Fit Kitchen Barcelona

The name of this restaurant defines what they cook, making meals that makes you fit! They offer various of salads, you can even choose your own salad according to how you like it, they have healthier burgers options and healthy desserts alternatives too!

Above I ordered a nutritious salad with tofu and kimchi mayonnaise dressing. I chose asparagus, caramelized onion and sweet potato to my salad. When you get there, you can order your own salad too:)

And the second time I went there, I just had to try their burgers! I love that they make them with sweet potato bread, they also offer spinach bread! It was really good. I chose a veggie burger based on quinoa. Truth be told, it wasn’t the best vegetarian burger I have tasted… But, the baked sweet potatoes on the side, they were heavenly good!

After my meal, I was up for a sweet treat and lately I have fallen in love with energy balls. They are healthy and delicious, perfect for a sweet tooth! I tried vanilla and matcha, my personal favorite was the matcha. On the picture you see the vanilla energy ball. In addition, they have other desserts too. Raw carrot cake, snickers cake, cheese cake. Yup, no problem finding a dessert you prefer!

Fit Kitchen

Carrer de Londres 91, 08036, Barcelona

Avocado restaurant

I mean, it’s so easy to find so many healthy restaurants in Barcelona. This time I found “Avocado” restaurant, which serves delicious and wholesome Mexican dishes! I chose the avocado box, that has mixed rice, mashed avocado, caramelized banana slices, black beans, sweet potato and crunchy yuki! Man, that was an awesome meal!

I tried the vegan option, but they have as well vegetarian and meat alternatives. For this dish, I only needed to pay 9,95€! Cheap and healthy, it’s a win win!

And, it keeps getting better when they also have healthy dessert options!!! You can eat without guilty pleasures and still feel good about it. I tried sweet potato chocolate cake with passion fruit and mango ice cream. It’s gluten-free, dairy free and has no unhealthy sugar added. Though I must admit the sweet potato chocolate cake is different, it still tasted good. It had a more soft pudding like consistency than a normal chocolate cake, but it was tasty and “chocolaty” and that counts the most;)

The restaurant is genuine. When eating here you get an earthy and natural impression, the interior is bound with the nature with its wood tables and chairs. You feel like you are in the tropics with all the beautiful decorated plants they have. Come here and you will feel the good vibes… “Good food results to good mood”, and they definitely succeed in achieving that!

The restaurant’s address is:

Av. del Paral•lel 44, 08001 Barcelona.

Feeling adventurous

But before you get on with your adventure, you need to start the day well by eating good food right? And so I did with eating a delicious brunch this Sunday at “Federal Café”. As you can see, I ordered poached eggs, with avocado, spinach and bacon, together with toasted rye bread, mmm. Oh, and when in Spain you can’t miss freshly pressed orange juice!!!

The café is located at Passatge de la Pau 11 in Barcelona. I must be honest, it was not easy to find, but that’s why the café lies in a quiet area, away from the tourists and the city traffic. You feel tranquility, and you forget you are in a busy city like Barcelona.

Next time when I come back, I want to try the French omelette with kale, mushrooms and ricotta, and their matcha brownie! It’s sounds really interesting, plus it’s gluten-free, I have a feeling it’s a good one…

I sat on a pillow at the window, it was such a cool spot to eat. You should try to get that spot too when you eat here;)

After a solid brunch, I was ready to take on my adventure, which was leading me to “La Donuteria”. Walking around can be such a good therapy, and strolling around the less busy streets of Barcelona was even better! I had longed for a donut, so I did some research and wanted to try out this place. It didn’t disappoint me at all…

They had so many interesting flavors that it got impossible to choose! I could easily have just ordered all of them, but reality stroke me to having one. After a tough decision, I chose “crema de chocolate y dulce de leche”, dulce de leche is typical Spanish so I wanted to try their take on an American donut. Oh my goodness that was good, too good to be true!

It was a perfect balance of sweet and savory. The coating was salted caramel, already by reading those words you can understand why it’s good;)

I wanted to try “crema de chocolate con mango”, which is dark chocolate with mango flavor, but they didn’t have more of it. However, it’s a good excuse to come back and try it next time! Other variants which were also strong candidates were white chocolate and raspberry flavor, vanilla and café latte, plus chocolate donut with matcha flavor. You can understand why I struggled in the first place.

La Donutería

Carrer del Parlament 20, 08015, Barcelona

http://ladonuteria.com

From there I took the bus D20 at stop Paral•lel – Marquès de Campo Sagrado to Creu Coberta – Plaça Espanya.

Barcelona amazes me, there is so much to do here and there are endless discoveries to take on. One I had long wanted to visit was the “Palau Nacional”. It’s Catalunya”s national art museum. Even though I didn’t get inside this time to see the 250 000 different artworks, you can’t always get it all done at once right? But for a first time, walking around this amazing building was more than good enough.

What better way is there to enjoy the donut on top of the Palau Nacional building! Eating with a view, and walking to the top after all those stairs, yup that was something! Ps: they have escalators on the way up there if you are too tired to walk all the stairs up! I did cheat a bit, I must be honest I was one of them who were too tired to walk all the stairs. After all, I was kinda happy they had escalators. But at the same time, it felt weird when looking at an old and historical building and taking the escalators! However, I got reminded by that we live in modern times now haha.

Parking pita

Lamb kebab on an open pita

Omg, I think I just found my new favorite place in Barcelona! And it happened spontaneously as me and my friend were strolling around the streets of Barcelona trying to find a place to eat, but without knowing where to go and what to eat!

And then we passed the restaurant parking pita, at first not sure of entering there since we really wanted sweet potato fries haha. So I asked the waiter, do you have that and he answered no. My first response was like “ah that’s a shame, we gotta keep moving to find a place with sweet potato fries then”, but somehow I got interested in knowing better this place, so I asked for the menu and said “I just want to watch it till next time I come here”. However, ironically that next time didn’t need to happen, since we decided to eat there…

It was such a good choice, I just got super excited when I saw the menu and all their delicious food!

But it got so difficult to know what to order haha. Luckily, I didn’t go alone. I think it’s so nice when you can share different plates, because in this way you get to taste more from the menu. We just wanted everything, but I’m sure I will have tasted their whole menu as I come back in the near future!

Also the prices are really reasonable, so if you want to go out and not spend a lot of money, this is a place which offers great tasty food for a valuable price which doesn’t empty your wallet!

Oh, and not least I just have to mention that I love how they have made the menu so original and authentic. That originality you find in the whole restaurant, from sharing a large long table with other people, sitting on paper boxes where there is a hidden room you can put your things inside, watching into the kitchen and how the chefs are cooking. The atmosphere is honest, down to earth, nothing fancy and fake. It’s where people gather to enjoy a good meal and feel comfortable. At least that’s how I felt it, and I enjoyed that spirit in the restaurant so much. French fries with delicious sauce, roasted cauliflower with curry taste and the lamb kebab was what me and my friend shared together. Wow, so many flavors, what a tasteful meal we got to experience! Top notch.BaklavaAnd then I discovered they had baklava for desserts, I was in ecstasy! The outer pieces are with almond, then the more caramel colored baklava is with pistachio and in the center are with walnuts. I loved it, but personally I could even have it more sweeter hehe. Next time I need to try the walnut baklava because I have a feeling those are the best!Lastly, we tried chocolate with salt and curry! That was different and new, but somehow those flavors together made me like it! You should try it too! The address to the restaurant:Passeig de Sant Joan, 56, 08009 Barcelona

It’s a must-try!

Celebrating at Mirabel

It was my mom’s birthday on Sunday 20th of May, and so we celebrated with dinner at restaurant Mirabel. It’s located perfectly as it lies right next to the harbor at Sørenga, as well as you get to experience the sunset and the remaining sunbeams when the clock strikes nine.

At Mirabel they serve all kinds of food actually. So if you are up for anything and the ones you are going with wants something different than you, this is the place to go to. They serve pizza, pasta, meat, fish, you name it! For starters we ordered shrimps, they were delicious, and carpaccio which was also really good.

What I like the most is to sit outside and enjoy the view of the fjord. Also not bad sitting by olive trees. (I have to disappoint you, they’re fake but look so real!)

The cocktail I had was strawberry flavored and I absolutely loved it! At first I ordered mojito since I love the taste of mint, but they didn’t have more and I got a bit sad about it haha. But my disappointment ended once I drank my first sip of this strawberry cocktail!

For main course I ate fusilli with creamy pesto, I love pesto. That was delicious, but so heavy!!! Long time since I have ate pasta and creamy sauces, you can guess how I felt after I finished the whole plate. I even got a slice of pizza from my sister, it’s really good btw – doughy bread, how I like it.

So before we could order desserts, I had to go for a walk… Right behind Mirabel restaurant is Paradis ice cream bar, homemade and fresh gelato. But unfortunately that was closed at 9 pm, if not I would for sure had an ice cream too haha. It indeed helped to go for a walk and make room for desserts! I highly recommend that next time you get full too!

Make sure to order the chocolate fondant, they make it really well. As for cheese cake and mousse I wouldn’t recommend it since it wasn’t that good. Chocolate fondant never goes wrong, at least not at Mirabel;)

Therefore, next time you are in Oslo, visit Mirabel, get yourself a plate of pasta or pizza, make room for dessert by having a walk first and then finish it with style ordering a chocolate fondant dessert.

I assure you will end up with sweet dreams at bedtime…

Celebrating food and the people you love, will make you feel complete.

Strawberry coconut yoghurt bowl

Mmmm, coconut yoghurt with berry taste, topped with granola, roasted almonds and raspberries, is pure heaven to me! What a way to kick off the day!

Making the coconut yoghurt was easier than I thought… I don’t understand why I haven’t done it before! Also makes me wonder why buy it in the supermarket, when you can make it at home and how you like it. I have longed for coconut yoghurt available in stores at home – Norway and in Spain where I practice, after I tasted “coyo” yoghurt bought in England. That one still remains my favorite store bought yoghurt.

I usually try to stay away from dairy too and therefore this option is perfect! In addition it taste so good and you can decide the intensity in flavor, plus the thickness.

How you make your own coconut yoghurt with only 2 ingredients!

1. Buy two cans of coconut milk which you can find at an Asian supermarket.

2. Keep them refrigerated overnight so that you can scoop out the fat. You decide the consistency; if you want it like a Greek yoghurt, scoop out only the fat. If you want it more liquidity, simply just thin it out with more of the coconut liquid.

3. Add 4 pills of probiotic pills, mix it together in a bowl with the coconut fat/liquid you scooped out.

4. Cover the bowl with plastic and leave it in the oven overnight, remember not to put the oven on! 12 hours is enough, but if you want your coconut sweeter, leave it 24h or to 42 hours, then you should leave it not in the oven, but a place warm outside.

3. And what I did when it had stayed for 12 hours during the night in my oven, was that I added flavor with strawberries. Then you decide the intensity of the flavor you desire, by how many strawberries you want! Mix together with your finished coconut yoghurt in a blender and it’s done!

Inspired by this video on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/uWvtg_WDADE

The “coyo” yoghurt I adore, more information about it here:

http://coyo.com/au/

Blueberry Overnight Oats

I love to eat oats for breakfast, but sometimes it can be boring when you eat it every single day… However, no chance of boringness if you know how to variate each day! So today I tried this version; a blueberry overnight oats.

It’s also a bonus to prepare it the night before, because that way if you have a hectic day in front of you, your breakfast is ready and already waiting for you!

It’s really simple to make, just pour in the jar some oats, dairy free milk or normal milk, chia seeds and cinnamon, shake it well, put it in the fridge over night and it’s done! I made with blueberries for flavor, you can either add them in raw, but I thought it would taste even better if I made it as jam. That’s really easy to make too, just pour in the frozen or fresh blueberries in a pot at medium heat till it becomes warm and liquidity. For sweetening I use honey and since the blueberries are not so sweet, I definitely recommend to add it for better taste!

Enjoy!

Views

What a beautiful afternoon it was today, felt so nice to sit outside on the balcony and enjoy my lunch and the view! Made myself gluten-free spaghetti with steamed spinach, sun-dried tomatoes on top with a cashew cream sauce! I try to stay away from dairy when I can and finding something to replace it is not easy sometimes. But this creamy cashew sauce was perfect and made me think about carbonara!

It’s super easy to make, just soak first for 2 hours the cashews in water, then add a clove of garlic, some salt and nutritional yeast if you have. Blend it together and “voila” you have yourself your dairy free sauce;)

Hope this inspired you to cook something similar if you ran out on ideas.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

My love for banana bread

Obviously you can see if you have followed my blog now that I love to bake. And especially if I have had a rough day. I went to the doctor today and got the tampons removed from my nose due to the sinus operation I had a week ago, and I’m telling you that was not an enjoyable experience at all. So, the best way to make it up, is by baking a banana bread. That definitely healed me.

I have been baking banana bread many times now but haven’t been able to get the right texture, because I have been experimenting without gluten and without using egg, dairy or butter. But today it became a success, and that made me so happy! Well, I cheated a bit by using whole wheat flour to be on the safe side haha. However, I totally forgot my visit at the doctor today, was I there?;)

So when I’m in the mood to try a gluten-free banana bread and prepared to fail if I do, I will let you know if I have succeeded and share the recipe with you guys!

Until then, I will enjoy this one first.