Minty Fresh!

Hello there beautiful people!!

Today I'm popping in (for what seems like the first time in a long time- #studylife) for a quick little recipe creation that was purely a let's-see-if-this-works-out-because-it-just-came-to-me inspiration/ epiphany that got the brain cogs (the none mole-ratio, anti deriving, English technique cogs that have been in overuse) turning.

You see, in this season of life- things be busy. Real busy. And more often than not I'm heading into school early for some kind of meeting/ commitment/ cross country training. And in particular with cross-country training mornings- brekky needs to be prep-ahead, transportable and still delicious after sitting in my bag for an hour.

Just you wait... :D

Yes, you've heard it all before- but when you're in a period of life that requires certain recipes, than the recipes that will be shared will be of certain characteristics- and recently as you made have deduced, they have been prep-ahead and take on-the-go meals! And I think we all appreciate these recipes at some point in our lives!

So anyway, onto today's inspired creation!

I had fresh mint leaves hanging around in my fridge that needed to be used up in the next day or so. I also had cross-country training the following morning. I'm also a person who love, love, loves the malt-y, vanilla-y, rich flavour of protein powder added to recipes. And oats are a great addition to a post-workout breakfast as well as my undying love for them meaning they would also be included in this recipe.

So I got to thinking, what would tired, hot, sweaty, muscle-sore Steph want to devour as soon as she made it back to the change rooms after a heavy training sesh? (And I mean heavy; think stair runs, interval sprints and suicides... for 12 minutes EACH.)

Unfortunately my imagination cannot make stairs appear flat... no matter how hard I tried :P

It was then that I knew I would be making some sort of vanilla-mint, fudge, no-bake oat bite creation. And so it was created:

Now I could go into lengthy detail about how soft, chewy, fudge-y rich and delicious these bites were and that hint of fresh mint coupled with the delectable, sweetness of the vanilla protein powder and the nutty tones hidden throughout every bite... but I just did so I guess I will in fact!

To make a batch of these bad boys for yourself all you will need is:

Ingredients:
3/4 cup rolled oats
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
2 dates
3-4 fresh mint leaves
1 large scoop peanut butter (or any nut butter)
1/4-1/2 cup almond milk (add more if too crumbly and not forming nice compact balls)
dash of cinnamon (optional)

And all you will need to do is:

Method:
1. Place everything in a high-speed belnder/ food processor and whaz! You may need to stop and give everything a little stir around and whaz some more until combined!)
2. Line a container with baking paper
3. Roll mix into balls, place in container, cover with lid and pop in the freezer overnight until required (around 30-40mins should be enough if you're making it for that day).

This:

 To this: (frozen)

 Nice and cold; perfect for a cooling brekky treat:

 No Steph; don't devour it yet- an hour defrosting will make it all the more delicious! (tip for anyone creating it; let defrost for at least half an hour for optimal texture and taste)

And just for your viewing pleasure; here is my hand, holding my delicious vanilla-mint oat fudge bites in said change room, crying tears of joy (or maybe I was just delirious after being so smashed from training!)

 Yeah, I'm the weird kid taking pictures of her food in the school change room. No shame.

That texture tho...

 Happy, happy days.

 Beautifully balanced with carbs, fat and protein for optimum recovery; the body was happy!

Your turn:
Had any good runs recently? Workouts that have left you completely hammered? It hurts.. but it's so, so good!
Fav brekky of recently?
What's your fav combo with mint? Choc mint is pretty good, though vanilla-mint has suddenly taken the spotlight in my life at the minute!!

 I hope you all have a fabulous weekend, filled with love, laughter and good times- make a memory you will never forget and, as always; EAT SOMETHING DELICIOUS!! Bye for now friendly friends! :D

Prep-Ahead Breakfasts! - Cross Country Edition

Hello there awesome-sauce people of the blog-o-sphere!

Today I have a small compilation of random-impromptu-created-as-I-went prep-ahead breakfasts that I created specifically for my early cross-country training the night before. My mission? To make super delicious night-before breakfasts that I would utterly cry with happiness whilst chowing down on in the school change rooms after a super hard sweat sesh.

And let me just say, I was quite happy with the results!!

So, if you find yourself in a busy period of life, or you too find yourself having to gt up with the moon and the stars to go to a training session, or if you just really need your beauty sleep and thus have no time to whip up an awesome, nutrient-filled breakfast in the morning... then these recipes will be perfect for you and your food lovin body!

Now onto the foood!!

1. Freezer Oatmeal Vanilla Protein Bar! Recipe number one involves a deliciously creamy oat mixture creation- frozen and then left to defrost for an hour the next day and eaten as a frozen oat bar breakfast! Confused? Don't worry, just read on below:

To make this bad boy...
Ingredients:
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 heaped cup greek yoghurt
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
2 pitted dates
1 tablespoon nut butter (I used peanut butter)
Splash of water

Method:
1. Place everything in a blender/ food processor.
2. Blend/ food process... :)

3. Then simply pour into a container lined with baking paper, cover and place in the freezer overnight:

When I woke up the next day? I simply cut the frozen oatmeal bar in two and wrapped in foil to defrost slightly in my backpack whilst I ran around and worked up a biiiig appetite!

This was just so cold, creamy, fudgey, filled with all the good stuff and DELICIOUS! Perfect post-run fuel!

2. Baked Chickpea Blondies! Recipe number two! A version of my chickpea blondies, whipped up and baked the night before, popped in the fridge overnight ready for brekky the next day!!

To make yourself a batch of these simply:

Ingredients:
3/4- 1 cup cup rolled oats
2 pitted dates
3/4 cup chickpeas (rinsed and drained)
1 large scoop (pretty much 2 tablespoons) peanut butter
Splash of almond milk
Optional- protein powder/ other flavourings

Method:
1. Again; place everything in a blender and blend until smooth and combined
2. Form into balls/ sqaures/ bars and place on a tray lined with baking paper and bake in an oven at 180 degrees celsius for around 15 minutes until golden brown on top (not too long because you don't want them to dry out)
3. Leave to cool completely, then place in a container in the fridge until ready to eat!

Soft, fudgey, chewy... again; a perfect post workout brekky, filled with so much yum!

And I also apologise for all of the early morning shots- reality right here, folks!

Sigh, I want more of these in my life..

3. Choc Fudge Brownie Bites! Last, but most, most, most definitely not least (maybe even the best!) were these raw choc, protein, fudge breakfast truffles:

These were frozen once again and left to thaw for approximately an hour in my bag during training.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 massive spoon peanut butter
1 scoop protein powder
2 pitted dates
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup almond milk

Method:
1. Blender- blend- smooth-boom! (add more liquid if too crumbly)
2. Roll into balls and place in container lined with baking paper, cover with lid and freeze overnight.
3. Defrost for at least an hour and then enjoy these delicious, cold, fudge-y raw brownie bites!!

Hello early morning shots!!

And once again, ridiculously delicious!!

Checklist complete?
Healthy?
Nutrient-rich?
Re-fueling?
DELICIOUS?!?!

Check, check, check, CHECK!!

Definitely recommend any of these recipes if you're short on time because they offer so much goodness that will start your day the right way (and not just in a way a banana, or coffee, or processed breakfast drink would) And especially if you're doing easrly morning training- these recipes ensure your cells and muscles are running on the best fuel possible for optimum recovery!)

Nom.

Your turn:
Are you a night-before breakfast prep-aheader? Quite a title, huh?
Favourite overnight brekky recipe? I do love me some overnight oats?
Do you prefer raw (vegan of course) brownies, or cooked brownies? I love the cool, raw, fudginess of creamy chocolate that hasn't been baked- so good!


I hope you enjoyed these recipes as much as I enjoyed eating them (highly improbable!!) and I hope you have a delightfully delicious day! Bye for now friendly friends!! :D

TWOOOO RECIPES! :D

Hidy ho friendly friends and happy Friday!
It is currently the end of the school week, about mid-afternoon, sun beginning to set (you know it's coming into winter when it gets dark this quickly in Aus!) and my mind is simply done, hence why I'm blogging when there is homework that could potentially be done right now-ish... but you know what, sometimes we all just need a break. Sometimes we gotta be kind to our bodies and our minds (I'm always going on about treating your body as a temple in terms of food and exercise but this also refers just as much to our mental state!)

So yes. I have chosen you guys over my much-loved, anticipated and eager-to-complete homework. Yep. You can thank me later.

Anyways onto the post!

On to the food!

Yes, this is in fact a food blog and thus I would like to gift you with some pictures of food that will leave you hungry, drooling and basically just needing a little snack to make it through. And if not... then you must have just eaten and I respect you just a little bit more :)

Today (because I was feeling bad for not posting in a while... ahh gotta love year 12 life) I have for you not one... not two... no it is two. I have TWO delightful breakfast recipes for you guys and not only that, they offer so much more than just a recipe... one of them is a Lazy-Sunday-I-Got-plenty-Of-Time-To-Make-Breakfast breakfast and the other one is a Quickest-Ever-Throw-Together-Meal-Evvveerrr breakfast so you have two great options for two completely different mornings!

Ok, enough talking (boy I can blabber on!) onto the fooooood

 What is that a picture of, you ask?

 Why it is a big plate of cold, fudgey, creamy avocado choc fudge bites with a side of cherry fro-yo. Oh yes.

Ohhh yes.

 To make these bad boys I literally popped:
Ingredients:
1/2 an avocado
3/4 cup rolled oats (I probably put in a bit more because I made quite a lot!!)
1 scoop choc protein powder (sub in with a teaspoon or two of raw cacao powder)
2 dates
1 laarrggee spoon of nut butter (I used peanut butter)
A little splash of water to get it all moving

Method:
.... all the ingredients into the Vitamix and whazzed until smooth and combined.
Then I formed them into bites, placed on a parchment lined plate and popped in the freezer for atleast 30 minutes... Then I died of deliciousness:

 I don't think I'll ever be able to get across how fudge-y and creamy these bites were... so you're just going to have to go right ahead and make them yourself- I promise you will not be disappointed!

 And the cherry fro-yo? Well you all know by now- handful of frozen cherries + 3 scoops greek yoghurt- whazzed until smooth and popped in the freezer to harden slightly! Perfect partner to the rich, dense brownie bites :) :D

Gah! I want this again!!

Alrighty- moving right along to the easy-peasy-throw-together-in-5-minutes breakfast! Because sometimes we just don't got the time in the morning for luxurious pancakes, or steel cut oats or delicious, creamy, fudge-y, dense, delicious fudge bites (yep, I need these in my life again very soon!)

Breakfast Papaya Boat:

 Again, I have no words. So instead I have a recipe:

Ingredients:
1/2 papaya
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
small handful dried fruit
small handful raw, chopped nuts
3 big scoops greek yoghurt
1/2 cup almond milk
1 large tablespoon of coconut butter
2 tablespoon almond milk

Method:
Place oats, dried fruit, cinnamon and nuts in a bowl, stir in the greek yoghurt and almond milk and leave in the fridge overnight (or at least 30 minutes to an hour).
The next morning, place the coconut butter and almond milk in a small bowl/ saucepan and heat up (bowl in microwave for around 15 seconds) until melted and combined. Stir into soaked overnight oats.
Retrieve your half a papaya breakfast boats and scoop in the oats and.. nope that's it you're done!

 Cold, creamy, sweet, juicy- all the flavours, textures and deliciousness in one breakfast!

 Happy, happy days.
And whipped together in the morning with a little night-before prep in approximately 5 minutes- even happier happy happy days :)

Nom.

And there you go.

You're welcome.

And now I'm hungry again. *sigh* thanks Steph!

Your turn:
What's your favourite lengthy-throw-together breakfast?
What's your favourite quick-throw-together breakfast? Cereal doesn't count! (I'm not against cereal- love the crunchy delight- but it's just a bit toooo quick)
Sweet or savoury breakfast? I'm all about them sweet, dessert breakfasts!

I hope you all have a fabulous Friday- do something fun, fun, fun because it's FRIDAY FUNDAY! Yep it's a universally recognised thing! Eat something delicious and I will see you next time for whatever crazy, throw-together post I come up with for next time! Yay! Bye for now friends!! :D

Frozen Overnight Oats!

Yesterday I had an almost empty jar of almond butter hanging out in my fridge.
In Steph land that equates to one thing. Filling it with something and enjoying the last few scrapes of nut butter to its full potential.

In the past this could have been warm oats, cold oats, torn up muffins, layered parfaits and the good ol' overnight oat saviour.

The brekky that comes to the rescue when one has limited time to even think about breakfast, let alone create something. Pour, mix, lid and leave the night before and voila! Next morning; a delicious, nutritious and filling breakfast awaits!

 Choc Overnight Oats

 PB & J Oats

 Rich, Dark Choc OIAJ

So when I wanted to use up my almost empty jar of almond butter, I decided overnight oats were the way to go. However I kind of wanted to shake things up a little. So I chucked them in the freezer for the night rather than the mainstream fridge idea :P.

The next morning, I had a frozen, sweet, delicious treat to devour and savour, especially good after a run/ workout when oats give you the energy and recovery you need and the frozen-ness gives you the cooling off factor!

So, without further a do- THE RECIPE!

Frozen Vanilla Protein Overnight Oats:

Ingredients:
Optional- 1 almost empty jar of nut butter (just place in any jar/ bowl if you don't have one like this)
1/4-1/2 cup oats (depending on size of jar- fill jar to half)
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1/2 banana, mashed
1/2 cup-1 cup almond milk (again, fill until reaching top of jar)

Method:
1. Find jar:

2. Mash banana:

3. Add oats, protein powder and banana to jar:

4. Fill to brim with almond milk and stir:

5.Place lid on top and pop in freezer overnight:

6. Freeze rest of banana to make frozen cherry fro-yo (or whatever type of fro-yo if you so desire!)

1/2 a frozen banana + handful of frozen cherries + 3 big spoons of greek yoghurt- whazzed until smooth:

7. Remove frozen oats from freezer at least 30 minutes prior to eating (I had to heat slightly in a small amount of simmering water in a saucepan) just to soften it a touch.

8. Then I would recommend getting a butter knife and separating it all up into frozen chunks to enable easier eating:

9. And enjoy you're froze breakfast!

I can't profess enough how tasty this breakfast was- and the fact that it was frozen forced me to slow my eating down a little and enjoy the flavours even more (as breakfast follows an 8 hour+ time frame of not eating, I get a little ravenous when eating brekky!!)

So good!

The oats give it a fudgey texture and mouth feel and the banana gives it that slight ice cream taste!
Full of healthy, nutritious ingredients, yet tasting like a truly decadent dessert- my favourite kind of breakfast :D.

Frozen cherry yoghurt- always a winner!

Combine the two and you have quite the combo!

Happy, happy days :)

Until ofcourse, you don't chunk up your frozen oats enough and end up breaking your spoon...

 Well, I'll know for next time! And yes, there will definitely be a next time! I can't wait to try out all the different flavour combos!!

Your turn:
What's your favourite thing to put in an almost empty jar of nut butter?
Favourite overnight oat recipe?
Ever freeze your breakfasts?

I hope you all have a wonderful, wonderful day, eat something utterly delicious and SMILE! Bye for now friendly friends!!:D