Wednesday 21 June 2017

Smoothies & oatmeals

Hello!

It's been quite dreary and cold in Finland for couple of days. I've had early mornings at work and thus I've fallen in love with making over night oats for breakfast! So easy, quick and so many ways to make a delicious overnight oats bowl that is waiting for you all ready in the refrigerator on the busy mornings. Additionally it's good for you! In this post I'll share one of my recent favorite overnight oats bowl recipe I've created. I'll make another post as well containing couple of different oatmeal recipes since lately I've been doing a lot of these! (:

Rosehip - raspberry overnight oats


Packed with nutrition and dietary fibre + it's delicious. At least me and my love absolutely love this :D
  • rolled oats (old fashioned :)
  • vanilla flavored soy milk
  • ~3/4 cup of rose hip puree
  • a little raisins/dates
  • sunflowerseeds
  • pumpkinseeds
  • frozen raspberries




Take a bowl or a soup plate, put into it a suitable amount of rolled oats for you and the amount of vanilla flavored soy milk adjusted to the amount of rolled oats, so the oats will mostly absorb the "milk". Add the rose hip puree and mix a bit. Toss over the oats a few raisins, or pieces of dried dates and place to the refrigerator over night. In the morning just top the bowl with some seeds & a few frozen raspberries. :) (You can smash the raspberries a bit so they will spread more evenly!)
With gluten free rolled oats it's gluten free portion. It's also a dairy free & vegan friendly breakfast. 

Rose hip puree is delicious with a bit added sweetness, particularly rich in vitamin C and contains the carotenoids, beta-carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin and lycopene which all give us plenty of nutritional benefits and are very good for us!

In a scheduled day a smoothie is an easy, quick and effortless way to have something delicious, healthy and packed with nutrition to keep you going. For the weather has been rainy and cold I decided again to create something refreshing to drink.

On yesterday evening I created this perky smoothie blend packed with vitamins and fresh flavors to wake myself up for work today :D I named this yellow drink as 

Sunny day... and for recreating it you'll need:
  • 2-bananas
  • 2-granny smith apples (or a bit sour apples)
  • a handful of fresh mint leaves
  • a cup of pineapple chunks
  • a cup of mango chunks 
  • 1/4 cup of sea buckthorn
  • an orange, squeezed
  • ice cubes & protein powder
These amounts of ingredients made a little bit over one liter of ready smoothie. You can easily adjust the amounts also to a smaller portion of smoothie. Peel the fruits and chop. Place everything to the blender and blend! (:  

Now it's time to prepare the overnight oats bowl for tomorrow morning and then start to orientate myself towards the bed so I'm able to get up at 5.45 in the morning.

~Hopefully everyone has been having a nice week!~
Good night to U, or what ever time it's for U 😘
-♡Tiina♡-

Monday 12 June 2017

I'm back!

Hello folks! (:

Been a long time without writing a post. The weeks simply got that hectic and busy with starting at the new job, having classes at school on evenings and having to finish all the compulsory course tasks in addition to desperately trying to prepare for the final exams as well that I dropped everything I didn't "have to do". Now the school is over for summertime and I have just work and my life so there will be posts more often again!

Last week the life almost felt like a vacation :D I had total three days off work and neither tons of assignments waiting for me nor any actual commitments. I did some cooking and the ordinary household chores, went to gym and went to see my grandmother (she's recovering from a stroke.) On Saturday evening I got a chance to participate in a Kangoo Jumping class and it was awesome, even I nearly had an asthma attack. 😄 If you have a change to try it I recommend you to take a try! It's very efficient exercising, fun and it wont hurt your joints. Also went out with my sis on Saturday evening and met some friends. On Sunday some time with my love and family.

Now a new work week has started and this week I have just one day off work, but now I do have time and most importantly some enthusiasm again to write blog posts when I've actually gotten to relax a bit.

Recently I created for lunch a tasty and quick grain free and dairy free tuna salad, packed with good amount of nutrients.
For one serving you'll need:

  • canned tuna chunks in olive oil (about half a cup to one cup)
  • one tomato
  • handful of frozen peas
  • handful of cooked kidney beans (self cooked, or conserved)
  • small piece of zucchini
  • small piece of scallion
  • 3-leaves of romaine salad
  • handful of watercress
Just adapt the amount of ingredients to the amount of servings you want to make (: 
Chop the salad and the watercress + zucchini and the scallion into a strainer. Rinse and let them trickle in the strainer for a while. Pour the salad onto plate and slice the tomato to the serving. Add the tuna and the kidney beans and melt the peas in the strainer under warm water for a while and cool off the peas with cold water. Pour the peas into the salad, mix it a bit and it's ready!
You can also add some herbs or spices to this, if you want to! (For instance fresh basil would taste great in this salad) Also avocado would taste good in this salad if you want to add some!

Today it's been a very grey cold and rainy day. My mind wondered back to memories of beautiful warm summer evenings and magical summer sunsets. I had an inspiration to create a fruity and fresh smoothie tasting like a perfect summer day :)

smoothie, fruit smoothie
Summerday smoothie
For this one you'll need:
  • 2-bananas
  • one pear
  • half of a red grapefruit, squeezed
  • 3/4 cup of pineapple chunks
  • handful of fresh mint leaves
  • a small piece of fresh ginger
  • cup of mango cubes
  • 3/4 cup of strawberries
  • + protein powder & ice cubes
These amounts of ingredients will make about 1-liter of ready smoothie! Put everything into a powerful blender and blend! (:

Now it's my time to prepare the lunch box for work tomorrow and soon head to bed. Early morning at work ahead.

~Have a nice week!~
♡ -Tiina-♡


Tuesday 16 May 2017

Moment of relaxation

Hi everyone!

The first two days in the new workplace done and man there's a lot to learn. Too much information to intake! :D But so far everything has gone fine and I'm sure I'll learn all those different technical protocols and devices related to the work and all the different the cash desk functions. My job is to be a sales person and a warehouse worker in a whole sale shop for professional kitchens and restaurants. Mostly the company sells via deliveries straight to customers and we have to gather ready all the ordered items for different companies by the delivery time. We also ofc refill the shelves in the shop and arrange new products to the shelves, do inventory, be sales persons to the customers in the shop, keep everything in order in the shop etc.

I should do assignments I guess, but I already did some before going to work and after work I had school. Now I feel like no assignments anymore. 😏 :D Besides my head is so tired of trying to learn something new right now that I probably wouldn't actually even learn anything anymore if I tried! 😄

Time to relax a little bit. I mentioned already in one post of mine the Forever Living's Marine mask. I have it on my face and I'm having some sparking water with lemon.

This is very refreshing experience every time you use it! Just apply into rinsed face a layer and let it be 20-minutes! Simple, easy and good also for males. As Forever's products typically this as well has been made to match the needs of all the skin types and it gives your skin just what it needs! The Marine mask combines deep cleansing, toning, refreshing and deep moisturizing of the skin with cucumber extract, honey, aloe vera and sea minerals. A perfect all in one facial skin care product.

I just rinsed it off and my skin feels all clean and refreshed. I also applied a little bit of this luxurious serum into my skin for wanting to give some true pampering to my tired face! :D

This lovely soothing and excellent skin care providing serum earns its own post and I'll write more about it later on!

In this post I'm about to share a refreshing little bit kind of sweet and sour smoothie blend that always zests my day with it's fresh taste and excellent nutritional value.

For about one liter of this smoothie you'll need:


  • 2-bananas
  • 2-apples
  • an avocado
  • one lime, squeezed
  • two handfuls of fresh spinach
  • piece of fresh gincer
  • a cup of frozen mango cubes
  • a small handful of sea-buckthorn berries
  • ice cubes & some protein powder

Blend in a powerful blender, enjoy the refreshing taste and this smoothie as a nutrition packed snack, or a breakfast smoothie (Ps. if you want it to be a bit sweeter, pineapple would do that perfectly!)

Recently I've gotten plenty of dm requests on instagram. I'm sorry, but I don't have much time or interest for dm conversations since I do have quite a busy life currently and a lot to do. The time I can spare to socializing I'll spend with my love, family and the closest friends of mine. I'm very thankful for all the appreciation though and I'm doing my best to be able to respond all the comments I'm getting to my gallery. Want to say thanks to all of you lovely people leaving me such lovely and encouraging comments!

Want to thank all of you for reading my writings here as well! :)
Now I'm still relaxing a while and then it's time to go to bed again so I can get my ass up early enough tomorrow to get everything done I need to get done, before I must go to work and after work to school again! :D

~Good night to you, or what ever time it's for you!~
♡-Tiina-♡

Friday 12 May 2017

Busy Life

Hello!

Already Friday! The days just fly by when you have plenty to do! :D
I've tried to study as much as possible in addition to attending the classes at school during this week. Next week I'll start in my new job and have classes during evenings. The week after next one will be the exam week and for working the days and attending on the classes the evenings and having to take care of all the assignments to pass the courses I won't have much time for preparing to the exams I'll have. Two very busy weeks ahead and then finally it will be the summer break at school and I'll have just the work and rest of the time I can actually do what I want to :D

It was a stunning sunset tonight! 😍

When there's a lot going on in life we might easily get tired or stressed. So will our skin, if we are exposed to stress too long time, sleep too little, eat irregularly, make poor nutritional choices, drink too little water etc... I guess everyone who's even a little bit interested in taking good care of her (or his!) skin knows what's bad for our skin but not necessarily how to treat the mixed, oily, dry, tight or dull skin and what kind of products are good for it.
I'm not a cosmetologist, but I actually do have a degree of  make up artist & stylist. As I mentioned in my very first blog post in English, I've always been interested in cosmetics and skincare and thus I've educated myself a bit further into the world skincare products as well.

 I also mentioned in my first post that I've fallen in love especially with the products of Forever Living company. Why are these ones so superior then? Take any body or face lotion or skin care product you use: Dior, Lancôme, YSL, Lauder, Chanel, Lorèal, Nivea...Anything! And check out the ingredient list, I bet the first word on the list is aqua. Mostly all the cosmetics of the world is based on water and I'm not saying all of those products are lousy or bad, NO! Not at all necessarily, but water based cosmetics always treats only the outermost layer of our skin. Forever's cosmetics is based on aloe vera gel, prepared from hand picked organically and ecologically grown aloe vera. The gel is made with Forever's unique stabilization method keeping it as fresh and flawless as possible.
 What makes aloe special in skincare is that aloe's molecules will pass your skin layers and will be effective on the outermost layer of our skin and also deep inside our skin! Forever's products are also very affordable, considering they are luxurious quality and majority of the products are made to be suitable to all of the skin types. Ofc there are some products custom made for oily or especially dry skin as well! (:

No matter what your skin type is, it needs exfoliating for couple of times a week, if you wish to maintain an even skin tone, want the skin treatments you use to work effectively and the make up to be easy to apply and spread evenly on your skin. After exfoliating the dead cells of the outermost layer of your skin the skin gets refreshed, it breathes, feels even and also all the treatments and lotions, serums etc will absorb much better into your skin and work effectively on the "living" skin since the dead cells don't block their way. Each skin type will get better with regular exfoliating if you use a gentle and effective scrub.
The affordable (in Europe around 20€) and effective, but gentle Forever's aloe scrub is my favorite. Jojoba microspheres exfoliate the skin and moisturize it effectively with aloe vera simultaneously. Just wash the face with water, dry it a bit with a towel and apply the scrub all over your face except around the eyes. Keep rubbing until the scrub forms white dots on your skin. The white dots are your dead skin cells the scrub has gotten off your skin. Rinse off with comfortably warm water and feel the refreshment that you achieved with the effort of about 3-minutes! (Ps. You can use this for the whole body as well!)

After the scrub apply a treatment product, which is suitable for your skin type and your skin feels great! (: If you haven't tried this before I'm warmly recommending to give it a try!

I'm going to take my make up off and do a scrub with this right now. It's getting late here in Finland and it's soon the bed time! Now it's time for me and my skin to relax.
~Happy weekend to everyone!~
♡-Tiina-♡

Monday 8 May 2017

Turning over a new leaf!

Hello!

Long time, no post! :D
Spring is finally here! Although we still have much colder weather than we normally should. We had one day + 17'Cs, then the next + 11'Cs and now for this week the weather forecast tells the temperature is about to stay below + 10 'Cs mostly for the whole week and there will even be a little frost on some nights! :/ (which is unusual on MAY in Southern-Finland!).

A lot has happened during this week I haven't written a post. As confusing it was at the moment of receiving that phone call...it's still amazing and confusing me! :D
I actually got the job I went for a job interview 1,5-weeks ago. I won of 6 applicants who were interviewed for the job. I didn't believe I would be the one to get the job by the experience I have gotten of applying for a job during this one year I've been officially unemployed. The job I got is a part time job and nothing special, but it's a beginning and I'm seeing it as a great opportunity! I'm so happy and relieved I'm no longer unemployed and it's a big company I'm going to work at. If everything goes well (And I'm for sure going to do my best to excel in the job!) my one year contract might even continue and I guess there are possibilities to proceed forward into a better position eventually. Let's see! At least I will have excellent opportunities of networking with people in the big community. Most importantly now I really can turn  over a new leaf in my life officially! I finally got a job in business and no going back to miscellaneous kitchen and restaurant gigs anymore!

Another big thing currently is that my own old computer eventually broke down for good and for a while I didn't have a computer at all, so that's also why I haven't written a post. Now I have a laptop my friend lent me until my new computer which arrived me inoperative (after waiting for it for almost a month!) will come back from the overhaul and they have hopefully fixed it, so I'll finally have my new computer I've now waited for over a month.

It's been quite busy with school. Plenty of assignments for the end of the courses is approaching and classes 4-evenings a week. The computer mess has caused some stress and a lot of work during the past week. I wouldn't have believed I'll ever do dumpster diving, but apparently anything can happen. xD :D When the new computer components finally came on last Tuesday we unpacked it all immediately and took the card board boxes and the cushions to the dumpster for living in a small apartment and we thought that we won't need those...but the next day when the computer was gathered ready of the components, everything was set and it was time to install the operating system it appeared that we can't make the computer functioning and we must send it to the overhaul via post. 😞 So I had to go dumpster diving to find the card board boxes we threw away. Had to pack the damn thing again, buy some cushions and take it to the post office. Hopefully it's not going to take another 3,5 weeks until I'll have it back and it's actually operational.
The weekend was spent in the company of friends and the loved ones and I studied a lot!

Now it's a new week and this one started with a delicious chocolate smoothie! 😋
Chocolate smoothie
For this goodness packed with super good nutritional value you'll need for a portion of little under one liter:
  • 2-bananas
  • 2-apples
  • 1-orange, squeezed
  • 1,5 dl (0,75 cups) frozen raspberries
  • 1,5 dl (0,75 cups) frozen mango cubes
  • about 5 tablespoons of raw cacao powder
  • avocado
  • plant based protein powder & ice cubes
Did you know that about 10% of the weight of raw cacao powder is antioxidants?
The cacao beans are full of antioxidants, good fat, carbohydrates, protein, minerals like calcium, magnesium, sulfur, copper, iron, zinc and potassium. There is also oleic acid which is a heart-healthy essential monounsaturated fat, fiber and vitamins E, B2, B1, B5, B3 and B9.

Cacao beans have very high nutritional value and many nutrients that can offer multiple health benefits to us.

Some of these nutrients unfortunately get reduced or even destroyed when they undergo heating process and are combined with milk and sugar to make chocolate. Hence, eating raw, unprocessed cacao beans (ergo raw unprocessed cacao powder, or cacao nibs) offer the best nutritional value and health benefits of the cacao beans combined with the delicious taste of chocolate! There are many ways of using raw cacao powder in raw delicacies and one very practical and easy way is to make a smoothie containing raw cacao powder. (: If you like chocolate, you'll love that smoothie recipe! In addition to benefits of raw cacao there are plenty of nutrients in the berries, fruits and avocado as well and a protein powder is an easy way to add some protein as well into a smoothie!

Today for it's Monday and a new week I'll do some skincare! The next post will be about my today's skin treatment (: 
Now it's time for me to eat something and get ready for school!

~Have a nice week!~
♡-Tiina-♡






Wednesday 3 May 2017

Meatballs!

Hi everyone!

Luckily our weather in Finland got a little better for the May Day celebration!
In Finland the last day April is a celebration day since the offices and shops are mostly closed on the first of May and most of the people of Finland celebrate the May Day (we call it Vappu) as the fete of the labor forces...And it's also sort of the celebration of the spring finally arriving to this damn cold northern country. :D
During the May Day celebration we spend time with the family, friends and the loved ones, unwind! Even perhaps take a little bit of sparkling wine or champagne as well. :)

Unfortunately the weather is still damn cold compared to what it should be at this time of the year usually. Maybe at some point of May we will finally have those beautiful light green new leaves on the trees everywhere, the green grass and the blossoming of everything!

To me that moment of the year is absolutely my favorite for it's just something magical when suddenly there is so much sunshine, it's light almost around the clock it's warm out there and everything awakens after the long cold dark and grey wintertime.

On Sunday I made us (me and my love) some meatballs, sweet potato wedges, a spicy salsa and a fresh and crunchy salad. All grain free, also dairy free actually and this portion is containing a good amount of nutrition!
Meatballs, sweet potato wedges, spicy salsa & crunchy salad
You'll need for 2-3 portions:


  • low fat minced meat 400 g
  • one onion
  • two large eggs

  • two sweet potatoes
  • olive oil
  • salt & pepper
  • white wine winegar

  • one mild fresh chili/some conserved jalapeños
  • a big clove of garlic
  • fresh basil
  • tomatoes/cherry tomatoes about 500 g
  • about 100 g tomato puree 
  • 1,5dl (0,75 cups) sweet chili sauce

  • a few leaves of some crunchy salad
  • about 100 g corn
  • about 70 g kidney beans
  • some scallion
  • one stem of celery
  • about 100 g cucumber


as spices for meatballs for example: mustard U like, honey, salt, black pepper, white pepper, paprika powder, chive and little chili powder.

Preparation (takes about 45-minutes)

1. Begin with the meatballs. Put the minced meat into a spacious bowl, break two eggs into it, dice the onion into small dices and toss it into the bowl. Put there about 3-tablespoons of mustard and 1,5 tablespoons of honey. Add the amounts you like the rest of the spices to bowl (it doesn't have to be exactly those spices, use what U like! That's just what I put there this time :)) Mix well and leave the meatball "dough" for a while 

2. Heat the oven to about 180 C's. Peel the sweet potatoes and chop 'em into wedges. Put the wedges into a bowl. Drop some olive oil into the bowl, a little white wine vinegar, some salt and pepper. Mix well and check the taste!

3. Now make the meatballs ready into the baking trey with high sides and put the sweet potato wedges sparsely into another baking tray. Put both into the oven!

4. The meatballs and the sweet potato wedges cook about 25-minutes n now U have time to make the salsa & the salad! Chop tomatoes or cherry tomatoes into small dices, until U have about 4 dl's (2 cups) of diced tomatoes. Place the dices into a bowl. Put into the same bowl the tomato puree, sweet chili sauce and chop the garlic clove n some fresh basil into the bowl. If you don't want this to be very hot, use the mild chili n mostly remove the seeds of it. If you like spicy and hot, chop a few conserved jalapeño pieces into the salsa, or leave the seeds mostly on to the chili, when U chop it into the salsa. Add a pinch of salt, mix well and check the taste! Add spices or alter the amount of components, if needed.
The salsa goes great with any meat or barbecued treats!
You can also replace the basil with fresh cilantro, or add some fresh paprika into the salsa


-Check if the meatballs are already cooked, when they have been in the oven for about 20-minutes! The meatballs will get dry, if they are overcooked. If the meatballs are already done take 'em out, but leave the sweet potatoes to the oven still for a while, when you prepare the salad. (If the meatballs are not yet done, or if the sweet potatoes and the meatballs seem ready, just turn off the oven n leave both there during making the salad!)

5. Chop about 4-leaves of some crunchy salad into a colander, chop the cucumber into dices, celery & scallion into thin slices and toss all into the colander. Rinse and trickle the salad. Put into a salad bowl. Defrost some corn in the colander under warm water (that won't take long and the corn stays juicy!). Add the corn and the beans into the salad.
~Everything is ready!~

ps. As always all the amounts are approximately, since my cooking works quite a lot based on experience and instinct so I rarely measure anything.  
Cooking rarely is an exact science! ;) 
I'm always doing my best to give as comprehensible and easy to follow instructions as possible, but if there is something U don't understand, can't figure out or want to know more, just ask me! (:

Now it's the bedtime for me!

~Good night to U, or what ever time it's for U~
♡-Tiina-♡

Saturday 29 April 2017

Kale recipes!

Hello!

What a weather we have here in Finland today! 😩😊
Back at home, wearing warm comfortable clothes and drinking hot tea. Having my favorite face mask on, moisturizing, deep cleansing, toning and balancing Marine mask of Forever Living Products working on my skin.
Time to relax after gym! It's been a hideous sleet storm out there for the most of the day and I've been home studying, doing household chores and ran some errands before going to gym. I only walked from door to car and back and from car to gym and back + ofc had to clean the car of that heavy wet icy sleet layer before driving. I simply hated every second of being out there. :D :'D
For those lucky ones of you, who don't know what sleet is, it's wet and icy mixture of snow and rain. Happens when the temperature is around zero, but almost below it. Combined with the wet n icy rain mercilessly coming straight at your face even when wearing a hood there was a freezing stormy wind and the streets were wet n full of sleet all over. Luckily I'm back indoors! :D

Yesterday was almost all about fun! I studied a little, spent time with a good friend of mine, visited my mother and enjoyed the good weather among the beautiful nature of Mustola (a suburban area of my town, where my mother lives.)

A few days ago I bought some kale.
We all know it's nutritionally almost super food. Nevertheless at least to my foodie taste buds the bare kale tastes simply awful. Good news is that you can create tasty combinations including kale and all it's vitamins n nutrients! I'm about to share a Chicken - goat cheese salad recipe I created and enjoyed yesterday with my friend as dinner.

Chicken - goat cheese salad
Chicken-goat cheese salad
 You'll need:

  • kale
  • cabbage
  • scallion
  • romaine/cosmopolitan salad
  • red/yellow paprika
  • sun-dried tomatoes
  • celery
  • kidney beans
  • zucchini
  • avocado
  • chicken
  • goat cheese
The amounts I'm putting into this example are approximately for I did't weight or measure anything, but this recipe will make a small salad bowl. You can ofc make as big portion as you need or want to have! Preparing this takes only about 15-minutes.

Chop into a big colander two middle sized kale leaves (remember to remove the stem of the kale!), three leaves of crunchy salad and a small piece of cabbage, about 70 grams. Dice half of a paprika, chop one stem of celery (the celery into thin slices!), little scallion and dice about 1/3 of a small zucchini into to the colander as well. Rinse the the chopped veggies in the colander and let 'em trickle. Pour everything into a salad bowl.

Dice about 10 pieces of sun-dried tomatoes and toss 'em into the salad. Toss in also about a handful of cooked kidney beans. Mix the salad well!

Fry & spice up some chicken (as much as needed). Take some salad on the plate, carve a little avocado onto the top of the portion and serve the salad with fried chicken and a little goat cheese!
I also added a few fresh basil leaves. (: We enjoyed this quite a lot with my friend 😋

This morning I created a healthy and nutrition packed smoothie blend including kale.
This one is creamy for including avocado, but simultaneously very fresh!

Blueberry-kale smoothie

  • two bananas
  • two apples
  • a piece of fresh ginger (about 2cm's x 1cm)
  • 2-leaves of kale (stem emoved)
  • 2 dl's frozen blueberries 
  • 1 avocado
  • 1,5 dl's frozen mango cubes
  • a few ice cubes
  • plant based protein powder
(1dl is about half a cup! :)

Put everything into a blender and blend! This will make little under one liter of ready smoothie. You can adapt the recipe suitable to your need (:

~That would be all this time~
Hopefully everyone is having a fantastic weekend!
♡-Tiina-♡