Lisboa

For our first trip together this year we went to Lisboa, Portugal. This was a birthdaypresent from me to Jaivy last December.

We absolutely loved it! The city is gorgeous with a beautiful view over the water. We loved the bridge and the weather of course, even got a little sunburned.

This was a favorite for both of us. Pasta pesto (with mushrooms) at The Green Affair. Even though Nikki doesn’t love mushrooms she loved the pasta and gave the mushrooms to Jaivy. The Green Affair is a restaurant, not a vegan junk bar. We loved that about it. We went to eat here twice.

Pastéis de Nata @ Pastelaria Batalha. Even though regularly this is a custard cake (egg), this vegan version was delicious.

For me, the absolute favorite was Legumi sushi. Vegan sushi, vegan wine. Some sushi tasted really fishy so Jaivy had to eat it. But so much flavor!

My mother’s daughters. Our favorite place for breakfast. Good coffee. Delicious food.

Jaivy’s No Egg Benedict. Nikki had the pancakes.

So for one of our four breakfasts in Lisboa we went to Eight – the health lounge. These pancakes were very good. They look simple, but so much taste. With maple syrup and cinnamon.

Avocado toast. If a menu offers avocado toast, Nikki always has to try it.

Meal of the day at Kong. Tofu satay with pestosauce and potato wedges. So much flavor. Very good lunch.

Jaivy had Seitan steak with pepper sauce. It was good but he was jealous of my dish ;-).

Tofu bowl @ The Therapist, LX Factory. Very good, with miso sauce.

The Netherlands 🧡 – homecooked edition

This post has nothing to do with traveling, okay maybe a little, because traveling can be the inspiration for new recipes we try at home.

As you know – because of COVID-19 – there is no traveling right now. So we have more time to cook and try new things at home.

Most of the time we veganise ‘regular’ recipes, but we have some vegan cookbooks too.

But first: meet our sweet cats!

Buffalo cauliflower – warning: can be spicy!

Bell pepper bread with tempeh, red onion, garlic, tomato and lettuce. Perfect lunch on Kingsday 🧡

Mac & cheese and our sweet cat in the back

Baked gnocchi with tomato sauce and spinach

Lasagne with spinach, sundried tomatoes and cheese!

We recently discovered that Ekoplaza offers vegan cheese that we both like,
Veggie filata and also parmesan from Italy (best I ever had)!!

Stuffed Bell Pepper with couscous, chickpeas, sundries tomatoes, olives and sweet potato fries, of course with sriracha and sriracha mayo!

Quesadilla- with mexican bean filling and rucola lettuce mix, jalapeño peppers and homemade guacemole. And oh my! Hellmans mayo + sriracha = best combi

Pasta shells stuffed with broccoli cauliflower red onion sauce, tomato sauce on the bottom and basil. Sprinkle some parmesan on top!

Recipe from Tasty Vegan Recipe on instagram

Sweet potato soup with stuffed pasta shells

Apple pancake with syrup, coffee and sun = the best mornings!

Bean burger with sriracha mayo veggies and fries

Cheese pesto sticks and Jillz (and sun!)

Bean burrito with sprouts, homemade guacemole and vegan creme fraiche!!

Garlic parsley rolls made from pizza dough with tomato sauce

Homemade Onion sauce and spicy onion sauce to eat with Pita Falafel

Quinoa with veggies and seaweed sesame baked tofu served with a spinach balsamico salad

Buffalo cauliflower, mac & cheese, spicy spinach with garlic

Sushi and zucchini soup, together with chips (why? haha) and kimchi

Pokebowl.

When I first started to make pokebowls I used to make 2 versions. One with salmon for Jaivy and one vegan for me. I am so happy that I don’t have to make the version with salmon anymore!

Burgers and fries (kinda our favorite ;-))

Jaivy’s mother gave us a vegan cooking class as a present for our birthdays. It was so much fun and everything tasted so good! @ Cooking Studio Nine (Amsterdam)

We stuffed the roti pancake with cumin and garlic

Whenever Nikki’s sister Amy and her boyfriend Yannick come over we always play a lot of games and snack ( a lot ;-))!! ❤️

Oliebollen! Wat is the english name? The Dutch eat it with Christmas and during the holidays, ah deep-fried raisin bun, that’s it. Homemade and delicious.

Last but not least, some wines of our vegan wine collection and of course cactuses 🙂

Well.. I hope you liked to see what we eat (and drink) at home, when the 2 vegans are not traveling.

Marbella

When I – Nikki – switched jobs I had some time off before I started @ my new job in the summer of 2018.

So my friend Maura and I booked a girls trip to Marbella, Spain, while our boyfriends spent a weekend at Defqon.1 festival in the Netherlands. I did not count on too much vegan options, but Oh My!

Gioia Plant-Based Cuisine. Wow wow wow. We ate here every day of our 4 day trip. Sometimes two times a day. Best. Plant-based. Food. Ever.
These Zucchini canneloni’s are served cold. It tasted so good.

Zucchini canneloni’s and black garlic risotto. And of course, red wine 😉

And as you can see even before the Coronavirus I am always bringing desinfect handgel (and often forget it on the table).

Bruschetta and lemon zucchini tartare. Love it.

We must not forget about this green asperagus pasta. Woah! So much taste.
I tried to make it at home, but I fail every time.

Close up shot from the lemon zucchini tartare with pomegranate.

And another one… Asparagus pasta and pasta dumplings.

There is always room
for dessert. Well.. not always. But at Gioia, yes!

The chef of Gioia Plantbased-Cuisine is currently selling an E-book, because his restaurant had to close due to the Coronavirus measures in Spain.

I have already bought it and can’t wait to try all of his recipes soon. Maybe I’ll post it on our blog 🙂

Another good day at a restaurant with organic food: Rachel’s eco love.

Hummus with crudités and a great view on the pool and garden.

Excuse me for the half empty smoothie glass! It was hot, so I was thirsty 😉 And also this trip was before we started the idea about blogging about traveling vegan, but I have always loved good food and to make pictures of it.

Falafel wrap and burger.

Black Velvet Cake. Oh my, not good for your diet, but so so good

Well.. this was 4 days Marbella, with lots of delicious food (and red wine as you can see, even in the sun ;-))
We loved Marbella a lot. You should go there once COVID-19 is under control. I can’t wait to go back and take Jaivy there!

Zaanse Schans

Due to COVID-19 our trips in March, April and May are postponed to – I hope – later this year.

So we are not spending Easter in Iceland as planned, but in our garden at home. Not too bad actually.

Me (Nikki) and my friend Rianne went running and bicycling to the Zaanse Schans this weekend, usually a very busy touristy place, but now closed and almost empty. Of course Rianne and I kept distance from each other because of the virus, whilst one of us was running and the other one was bicycling.

But there is a vegan friendly bakery where we picked up some delicious vegan food! ❤️