Living on my own in Europe is a challenge. I worry – especially about food. I know it’s not normal, but I spend every day making sure I’m eating enough, while being careful not to spend too much money. And it’s not easy! I still can’t quite do the currency conversion in my head, and I have to talk to myself out loud to determine what I truly need.
What I really need is a distraction! Thank goodness I’m doing some more traveling in the future. First trip – Copenhagen for a weekend, next weekend! I’m so excited, it’s ridiculous. If anyone has been there, I’d love some sightseeing suggestions!
Well, that’s the end of my little rant, now for some eye candy. Jenn has put a little twist on this month’s What I Ate Wednesday posts. Since February is supposed to be all about love (oh boy), WIAW is all about loving your veggies. Which I certainly do, but I’m taking the challenge to verify meals, full-on.
So, here are Tuesday’s eats!
I had a 9am class that takes an hour to get to. Unless I have time to sit, 7:30am is too early for breakfast. So I packed up a sandwich with banana, tahini butter (here it’s cheaper than PB), chia seeds and cinnamon. Inhaled it when I got to class.
I got out of class later than I had expected to, and was starving. I thought long and hard about whether to stick it out or grab a snack – then I remember the night before I really wanted a chocolate cookie. I stopped at a coffee shop and grabbed bite sized biskvi. It’s a Swedish cookie made with almond paste, a dab of buttercream and dipped in chocolate – and it wasn’t too sweet. That’s one thing I love about buying pastries here, they don’t seem overly sweetened like those in the states.
Once I got home, I warmed up some lunch. On Sunday I made a big pot of Chelsey’s White Bean and Artichoke Chili, which I made a bit more liquid-y (like soup) to stretch it. There’s no way to make soup look pretty - but seriously, go make this. It’s delicious.
Washed down with two pieces of knäckebröd – known to most as Wasa crackers! But, Wasa is just one major manufacturer of knäckebröd, a ‘hard bread’ that has been a Swedish staple for hundreds of years. They recommend eating at least one serving of these high-fiber crackers per day for good digestion. There’s your Swedish fun fact for the day 
Dinner was, of course, a salad beast. Not as pretty as before, but just as tasty. I find that I like to throw dinner together really quickly, and what better way than with a giant salad?
I hadn’t eaten much throughout the day, so while I ate my salad I cooked up some baked sweet potato ‘fries’. Cut up sweet potatoes, with a touch of olive oil, cayenne pepper (a healthy kick!), and salt, baked at 400F for about 20-30 minutes. With cinnamon yogurt for dipping.
About two hours later I was hungry again, so I dug into a cereal/yogurt mess, that sadly went un-pictured. It wasn’t pretty anyway.
Without knowing about the veggie challenge ahead of time, I’d say I did pretty well veg-wise. What do you think?
What’s the best veg you’ve eaten today?
HELP! Any recommendations for where I should go in Copenhagen??
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23 Responses to Love Your Veg – WIAW
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Hi, I'm Rachel! I'm a 22 year old college student in New York City with a passion for staying fit, eating well, and exploring. I'm a born foodie, but like to share an occasional workout, travel, or eco living post. Thanks for stopping by! And feel free to email me at eatlearndiscover[at]gmail[dot]com.Follow Me!
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Loving the Swedish eats! I know what you mean about currency conversion and trying to manage money – it’s difficult at first but you’ll get the hang of it. It’s still super early here so I haven’t had any veg at all, but the best I had yesterday was probably the roasted butternut squash in my lunchtime salad.
Nada (One Arab Vegan) recently posted..WIAW: “Why Vegan?” Edition
Thanks, Nada! That butternut squash sounds yum
Well I’m pretty sure you’re not the only one who worried about spending too much money. I even have a job and make pounds not dollers, and money is constantly on my mind. As I’ll post soon, I will take things off the shelf, walk around, and then put them back before I check out with only like two things. Need to work on this.
If you’re keen on traveling, want to meet up somewhere in Europe? I’m looking to travel at some point. Let me know.
banana and tahini is a winning combo. I’ve discovered my love for the stuff here, as I hated it before. Where has it been all my life?
artichokes in chili? Sounds amasing. I’ve seriously never thought about that before, but love artichokes so will have to try it.
You’re doing awesome with veg. I’m not worried
Unfortunately, I’ve never been to copenhagen, so i can’t help. But I can’t wait to see what you end up doing!
Hannah@mindrunningwild recently posted..Trying New Things
I’m going to email you later! Basically that chili is like spinach-artichoke dip in a bowl, highly recommended.
Oooo…the chili looks yummy!!
Fran@ Broken Cookies Don’t Count recently posted..WIAW~Pieces of Days
Hi. I haven’t commented before, but I have read your blog for a while.
And it also depends on waht kind of things you would like to see.
I actually live in Copenhagen so yes I have been there
There is a lot of cool places in Copenhagen, it’s just hard to rember them all
If you want to go sightseeing. You could go see “Rundetårn” wich is a tower where you can walk up and look over the city. Or you could visit “Botanisk have”. It’s a park with a giant green house, that holds some rare plants, or “Kongens have” (The kings garden) where you also can see “Rosenborgs slot” (Rosenborg Castle).
I hope some of the suggestions is a help
Ps. I apologize if there’s a lot of spelling and gramma mistakes, I’m not that strong in written english
There’s also the new “Torve hallerne” It’s a little like a market place but more fancy and quite prizy. It’s fun to see though.
Thanks for reading! And thanks for the suggestions as well
This time last year I was in Copenhagen studying abroad (like you are!). It’s probably freezing over there right now, which puts a damper on sightseeing, but here are a few suggestions:
- Nyhavn – especially at night. This is the main part of the canal that runs through the city.
- Strode – walking street for shopping and the likes
- Castles… lots of them. Frederiksborg, etc. Don’t remember all their names, but there are quite a few close to the main part of town.
- Louisiana Museum – a bit of a trek out of the city, but it’s a great little museum with excellent exhibits and a big lawn you can explore.
Just walk around the Norreport area – it’s super charming. And have a pastry from Lagkagehuset. I still dream about them!
Whoops.. Stroget not Strode. And Frederiksborg is actually a bit of a trek, but there are a bunch of churches/palaces around the main part that should be easily accessible and still pretty cool to see.
Awesome, thank you Diana!
Wasa crackers are literally one of my favorite snacks! It must be awesome to find them in so many ways there. Are there different flavors? Have you tried them? What’s your favorite? How much do they cost over there? Sorry for the interrogation, but I get excited when other people also enjoy my off-beat favorite foods. I hope you are having an amazing experience over there!
Rach @ Lessons by Rach recently posted..Tuesday "Muse"day
I totally know what you mean about getting excited over foods like this, Rach! And, in Sweden, the best crackers are actually the homemade ones (that you can get in the fresh bread section of the grocery stores), not the Wasa brand! I havent tried all the flavors (there are so many!), but I can buy a *huge* pack for like 4 or 5 dollars at Lidl.
Happy WIAW!
Loving all your eats! I need to recreate your breakfast sometime, it looks delish!
Oh, I LOVE those Wasa crackers! They taste great with butter or as a side for soups (for dipping).
Shannon from Healthiful Balance recently posted..WIAW > Weather
Thanks Shannon! Let me know what you think, if you try that breakfast
knackebrod is so very very good – i eat some every day with a little butter and sometimes cheese, mayo and dill, it’s so very very good
Alissa – Not Just Apples recently posted..butternut kale stew and butter bean cookie bars
Your fries sound awesome, especially with that dip! Way to “love your veggies”
Thanks, Jessica! Sweet potato + cinnamon yogurt is amazing.
Your sweet potato fries look delicious! You’ve totally inspired me to make some for dinner!
Alexandra recently posted..Back to the Basics– A Goal for Life
Ooh yay! Thanks, Alexandra – let me know what you think
I still haven’t tried wasa crackers or the other varieties! I’m guessing they rock b/c everyone in blog land scarfs them down! on the grocery list =) Happy WIAW Rachel!
Happy WIAW to you, Jenn! Ah yay – they’re so good, and super high fiber too
Can’t wait to hear what you think
I’m living in the UK this semester and I have forced myself to forget about the exchange rate. I would drive myself absolutely bat shit if I thought about it every time I bought something. And your salad looks delicious. I need chia seeds back in my life.
KaraHadley recently posted..WIAW: Veggie Servings