Lifeway Kefir – my dearest love

I have a huge love for Lifeway kefir. It all started in 7th grade when I moved to the States. We drank kefir back in Poland quite often but I don’t remember the brand. Then we came here and started buying the Lifeway brand… these flavors are simply out of this world. They have such a huge variety of flavors, it’s ridiculous – it’s impossible not to find something you like, no matter how picky you might be. Kefir is slightly tart in flavor which is a perfect kick of freshness and complexity to this already delicious high-protein and high-probiotic drinkable “yogurt.” I talked about the benefits of kefir in one of my earliest posts and you’re welcome to check it out if you aren’t convinced of the amazeballs quality of this product yet. They should be paying me for how much I advocate and promote their product haha. Just kidding. Kinda. 😛

Anyway, when I moved to downtown Chicago for college, I came upon Starfruit Cafe. It’s a froyo shop except.. they use Lifeway kefir instead of yogurt. You can only imagine my excitement. I’ve been a frequent customer here ever since. Thank God for Groupon having deals on their giftcards sometimes or else I would be broke like a joke by now! haha

Raspberry Mint Yogurt Bites

My parents’ garden is filled with raspberries. I love how easily they want to grow. Every day there is a ton of new ones ripening and they are simply delicious! No pesticides here, oh no. Why would we want to sacrifice taste to make sure a fruit is bug-free? Who cares if there’s a bug in there or if the raspberries come out big or small? I think flavor is what really matters in a delicious fruit.

Take non-organic strawberries for example – they barely taste like anything. Regular strawberries seem to have no flavor to me, similarly to many other berries as well as cherries. But try an organic berry and your world will be blown. The flavor is so intense and complex it simply bursts in your mouth and your tastebuds dance in joy as they have never danced before! Now that’s a celebration of fresh fruit!

Combining raspberries with fresh mint leaves seemed like a great idea. Adding yogurt to the mix, similarly how I did with the chocolate-covered yogurt bites a while back was the basis for the creation. This delicious snack does a great job at cooling you down on a hot summer day all while delivering important antioxidants and protein from the yogurt.

Gotta love quick (kinda) and easy summer desserts. This is why summer is my favorite. Nothing in the world beats fresh home berries. Yum!

Tuna Kefir Salad (high protein)

Lately, Tuna Kefir Salad has been frequenting my dinner option. I’ve posted about it before in my WIAW and Instagram multiple times but I thought I’d share exactly what it is I put into it. This is a super quick, easy, and filling salad with a big pow of protein!

I’ve been eating a lot more veggies lately and I love it. I’ve been going through two bags of spring mix and spinach in only a couple of days! I feel that when I eat more veggies throughout the day, I feel better and lighter and end up eating less calories than I would otherwise. It’s a win-win!

Oatmeal Pancake

Sunday night was a breakthrough for my culinary experiences. A breakthrough that is rather embarrassing- especially since almost everyone has made this food before. Not me though. Not until last night, that is. Last night, ladies and gentlemen, was the first time I made pancakes. Or one pancake, actually, but I only have one mouth to feed. Yes, last night was breakfast for dinner. And yes, it was my first time ever making pancakes. Embarrassing, I know.

In my defense, we didn’t have pancakes in Poland. And my mom never made them when we moved here. The only time I really ever had pancakes was when I went to brunch with someone. I thought it was about time to change this. I thought of pancakes as indulgences because I know they aren’t usually the healthiest option on the resto menu but I know there are ways to make them healthy. This is exactly what I did.

The outcome.. wow. Extremely easy and yields such great result. Such a great outcome. Yeah, it’s silly for someone to think “oh my gosh, I made such great pancakes last night!” but for me, this is an accomplishment! I told you guys before, I am totally new to the kitchen and any time I make something that turns out better than well is just amazing to me. So yeah, this pancake will most definitely frequent my breakfast (or dinner 😉 menu from now on. I can already see it… such a great post-workout breakfast. I’m excited already.

However, the only reason why I made these really was to get rid of the lasts of egg whites I had in the fridge so I could be ready for the vegan challenge which starts today. So yeah, I have to say goodbye to egg whites and honey for a while.

Oatmeal-Raisin Breakfast Cookies

Time to get into the vegan mindset. I am doing a vegan challenge starting Monday and I am therefore prepping myself up for it. I have already finished my greek yogurt and I’m gonna have the last of my egg whites tomorrow.

I’ve been looking for different recipes to use during the vegan week. Am I completely prepared? No. But that’s okay. I’m excited to start! I decided to make some quick breakfasts ready and what better way to start your day than with a cookie? Exactly. Such a perfect decision. Especially when that cookie is also low calorie!

I love me a healthy cookie!

Chocolate Hazelnut Fudge

Sometimes we try to do something and something else comes out of it instead. Not necessarily bad or good. Just different. It came out to be good in this example, actually. While I was still at my parents’ this weekend, we bought a whole bunch of hazelnuts to make some homemade Nutella. Well, we didn’t get Nutella… However we got a snack out of it. Still good.

The flavor is interesting. Not very similar to Nutella at all but my mom and I really enjoyed it. We both really like the taste of roasted hazelnuts because their flavor is very distinct. On the other hand, my dad and boyfriend weren’t big fans – they weren’t sure what to think of the distinct flavor. I think it’s because it was more unfamiliar to them and perhaps not sweet enough. For me, I thought it was a perfect snack as long as it’s eaten straight out of the fridge. The coldness allows them to hold their shape and I think it enhances the flavor in a nice way.

Baked Muffin Egg

I had another kind of a misadventure in the kitchen, my stuff doesn’t always come out the way I expect it to, but gladly the taste is never compromised. I forgot to spray the pan before baking though and I spent a good 20 minutes scraping it afterwards. Lovely. Anyways, sometimes (okay, often) I feel like eating breakfast food later in the day. Sometimes twice in a day. I’ve even had a breakfast day once, where all I ate was breakfast food. Needless to say, I like breakfast food. It’s usually fast and easy which I like. I wanted to make this baked egg today for lunch and the result tasted just as good as I expected it to. It’s my first time baking eggs (I usually just fry them) but I am really enjoying my learning in the kitchen and always look forward to finding new cooking techniques. I learn on my own mistakes too and I’m sure next time I won’t make the mistake of not spraying the pan before cooking 🙂 Typical newbie error.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake

I’m in a rush today, I just got home from class and I have to leave again to meet my mom and go to my boyfriend’s apartment. I had a few minutes to spare though and I’m craving chocolate so I decided to make a little quick single serve dessert.

The topping kind of looks like an egg, but no worries that is just greek yogurt and a dollop of peanut butter!