We are approaching the end of the year and only have 2 months left. I know I say this every time I write the Top 6 but it simply is crazy how time flies – and it is crazy how many Top 5 or Top 6 have already been uploaded on the blog! Because we do not even have full 60 days left of this year, we need to make the most out of those! These November Top 6 should help you do so! This restaurant, food, recipe, product, workout and inspiration aim to inspire you to make the most out of November and enjoy it! As usual, all of these tips and recommendations come from myself and my experiences, nothing here is sponsored. I am wishing you a wonderful, delicious and healthy November!
Restaurant of the Month – Iko Sushi
If you are looking for an incredibly delicious, non-expensive and super centrally located, healthy modern asian fusion restaurant, then IKO is perfect for you! Here you will find all different kinds of super tasty sushi rolls, rice bowls, salads, soups – all your asian heart is dreaming of! Plus it is amazing to reach with public transport, the staff is super friendly and the food is really affordable!
I myself have gotten to know this restaurant through a friend of mine. She always told me that this is super delicious and quick and she loves to go there! So I joined her and I was really not disappointed by what she has promised me. We went there by food from the Tram and Underground Station „Schottentor“ and it was a nice 10 minute walk. However, there are several other stations such as Stephansplatz (U1, U3 & 1A), Herrengasse (U3, 1A, 2A), Hoher Markt (1A, 3A) and Salztorbrücke (1, 2, 2A). You see – there are multiple ways to get there via public transport!
What I loved so much about this restaurant was that it had so many vegetarian and vegan options, and that these were super tasty and not boring at all! You could opt for vegan sushi, rice bowls, curry, salads, and so on. We went there for lunch and chose a Vegan Don, which is a rice bowl with stir fried veggies and tofu, and pure salad, which consisted of sweet potatoes, lotus root, greens, mung-beans and a pomelo-lime dressing. Both were packed with flavour and very filling! Plus it was super quick, which makes it an amazing lunch break restaurant!
If you go there for dinner, there are even more options to choose from – you can for example choose from 18 different rolls, numerous tapas, mains and sushi sets. And let me tell you, they all sound super mouth water! We were completely convinced from this restaurant and will definitely go there more often from now on! Also, the interior is super cool, a bit chic and definitely a place anyone feels comfortable in! The open kitchen also adds an authentic flair and the Japanese speaking chefs make you feel as if you were in Japan.
So, next time you are running errands in that area or want a nice dinner place to catch up with your friends, IKO is the perfect place to go. I can really only highly recommend it!
Food of the month – Apples
an apple a day keeps the doctor away! Probably every single one of us has heard this sentence hundreds of times – so it is no surprise that apples are healthy! But what actually makes them so healthy that you should eat one every day? This is a very good question that we‘ll answer here. Plus, we‘ll explore the best way of how to use apple in cooking!
Apples are one of the few foods that are grown worldwide. They originated in central Asia and there are – incredible – 7500 different types of apples!! Such a crazy number. From a nutritional point of view it can be said that apples are amazing! One medium sized apple contains about 100 calories, 25 grams of carbs, 4 grams of fibre as well as a decent amount of Vitamin C, K and potassium.
Due to its high carbohydrate content, the apple is great for quick energy! The fibre from the carbohydrates makes sure you feel full and stay full for long. So why should you eat one a day? Well, maybe because one apple contains about 14% of the daily recommended value of Vitamin C. Vitamin C is known to improve your immune system and keep you healthy. However, our bodies can, unfortunately, not store Vitamin C, so we have to gain it from food everyday on the new.
Now we know why they are healthy but how should we best eat an apple? On the blog you can find several recipe including apple. For example the NO-BLENDING & EASY 1 BOWL HEALTHY APPLE PIE BAKED OATS, the WINTER SALAD WITH BAKED APPLE, PINK CHRISTMAS APPLE SAUCE – which is an all time favourite we make in bulk every year – BIRCHER MUESLI WITH HONEY POACHED APPLE, also a family love that is amazing for meal-prep, or make my cousin‘s favourite HEALTHY APPLE CRUMBLE CAKE!
In general apples are very versatile! They do not only taste amazing when biting into a fresh one, they are also super delicious when cooked or baked – in a cake or pure! Maybe surprisingly, apples actually taste great in combination with savoury food – for example chicken. You could try this combination in salads with fresh and crunchy apple or you could also make roasted chicken with apples. The sweetness from the apples and the savoury chicken work in great balance with each other! Apples also taste great in tabouleh or bowls. What also always is a good idea is an apple crumble or apple cake! However, my all time fav will always be the Christmas apple sauce – nothing beats this!
Recipe of the Month – Vegan (!!) Teriyaki-Lemon Shrimpz Stir-Fry Noodles with Bell Peppers
We all know these fall days where we just want to cuddle into a huge blanket, sit on the couch, watch some Netflix and batch in comfort with a bowl of comfort food right? Some carby, salty goodness that just warms one from the inside. And since the temperatures are dropping outside, it is high time to warm oneself from the inside. And there are few better ways to do so than with this Vegan Teriyaki Lemon Shrimpz Stir-Fry Noodles with Bell Pepper. The Lemony-Teriyaki sauce tastes so unique and is so addicting that you will want to have 3 more bowls of these noodles!
The name makes it sound like a super complicated, fancy dish but indeed it is the complete opposite! This asian inspired stir-fry is ready in few minutes and super delicious! It really only takes a bit of vegetable chopping, mixing a sauce, boiling noodles and frying shrimpz. Or if you want an even lazier version of it, then just pop the shrimpz into the oven for 20 minutes, turning them occasionally and there are even less dishes to clean!
In addition to the simplicity of this recipe, it needs to be said that it is pretty healthy too. Since we have a lot of veggies in here, we make sure that our body gets enough nutrients and fibre to keep us happy and healthy as well as full and satisfied. The noodles provide comforting carbs that give us energy, and they also come with some protein, which is important for several reasons, including muscle and bone health.
We not only loving making this as a comforting, quick dinner but actually also as an easy lunch! Since it does not take a lot of time to make this recipe, it also works great as such! In addition this stir-fry is really versatile as you can just make it a bit spicier or add a different protein or different vegetables if you like! Therefore, it is a family favorite and has already become a staple recipe at home!
Product of the month – Vegan Zeastar Crispy Lemon Shrimpz
Nothing beats some crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, delicious shrimps, right? Well it definitely is a dream tastewise but after having watched Seaspiracy you know that fish consumption definitely is not a dream from a sustainability perspective (Seaspiracy is a documentation about the fishing industry and its dramatic consequences). Fortunately, we do not need to destroy our oceans and environment in order to have that delicious shrimp flavour. How so? By opting for vegan fish alternatives like Vegan Zeastar!
It is crazy which consequences our fish consumption has on the planet. After having watched Seaspiracy my dad and I were really shocked. And more we questioned ourselves what the solution would be? Plant based fish alternatives – yes – but we have never tried those and certainly not have seen them at a supermarket. Until suddenly Vegan Zeastar popped up in the frozen food section of SPAR a few weeks ago. Once I saw this there was no way around trying it – so I gave it a shot!
How do they taste?
We all know those claims from plant based versions of animal products that claim that the product tastes exactly like the real deal. And we all know that this is not true in most of the cases. So I was a bit suspicious when I made the Shrimpz for the first time. Given that, it was twice as surprising that these Shrimpz really resemble the taste of real shrimps very, very well. It does not taste 100% identical but somewhere between 85% and 90% I would say! The only difference in my opinion is that the Vegan Zeastar Shrimpz have a slight Lemony taste and are a bit softer consistency wise.
How to prepare them: 3 different ways
Also preparation wise I was really convinced of these Shrimpz. They come already coated in breadcrumbs in the packaging, so you only need to heat them up. The package suggests that you deep fry them. I tried 3 different version of preparing them and they all turned out to taste equally delicious: deep frying (the Shrimpz are completely covered in oil – there is about 4-5cm of oil in the pan), semi-deep frying (where you use less oil – about 1cm) and oven baking (here I just drizzled the shrimps with oil and bake them at 225°C for 20 minutes, flipping them every 5 minutes). My preferred method definitely was oven baking because 1) it is the easiest way to make them with the least work, 2) it is the healthiest method since the least fat is used and 3) there is no food waste (when deep frying food, usually most oil is wasted). And really, there barely was any difference in taste. However, deep frying them definitely is the quickest way to prepare them.
How to enjoy them?
A great way to serve them is as an appetiser with a dipping sauce, like a vegan mayo. They would also taste amazing on top of a fresh salad or in a buddha bowl. Another way we love to serve them is with some soup – a curry soup or an asian inspired pumpkin soup for example. In the recipe that you‘ll find on my blog, they are accompanied by a teriyaki noodle stir-fry. This combination, in my mind, is unbeatable. As you can see – there are endless opportunities – just serve them as you would serve regular shrimps!
Workout of the month – 25 Minute Evening Yoga Ritual by Jessica Richburg
There are those workouts where 10 minutes feel like 25 and those where 25 minutes feel like 10. This evening yoga routine by Jessica Richburg definitely is one of the second kind. In this Video Jessica takes you through a relaxing, grounding, stretching Yoga session to wind down at the end of a long, exhausting day. It is perfect to relax your mind and body.
Yoga can can be tough. If not practiced regularly even 15 minute yoga videos can be very long. In this Video by Jessica Richburg you will definitely not have this feeling though! When I made this for the first time I was shocked by how quickly it went by and by how relaxed I was at the end of it! To be fair, I could have gone on listening and following her along for another 25 minutes.
The exercises in this video are none that require great strength or energy, they are really stretching and calming for the most part. Through the breath exercises, you calm your breath and your energy levels, which is perfect just before going to bed. The exercises are just long enough that you really feel a stretch but not too long, so you do not get bored by them. The long shavasana at the end also is perfect to round everything off and gain mental clarity at the end of the day.
I am not exaggerating when I say that this is my favourite evening yoga session that I have ever done. It by now has already almost become part of my evening routine and I can only highly recommend you trying it out! I would love to know how you like it!
Inspiration of the month – Netflix Explained (the mind)
Netflix and Inspiration may at first seem like a contradiction. When thinking of this streaming platform one automatically tends to think about all the classic series to entertain that one cannot stop watching. I though the same until I recently went onto Netflix and stumbled across this series, which was very new to me: Netflix Explained.
What is it about?
The format Netflix Explained aims to inform the watcher about a subject in an easy to understand way that still covers the subject in depth. There are several subjects that are covered with this format including money, corona virus, US elections and also the mind. For „the mind explained“ there are 5 different, 20-minute episodes on 5 different topics: Memory, Dreams, Anxiety, Mindfulness and Psychedelics. The information is backed up by scientific research and explained with animations and interviews. This way it is really easy to follow along, understand information and interesting to watch.
After watching the first episode we were so gripped that we continued watching the next ones. Not only is this series really well made production wise but also incredibly interesting regarding the information it conveys. I personally believe there are few topics as interesting as how our mind works.
how much does it cost?
Unfortunately you cannot only purchase this series but you have to pay a monthly subscription to Netflix in order to watch this. The plans go from 7.99€ to 17.99€ a month depending on how many devices can watch at the same time and the quality in which can be watched. But if you subscribe you have access to what seems like endless series and documentaries – and many different explained episodes!
If you are looking for an interesting, informative yet easy to watch series, the mind is an amazing option! I love it and will continue to watch it on different topics!
I really hope that these tips will help you have the most amazing November and get the most out of it! I am wishing you a lot of beautiful, cozy, healthy and happy days!
Love,
Katie // Une Petite Cuisinière
