Why I love chia seeds ♥

Chia seeds. Salvia hispanica, commonly known as chia, is a species of flowering plant in the mint family, Lamiaceae, native to central and southern Mexico and Guatemala.

Ok, so that's the definition of chia seeds and we've all probably heard that they are listed as a super food (I don't really believe in super foods, but that's a topic for another day) but do we actually know why they are so good? I know I didn't, so I did a bit of research and was very, very surprised at my findings!

Now I use chia seeds almost every day- smoothies, oats, overnight oats, as an egg replacer, or simply sprinkled raw on something.

Knowing only that they were good for me. Of course the annoying little kid in me came out and started screaming 'Why?' over and over again and no matter how many times my annoyed parent side of me replied with 'They just are' I knew I was going to have to find out.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the facts plain and simple in front of me. How can one little seed be so amazing?

• Loaded with antioxidants
• Almost all the carbs in the seeds are fiber
• High quality protein
• High in omega-3 fatty acids
• High in many important bone nutrients
• Can improve exercise performance
• Super easy to incorporate into your diet!

After being presented with all of this information, I was almost swayed to categorize this amazing little seed as a super food. Almost ;)

Are you impressed? Well if you are, I also came across some awesome recipes using them too :)

How about some chia seed and mushroom risotto?
Or maybe Lemon chia seeds scones with sweet lemon glaze:

Grain-free chia buckwheat pizza:

Vegan peach, oat and chia smoothie:

Well, all those recipes are on my list to make!

I hope you've learnt a little something about chia seeds (I sure did!) and maybe will pick up a bag on your next shop (I do tend to wait until they're on special)

That's it from me- what's your favourite 'super food'?

Bye guys! :D

Big brekky's and last 10-day-you-challenge!

I like big... brekky's and I cannot lie!
Hello friendly friends and happy Monday!

Now back to my happy breakfast song :)
Breakfast is without a doubt the biggest most filling meal of my day. Always at least one serve of fruit, always involving some sort of carb, generally protein filled and more often than not full of good fats (almost entirely in the form of nut butter)

I could never simply wake up and have a small tub of yoghurt, or a piece of toast, or a bowl of sugary cereal. This hungry gal needs her food, especially after 10+ hours of fasting!
I cringe when I think back to my primary school days of filling my bowl with sugary cereal (be it fruit loops, cocoa pops, crunchy nut) and that would be my breakfast. Or some toast with Nutella slathered on top. Can you blame me when this is what the ads were telling us:

I like the inclusion of the apple... coz that makes everything better! :/

Nowadays you would never catch me doing something silly like that. Instead you might see something as ridiculously tasty as this passing my lips:

A beautiful (and quite large!) green smoothie with a jar of cashew butter.
Haha just kidding, there were overnight oats in the jar:

Chocolate overnight oats :)
But Steph! That's no better than a chocolatey bowl of sugary cereal!?!
Well, not exactly. You see I used all natural raw muesli and added in some almond milk stirred with raw cacao to let sit overnight- full of fiber, low GI carbs, antioxidant and good fats ;)

Into my smoothie went 1 chopped frozen banana, a handful of frozen mango, a big handful of spinach, a big handful of kale, 3 spoons of greek yoghurt and a splash of almond milk:

Again filled with fiber from the fruit and veg, a good serving (or two!) of dark leafy greens and calcium for strong bones along with filling protein from the yoghurt and almond milk.

I used a new muesli brand that had fiber stick things and puffed rice and it turned sort of cakey- mmm cold creamy cake in the morning!

And to finish off my 10-day-you-challenge! (10 weeks later)

And so without any further a-do here is my one picture(of yourself):

 This was a couple of years ago, but I absolutely adore this picture, the calmness and angle is awesome- especially with little Ash's head facing the camera directly- too cute!

So that's it for the 10-day-you-challenge! Did you enjoy it? did you try some yourself? If not I give you the challenge to do one, it's pretty fun really- makes you actually think about yourself and what you like/ who you are :)

Do you like big brekky's?
Got a weakness for Nutella?
What is your favourite photo of yourself- go on! Be vain!

Yes, I really do crave veggies

It's Friday, Friday! It's also the start of 2 weeks of holidays for me! If you can't already tell I'm extremely excited!
I started my lazy, not rushed Friday morning with a big almost empty jar of peanut butter filled with whipped banana cinnamon steel cut oats, with a side of mandarin slices and dates. Why? Because that's what my body really felt like today:)

This is exactly what I wanted to talk about today- cravings that may not make sense, but taste so amazing when fulfilled.

People often look at what I eat and think I'm on a crazy vegetable diet of some kind or that I'm torturing my body by stuffing it with steamed unmentionables (hello brussels sprouts)

I'm not crazy (entirely), I'm definitely not on a diet and I don't find eating brussel sprouts torturous.. I actually enjoy them (have for as long as I can remember)

Why have I all of a sudden started thinking of this? Last night I was craving veggies. Last night I ate a lot of veggies:

Baked sweet potato with coconut butter, some organic blue maize tortilla chips and half a plate of steamed greens (broccoli, brussels sprouts, beans, peas and corn (ok, corns yellow)

It was what I really wanted to eat so it all tasted absolutely amazing- especially the steamed greens.

I  also generally have more thanone craving at a time so the sweet potato and coconut butter satisfied my sweet/rich tooth..

And the tortilla chips satisfied my crunchy/salty tooth..

 On days when I don't eat many veggies, (I'm not gonna lie- these are very few. I just love my veggies so much!) I simply roll with it, because I know it's my body's way of telling me to ease up a bit, or focus on different nutrients it requires.

Some days I crave chocolate:

Overnight oats in an almost empty jar of almond butter with a side of chocolate-banana ice cream

This was my breakfast from a few days ago made by putting a chopped frozen banana, a few spoonfuls of greek yoghurt and some raw cacao into a food processor and whazzing until smooth. (scarping down the sides a few times)

It's what my body was telling me to have and it had never tasted better.

As you all know I also eat a lot of pizza. I won't ever say no to that craving:

You can find some of my favourite pizza recipes here, here and here

In conclusion (I had to write an essay yesterday if you hadn't guessed by my original concluding statement- yes they gave us an essay on the last day of school!) I have cravings, I satisfy them I'm happy. Most importantly I CRAVE veggies! I don't make myself eat them- I make myself cook them (or not) so I can eat them because I want to. Don't give me that look ;)
 

 

Sometimes a bowl/ plate/ glass full of veggies just hits the spot!

Make sure you satisfy your cravings not only for your tummy but your general well being! Happiness comes from listening to your body.

P.s. this is not a post giving you permission to eat that whole bag of chips or tub of ice cream. Satisfy your craving- don't over-do it because you never get to eat that kind of stuff. Moderation in any-thing is key... even my beloved vegetables :)

What are you craving right now?
Veggies. Love em or hate em?
Are you part of the minority loving brussles sprouts?

Catch ya later! :D

3 FILMS

Hi friends! Happy Monday!

Obviously Mondays are my favourite day of the week ;)

As a foodie I believe food has the all-powerful power of bringing someone out of Monday-itis! So my best cure for this fearful condition is an out-of-this-world delicious brekky!

Yes, yes I agree. No body has enough time on Monday's to whip up a plate full of fluffy pancakes or a fry-up for kings, though I do have some super-yummy breakfasts just from last week that brightened every day and was made in minutes.
In fact here was last Mondays:

Toast 2 wholemeal crumpets, spread with nut butter (or whatever you like) and a green smoothie on the side... done!

Oats and fro-yo!

 For the oats simply place 1/2 cup rolled oats in a saucepan with 1 thinly sliced banana, a dash of cinnamon and some chia seeds along with 1 cup milk (I use oat milk) and heat until bubbling- where you begin to stir vigorously to 'whip' the banana in- keep stirring until thickened to your liking. (in the pic above topped with almond butter)

Mango fro-yo? A handful of mango + a cup of greek yoghurt- whazzed up in a small food processor. Done!

Choc protein overnight oats with grape ice cream

This breakfast is even quicker as half of it is made the night before!

For the choc protein oats- Place 1/3 cup muesli in a bowl/ cup with a sprinkle of chia seeds. In a separate bowl, place 1 scoop choc protein powder +1/2 tablespoon raw cacao powder and  3/4 cup of milk (again I use oat milk) and microwave for 30 seconds, stir and microwave for about 15 more- stir again.  Then stir into the muesli and place in fridge over night!

For the grape ice cream, freeze a handful of grapes over night and place in a food processor along with a chopped frozen banana. Whaz until ice-creamy (you may have to scrape down sides a few times)

So if you haven't had breakfast yet- or lunch or dinner... try one of these! Then thank me later. I really love it when you take that first bite of something you've made and you get that goofy grin on your face. Priceless moment.

Another good way to brighten my day and hopefully yours would be to continue on with the 10-day-you challenge (which has turned into the 10-week-you challenge;) Today we're up to 3 films!

This was another hard one guys! I love movies and I have soooo many favourites! I have come to a decision though.

To make my choice easier I chose my top three films of the past year or so:

3. Hunger Games

You see I loved the Hunger Games books and I was really weary to go and see this movie, figuring the movie might ruin the book because we all know that you should never judge a book by it's movie ;)
But this movie did not disappoint! It was so good and pretty much stuck to the book entirely. The actors were perfect and it took me about 2 weeks after seeing it just to get over how awesome it was!

2.  Divergent

I didn't end up reading this book before I saw the movie because I didn't really get into it (apparently it gets really good after where I got up to in the book! Of course.)
The movie makes me want to read the book and the others too! It was so intense and awesome and sad and happy and every emotion you could feel crammed into 2 hours! When a film can take you on that emotional roller coaster you know it's good!


1.  The Fault In Our Stars and Frozen

Yes. I did it again. I hate choosing my number one top something- it's too hard and I loved both of these movies equally. My excuse for this week is that they both start with F so it's allowed :D\
The Fault In Our Stars rocked me to my core and Frozen had me laughing louder than I ever have before. I also remember watching 'Let it go' for the first time and being mesmerized! Unbelievably good!

Ok well, this post turned out longer than expected! That's ok though.. we all like to procrastinate just a little on Monday ;)