Chocolate and Hazelnut Granola bars

Hello everyone :)

Welcome to my kitchen :)

Today, I decide to introduce you to my cooking skills ,they aren't the best but I'm working on it :D .

If you are like me always on the go, this recipe is definitely for you ( Say  Hello to easy breakfast/healthy snacks). Homemade granola bars is for sure healthier and tastier when compared to store-bought bars and  at least you can name all the ingredients it was in it :)

Ingredients :
1½ cups rolled oats
1 cup dates, pitted and pureed
¼ cup honey
1-2 tsp cocoa powder
½ cup hazelnuts, chopped
½ cup chocolate chips


First you start baking the oats (its optinal but in my opinion it taste much better and crunchy) for about 10 minutes on 180 °C but be carefull because they burn quick  and when your kitchen smell like oats you know they ready.:). While the oats are in the oven you can start preparing the dates, all you need to do is put them into your blender or food processor and give a really good pulse ( you looking for a creamy thick texture).
Once you have the oats and the dates done you ready to mix all the ingredients, starting with the dry ones. In a bowl, you place the toasted oats, the cocoa powder ( I made with 2 tsp but for my taste was a bit to chocolaty so next time I will definitely put only one), the chopped hazelnuts, the chocolate chips and finally you can mix the dates and the honey. Mix everything well and let me tell to you use your hands because with the spoon will not work,trust me. Place the mixture in your baking pan spread it and make sure you press down with your hand.
Cover your baking pan with some baking paper, otherwise the mixture will stick to anything.:)
Now, just pop it into the freezer for 15 to20 minutes to set (by the way I left it for 60 minutes) . And its ready , just cut them in whatever shapes you want.

If you want to make this granola bars vegan you can definitely use maple syrup or agave instead of honey, will work just as well :).

Hope you try them out and enjoy them just as much I did :)

Minimalism :)

Hi Everyone :)
Here I come again to talk about one of my recent passions.. Minimalism :)

One of my dreams is travel around  the world maybe with a bagpack or campervan. So, one day I started analysing what to do to make that dream come true and I understand that I need to become a "snail", by that I mean that I needed to simplify my life, start reducing the amount of clothes,shoes and all the material things I own, having just what i need to "survive" so I could carry my "life" with me whatever I want to go. 

So, that's when Minimalism became a part of my day by day. I don't know where I'm going but I do know where I want to be. I want to spend my energy making memories instead of creating mountais of things that doesn't say who I am.

I do think minimalism depends on which person, doesn't have a exactly mean to everyone. Just do it for yourself. Do it to feel free. Do it for your own hapiness. Just remmember you don't own anything, all the stuff owns you!!

And please Do Never Give up... Once you started it might look like a task that never ends, but keep in mind for how long have you been collecting all this stuff?! So, just take your own time, give yourself a break if you need it but don't give up on yourself and on your own hapiness! :)

Thanks for stopping by :)

THE LESS IS MORE! BE HAPPY!

XOXO

How I Became a vegetarian?

Being a vegetarian is a quite recently experience in my life.
One Sunday of the past March( don't ask me about date because I don't remember, anyway dates are just numbers and on the end the important thing is that I finally had the courage to make a change) I decided that was my last day as meat eater and I tell you that was one of the best decisions I ever have made for myself. Yes, you heard me when you decide to become a vegetarian first of all you have to do it for yourself (as everything in life and I don't think that is being selfish) because when you do anything thinking about your well being the probability of you do in it right and for longer time it's much bigger.
Anyway, I was a meat eater most of my life and the reality is that I enjoyed it and I would never think about becoming a veggie girl. Why would anyone would want to live of veggies and delicious fruits for the rest of their lifes? That's until the day I came across of the Documentary "Cowspiracy" and that couple of hours changed my life, changed my way of seing the world, changed the way I looked at meat that are actually dead animals killed and treated the most monstruous way. That documentary was definetely a big open eyes for me! I was in chock and upset with myself...A question was always playing on my mind afterwards.. Why have I never wanted to see what was on front of eyes, around me every second? How could a pretty well made packaging surrounded by marketing blind everyone about the pain of this animals? Who the hell we think we are to make any other species suffer?

By now you probably understand that one of my biggest reasons was ethical. I couldn't eat meat anymor. I didn't want to be a part of this!

One of the other reasons was the environment. I was thinking that walking or cycling to work, recicle the much I could or simple having short showers would help this planet a little bit to be "alive" for a few years more... Guess what?! I was wrong one more time. Don't get me wrong all this things does help, actually every little thing helps but animal industry is the major reason of overheating the planet, eating up land, causing deforestation, poisoning the earth, destroying the oceans and I will stop here because the list could be quite long.

Let's talk now about the benefits I witnessed since that day. I definitely feel more "light" and I don't just mean about my weight I definitely mean about having no problems with bloating or constipation. I feel like I did a favour to my body, I made my body life easier in terms of digesting:). I feel better in my own body and mind. I feel more aware of what surrounds me.

I'm not trying in any way to say I'm better than a meat eater. I'm still a "baby" in this vegetarian world and I still have lots to learn. I'm just trying to be the best version of myself, trying to do what it looks right to me always keeping in my mind my own will and hapiness.

Realising now that this post is longer than I expected (ups) I leave with the picture of my lovely dog :)

with Love :)

First post!

Hi everyone:)

Welcome to the Vegetarian diary :)

My name is Susana and I'm 25 years old. I'm from Portugal but been living in England for the past 4 and half years.

I'm in love with the blogging and youtube World, I love the way people share their lifes, their passions, their knowledge making us feel like they are our closest friends.So for a while I been thinking about creating this page so I could share with you my experience on trying to be a better person, living with less impact on the planet as possible.. and a bit of my lifestyle, my passions, my interests and maybe getting to know a bit of yours as well.

 Here I hope to inspire, motivate and help people in any way I can so that we may all become the best versions of ourselves.

 Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo
With love :)