Why I eat organic

Today I want to share with you some thoughts about why I eat (mostly) organic food...

... sometime soon I may make another post about why I only use organic cosmetics, since some of you asked about this. But let me start with this one :) 

First, I have to say that I grew up in a family where I only got organic food but I totally went away from it, when I moved out from home at the age of 17 and I pretty much ate everythig for a couple of years. I never ate much meat and I had several periods of vegetarianism in my life (before I went vegan) but I certainly did not eat the way I do now. I was always interested in organic food but I thought it was too expensive so I rather ate conventially grown plants. It was during pregnancy that I began to think more about the pesticides that I am giving the fetus when I eat conventially grown veggies and I began to buy more and more local and organic. Now that I am breastfeeding I am even more concerned about it and I eat mainly organic. This does not mean I am perfect in any sense and since I am living on a budget I am very conscious about what to buy organic and what not. There are plenty of lists in the internet showing which plants are the most loaded with pesticides and which one are least. I take this list into consideration when I go grocery shopping and I buy e.g. mangos, avocados and pineapples non-organic, whereas I eat only organic salad, tomatoes, apples, greens, etc. 

But let me tell you a little bit more about why organic foods are a good choice for you and the planet you live on :)

The one big argument that everyone can follow is as simple as it is important:  organic products have none of the over 300 pesticides used commonly in farming! These pesticides can produce allergic reactions, are said to promote cancer (The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers 60% of herbicides, 90% of fungicides, and 30% of insecticides potentially cancer-causing) and pollute our drinking water. In a nutshell: Pesticides pollute our bodies and our environment. Since I do not want those pesticides in my organism and even less in my daughters little baby body I try to eat as few of them as possible. When eating organic produce I can also be sure that I am not eating any chemicals or synthetics and I am supporting a planet with less environment destruction through widespread use of herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, and fertilizers which have already resulted in drastic environmental damage in many parts of the world.

Its not only the omit of pesticides which makes organic food a better choice for the planet, but organic farming also decreases soil erosion and increases the health and population of indigenous wildlife. Plus its supporting biodiversity, quite in contrast to non-organic food which is focused on high yield monoculture and is destroying biodiversity. 

Also, organic food is (in most cases) supporting family farmers and small farms instead of the big bad companies out there. Much food is grown locally and, hence, needs less energy to be shipped from one place to another. For me personally, the food also just feels more "real". I dont know if anyone can relate to this, but go and visit an organic farm and I think you will know what I mean (and look at some of the hyper farms that you can find on the internet... those are factories, not farms...). And finally, let me tell you that organic food tastes a lot better :)! 

I could continue with the list but I take this post more as a little food for thought for you and I hope that one or two of you will gather a little more information and think a little more about the topic... I could also go into more detail on each of those points and tell you more and about the damage pesticides make or the damage monocultures make. But also here I hope that one or two of you will go and find these details yourself and I will be more than happy if this post makes just some of you think about your choices as a consumer, choices for your body and for the planet you live on :). 

If this is the case please let me know and brighten my day with it :)!

Or maybe you already eat lots of organic food? Please let me know I would love to know your thoughts on the topic!  

Fields of Camomile

Summer is just amazingly beautiful!

This overflow of fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers that you can find everywhere around Germany is just so so so wonderful! I am amazed by nature these days! 

The other day we went picking strawberries and I think I have never had as many strawberries as I had that day when I just sat down in the field and I ate and ate and ate... around 2 kg of strawberries or more :) 
When we visited my mother last week, we had salad from her garden and the most delicious tomatoes from her little greenhouse and yesterday my cousin gave me 3 kg of organic grapes because he just dont know what to do with the abundance he got. This is what Summer is like and this is so beautiful und makes me so grateful (and makes me wanna have a house with garden so bad...)!

But now to THIS place... this is a field of camomile and I found it so pretty that I had to take some pictures there :)

I was wearing my second hand pants that I have been wearing a lot on the blog already (love them!) and, once again, a shirt from my husband. I am really getting into my husbands closet recently (as you may remember from this post) and I find it fun to experiment with this clothes. I love to borrow his shirts and I begin loving his pants too... I am really happy that he doesnt mind when i am just taking his clothes ;)

How do you like this look? And dont you think the field of camomile in the background is just beautiful?

Hope you having a wonderful start in the new week and sending much love!

By the River

We took these pictures on a small island in the Weser...

 

... the Weser is a German river and I am staying in a village close to the river for the coming weeks.  Its really beautiful around here so be ready for lots of outfit posts with beautiful backgrounds ;) 

Unfortunatly I did not bring my camera when we went (spontanously) to this small island so we took these pictures with my husbands phone. I hope you dont mind the rather bad quality!? 

Anyway, so we are spending most of our Summer here and its wonderful because we spend much more time outside (on our terrace) than we do back in Leipzig and we enjoy the fresh air, the sound of the wind in the trees and the rain (most days), the smell of the fields and everything. Its also a great place to stay with our baby because here its less hot than it is in our home. I am very grateful and happy that we can stay here for such a long time and I do not even want to think about going back. Maybe we should move to the countryside!? It would be so nice to have a garden... do you live in the city or in a village? What do you prefer?

How do you like this Summer look? I was wearing a jacket on top of the blouse most of the day since it was still pretty cold. But I think I am getting used to the colder temperatures around here and I start wearing shorts when its only 20° C ;)
I am wearing two new pieces in here - my MANGO jeans shorts and a H&M blouse. I really love both pieces and I wear them a lot. Especially the jeans shorts are soooo comfy! Whats your favorite Summer piece? Mine are definetly some cute and comfy shorts :)

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! 
Sending much love!

Grey on Grey

Let me tell you the story of this grey outfit on that grey day...

... I was optimistic enough to pack only Summer clothes when we prepared for our trip to northern Germany. So I have a whole lot of dresses, skirts, shorts and blouses with me. But ONE jeans and no sweater. Well, when our baby peed on my jeans, I was left with shorts and skirts and it was pretty cold. Especially when we were close to the sea where there is a lot of wind. So I asked my husband if I could borrow some of his clothes and I got this grey jeans and a grey sweater. First I thought "oh my, can I really wear this?" and then I actually found my outfit pretty cool and the colors went so perfectly with the grey sky and the grey baltic sea in the background that I decided to put it on the blog :)

Can you tell that I am wearing my husband's clothes? Do you sometimes wear clothes from the mens section? I would love to know :)

Sending much love!

Greetings from Kiel

I am sending greetings from the northern part of Germany...

... where I am currently for a few days to visit my husband's and my own family. We are having a wonderful time here, even though it's grey and cold most of the time. Kiel is located at the baltic coast and my husband is coming from a family of sailors. This is why, of course, we also had to visit the family ship and spend some time at the harbor.
I am actually not into sailing at all but I enjoyed spending the day at the harbor, having a picknick on the ship and walking around the area, taking pictures :) 

Tomorrow we will move on and continue our little northern-Germany trip... this year's Summer holiday is a little different from usual, since we are having a baby now and we do not want to travel somewhere far away with her. So we are just travelling through Germany and as soon as she is six months old, we are going for a somehow bigger trip. 

What are your plans for the Summer? Have you already been on vacation or are you planning to go? I would love to know :)

Sending much love!

Favorite Summer Dishes Part VI: Banana Nice Cream

So here is another one of my Summer favorites...

... banana nice cream! Oh yes! The creamiest, most delicious and healthiest thing ever! 

I am having banana nice cream EVERY DAY and I am never getting tired of it. It's so creamy, so yummy, so sweet, sooo good! And, of course, it's so easy to make (like all my recipes). ALl you need: BANANAS! And whatever you like to add, if you want to add anything (it's really good just like that!). Here I added from frozen berries to the bananas, sometimes I add cinnamon or vanilla, sometimes other fruits but most often I add nothing. 

So how to make this healthiest and yummiest ice cream ever? All you have to do is to take some really ripe bananas (make sure they are really ripe, otherwise it will not be as sweet!), peel them and freeze the peeled bananas. When they are frozen put them into your blender and mix'em up until you have a really nice and creamy texture - that's it! 

And why is this ice cream so healthy? Bananas have lots of vitamin B6 and vitamin C, manganese, potassium, dietary fiber, biotin, and copper. I actually eat up to six bananas every day... 3-5 in my breakfast smoothie and 2-3 in my afternoon smoothie :)

What is your favorite homemade ice cream? Do you like to make healthy ice cream alternatives like this one? I also love to make mango sorbet as you may remember :) 

Sending much love!

Rosé and Roses

A casual everday look for this casual everyday Thursday...

... I am wearing my new MANGO shirt and my old H&M pants with the roses print. We took the pictures last Saturday when we went to the market to stock up on fruits and veggies. Going to the market is always my favorite part of the weekend and I love when we come home with lots of mangos, pineapples, watermelons, oranges and of course some new pictures for my blog ;)

I really like the shirt! I mean how could I not love it? Its light pink which is my favorite color when it comes to clothes and its oversized which is my favorite style anyway. So its pretty much perfect. I am sure this new-in will become one of my most worn pieces :) 

I hope you are having a great week so far!? I am actually busy travelling through Germany while this post goes online. Right now, I am at my mothers place with my little daughter and we are enjoying long walks at the beach and the sound of the baltic sea. I love to be here! But its only for two days this time since other places are waiting for my visit... I will keep you updated :) 

Sending much love!

Barley Grass

Most of you know how much I love my green smoothies...

... I have them everyday and I am so much in love with my high speed blender and my smoothies that I am actually taking my blender with me on vacation (its a vitamix, a pretty heavy machine!). Yes. Thats how much I love my smoothies. Since I love to experiment with new smoothies constantly, I was thrilled when jomu asked me to try their barley grass. I was trying wheat grass a couple of times but never barley grass (which is said to be easier digested compared to wheat grass).  

When I received the package from jomu I instantly made a smoothie with the barley grass. I made my current fav - orange and pineapple (sooo refreshing in Summer and soooo sweet and yummy!) adding the barley grass. It tasted not bad at all and gave the smoothie this wonderful green color that I love. 

jomu is a German company and their barley grass is 100% organic (otherwise I would not have tried it actually, perfect quality is really important to me when it comes to superfoods and additions to my smoothies) and of course it's vegan. I have to say that I LOVE it! 

Let me tell you a little more about this superfood! It containts beta carotene, vitamins B1, B2, B6, B12 (yes!!!), pantothenic acid, and folic acid. Furthermore the minerals potassium, calcium, iron, phosphorus, and magnesium. Other constituents are chlorophyll, amino acids, protein, fiber, and enzymes. So basically, it's pretty much magic. Some say its the healthiest thing one can find on the planet. I am not enough of an expert to confirm but I can at least tell you that I feel fit and I am somehow almost constantly in a good mood since I am drinking my daily dosis of barley grass (either in water or in a smoothie). There may be 1 million other reasons for that but there is a chance that the barley grass is playing a role in it :)

jomu approached me right at the perfect time, since I am breastfeeding and I am in need of extra minerals and vitamins. Of course I can also get all my minerals from my whole food plant based diet but adding the barley grass to it make things even easier for me and gives me a more secure feeling of getting everything I need.I can totally recommend checking out the website from jomu to get to know more about barley grass. I am a huge fan of the company and I may show you some other of their healthy products sometime soon :)  

Have you every tried barley grass? Or other super foods? What are your favorites? I woudl love to know!

Sending much love!

May and June Purchases

Another post for the "my purchases" series...

As you may have seen in my other my purchases posts, I am doing these posts to analyze what I shopped, how much money I actually spend on clothes, if I bought things that maybe I do not wear that much, if I buy too much in general etc. etc. its just a critical analysis of my shopping behavior.

So... in May I did not shop at all! Hurray! I was so busy with my new born baby and all the guests my baby was having that there was no stime for shopping. Hurray hurray. But then - June came and I had a lot of time, laying on the sofa with the little one and looking through online shops while she was sleeping on my chest. So this led to a little bit of exaggeration....

I made a first order at H&M (I was attracted by all these pieces on sale. Like always ;)) and I purchased my much much loved black boots, a skirt, a dress, a long sleeve blouse and two short sleeves blouses. I have been wearing the dress and the boots, the skirt, and the long sleeve blouse on the blog. I was wearing the two short sleeve blosues too, several times even, but somehow they did not make it on my blog yet. I spent 104 Euro on the entire order (40 euro for the boots on sale, 20 euro for the dress and around 10 euro for each of the other pieces)

After this H&M order I thought I better do not shop at all anymore... but then I went to the thrift shop where they had this crazy "everything for 2 euro" sale! How could I resists? 
I could not! So I bought a light coat, a kind-of blazer, a blouse, a pair of jeans and a silk blouse which I forgot to capture for the picutre, but which already made it on my blog here. I was also wearing the jeans and the blazer on my blog and also off my blog (quite often actually) and the pink coat became one of my favorites too. I did not yet wear the blouse. Maybe it was a bad pick, I am not sure yet. Anyway, 5 pieces 10 euro. I guess thats what is called a good deal!

Now, I really thought that enough shopping was done. But... I am a registered member on this website where they sell stuff from different brands for less. I rarely check the site but at some point I must have checked a box saying that I want to be reminded whenever MANGO is on sale. Well, at least I received an email telling me that MANGO was on sale and that I better go and check out the offers. I had no choice, basically, I had to take a look... and I had to order two blouses, two shirts some shorts. I really needed some pink shirts, and I really wanted the pretty blouses and the awesome shorts. So yes, another 52 euro were gone for this one. The package just arrived a few days ago (the shipping always takes around a month...) so I did not get the chance to put any outfits with these pretty pieces on the blog yet. But I have been wearing one of the pink shirts yesterday and we took some pictures so it will probably be in my next post :)

Okay, so after this one, I decided that it REALLY was enough! So many new pieces already. I had to go through my closet, talk to the second hand shop and sell some old pieces of mine to make space for all the new-ins. So it really was enough. I was convinced that I will not buy more... until my husband asked me to order some new swimming shorts and light sweaters for Summer at H&M for him (I love doing shopping for him so thats why...). Well, long story short, its always better to order more (since shipping costs stay the same), so a grey pencil skirt (I was looking for one like this for soooo long!), an oversized blouse and two shorts entered my closet. I love all of these pieces so much that I do not even feel guilty about spending even more money (46 euro for these four pieces, blouse and skirt on sale!). The shorts already made it on blog. I was also wearing the skirt the other day and I wanted to take some pictures but somehow it did not work out. But I am sure it will make it on my blog soon, like the blouse which I love love love! 

So the bad news is: I spent 212 euro on clothes in only one month (since I did not shop anything in May) which is above my average and which is pretty much for me.
The good news is: I really really REALLY love every single of these pieces sooooo much (with the exception of the black blouse from the second hand shop which was 2 euro only) and I cannot feel guilty of having spend so much money because the joy over the new-ins definetly predominates!

Do you also tend to shop a lot more in the beginning of Summer than in any other time of the year? I happens to me every year :)

I hope you enjoyed this post and I wanted to shout out a huge THANK YOU for all the thoughtful, understanding and confirming comments on my last post! They made me incredibly happy and I am so so grateful for you guys!

Sending much love!

About doing what you love

This is another post for my About Life column...

I have been thinking about all these people who do something which they do not really like. There are so many people out there who work in a certain area, who live a certain lifestyle or who are with a certain partner, just because they THINK it’s the right thing. They do not FEEL it though.

I have met a lot of people in whom I noticed that they are not 100% happy because at some point in life they took a decision just because they THOUGHT they have to make this decision, even though they did not really FEEL it. Since I talked to a lot to them (and about them), I also began reflecting increasingly about my own thoughts and feeelings. I asked myself constantly in the past months; what do I THINK is right to do and what do I FEEL is right to do. I have, like all of us, a certain background and I was raised with certain values of what is good and what is bad. In my family everyone went to university, so of course I did so too. I finished my Master’s degree and I began preparing my PHD before I noticed that maybe I only do this because I THINK that I have to do this. 

Then I stopped and I began reflecting on my feelings and my dreams. I was somehow lost for around a year, searching myself somewhere in all of the things going on in my head. Finally, I decided that it is okay to work in something where no academic degree is needed and I began to take nutrition classes (no university classes). This may seem like a small step for many of you but for me it was a really big one since I took the decision to turn my back on my academic career. 

The other day I thought about a moment in my life from when I was around 13 years old. That day I was wearing the outfit I got for my Confirmation and I was feeling really pretty in my long skirt and the blue blouse. So I said to my mother: "I cannot wait for the day where I can wear these kinds of clothes every day!" I had to think about this sentence because it suddenly became clear to me that I was always interested in fashion (from childhood on), even though I would never have told anyone (because fashion was expected to be something superficial and stupid). Because of what I THOUGHT is right to do, I always thought that it is a stupid and embarrasing thing to have a fashion and lifestyle blog but I opened it anyway, because I FELT that I would love it. So as you can guess, I was somehow inbetween all the time. 

Actually, almost none of my friends know about my blog which is really weird because it became such an important thing in my life and I really love blogging. So I guess it’s one thing to FEEL what you like to do in life and it’s another thing to actually stand behind it. I realize that the more I think about all of this, the more I am able to be okay with what I really love and to accept that I am not 100% the person I THOUGHT I have to be. I am still on a journey and I think we all are for our entire life. But the journey is so much easier when knowing that it is okay to do what you love and to accept your feelings.

Can you relate to any of this? What are your thoughts on this? Is there anything in your life you would love to do but for some reason you do not dare to? And what do you think we can do to fully stand behind the things we love, without thinking that they are wrong?

I am looking forward to read your thoughts!!!
Sending much love!

Turquoise

Isn't turquoise the perfect color for Summer?

 


What do you think? I never wear this color - except on really hot Summer days spent on the beach or at the lake :) 

This is why I have ONE top in turquoise which I wear once or twice a year (since five years or more ;)). Here I paired the top with my super comfy sweat shorts from ZARA (I bought them back in 2010 in Paris...) and a light second hand cotton jacket. I found the jacket in a second hand shop last year, when I spent one weekend in Vilnius. 

The photos were taken after a long afternoon at the lake where I enjoyed some swimming and some watermelon in the shade. Isn't this the perfect way to spend a hot Summer day :)?

What is your favorite color for Summer?

I hope you are all having a wonderful week so far and I wish you some great days ahead!
Sending much love!