The Paris Project: Mange ta Soupe!

The French are probably the biggest soup eaters in the world. A lot of French eat a large and warm lunch and take a light soup in the evening.

Next to this, a home made soup does not contain too many calories, is healthy, light, filling and on some days even comforting.

Here is my take on a classic soupe aux légumes with home made croutons.

What you'll need for the soup (biological of course!)

1,5 litre of vegetable stock

4 celery stems

4 spring onions

6 carrots

1 large white onions

5 parts of garlic

a handful of mushrooms

1zucchini

fresh thyme

fresh parsley

2 bay leafs

2 spoons of olive oil

Salt and Pepper (I always use pink Himalayan salt, for its health benefits)

What you'll need for the croutons

spelt bread

olive oil

garlic

salt and pepper

parsley

Cut the onions and garlic and glaze these on a low fire. Add the vegetable stock and let it boil for a few minutes. Chop all the veggies, relatively large, and add half of the celery, carrots, zucchini and spring onions to the stock. Add the thyme parsley and bay leafs. Leave it on a low fire for about 50 - 60 minutes, this will be your soup base.

After one hour remove all the veggies and add the other half of uncooked veggies and add the mushrooms (chopped obviously ;)). Leave this on a low fire for 5 minutes so that the veggies keep a nice bite.

In the meantime you can prepare the croutons, super easy and amazingly tasty. Slice the bread in either cubes or sticks, whatever you prefer. Drench it in a mixture of olive oil, salt and pepper, parsley and garlic. Place the bread in the oven and bake it for 8 minutes on 180 degrees.

Bon appétit!

The Paris Project

I just got back from an amazing time in Paris. After living there for 6 months, three years ago, this amazing city keeps on surprising me.

I love the French way of living, enjoying food, taking time to sit and relax, just the overall laissez-faire and la vie an rose attitude.

Amsterdam is just a three our train ride away from Paris, but fashion, style and lifestyle wise this distance is huge, massive even. I was so disappointed being back in Holland but also astonished. How is it that French women look stunning and effortles all the time and (most) Dutch women don't even bother washing their hair. I have decided to step over to the French side and dedicate my blog the coming month to the Parisian way of living life. Starting with style…

Quick and Easy Quinoa

This was my lunch of left overs this week, which surprisingly turned out to be a pretty success with me, my family and my colleagues.

Quinoa is a real health food superstar; it's high in protein, is low in calories, it's gluten-free, extremely rich in fibers, and it contains a lot of iron. For this recipe I used red quinoa, but actually it does't matter what type of quinoa you use.

What you'll need:

• a cupful of quinoa
• authentic greek feta cheese
• spring onion
• 2 tomatoes
• a handful of mint leaves
• a handful of coriander 
• Olive oil
• Himalayan salt

Cook the quinoa for 5 minutes and let it simmer for 8 minutes more. Chop all the ingredients very fine and mix it together with the cooked quinoa. Add a few drops of extra virgin olive oil and add a pinch of Himalayan salt.
That's it! Quick, easy and health :).

Ballet Bar Workout

A few weeks ago I had my first ballet bar work out, after a few lessons of falling down, extremely sour calves and inflexibility I am hooked.

Ballet bar work out combines pilates exercises with classical ballet. No tight buns, no mozart, no tutu's but a hard core work out that guarantees results (and uhm extreme muscles ache, but just lets forget about that for now).

5 reasons to give it a try:

1. Develop lean muscles
2. Improves balance
3. Improves flexibility
4. Tones your body
5. It promises a super tight bum ;)

Breakfast: Oats

My mornings, not my fav part of the day (except for sunday mornings of course) have to be completely structured and planned. Waking up, getting dressed, facial care, make up, preparing for work etc. etc.

Unfortunately not always that much time to prepare a healthy and filling breakfast to kickstart the day. That is why I prepare my breakfast the night before.

What you'll need:

- Three tablespoons of oats (or oat flakes)

- one tablespoon of chia seeds

- 150 ml of soy milk, rice milk or almond milk (I usually use rice milk that is coco flavored)

- Fresh fruit (mango, strawberries, blue berries etc.)

- agave syrup or stevia powder for those with a sweet tooth

Mix the oats together with the chia seeds and vegetable milk in a big glass or bowl and leave it to rest in the fridge for one night. The next morning the mixture should have a pudding like texture, if the mixture is to thick, just add a bit of vegetable milk. Enjoy :).

Preppy meets Hippy: Ralph Lauren's Denim & Supply

You might have spotted Denim & Supply in Avicii's summer hit video Wake me Up. 
An easy going fall/winter line that combines the ultimate festival look, a little hippy touch and the preppy chic of Ralph Lauren.
I am completely obsessing over actually every look that is featured on the website. From the ultimate leather pants to the long hippy dress.
For more inspiration check http://www.denimandsupply.com.

Here are the looks that have got me drooling over my desk.

Images in Courtesy of Ralph Lauren Denim & Supply

Flower Power

Back from Ibiza and ready to kickstart Hippy and High Heels. Fully inspired by the magical island, the people, food, music, nature and the love. Expect a lot of hippy inspired fashion, music, health tips and lifestyle on a daily base. 

Hope to find you checking out hippy in high heels a lot! 

For daily updates find hippy in high heels on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hippyheels?ref=hl

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Venke_S

XX - V