The one who brings…
…no, not the wine, but the cake! Or maybe the bread and sometimes the whole menu from starter ’till dessert for our big family. Cooking and especially baking was more or less the only constant I’ve had in my 39 years of life. It’s something I did back home in Switzerland, where I was born, as well as during my many travels, which depending on the kitchen & tools available sometimes was quite adventurous, but always fun!
Since 2011 I am living together with my Catalan husband and 2 dalmatians (Bart + Lisa, like the Simpsons) in a lovely village about 40 km outside of Barcelona city in our own house, surrounded by lots of trees, green grass, a national park and very nice mountain views.
Coffee, cake & lots travelling
I was born and raised in beautiful Switzerland and lived in a small town near Zurich up to my 19th birthday. I got the baking gene from my mother and my aunt. There was always homemade cake and bread in our house. And up to today, hardly one day goes by without enjoying my mid-morning cake & coffee. I can’t help it 😉 Thanks God I like fitness & sports in order to burn those 2nd breakfast calories off again.
I definitively wasn’t one of those kids who knew from a very young age what they want to do and who they want to be in life. I just had absolutely no clue. I liked to cook and to ride horses. In my teenage years I wanted to marry my horse, Cory. In order to escape the common expectation of society to choose just one thing to be in life I spent almost 6 years travelling the world. So after some snowboarding in the Swiss Alps, Scandinavia & USA, some winemaking in South Australia, being a dive guide on the Galapagos Islands, Honduras & Egypt, learning Spanish & travelling in Chile, getting certified as a massage therapist and technical writer and some other short-trips here and there I ended up working in different corporate jobs back in Switzerland which couldn’t make & keep me quite happy.
Going plantbased
In 2016 things started to move in another direction. I stumbled upon Dr. Greger’s How Not To Die book and his website nutritionfacts.org. As a consequence I watched movies like Cowspiracy, What The Health, Forks Over Knives, Food Choices and YouTube Videos like James Aspey’s famous Wake Up Call speech as well as 101 Reasons to go vegan by James Wildman and last but not least Dr. Campbell’s China Study. And after being kind of a ovo-pescetarian for some months I switched to a complete plantbased diet over night.
As an equestrian and horse lover it was always obvious for me to not eat horse (a really common thing in Switzerland), but I’ve never thought about the fact, that a horse is a cow is a pig is a chicken is a duck and they all go through the same suffering. It is only society who made us believe that these animals are here for our consumption. And we grow up in an environment of a food and healthcare industry, working together and making millions and billions playing this game with us. They are working hard to make sure we keep believing those lies, keep eating the same unhealthy foods, and as a consequence get sick and having the same diseases and hence having to take the same medications while thinking that this is just the way it is and has to be when getting older. This is so wrong! Most common chronic diseases are caused by eating the wrong foods and they could be easily prevented just by changing what we put into our mouth on a daily basis.
Doable & affordable
Yes, you can totally make cakes or cookies without eggs, butter, cream or dairy! And I can guarantee you that they will taste just as good if not even better than the ones you are used to. These plantbased cakes and breads are healthier for sure, as they have no saturated fat, no colesterol, no refined sugar and of course no nasty additives nor unspellable ingredients. They are naturally sweetened with dried fruits like for example dates, or with bananas, apple puree or coconut sugar which all have a much lower glycemic index and won’t make your insulin level spike like it does after eating white refined sugar.
Talking ingredients: All the recipes you find on this page have really simple ingredients. You will find them in any health store, maybe even in the supermarket and if not I will link an Amazon link where you sure can find it.
Yes, you can do these recipes, too!
Just pick the one you like most and give it a go. Just start! One recipe at a time, get inspired, get going and take care of yourself! And by that I mean that you totally deserve this piece of cake with your next coffee. That’s the beauty of plantbased cooking!