I Won't Quote

You know the feeling when you want to go and have lunch outside, you go to a cafe and just take the lunch offer? Well, I don't.

Until yesterday.

I got an opportunity to go out to eat and take my friend with me, so we went to vegan cafe called SIIN (siin means "here" in english). And it was so good to just go there and not worry if the food is okay for me. Because all the daily meals are 100% vegan and they are normal, homemade food.

There are some places near my work, that offer vegetarian food. And for some odd reason it is always fried cheese, pureed soup with cheese and other kinds of stuff with cheese. It really seems that they can't come up with anything else. :D They think that ok, at least it is not meat, so it's fine. So I gave up going for a lunch out while I am working.

Yesterday I also had university entrance exam (which didn't go too well, because what the hell were these questions?), but I took a day off from work to relieve some of the stress at least. And I had exactly enough time for lunch between the exam and interview.

I have lunch - always. But in general it is quite small, so this caused me a lot of guilt. What were we offered? Oh yes - soya mince sauce with potatoes or buckwheat, fresh salad and some bread. It was EXACTLY the kind of normal lunch I aim for! I had to tell myself over and over again that normal people eat this food all the time. :D

Anyway, the food was amazing. Simple and tasty. It didn't have too much salt or too many other seasoning, it was just, well, good. Again I wondered why I don't make something similar at home more often. :D But yeah, it was nice to have a homemade meal without having to put any effort in. Just walk in and you are being served. :D

We went at around 12, the food had just gotten ready. The place itself as well was really sweet and cosy, I really liked that you could sit by the window and look out on the street. We talked to my friend about this always being our favourite spot.

It started raining so much exactly when I headed to the cafe. I dropped by a store to get myself a raincoat, as I didn't have an umbrella on me. :D Anyway, it was really nice to sit inside, look at the storm and dark skies and enjoy good food and nice compay. Ah, they also sold a lot of the products in the store from this website: paradisefoods . My bag was full of stuff at that point and I couldn't get anything unfortunately. :D But yeah, they had some stuff I have never tried before. 

They are open every day now as well, even during the weekend. And you can also order food from there via Bolt food or Wolt. I think I am going to order lunch sometimes from there, because honestly, it is such a soul food.

Then at first I thought that I was not going to have the bread, but it was so nice and fresh and soft that I had to eat it, haha. :D Perfect with this simple meal, even though I don't usually have bread with my lunches or dinners, I have bad memories from the hospital. :D But doing this now is the only thing that helps me get better.

Also every time after your meal you get a vegan chocolate candy as well, it is perfect to finish the meal, as I have always said I need at least ONE bite of something sweet. :D And this also gave my brain some energy, because I had to go back to the uni to take the interview. Also, we had cappuccino and it was amazing, I had only had one coffee that day and usually I would have had three by this time already.

Anyway I really recommend this place! And again, I really loved that I could take the lunch offer, without having to think if it is okay for me. Just went in and got food. :D Also the portion size was quite good, I liked that they also offer a small plate as well. In some places they only have one size, even though I think this has started to change slowly. But anyway, I was happy with this. :)

I think my interview at the university was a bit better than the test, but I can't say for sure. I knew that I was prepared, but the questions they asked were just awful. For example "what did this philosopher say to that lawyer" etc.... I thought they were going to ask questions I really needed to know in working at law. :D Some questions were easier as well, but I am quite unsure. But well, if I can't get in, then the world is not going to end, I can try again next year, as at least I know what to expect (if they don't change it, that is). So at the moment I am just hoping it goes well, but I am prepared for the negative answer as well. I should get the results soon (ALSO I AM BEHIND IN TRANSLATING MY POSTS, I DID GET IN!)

It was really funny to sit at the university, in the class. I graduated from Bachelor's in 2016, so it has been a long time since I was at school. I kind of do miss it, doing something. This is why I am thinking it would be nice to get into studying again - it would be something to aim for and I finally feel that I have enough energy for this.

Yesterday, when I got home, I thought about going to the gym, because today I am going to my parents' place, but I left it there and just rested at home. I did drop by a shopping center and got a new pair of jeans though. I have a lot of pants, but they all are a bit too tight and bring me negative emotions, so finally I can throw them out and wear new ones. The pants I got are really quite nice, light blue, perfect for summer.

There has been a lot of eating out recently. For example on Tuesday I went to Vabrik and also at Jahu restaurant. This does kind of make me stressed, but it is good as well, to get out of my comfort zone. For example today I don't really feel bad at all, I just remember good things from Tuesday. As I tell myself quite often: feel shit, but do it anyway, because there is not progress if you don't.

Yesterday evening I also really wanted to skip dinner, but I didn't do it. I had curd cream with strawberries, raspberries, mango and Lizi's granola my friend got me to relieve my exam stress. And it is really good, I just snack on it randomly. :D Tasty as hell! I have kind of gotten over my cereal addiction and moved on to muesli/granola.

And this bowl I made was really good. Last time I had something similar, I whinged on the blog, saying I wasted calories, haha. :D So it was nice to repeat the challenge and show myself that this was good this time. :D

And now today after work I am going to Viljandi. My grandma turned 80 in the spring, but due to corona she didn't have a party, now she is finally doing it outside. My task is to bake two really big kringels - one sweet and one savoury. I think I can do it. :D I really love cookings, especialyl for others. xD When I went to SIIN cafe I thought that oh man, I want to own a cafe as well, it would be so cool to make a menu and cook and so on. So if my lay career fails at one point, I know what I want to do. :D

Lately I have had so many "accidentally vegan" days and honestly I feel really good. :) I have a habit tracker on my bullet journal and I always mark down when I have a vegan day and in July there was a lot. Even though it is the beginning of the month only! But I haven't tried too many vegan products this month, I hope to get better at it. I just need to put my mind to this.

Where else should I go and eat in Tallinn?

What is your favourite food you would like to make in vegan version?

If you had to cook me ONE meal, what would you make? :D

An Estonian influencer, whose fan I am not, posted a long article about how bad gluten is for you. And then I was reminded of one of my favourite YouTubers, whose video gave me inspiration for today. So I went to the store and got a loaf of white bread.

And had all of it.

Breakfast

For breakfast I had an absolute feast and toasted four slices of bread. Topped two of them with avocado and salt-pepper, one with fake Nutella and one with Biscoff.

I think I will never become someone who has bread for breakfast. (At the same time I did think I will never have anything other than porridge either, so...) But it was still very good. Avocado was perfectly ripe, so I hit a jackpot with it. And Biscoff and Nutella on bread was like something from my childhood. :D Even though then I didn't toast the bread. Mm, now I am thinking of Nutella on fresh bread, I think I will make myself a piece.

I wasn't too full and thought I would like to have something else, but at the same time I wasn't hungry either. Rest assured that if I felt starving, I would have had more food.

At one point I went to the store and thought about scratching this idea and have other kinds of foods, but during lunch time I felt like bread again. And not rye bread or oat bread or I don't know what kinf of bread, just normal, what bread. And like, recently I try to eat what I crave, so I had it. Yum.

Lunch

I had no idea what I wanted for lunch. This was probably why I considered not continuing with this challenge. Also I thought that I want more snacks and then I realised that even though I am eating a loaf of bread, it doesn't mean I am not allowed to have extra things. :D And my problem was solved.

For lunch I made beans in tomato sauce and buttered toast. I have had this kind of meal once before during my breakfast challenge, and I really liked it, but today I didn't really want it. Then I made it anyway and tasted it and mmmm... why don't I make it more often? :D For real, it was so good. And filling. After this I didn't even get a thought that I would like some more and more. It is probably thanks to the fact that beans have some protein and it helps to keep you full. :D I worreid about my protein and then realised that it was the purpose of my buying beans.

I really like all kinds of beans in tomate sauce, but my local store only haid Heinz ones and I had to pick those. And whenever I have had Heinz beans, I get this thought that yes, these are really much better than all the other kinds. :D I also added a pack of cherry tomatoes as a side, because I am used  to having something fresh with every lunch and this is a good option. Sometimes I have like 3 packs a day, no problem. Also cherry tomatoes actually have some taste to them, compared to normal ones in the winter. Estonian ones are still the best though.

Snack

I though of having bigger dinner and eating half a loaf of bread, but I realised it was not the best idea. :D Dinner was still huge, but I did have a little snack. It was toast with butter, cheese and tomato and also fresh bread with Nutella. :D Yum, it was so-so good.

Dinner

For dinner I was left with 8 slices of bread. :D But oh well, I am used to having more food in the evening, so this was fine. I made two of everything: avocado, hummus, cheese and apple jam. :D I really enjoyed them all. I also made sme coffee, even though I had dinner at 7 pm, haha. :D But I am not affected by coffee at all, I never have trouble with falling asleep or something. Besides the dinner reminded me of breakfast, so it was necessary.

I also wanted to add that I had more snacks throughout the day. During the day at one moment I had cottage cheese with raspberry jam, I used to be obsessed with this combo and now found it in the store again. And then I also had a whole pomelo, because I wanted something fresh. Also I feel a bit under the weather and vitamin C would be useful. Also citrus fruits are supposed to be good for you when you have a cold. Aa, I also had some cereal with milk, as I had an open package and well, I just wanted some. :D

Conclusion

What did I learn from this challenge? I don't know, probably nothing. :D Well, it taught me that bread shouldn't be afraid, which I kind of was. One thing is to have bread or rye bread for lunch, which seems completely fine for me, but this showed me that if you enjoy bread - please go ahead and have it for every meal.

It also kind of reminded me of the time where I had just moved to Tallinn, because my menu then kind of looked like it, haha. At the moment I couldn't do it any longer - I love more foods and I love cooking.

Another interesting thing is that I really prefer dark rye bread to wheat white bread. :D On the next day I wondered what to have for lunch and I still had half an avocado left - so I made avocado toast with rye bread. You can keep white bread - handmade rye bread is the way to my heart. Anyway, in general I always have some rye or normal bread in the freezer. I keep it there, because I can just toast it up and have it when I am in a hurry.

I think I enjoyed beans on toast the most, it was just a really nice combo. At the same time I still don't think I will become bread eater in the mornings. I enjoy other things much more. But sometimes for lunch - why not.

Someone asked about the pasta challenge that how did my... toilet schedule go. :D And I am telling you there wasn't any difference, hahaha. :D

My weight didn't change, but it would have been weird if it did from one day. Also after dinner I was quite full, no problem there. I think I enjoyed avocado toast the most. Rediscovered it. Also bread with cheese and tomato was also nice, a classic. Hummus one was okay, but I have never been a hummus sandwitch fan. Also I got this one hummus I really don't like, so that is probably why. I will still have it with some vegetables though, no worries. I don't waste food.

Nutella bread was soooo goood. Classical and reminded me of my childhood. But we never got Nutella then, it was a cheap version called Nussa instead. :D Oh, how nostagic. I want this cream what is half white chocolate, half milk chocolate now. :D

Anyway yes, this was a nice challenge. I really didn't feel restricted and didn't crave for other things. It was nice to give myself a permission to have as much bread as I wanted to. It was a chill Saturday.

I would like to do more of 24 h challenges and I have some ideas, but these will have to wait until the weekend. During the week it is kind of difficult due to work.

At one point I had a lot of drafts for the blog, about all kinds of different topics. But these do not make sense anymore, so I will not be posting them. At the moment I don't have this one longer challenge, which is kind of sad. I should pick up another weekly one, these were my favourites. Or okay, 5 day ones. I really liked to plan them out and post on Fridays. At the moment I don't even know what else to write about.

Aaa okay, I do have one monthly one, the one where I try vegan products. This month I haven't had too many things, but I am sure I get to try some and share my thoughts. It was really sweet when someone sent me a message saying that they tried this Alpro almond salted caramel ice cream and that they really loved it. :D Then I was like, yes, job well done!

Haha, if I don't have any ideas, then on Wedensday there is another episode of Expensive calories and I can always rant about this. At least something. But again, I wanted to say that my posts are written during an emotional high and I often change my standpoints later, especially if I read your comments and thoughts. So another big thank you to those of you who comment (in my Estonian blog).

I haveb't baked bread in a long time, should do it at one point. It is a bit diffiult when I am living alone as I have to have the whole thing by myself. Also I have this gas oven and I still don't understand the temperatures. So yeah, it is a bit difficult. At one point I will definitely try making bread though. I can also freeze it and have it when I want some.

I am also thinking of preparing some soup, I can take it with me to work. I should get a better container for it though, currently I use glass jar. It does the job, though.

Mmm... I have also made some pasta. I love it! :D I should gather up my courage and make it with pesto, I have been avoiding it. Basically every time I go to the store, I pick up pesto, check the calories and put it back on the shelf.

Also my "I will not get new snacks before I have had the ones I have" promise has not worked, ups. I like, want EVERYTHING. I have had a lot of crap, not going to lie. Sometimes I share it on my Instagram stories... if anyone is interested. Some people have told me that this helps them and shows them it is okay to have food and snacks and it is really nice to get this kidn of feedback. :D But I haven't gone down the road where I photograph all of my meals, except when I am doing a challenge, of course.

I don't know, should I write about gluten or something... maybe I should just mention that if you don't have an intolerance or allergy, it is completely fine to eat it. But argue with me, if you want to.

On Tuesday it is shrove Tuesday and we are eating semla. Kind of looking forward to it. I picked the one with marzipan this time, as I have had jam filled ones every year. I am not a huge fan of whipped cream, but once a year it is mandatory. Nom, I can have more bread. :D

Also I have been thinking of doing some more baking recently. I have only made banana bread thus far. :D I would like to make some blondies. So if you have a good recipe, preferably vegan, link me or tell me the recipe. I am ready to try! Recently I have been feeling like having a lof of cake, but I don't want to get a huge one from the store. But well, I go by this one mall on my way home almost every day and there are two cafes I could cake a slice from... hey, this is a really good idea!

On one day I went to a cafe with a friend. To have a cake. It has been my dream for sooo long - just walk into a cafe and pick a slice of cake. Not thinking about which one has less calories or is healthier. It took some time, but it is done now. :D We tried two cakes - one was chocolate cake with salted caramel and the other one Prosecco raspberry cake on browni base, highly recommend. They have really good cakes in general. They have this one raspberry peanut butter vegan cake which is to die for! Mm, now I imagine blondie with peanut butter... should really make it.

I may be hungry while writing this. xD Or most definitely. But I am currently making sweet pottoe in the oven and it will take around half an hour still. I picked the longer version today, caramellizing it and everything, even though in the microwave it would have taken a lot less time. But it is Sunday, I have time.

My mum came to visit me for a moment, we could talk for a bit. It was nice. I can't wait for this corona situation to be over. I want to invite her, my dad and sister over for three course meal... it is my dream and one of my bucket list items for sure. So yeah. Also I have been watching a lot of My Kitchen Rules, so I am kind of in the mood for cooking, haha. :D I was wondering if this makes me want to try meat or something but nope. Like I really don't want it. :D So I will keep living as a vegetarian.

But yeah, how was your weekend? What kind of challenges did you face and what else could I do? :D One of my hobbies is to Google different challenges, but it would be nice to so something actual people suggest. Also I think next week I will do the grains one, but I won't be posting about it on Friday, because I have some other meals planned. :D But then I will do it, I have several ingredients already waiting.

Recently I am proud of how much I have been reading! I have understood that what stopped me was this all or nothing mindset. I had to read EVERY day or not at all. Now I have been reading when I feel like it and it is really nice. I am about to finish my first book this year. Yes, at one point in my life this would have been so little, but considering I am not used to reading, I don't have as much time and my focus is a bit out there, this is good. I am kind of sad that the book is almost over. :D I am talking about this "The Painted Man". At least it is a series so I don't have to say goodbye to this world yet. Also with it, I got an idea of writing something myself. I used to be really good at writing (could this become my monthly challenge?). I actually have a story that I started a long time ago, but it is still very relevant right now. :D We shall see, I should go over it and see how cringey it is. I would love to start something new as well... I could have a side blog and post the story there. But it seems scarier than just posting blog posts. :D

Anyway, have a good Monday and don't forget to eat bread.