Chia Pudding and International Day of Yoga

On the 21st of June some of us celebrated the first International Day of Yoga. I wasn't able to attend the meet up in London, but I went to a morning yoga session in a yoga venue nearby and then did some practise in the park on my own.

Yoga doesn't mean only exercise. Yoga is both practise and lifestyle. Such a good lifestyle. Here is another healthy breakfast recipe worth trying.

Chia Pudding

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup chia seeds
• 2 cups almond milk
• 2tsp vanilla extract
• 1-2 tbsp maple syrup or honey
• strawberries, raspberries, blueberries or any other fruit you like

Directions:

Put all ingredients into a bowl and stir. Leave the pudding-to-be in the fridge overnight (or at least for a few hours) for the seeds to swell. Stir the pudding again when you take it out of the fridge, put your favourite fruit on the top and voilà!

"Talk Is Cheap" and Avocado Toast

This week has been a busy one. I feel like I say it every week. I spent over 3 hours in Starbucks yesterday, drawing sketches and uploading my new recording to SoundCloud. I'm in the process of exploring the opportunities I have to make music and I'm finally starting to use them more.

Slowly drifting into my world of dreams, I recorded my version of Chet Faker's "Talk Is Cheap". I've spent a lot of time in my life assuring myself that I'm not good enough to do something or that I just simply shouldn't do it because of some ethics, but not much later I discovered that this is not a path leading to achieving anything. So what is the theory behind all success? Fuck it. Simply and honestly fuck it. Do what you want to do and don't be scared. I'm not quite there yet, but I'm a few steps further than I was before I recorded it. The truth is nobody is going to bring you the opportunities and achievements and you have to work for them yourself. Is it so obvious? I guess I wouldn't have had to waste so much time on struggling to make decisions in life if it was. So here we are with today's moral of the story: work hard for what you want and don't stop because you think you're not enough. That's it.

I always feel like all those positive speeches sound extremely cliché and that they're full of unrealistic ideas, but when I think of it more I am able to see that it depends only on the way that I look at it and want to see it. And the way they're presented.

"10 ways to become a happier person" guides don't work, at least for me. It's like being told how to live by an anonymous creator of some tabloid-style website. What really works are our own experiences, aims and everyday's happenings. We don't usually wake up emotionally and mentally until something shocking or exciting happens. How many times have we heard the "change your way of thinking" advice and how many times has it affected us? For me it's easier to start with changing the way of working and doing things instead of the textbook "positive thinking" advice. As soon as you start to see benefits of your work, you gain hope and motivation. The way of thinking automatically changes. You pick up guitar playing, you practise, you stop, you lose it, you come back, you practise more, you see the benefits, you love it.

This week's healthy recipe is an avocado toast. I feel like I can't really call it a recipe, since all you have to do is put raw avocado on a toasted bread. Let's call it a recommendation.

I remember trying an avocado on bread for the first time about a year ago and I remember that I found it awful. I gave it another try this week and I'm so glad I did. Toasted bread, ripe avocado and some pepper. That's all you need.

It's the one that says Bad Motherfucker: coconut & almond pancakes

I made some amazing healthy pancakes a few days ago. I'm going to share the recipe with you, for now I'll tell you that they have almond and coconut flakes inside. I've done quite a lot of cooking recently and I've been enjoying it. That's my #1 thing to do when don't know where I'm going with my life. I took a few pictures (thanks to my summer scarf in the background and the beautiful sun). In the post I obviously wanted to make some thematic reference and this one could have not been possibly better.

I don't think that I need to explain it.

Moving on, in the past month I have made my very own first raw Nutella, used Matcha powder in my green smoothies for the first time, spent the most money on eating out ever, drank the most Starbucks and bubble teas in my life, drawn the most sketches, deleted all my tweets, set up an Instagram account (which I hardly ever use), got myself an Italian textbook (and actually started learning the language), came back to practising yoga and spent the most money on things that I probably didn't even need, but also sold some clothes and books.

I have improved some of my cooking skills by trying new recipes and coming up with my own food ideas, so here is the recipe for the most delicious pancakes that I've ever eaten.

Coconut & Almond Pancakes 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• almond and coconut flakes
• 1 cup milk (I used soy milk)
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp oil (I used olive oil)
• 1 mashed banana
• vanilla or almond extract (optional)

Directions:

Put all dry ingredients into a bowl and mix them together. Then add milk, an egg and oil and whisk everything together until smooth. I add the banana at the end together with almond and coconut flakes so that I can see how much of them I need. Add a bit of vanilla or almond extract if you want to and stir everything. At this point you might need to add more milk to get the right consistency (it should be a bit thicker than a usual pancake batter). Fry the pancakes and voila! I've put some organic apple purée at the top, but you can use strawberries, blueberries, raspberries or anything else that you want. Bon appétit!

Damn good coffee!

I've spent much time on thinking about the future lately and it's getting over the healthy limit. I'm at this point where planning overcomes doing, ending up in a vicious circle. I felt like I already had one direction that I should go in, but now I'm starting to notice that it keeps changing overtime. Now I do many different things, but is it wrong of me to do so? I'll have time for settling down and doing my one and only job later in my life.

Inspired by one of the my favourite TV series of all time, the 90's "Twin Peaks", I made myself a "Damn fine cup of coffee" tote bag. Maybe I will find some similar souls soon. When it comes to "merch", I prefer symbolic images and quotes to an actual logo or movie/band/book name. It makes the thing more magical.

To be honest, like I once wasn't ready for the taste of spinach, avocado, caviar, unsweetened oatmeal and tea, I am not ready for the taste of black coffee yet - it comes with age perhaps. 1-0 for Dale Cooper for this. Since it's been raining for a few days now, I've been treating myself with some small presents each day not to let the weather depression get me (read: yoga, Starbucks, bubble tea, sushi, new recipes, Italian textbook) and I came up with a more feminine coffee recipe for the cold, rainy mornings.

White Chocolate Mocha

Ingredients: 
strong brewed coffee
3/4 cup milk
25g white chocolate chips

Directions:
Pour the hot milk over the chocolate chips and while they are melting, brew your coffee. It should be a bit stronger than usual because of the extra milk and chocolate. Whisk the milk and chocolate together. Fill your coffee mug with the chocolate texture and then fill the rest with coffee. Stir and add some whipped cream or cinnamon on the top if you enjoy a fancy looking cup of coffee.