Turmeric Breakfast Recovery Truffles!!

Hi there friendly friends and happy Thursday- the day before the day when everyone gets excited for the weekend! You excited yet??

Anywho, today I have a recipe for you!! Yay!

I love exercise- it makes me feel good, sets me up for the day with a positive mindset and a really good feeling of exhaustion that's buzzing with endorphins and a fighting attitude to crush the day! However, as I am one of those people who can't crush said workouts with food in the belly (when I had to do track and races at school following lunch/ breakfast etc. I definitely did not feel/ perform my best my friends- and let's not even talk about how heavy I felt trying to run after school when I first started running back in year 9.

So after I crush it with the sweaty sweat sesh's I know I gotta refuel and the other day after a particularly brutal workout I knew I needed more than just fuel- I needed the optimum recovery fuel- plenty of protein, carbs, healthy fat and a whole bunch of other essential micro nutrients to nourish the body!

Enter this creation:

These, my friends, are vanilla protein turmeric oat truffles with a side of mango/zucchini (can't taste it I swear!) froyo:

The addition of the vegan protein powder and dashes of turmeric and cinnamon add so much to these balls, not only in awesome warmth and spice but also inflammation-reducing properties and muscle-rebuilding goodness!

Soft, fudgey, extremely decadent- and so healthy that you can eat these for breakfast and eat ALL OF THEM! That's my kind of breakfast:

The rich, smooth, delicious mouth-coating deliciousness of the truffles is perfectly cut-thorugh by the sharp, refreshing, sweetness of the tropical mango froyo and make the ultimate pairing for this complete meal:

Truly so perfect!

Alrighty, enough blabbering- onto the recipe!!

Vanilla protein turmeric oat truffles

Ingredients:
1 cup rolled oats
 2 pitted dates
1 scoop vegan vanilla protein powder
 a few big dashes of turmeric
 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
 1 heaped tablespoon peanut butter (any nut butter with do)
 1 teaspoon maca powder (optional- adds a nice caramel-y flavour along with the dates)
 1/3-1/2 cup almond milk

Method:
1. Place all of the ingredients into a high speed blender and blend on high until smooth and combined

2. Scoop out and roll into balls, place on plate lined with baking paper and pop in the freezer for 30mins to set (obviously I was hangry so mine was more like 15 mins :P) Remove when ready and enjooyyyy!

For the froyo? Simply whaz 1 handful frozen mango + 1 handful frozen zucchini with 3 big scoops greek yoghurt until smooth and creamy, pop into a cup/ bowl and into the freezer until the truffles are set enough:

And to eat? I recommend the dipping action:

The ice-cream sundae method works well too:

Ultimately it's going to taste good any way you choose to eat it so make it, eat it and thank me later!!

Your turn:
Ever used turmeric in a sweet recipe?
Favourite way to add turmeric to dishes?
Best post-workout meal for recovery?

I hope you enjoyed this post and definitely give these a go- also have yourself a truly wonderful day, so the things you love and as always; EAT SOMETHING DELICIOUS! Bye for now beuaitful people!! :D

Life Lately and Make-Ahead Meals!

Hidy-ho friendly friends and Happy SUNDAY!!

Sundays for most might mean a bit more of a sleep-in followed by an easy-going restful day... for others it might mean running 17km before 8am, like I did, today :P

 This is my, I'm finally home face!! ^^

 And this is my; did I actually just do that?? What kind of crazy person am I, face ^^

And these are my legs... they don't really show too much emotion.

Anywho, it was a lovely run, running against the wind was a bit of a battle at times, but luckily the last few km's back were with the wind (honestly, when I was running against it I almost couldn't move!!)

Refueling after my fasted cardio with:

 Utter deliciousness.

 This was the creamiest of creamy green cherry and banana smoothie with a side of warm, crunchy, straight-from-the-oven PB granola :D

 The smoothie was simply chucking a handful frozen cherries, 1 large frozen banana, 3 big scoops greek yoghurt, 1 handful frozen zucchini, 4 chunks frozen spinach and splash of water into the Vitamix and whazzing until smoothie-smoooooth! Into the freezer until required.

And the granola? around 1/2 heaped cup rolled oats, 1 handful wholemeal reduced-sugar cheerios, 1 teaspoon maca powder, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 heaped tablespoon smooth PB with 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk, heated up in the microwave until warmed through and then mixed into dry mix until combined and sticky- onto baking tray and into the oven at 200 degrees celsius for 15-20mins or until golden brown, crunchy and fragrant- nom!

So that was this morning, but what else has been crack-a-lacking in the life of Steph-2-Chef??

Working.

Lots and lots of working.

Because it is holidays and uni break I have been rostered on almost every single day and whilst I'm definitely not complaining (getting paid definitely makes it worth it) I have had to get a little more creative and organised with planning my meals and creating dishes that can be eaten hot/ cold and made-ahead to sit in the fridge.

Majority of said meals have been dinners but I did have an early shift on one of the days and also wanted to get in a good arm workout that morning...

 Which I totally smashed by the way!

 The baby biceps are growwwwiiinnnggg!!

 Yes.

So, I whipped up a batch of rich, dark choc granola to make a killer yoghurt bowl that could be thrown together in two minutes after I finished assassinating my arms:

 Enjoyed with a frozen banana, greek yoghurt and almond milk- this was so so good!

 To make the make-ahead granola I simply placed 1/2 cup muesli + 2 heaped tablespoons rolled oats + 1 heaped tablespoon raw cacao powder + 1 teaspoon cinnamon  into a bowl and then stir to combine then + 1 tablespoon almond butter warmed up with 1/2 cup almond milk, stirred into the dry mix and baked in the oven at 180 degrees celsius for 20-25 mins or until crunchy and golden!

 Then I just left it to cool and popped it into an airtight container in the fridge until the next morning when I just popped it into a bowl with all the other goodies!!

 Let it soak in the almond milk a little and hey-presto! The besto!!

 And the frozen banana is a must. Because then it tastes like ice cream. Rich chococlate granola ice cream.

 Happiness.

 But mainly, dinners:

 Simple-pimple make-ahead meals that literally have less than 5 ingredients!

 This bad boy was roasted broccoli, purple cauli, brussels and cheese-y baked tofu (hard tofu mixed with garlic, nutritional yeast and water- baked in oven for 15-20mins until puffed and golden)

 And this one was simply steamed greens and curried pumpkin and corn falafel- nom!

 And last but not least... but definitely ugliest! This whole baked sweet potato (so good eaten cold!!) with a side of mixed veggie chili:

Which was basically just sauteed and then bubbled away zucchini, eggplant, tinned tomatoes, mushrooms, blackbeans, mixed four beans, mixed dried herbs and turmeric

Eating healthy doesn't have to be complex and by the looks of these meals- super easy when super busy!! I definitely have a heck of a lot more make-ahead meal recipes so just let me know if you want more ideas folks!

Your turn:
Are you a rester on Sunday or is it just the same daily crushing it??
What's your favourite breakfast of recently?
Best make-ahead meal that saves the hanrgy monster??

I hope, once again, you have a lovely Sunday, do all the things you love, spend time with those you love and as always; EAT SOMETHING DELICIOUS!! Bye for now friendly friends! :D

What I Eat In A Typical Day

Hi there friendly friends and happy Monday to you all!!

I hope this week (as much of it we have experienced so far) has treated you well and that you are treating yourself well as well!!

Today I decided to do a What I Eat In A Day, featuring a very typical day for me, as yesterday every meal seemed to be epic in the most delicious of senses. Not overly complicated/ complex with wacky ingredients- just so so tasty!

Alrighty, let's jump straight to it! A typical day of living/ eating:

6:15am-7:30am

This is when I workout generally and this day was no different.  Arm day was on the cards and I smashed out a brutal arm and chest workout with weights that felt so good!

Baby biceps a-growing ^

And I'm pretty proud of how my shoulders are coming along too! Don't mind the big tub of sunscreen on the counter by the way. Sun smart, right?

Also got a cheeky shot of the abs in there! :P

8:00am

Now, breakfast.

You guys, this was the best mug of oats I have ever eaten in my entire life and it was pretty much down to the incredible quality of the ingredients used.

See these vanilla protein, plum, cheesecake oats were made with the most intense, beautifully ripe, sweet juicy plums I have ever eaten and they created the most epic warming, out-of-this-world delicious oatmeal ever!

And just for your benefit I will leave you with the recipe that you should definitely whip up if you ever find yourself in the situation where you have some incredibly delicious plums on hand!

Into a saucepan goes 3/4 cup rolled oats, 1 sliced banana, 3 ripe plums, chopped, 1 scoop vegan vanilla protein powder, 1 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup water- stirring occasionally over medium heat until the oats have thickened and the liquid has been absorbed (vigorous stirring at the end to belnd in the banana for even sweetness!)

A spoon or two of greek yoghurt stirred in at the end and then topped and tailed with almond butter- trul;y the perfect nut butter to go with these sweet and tangy oats!

Honestly, I almost cried with that first bite and was literally smiling the entire way through eating this post-workout, high protein, utterly delicious breakfast!

Filled with so much goodness like fibre, protein, good fats, vitamins and minerals- this legitimately tastes like a decadent dessert that will only do go things for your body!

Honestly, so so good- a must try!

Happy, happy days :)

After brekky I showered, did some chores around the house, hung out some washing and then went off to work from 10:00am-3:00pm (still quite full from the oats!)

3:30pm

The oats kept me going throughout the entirety of my shift but when I got home I was rather ravenous, so enter lunch? Afternoon tea?

(I snacked on a carrot whilst making this) rye toast topped with Vegemite and the most delicious, perfectly ripe avocado with some cherry tomatoes and a granny smith apple- yum! Super delicous, simple and took no time at all to throw together!

After 'lunch', I grabbed the washing in, watched some YouTube videos whilst I prepped my dinner, showered again because I'm a stinking mess after work and got ready for evening church at 5pm

6:30pm
After returning back from church I simply jumped into my PJ's and then took out my pre-prepared dinner and utterly devoured this:

This amazing bowl of incredible yumminess involved some cold steamed purple and white sweet potato and butternut pumpkin with some peas and mixed four beans:

Again, so very simple, but so utterly delicious that once again I was smiling the entirety through eating this meal!

Can you tell I love my starchy veg?!? :P

An here's a little snap from my Insta-story:

Nom indeed!

After dinner I had a nice cold glass of soy milk and then called it a night on the food front because everything was so so so delicious and I was so so so stuffed!

Cleaned my teeth, snuggled down i front of the telly and promptly fell asleep by 8:30am, only to wake up today and start another brilliant day of delicious foods and nourishing things for my body!

Aaaand that's what I ate!

Your turn:
What's been the best breakfast you've eeaten recently?
Favourite food to add to your oats?
Best simple throw-together-in-under-5-mins meal? Love a good toasted sandwich too! Or microwave rice bowl :D

I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day, do something you love, be with those you love and as always; EAT SOMETHING DELICIOUS!! Bye for now folks!! :D