Sunday 29 November 2015

A breakfast Papaya!

Happy Monday friendly friends!!

You know, I can't think of anything better than starting off my week with a nice, easy run in the cool Sunny, Summers morning, followed by the prospect of not having to go to school and papayas.

Papayas?

Yes, papayas :)

When I was out grocery shopping on Saturday, I was perusing around all the glorious fruits coming onto the fresh sections shelves and couldn't help myself when I saw the large number of beautiful whole papayas at quite the low price!

So ofcourse I jumped on that, took my precious little fruit baby home and come this morning...
Enjoyed a glorious breakfast treat!

After slicing my papaya in half I filled it with banana cheesecaek ice cream and topped it all off with peanut butter granola.

And for your enjoyment too, here is the recipe!!

Ingredients:
Banana cheesecake ice cream: This one is completely up to you, I stuck pretty plain with simply banana and yoghurt, but feel free to add in some berries, cacao powder, protein powder or any other flavouring/ add-ins you would like!

1 large chopped, frozen banana
2 heaped tablespoons greek yoghurt (optional- adds cheesecake flavour)

Peanut butter granola:
3/4 cup rolled oats (I used rolled oats and a rolled barley and oat mix)
1 teaspoon chia seeds
optional- pinch cinnamon- to taste
1 heaped tablespoon peanut butter
1/3 cup almond milk (or any other milk)

Other ingredients:
1/2 papaya

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Line a tray with baking paper
2.Make the banana ice cream by throwing ingredients in a food processor/ blender and blending until smooth (may need to scrape down sides). Spoon into papaya and place in freezer to harden up slightly until required.
3. Place the oats, chia seeds and cinnamon in a bowl and stir to combine. Place the peanut butter and almond milk in a small bowl and microwave for 30 seconds.
4. Rub warm peanut butter mixture into oats
5. Place raw granola onto tray and bake in oven for 15-20 mins until golden brown (and smelling amazing!!)
6. Remove granola from oven and leave to cool for 10 mins or so
 7. Once granola is cooled place on top of banana ice cream and ENJOY!
Leftover granola never goes to waste- eaten out of the almost empty greek yoghurt container! :P

This was such a lovely refreshing breakfast filled with all the beautiful flavours of fruit and Summer and peanut butter granola!!!
 Which is why it was eaten with a yellow spoon :)
It's funny how people either love or hate papaya... I get that it has a kind of funky taste, but I just love the sweet and almost creamy texture- I'm a fan papaya- good job nature!

 It didn't last too long...



Your turn:
What would be included in the best morning for you?
Do you ever stuff your breakfast into another fruit/ veg?
Papaya- yay/nay?

Well, I hope you enjoyed that as much as I enjoyed eating it (which would be quite impressive!!) and I hope you have a wonderful day! Eat something delicious!! Bye!!! :D

Saturday 28 November 2015

Sunday smoothie bowls and links :)

Hello friends!! And a big happy Sunday to you all!

I know I've been a little less present than usual on the blog lately, but things have been B.U.S.Y. (End of the year is crammed with so much stuff, am I right?). So I'll continue to pop in when I can (things should calm down a bit by the second half of this week)! In the mean time, I will leave you with some pics of my food (because that's what we do here!) and some lovely links to get you through a bored/ can't be bothered doing anything section of your day (we all have them!).
Say hello to breakfast!!
 Deliciously vibrant green smoothie (banana, big handful frozen mango, greek yoghurt, spinach, water)


Topped with some mixed nut butter and peanut butter granola (with cheerios!!)

And utterly devoured:


 Nom.
And that was breakfast!

Now I'm curious, what did you have for brekky? Comment below!

Now onto the links from the week!


Food:

Vegan Beast Burger & Cucumber Dill Salad 

Paleo Peppermint Chocolate No-Bake Bites

Thanksgiving Vegan Mini Pot Pie Jars

23 Healthier Versions Of Your Favorite Holiday Treats

Snickerdoodle Vegan Overnight Oats {Gluten Free + 6 Ingredients}

Fiesta Sweet Potato Nachos

Fitness:



Dorm Friendly Workouts Every Student Should do

Exercise is Not Punishment for Eating and You Do Not Have to Earn Your Food.

9 Ways to Make Fitness a Priority

Health:

The Health and Fitness Trends You'll Be Following in 2016

12 Signs Your Unrealistic Diet Is Making You Unhappy

7 Easy Ways To Eat Healthier This Week

Happiness:

21 Genius Ways To Eat Peanut Butter And Jelly

12 Insanely Easy DIY Christmas Treats That’ll Spread Some Holiday Cheer



That's all from me today folks, I hope you all have a fabulous, restful and rejuvenating Sunday, do something you love and eat something delicious!! Bye for now! :D

Tuesday 24 November 2015

WIAW #81 A great day of eats!

Hello, hello to you beautiful people!

One more exam to go guys!! Yay!! And, fittingly for this blog, it is a Food Science and Technology exam- happy days!

Yep, the tough, traumatic ones (maths, chem, literature etc. etc.) are all over now and soon I will be enjoying the freedom that is Summer break!!

Ok, that's probably more than enough exclamation marks for one post! Instead, let us move on to something just as awesome as upcoming holidays- FOOOD. WIAW style :) A link-up detailing a full day of eats with no judgement or comparison, created by the awesome Peas and Crayons.

Here it is:

Breakfast: 7:30am
 
This particular What I Ate Wednesday is actually a What I Ate Tuesday beginning with an early wake up (it is the sun's fault. It decides to rise at 5 am now that it is basically Summer!) and one of my last fitness challenge days!!

That was all I chose to do this morning as I did a beach run the day before and was still kind of worn out from it!!

So after that little sweat session, I pranced into the kitchen and whipped up some brekky:
 That, my friends is a big mug full of choc protein cheesecake oats topped with melty coconut butter! Alongside a pink jar that was filled with water.
 Eaten in a sunshine yellow mug to make me feel sunshine yellow happy (it really is the best colour :)
 Rich, decadent, coconut-y, fudgey chocolate oats for brekky. Happy, happy days! :D

Lunch: 12:00pm

I was nice and hungry for lunch come 12 (on the dot) so I steamed up some veg, heated up some satay tofu and popped in some spinach and lettuce to the bowl for good measure:
 In the mix of steamed veg was potato, sweet potato, swede, pumpkin parsnip, peas, corn and capsicum:
 If you've read my blog for a while you would have picked on my love of fairly plain foods, which is why I happily sit down to a meal like this (plain steamed veg) and fell 100% satisfied afterwards :)
 And no, I did not peel anything- so much goodness going to waste when you do!

Snack: 5:00pm

After lunch I headed up to the shops for a secret Santa present and then meeting up with a friend to see Mocking jay Part 2!! Yes, I am a major Hunger Games fan and no, it did not disappoint. I just don't know what I'm going to do with my life now that it is over!

But that's ok, because at least there will always be fruit:
 A chopped up, blood red, snow white, red gala apple with some rockmelon.
 YUM!
Dinner: 7:00pm

For dinner, I was feeling something easy and simple and delicious!
 So I boiled two eggs, toasted up some multi-grain toast, topped it with hommus, oven roasted some eggplant, capsicum and tomato and threw in a small bowl of raw mixed nuts:
 Just what I wanted!
 Not the most creative but definitely filled with so many great flavours and foods I love!!

 After dinner I rounded out the day with a small handful of pitted dates :)

And that was Tuesday!

So tell me:
Do you have structured exercise plns for the week, or do you go with how you're feeling when you wake up? I used to be the latter (back in the unhealthy days) but now I'm definitely the former!
Are you a fan of plain foods some times? I love plain brown rice but then I know so many people who would gag at the thought of eating brown rice plain. Give me a bowl any day!
Favourite easy throw-together meal?

That's it from me today folks, I hope you all have a lovely day, spend time with friends and family, and as always; eat something delicious!! Bye for now! :D

Monday 23 November 2015

Be healthy- for you!!

Hello, hello there friends! Today's topic is one I'm quite passionate about in that it is about our health, the way we live, the way we perceive certain things.

The vague word of things meaning food and exercise.

 There's a big separation between people I've found.

On the one hand you have those straight-to-the-point, blunt, no question about it people who's response to the ultimate question of how to stay at a healthy happy weight is;

'It's simple calories in < calories out.'

And I mean, sure that makes sense in theory. But you would often find with these types of people that their lives become extremely structured (this is only a very broad overview and in no way assumes every single person who has a similar belief behaves like this!!) in that meal plans weigh out every morsel of food, certain foods are foregone because their calorie count is too high and an extremely structured and planned exercise regime has to be carried out on the daily to ensure the optimal weight is maintained.

So, yes, this is a way in which becoming a healthy weight can be achieved. But if I'm honest with myself, that's not a way in which I want to be living my life on this Earth. I don't want to wake up each morning with the structured plan of my entire eating schedule formulated in my brain and quite possibly written out on a meal plan somewhere.

I don't want to have to force myself to go to the gym for specifically 45 minutes of intense cardio if I'm feeling a nice relaxing yoga session.

I don't want to make living a happy, healthy life, an unhappy, mentally, emotionally and probably eventually physically unhappy life.

And then there's those on the other end of the spectrum, who like most other people desire the happiest, healthiest, most energetic body they can, however look at food and exercise in a negative light. As something dread-worthy- on account of perhaps the stigma the above life creates about what a 'healthy' life entails.

This in turn could lead to a healthy body weight once again (depending on the strength of your will!) however ultimately an attitude like this will result in a negative atmosphere surrounding your very being. So the most common answer for those acquiring this attitude to health and well being would be to neither eat to honour their bodies, or exercise. And this too saddens me at all the positives a healthy relationship with food and exercise can elicit.

More examples of different views towards health include all those ever-changing new fandangled fad diets, claiming eating 25+ bananas a day is the way to be healthy, not eating a certain food will make you the happiest and healthiest you've ever been, eating at certain times of the day will cement the perfect body you've always dreamed of, this type of exercise will age you, this type of exercise will blast away ALL the fat! So on and so on.

So you're question to me right now is probably; 'Well Steph, what's your big secret to health and happiness in one's body?'

And it's probably fair of me to come up with something seeing as I've just listed multiple ideas and attitudes that I deem unhealthy in relation to wellbeing. So here it is:

Eat for you.

Exercise for you.

Live for you.

Because in the end everybody is different! If someone told me that a low-fat diet is the only solution to maintain a healthy weight, I would reach into my cupboard/ fridge and spoon a big blob of peanut butter (or other nut butter!) into my mouth right then and there.

Don't look for some magical answer that will resolve all of your health issues. Instead find out what works for you. From quite a long time of experimenting myself I've come to some conclusions about the way in which my body looks and functions its best...

First of all, I know that my body needs fuel. And a lot of it!
 Post

I don't hold back portion sizes as a result of a calorie plan for my day. If my stomach is at the stage where it wants to eat itself, I l feed the beast.

 I have also found I feel best on plenty of veg, a bit less fruit and then wholegrains. My ratio would probably be a higher ratio of my calories from fruit, veg and healthy fats and then protein and carbohydrates from wholegrains. But that's me! Your body could be a protein loving machine. Or a carb consuming engine. It depends on you.
Avo, eggs and cashews- give me all the good fats!!

As for exercise- that's probably the most volatile aspect of my life! I have phases where I run up to 6 times a week, then times when it's only 1 or 2 and I supplement in weight training, online workouts or yoga. It depends on what feels right for my body an I listen to that to ensure I don't feel a sense of dread when I go to exercise- because exercise should be something you look forward to and love doing!

Now, this post is getting a little lengthier than expected (see? Passionate!) so I'll wrap it up here :)
When it comes to health and doing what's best for your body- you do you! Don't get sucked into the next big craze or see that a super model only eats carrots for her lunch so now you will only eat carrots for your lunch. Eat the foods that make your stomach smile and move your body in the way that energises and invigorates your body for the whole day.


Healthy isn't a set pre-packaged plan. Healthy is a random experiment that we all need to test out for our entire lives to get the most valid and fair result. :P (Science jokes from the girl in exams :)

So tell me:
Have you ever struggled to work out what works best for your body?
Ever got sucked into a diet plan/ way of living that simply wasn't right for you?
If you have worked out what works best for you, tell me below!

That's it for today friendly friends. I hope you have an amazing rest of your week- do something fun that you enjoy and as always; EAT SOMETHING DELICIOUS!! Bye for now! :D

Saturday 21 November 2015

Fruit- glorious fruit!

Happy Sunday friendly friends!!

The sun is out, the birds are singing and it. is. HOT!

Hellooooo Summer!

And you know what else comes with Summer??

ALL. THE. FRUIT!

I'm not going to lie here. This is a place of truth, trust and honesty. I have been eating a lot of fruit. And I love it!

Behold: FRUIT!
So, yes, fruit has been on the regular lately, which is why when I woke up not feeling too flash I knew some nice easy fruit was the way to go (any dairy at all was not on the brain.) And I also had perfectly ripe mangoes sitting patiently in the fruit bowl:
This was the mango prior to slicing up...
This was the mango post slicing up and also eating the remains :P
I also made pancakes... because, well- pancake Sunday!

These guys were just my typical banana bread spelt pancakes :) Topped with mixed nut and seed butter and crunchy peanut butter.

Breakfast was awesome:

Now for some of the links I've been loving from the past week!

Food:


Healthy Low Carb Cake Batter Spread (Paleo, Vegan, Gluten Free)

Baked Falafel Tater Tots

 17 Weird Pizza Crusts That Are Actually Brilliant

Caramel Apple Overnight Oats

Fitness:


What Gift Should Every Runner Get For Christmas?

Try These 17 Crazy Workout Challenges

Do you have to be sore after a workout to see results?

Health:

Why Am I So Hungry After Breakfast?


Happiness:



What about you?
What's your favourite thing about Summer? (even though I know many of my Northern Hemisphere friends will be heading into Winter now!)
Fav Summer fruit?
Nicest breakfast on a wobbly tummy?

That be it from me today folks! I hope you all have a lovely rest of your weekend, rest, rejuvenate and be energised for the week to come and as always- EAT SOMETHING DELICIOUS!!! Bye for now! :D



Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...