Smoothies

the past three days my flatmate and I have been doing a juice/smoothie cleanse. Mostly successful. But boy, not eating real foods is a serious challenge. There is just so much temptation out there, and when it comes to food, I am seriously weak willed.

We started every morning off with a fresh ginger tea, then had a breakfast, lunch, afternoon, and evening smoothie. Although I don't think I'll be able to do a full-on cleanse for a while, many of the smoothies would be a great start to the day, or yummy snack. Here are some of the ones I definitely want to have again:

Amsterdam

Amsterdam was one of the most beautiful cities I've been to.There is so much history in the canals, the canal houses, the museums. It's a place I wanted to go to because of The Fault in Our Stars, and definitely want to return to now that I've seen it for myself because it is truly incredible. 

Along with inspiring things to see and do, I have in the past few days consumed some of the best food of my life. I now present to you three things that everyone in their lifetime should be forced to eat. 

Banana Bread

I hate bananas. Well, for the most part. The only bananas I will eat as is are still half green, firm, and kinda tart. The moment I come across a mushy, brown banana, I usually run away. But then came the deliciousness which is Banana bread. The one time (besides smoothies) that I will touch and handle a mushy banana. 

It's such a simple recipe that it's become my go-to. I usually have most of the ingredients on my shelf, and it uses up the bananas!

Greek Watermelon Salad

Watermelon has always been the epitome of summer. It's pink (like my constant sunburns), sweet, and so enjoyable. It is also  THE summer snack. As a kid my summers in Texas were spent playing by the pool and consuming pounds of watermelon during the lifeguard breaks, where everyone had to get out of the pool. Yes, chomping on a triangular slice of watermelon is 100% summer. 

Sadly, this was something I had mostly forgotten until last summer. That when I worked at a PR firm where once a week one of the employees would bring in a salad, and we would all eat lunch together. One day, this majestic salad was brought in--and it quickly became my favorite thing ever. You wouldn't believe how well watermelon goes with olives and red onions, so prepare to be absolutely amazed.

Alien Food

My brother Jonah is a carnivore. well, a few years ago he was. But that all changed with his first encounter of Turkish-Style Braised Leeks. When this was placed in front of him, and he took a bite, it was literally the best vegetarian dish he had ever tasted, and it would (in my family at least) forever be known as "Alien Food" (ie. what kind of human would eat a dish without a meat element). It doesn't look like much, but the taste is incredible. 

Wonder Waffel

the Waffel in question

After hearing about the glorious Wonder Waffel for ages, I felt like it was finally time to try it for myself. And so, this past saturday I made my way to Kruzberg, Adalbertstraße 88 (U1 M1 and U8) to give it a go. 

What is a Wonder Waffel? is a valid question you may at this point be asking yourself. According to their website, normal waffles with "cinnamon and applesauce" (huh?) are suuuper boring and as a solution, this place offers "creative waffles" with over 250 unique combinations (not sure I believe that number). It's a play off of Berlin's Döner-obsession (a Dönner is basically bread with fillings) by marketing their waffles as Fruit-Döners. You get to choose from a bunch of different toppings that they end up placing inside your waffle. 

I picked dark chocolate sauce, strawberries, pineapple, kiwi, blueberries and almonds. it came to 4.10 euros. 

verdict: meh The waffle had a nice texture; it had a lovely crunch on the outside but was pretty bland. the fruit was ok, my strawberries were too mushy and over-ripe and the pineapple pieces where too big, the chocolate sauce wasn't particularly inspired either. I'd say do it once for the experience, but don't expect a particularly amazing waffle. I've certainly had (and made) better. 

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