Weekend Tasties!

I. LOVE. THE. WEEKEND.
Yeh, I know I totally just surprised everyone- I mean who likes the weekend? Hahah, well I really do like the weekend, because I can have loads of fun in the kitchen being crazy and creative!

Past weekend/ holiday creations include:
My Breakfast Pretzel:

And my colourful pizza parcels:

So, yeh- Weekend= wild imagination!
But before we get to the recipe, I want to share with you my lunch...

Wow, Steph. Clap, clap- you made a sandwich. Well, yes, I did. But it was tasty! More importantly the bread for my sandwich was pumpkin seed and purple wheat panini! WHAT!?! It was sooo good. Inside was sweet potato and cashew spread, grated carrot, curried veggie burger, grape tomatoes, capsicum, spinach and hommus- all toasted in a sandwich press. YUM!

Then for breakfast today I was in a green mood and also an apple mood. It's Sunday, so it had to involve pancakes and I really like ice-cream, so that too.
Put all that together and you get:

Apple pancakes, covered in coconut butter, with a side of green grapes and the creamiest most delicious banana-cado ice-cream (1 frozen banana+ 1/2 frozen avocado)
The pancake recipe wasn't anything special and you can find a few recipes on my recipe page, although I did add some melted peanut butter to the batter :)

Very, Very delicious :)

Just check out how smooth and creamy the ice-cream was:

Seriously all I did was stick 1 chopped frozen banana into a food processor with 1/2 a chopped frozen avocado and whazzed until smooth, then I put it in the freezer for 10-15 mins :)
Ofcourse, if you have pancakes and ice-cream...

 Happy pancake Sunday everyone!

Groovy Smoothies!

I've been on a smoothie-lovin kick lately and I'm not gonna lie to you...
IT'S GREAT!
It all started last week, with this one.. remember?
Since then, I've been scouring blog recipe pages for fresh new ideas and came across this recipe- from Running With Spoons.
Mine wasn't as thick, but it sure tasted great ( I ommitted the coffee granules and used a large frozen banana, and oat milk...
So here's my take on this thick and creamy chocolate smoothie:

Yes, I enjoyed it in a mug... I sure do love my mugs!
... And then I did a typically Steph thing:

Topped it with peanut butter muesli :)
IT WAS DELICIOUS. MAKE. THIS NOW!
Onto my second smoothie-licious delight:

In my blender I created a super smooth creamy-dreamy strawberry smoothie:
It had:
1/2 avocado
1 frozen banana
3 frozen strawberries
3 un-frozen strawberries
1 tablespoon chia seeds
and about 1/4-1/2 cup oat milk

All blended together! Then:

... I put it in a jar and topped it with coconut muesli :)

Yes, my smoothie is placed precariously on the arm of a chair, but that's where all the light was!
see:

I still think it looks really pretty and the first bite was A-MAZ-ING:

But then, it didn't look so pretty:

But it still tasted A-MAZ-ING!
So onto today's breakfast.
Except, I'm not going to call it a smoothie. It was a breakfast soup! YUM!
Pumpkin Breakfast soup:

It was the last of my pumpkin (150g?) steamed for 20 mins, placed in a blender with 1 banana, 1 tablespoon chia seeds, 1/4 cup warmed milk, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon nut meg all blended well together until smooth!

Creamy dreamy breakfast pumpkin soup- what's missing though? CROUTONS!!!
Or in this case, peanut butter muesli, baked in the oven until golden:

And plopped on top!

Why the sudden need for a hot smoothie (breakfast soup!):

That dark and gloomy sky!
YAY BREAKFAST SOUP!!!

This is true comfort food if I ever did see it!
Or eat it!

Have a great Saturday everyone! Maybe even enjoy a delicious smoothie!
:D

Brilliant Bowls

For some reason I seem to like eating all my meals out of bowls. I don't know why :)
Lucky for you, those meals end up tasting pretty good too, so you get some new yummy recipes!
Dinner the other night featured...
Pasta! My kind of pasta!

Veggie packed and full of flavour- this was a yummy dinner!
Ingredients:
100g dried wholemeal pasta- or as much as you want
chopped root veggies- whatever type and as much as you want ( I had pumpkin, beetroot, parsnip, sweet potato and regular potato. About 4 bits of each)
3/4 can tinned tomatoes (or more if you have lots of the first two ingredients)
2 button mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon pine nuts
2 tablespoons lentils
1 teaspoon Italian herbs mix ( or just oregano, basil etc)
BIG handful of spinach

Method:
1. Chop and steam veggies for about 20 mins
2. Cook pasta as to directions on packet ( usually around 8 minutes in boiling water) Drianing it a few minutes before al dente
3. Drain pasta, add tinned tomatoes, herbs, lentils and mushrooms and bring to simmer
4. Let sauce thicken ( If it has thickened, add some water) for about 5 mins
5. Add steamed veggies, pine nuts and spinach to saucepan and stir until spinach is wilted ( 1 min)
6. Pour into bowl- if you have leftovers, wait for it to cool then pop it in the fridge for lunch tomorrow- it's yummy
7. ENJOY!

It's not your typical spaghetti bolognaise, but to me- it's so much better!

Speaking of easy, veggie- filled school lunches...

This was a delicious one I made this week with brown rice, corn, avocado, babay cucumber, tomato, carrot, capsicum and mixed salad leaves.
Of course I had to ditch my beloved bowl for a container- but it was still pretty much the same thing:

Then I made:

A yummy black eyed bean and barley salad, with leftover cooked barley and black eyed beans, spinach and homemade salsa - 1 tomato whazzed up with some capsicum and Mexican seasoning, placed in a pot with some lentils and thickened on stove.
I've said it before- I'll say it again: leftovers make lunch out soooo much easier!
Now, just to finish this delicious post off, I'll leave you with the most delicious meal I had this past week:

I know, I know, it may not look like much, but that mug of oats was DE-LI-CIOUS!
Start with dry ingredients:

1/2 cup oats and oatbran, 1 tablespoon chia seeds, 1 teaspoon LSA mix, 1 banana- thinly sliced, small handful of sultanas, half a granny smith apple and a teaspoon of ground cinnamon.
Then you add some milk- 3/4-1 cup depending on desired thickness- and make a big glob, by stirring vigorously when it starts to thicken:

Pour into mug, add nut butter ( I used brazil, cashew and walnut butter = yum!) and enjoy1
I also had a little fruit salad with my leftover apple some grapes and blueberries:

Yes, those are peanut butter apple sandwiches :)
Because the light was so bad ( hello winter, your right around the corner!) I let my mug of oats have a swing on the hanging hammock chair ( the only place there was light!)

Please make this- you won't be disappointed, if my taste buds could cry, they would have- with joy! (yeh, that sounds weird to me too!)
Enjoy your weekend!

BLUE!!! ... berries

Blueberries, blueberries, I LOVE BLUEBERRIES! I also bought some the other day, which was good :)
I'll start with the breakfast I enjoyed that actually comes with a recipe!
Presenting, the most delicious blueberry recipe so far on this blog...
Glazed Lemon Blueberry Doughnuts!

Now, I have a few good doughnut recipes already on this blog ( see here and here) but I think these ones give em' a run for their money ( actually I like them all, maybe I have to do a doughnut trio?)
P.S. If you don't have a doughnut machine, just make these into delicious pancakes!
Ingredients:
25g wholemeal spelt flour
5g oatbran
10g rolled oats
5g coconut flour (mainly for taste- just increase spelt flour if you don't have it)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
handful of blueberries
1/4 cup milk of choice ( I used oat milk) mixed with 1 teaspoon lemon juice
chia gel- 1 tablespoon chia seeds mixed with 1 tablespoon milk ( I used oat) let sit for 5 mins

Method:
1. Preheat doughnut machine ( Or just use a fry pan- how you would normally make pancakes)
2.Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl
3. Whisk in chia gel, milk and lemon rind
4.Brush on some oil to machine (or fry pan)  Stir in blueberries
5. Spoon into machine and close lid for a couple of minutes ( check after 2mins- ready when golden and firm)
6. Place onto wire rack to cool slightly- glaze with whatever you like ( I glazed with coconut butter- yum coconut butter!)

Unfortunately the weather was awful outside- hello lightbox!

Closer... please!

As you can see, I enjoyed my delicious doughnuts with some grapes and also a strawberry-grape milkshake: ( Made by blending- strawberries, grapes, soy milk and ice in a blender until smooth)

Bite-pic:

Not a doughnut fan ( Haha, I kid- like anyone doesn't like doughnuts? ;)
then have no fear- oats are here!
Blueberry oatmeal:

This is really simple, you just make a batch of oats ( or a batch of my oats) with a big handful of blueberries thrown in and cook until colour starts to run and it becomes this awesome purply blob of yumminess!- Yeh!

Don't forget to top it with something you love ( for me that was blueberries and coconut butter)
Also don't forget the spoon of peanut butter:

Or the hidden peanut butter!
And enjoy the fabulousness that is blueberries!
Have a brilliant day!!!
:D

A day in the life of my tummy!

'Yay, finally something other than breakfasts!' I hear the crowd joyfully shout! Haha, have no fear, another breakfast recipe is lined up for your viewing tomorrow.. or the next day... or whenever I get round to it- but have no fear, it's coming!

Any-who I thought it would be nice if you had a taster of the life of my tummy! :)
We started with a green smoothie jar:

 Made with:
1 frozen banana
1/2 avocado
2 tablespoons rolled oats
1 tablespoon LSA mix
1 tablespoon chia seeds
2 BIG handfuls of spinach :D
some ice
1 tablespoon peanut butter
and a splash of  milk ( I used oat) - not too much, I like it thick!

Whaz up in blender... done!
The second reason I wanted it thick, was so I could top it with this:

Overnight oats (muesli soaked in milk (oat for me) over night, then I stirred in some delicious grapes and blueberries.. see:

Doesn't it look pretty- not for long.. mwahahaha!

Yum Yum!
Then the tummy was rewarded with lunch- even after that amazing brekky!

 A slice of multi-grain sourdough

Topped with hommus, steamed carrots and sweet potato, sauteed capsicum, tomato and mushrooms, spinach, bean balls and vegan cheese:
Pre-grilled:

Ready to be devoured:

After, my delicious brekky and my scrumptious lunch, I still rewarded my tum tum with an exquisite dinner ( yes I used a thesaurus, I ran out of describing words :)

 Cooked quinoa with roasted baby potatoes, pumpkin, parsnip, beetroot and tomatoes with spinach, baby cucumber, toasted seeds and pine nuts, cranberries and grilled corn= yum

So I think my tummy was pretty lucky yesterday and you should spoil yours too with a rainbow assortment of veggies and delicious whole grains and healthy fats- I'm sure your tummy will spoil you back!
Until next time! :)