Swiss Healthy Food Blog

Vegan Christmas Gingerbread Cookies

Vegan Christmas Gingerbread Cookies

It's that time of the year again: Christmas baking! I wouldn't call myself a good cook and even less so a good baker, so I was happy to have Vic's support in making these vegan, gluten free, refined sugar free gingerbread men. Yep, you heard that correctly, these cookies are void of literally ANYTHING that might upset your stomach. Christmas is saved, people.

In my house we usually make fruit loaf, cinnamon-flavored-star-shaped-biscuits and lemon-butter-biscuits, all of which are filled with refined sugar, glutenous (is that a word?!) flour, eggs and butter. Before becoming the health freak that I am (cause let's face it, I am), I didn't mind and it was just kind of normal. But since two years I always make sure I come prepared to our Christmas get togethers by bringing my own batch of healthy cookies. I have 0 self discipline when it comes to saying no to food, so if I don't bring a healthy alternative and someone offers me a 'normal' cookie, there is no way I will say no to it. Ever.

Healthspotalk with Justine

Healthspotalk with Justine

I originally turned towards veganism for health reasons. It didn't really have anything to do with animal rights or the environmental impact; I was just thinking of my own health. But now, the more I educate myself on the matter, the more I begin to understand the profound impact a vegan diet and a vegan lifestyle can have on our planet. There are a million and one reasons why going vegan is the right choice from a moral and environmental perspective, and I'm starting open my eyes to these important matters. But about that in a later blog post..

Today I want to introduce you to Justine, a vegan blogger friend who doesn't only report about vegan food but also about cruelty-free fashion. Her mission is to show how fashionable vegan fashion can be; and hell she's doing a good job! When I scrolled through her feed for the first time I didn't even notice that all clothes are vegan. She's inspired me to start thinking about not only where my food comes from, but also where my clothes come from. I hope she will have the same impact on you guys!

Bern's First Juice Bar: I Love Juice

Bern's First Juice Bar: I Love Juice

When you walk around London or New York, you find a juice bar around every corner. According to Well To Do (one of my favourite online magazines for everything health - related) , there are now at least 25 dedicated cold-pressed juice bars across London. This doesn't even include boutique stockists, retail giants like Waitress and all the online ordering and delivery companies. Can I move back to London already? That's what I thought until recently.

But then I Love Juice Bern came for the rescue.

In Switzerland so far, surprise surprise, juice bars are a rare sight. For the most part, people here still believe that the "100 % natural" fruit juices sold at Micros and Coop are healthy. But with the opening of Bern's first cold-pressed juice bar in Herrengasse 10, a new era has began. Kudos to Tina and Tom, the founders of I Love Juice, for doing something that seems almost revolutionary for this Swiss city.

Banana And Maca Power Pancakes With Blueberries

Banana And Maca Power Pancakes With Blueberries

I wish I could say that my last weekend was a lazy weekend. The kind where you sleep for the better half of the morning and then spend the afternoon on the couch with a good book and some tea. But no, my weekend was jam-packed with celebrating #activenationday in Zurich and taking workout videos with Vic (watch this space, we'll be posting weekly workout videos soon!). This weekend I won't be hitting the snooze button either; I have planned to do a last big 30km run before my first marathon on the 25th of October. I've never ran this long before - so just in case I won't survive it, I wanted to let you know that I love you all dearly.

Also, I would not be able to leave you without sharing this one last recipe with you : warm, rich and moist banana and maca power pancakes. And power do they have! Thanks to the Peruvian superfood, these babies are an energy power house and will fuel you for the day. Note to self: Have a full stack of pancakes before going on this dreaded run.