Broccoli is the reason

Rice, beans, potato wedge and broccoli

There are some kinds of food that I just started to eat and like after becoming vegan, mainly vegetables. Broccoli is one of those. I really enjoy cook them and love all recipes that have them in.

This week we're having more time to cook and broccoli are in a lot of meals, so I decided to write a little bit about them. And I saw an interesting information about them at Brazil Nut, that I'll translate here: “The infection caused by the bacterium H. Pylori, the leading cause of stomach cancer, can be fought through increased consumption of broccoli, shows a study done in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine with 48 people. After eight weeks, the levels of infection were significantly lower in a group that ingested daily 70g of broccoli sprouts, compared with the volunteers who consumed alfalfa.”

Other benefits: their nutrients include vitamin C, vitamin A, folic acid, calcium and fibre.

Potato, onion and broccoli soup

Try to add broccoli to some of your meals, it's delicious and healthy!

Some amazing vegan recipes with broccoli:

- Pesto Pasta Bake (Lunch Box)

- Sweet and Hot Pepper Tofu - Asian Style (Vegan Appetite)

- Broccoli Tempeh Pizza and Broccoli / Apple / Lentil Quiche (Toffu Party)

- Stir-fry noodles with broccoli (The Post Punk Kitchen)

- Chickpea Cutlets with Mushroom Gravy / Garlic Mashed Potatoes / Roasted Broccoli (What the Hell Does a Vegan Eat Anyway)

Em português, as minhas duas favoritas do Brazil Nut: Quiche vegano de brócoli com alho poró e Risoto de brócoli e cogumelos

Enjoy it ;o)

Time to celebrate

The cutest pic ever (Thanks Panda!)

I had a very busy week, but a week with a lot of good things happening! I baked some vegan mini cupcakes for a 21st birthday party and it was so cool (thanks Ciara!).

Some of the cupcakes before the party

Hope this week I'll have more time to write here ;o)

All about... trust

Some time ago, I wrote a post about cruelty free personal care products. At that time I quoted The Body Shop as a reliable option because they do not test on animals. But Andrea, from Brazil Nut, wrote that the company was sold to L'Oreal a few years ago.

And some days ago, I met a amazing group of people here in Dublin, that promote veganism and animal rights. And they have a great website, called Vegaplanet. So, I started to read the site and found two articles related to this kind of products:

The first one is about The Body Shop: “The body shop was sold to L’Oreal/Nestle in March 2006 for £652m. According to Anita Roddick, who founded the firm 30 years ago, this deal was the best 30th anniversary gift the Body Shop could have received. Anita Roddick was expected to make £130 from the deal. Can The Body Shop be considered an ethical company?” (Click here to read the entire article)

The second one (that made me feel really sad) is about Original Source. (Yes, the company that I wrote so good words about and that I love its products): “Although Original Source may sound like an ideal company to support and buy from, things are not always what they seem and a little research is needed to know who we are dealing with.” (Click here to read the entire article)

It's really hard to find products 100% vegan (that don't cost a lot), but I can not trust these two companies anymore. Hope they can change their policy in the near future.

Check too: Companies to Avoid and Cruelty Free Products (at least Lush is in the good list!)

More flowers in the house

Making some tests with flavours, colours and flowers ;o)

Fell in love with the seasons (or just being boring)

Today I read an article about “what you shouldn't do on Twitter” and one of the rules is “don't write about food or the weather”. They say you will be less popular talking about this. Well, I think there are the same (and a lot more) rules about what to do or not to do in blogs too. And here I am running a blog about food.

And today I will get more “not popular” points writing about the weather. Not exactly about it, but about the seasons of the year (boring the same, I know). But as a Brazilian girl who spent most of her life living in a hot as hell city it's really exciting have the chance to see the seasons coming and going and the weather changing. We arrived in Dublin the last autumn. It was great. It wasn't that cold, the leaves were falling, everything was yellow and orange (and green, Dublin always has the green).

Than the winter came. I was so excited about my first true winter! In my home town when it's cold 20ºC everybody starts to use coats and scarves. So, even being sick most of the 3 months of winter, I loved every minute I spent between here and Italy. I saw the snow for the very first time, I started to go out with 3 or 4 jackets on, I saw the snow again and again (and got emotional every single time). I spent Christmas with snow (and not with 30ºC).


And now it's time for the spring. Everybody says spring is amazing. It's beautiful and colourful and a little bit hot (I think here in Dublin it's never too much hot). Spring in Brazil is beautiful too, with all the amazing flours and trees we have there but it's hot as hell again. And I am excited again! Can't wait to walk between all of this, to go to the sea, to go to a lot of parks and make some pic nics. Yes, I know, it seems silly, but I am enjoying every moment, maybe just because it's the first year. But it's still cold these days I got sick again and I'm waiting for hotter days. While we can't see a lot of flowers outside, I started to bring some of them to my universe:


Let's wait and see what spring reserves to me!

PS. No, I'm not excited about the summer (even here), but I know I'll be later because a lot of good things happen during summer time in Europe!

Cores e sabores *

Matteo's birthday

Vanilla with chocolate
Chocolate with peanut butter

* Colours and flavours

Sweet vegan

As you know, I'm crazy about chocolate cakes. And now it's time to make everybody in Dublin taste my vegan cakes! Yesterday I baked a birthday cake on demand: chocolate with chocolate ganache and strawberries filling!



Today I baked some mini cupcakes and tomorrow I'll make a special cake for Matteo's birthday on Sunday.


Oh, yes, life is really sweet!

PS. And we bought an Easter vegan egg. We really don't care about the holiday itself, but the eggs are awesome and I can't resist ;o)

Italian food and Brazilian guarana

Last weekend we ate a lot of Italian food: pasta, pizza and lasagna. Couldn't be better! And to make it more perfect, Matteo bought us Guaraná Antártica.


For those who don't know “guarana is a climbing plant in the maple family, native to the Amazon basin and especially common in Brazil. Guarana features large leaves and clusters of flowers, and is best known for its fruit, which is about the size of a coffee berry. As a dietary supplement, guarana is an effective energy booster – it contains about twice the caffeine found in coffee beans.” (thanks Wikipedia, again).

Guaraná Antártica is the most famous Brazilian soda made of guarana (of course). And it's available at a Brazilian small shop here in Dublin for a scary price. After almost one year without drinking it, it was worth it (but next time I'll drink it in Brazil, for sure!). If you have the chance to try this soda, do it, it's really delicious ;o)


PS. I'm not cooking a lot of stuff because I'm really busy with the cupcakes (check out Sweet Myspace) and that's awesome! These are the cupcakes that are at Govinda's (Aungier Street) today and tomorrow:

At Govinda's today

Vanilla with lemon
Vanilla with strawberry
Chocolate with peanut butter