat it every single day. I also like Italian, Chinese, Mexican...I love salads. Brötchen. And potatoes. They are the best. 

Z. Zodiac sign? 

Cancer. 

Have a wonderful Saturday!

Phone photo dump.

Hallo meine Lieben,

it time for another Random Thursday post and today I will share some random pictures from my phone with you. Hope you enjoy.
You can link up here.

I have to admit  that these are not really the last pictures I have taken. I decided to chose some more interesting pictures out of the 1711 pictures on my phone. So they are a little older but I still hope you enjoy. Be prepared for some cuteness overload.

Let's go. 

When my Dad's cat Jerry got a new cat tree, she did not really care very much about the tree for the first couple of days. The box it came it was much more interesting.

I always get excited when I go out for a walk and see some animals. Here is a really cute group of sheep with some baby black sheep. 

One of Findus' and Tiffie's favorite things to do is cuddle with each other and fall asleep. Aren't they adorable. Their havorite place to sleep is a pillow that I originally got for the cats. But they ignored it.

Doesn't that look comfortable? Tiger snuggled up on a pillow and a blanket. One of his favorite places to sleep. 

Tiger enjoys hiding under a blanket AND sleeping on another blanket. The blanket he is sleeping on is my first baby blanket by the way. 

As you can see, Lumpi liked the same spot. 

I hope you enjoyed my pictures! Now I am excited to see some of yours. Do you also have so many pictures on your phone? 

Happy Thursday!