PB2 and lovely links

Happy Sunday friendly friends!I hope you're all having a tremendous weekend so far (maybe getting some Christmas shopping done? I still need to start...)

Anywho, we don't need that kind of stress to think about on a day as relaxing as Sunday. No, instead we should be thinking about the really good stuff in life.

Like friends.

Family.

and FOOOD!

So when I was out grocery shopping yesterday I came across something that I had once again only seen on American blogs/ vlogs etc.

PB 2 ! I got kind of excited and spent all $11 (quite pricey!) on it to have my very own tester of the dried peanut spread creation.

So as to the directions I stirred 1 tablespoon of water with 2 tablespoons of PB 2, of course  quickly realised that i eat way more PB than that, added a bit more PB 2 and water and gave it a little try! Now I usually buy all natural peanut butter with no added salt or sugar and PB 2 actually has a little bit of salt and sugar in it, so the flavour was definitely a lot stronger and different to what I was used to, but I was pleasantly surprised how much it looked like PB and the identical texture it created when mixed with water!

I decided to top my breakfast of orange creamsicle oats (made with steel cut oats) with it (with some extra regualr PB dolloped throughout just for safe measure ;)

Yep, that's the dried stuff right there:

It was definitely a lot sweeter than I was used to and maybe a bit more peanutty? (I think maybe the salt brought that flavour out/ it was more concentrated in flavour having being dried/ sucked of moisture)

But I guess in the end, all natural, creamy, crunchy, honest to goodness peanut butter will always have my heart.

Because really- nothing can compare to that :)

And now, as it is Sunday I have some fabulous links for you to check out from the week that was!

Food:

Vegan Rustic Vegetable Spiral Tart

Creamy Beet Pasta With Beet Green Pesto

Apple Walnut Quinoa

Chocolate Peppermint Silk Brownie Bars

Gingerbread Banana Bread

Warm Salad with a Creamy Blueberry Dressing

Fitness:

10 Things People Who Exercise All the Time Know to Be True

What Month Are Top Marathoners Born In?

6 (Weird & Amazing) Workouts You Won't Believe Are Real

The 17 Best Foods to Eat after Exercising

Health:

Q&A Friday: Is orthorexia an eating disorder

Unhealthy Eating Habits To Ditch

20 Foods That Give You The Most Nutrient Bang For Your Buck

Good Reads:

Pregnant Runner Finishes Three Half Marathons, One for Each Trimester

23 Incredibly Disrespectful Things People Did To Food In 2015

What Does Your Favourite Smartie Colour Say About You?



I hope you found some good reads in there as  know I sure did! It always amazes me the sheer number of brilliant posts posted each and every week! Makes me very happy!! Enjoy the rest of your day, do something yo love and eat something delicious!! Bye for now! :D

Linking up the love!

Hi friendly friends! I hope everyone's having a super fun weekend (and if not, run around in a circle really fast and I promise you you'll end up laughing- even if it is purely the fact that you stacked it...)

Now, with that little piece of wisdom, and a mug of warm delicious apple + cinnamon steel cut oats...

Let's get onto some awesome links from the past week:

Food:

Healthy 1 Minute Blueberry Muffin (Paleo, vegan, gluten free)

Chocolate Fudge Banana Skillet Cake (Vegan and Paleo)

Healthy Spicy Cauliflower Dip

Homemade vegan white chocolate

Blueberry & Lemon Fudge with creamed coconut (4 ingredients)

Fitness:

Experts: Surprisingly Little Running Extends Lifespan

25 Badass Tanks That Will Actually Inspire You To Exercise

3 Min Muffintop Melting Oblique Workout!

Should I Run with a Cold?

When to Eat Before and After a Workout For Best Results

24 Reasons Why You Should Exercise Today

Health/ Good reads:

10 Rules I Broke While Running 53 Marathons In 53 Days

Funny:

24 Problems Literally Only The Queen Would Truly Understand

I hope you found some good reads in there and I'll catch you guys later! Again, have an awesome rest of your weekend (you know what to do ;) Bye for now!! :D

WIAW #60 Deliciousness!

Happy Wednesday friendly friends! Do you know what makes this Wednesday extra happy? For me at least? Last exam! Yes! So stoked and ready to crash tomorrow... before heading back to school next week for the last 3 weeks of term. Yeah, I don't understand either!

Any who, along with studying like a boss I've also been eating like one too, because using one's brain requires lots of energy!! On that note, here's everything I ate on Tuesday, a rest day from exams :). Thanks as usual to Peas and Crayons for this awesome WIAW link-up each week!

Pre-run: 6:30am
I took advantage of not having to be at school by 8, so slept in a little bit and had a lovely 40 minute treadmill run (it's coming into Winter over here in Aus, in case you were wondering about the treadmill scenario) and because I woke up hungry, I consumed 2 dates prior to my run at 7:00am.

Breakfast: 8:15am
After stretching, showering and guzzling water my breakfast was cooked and I was HUNGRY!

 In that delightfully yellow mug was a big serving of choc protein steel cut oats with some of my home-made cashew butter scattered throughout and on top. It was extremely delicious!

 Warm, gooey, chocolate-y... what more could you ask for?

Lunch: 12:30pm
I wasn't hungry for hours after breakfast but as lunch time rolled round I knew I should probably eat something to keep that metabolism chugging along and keep my body happy so I set about making something I just really felt like:

 A big ol' stir fry!

 Firstly I sauteed off some garlic and onion with sesame oil, then I added in some chopped brocoli, capsicum, eggplant, zucchini and mushrooms for a few mins until tender, next I threw in some peas, corn, satay tofu, spinach and brown rice vermicelli (that had soaked in boiling water for a couple of minutes) and mixed it all together on high heat until combined and delicious!

 Happy Tummmy!

Snack: 4:15pm
We had a literature excursion type thing scheduled for this night at the theater to see a play called Glengarry Glen Ross, so I ate a pretty hefty snack to tide me over until around 8:00pm when the play finished.

 Chopped cantaloupe, granny smith apple and a big mug of soy milk:

Dinner: 8:00pm
After the play (which was...interesting. The actors were amazing, but I don't think I fully understood what was going on... and every second word was a swear word) my stomach was growling and I took out these falafel type things I had made that afternoon:

 Red kidney beans + lentils+cumin+paprika+ginger+pepper+steamed mashed pumpkin and potato- all whazzed up together in a mini food processor and baked in the oven (180 degrees Celsius) for around 40 mins.

 Very tasty and filling!

And that's what I ate this past Tuesday!


What about you?
Do you normally have a pre-workout snack? It sort of depends for me. My stomach can do just fine without one but I feel like my energy levels are significantly better with a little sustenance inside.
Fan of stir fry?
Favourite portable dinner?

Still hungry for more? Head on over to Peas and Crayons to see what everyone else has been nom-ing on! Bye for now guys, have a great day and as always, eat something delicious! Bye! :D

The Things I Love Love Love!!

Happy Monday friendly friends!!

We're getting closer and closer to Christmas and are probably well under way with many celebratory dinners/ lunches/ catchups/ parties and just having fun!

And yet it seems that almost  every website I love to follow and frequent often (healthy living/ food blogs/ fitness etc.) are all centralised around one main topic at this present time; How to keep healthy/ maintain weight/ reduce kilojoules in this holiday season.

(finally learnt how to screen shot on a desktop!)

Now I'm not going to go off on a long rant about how the festive holidays and all the delicious treats and changes to normal routine only comes around once a year and should therefore be savoured and enjoyed, not stressed over and planned around to ensure you don't gain a single gram of weight!

Nope, I'm not going to go into that because I believe you are all smart enough to know that already and are instead focusing on the things (people and/ or food ;) you love these holidays! And so I am going to do the same!! :)

First of all, I love food. Food is healing, replenishing, rejuvenating, energising, tasty and down right happiness inducing. So these holidays I'm going to enjoy my food!

I love thick, chocolate smoothies:

 That require a GREAT amount of slurping energy to drink and also a spoon if required:

 I love bread and 'cheese' that doesn't give me a stomach ache (thankyou hommus, nutritional yeast and water) and tomato and combining them to make an old childhood favourite:

 Grilled cheese and tomato :)

 The crusty bit of my home-made wholemeal spelt bread topped with some vegan cheese, tomato slices and more vegan cheese:

 Popped under the grill at 180 degrees for 5-10mins until golden brown :)

 I also love my minions plate..

 I love super huge sandwiches filled with a rainbow of veggies:

 Hommus, veggie patty, spinach, grated carrot and beetroot, tomato, capsicum and avocado:

 And no, that is not a cucumber in the background, that would be my foam roller :P I was tricked for a second there too!!

 I love chocolate... especially for breakfast:

 Steel cut choc protein oats

 And I especially love warm, gooey oats with nut butter swirled throughout:

 I love, love, love roasted white sweet potato:

 As well as a big plate of ALL the roasted veg:

 And nothing can beat a cool refreshing smoothie bowl, topped with slightly warm, crunchy granola:

 Recipe here.

 And that's just the food!!
I love my friends, family, being together, watching corny holiday movies, baking, playing games, laughing, talking, soaking up the sun (Aussie Summer), the beach:

 I also forget how lucky I am to have a gorgeous white sandy beach at my backyard..

 And it truly fills me with so much joy to simply walk along the sand and just be.

Wow, that got a little lengthier than intended!

Your turn:
What do you love most about the holidays?
Best thing you ate this week?

I hope you all have a lovely day, be with those you love and as always; eat something delicious!! Bye for now friends! :D