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!

Satisfy those cravings!

There is no denying it... like millions of other food bloggers out there... I.LOVE.OATMEAL!
Just a quick scan through my camera's memory card sums it up perfectly:

You can find most of my recipes on the breakfast page, if you too are addicted to oats!
Why am I suddenly obsessed with oatmeal.. well, in the last few days I've had some pretty tasty bowls... well-mugs and jars (naturally!)
Like overnight oats in a jar:

I filled the almost empty almond butter jar 3/4 of the way with muesli and some chia seeds, then added oat milk to the top and stirred. Leave in fridge overnight!
I also had a banana smoothie on the side- nothing special; banana+milk+yoghurt

Give it a stir up in the morning.. and voila!
Yum!
Going...

Going...

Spoon-shot!

 :)
My second oat romance was this morning- I wanted CHOCOLATE! Never get between a girl and her chocolate!

Chocolate oats, with coconut butter and banana and also some cocao nibs stirred in :)

There was quite a bit of chocolate in there!
Recipe is loosely- 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1 cup milk of choice, 1 tablespoon raw cacao, 1 scoop choc protein powder, a dash of cinnamon, 1 thinly sliced banana,  some coconut butter and some cacao nibs :) Heated on stove and whisked furiously until desired thickness is reached!

Chocolatey spoon shot!

Who's craving some oatmeal around about now?

Teehee!

Have a great day! :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 ;)

Sunday's delicious adventures and links!!

Ahhh, hello Sunday! Oh how I have been waiting for you!

A little sleep-in (tucked up tight because it is cooooolllldddd) a little fast-pace run (30 mins) and a little brekky to start off the day on a great foot! And when I say little brekky, you know I mean utterly delicious. Yep.

I guess I was still in that phase where I wanted oats without the warmth because I made another variation on this over-30-minute (instead of overnight) oats!

This time?

Creamy vegan cinnamon apple coconut oats!!

Step 1. Mash a banana:

Step 2. Add around a tablespoon of coconut butter:

Step 3. Heat on high in the microwave for around 35 seconds, stir to combine (and test try a little bit because it is so good!)

Step 4. Cut up a cheek of apple into small cubes:

Step 5. Add 2 handfuls of rolled oats, a teaspoon of chia seeds, 1/2 teaspoon (or more) ground cinnamon and the apple to a bowl. Stir to combine:

Step 6. Add in the heated banana and coconut mixture, mash to combine:

Step 7. Pour in some almond milk (or any milk) to cover and stir to combine:

Step 8. Place in freezer for 20-30 mins (I also chopped up the remaining apple to freeze for later experiments, but you could chomp on that now if you're famished and are dreading the idea of waiting 30 minutes for breakfast!

Step 9. Remove from freezer:

Step 10. Take a photo:

Step 11. Add a spoon so you can eat it! ;)

And that's how to make this delicious, cold bowl of cinnamon apple oaty goodness!

Now, seeing as it's Sunday I also have a whole bunch of links for you all that I have been loving this past week:

Health:

What even is balance?

What to eat before and after your workout!

8 Things Happy People Do in the First 5 Minutes of Their Day

Food:

Strawberry chocolate tahini melt

Young Coconut Dark Chocolate Slushie With Smashed Berries(Vegan)

Date Paste (Paleo, Whole30, Vegan)

Pizza with Chipotle Red lentil Tomato Sauce, Basil and Vegan Ricotta

Fitness:

What's the Difference Between Pushing Hard and Over training?

20 Lazy-Girl-Approved Fitness Hacks

How to Achieve a Runner's High

Instant Inspiration Straight From the Chalkboard

Funny:


17Times Disney Princesses Totally Felt Our Workout Struggles

9 Charts For Anyone Who Hates Wearing Pants 

I hope you found some interesting reads from that list and if you want some more great links, head on over to Spoons for the Sunday Link-love! Until next time- have a great day friends!! Bye! :D