How to survive a busy day!

Hello, hello friendly friends! I hope everyone is having a good day today, or a favourable, spanking, prime, superb, rad or any other positive word my thesaurus threw at me. :)

Whether your day is good, favourable, spanking.... yeh you got it, is it also a busy day? If so then this is the post for you! (If not then you will probably have a busy day in your life so this is also the post for you!)

Wednesday night I was just standing around, twiddling my thumbs, thinking about anything and everything, when I realised that Thursday (the day after Wednesday ;) was going to be a busy one.

To begin with, I wanted to fit in a run... and didn't want a rerun (pun not intended) of a few days ago. That meant no time to make breakfast/ lunch for school. I also had my first acrobatics class that night and wasn't sure how much homework I would receive at school (that Wednesday was crazy- every subject needed attention for some reason!) so I also wanted to make dinner too.

Yep, that Wednesday night I prepped Thursday Breakfast, lunch, dinner along with Wednesday's dinner- coz, you know, I needed dinner that night too :).

This is what resulted:

Roasted veggies for lunch (potato, sweet potato and parsnip), 2 small quiches for dinner and a big bowl of overnight protein oats for breakfast:

I love, love, love cold roasted veg (especially potatoes) and take them to school way too often!

Also, these quiches were amazing!!

Eggs, quinoa, veggies, garlic, ginger, yum, yum, yum :)

Into a bowl went chopped capsicum, tomato, zucchini, eggplant, celery, red onion, mixed quinoa, garlic, ginger and nutritional yeast:

Then 2 whisked eggs stirred in and added to two greased ramekins:

Baked in the oven (180 degrees celsius) for 20-30 mins, until the egg is set. Turned out of the ramekin, left to cool and then placed in a container in the fridge.

Too easy!
This is what lunch turned out to be:

The prepped cold roasted veg with some kumara bean ball thingoes (frozen at the grocery store- good ingredient list!), kale and spinach... then I thought it needed some hommus to top it off:

This is what breakfast turned out to be:

The protein overnight oats- muesli, yoghurt, chia seeds, cinnamon, vanilla protein powder and almond milk- topped with a sliced banana and almond butter:

So good- perfect after a run!

Spoon shot:

And dinner was just so quick handy and easy!!

I always feel at ease when all my meals are sorted and I don't have to think... though I love cooking all of my meals. Therefore I love this solution for busy days!

What about you?
Do you prep meals at the beginning of the week/ day before a busy week?
What is your go to make-in-advance meals?
Favourite overnight oats recipe?

That's it for today folks! Hope you have a lovely weekend (I definitely need a rest from this busy week!) See ya later! :D

If there's a jar lying around...

Hi there friends! Having a good day? Hopefully you are, if not stay tuned for a weird breakfast of mine! Nothing new there though!

I woke up on this particular morning pretty hungry. I also had an almost empty jar of cacao hazelnut butter and a craving for overnight oats. Except I had not prepared some oats to soak overnight. So I placed some oats in a cup, spooned on a lot of greek yoghurt and some oat milk and let sit for a grand total of 30 minutes:

Ta-da!!
So what did I fill my almost empty jar with??

Any guesses??

Banana ice cream! Because everyone knows bananas and chocolate and ice cream and chocolate are best buddies- and I just rolled all three into one! You can literally fill a jar with anything and it will be awesome (when I say anything, you know I'm lying. Do not, I repeat do not put melted cheese, cinnamon and licorice in an almost empty jar) I usually rotate between oats, ice cream, overnight oats and... nope that's it. I should try some new jar fillers.

Pretty purple and yellow spoons to nom with. (Purple and yellow make a pretty good combo actually!)

Yeh, so the oats weren't as creamy or 'cooked like texture' as regualr overnight oats, but they were still pretty good!!

Ice cream and chocolate hazelnut butter:

With some cheesecake-y flavoured oats- that's like seven desserts in one!

Now, if you don't have a jar lying around, bowls work fine too:

Smoothie bowls for the win!
This particular smoothie was 1 frozen banana + 1 handful red grapes + 3 big scoops greek yoghurt + 1 handful of kale + 1 handful of spinach + sprinkle of chia seeds+ 1/2 cup almond milk- whazzed up until smooth.

Topped off with some almond butter granola:

Deee-lish!

Oh breakfast, how I love you so!

Yes, I may have over-filled this particular smoothie bowl and yes I may have spilled it a little bit.... but it was awesome, so I don't care!

We are not even going to talk about today's breakfast.

Ok, we are, because I need to vent. Or simply tell someone ;)

See I headed out for my run at around 6:10am thinking 'that's plenty of time before school!' then I realised I now run for like an hour and a half (see, I don't track my time I just come home when I'm tired) so I raced in the door, saw that I only had 20 minutes before we had to leave for school, jumped around trying to make lunch, and shower and stretch and gulp water and wash my hair and get in my uniform... so breakfast was some very quickly prepared oats with peanut butter that I scoffed down in 5 minutes! I hate eating rushed meals!! I was super hungry too!! Must plan that better... maybe overnight oats. Yep definitely overnight oats!

How about you?
What do you typically fill your almost empty jars with?
Do you like/ have you ever tried banana ice cream?
Ever have simply no time for breakfast? What do you eat when you're short on time?

Have a fabulous day friends! Bye! :D

Thinking Out Loud- Running, resting and riding a bike!

Happy Thursday to everyone who reads this sentence! (And all those who don't too, I guess ;) I am in a particularly random and chatty mood right at the minute and this is actually quite acceptable for once, as it is Thinking Out Loud Thursday. So prepare for my thoughts. Out loud. On Thursday! 

As always thanks to the awesomely awesome Amanda from Running with Spoons for this fun weekly link-up (also Happy Birthday!)

1. Now speaking of running (Running with Spoons? See= relevant) this is a topic that seems to be of quite high focus in my life right now...
Running.
It has been just over a year since I began my long (and some times quite painful) journey into the enlivening experience that is running.

Never before have I been so stiff, so limpy (sure that's a word!) and so tired at the end of the day than when I started running. But never before have I been more happy.

Seriously! When you find that one special thing that just makes you feel alive... do it often! Unless your legs feel sore and jelly-like and extremely tired (as mine do at the moment)... then you should probably take a few days rest (as I am doing at the moment)

So that's one of the main things that has been on my mind this past week. Only recently I've started seeing myself as a 'runner'. Not because I've upped my distances or whatever but because I can finally see how much running has changed my life and how much it continues to do so. I'm a runner because I love it- all of it, good and bad.

2. This is where my second point of interest comes into it.
Resting.
Yes, I fall into the category of those who hate rest days. Yes I have those ridiculous worries of losing everything I've gained from a day or two or three of rest. Silly, illogical and just plain irrational... Just try telling that to my brain!

Recently though, my legs have been feeling it. As I mentioned before I have been upping my distances and I think all those extra k's are started to weigh down on my little legs. I've been feeling tight and sore and just plain tired, so had to take the (extremely hard) executive decision to take a few days rest. I''m keeping sane by telling myself that it's for my body and I love my body and my body deserves love.

Although this is basically me:

 3. To regenerate and replenish my tired body on these restful days I can't think of a better breakfast than a nice big green smoothie!

1 frozen banana+ a handful of frozen green grapes+ big handful of kale + a big handful of spinach + 3 scoops of greek yoghurt+ sprinkle of chia seeds+ splash of almond milk- whazzed!

I love, love, LOVE frozen grape smoothies- the sweetness and taste the grapes add is soo yummy!

Eaten here along side some choc truffles because you know... chocolate!

So I was taking my pictures of this brekky and noticed a sneaky little shadow in the corner of my lens.

Yep, I cheers-ed myself to breakfast! CHEERS!

3. On the topic of breakfast- Here is a look at today's.
You see I am on the firm belief that ugly meals always seem to taste better, even though they are more ugly. And so when I stirred my 3/4 cup muesli, 1/2 cup greek yoghurt and 1/2 cup almond milk in a bowl with some chia seeds to soak overnight.. I knew this brekky wasn't going to be pretty- but it sure was going to taste good!

To go with my overnight oats I decided I wanted to stir in some banana cashew butter ice cream; you know, for extra prettiness! So into the food processor went 1 chopped frozen banana and about 1-2 tablespoons of cashew butter, whazzed (and scraped down a few times) until smooth and creamy:

Stirred into the overnight oats. See I told you it looked great ;)

Placed in the freezer for 20 mins to harden a bit.
I don't even care that it was ugly... it was delicious!

 4. I haven't been completely honest with you about my resting though (yes we are back on that topic)
I have been doing some Purely Twin's workouts each morning and also...
RIDING MY NEW BIKE!!

^^This is so true! ^^

I like really close to the beach so I love riding on the bike trails that span right across the coast line and look out to the gorgeous blue sea (remember it is Summer here in Aus) so everyday I've been trying to get out for a ride on my beloved bike

This is sort of what my baby looks like, however mine is cream:

If running is my number one outlet to relieve stress and help me think, then riding my bike is a close second- it is so relaxing and leaves me so happy. Thank you endorphins!

Aaand I feel like I've rambled on enough about all the random stuff happening in my life right at the moment!

Be sure to check out what everyone else is thinking about over at Spoons.

Tell me:
Do you like/ hate rest days?
Do believe ugly meals taste better?
Bike? Do you love to ride a bike?

Bye for now folks! Have a fantabulous day! :D

The Hunger

Have you ever experience The Hunger?
The grumbling, the rumbling, the insane little monster clattering, thumping and crashing around in your belly leaving you with a feeling of utter empty-stomachness that you glance over to any person (or animal or plant etc.) in the room and instead see a big chunk of food?

Have you ever eaten a full plate of food, thinking surely this will fill you up and then there is no change in how you feel? Even after eating slowly, chewing lots and putting you fork down after every. single. mouthful.

Water won't help you with this predator. You can't run. You can't hide. You most definitely can't distract yourself.

Ok, ok I'll stop scaring the little children now ;)
You know what I mean though right? Those days when you seem to eat and eat and yet never feel full? I have been experiencing this lately... more than usual (you all know I generally eat a lot anyway!) and I'm blaming my runs. Not really- because I love running and would never want to upset it. No, I am concluding it to be my runs from a tested hypothesis. Bam.

Just look at today's breakfast:

 Overnight oats in an almost empty jar of mixed nut butter, green grapes and a nudie juice

 Yes, it was quite a sweet brekky... but I didn't care at that moment, I needed food.

 I could really trick people into thinking I eat full jars of nut butter for brekky with photos like the one above. Not to worry though... ta-da!

....Guys, I was still hungry after all that and had a handful of raw nuts too. Can you believe it?
I guess I wanted to write this post because I wanted to not only preach about listening to your body but also add to the credibility of my wise, wise words by including my very own personal experience.

I believe that every signal your body gives you is given for a reason, like if your body hurts it may mean that whatever you're doing is not right (maybe you're running wrong, or your sitting for too long, or you've done something your body wasn't ready for), if you are extremely fatigued it could mean your pushing your body too hard- over exercising, not eating enough/ right nutritional requirements or your over-stressed, Your body heats up when you have a fever to kill the bugs that make you sick, it'll become red and itchy indicating an allergic reaction, your body is super smart and and will tell you if something's not right/ needs to be changed if you listen to it. Which is why if you're super hungry, your body needs extra fuel and you should feed it.

Now, I'm not talking about that little niggling 'I could eat something' because you're bored hunger. I'm talking about the body screaming at you to bite into something, anything, so the amylase can break it down, the oesophagus can swallow and peristalsis can push it on into the stomach/ beast.

That type of hunger can lead to all sorts of problems though...

• Firstly the hunger can mean you reach for something quicker, packaged and less than healthy to suppress your scary alter-ego (chips, microwave pie, two minute noodles, many slices of white bread)
• Secondly, you will probably end up eating a lot faster than usual thanks to the burning desire to get said food into your body
• Point 2 can result in the creation of a  hypothetical muzzle for your natural fullness signals, ergo resulting in a lot more food (and from point 1- maybe not the best choices) being consumed
• Lastly at the end of that meal (or large amount of random foods) instead of feeling happy, fed and ready to go, you're bloated, over full and maybe feeling a little bit sick.

Now I feel like I might be going off on a totally different tangent... as usual.
What I'm saying is- if you have experienced the hunger, feed yourself, you're body needs it for some reason or another, just make sure you're careful as the hunger can make you choose less-than-good food choices and you can also over do it.

Here are some of my top tips from my own personal experience with THE HUNGER!

1. Bring healthy snacks with you everywhere. I generally always have nuts/ trail mix/ fruit with me
2. This is also the case if you're super-duper bite-your-arm-off hungry. You should definitely make a filling, healthy, nutritious and yummy something or other, but to make sure you can think properly while waiting for your meal to come together have a little snack (see above)
3. Please, please, please re-fuel with loving and nutritious and filling foods and make sure you eat slowly and enjoy it. Listen to your body and when you feel satisfied stop.
4. Don't ignore THE HUNGER. Your body is telling you something- listen to it!
   

Here's a little insider into a typical lunch that feeds the beast:

 A multi-grain roll with hommus, steamed pumpkin, spinach, veggie burger, grilled capsicum, eggplant, zucchini and sliced tomato:

 With the leftover stuff on the side (the roll is quite small, so there is always a side salad of the filling!)

 Or a big bowl o' veggies:

 Chopped, broccoli, brussels sprouts, capsicum, tomato, corn, kale, zucchini, lentils and satay tofu all chucked in a fry pan with garlic and some water, cooked for about 5 mins until soft and then mixed with a cup of cooked brown rice:

So you see, I eat a large amount of food when the hunger strikes, but I make sure it's the right stuff, filled with lots of filling and delicious veggies, healthy fats and energising low-GI carbohydrates.

What do you think?
Please tell me I'm not the only one with THE HUNGER!
How (if you do have it) do you deal with it?
Has your body ever told you something amazing?

Bye for now friends! :D