Food Heaven

Could you excuse me for a minute.
Thanks, I was just trying to come back down to Earth after some floating around in food heaven! :)
It all started with a new find (it's probably been there for a while! But it's a new find for me) at the grocery store:

Linda McCartney's vegetarian (vegan friendly too!) sausages!
They went into a cheap white bread hot-dog bun...
You don't believe me do you?
Ok, they went into a GINORMOUS salad! Yum!

I think there was everything and anything I could find chucked into this bowl!
There was oven roasted potatoes, steamed carrot and beetroot, peas and corn, chopped capsicum, chopped avocado, drained and rinsed lentils, kale, spinach and 2 vegetarian sausages, crisped up and golden-i-fied in a fry pan with some olive oil! That's it. :)

Super tasty, and with the addition of these wonder sausages- it wasn't plain at all!
It was just huge :)

With lots of pretty colours:

And even though I am a HUGE veggie fan- this guy stole the show!

It tasted meaty- which was a little scary, I must admit- but not exactly like meat (confused?) it was really well seasoned and had AWESOME texture! YOU.MUST.TRY.THIS!

I wasn't out of food heaven yet though, breakfast brought me right on back!
I was flicking through different blog's recipe pages and came across Katie's recipe for voluminous oats. My tummy went 'Yes, please!' It looked totally delicious and just like Katie, I prefer my oats cold rather than hot too!
But, unfortunately it was already morning.
I never let small obstacles get in my way though!
I jumped out of bed and created my own version!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup of oats
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1 tablespoon LSA mix
1 teaspoon coconut butter (optional) and
1 very thinly sliced banana
1 cup (maybe more) milk of choice (I used oat)
Method:
1. Place everything in a saucepan . I let it sit and bubble for a few mins, then whisked away until the banana disappeared. It was still pretty runny (but still gloopy) but I poured it into a shallow bowl and placed in the fridge for about half an hour, stirring about every 10 mins.
VOILA!

Super creamy, super thick! Oh. My. Word :)
In the background you can see a batch of some home-made peanut butter granola!
Take a handful of muesli and some multi-grain cheerios (optional) and place in a bowl with a splash of milk and 1 teaspoon peanut butter (or any nut butter). Place in microwave for 20 seconds, rub into muesli, bake on baking tray in oven (180 degrees celsius) for 10 mins. Crumble with fingers, leave to cool slightly.
I then transferred my AWESOME oats to a pretty mug:

 Added a splash of soy milk:

And some delicious nutty granola:

Holey-Moley! Soooooo good!

Best mug of oats I've ever eaten in my life- and I've eaten a few!

I loved the textures. I loved the flavours. I loved the temperature. I LOVED this brekky! The oats were unbelievably creamy:

 Paired with delicious crunchy peanutty granola:

Food Heaven.

I hope you all have a fabulous week- maybe we will see each other in food heaven! It's a pretty good place!
:D

A Day In The Life!

Hide-ho there friendly friends and welcome to one of my favourite posts to not only read from other bloggers, but also to write up for you guys! It's A DAY IN THE LIFE post!! Yayyy!!

I don't know what makes posts like this and others similar (What I Ate Wednesday/ Weekly Workouts, Friday Favourites) but I think in the end it's about finding that motivation and inspiration from others so you too might try some new things out and maybe experience something great that you never would have tried out before reading about it/ watching a YouTube video (currently so obsessed with Diana Malloy's Diet Diaries- she's just so funny and I love her videos!!

Anywho, as I said, I love writing up these posts, I hope you guys like reading them and if you want any particular posts, just let me know in the comments or shoot me an email and I'll be sure to give it a go!

So, without further a-do, this is a typical day in my life, where I'm no longer at school, rather at home preparing for my final examinations of my high-schooling!!

5am- Mornings usually start out pretty early for me, as I'm just one of those natural early-rises and when I'm up, I'm up folks!! my mind is awake, my body is awake and I'm ready to go! I've never been able to just tuck back up into bed for a few more hours (1. I would be wide awake tucked up in bed which leads on to; 2. I would be ravenous lying there wide awake in bed) so instead i just sort of go with whatever time my body has decided to wake me up with on the day and power through with a  nice little early morning workout...

And when I say little, you know I mean super sweaty-hot-mess-Steph-inducing workout :P.

After waking up around 5, frequenting the bathroom, chugging down some water, making my bed (yeah, I know...) curtains drawn, hair brushed and pulled up into a tight pony, jammy's off, workout gear on, I swing down the stairs to tackle the day's session which just so happens to be LEG DAY!!!

I secretly love leg day because that burn is so real!! And so is the sweat dripping down my face as I am on my last set of calf raises with the heavy (not sure what weight) barbell on my shoulders... in a low-wide-squat. Yep. Try that out for fun!

My leg-day workouts are usually around 1 hour-isa (sometimes a bit shorter, sometimes an hour and a half, sort of depending on how long my breaks needed to be/ how strong and powerful and energetic I was feeling on the day. This particular one was a 90 minuter I think and my legs were J.E.L.L.Y afterwards!!

7:30am- finish off the workout with some full body, deadlift, to low squat (x8... again another killer) and move to the bathroom to wash my face. Then I flow into the kitchen on my slightly shaking legs and plan out whats it going to be for brekky!! As I prefer to workout on an empty stomach, breakfast is utterly essential to ensure all those weights and squats etc. actually form into muscle. I also try and consume it pretty soon after my workout for quicker recovery.

8am
Breakfast finally ready, this particular day's deliciousness involved some freshly-baked choc nut butter granola with a big banana-mango green smoothie- favourite breakfast of late!

For the granola I simply placed 2 tablespoons of Mayversfood choc nut butter into a small bowl with 1/3 cup almond milk and microwaved for around 20 seconds until warmed through. Then into a bigger bowl I popped 3/4 cup rolled oats, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 large handful wholegrain, reduced-sugar cheerios, some maca powder and then rubbed in the warmed nut butter and almond milk.

Placed on a baking tray lined with baking paper and into the oven at 180 degrees celsius for around 15 mins until fragrant and crunchy on the outside!!

The smoothie was simply 1 large frozen banana, 1 large handful frozen mango chunks, 1 large handful frozen zucchini, lots of kale and spinach, greek yoghurt and a splash of water- whizzed up until smooth and deliciously creamy- SO GOOD!

I love enjoying the separate crunchy, rich flavour of the granola (as well as eating it straight form the oven and not worrying about melting the smoothie) and then the cool, refreshing, thick, creamy smoothie to pair it off perfectly!

Truly delicious:

8:30am after eating breakfast and scrolling through Instagram and Facebook and checking emails and the like, I head on upstairs to take a shower as my hair is a sweaty, truly mess and I am a sweaty mess, thus for the sake of the people involved in my day I shall clean thyself!

9:00am Showered, cleaned, dressed, teeth brushed and this is the time I usually post something to Instagram and then get on with the day!

This day featured a trip to the shops to hand in some resumes for a Summer job because 3-ish months of nothing after exams is going to become pretty dull without one! So hopefully I can land something for that break, if not I shall have to think of something else.

I also head up to the library to get some reading stuff to keep me occupied in this little break (around 3 weeks before WACE).

12:15 I have lunch at around 12:15pm today because I am quite hungry, surprise, surprise and today's lunch featured some oven roasted veg with lots of steamed peas layered throughout:

This bowl featured roasted pumpkin, parsnip, sweet potato, regular potato, beetroot and swede- simply coated in extra virgin olive oil and roasted in the oven at 180 degrees celsius for around 50 minutes to an hour.

I have an absolute obsession with roasted veggies and probably consume roast veggies at least 4 times a week- roasted pumpkin is my weakness! That texture and flavour though!!

After lunch, as I am not starting up my study routine again until after graduation (I don't want to burn out before my final exams!) I use this time to just do what I want to do, so the afternoon is typically pretty chilled, involving watching some netflix, possibly typing up a blog post, scrolling through Instagram, reading a book/ magazine and anything else I think to do.

I pretty much did all those things on this day and it was fabulous!

3:30pm This is typically when I get hungry again and thus my still all-time favourite afternoon snack of fruit entails and I enjoy every single bite!

As I'm a creature of habit, I always eat my snack watching my favourite YouTubers... one of my guilty pleasures/ favourite times of the day.

4:30pm- 5:15pm Now I always get really cold for some reason, so it is shower time once again, head upstairs, shower, change into comfy, warm pyjamas and head on down to the kitchen to prepare whatever it is I am making for dinner!

6:45pm
Dinner typically occurs around 6:30-6:45pm for me and my family and tonight I was feeling super lazy and decided to whip up a 5-minute dinner. No exaggeration:

This rice bowl featured a microwave packet of rice and quinoa, some chopped capsicum, celery, chickpeas, tomato, spinach and nutritional yeast-all mixed together and then microwaved for 4-5 mins until everything is heated through and tender:

Super simple and sooooo delicious!! My favourite type of dinner!
After dinner there pretty much is always a guaranteed after-dinner snack/ dessert as I need to ensure I am properly fuelled for whatever workout I've planned for the next morning!! Or maybe I just always need a little something extra after dinner :P. Either way- Tonights dessert featured two pieces of Lindt 90% cocoa chocolate (so creamy my friends!) and some ice-cold refreshing soy milk- deeee-licious!

7:00pm- 8:30/9:00pm After dinner I take my magnesium tablet and head upstairs to watch some telly and typically zone out and also typically doze off at around 8:30 wish where I finally manage to get up and take myself to my bed for some much-needed sleep time! Yep, early to bed, early to rise (definitely not a night-owl!!)

Aaaand thats a typical day-in-the-life for me, I am a creature of routine but do find that I sometimes need to switch things up to keep me from getting down/ anxious. Change is good my friends- I need to keep telling myself that!!

I also love looking back at these posts to see just how much has changed in my day-to-day life over the months/ years, kinda cool to have that stored away to look back on!

Ok, that's enough rambling from me- gosh this post is a lot longer than anticipated- props to you if you made through the whole thing! now tell me:

What's a typical morning look like for you?
When do you prefer to fit in your workout?
favourite no-fuss dinner? Rice/pasta bowls, or toasted sandwiches etc. are usually the go for me! Yum!

Alrighty, I hope you have an awesome day, do something you love to do, smile lots, be kind to everyone and as always; EAT SOMETHING DELICIOUS!! Bye for now friendly friends!! :D

Dessert For Breakfast!

Dessert for breakfast.

It is most definitely a thing.

And it is most definitely real in my household!!

I've never really been much of a savoury breakfast person, although from the remarks and praise I've read from savoury breakfast enthusiast bloggers I have dabbled a few times changing out my sweet, creamy, gooey breakfasts for more savoury, crunchy, salty meals. So I haven't just waved them off without giving a good savoury breakfast a fair go.

I don't know. My body just seems to want a warm/ cold/ sweet/ creamy/ delectable dessert-type breakfast and when I do end up forcing the body to consume a savoury breakfast (*gasp*) I just don't feel as satisfied- or maybe a feeling of I'm missing out and whilst I do agree I crave less sweet foods during the day as a result; my body (emotionally probably rather than physically) is still upset I didn't give it what it truly desired. And that, my friends, is my scientific evidence that dessert-for-breakfast is a must. At least for me ;P.

So, for today's post, I thought I would showcase a few of my breakfasts from the week that was ringing true to the idea that I like myself a dessert-style start to my day for optimum enjoyment and energy!

So first up we have something I cherish so much in life. It has been there through thick and thin. Always present to warm up a cold morning. To stick to the ribs and fulfil that satiated contentedness feeling of fullness. To be eaten with lavish amounts of nut butter and livened with multitudes of mix-ins and fruits and flavours that make this food so versatile and exciting that a different bowl could be created Every. Single. Day.

Oatmeal:

This was a happy yellow mug filled with vegan vanilla protein powder zucchini oats, topped (and dolloped throughout) with creamy, nutty chocolate nut butter:

Simply chuck a serving (my servings are probably bigger than most) of steel cut oats into a saucepan with a scoop of vegan vanilla protein powder, 1/2 grated zucchini, 1 sliced banana, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 cup almond milk, 1 cup water and bring to boil, stirring every now and then for around 15-20mins or until liquid is absorbed.

Top with anything your heart desires!

This is just so good and delicious and NOM.

And it has a serve of veg involved (that you cannot taste at all by the way; simply adds more volume to your oats!! MORE BREAKFAST!!)

Our next dessert-like scenario involved a bowl, a smoothie and some crispy, crunchy, home-made golden granola:

The smoothie was simply 2 frozen bananas whizzed up in a blender with spinach, kale, 4 fresh mint leaves and some greek yoghurt- popped in the freezer until ready to eat.

Followed up by my delicious home-made peanut butter granola:

1/2 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 handful wholegrain cheerios
1 large tablespoon crunchy peanut butter
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

Heat up almond milk and PB, add to dry ingredients, rub through with hands, pop on baking tray, in oven (180 degrees celsius) for around 15-20 mins until golden and crunchy).

Top it off and voila!

Deliciousness in a bowl of food.

Next up we have our second dessert-oatmeal creation of the week, this one featuring double-choc, rich, protein banana oats in an almost empty jar of mixed nut butter (best way to eat warm oats!!)

To make this bad boy, I simply threw 1 cup rolled oats, 1 sliced banana, 1 scoop choc protein powder, 1 teaspoon raw cacao powder, 1 cup unsweetened almond milk and 1/4-1/3 cup water into a saucepan, heated, stirring occasionally until absorbed and then staring through some greek yoghurt for creamy, cheesecake and volume enjoyment!

Delightful, delicious, delectable. And chocolate. I mean, come on!

Lastly, I don't want to skip passed my beloved smoothies in the dessert for breakfast department as they are truly such an amazingly creamy, sweet, tummy-happy-inducing breakfast that tastes so much like a beautifully creamy dessert that one can't help but shed a small tear to the fact that this smooth, sweet drink contains so many nutrients, vitamins and minerals. That is truly a gift to the world if I ever did see one!

This huge greenie involved 1 large frozen banana, 1 handful frozen zucchini, 1 large handful frozen mango, soaked oats in almond milk, kale, spinach and water- whizzed up until smoothy-smoothy-smoooooth!

There's something just so satisfying about making a breakfast this big (you didn't see how much was left in the blender post-filling of this jar!!) and having a breakfast that just seems to never end!! My kind of meal!

Alrighty- I should probably wrap this up here before I get too overwhelmed by all this deliciousness and end up making one of these desserts for dinner (I won't be able to restrain myself in the end and my breakfast foods will occur for breakfast lunch and dinner if I'm not careful!) so with the happy memories of these meals once had, I shall bid thee adieu and leave you to whatever meal you have coming up next (soo hungry for dinner right now!)

Your turn:
Are you a sweet or savoury brekky?
Favourite savour breakfast to have?
Best breakfast you can think of eating right at this minute!? I could really go for a huge stack of choc chip pancakes right now... yep, dinner's looking promising ;).

I hope you all have a lovely rest of your day, look after yourselves, move your body in a way that feels good and fuel your body with the foods that make it feel goodbye. EAT SOMETHING DELICIOUS! Bye for now friendly friends! :D

A Week of Steph-Style Breakfasts!

Guess what!?!

You: What!?!

I love breakfast!

You: *rolls eyes because that is the most obvious thing, I mean have I even read this blog??

Anywho- I do. I love it, I love it, I love it and if I could only eat breakfast foods I would. Although the things I have for breakfast wouldn't really be considered your typical breakfast foods/ meal types... but still!

So, scrolling through the many food pics on my phone recently I decided that because I took pics of my- very delicious- breakfasts for the entire school week (public hol on Monday.. so starting Tuesday) that I would share what a typical week of breakfasts looks like for a Steph with a raging appetite and love for desserts- Steph- style!!

Ready for some inspo for your spoon to fill with and your tummy to adore? Of course you are!

Tuesday:

Don't you love back to school/ work Tuesdays. You're already there. Wednesday is tomorrow- that's half the week done. It's practically Friday already! (Ok, maybe I'm getting a bit ahead of myself!)

Anyway- this brekky was super delicious, nutritious, filled with ALL the good stuff! I call it, Choc Oat Truffles with a side of deliciously creamy Strawberry  Banana Fro-yo:

The truffles were simply some oats, Cinnamon, chia seeds and wholemeal cheerios mixed together and then rubbed together with some warmed choc nut super spread and almond milk- popped in freezer for 30 mins to cool.

To make the fro-yo simply whiz together in a small food processor 1 chopped, frozen banana, a handful of frozen strawberries and half a cup of greek yoghurt (or omit the yoghurt altogether and simply make strawberry banana ice cream!)

Super delicious, filling and an awesome way to start your day!

Nom.

Wednesday:

See? Wednesday already! And for today's ultimate brekky...

An almost empty jar of delicious crunchy peanut butter filled with warm cherry cheesecake oats (You can find the recipe here).

There's nothing like a warm, filling deliciously sweet and yet tart jar of oats with the best 'surprise' (I totally planned it that way!) at the bottom:

Thursday:

One of my current favs (I know it's popped up on the blog quite a lot too... similar to the time I went through that smoothie bowl obsession :)

The only difference between this and a smoothie bowl.. well I guess you can see. They're separate! You see, for some reason now I prefer to have the warm, fudgey and crispy outside granola on it's own and then wash it down with a cool, creamy, thick smoothie:

In the mix today was mixed nut butter granola (3/4 cup oats, spoon of oat bran, cinnamon and warmed mixed nut and seed spread with almond milk rubbed in and then baked at 180 degrees celsius for 15 mins- until golden brown and crispy on top) with my much loved creamy dreamy smoothie- this one had added frozen zucchini chunks and kale as well as spinach- get those veggies in!:

Friday:

Hello Friday, how I love the! And how I also love PANCAKES!!!

These bad boys were spelt/ rye flour, cinnamon, baking powder, oats, chopped dates and almond milk with a splash of water- whisked until smooth. Popped onto a heated non-stick pan with some oil and cooked/ flipped until golden brown on the outside (and extremely delicious on the inside!)

Topped with the mixed nut and seeds spread mentioned above- so good!
Hello warm caramel-y dates: (happy with that addition :D)

On the side? A big cup of banana fro-yo (1 large frozen banana whazzed up with some greek yoghurt until smooth and deliciously creamy (again, feel free to omit the greek yoghurt for some creamy dreamy banana ice cream!):

And the only way to eat them?

As pancake tacos!

And that's my week of breakfasts! Happy, happy days!

In all honesty I probably ensure I have as much time/ patience available as I give myself on weekends because making, preparing and enjoying my breakfasts is something I truly value in the mornings and something I try to give myself quite a bit of time for each morning (whether that be by making my lunch the night before or getting up a little earlier, or doing an extremely high intensity, yet quite short workout before... breakfast gets priority!). Not going to lie, though. Those Friday morning pancakes did involve some side reading of my human bio text book for an upcoming test that day and a review of my debate I was also giving that day! But still- I enjoyed it! :D

I hope you got some inspiration from these brekky's and are fired up and excited to make your own delicious creations in the kitchen. I literally love going to bed because I know that in the crazy short time when you close your eyes and then they open again, it will be brekky! It's like a time machine!!

What about you?
Are you a more sweet/ savoury brekky person? I tried savoury, I gave it a good ol' shot, but in the end I just love my dessert-like breakfasts far too much!
What did you have for breakfast today?
If you could only eat one breakfast for the rest of your life what would it be? I think I would go with my beloved banana peanut butter toastie... but then that would mean no oats!! Ahhhh!!

I hope you all have a great week, filled with love and laughter and delicious foods because as always; eat something delicious!! Bye for now friendly friends! :D