YUM!

                    

  
While trying to think up an imaginative and creative title for this post, one word just wouldn't budge from my brain. YUM!
On my ever growing list of things to create, healthy pretzels have always been there. I woke up a bit earlier than usual yesterday and decided to take advantage of this.
May I present to you... A stroke of genius...pretzel style:

P.S. It is completely vegan, all natural sugar and wheat free :)
Steph's Breakfast Pretzel for One:

Ingredients:
120 g flour (gluten free/ all purpose etc. I used approximately 62g of wholemeal spelt and 58g brown rice flour)
10 g oat bran (or just crush up your own oats in the food processor)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup milk of choice (I used oat milk) plus extra to brush on
1 tablespoon oil
Optional (for added nutrients) 1 tablespoon of chia seeds and 1 tablespoon of LSA mix
Banana glaze:
1/2 banana
2 tablespoons milk (again I used oat milk)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius
2. Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl
3. Stir in the wet ingredients, until you have to use your hands- shape into a ball:

What my pretzel looked like at this point.
4. Roll out a long snake on top of some baking paper, long enough to form a medium sized pretzel.
5. Make the shape of a pretzel, then brush on some milk to act as glue in the places the pretzel meets and brush a coat all over pretzel to stop it from drying out:

6. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until slightly golden
7. Make the glaze by combining banana and milk in a small blender/ food processor and blending. Spread immediately onto warm pretzel:

8.(Optional) Drizzle with almond butter (or any nut butter/ spread you want)
9. Your welcome.

My pretzel was glazed in the banana glaze, then drizzled heavily with almond butter, with the leftover banana glaze for dipping and a fruit salad on the side. Boy was I full for hours after that!
The pretzel itself isn't exactly like the typical pretzel you can buy, but this one just reminded me of eating a big chewy cookie... YUM!

Childhood Memories

        

         As a kid (no... I'm a teenager now!) my favourite lunch ever was a baked bean and cheese toastie. :) Yesterday, that's what I wanted....
'But you don't eat cheese or wheat?!?' my confused logically self told me. Luckily for me I also have a creative, 'No obstacles are gonna block my way!' part of me aswell. I was going to have a baked bean and cheese toastie no matter what!


...And here it is:

I present to you my Home made, pumpkin, hommus baked bean toastie (what a name!)

Ingredients: (serves 1)
100 g pumpkin, chopped
5-6 cherry tomatoes, chopped
90g butter beans
1-2 Tablespoons hommus (I chose two :)- the hommus gives the beans that cheesy kind of flavour.
Optional- two slices of bread if you want to make a toastie (I used home made, wheat free bread)

Method:
1. Steam/ boil the pumkin for about 20 minutes, then make into mash!
2. Add the tomatoes and 3 tablespoons of water to a small saucepan, cook on medium until you can squish the tomatoes.
3. Add the mashed pumpkin to the tomatoes and stir for about 2 minutes
4. Add the beans and hommus and stir for another 2 minutes (add more water if required)
       These are what my baked beans looked like:

5.  (Optional step if you want to make a toastie)  Spread your beans onto a slice of bread, top with the other slice and place in a sandwich grill until lightly golden (do not press down too much as the inside will squish out!)

I paired my delicious sandwich with a side of mashed root veggies. Really, the sandwich is so filling, you don't need a side!

Enjoy your healthier version of baked beans on toast!

It's time to Stephify!

Yesterday for lunch I had scrambled eggs on toast. Haha, yeah right... what I really did was take that idea and make it awesome:
I present to you scrambled eggs with toast... Stephified:

The thing on the left was an original recipe of mine for oven baked quinoa polenta flat bread: (smothered in hommus :)

Ingredients for flatbread
1/4 cup quinoa (3/4 cup to cook it in)
30g 1 minute polenta (120 mls of water to cook it in)
2 tbs brown rice flour
your choice of favourite herbs/ spices (creative time!)
Method:
1.Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Rinse the quinoa in a fine sieve for 2 minutes, place in a sauce pan over medium heat and dry toast for another 2 mins.
2. Add the 3/4 cup of water, bring to bowl, simmer for 15 mins (or until all the water has been absorbed) stirring occasionally and then leave to cool.
3. Bring the 120mls of water to the boil in a small saucepan
4. Add the polenta and stir constantly with a whisk until the polenta is thick
5. In a bowl mix the polenta, quinoa and brown rice flour and any seasoning together until combined
6. flatten on a sheet of baking paper, place on a tray in the oven and bake for 10-15 mins until edges are crispy. Cool on wire rack, then eat!

The scramble was super easy and can be changed in any way you want. I simply sauteed some shredded veggies in a fry pan with some garlic and oil for a few minutes and scrambled an egg in a smaller saucepan and then mixed them. Too easy and too pretty. I like it when my foods make rainbows! :)

So there you have it; A more healthier, prettier and veggier filled scrambled eggs on toast!

Recipes

RECIPES!

* Means vegan (so far, everything is vegan :)

Breakfasts:

Breakfast parfaits- berry and mango*
Vegan pretzels- FAVOURITE*
Breakfast Trio Cupcakes*
Banana mango ice cream smoothie*
The Breakfast Pizza*
Apple pie oatmeal*
Chocolate oatmeal bowl* 
Oats in a jar* 
Blueberry Microwave Muffin *
Bright pink barley 'oatmeal'* 
Mini pumpkin doughnuts! * 
Apple oatmeal balls* 
Breakfast Trio Pancakes 
Dough Boy Smoothie* 
Chewy breakfast cookies*
Choc/ Raspberry Waffles* 

Breakfast ice-cream* 
Creamy Green Smoothie* 
Chocolate banana bread doughnuts* 
Baked pancake- carrot cake/apple crumble* 
Breakfast Sundae*
Not just a bowl of cereal* 
Brekky mugs* 
Glazed pumpkin cinnamon scrolls* 
Fudgy weet-bix truffles* 
Oatmeal pizza* 
Chocolate pancakes with berry ice-cream* 
Lemon blueberry doughnuts* 
Breakfast Pumpkin Soup*
Creamy green ice-cream* 
Overnight oats ice cream* 
Tuity Fruity Breakfast Smoothie* 
Muesli Pancakes*
Thick chocolate green monster smoothie*
Banana bread microwave muffin*
Vanilla pancakes*
Grapefruit smoothie* 
Jam filled pumpkin bars*
muesli cookies with chocolate milkshake* 
Chocolate banana waffles*
Apple ringed muesli pancakes*
Best.Oatmeal.Ever!* 
PB+J oatmeal* 
Baked chocolate oatmeal with coconut glaze* 
banana yogurt ice creams
Chocolate chip banana pancakes* 
Baked rhubarb oatmeal* 
Rhubarb crumble*
Chocolate cheesecake ice cream*
Cinnamon cake in a mug*
Vanilla cheesecake smoothie 
Berry dough boy smoothie*
Orange and poppy seed oat bran* 
 Main Meals:

Pumpkin base stuffed crust pizza*

Quinoa polenta flatbread*
Pumpkin baked beans*
Pumpkin Quinoa Sushi Rolls*
NACHOS!- dairy, wheat, sugar free*
The ultimate veggie burger! *
Stuffed capsicum and tomatoes* 
Meatless ball toasted sandwich* 
Colurful Pizza Parcels* 
Lunch Ideas* 
Veggie-filled pasta*
Sandwich ideas* 
Veggie pizza bun sandwich* 
Veggie-filled pasta!!*
Beetroot stuffed crust pizza*
Grilled veggie sandwich* 
Middle Eastern cous cous bowl* 
black bean burger* 
Caramelized onion, time, semi-dried tomato bean balls* 
Quinoa,roast veggie and curried cauliflower salad* 
Mexican stuffed spaghetti squash*
Dips, Sauces, Spreads:
Vegan cheese*
Ridiculously easy pasta sauce* 
No added sugar jam!- super simple*

Breakfast for Kings!

Today's breakfast was an all time favourite that I could eat any day of the week, that is just... delicious:

A banana and nut butter toasted sandwich with a glass of soy milk (creating a balanced meal- carbohydrates, fruit, protein, and calcium.. and deliciousness!) The nut butter melts slightly and the banana goes all gooey.. it is just divine! Who says you can't have dessert for breakfast. Not me!
Which brings me to the breakfasts I actually planned on sharing with you today:

The breakfast I made for my sister... (above)
The breakfast I made for me... (below)

I guess it was a kind of parfait day yesterday!
Both brekkies were vegan, sweetened only with fruit.
We both had little oat ball things- made by making a batch of porridge (I used a fruity muesli) shaping into balls and cooking in the oven for about half an hour.
The berry parfaits layers included:
Oat balls (they really need a better name)
banana
blueberries
mixed raw nuts
with a berry yogurt type thing made with blended frozen berries and soy milk
My brekky included:
Oat balls
blueberries and grapes
mixed raw nuts
banana and mango 'ice cream'  (made by blending a frozen banana and mango in a food processor until it gets to ice cream consistency) ...Your taste buds would be surprised this doesn't contain dairy!

So there you have it lucky duckies- three delicious brekkies for you to try or adapt to create your own perfect filling breakfast!

Pumkin base stuffed crust pizza!

Yeah. That's right.
Yesterday my family and I went out to lunch, where I had the biggest salad known to man:

Delicious! However after that ginormous salad, I thought dinner could feature my all time favourite fast food. PIZZA! Steph style...
PUMPKIN BASE STUFFED CRUST PIZZA: (dairy, wheat, egg, meat free)
Ingredients:
100g pumpkin- cut into cubes
150g flour (really any kind will do. I used wheat free bread mix and brown rice flour)
Pinch of oregano and basil
1/2 teaspoon dried instant yeast
1/4 cup luke warm water
2 teaspoon olive oil
Toppings of choice and crust stuffing of choice (I used mixed four beans and tofu)
Vegan cheese:
1 tablespoon hommus
1teaspoon tahini
2 teaspoons nutritional yeast
water to thin

These are the flours I used:

Method:
1.Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Steam/ boil the pumpkin until very soft ( around 20 minutes)
2. Meanwhile, stir the yeast into the water and sit for about 5 mins.
3. Combine the flour and herbs in a mixing bowl, create a well.
4. Pour in the yeast mixture oil and cooled mashed pumpkin. Mix until combine (don't be afraid to use your hands) , then turn out onto a floured surface
5. knead for 10 mins and place in an bowl coated in oil. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and place in a warm area (i put mine in the oven... turned off!) for 45 mins
6. Punch the dough down, knead lightly on a floured surface and roll out to desired size.

TIME TO GET CREATIVE!
7. Create a ring with whatever it is you want to stuff your crust with (I chose mixed beans and tofu other ideas include; cheese, vegies etc.)

8. Then, fold over the edges and press down on the rest of the dough to seal.(I brushed the folded edges with some vegan cheese *recipe above* to make sure it stuck)

9. Add any toppings you love!

Mine included: salsa, (as my sauce) spinach, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, capsicum, sweet potato and parsnip. With a drizzle of the vegan cheese (recipe above)
10. Place in the oven for about 25-30 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.
11. ENJOY!
My finished product:

Bye, for now. Happy pizza making!

Grains Part 1

Howdy folks!
Seeing as this is a food blog... about food, i figured i should mention some recipes. But, like everything else in life you have to start with the basics.
GRAINS! 
About 2 years ago, I think I truly believed the only grain in the world was wheat and rice. Well that changed and ever since I have collected my fair share of them:

Grains (mainly whole grains) are definitely part of a healthy diet, which is why I thought I might share my ways of cooking some of my favorites. :)
First up- Pearled Barley

Most commonly used in soups or stews (I like it plain on its own...) because you can't really over cook it.
A serving size is 100g (so the packet tells me) which is the same as 1/2 a cup. Place your required amount in a saucepan and the ratio of barley to water is 1 part barley 5 parts water. *I just put the barley in a saucepan and pretty much fill with water.* Then bring water to the boil and let simmer for around 45 minutes. YUM!

Now another favorite of mine- Cous Cous

Cooking cous cous is ridiculously easy, but heaps of people are a bit weary, well have no fear.. Steph is here! 
Step 1. Measure out cous cous into a bowl(1 serving is about1/4 cup)
Step 2. Add the same amount of boiling water to the bowl
Step 3. stir a little and then cover (I just use a plate)
Step 4. Wait 5 minutes and then fluff with a fork and eat!
Yes, the ratio of cous cous to water is 1:1
So this is part one of how to cook different grains. Stay tuned for part 2!