Tasty & Healthy Swedish Cinnamon Rolls

Hello everybody!

Due to the wintery weather outside and for the fact that we have all eaten so much during the christmas time, I was looking for healthy, low-calorie christmas dessert that still taste like 1000 calories per piece. Because swedish cinnamon rolls or buns appeared to be a quite appropriate dessert for christmas, I decided to try out the recipe that you can find here. I tried to divided these steps up so that it becomes a bit clearer.

Ingredients

Serving: 18 rolls (I made 22)

Nutrition per roll: cal-120, fat-1g, sodium-135mg, carbohydrate-25g, protein-3g

3,5 cups all purpose flour 

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 pkg (or 2,25 tsp) fast acting yeast

1 cup water

2 tbsp margarine

2 egg whites

2 tbsp apple juice

1/3 cup sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

Instruction:

1. In large bowl, combine 1 cup of the flour, 1 tsp sugar, salt and yeast. Blend well. 

2. In small saucepan, heat water and margarine until very warm (120-130°F). Add warm liquid and egg whites to flour mixture. Blend at low speed until moistened and beat another 2 min at medium speed.

3. By hand, stir in an additional 1-1 3/4 cups flour until dough pulls cleanly away from sides of bowl.

4. On floured surface, knead in 3/4 cups flour until dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 min. Cover with large bowl and let rest 5 min. (I use this time to clean up.)

5. Grease 2 x 8'' or 9'' square pans.

6. On lightly floured surface, roll dough into 18''x10'' rectangle.

7. Brush with apple juice. Combine 1/3 cup sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle on dough.

8. Starting with 18'' side, roll up tightly pressing edges to seal. Cut into 18 one inch slices and place cut side down into greased pans.

9. Cover and let rise in warm place (80°F)  until light and doubled in size, about 30 min.

10. Heat oven to 375°C. Uncover dough and bake 25-30 min or until light and golden brown. Dizzle warm rolls with glaze if desired (see recipe below).

Glaze:

1/4 cup powdered sugar

2-3 tsp skim milk

I made them without the glaze and they were absolutely delicious! You can also sprinkle some sugar crystals on top if you want. This was the first time I have ever done cinnamon rolls so that it took me about 2 hours and 30 minutes to do them. I am sure you'll be faster! I also recommend eating the a day after you have baked them because then the cinnamon can develop its full aroma. For those who are interested, I made something completely different for Christmas: a variation of different sorbets ;) What did you make as the christmas dessert?

Wish you a wonderful pre-christmas day! Love,

Diets & Weight Loss - Trying to Capture A Myth

Hello everybody!

During this time of the year companies and all magazines will publish their recent diet and weight loss programs after the comfortable christmas and winter time. Did you know that the fitness and diet industry is one of the most profitable branches? Thus, it is hardly surprising that all of them try to make the most money by promising the dream body or the most amazing weight loss, of course, ONLY with their program.

There exist ton of different fitness and diet programs starting from extreme crash diets, extreme diet changes like Atkins Diet, Dukan Diet, Vegan or the controlled healthy eating program symbolized by Weight Watchers. However, after watching and studying all of these programs, I came up with this main rule that is the base of all diets and the key to weight loss and getting healthy: diet and fitness / income and outcome have to be in balance!

My beautiful graph :)

This is so simple that I found it hard to believe, but all these programs use this basic rule in different ways. Whether they decrease the income dramatically like in a crash diet, change the substances of your income completely like in a Vegan diet or just have a program that gives you a controlled eating plan like Weight Watchers. However, they are all not a miracle. They can help you by motivating you, by giving you an idea of what to eat and by keeping you on track with your diet, but you don't need them to lose weight. You can do everything on you own! 

So let's have a look at your diet, at your food:

When you want to lose weight the simple thing is that you have to eat less which means controlling your portion size. You don't need a super-size menu, just eat as much as your body needs. When it comes to what to eat, then it's easy to say to eat healthy. Basically, this means to avoid lots of fats and an one-sided diet and to replace it with a clean diet with lots of veggies, fruits and "white" meat. The key to every diet is moderation, because nobody can scratch all sweets out of its diet, so always keep your discipline and control so that you can allow yourself 1-2 pieces of chocolate and not one bar.

Fitness:

Even though fitness is claimed to be the key to weight loss, only 20% of our fitness influences our weight. 80% of our weight loss is influenced by our diet! However, if you want to lose weight and get a defined and lean body, then you have to do sport. I do HIIT workout our Zuzana Light's amazing workouts (Link) about 5 times a week, but again, it's not about a certain program. The basic rule is that you find an exercise that incorporates strength and cardio and that you like and thus, it becomes a part of your routine. 

The main thing is that you keep income and outcome, food/diet and fitness in balance. Allow yourself some treats, but keep everything in moderation and keep the overview of what you are eating. When it helps you, then you can write it down. 

Nevertheless, keep in mind that you don't need one of these expensive diet and fitness programs which lead to the yo-yo effect in the worst case! Weight loss starts in your head and with these two factors that have to be in balance, everyone can lose weight on it own for free!

I hope you liked this post and tell me whether you have had any experiences with diets?

Wish you a wonderful day! Love,

The Magic of the IKEA Bedroom Finder

Hello everyone!

Firstly, I want to welcome all my new followers that started reading my blog! Hello :) If you have any requests for a blog post or any critics then please leave me a comment in the bottom bar. By the way, this is addressed to all of my followers ;). 

As you might know, I am going to move out of my parents' house this summer and even though my final exams are not over, I am super excited of decorating, designing and painting my future apartment. That is kind of funny because I have no idea how my future apartment will look like, so all my thought and imagination can't do their job properly. But maybe everyone has to keep its little dreamer personality! Recently, I found an amazing bedroom finder by Ikea where you can customize your bedroom a tiny bit to your personal style. (Link - You can find the planer when you scroll down the site). Unfortunately I haven't found this program on the english side, so I though I might guide you through the program and translate it so that you can do it even in German. Once you did the first step, you will be able to do that even when you can't speak any language! :)

IKEA bedroom finder

When you start the program, Ikea tells you that you can find your bedroom in 3 steps. No.1 is to choose your style, No. 2 is to determine your details and No.3 is to send your personalized bedroom as an email. So let's press the "Start" button and do the first step!

Now, you have to decide between four different bedroom styles. The first one is modern and dark, the second one is modern and bright, the third one is classic and the last one traditional. On the pictures you can always see a little preview of the style.

I choose the "classic" style as I like it the most. Ikea gives you know the "starter bedroom" where you can customize the bed, bed sheets, side table,  rug, curtains, drawer, dresser and even the wallpaper and the flooring. All prices are calculate in the upper right corner of the side. The only bad thing is that you don't have the possibility to choose all beds/rugs/drawers etc. that Ikea offers but only the ones that they suggest for this particular style.

My bedroom

This is the style that I came up with. I always wanted to have this dark brown Hemnes bed and the PAX dresser with these huge glass doors. I also fell in love with this dusty rose wallpaper as it transfers a feminine, girly flair in a sophisticated way.

This is the same bedroom only with dark curtains. I will probably need dark curtains to keep all the sunlight away, but the floral curtains will work great as a room divider.

 Other inspirations

Modern & dark

Modern & light

As you can see you are able to create thousands of different styles and combinations. Of course you don't have to buy everything they show here, but I think this bedroom finder can be a great inspiration or can help you to find out which colours will work together.

Which style do you like the most? What do you think about the Ikea planer or do you think this is just a method to sell you more products?

Wish you a wonderful day! Love,

Smokey & Sexy Taupe Make-up Tutorial!

Hey guys!

Today I want to show you a beautiful taupe make-up that I came up with this morning and just suits perfectly to this rainy melancholic winter and autumn days. It really gives me a slightly mystery, sultry feeling and it csn be easily vamped up with a few darker taupe colour in the crease. The look includes  my new Essence Quattro 07 Over the taupe palette and if you want to know how you can get that make-up look, then keep on reading.

Guide

 

1. Apply the right colour from the top and the left colour from the bottom of the Essence Quattro 07 Over the taupe palette all over the lid.

 

2. Blend a light matte ashy brown into your crease and a darker golden, ashy brown in the really outer part of your eye.

 

3. Take the first colours from the Essence Quattro 07 Over the taupe palette under your eye.

 

4. Highlight your inner corner and your brow bone with a glittery rosy eyeshadow.

 

5. Then I took my black gel eyeliner and drew a line on top of my lash line and winged it out at the end.

 

6. Curl your lashes & apply your favourite mascara and you are done!

 

For this look a light coral blush will look best. I used the NYX blush in Mauve.

 

Because the eye make-up is quiet strong for everyday I kept my lips really natural with a rosy lib balm.

So this is the look I was wearing today. I really like this look especially for this season. What do you think about taupe colours during the autumn and winter season?

Wish you a wonderful day! Love,

Winter Sale & New Spring Collection Haul!

Hey guys!

This always happens when I go out for some serious winter sale shopping: I always end up buying some not-so-cheap products in the winter sale, because either all good things are already sold or they just sell all the crap stuff and and I always find the clothes from the collection so much better that I buy one or two products form this one. That thing happened again this year except that I am quite proud of the deal that I made with my coat. So if you want to know which clothes I bought from the winter sale and the new spring collection and what is my big deal, then keep on reading!

H&M top with lace detail for 9,95€

I usually don't buy basic tops that much, but this one with these beautiful lace details on the top just caught my eye. I love this top because I personally think that these tiny straps doesn't suit me and the larger straps with the lace can be combined to a casual outfit but also for sophisticated and elegant one. For the summer, I also purchased the pink one.

H&M leopard print blouse for 19,95€

I know that there are a lot of prejudices of leopard print and that blouse is quite a statement and one have to have a certain self-confident in order to wear it with proud, but I love it. Yes, it is eye-catching and a lot of people will hate it, but I think that it gives you a sultry, sexy but still wearable look.

Esprit glittery bouclé jacket for about 75€

In my christmas outfit ideas post I have already shown you the jacket, but I bought around the christmas time when the pre-winter sale has started on Esprit. Unfortunately, you can't buy the exact one in Esprit any more, but there are loads of other bouclé jackets out there, even in Esprit. I love tis jacket because it really keeps you warm, looks incredibly posh and I feel like Coco Chanel in the same time.

Esprit classic trench coat with belt about 120€

Now this is the famous deal that I was talking about in the beginning. This classic, timeless and absolutely amazing fitting camel trench coat with a figure enhancing belt costed originally about 260€. And by accident, I found this coat in the corner of the lingerie. Yes, don't ask e why it was standing right there, but it was more then 50% off, so it costed a bit less then 120€ and I had t buy it!

So this was my little winter sale haul for this year. i just realized that I try to invest into things in which I really believe in and where I am sure that I am going to wear them. I only have to pay attention that I am not startin to wear too conservative clothes even though I love them so much. So my aim for  my next haul is too follow the more sexier style and therefore, being more authentic. What have you bought in the winter sale?

Wish you a wonderful wintery day! Love,

Trendy & Bright Short Suit Outfit Idea

Hello everbody!

How are you? Do you have a nice day?

Ironically when I started to plan my Spring Series, it started to snow in my town, however, I don't see that as a sign right now and just keep on doing my spring series as I have planned to :) So I have already talked about my top 5 wearable fashion spring trends for 2013 which you can read here and I thought I'll start a spring series where I show you my outfit idea for every spring trend as some of you might find it hard to transform runway fashion to "normal fashion." So let's get started with the first trend - Short Suits:

My outfit:

  

1. White Blazer by Best Connection - 49,90€
2. White Shorts by Vero Moda - 29,95€
3. Necklace by Baur - 17,99€
4. Coral pumps by Ravel - 68€
5. White Bowling Bag by Morgan - 69,99€
6. Coral blouse with ruffles by 3 Suisses Collection - 12,99€

I love the white shorts & blazer as it is not only a trend colour in spring but also is absolutely perfect for a bright but yet elegant and polished look. By choosing your short suit, when you don't buy the two pieces from one line, you have to pay attention that blazer and shorts have the same colour tone and cooperate with their textures. So a linen shorts doesn't work with a satin blazer. To put in some colour into this outfit, I choose coral for the blouse and the heels, but stayed with white for the bag and the jewellery. I think, two different colours in this outfit are totally fine. I went for a blouse as it is a more sophisticated look, however, it doesn't has the conservative cut but rather some ruffles which is a softer, beautiful version for spring and summer.

So this was one of my outfit idea for my spring fashion trends 2013 and I will come up with a few more outfit ideas during the couple of days. I hope you like this idea :)

Wish you a wonderful day! Love,

My Top 5 Wearable Spring Fashion Trends 2013

Hello guys!

How are you?

Even though it is incredibly cold outside and I am currently living in a freezing winter wonderland, the new fashion spring trends are out and I am super excited what we will find in the stores this year. To be honest, there are not that many new trends out there and only a few are really wearable in public. So I thought I will give you a little overview of my top 5 wearable spring fashion trends 2013.

Trend No.1: Short Suits

This fashion trend came up at the end of last summer, however, short suits are still incredible trendy this year. Watch out for bright short suits that give every woman a little boyish, business flair, but still enhances the female features.

Trend No. 2: Cut Out & Sheer

When you are searching for a sexy date dinner dress that is still a tiny bit conservative, the you will love   this season. There are a lot of dresses with sexy cut out around the midriff or beautiful sheer net details that reveal sexy details and still keep enough room for imagination.

Trend No. 3: Bermuda

I can remember seeing this trend years ago but this spring the bermudas are back! These longer shorts are perfect for a casual girl-next-door look during the warmer days.

Trend No. 4: Black & White

Really untypical for a spring fashion trend, but this spring we will see lots of black and white clothes. I love this trend as I am more the classic type and think that these clothes are timeless.

Trend No. 5: Low Heels

I couldn't believe this, but finally the designers discovered low heels again. We talking about ballerinas, sandals and also the lower to medium "high" heels like the picture on the right shows it quite well. I really appreciate this trend because I am quite tall and I think, women in medium heels can still look lovely and even tall girls in high heels appear to be a bit intimidating. 

These were my top 5 wearable spring fashion trends for 2013. I didn't include the all-time spring fashion trends in this list as floral dresses, bright colours and classic pieces, but I hope that you like my picks. Tell me what is your favourite spring fashion trend for 2013?

Wish you a wonderful day! Love,

Knit & Leather in the Winter - Outfit of the day

Hey everybody!

Uff, it's has been a hard time for me the couple of days. Learning for my final exams is so incredibly time-consuming that I can not even remember when I just sat down and wrote a blog post for you without worrying about thousand of other things. But finally (!) here I am writing to you and indulging myself to have break, because I really needed it. I actually really struggled with giving my brain a break and stop learning as I start to get a bit addicted to working.

So I thought it might be a great idea to share with you my outfit as this is an easy start for my writing season :) It is freaking cold outside, however, I wanted to look a bit stylish and tried to cooperate two different textures: knit and leather.

The outfit

Leather shorts: H&M. Tights. Knit sweater: H&M. Black top (underneath): New Yorker.

Shoe-wise I would recommend wearing black boots either some nice black riding boots, black ankle boots or some high oxford boots. I went for the last one. I really liked this outfit because the knit sweater really keeps you warm, so that you can wear some sexy leather shorts even in the winter. Also the chunky fit of the sweater does balance the tightness of the leather shorts and makes this whole outfit perfectly comfortable for the winter time. I added a black thin long sleeve top underneath as the knit / wool sweater is a bit scratchy. 

This was my outfit for today. I hope you don't mind when I can't keep up with my regular blog posts! What are you wearing during these cold days? 

Wish you a wonderful day! Love,

Apple Cranberry Crisp Recipe!

Hello everybody!

Apple Cranberry Crisp or Crumble had been praised for being so delicious but I never had the time and idea to do that for my own and to be honest, I have never eaten something like this before. Then I recently saw a video by MissChievous and because I had a lot of old apples and I thought this is perfect for the colder christmas time, I made this crumble today. Without a joke, it was the best dessert I have eaten for a really long time. Sour, moist, fruity and spicy, sweet at the same time! 

 

Recipe

Fruit:

4-5 peeled, cored and sliced apples
1 package fresh Cranberries (about 340g or 12oz)
1/2 cup white sugar (100g)
Juice of half a lemon to prevent oxidizing
Cinnamon
Ground cloves
Ground nutmeg

Mix everything together in a deep casserole dish. Make sure to use a lot of fruit, your dish should be filled to the top before you spread the crumble on top.

Crumble: 

1/2 cup quick oats (65g)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (65g)
3/4 cup brown sugar (160g)
1/2 cup unsalted butter (113g)
1/4 tsp Salt
1 Tblsp. pure vanilla extract

Mix all the dry ingredients together, then drop in chunks of butter and the vanilla. Mix together until it's nice and crumbly. If it's too soft, add a bit more flour and oats.

Crumble the mixture on top of the fruits, then bake at 375 F / 190 C for 55 mins. The crumble mixture should be slightly browned. Serve hot with ice cream or whipping cream.

 

My whole family loved this dessert and really enjoyed eating it even though they are normally really picky with my cooking. Thus, I can highly recommend trying this out!

I think, this is also a great dessert for christmas and I even think about making this for one of the evening with my family.

Comment below whether you have ever eaten apple crumble or am I the only weirdo? 

Wish you a wonderful day! Love,

2012 Year In Review: When You Think You Own the World

Hello guys!

I know that I haven't posted something for a while now and that I even forgot about my pre-written blog posts, but I am currently studying for my FINAL exams and that is so incredibly time-consuming and my whole head is filled with school stuff. So please excuse this lack of post and I doubt that this will change in the future. Nevertheless, I wanted to reflect on the past year 2012 as I absolutely hate New Year's Resolution and rather prefer looking at what I have achieved and doing the things that I want to change in the minute when I want to change them an not waiting for a new year to start. Nevertheless, I will include a little list of things that I plan on doing in 2013. So let's get started with my End of Year Review!

Prevailing mood for 2013?

Excitement.

What have you done in 2012 for the first time?

I travelled only with my sister to a foreign country where we can't even speak the language, I also went to a road trip with my own car and with my sister which was super exciting. I also applied to a work experience voluntarily, went clubbing for the first time in my life (!) and had some really fun experience on my final course trip to Amsterdam. 

What haven't you done?

I didn't travel to Switzerland this year, even though we have a holiday house there and I spent my whole childhood over there. I also forgot celebrating my birthday, because the whole school was so stressful. That's also the reason why I forgot to really enjoy my life and the little moments in our life.

Word of the year?

School Stress

Gained weight or lost weight?

I lost weight because of my aim to get a hot summer body during the summer time :) and because the school stress in autumn.

Visited cities?

Dresden, Leipzig, Florence, Vienna, Weimar

City of the year?

Florence! I have been to Vienna before, thus, it was not that exciting to see everything again, but Florence was definitely an adventure. It is a rather historical city with lots of tourism, but the whole Mediterranean atmosphere, colours, architecture and food were so incredibly inspiring. I think I am in love with Italy!

What about alcohol?

Well, I enjoy having a drink in moderation. I prefer wine and detected my new love for champagne and vodka.

Hair shorter or longer?

Shorter! If you asked me in the beginning of last year, I would have never said that I would cut my hair shorter even though it was only shoulder length. But I absolutely love my new hair and I even died it a bit lighter!

Have you saved the money or spent it freely?

Caused by my really time consuming school I haven't really found the time to spend a lot of money on anything, so at the end of this year I had a lot of money so I just bought myself a few things here and there but nothing major.

Highest mobile phone bill?

Ewww... I don't pay them.

Did you go to a hospital?

No. I have never been into one.

In love?
Nope.

Most called person?
Probably my sister as she moved into her own flat.

Spent the best time with?

My sister!

Spent the most time with?

MY SISTER & my friend in the club!

Song(s) of the year?
All songs from Coldplay, Battles by Hudson Taylor and Levels by Avicii!!!

Book of the year?

I had to read a lot for the school so I haven't had that much time to read. However, my favourite book was probably Delusions, Confusions by Theodor Fontane.

TV serie of the year?

Oh, since summer I love watching Grey's Anatomy. Seriously, this is only my scond series after Gossip Girl that I really like.

Most expensive thing that you bought this year?

My Nikon Coolpix Camera.

I would be able to live without ... ?

the school stress, the not existing time for myself and the insecurity regarding my future.

Best experience?
Slowly starting to learn the positive effects of being female and how to use this wisely ;)

2012 with one word?
STRESS

My plans for 2013:

• having a healthy and well-balanced diet even during stressful periods
• working on my sixpack ;)
• just buying makeup products that I REALLY need or are used up
• being more self-confident, authentic and care less about other's opinion
• pass my final exam, moving out and starting my new career
• living more care free

So this was my Review of the Year 2012. I am so excited about 2013 because this years starts a new chapter with my life. Everything, absolutely everything will change in my life and I am super excited of how I am going to handle these changes. I also want to progress in my character because I feel quite wise and mature, but not really fun-loving even though this lifestyle attracts me the most. So we will see what 2013 will bring!

What have been your experience in 2012 and what are your plans for 2013?

Wish you a wonderful day! Love,