Veggie Burgers

Hey there. I know I disappeared for a week, but I was on break from school and internship shenanigans. I did actually put a lot of thought into weather I was going to take this completely off or continue blogging, and chose this first because I was working at my side job and doing lots of things so I took the time for me to recuperate and am coming back full force. So from here on out the goal is once again posts every Sunday with eventual bonus posts during the week. And I have lots of ideas!

I love me some veggie burgers. I was watching YouTube videos and saw several videos from Sorted food as part of their #BeatMyBurger line and remembered some wonderful black bean burgers I made a while back. I don't however remember the exact recipe so I winged it with this one which has more texture and a wonderful flavor. So firstly, I cooked some black beans the day before so they are not quite as soft as those from a can, but both work just fine.
First I took about 1 cup of green Spelt. (This is a common ingredient here, but far less popular in the United States. I recommend checking natural food stores) and about the same amount of hot broth, or just enough to cover the spelt well so it can soak up most of the liquid. This takes about 15 minuets. Once it is finished and the spelt is softened and the broth liquid is mostly absorbed about 1.5 cups of black beans with some of their cooking liquid and any spices go in. I have here from the top left some sun dried cherry tomatoes finely chopped, salt, freshly ground black pepper, fresh herbs, coriander and cumin.


 At this point I used my hand to mix and mash everything really well, but with canned beans they might be easier to mash with a potato masher before adding. My mixture was a little too runny, so I added 2 Tbsp of fine oat flakes to thicken it up. If it is too thick , just add little bit of water 1 tbsp at a time.






then I just spooned the mixture into a hot pan and let both sides get nice and crispy. They do hold up really well and do not need any egg to bind everything making these delicious burgers vegan! So these are done now and I am just going to take the patties and some salad with lots of fresh veggies to work with me tonight. You could of course add a bun and the condiments for a more traditional burger if that suits you better.

Clean Cosmetics - a Closer Look at Parabens

I find the topic of safety of cosmetics fascinating and the more I look into this the more I realize that this is really controversial. The only thing everyone seems to agree on is that there is a lack of research. I found that it was easier to start some where and for some reason I had parabens on my mind, so why not start there?

Parabens are preservatives that are found in personal care products, make up, pharmaceuticals and even food. They are cheep to produce, effective bactericidal and fungicidal properties and have been used for years. Products need preservatives to keep from growing bacterial colonies or fungi, both of which are gross but also potentially dangerous. In more recent studies parabens have been found in breast cancer cells and have been found to mimic estrogen. The piece about parabens being found in breast cancer tissue doesn't however show that they case cancer, rather that the molecules are absorbed and stored by the tissue. The research that parabens are carcinogenic (cancer causing) is simply not there. The direct link has not been proven, but it has also not been disproven which makes all of this so controversial. Because not knowing means we can trust that its been like this for long enough or to avoid a potential risk to minimize any unwanted side effects. Parabens are also believed to mimic estrogen, which I personally find far more frightening. Any hormone or hormone mimicking substance can affect fertility and the general homeostasis and balance of your body this is particularly strong in children and children in puberty. When we are no longer developing the effects are not quite as severe, but also rather controversial and honestly a whole topic of its own. Studies also indicate that methylparaben in skin products reacts with UVB rays and increases skin aging and damages DNA.

 Essentially: knowledge is power and knowing what the deal is is crucial to deciding what products you want to use and buy. So I implore you to be informed, because this is an overview and I am not an expert and all the information I found is available on line. I take form this that I will from this day buy products that stay on my skin and are exposed to sun without parabens and minimize my exposure to them through “rinse off” products.

A Funny Story About Adventures

The story starts in 1995 with a baby Eva Mathilde being born in Dresden Germany, then we might as well jump to 2001 because nothing all too exciting or relevant happens before my family moves to Boston USA. Then we might as well fast forward to me trying to decide what to do with my life like so many high school seniors do. And for several reasons I decided to move back to Dresden.

I went into this thinking that it would be the big adventure of my life, and somewhere in the back of my mind I really wanted to blog about moving so far away from home and life as a so called adult, but I was too busy. So I thought I would just postpone any real blogging for when I got situated. And it hit me that about a year later I just started blogging more regularly as life has allowed me to do so. Which makes all of this quite the funny story with the real kicker being that my life if just my life. In progress.

But for today, I would like to share my little adventures from the long weekend. So here goes with Thursday night because we all know that when Friday is a holiday, the weekend starts Thursday night. I started my weekend with a lovely muscle and joint bath since I have been having problems with my knees lately and woke up this morning with mysterious shoulder discomfort that had not let up. So to conclude a day where I had been on my feet for most of the day starting at 7am all the way to 21:15 it was truly fitting and wonderful! No pictures here because the light is bad and there wasn't much exciting to photograph since I went to bed not long after.

Friday was Halloween, which is not quite as big here as it is in America, but it is an excuse to through themed parties which is always fun. In any case it falls on a national holiday which means that I had nowhere to be and didn’t leave my house until about 5pm. But I went for a nice walk as the sun had just set and I curled up in many layers and took an aspirin for my shoulder. I also opted not to go out tonight because of my shoulder despite my love for everything Halloween.

I spend about two hours waiting to get my shoulder checked out by doctor and about 15Euro at the pharmacy for the medication recommended by the doctor and some homeopathic remedies that I wanted to stock up on for my home pharmacy stores. But when I left the clinic I went for a lovely walk before being too weighed down with groceries to take any more pictures on the way home.

As much as I hate to admit this: I did not leave my apartment at all on Sunday. I got so caught up in school stuff and had some technical difficulties. So that just sucked up my whole day! I also talked on the telephone with some family members and then I made dinner for me and my roommate who came back today because she went to visit her parents for the weekend. But essentially I always have one big assignment over the internship blocks where I have to test all kinds of things on one patient and sum it up and then write what I did with them in one of my therapie sessions. I suppose it makes sence that this could consume my whole Sunday if I don't watch out or force myself to do something, but now that it is done and really only needs a final read through I am incredibly relieved. 

Also I would have posted this earlier but I was just now torn out of my bubble when I saw the time. So off to bed it is as soon as I finish this. I hope you enjoyed reading this and feel free to leave a comment below. 

October Was a Cozy Month

and here is what I quite enjoyed this month:

Somehow being in a work setting more than a school setting I found that while sometimes stressful and while I was having to prepare things now and again I had a lot of time for myself that I didn't have to use studying and it allowed twitter to happen... if you have one that is actively in use, you know what I mean. It's addictive.
Also it got quite cold this month and there were some rainy patches which explains the candles and sweaters and general cozy atmosphere that I have tried to build in my home environment.
And this may be the most exciting bit: I bought I used DSLR! I have had mixed results with the local eBay functions here, but that has more to do with the people and the fact that the best stuff is gone really quickly, but this high turnover rate also makes great little bits that you can be lucky enough to find, and this camera really is still in great condition and it is a good one for me to start out with.

Concluding an Exercise in Self-Control

In mid July I posted about a promise to myself that I would use up 8 products before I buy anything new for myself that I cannot reasonably justify. In that post I knew that it might go terribly wrong and I also knew that there are certain things that I was going to repurchase and wouldn’t want to wait for.

So from this attempt I learned a few things. Firstly I noticed that when I am downtown looking for something for someone else I am quickly tempted to treat myself as well. I was buying a birthday present for my cousin when I strayed from the goal to treat myself.

Secondly I noticed that I am impulsive in treating myself to something like a nice bath. And when I am having a bad week and the weather in cold and rainy too boot I am all for “cheating” and allowing myself to have that experience (with the bath salt packet I bought for the occasion) without feeling guilty about it.

Last but not least I think I saved quite a bit of money! Not tons but enough that it caught my attention. Probably also because the whole thing put me in a mindset where I was being far more conscious of my consumption and justifying what I purchase.

I think I learned form this, and putting a number on the situation does give a nice solid goal to work towards and a sense of accomplishment once there. I think that this also worked out really well for me despite my not being very strict about the whole thing. Also if this mindset and general way of looking at the products I use and particularly the things I purchase then I wont be setting this kind of goal too soon. But if I notice things piling up again I probably will try to strictly reduce it, and this is most certainly an effective method.

Clean Cosmetics- Where to Begin?

I've been thinking a lot about synthetic ingredients and natural cosmetics. I once had a rule of thumb to only buy things where I could pronounce the ingredients and avoid everything with long or weird names that only dermatologists and chemists would recognize. This quickly unraveled because there seemed to always be something.
The next option would be to minimize the number of things that cannot be pronounced in one take, but where the line should be drawn is always rather fuzzy. And what if the list is endlessly long?
So like I mentioned, lately this topic has caught my attention several times. And I know it is a bit of a trend to watch out for silicons, sulfates, parabens, mineral oil and aluminum salts. But what does that mean? Why those things? And as if those five things weren't enough once you start looking you find lists of 10, 15, 20 things to avoid. Should I write them down for the next time I'm out shopping? Its a mess!
Maybe focus on what is really bad for me and what is just highly complex. A simple Google search will bring up plenty of of credible sites with great tips that make it seem so easy. But if you are shopping in a plain old drugstore and reading all kinds of labels and trying to remember 15 things to look out for you might wish you had an eidetic memory and the powers to quickly crosscheck all of those pages you had read last weekend.
To get to the point: I really have been making an effort to pay attention to the products I buy and even more so to those that I use on a daily basis and repurchase regularly. It's not easy and it takes more time. These products tend to be more expensive, but that investment is one I personally am willing to make. And most importantly I believe it is doable, and I want to get better at picking out the toxins that I don’t always realize are there.
I'm curious what you think about this. Please leave a comment with experiences or tips! I would much appreciate it!

Bobby Pins to the Rescue

The awkward stage between lengths when you want to grow out your hair can not only look weird, but but be incredibly annoying! This is where bobby pins save my sanity and keep me from seeming like I have a tick because I am constantly trying to get the hair out of my eyes. These are mostly variations on the same thing, but the subtle differences make for cute styles that vary from day to day. I hope you enjoy my series of selfies! If anyone has other ideas for this length hair let me know.
Until next time!