Greeny love!

I really dislike the colour green, unless it's a beautiful deep forest, calming green- I can't stand it, but then I feel guilty for judging something because of the way it looks...
Then I don't feel guilty because I realise I make up for not liking the colour green by eating tonnes of it!
Peas, spinach, brussel sprouts... PESTO! I love it!
So I decided I owed it to green to do a little tribute :)

ah-hem (clears throat)
I love green food because...
It makes things look cooler:

Thank you chlorophyll! In my lovely green smoothies :)
And whazzed up in an omelette:

I love hiding it in heaps of my dishes- bumping up the nutrition:
From this:

 To this:

Delicious veggie filled pasta
I simply love the taste of spinach:

And using it as a taco:

I can't imagine eating a pasta dish without a touch of green:

Pesto pasta!
I love green smoothies- AND- green crazy straws!

And finally I love green because it was the colour of one of the coolest fruits I've ever seen- the kiwi berry!

But you all know the real reason why green is awesome..

Pesto. Enough said.
I guess this post was necessary because recently I've had some pretty green meals:

Some eggs topped with a pea smash and some sweet potato fries with parsnip

In the pea smah was some anti pasto, the fries were super long too:

And also yesterdays breakfast:
A green smoothie (frozen banana, mango, oat milk, spinach and chia seeds) with some coconut granola

So as you can see... Green is amazing (maybe)
But the real star colour is of course:

;)
Have a great rest of your week! (Eat lots of greens!)

What I ate Monday!

Soo, I've said it before, and I'll say it again… Wednesdays are one of the most hectic days of the week for me, along with Tuesdays.. and Fridays.. any way! I decided to do a What I Ate Mondays for you, so I'm ahead of the game!
And it must be your lucky day, because it's a double-whammy (meaning Sunday was included too :)

Breakfast…
Well, it was pancake Sunday!

Apple cinnamon pancakes with coconut butter and a green smoothie (banana, frozen mango, spinach, oat milk)
Pancakes:

Green smoothie+awesome straw!

Pancakes again:

Resulting in..

Lunch…

Chargrilled eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms, tomato, capsicum and avocado, in a toasted wrap with chill tofu and hommus
This was a good wrap!

Dinner..
I cooked some yummy millet:

And steamed some yummy veggies.. including:

Baby brussel sprouts!
I was feeling green (it's not easy!  ;)

Monday:
Breakfast:
OIAJ (oats in a jar)

Whipped banana, cinnamon, coconut oats in the almost empty mixed nut butter jar- with an apple :)

Spoon shot!

Lunch:
I made a veggie sandwich on wholemeal bread, with hommus, mashed lentils, capsicum, spinach, carrot, huge delicious ripe tomato and some sprouts!

All wrapped up in foil and taken to school :)
Dinner:
Delicious! Gluten free pasta with roasted vegetables, mixed beans and Jamie Oliver chill garlic pesto and some shredded basil leaves. YUM!

The photo does this deliciousness no justice- but it still looks pretty good!

So there you have it- on time and full of food! YEH!
Have a great rest of your week every one!
Thanks peas and crayons for the link up!

Pesto love!... Again :)

You guys remember my recent PESTO-FESTO? Yeh...that was gooood!
I've had pesto on my mind ever since (seriously if I had to choose one sauce/ spread for the rest of my life.. I still couldn't- I love peanut butter too much... but if I could choose two, it would definitely be pesto and peanut butter :) so when I was doing my weekly grocery shop, into the trolley went another bunch of basil leaves!
This time? PIZZA!

Parsnip wholemeal spelt base pizza with pesto, vegan cheese and lots-a-veggies!

Ingredients:
60g parsnip- peeled and chopped
80g wholemeal spelt flour (I actually used a wholemeal spelt flour bread mix- any flour should work though)
dried oregano (to your liking)
1/3 cup lukewarm water
1 teaspoon dried yeast

Topping Ideas:
My pizza had:
Steamed veggies (pumpkin, sweet potato and beetroot)
no-added-salt tomato paste
some antipasto mix (olives, semi dried tomatoes and artichokes)
pineapple
mushrooms

Sauces:
Vegan cheese-
1 tablespoon hommus,
1/2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon water

What to do- mix together, then drizzle over pizza

Pesto-
1 handful of basil leaves
 1 handful of spinach
 1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice
a small handful of pine nuts
a sprinkle of nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon+ of olive oil

What to do- place in a small food processor and process until smooth (a couple of minutes)

Method:
1. Steam the parsnip for 30 minutes or until very soft

2. Mix the dried yeast with the luke warm water and leave to sit for 5 mins:

 3. Place the flour and oregano in a bowl and stir to combine:

4. Mash your parsnip, add to flour along with yeast mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until starting to come together:

5. Lightly flour a clean surface and knead the dough for 10 mins: (keep adding flour if it sticks to the bench)

6. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover bowl with a clean tea towel, place somewhere warm to sit for 45 mins
7. Meanwhile preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius. Make your pesto and vegan cheese (recipes above), chop and steam veggies(pumpkin, sweet potato and beetroot) for around 20 mins
Pesto:

 8. Once dough has rested for 45 mins, remove tea towel and punch down the dough, lightly knead 3-4 times on a floured surface, then roll out and move onto a pizza tray lined with baking paper.
9. Spoon on some tomato paste, and spinach:

10. Then start topping like a mad woman!

*Don't forget the pesto!
11. Place in the oven to cook for 20-30 mins, until base is crispy and cheese has gone nice and golden :)

12. Enjoy!

I like my pizzas with loads of topping and a bit doughy (I know lots of people like simple crispy based pizzas.. I don't get it!) so if you're like me- this is the pizza for you!

All my favourite foods seem to start with 'P'- Pesto, Peanut butter, Pasta, Pizza, Bananas( It's pretty much a combination of a normal p with an upside down p!)

Have a good Sunday everyone!

FOOD!-GLORIOUS-FOOD!

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before (like a bajillion times!) but... I'm gonna say it again- I.LOVE.FOOD!
I love cooking food, I love eating food, I love coming up with new crazy ideas on how to create the food I love eating.
Only problem is- time! Time seems to have a way of flying by when you have school 5 days a week, play an instrument- about to start learning another one, do jazz and contemporary, are on the cross country team, have to coordinate a mural project for school, do a peer support program with the new year 7's, work through the Duke of Edinborough award (google it- it's a great program) and also keep up to date with homework/assignments/tests- where does cooking come into all that?
I will admit it's hard!
But planning is important- so is taste! I am not sacrificing taste for anything- so when I'm time short.. I simply resort to quick-to-prepare foods :)

Like the other night's dinner..

2 boiled eggs, some Vegemite on 100% rye toast and a sweet potato and pumpkin mash with mixed beans= Quick, easy, healthy and delicious!

Lunch at school...

Simple salad with raw veggies and some grilled one-minute-polenta mixed with sundried tomatoes.

On early cross country training mornings...

Creamy overnight oats ( muesli+mashed banana+nutbutter+cinnamon+chia seeds+splash of milk, left in fridge overnight)

One last thing... remember my latest WIAW? The fail that it was that ended up a What I Wish I Ate Wednesday ?
Well, today I actually ate what I wished I ate for lunch on Wednesday!

My take on Running with Spoons- Pumpkin chili mexican scramble!
In mine, I used both pumpkin and sweet potato and seasoned it with taco seasoning. I also used 2 whole eggs mixed with hommus:) Yum!

Any-who that's just a glimpse into how I cook/prepare on minimal time! Luckily it's the weekend, which equals time!
And time.. equals COOKIES! Chocolate-chip cookies!

Ingredients:
1 cup muesli
1 banana
chia gel- 1 tablespoon chia seeds mixed with 1 tablespoon milk (I used oat milk)
1 tablespoon nut butter ( I used peanut butter)
optional- 1/2 dried fig chopped

Choc chips:
 1 teaspoon coconut butter
1 teaspoon milk (I used oat milk)
1 teaspoon raw cacao powder
dash of cinnamon

Method:For choc chips
1. Place coconut butter and milk in small bowl and heat for 15-30 seconds, until warmed, stir to combine:

2. Stir in cacoa and cinnamon and drop onto a plate lined with baking paper with a spoon:

3. Place in freezer to set

For the cookies:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius, line a tray with baking paper
2.Mash banana in a bowl, add nutbutter and microwave for 15 seconds, stir to combine
3. Place muesli, chia gel, banana mixture, figs and set choc chips (you can roll them into balls) in a bowl and stir to combine- I used my hands :)
4. Roll into 4 balls (or 2 MEGA cookies!) and place on tray:

5. Bake for 10-15 mins, until golden and slightly hard:

6. ENJOY!
I had mine with a smoothie of frozen mango, frozen berries, spinach and oat milk:

Nothing like a plate full of cookies sitting on your lap in the morning!

yum.

It was a sad last bite!

I hope everyone has a fun weekend- enjoy the spare time!