WIAW

Hello, hello! It is Wednesday again and I am just excited for this Wednesday as I am every week.
I don't see it as only half way through the week, I see it more as- Wow! It's already half way through the week.
And that I am thankful for. But don't worry, to all of you out there who hate Wednesdays and feel like crying right now, you can also be thankful! Be thankful for your tears, because in space, astronauts cannot cry because of gravity :) You feel better now, right? No? Ok... moving on!

So that was an intro.
Now onto the eats! Thanks Peas and Crayons for the link-up.

Breakfast!
I have had a very long-lasting relationship with home-made granola. Here, here, here and here are seriously just a teeny few of the many pics I have of my granola. So I made some more:

 What is new to me, however, is freezing grapes and using them in smoothies! So underneath my granola went a frozen grape green smoothie! (thick enough for a spoon:)

 1 chopped frozen banana + a big handful of frozen grapes + a big handful of kale + a sprinkle of chia seeds + a dash of oat milk:

 Baked granola:

 Finished product:

 Yum!

 Yeh, the smoothie colour looked gross, but blame that on the kale :)

Lunch:
Grilled sammy! I also seem to really like these too. They seem to be a Wednesday tradition :)

 With wholemeal spelt bread, a curried veggie patty, grilled capsicum, mushrooms and zucchini, hommus, salsa, spinach and top of bread... toasted!

 It really does make my day at school. Especially when said day is filled with tests and assignments :) Last day tomorrow!
Snack:
A super crunchy green apple, some red grapes and soy milk :)

Fruit is my favourite candy.

Dinner:
Not the prettiest dinner, but quite tasty. Mashed veggies (beetroot, potato, sweet potato, carrot and parsnip) with steamed greens, garlic tofu, kale and topped off with some globs of hommus :)

I love beetroot. It makes everything pink.

And that was that :)
Food-glorious-food.. what did you eat Wednesday?
Don't forget to check out what everyone else was nom-ing!

The 'Norm'

Quick! What do you think of when I say party!
I'm sure there were a few of you who thought of dancing and having fun and games and friends. I'm also sure there were a lot of you who thought of this:

 Or if I say Sleepover?
First thing that pops to mind?

Movies?

Anyone else noticing the pattern?

I fully understand and accept that these are fun foods associated with different occasions and I get that their enjoyable and an every-once-in-a-while indulgence for most people.
What I don't understand is why there's no alternative.

I've touched on this before- about being a teenage girl who eats healthy and is interested in nutrition whilst being surrounded by 'normal' teenage girls.It's hard. If we go to the movies I usually just have my water bottle with me. At a party? Bring my own dinner. Sleepover? Buzzed on a natural sugar high of dried fruit etc. I'm all about balance and not being obsessive over healthy eating (it can do more psychological damage than physical good) however, these foods actually make me feel physically ill. So I don't really have a choice.

And what happens when you turn up to a party with everyone holding a can of something and a slice of pizza and you take out a pre-packed roll or sushi... you're sort of automatically out-casted.

So what's my point? As a foodie I believe food should be a big and enjoyable part of our lives. It should make memories and should bring a smile to our faces when placed in front of us waiting to be devoured. I just don't think it should be crucial part to an outing that helps you fit in.

I thought I would share with you some examples from real life.
My lunches:

Wholemeal pesto pasta with steamed veggies and beans.

Black quinoa salad with sauteed capsicum, mushrooms, eggplant, zucchini, green beans and spinach.

Chili tofu, steamed sweet potato, carrot, tomato, alfalfa, steamed green beans and spinach

Every other person's lunch:

A sandwich

I have to admit, pizza places are getting pretty good at alternatives. At my friends party the other day there was a box of vegetarian pizza minus the cheese on a gluten free base and you couldn't tell the difference. So I was standing with everyone else eating my pizza too!

Wow, this was a bit of a lengthier post, but I think the take-home message is this:

Food should be a part of celebration and fun, but it shouldn't dictate the vibe, especially for hose who simply can't join in on the typical eats.

With food on the brain, I'm off to go and eat some breakfast- the belly beast is raging!

TTFN! :D

3 FILMS

Hi friends! Happy Monday!

Obviously Mondays are my favourite day of the week ;)

As a foodie I believe food has the all-powerful power of bringing someone out of Monday-itis! So my best cure for this fearful condition is an out-of-this-world delicious brekky!

Yes, yes I agree. No body has enough time on Monday's to whip up a plate full of fluffy pancakes or a fry-up for kings, though I do have some super-yummy breakfasts just from last week that brightened every day and was made in minutes.
In fact here was last Mondays:

Toast 2 wholemeal crumpets, spread with nut butter (or whatever you like) and a green smoothie on the side... done!

Oats and fro-yo!

 For the oats simply place 1/2 cup rolled oats in a saucepan with 1 thinly sliced banana, a dash of cinnamon and some chia seeds along with 1 cup milk (I use oat milk) and heat until bubbling- where you begin to stir vigorously to 'whip' the banana in- keep stirring until thickened to your liking. (in the pic above topped with almond butter)

Mango fro-yo? A handful of mango + a cup of greek yoghurt- whazzed up in a small food processor. Done!

Choc protein overnight oats with grape ice cream

This breakfast is even quicker as half of it is made the night before!

For the choc protein oats- Place 1/3 cup muesli in a bowl/ cup with a sprinkle of chia seeds. In a separate bowl, place 1 scoop choc protein powder +1/2 tablespoon raw cacao powder and  3/4 cup of milk (again I use oat milk) and microwave for 30 seconds, stir and microwave for about 15 more- stir again.  Then stir into the muesli and place in fridge over night!

For the grape ice cream, freeze a handful of grapes over night and place in a food processor along with a chopped frozen banana. Whaz until ice-creamy (you may have to scrape down sides a few times)

So if you haven't had breakfast yet- or lunch or dinner... try one of these! Then thank me later. I really love it when you take that first bite of something you've made and you get that goofy grin on your face. Priceless moment.

Another good way to brighten my day and hopefully yours would be to continue on with the 10-day-you challenge (which has turned into the 10-week-you challenge;) Today we're up to 3 films!

This was another hard one guys! I love movies and I have soooo many favourites! I have come to a decision though.

To make my choice easier I chose my top three films of the past year or so:

3. Hunger Games

You see I loved the Hunger Games books and I was really weary to go and see this movie, figuring the movie might ruin the book because we all know that you should never judge a book by it's movie ;)
But this movie did not disappoint! It was so good and pretty much stuck to the book entirely. The actors were perfect and it took me about 2 weeks after seeing it just to get over how awesome it was!

2.  Divergent

I didn't end up reading this book before I saw the movie because I didn't really get into it (apparently it gets really good after where I got up to in the book! Of course.)
The movie makes me want to read the book and the others too! It was so intense and awesome and sad and happy and every emotion you could feel crammed into 2 hours! When a film can take you on that emotional roller coaster you know it's good!


1.  The Fault In Our Stars and Frozen

Yes. I did it again. I hate choosing my number one top something- it's too hard and I loved both of these movies equally. My excuse for this week is that they both start with F so it's allowed :D\
The Fault In Our Stars rocked me to my core and Frozen had me laughing louder than I ever have before. I also remember watching 'Let it go' for the first time and being mesmerized! Unbelievably good!

Ok well, this post turned out longer than expected! That's ok though.. we all like to procrastinate just a little on Monday ;)

Banana truffles

Hello everyone!
It's Sunday.. and I think it's about time we had another recipe! I don't know if it's going to trump last weeks, though it sure does come close.
Before we dive straight in I have breaking news!!
Guess what appeared on Coles supermarket shelves! It's the first time I've seen it in Aus! It's apparently awesome! (haven't tried it yet) It also apparently originated from Japan and was favoured for it's sweetness and pleasing texture.. ok that's not really an apparently- it's fact... anyway I'm EXCITED!

Hello Kabocha! :)

 

I can't wait to roast this little baby up and have my life changed forever. (wouldn't it be funny if I hated it.. no that wouldn't be funny :D)

So I'll get back to you on my experience. In the meantime I shall fill this space with a recipe.

Last week I shared these choc coconut truffles:
  Well, today I was feeling the banana flavour and so...
Created banana coconut truffles!

(I will get back to some slightly different recipes once my obsession with these fades. If it fades;)
Here's what you do:
1. Place 88g of muesli in a bowl:

 If you like, sprinkle in some chia seeds.
2. Mash 1 banana:

3. Place 1 1/2 tablespoons coconut butter in a small bowl with 2 tablespoons milk of choice. Microwave for 15 seconds, stir and then another 5. Stir again until smooth:

4. Combine everything together in the muesli bowl and mix until fully combined:

5. Form into balls and place on a plate lined with baking paper: (You should get about 7 balls)

 6. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
7. In the meantime you could make some strawberry mango fro-yo...
Place 3 frozen strawberries and a small handful of frozen mango chunks in a small food processor with 2 big scoops of greek yoghurt. Whaz until combined:

Place in the freezer until required.
8. Once the balls are ready and feel a lot firmer, take em' out and enjoy!

See, a normal person would probably only eat about 3 of these and then have leftovers for the next day. Emphasis on the normal part.

 It was breakfast time. I was hungry ravenous. I ate them all. :D
Yes, I was pretty full afterwards, but they were just so good!

 The fro-yo was super yummy too!

 Something was missing though...

 There we go!

Happy tummy :)

Well, I'm off to go do some more Sunday things (homework, blog prep, more homework) soI'll catch you tomorrow for another round of the 10-day-you challenge!

See ya! :D