Recklinghausen Leuchtet - Recklinghausen lights up

Hello beautiful people!
A few days ago I've been to this really cool event in one of the bigger cities near my hometown and this city is called Recklinghausen. Every year in fall the whole city center is light up for about two or three weeks. The buildings glow in the prettiest colors and there are not just colors but also pictures or little texts on them. I've been to this event at least once a year for about four year now I think and they always create some new art with the lighting. This year I've actually been there two times. One time there was a DJ at the town hall square and the town hall itself was kind of the canvas for an awesome light show. The second time I've been there for the big firework which signed the last day of this years 'Recklinghausen leuchtet'. Ok, so now that you know what this whole event is about I want to show you some of the pictures I took.

Okay, so I know I was actually there for the firework there that day but I'm really bad at taking photos of fireworks so....
Nevertheless I hope you enjoyed this post and maybe I'll see you there next year (if I should be in Germany next year but I won't tell you about my plans now) I'd love to see how what the theme will be next year and how they present it.

I will talk to you soon,

Norina xx

Forcing others to become vegetarians?! - Life as a vegetarian (4)

Hello beautiful people!
A few days ago I saw something that made me think about the way other people see us vegetarians. At a public place I saw this sticker. (I thought I'd find the sticker online, so I didn't take a photo. The problem is, that I didn't find a picture of the sticker, so that I'll try to describe it to you.)
The sticker was devided into two parts. The fist part was a photo of dead pigs and above was written: "If you don't want this." The second part was a simple photo of bacon and there was written: "Don't eat this."

As I saw the picture I was shocked. Why would people stick those pictures onto doors at public places? Or simply anywhere? I do understand, that some vegetarians want to convince other people that this is the right way or at least a much better way. But is this the way we should talk to others about this topic?

Are those shocking photos the right way to convince others?

I personally don't think that this is the right way to talk to others about being a vegetarian. We should try to talk to them about it without saying that we are doing it right and they are wrong with what they are doing. This way they will maybe only feel bad for a moment, but that won't make them quit eating meat and in the worst case the will be mad at us. I mean it's true that this could seem arrogant even though we probably don't want to sound arrogant. Also being vegetarian doesn't make us that much better. There are many things we have to think about if we i.e. Want to produce less CO2 and not eating meat isn't everything.

That's probably the reason others always think they have to explain themselves for eating meat. 

People I know often try to tell me that they don't feel bad for eating meat and our body needs it and basically search for arguments so that I won't say anything against their meat consumption. The thing is that I don't even want to say anything against it. I think this is what some people think we are like though because of stickers like the one I saw or people who talk like this. I always tell others that it doesn't matter to me if they eat meat. If they want to eat animals then they should, but they should also accept that I won't eat any meat. Accepting and respecting each other is one of the most important things and we should never forget that. As long as we keep that in mind it's much easier to talk to people about being a vegetarian or vegan.

I woul love to hear about your opinion in the comments, so don't be shy. Also if you're a vegan or vegetarian, what do you think about convincing others to try the same?

I will talk to you soon,

Norina xx

Pumpkin soup

Hello beautiful people!
Today I thought I'd share one of my most favourite recipes for the fall with you. This recipe and some others I'm gonna share with you are probably one of the reasons I love fall. I'm not a person that loves the cold, but coming home after a walk in the forrest to some lovely smelling soup or dish are some of the happy moments in the year.
This soup is really easy to make and is not only vegetarian but also vegan. I hope you enjoy trying  it out and that you love it as much as I do.

 600g Pumpkin        200g Carrots         1 Onion                 Spice/Broth/Wine

For the Spice/Broth/Wine mix you need: 200 ml White Wine
                                                         300 ml Vegetable Broth
                                                         1/2 tbsp Salt
                                                         1 pinch of Sugar
                                                         Worcestershiresauce
                                                         Nutmeg
                                                         Pepper
                                                            

Besides this you need: 30g Ginger
                                 2 peppers
                                 1 bunch of basil
                                 some butter
                                 pumpkin seeds (optional)

First of all you basically have to cut all the bigger ingredients into smaller cubes. Then you have to lightly sauté the onion, the ginger and the peppers in a bit of butter. Afterwards you add the pumpkin and the carrots into the pan. Next you add the mix of spice, broth and wine and let it cook for about 20 minutes. You can use this little break to roast the pumpkin seeds.

After the 20 minutes you'll need to puree everything, so that it finally becomes a soup. Now it's time for you to taste and add some more spice if you want to. Be creative and make the soup taste as good as it can!

In the end you can decorate your soup with the sliced basil and the roasted pumpkin seeds.
If you want you can have some bread with it, which I personally always really like.


There you have it! A fast and easy recipe for fall. If you try it out make sure to tell me about in the comments or tweet me. I'd love to hear your results.

I will talk to you soon,

Norina xx

I tried out... YOGA

Hello beautiful people,
I'm one of those persons who loves to try out new thing and to be adventurous. It's amazing that there are so many things for all of us to try out and whenever we get tired of doing something we can just check out other thing or activities. This inspired me to create a new series on this blog, which will be called "I tried out...". I want to try out many different things and I do already have some in mind. This first post will be about me trying out Yoga and since I think this series is mostly self-explanatory I won't talk anymore and start with telling you about my Yoga experience.

To be completely honest with you, I don't know if I would've tried Yoga if I didn't know someone going to a Yoga center. This year, when that person told me about starting Yoga again, after having a break for one year, I got really excited and asked if I could come with her.
I always found Yoga interesting. It's not just the sports, it is a lifestyle and as I'm always interested in learning about different cultures and lifestyles, this seemed like the perfect opportunity.
For sure I was allowed to come and so I went to my first Yoga lesson a few weeks ago.

As we got there everyone was really nice even though we didn't know anybody. We still had a few minutes left before the real lesson would start, so we all drank some tea and talked about whatever topic came up. So even before the original class started I kind of already fell in love with it.
Afterwards we had to take some mats, pillows and blankets and we got started. In the beginning we did a relaxation, where we had to lay on our mats with our blankets and just let everything go. It was really good, since I just started school and this was a way for me to let go of all the stress. But I also have to say that those relaxations are a little hard in the beginning. You really have to concentrate on yourself so you can forget everything and that isn't as easy as it may sound. There were so many thoughts in my head that I couldn't get rid of. (Now that I've already been to three yoga lessons, I can say that it gets easier every time).

After relaxing we got started with the Asanas and the breathing. It was amazing what some of the people were able to do. But I also have to add that I didn't go to the beginners' class since I was told that the advanced classes aren't that hard and I already had some practice from my dancing. And I have to say that this probably really helped me. Some of the Asanas were hard to hold, but if you have enough strengh and enough will you can totally do it. The breathing was something new for me. Basically we just had to breathe through our nose quickly while moving our bellies at the same time. Ok, I know I'm not really good at describing. So you naturally "move" your belly while you breathe and we just did a more intesive version of that.

At the end of the yoga session we were all very relaxed and I couldn't wait for the next time. Then the next day came and I felt my muscles aching. It wasn't that bad, but I definitely noticed that I worked out the day before. I would've never thought that some Asanas and some breathing could give me a muscle ache.

All in all I can really recommend Yoga to anyone who wants to find a new sport or a new lifestyle. I'll definitely continue doing it and I'll share my results.
(Funny fact: The person who writes next months "Do more of what makes you happy" is actually a Yogi, so get excited for that)

I really hope you enjoyed reading out about my Yoga experience. Maybe you can suggest some things for me to try out in the comments. Be creative and tell me whatever you'd like to read about. And tell me if you've tried out Yoga before.

I will talk to you soon,

Norina xx

Life as a Vegetarian (2) - Rainforest destroyed by soybean cultivation

Hello beautiful people!
A few days ago (actually it was just yesterday) we watched a short documentation in class about the cutting down of the rainforest in Brazil. To be honest I had already seen the film before but it was good to see it again. Before the film started I already thought of how proud I was to be a Vegetarian so that I'm not that guilty in the destruction of the rainforest.

There is more space needed for the farming of soy for animals then for farming soy for Veggie products

A few years ago we had learnt in school how the soybean cultivation needs more and more space and parts of the rainforest have to be cut down. Our teacher's solution was that we shouldn't eat that many soy products. At that time I didn't have the knowledge I do have now and so I believed him. Actually this is not really true though. If people really want to save the rainforest then they should think of something else. What happens to the soy after it's harvested?

Most of the soy won't be used for Veggie products. Most of it will be used to feed animals.

Yes, you heard me right. Soy is a cheap way to feed pigs or chicken and the farmers have to keep their prices low, so that they don't really have a choice. Maybe you think that they do have a choice. But the truth is that most people don't want to buy the expensive meat. They can't have good quality meat for low prices. And by good quality I mean meat from animals that had a life as free as possible without being hold in galore. If nobody is ready to pay more for good meat than industrial livestock farming will always win. And if that's the case then there is no way to save our world.

Gladly that's not exactly the way it is. I know many people who are vegetarians or try to only eat meat once a week. Also I know many people who want to know where there meat is coming from so that they only buy meat from a local butcher.
Nevertheless there are many people who still eat meat almost every day without caring about our future. I don't say that everyone should become a vegetarian, this is totally up to everyone themselves. What I want is for you to think about the information you just received. Think about yout lifestyle and think about if this is what you want. Maybe you can eat less meat and it'll make you feel better. Years ago eating meat was something special since the prices were so high, but now that they're that low everyone can afford it. But this is going into a different direction and maybe I'll write another post on that specific topic.

To come to an end I want to say that I'm proud for being a vegetarian for almost a year now. When I saw that film I knew how guilty I would've felt if I ate meat.  

The rainforest are getting destroyed and we have to do something against that.

 Please leave a comment telling me your opinion. And I'd love if you could comment some topics I should discuss in my next posts. (They don't have to be about being vegetarian but it would be nice)

I will talk to you soon,

Norina xx

Red Lentil Curry

Hello beautiful people.
I had many reactions about my post on being pescetarian and mostly people were very interested in that topic. This is why I wanted to share some recipes with you. Today I decided to give you one of my absolute favorite vgetarian recipes and the best thing is that it is even vegan. So without further ado here is the recipe:


You will need:
375g red lentils
3/4 l vegetable broth
1 1/2 bu scallions
3 red peppers
2 carottes
1 1/2 tb vegetable oil
3 tb curry powder
1/2 dried chillies
pepper, salt




 Cook the lentils in the vegetable broth for 5 minutes.
While it is cooking, cut the scallions into small rings.
After that you cut the carotts and the peppers into very small cubes.
Then you roast the vegetables in hot oil for about 2 minutes.
Flavour the mix with some curry powder.
Afterwards you give the lentils with the broth to the vegetables.
Now you just have to flavour it with the chillies and salt and pepper and you are done.


I really hope you like this post/recipe. Be sure to tell me if you try it, I would really like to hear your thoughts on it.

I will talk to you soon

Norina xx

Life as a vegetarian (1)

Hello everyone,
by reading the title I think many people are a little confused because they have never heard of the word pescetarianism. Let me give you some information about it.
First of all I think many of you know what a vegetarian is. It is when you don't eat any meat or fish or just in general: animals.
Also very popular is veganism. This is when you don't eat anything coming from an animal, wether it is milk or eggs. Some of them don't wear leather or stuff like that.
There are many differeces between the groups and as I would say there is also some kind of pre-stage before the vegetarians. This is pescetarianism. And that is what I am. (Or what I'm trying to be)

For a very long time now I have wanted to be a vegetarian. I didn't like how the animals were killed for us just so we could eat them. My parents didn't like it either and we decided that we would only meat where we knew the animals had a relativly good life and hadn't been held with many others in a small cage.
A few years ago my mum became a pescetarian out of some private reasons. Me and my dad were eating less meat and I thought this would be a good compromise. But even though I was only eating meat about two times a month I didn't feel like it was enough.
When I was much younger I had promised myself that I could eat beef, chicken and pork because I had always eaten it but I never wanted to eat any other meat wether it was veal, roast duck or simply anything else.
At the end of last November my mum and I went to a takeaway and wanted to buy Döner (the germans of you probably know it) But then the cashier asked wether I wanted it with chicken or with veal. I was extremely confused because I knew I never ate my Döner with chicken but I simply couldn't believe I had eaten veal all the time...
This evening I told my parents I wanted to be a pescetarian. It is not that I love fish or anything. But I heard about many people that got problems because they didn't eat fish and weren't able to get the nutrients from the other stuff they ate.
Actually that Döner wasn't the last time I ate meat because the next day I went out with some friends and ate chicken simply because I forgot about the pescetarian thing in that moment.

I am proud to say that I haven't eaten any animals beside fish until now and I for sure don't want to start again any time soon.

So what are your experiences?
Have you ever tried to live without meat?
Are you a vegetarian, pescetarian or whatever?

I really hope I made you think about what you eat. Give this a like if you want to read more about vegetarianism or pescetarianism. I was also planning on uploading some healthy no meat recipies.

Looking forward to discussing this topic with you in the comments,

Norina xx