The Ultimate Brownie (For Breakfast!!!)

Hidy-doodly friendly friends and welcome to the post you've been waiting for!

The post that has it all; action, drama, suspense, romance, intensity...

Oh yes.

It is the post that holds the key to all your greatest desires, the post that will fulfil all your needs and better still, all your wants. The post that will not only satisfy your mind but also your very soul!

Ok, so maybe not all those things (I mean there's not actually all that much action is this post :P) but let me tell you that today I do in fact have a post that will at the very least make your tummy very happy!

You know the drill; adding blackbeans to brownies seems to be the most popular thing to do right now (frozen zucchini in your smoothies will be next guys!! It will catch on, I'm sure of it!) anywho, for some odd reason, me being the ultra-hip, trendy, health food blogger I am, I still haven't experimented with this creation; the blackbean brownie.

Sure, you can find multiple brownie and blondie recipes on the blog, raw, cooked, chickpea added; you name it! But no blackbean brownie.

Well, have no fear! The time has come! And I feel saddened even that I did not try this yonks ago, tears shed for every day that I could have been nom-ing on this delicious creation!

Monday morning, I awoke with the determination to smash out a hard leg-day (leg-day Monday, right?) and smash it out I did. And then the hunger came. Or more like, crashed, stumbled and rampaged through my belly, hammering on my insides to fuel the beast... and fuel it I did:

Oh yes.

I had no idea, but adding blackbeans to your brownie mix makes for the ultimate brownie texture and adds this amazingly rich and fudge-like taste that, let's face it, is paramount for an awesome brownie. I kept the other ingredients fairly standard to my usual raw, fudge brownies and then added in some blackbeans and baked in the oven for around 20 mins to create this incredible food morsel:

Ok, I have talked for well long enough and I need you, just as much as you need it, to have this recipe and make your very own. Right now. Get to it.

High Protein, Rich, Dark, Chocolate Fudge Brownie Bites:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup blackbeans
1 teaspoon maca powder (optional)
3/4 cup rolled oats
1 scoop choc protein powder
1 teaspoon raw cacao powder
3-4 dates (depending on how sweet you want it- I had 2, which was perfect for me but not overly sweet)
1 heaped tablespoon nut butter of choice (I used a mixed nut butter)
1/2 cup almond milk (I used unsweetened- you can sub in any milk you like)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius and line a small baking tray with baking paper
2.Add all the ingredients to a blender/ food processor/ vitamin :) and blend on high until smooth and combined (may need to stop and scrape occasionally)

3. Spoon out scoops of the mix (should be fairly sticky but still handle-able) and roll into balls, then flatten into brownie bites in hands and place on baking tray

4. Bake in oven for around 20 mins, or until top is slightly hard, warmed through and the smell is incredible!!

5. leave to cool slightly (not too long, warm brownies are THE BEST!) and then NOM!!

I enjoyed my fudgey blackbean brownies with some sweet, refreshing blueberry fro-yo (frozen blueberries and greek yoghurt whizzed up in the Vitamin until smooth; popped in the freezer until ready to eat)

And enjoy them I did:

Again; that texture though; blackbeans, you are my hero!

I have always loved brownies but I think now that I can make alternatives with so many more amazing nutrients and such a large amount of protein; I appreciate them even more. Especially now that I can eat brownies for breakfast! Doesn't get much better than that!!

Your turn:
Brownies or blondies?
What's your favourite sneaky add-in to baked goods?
Raw or cooked brownies? I change depending on how I feel, but I generally like the cold, creamy raw ones (no eggs of course; avo instead for that creamy factor!!)

That's it from me today folks, I hope you have a truly lovely day; make these brownies to make it even lovelies, eat something delicious and I will see you next time! Bye for now friends!! :D

The Most Random Meal Of My Life

You know when you're hungry.

You gotta eat.

Food is on the brain.

But...

You have no idea what food is on the brain? Like trying to picture what sounds good results in a big black wall in the visionary area of the noggin?

You think of different meals and foods, cuisines and flavours and yet nothing quite seems... right?

Ok, I know you've all felt this at some point in your life so no denying it! However, I'm not sure how many of you would have resorted to the meal I threw together during this episode of my own, in the sense of just how random it was.

Judgement is not welcome here people, so when I show you the meal I decided sounded good for lunch as my brain sorted through endless food suggestions I threw at it, you must not laugh!

Well, perhaps you can laugh, because quite honestly it is just plain strange. But no judgement! Food is delicious fuel and whatever way it comes is ok!

Alrighty, presenting my lunch from the weekend passed:

 Yep.

Yep.

 Ok, I'll walk you through it. On my 'YAY' plate was 1 raw, fresh, sweet, juicy, crunchy carrot... 1 perfectly soft yet still with its integrity, microwaved potato.... and an almost empty jar of cashew butter filled with muesli, almond milk and cinnamon, made in the morning and left to sit for a few hours in the fridge.

 Sneaky peak in the delicious overnight over-morning oats in a jar.

 So yes, none of these foods necessarily go well together, or create a brilliant combo or whatever else food connoisseurs would judge about this meal, but hey, I quite enjoyed crunching on the crisp raw carrot and then sinking my teeth into the hot, fudge-like textured potato, followed by the cooling, sweet, chewiness of the cold oats and cashew butter.

 Call me crazy but eating a potato like it's an apple is just so much more satisfying than chopping up and steaming!

 Chomp.

 And then, the real Steph came back to her senses and you know me, try anything, I did the unthinkable:

 And it was awesome! Seriously, for some incredibly unknown and unexplored reason, soaked muesli in almond milk with some cashew butter atop a warm potato- is LEGENDARY.

 Who'd a thunk it, right? Not me, until I created this beautiful monstrosity of a meal.
And so, it just goes to show; listen to your body, go with what it's craving, eat the weirdest most random meal of your life and who knows; maybe you'll just come up with the best combo ever that the world has never thought of before and your taste buds will sing with elation! Or perhaps not, there are some combos that just should not happen together... a few of these come to mind! And also this post I wrote a while back :D!

What about you?
What is the strangest meal you've ever made for yourself?
Strangest but extremely good food combo you've come across by accident?
Peanut butter and pickles? Yay or nay? I just don't know- won't knock it til' I try it though!! :P

I hope you all have a fantastic day- eat for you and not what society deems a suitable breakfast/ lunch/ dinner- eat what sounds good! Also eat a cooked whole potato like an apple; you won't regret it! ;) Bye for now friendly friends! :D

Eating... My Thoughts

I love eating.

That's a fact. I love, love, love, love, love eating. Eating provides our body with the fuel it needs to sustain itself and do all the extra wonderful things we want it to. Like walking. Talking. Thinking. Studying. Dancing. laughing. Clapping. Exercising.

Food is fuel, nothing more and yet we as a society seem to pin so much more to it. It's a reward. It's a guilty treat. It's a secret binge. It's an off-limits bite. It's an 'allowed' food.

Breakfast should be protein heavy. Minimal fruits. Eaten before a certain time. A portion of this many grams.

Lunch always happens after 12. Lean proteins. Little carbs. Veggies.

Snacks. Only rarely. The right kind. Veg.

Dinner before 6. Light. lightest meal of the day. Not high in fat.

No dessert.

Is this the eating plan we really want to be following for the rest of our lives? I won't lie, it was a similar plan I used to have in my head when I first starting falling into my orthorexia trap and yet it's my eating philosophy now-a-days that I really want to talk about today.

Now-a-days, I eat to my body. Yep, weird sentence. What I mean is, I eat to my bodies desires, it's intentions, it's wants and needs, because who better knows how to feed itself than the thing being fed? And what does that look like?

Breakfast: Whatever time the body hits the hunger mode! Generally large, generally whatever the body feels like. Fruits? Huge fruit smoothie! Protein? Thick, gooey, choc protein oats! Crunchy? Home-made granola! Always full of nutritious, fibrous, body-loving goodness

Lunch: Whatever time the body has finished digesting breakfast and is in need of some more fuel to tackle some more of the day! Maybe that's 12 on the dot. maybe it's more like 11am. perhaps it's not til 1:30pm. And then it's a sandwich. A salad. roast veggies. Soup. Smoothie. Hommus. Beans. You get the drift? Anything!

Sometimes breakfast was so big and filling that all I want for lunch is veg! Roasted potatoes, steamed peas and a stick of celery because I wanted some hydration!

Sometimes it's the simple things that truly hit the spot the best. So why fight it?

Snack: Essential for me to make it through to dinner. Generally fruit because that's what the body craves (natural sugar pick-me-up anyone?) sometimes soy milk and dates, or nuts. Whatever time the hunger hits.

Dinner: Anything. Any time.

I think it's definitely occurred to me a lot more recently that going with what the body wants will leave me feeling so much more satisfied and happy when eating. Even if that means not eating any spinach one day. Or if that means a lunch of steamed potatoes... :)

Sure, the critical, health-conscious, perfectionist part of us look at that and think; that is so unbalanced- waaayyy too many carbs, hardly any protein, no fats- what is this girl thinking! But then the body simply sits back and goes; you know what, this is what I needed right then and there. Nothing more, nothing less.

Dessert:
Happens almost nightly. Not because I have to fit in some certain nutrients, not because I have restricted throughout the day to enjoy that sweet treat after dinner, not because I'm necessarily all that hungry after a beautifully nourishing (both physically and/or mentally & emotionally) dinner, but because it makes me happy to nom on some dark chocolate, or a handful of deliciously creamy cashews, or a mug of sweet ice cold soy milk.

Recently, my eating has been a heck of a lot more focused on simple, minimal ingredients, meals, because that's what the body is telling me it wants. It doesn't follow any rules, time constraints, common held societal ideals. Nope. If I want a big bowl of brown rice, warm chickpeas, avocado and salsa for dinner... than that's what dinner will be:

There will be no questioning the carb content, the limited veggies, the size of the bowl or the time in which it is eaten.

Eating is simple. My body wanted this. My body felt good after eating this. Food that nourishes and feeds the food is not always the same as the 'accepted' meal plans deemed by society.

In conclusion?

Eat for you.

Not for some meal plan guaranteeing the 'perfect body'. Because there is no such thing.

Your turn:
What's your method of eating? Structured? No structure? 
Do you ever fall into the meal time trap? I still struggle with this on the daily; I won't lie, but I have definitely become a lot better at telling myself if I'm hungry the body needs to eat, no matter if lunch was merely an hour ago!
Favourite simple meal? At the moment mine is that rice and bean, avocado, salsa mix, but I'm also a big fan of baked sweet potatoes, or toast with vegemite and avo.

Ahhh. That felt good to get off my chest! Alrighty, have yourself a great day, eat for YOU and only for you, fill your belly with fresh, wholesome, nourishing foods (for the body and the mind!) and tell a loved one that you love them, because I feel that's something we forget do far too often and it's far too important to forget! Bye for now beautiful people!! :D

Satisfy The Craving... A Personal Experience

Hi there friends!!
How's the week treating you so far?

I've got to say, I'm getting mighty too used to these restful holidays; sleeping in (well, a sleep-in for me, even if it might only be til' 7am :)) Taking my time to get ready for an energising, uplifting, strength-inducing workout, following this with a leisurely stroll to the kitchen, no time constraints as to when breakfast has to be ready and eaten by, a nice long shower to steam off the cold icicles of the winter morning, a little scroll through Instagram to see what everyone's been nom-ing on whilst I've been off in dream-land (you can follow me at @steph2chef if your interested in my daily noms!) and then a bit of light study to dust off any of the guilt caused by not thinking about school!

So, yes, I think it may be a little bit of a struggle to get back into the school routine after this week is up, but you know what? This is my last term of school. Ever. So instead of dreading the normal early-start, rushed workout, quick throw-together breakfast, no looking at Instagram until cooking dinner that night, studying for hours routine, I'm going to enjoy it. Remember it. Be in the present of the hustle that will hopefully (fingers crossed pay off!). Because I am so ready to start my adult life... but I don't want to rush through my final year and only remember a blur.

Wow, did not mean to go on that long! What. An. Intro! See what happens when Steph has time to simply blog? Intros turn into posts! You're welcome ;)

Ok, moving right along. Today I wanted to talk about something that seemed to pop up recently for me and I know pops up recently for a lot of other people. On the daily. On the hourly. On the minute-ly!!

Cravings.

This made me chuckle- one part of pregnancy I would actually look forward to (in the very distant future!!) is the insanity of any cravings I might have; BRING IT ON!

Sweet, salty, crunchy, gooey, fudgey, warm. Chips, chocolate, cake, biscuits, pizza, burgers; the common culprits.

Now, we've all seen those posts where they state that 'A craving for chocolate simply means your body needs more kale!' Well, hallelujah! Let's go to town on that bunch of kale while my mind cannot get it's sights of a square of luscious, creamy chocolate.

I'm not saying I don't agree with those posts but I am saying that whilst it may mean your body is lacking in something entirely different to the craving, the craving is still present in the mind and mentally, you need the chocolate just as much as you need the kale.

So why is the healthy, whole-food loving, vegetarian, nourishing-fuel-for-your-body advocate going against the healthy nutritionists recommendations to eat kale when the body wants chocolate? Well, I'm not exactly, but I do think that cravings need to be satisfied- in any form that may entail...

Ok, personal experience story time:

So the other weekend I woke up to the smell of a cooked breakfast being made downstairs in the kitchen by my older sister and her boyfriend. I sneakily had a quick-peak as to their piled-high plates and my eyes grew wide with the beautifully luscious creamy eggs, toast, grilled tomatoes, bacon (not so much the bacon, but it was on the plate) and it was hard not to stop the drool slowly trickling down my chin.

It brought back memories of our easy weeknight fry-ups for dinner when mum would ask for our preference of eggs (boiled, poached, fried or scrambled) and then set us down a plate of sausages, eggs, bacon, toast etc. and my brother sister and I would be extremely happy little kiddlywinks!

Or the times we went out for breakfast and we'd all order big plates of warm, delicious breakfast foods; eggs, toast, mushrooms, etc. Celebrating whatever occasion it was with the smell of freshly brewed morning coffee and chatter amongst the war interior of the cosy cafe we chose for that brekky.

And then I got a sensation I very rarely find myself feeling. An intense want, a mighty desire, a downright need to eat this meal. And it's here where both my agreeance and disagreeance with these nutrition experts come into play.

You've seen it before on the blog. When I crave something otherwise deemed unhealthy, I simply whip up a version with just as much flavour, awesome taste and nom-factor as the desired dish, but with my own healthy spin on it. The craving is satisfied, the mind is satisfied and the body is properly nourished! Be it pizza, burgers, nachos- you name it, I've recreated it to be just as awesome and 100000x more nourishing than it's greasy, animal-product laden counterparts!

So, enter lunch:

Delicious in one picture.

Alrighty, so that my friends is my version of my sisters breakfast with a few changes that you probably can't even tell by just looking at the picture. Firstly; the toast- wholemeal with sesame seeds on the outside, spread with hummus (delicious!) rather than a thick spread of butter.

The eggs? Simply 2 eggs (yolk and all my friends; all the good stuff!) whisked up with 1/2 tablespoon of homes, 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast, 1/2 teaspoon garlic and 1 tablespoon water- placed in a saucepan with a touch of olive oil and stirred slightly until forming delicious, creamy, scrambled eggs. Whilst the eggs were swirling in the pan, I also added some chopped mushrooms and a tomato cut in half to the other half of the oiled pan and let them cook until golden brown and delicious!

Boom! Craving satisfied.

And you know what, my body felt so... right while eating this. When you truly have a craving and satisfy it (in whatever way you choose; healthy or other wise) your body feels good. It feels right. Like the planets are aligning and the world is set right.

Thus, my advice when hit with a craving? Don't ignore it. Don't hit up a handful of crunchy green kale when you truly want some soft, creamy chocolate. But do make it the version that your body will thank you for. Whip yourself up a big delicious, smooth creamy, choc protein green smoothie and you've packed sooo many more nutrients into your body, got the awesome choc hit you were after AND you ate a good amount of kale without even realising it!! Happy dayyzz.

Enjoying the giving-my-body-exactly-what-it-wants this day, I decided to follow the trend through to dinner and as I wasn't all that hungry but wanting something warm, sweet and nourishing... this little bad boy came into play:

An oven-baked sweet potato with a nice big drizzle of smooth peanut butter- all warm and gooey and perfect.

It was a good day of food, both mentally and physically for the body and I enjoyed every. single. mouthful.

And yes, my friends, it is all about balance, greens did happen:

Nom.

What about you?
How do you cure an intense craving?
Do you simply go out and have the original version, or make your own 'lighter/ more nourishing' version?
Favourite alternative to a not-so- healthy common food/ meal?

That's it from me today folks, I hope you have an absolutely lovely day, look after yourself and as always; EAT SOMETHING DELICIOUS!! Bye for now friendly friends! :D

The Week in Workouts!

Before we get into today's post.. guess what??

My phone apparently ran out of room for photos! Can ya believe it? Well, actually I can, because I take a ridiculous number of photos of my food (like, seriously Steph? 15 photos.. for a smoothie?) and I never seem to delete any of them.

Well, today was a different story and after I reassured myself that all the photos I wanted to keep and look back on were either on this blog or Instagram, that it would be alright to get rid of a fair chunk hanging around on my phone.

I think I deleted around 500!

Anywho, that was just today's little drama. Now I want to broaden this post's horizons with a look at the week in the form of workouts!

As you may have caught in some of my previous posts, I'm back in that season of life where workouts are feeling GREAT! I feel like I'm crushing new goals every single day and I'm pushing myself further than I've ever gone (but feeling good with it, don't worry!!)

Last Saturday's post-long-run-endorphin-filled-hunger-shot :D

So today I wanted to share with you some fitness inspiration/ ideas/ insight into my workout routine, a little break from the food for ya! 

Now, yes, you all know I run. Steph looooves to run. But more recently, Steph loves to do a whole bunch of other stuff to strengthen, tone and awesome-i-fy her body. 

Here's what this past week looked like for my activity:

Sunday:

We'll start at the very beginning with the all-essential rest day! Now I am not going to fake anything on this blog and in all truth and honesty- I hate rest days. I feel lazy, sluggish, tired, not my usual self. There's a hint of guilt, I will admit, whenever I sit down to my usual gigantor sized meal with my brain telling me I don't need that much food on rest days. I practically never sit down on rest days because there's that part of me that says, 'You haven't earned it.' and I try and keep myself as busy and distracted as possible.

Geared up for a walk on the beach... in winter :D

It's a bit sad because I should relish this time of rest and recovery, let my mind rest too, so the following day I can truly enjoy my workout after given my body the time off it needs. I know all this in my heart, but the brain always seems to take over doesn't it?

Anywho, on this particular rest day I went for a beautiful winter's walk on the beach and if I thought the beach was stunning in Summer, a Winters beach is a whole other story!

Monday:

It's mid-year holidays for me (yep, I literally have one more term of highschool left... ever!) so I can enjoy a bit more of a sleep-in (to around 6:30am- the body's natural wake time) before I whip on the workout clothes and smash in a good sweat session!

Monday saw a huge arm session (with some legs and core thrown in for good measure) as I headed into a little make-shift gym at home, picked up the dumbbells and got to work! I spent around 40-45mins in there doing a routine I seem to have downbeat now; involving moves such as bicep curls, shoulder presses, deadlifts (both single and double legged), tricep rows, shoulder hunches (don't even know if some of these names are right! :P) until my arms are jelly and I'm sweating like a pig.

It's workouts like these that don't necessarily leave me completely out of breath (but close to it!) instead making me feel so strong and powerful!) Following this I made sure I got a good amount of protein into me!

Tuesday:

Tuesday was another awesome session- probably the highest intensity, toughest and most exhausting of the week.

I had already planned to do Blogilate's Train Insane HIIT video (my favourite when I want to work up an intense sweat and inability to breath!) and so when I had finished that all flushed and jittery:

I knew the only thing that would calm my shaking and jittery muscles was a bit of a run, just to calm the body down. So, that bit of a run ended up turning into around 5.5km and by the end, I was DONE! So, once again, I fell into a delicious breakfast, caught my breath and felt incredibly strong and capable to achieve anything the day could throw at me!

Breath caught, hair re-brished and ponytailed, shoes on, and out the door!

Wednesday:

I knew I wanted to work on abs today. What I didn't know was that upon waking I'd decide to do Blogilates Extreme Abs. Yep, those insane videos of ab destroying torture. And I purposefully left out the specifics as to which one I did because, I kid you not, I did all. 3. 

Consecutively. 

It hurt.

But was so, so good!

Hello there little baby abs!! Welcome to the world!

If you think you've got pretty good core strength and you've been working on your core for a while; give that challenge a go- super awesome! (that's the key word here, I've been doing blogilates ab workouts for quite a wile now; starting with 1 Extreme Abs video, slowly moving up to 2 and now only just managing to complete 3. It takes time people!)

Thursday:

Thursday= sprint day!

Hill sprint day!

Lose the entirety of your ability to speak, breath and pull acceptable faces when running day!

Just kidding- I love sprint day. I love raising my heart rate that quickly, letting it drop back to normal and then going again. It hurts, sure, but afterwards those endorphins are real!

Yes, my hair will and always be a frizz bomb after exercising- if it isn't, I wasn't working hard enough! :P

My plan with hill sprints is that I give myself the task to complete 10 (a challenge in itself!) and then after I'm done the ten I can do however many I want before I give in and head into the house for brekky!! Today, the body decided to do 15! Happy days!

Brekky following sprint sesh- banana green smoothie (2 frozen bananas, handful frozen zucchini, kale, spinach, greek yoghurt, water- whaz!) with a side of warm, crunchy, home-made cinnamon and peanut butter granola.

Friday:

I knew that after a few days of high intensity, tough workouts, it was time for another slower, strength building session and what better than a few Blogilates videos? Seriously, I am obsessed- the right amount of challenge and fun!

I started off with a quick fat burning cardio video to get the heart pumping (great when you want to strengthen and tone other muscles later on) followed by a calf strengthening video, then an arms video, back video, finishing with a booty video! It may seem like a lot but these were all quite short videos (I think the total workout ended up being around 30 mins?) and I felt really good after it!

Saturday:

Long run day!

After a week of very different, very challenging workouts, I love to round it all out with a nice, long, easy-paced run. I get to think, breath and let my legs go where they will. Long runs can be the worst workouts sometimes. but when you're in that state of simply plodding along, mind drifting to far off places... it's something nothing else in life can really offer me.

This particular Saturday saw 14.3 kilometres and I was quite happy with that for the weekly long run! however with around 4km to go, I started to feel a niggle in the side of my left knee and that continued to grow until the pain got a bit too intense and I cut off the last hill of my run. Hopefully with a nice relaxing rest day tomorrow and plenty of roller-ing throughout the week, it should be good!!

ALWAYS need a good brekky to follow a big run!

Enter banana cinnamon maca steel cut oats, with nut butter dolloped throughout and topped with some fresh banana slices:

Mac does something amazing to oats- it brings this kind of nutty, caramel-y flavour and hey, if it offers some great recovery benefits (hellooo potassium!) then why not add it for a delicious hit to the mug of oats??

And truthfully friends, my procedure with the nut butter is some smooth PB on the bottom, mixed crunchy nut butter in the middle, topping it all off with some more melty, smooth, warm PB. I don't go lightly with the peanut butter folks! #peanutbutteraddict :P

And when you hit that mid-oat nut butter bomb:

It's a beautiful, beautiful moment. :)

Whiccchh brings us all the way back to today; Sunday! And yes, a much needed and highly loved by the body, rest day!

Plans for today? Eat (drink?) a delicious HUGE green smoothie, get some study down (ain't no such thing as holidays for the year 12 student!), spend some time with family playing board games, eat some lunch, read, and just relax. Sounds pretty perfect to me!

Your turn:
What did your weekly workouts look like this week?
Fav workout of the week?
Fav post-workout meal of the week?

I realise this post was very much fitness oriented, but I think as my horizons in my own health and fitness lifestyle broadens, so too will the focus on this blog, so whilst there will still be plenty of food posts with drool worthy recipe ideas and inspiration, there will also be some little dibs and dabs into more fitness based and lifestyle oriented posts too- little bit of everything right?

Now, with that said, have yourself a rockin' Sunday, spend time with friends and family, relax, recover and rejuvenate for the week to come, because I have a feeling it's going to be a good one! Bye for now friendly friends! :D

P.S. EAT SOMETHING DELICIOUS!!