Feeling nauseous!

You know when your stomach isn't really hungry or not hungry, but instead swirling around in a state of unhappy nausea??

Maybe you don't, but that's where my tums at, at the moment and I'm not loving it!

My guess is it's from the camps/ overnighters/ ball dinners/ out-to-dinners that have all hit at once recently and my body is kind of like; 'Woah! Steph, we don't usually eat like this!! What is all this salt/ dairy/ POTATOES coming from!?!'

And I'm all like; 'Don't worry body, it's fine, we're just living life through the waves of celebration and connecting with others that come and go like the tide.'

And yet my bodies still like; 'Nope, I'm gonna make you feel sick.'

Good times.

And yes, my body and I are fairly close and tell each other everything ;)

What's not fun about this whole constantly-feeling-ill state is none of my usual foods sound appealing anymore and this just makes me more upset and even frustrated as it becomes quite the task to find out what to eat. Things like eggplant and broccoli seem too acidic for me now for some reason? Then I think of bland foods like rice or pasta and get squeamish as I think of their texture!

Even just looking at this image makes me feel sick!?

This is what I can only assume being pregnant feels like (and no, 16 year old, year 12 student, Steph is not pregnant :P) and it is not fun!

I did a bit of research on the top foods to eat when feeling a little nauseous and some of the top contenders included:

Apple, crackers, ginger, nuts, banana, mint, lemon, toast and lots and lots of water.

To be fair, most of those foods don't leave me feeling worse when I think about nom-ing on them, but it also doesn't help that eating in general just doesn't sound appealing at the moment!

Out of interest I also researched the worst foods to consume whilst feeling nauseas and this is what came up:

Greasy, spicy or oily foods, caffeine, alcohol and carbonated drinks.

Safe to say I think I'm pretty clear on those foods, given that I can;'t stomach the idea of greasy/ oily foods, don't drink coffee/ tea/ energy drinks or alcohol or carbonated drinks.

So what is the game plan to get me back to my ravenous eat-everything-in0sight ways? Well, simply to try and eat foods that sound good. No I'm not eating some miracle food, living off tea for a week/ forcing my body to eat normally. It's all about that intuitive eating stuff again, friends. I'm listening to the body because the body is the one with all the answers, not what your mind thinks is right. (Unless of course your body doesn't give you accurate signals/ you're unsure of how to read your bodies signs!)

Wow, a whole post on nausea. Didn't expect it to take up that much room!!

Your turn:
Do you ever have days/ weeks where eating just doesn't sound good?
How do you help your body out of a nauseous state?
Have you ever overdosed on potatoes? I've gotta say, the bloat was not impressed!

That's all from me today folks, I hope you all have a lovely Monday, make the most of it- every day matters and as always; eat something delicious!! Bye for now friendly friends! :D

Back...again and foods that fix me up!

Happy Saturday everyone!!
Phew- another night away, and back again!

This 'camp' was my year 12 study retreat in which we learned about our brains, various study techniques, did some activities, caught up with those we hadn't seen for the entire Summer and spent the night.

I think I've finally figured out why I'm always starving on camps for teens. See they give us heaps and heaps of carbs (I was so over rice and pasta!!) and yet no healthy fats at all. I ate my usual large servings of food and found that merely an hour later I was starving. And also, snack times revolved around brown fried foods (think sausage rolls, samosas etc.) and when I asked them for a piece of fruit they looked at me as though I was crazy.

I guess it is safe to say that I am glad I am home now for good for the time being as I've been missing on my nut butters, smoothies and large amounts of veg.

This is how I celebrated coming home after yesterdays return:

Two soft boiled eggs with multigrain hommus and avocado soldiers, sauteed mushrooms, tomatoes and capsicum and some nutritional yeast kale chips (wash kale, rub in nutritional yeast, bake at 180 degrees celsius for 10-15 mins until crispy.) with a glass of soy milk.

This helped ease the painful food baby/ bloat a little bit but I'm still hanging onto some nausea that's sprung up over the past few days. For some reason I feel like it was the overload of acidity in all of the dishes they served us and now whenever I think of lemon juice, or vinegar or something like that I feel quite queesy!

I also very much enjoyed preparing my own delicious breakfast in which I could add all the healthy fats and filling protein and veggies I desired!

That my friends is a black berry not-so-green green smoothie with a side cup of warm cashew butter granola :)

Into the Vitamix went 1 sliced banana (didn't have any frozen ones :() 1 handful chopped frozen zucchini, 1 massive handful spinach, 1 handful frozen blackberries, 3 scoops of greek yoghurt and 1/2 cup water- whazzed up until smooth!

When I woke up this morning I realised- to my utter disbelief- that I didn't have any nut butter in the house!!! So I grabbed about 2-3 handfuls of cashews, chucked them in a mini food processor and processed for around 15 mins (scraping down edges occasionally) until smooth and creamy. Voila! Single serving cashew butter!

To make the granola I mixed together around 3/4-1 cup rolled oats, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, sprinkle chia seeds, 1 tablespoon oat bran and 2 tablespoons cashew butter and almond milk warmed together in microwave, and rubbed until combined. Popped in the oven on a tray lined with baking paper at 180 degrees celsius and baked for around 15-20 mins until golden brown and fragrant and DONE! Delicious, cookie-like granola chunks for brekky!

Smoothie + cashew butter granola bites= Happy, happy Steph :)

And I most definitely need to keep my strength up today as tonight is....

MY BALL!!

Crazy stuff! I definitely do not feel like a year 12 student and have no idea where this ball came from (out of nowhere perhaps??) but I am super excited and can't wait to see the rest of my year group looking utterly amazing and beautiful! It's going to be great!

Your turn:
Do you find that when you go away there is a lacking of healthy fats on offer?
Favourite fix-me-up dinner you make when you haven't been eating your usual foods?
Any funny ball/ prom stories??


I hope you all have a great rest of your weekend, doing something you love, treating your body kindly and as always; eating something delicious! Bye for now friendly friends!! :D

WIAW #87- I PASSED!!!

Hello there my friends!
Today I thought I'd do something completely sporadic, out-of-the-blue, crazy spontaneous and give you a...
WIAW!
Ok, I do WIAW's every week. But they're fun, no?

Anywho, this one is a slightly special one because it showcases my day of eats on the day I passed my driving test!! Woot woot!

No, that does not mean I can legally drive now without a licensed driver in the passenger seat (Western Australia has some funky rules) but it does mean I never have to worry about passing another practical driving test until at least the age of 80!!

In celebration of passing my test, mum took me out to brekky at the Health Freak Cafe (you may remember from this post) as my test was at 7:05am so brekky sounded good!
Breakfast: 7:45am

Enter their Berry Nut Surprise muesli bowl with coconut yoghurt, fresh fruit and berry compote, as well as a mason jar green juice known as the Mean and Green with apple, cucumber, celery, kale, lemon and ginger.

A little jug of cold almond milk to drizzle over and BOOM- a might delicious breakfast!!

I don't know if I'm happier about passing my test, or breakfast...

Just kidding, we all know how much I love food ;P

As lunch time rolled round I got a little lot peckish as usual and went with my current favourite 'making lunch snack':

 After that I dug into lunch:
Lunch: 12:45pm

 A big ol' snack plate of blanched peas, air popped pop corn and oven roasted pumpkin and potato- a typical random assortment of my favourite foods! :D

 At around 3:30 I grew peckish once more and saunted into the kitchen for an arvo snack:

Snack: 3:45pm

A delicious bowl of hiding cantaloupe/ rockmelon, green grapes and plain greek yoghurt.

For dinner I just wanted something simple and delicious...

Dinner: 6:45pm

 A brown rice bowl with garlic tofu, chopped cherry tomatoes, butter beans, sauteed mushrooms and avocado (one of the best avocados I've ever had- creamalicious!!

To round out the night I had a square of 85% dark choc and called it a day. A pretty fabulous day at that!

Aaaand that's what I ate Wednesday!

What about you?
Nightmarish driving test stories? i want to hear them all!!
What would be your ultimate celebration brekky?
Perfect muesli bowl ingredients? I feel like it just doesn't feel right without a smoothie in there to add some awesome creaminess and flavour! That's just habit I guess!

I hope you all have a fantabulous day, do something you love, be yourself and as always; EAT SOMETHING DELICIOUS!! Bye for now friendly friends! :D

Aussie Day Barbeque! Carrot Sausages :)

Hi there friends!

In case you hadn't realised, or in fact, live in another country, yesterday- the 26th of January- marked the founding of the colony of New South Wales in 1788... in other words; AUSTRALIA DAY!

 And if there is one guaranteed tradition on Australia day... it is the great Aussie barbie! (Barbecue, for all you out of the Aussie slang loop ;)

Ok, I'll stop bombarding you with random pics of strangers celebrating Aus day and instead get onto the topic of this post.

BARBECUES!

See, as a vegetarian, I have found some really great veggie sausages over my years, whether they be made with soy, beans, mushrooms, rice, lentils- whatever the case may be I've had some good ones. However, there comes a time when a girl simply craves something as close to nature as possible. And no, I'm not talking about meat. Because when one does not eat meat, one substitutes in something else...

Yep, you guessed it- veggies!

But what would be the right shape and texture and general appealing-ness of a regular sausage??

Yes, my friends, I made carrot sausages... and they were delicious!

I first came across this genius idea from Clean Eating Veggie Girl's blog where she made carrot hotdogs by steaming some carrots, rubbing them in a marinade and then pan frying them.

So I decided to act upon that idea and transform it into my own carrot 'hot dog'.

Carrot Sausages

Ingredients:
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut on both ends to form the most sausage like shape
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon garlic
1 teaspoon onion flakes
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius and line a tray with baking paper
2.Heat some water in a deep fry pan until simmering
3. Place the carrots into the simmering water and boil for around 15 minutes until slightly tender
4. Meanwhile stir together the oil, garlic, onion flakes, paprika, vinegar until combined
5. Remove cots from water, pat dry with a tea towel and place on tray
6. Rub with oil mixture and place in the oven for 40 minutes or until golden and tender:

7. Leave to cool slightly and then transfer to plate/ bun and enjoy!!

This is what my Australia Day barbecue dinner turned out to look like:

Carrot sausages on a spelt bun with lettuce and salsa with some spinach, grilled eggplant and charred corn on the side- so tasty!

I also cannot describe the amazing aromas from these 'sausages' as they cooked and if I closed my eyes and bit into this hot dog I would have a hard time accepting them to be merely cooked carrots!

Next time you want a barbecue but not the heaviness of meat? Try one of these bad boys! Still full on flavour with all the goodness of a regular ol' carrot!!

Your turn:
Are you a fan of barbecues?
Favourite veg to barbecue with?
Ever tried carrot sausages?

That's it from me today folks, I hope you all have a brilliant day, take risks, show love and SMILE! Bye for now!! :D

Back!.. and reflections on food!

Hidy ho friendly faces!!!I'm baaaackk!

So, as assumed- sailing camp was awesome- I sailed, spent time in the sun, met a bunch of new people, created some life-long friends and in general simply had fun!

And food? (I suppose because this is a food blog, we should chat about this subject... and it's also a subject I utterly love to chat about!) The food was goooood! Whenever I go on Summer camps/ holidays/ travel places, I let go of any normalcy/ routines I've gotten myself crammed into and simply go with the flow. Of course I eat vegetarian but it's things like enjoying a big ol' sandwich with white bread and cheese, or lasagna with cream sauce, cheese, pasta or packaged ravioli and cream sauce/ packaged veggie patties and soy sausages etc.

Now, my body does indeedy function best on loads of veg, minimal dairy, not much white stuff (bread, pasta, rice etc.) but my body functions a heck of a lot better without stress and anxiety from worrying about what I'm eating!

I think it's great to force yourself out of your normal routine and just enjoy the company of others and the tastes of different foods you wouldn't normally eat because if you look at the big picture, it's just a short amount of time in your life that doesn't need to be spent stressing over eating different foods.

Not going to lie though, when I got home this was the first meal I had. And it was perfect:

A big bowl of veg!

Steamed pumpkin, potato, broccoli, brussels, mixed four beans and peas!

And then this was breakfast:

Finishing my week away with the brekky I ate (drank) on the morning I left! My super creamy dreamy green smoothie! (There was also some frozen zucchini thrown in there)

Sooo delicious!!

There was no possible way I could've gained weight on this camp (not that I was concerned about that though!) as we were always outside sailing, carrying boats, running around playing games and in all honesty I was craving all the foods we had- white baguette sandwiches, creamy lasagnas, big bowls of milky oats and I came home exactly the same! In fact I was probably more toned than when I left!

In conclusion- best week of my life, delicious foods, stress free times, happy days!

Good to be back!

What about you?
Do you/ did you love going on Summer camps?
Do you let go of your food rules when you travel, or try and pack/ plan all your meals?
Have you ever sailed before? It's quite fun!

I hope you all have a fantastic day and rest of your week, do something you love, be with those you love and make time for the important things in life! Bye for now friends!! :D

Bon Voyage... away on camp :)

Hi there friendly friends and happy Saturday to you all!!
As I mentioned a few spots ago I'm going camping all of this week so won't be very present on the blog world front, however I'll be back before you know it with ALL. THE. FOOD. For you guys when I get back!
In the meantime, here is a picture of my breakfast because I know you are all interested in what I have for breakfast ;).

 Blueberry cheesecake oats topped with crunchy PB (also spread on bottom of bowl for awesome surprise!)

 I mean, I'm sure there are mixed opinions on camp food, but generally I'm fairly pleased (vegetarian is done well... mainly coz there's just tons of veggies) so hopefully this week is no different!

 But this is my last 'Steph style' meal for a week, so I enjoyed it :)

Frozen blueberries, rolled oats, chia seeds, sliced banana, almond milk, water,0 greek yoghurt added in after cookin.

I hope you have an awesome week too! See you next week!! :D

WIAW #87 A busy, busy day!

Hello there friends! I hope veryone has been having a smashing week and I also hope you're ready to dive face first into a post FILLED with pics of food.

In particular- What I Ate Wednesday (and this time it is actually a day of eats from Wednesday!)

So, as always thanks to peas and Crayons for bringing this link-up to fruition and the other bloggers who give up their blog to host the link-up each and every week!

Now, enough talk, onto the FOOOD!

Breakfast: 7:45am
Wednesday started off with a lovely 30+ minute run (I don't generally time my runs) followed by a hangry Steph ready for brekky!!

 Enter super creamy dreamy green smoothie made with frozen banana, frozen mango, kale, greek yoghurt, frozen zucchini and water in the Vitamix :)

 With some lemon coconut truffles! NOM!

 Perfect post-run fuel to power me through the morning- and I needed it!

 Lunch: 12:20pm
After my run and  delicious breakfast I needed to head up to the shops to buy a costume for my school's swimming carnival (I'm in yellow house and am therefore going as a minion. So pumped!) and some items I needed to pick up for a sailing camp I'm going on in a few days (that's my little warning for my absence from Sunday through to Sunday!) Anywho, this girl went in on a mission and left with several bags and the feeling of accomplishment. Followed by the feeling of the hungry monster...

 Insert lunch= very, very happy Steph indeedy!

 This big guy was a warmed wholemeal wrap spread with hommus and topped with a Mexican flavoured bean mix (mixed four beans, lentils, eggplant, capsicum, mushrooms, tomato, onions and taco seasoning, sauteed with water until veggies cooked through, spinach and corn added at end) topped with perfectly ripe avocado and wrapped up into a heart warming delight!

 Filling, nutritious and oh so tasty!

 Perfect fuel to power me through the next part of my day- which I also needed!

Afternoon snack: 4:30pm
I had work at the Bakery from 1-7:30 and got to enjoy a little fruit break at around 4:30-ish:

Tupperware container of chopped fuji apple and red grapes :)

Dinner: 8:00pm
Closing is quite a workout (throwing stuff out, cleaning wires, heaving wires onto racks, sweeping, dust-panning, mopping floors, inputting wastage, sanitising all the benches... phew! I sure am wiped out after a close! Even though I don't feel particular hungry after closing- too tired!!- I know I need something to eat to replenish my depleted stores:

Enter quick, easy and delicious dinner! I roasted up some veg whilst making lunch and enjoyed the yumminess of cold roasted pumpkin, potato, sweet potato, parsnip and beetroot with some raw almond and walnuts on the side and a mug of ice cold soy milk. :) Happy days. And I could completely zone out and not have to think about anything whilst making and eating this dinner :)

Aaaand that's what I ate/ did on Wednesday! (Seeing as I basically crashed after that!)

What about you?
What are your go-to foods/ meals to power you through a busy/ energy consuming day?
Favourite cold-roasted vegetable?
If you were to dress up as something yellow, what would you be?

I hope you all have a lovely rest of your day, smile lots, be kind and as always; eat something delicious- I know I sure will!! Bye for now friendly friends! :D