Tastebuds and Two songs

Hello friends from the blog-o-sphere! G'day from down-under, a place known for it's kangaroos, vicious drop-bears and sunny sunny days! Well... it's bucketing down :) Hopefully it'll pass by quickly!
Any-who, back to my post!
When I was a wee little kiddlywink I never much like pasta bolognese, pasta bake or creamy pasta dishes in general (I know right!) My sister would always look at me like I was some kind of alien when everyone else had big plates of some pasta dish all mixed together in a creamy sauce and I had separate plain pasta with some grated cheese :) (I also got that same look when I ate only the insides of my quiche and left the crust. The only way I was forgiven for this was when I gave mine to her.)

Over the past couple of years I believe my taste buds have been maturing and I've been enjoying foods my 10-year-old self would have grimaced at. I've found a new love for olives, avocados and spinach. Even the smell and sight of some meat products (like sea food and prawns) make my mouth water. (No, I'm not thinking of stopping being vegetarian, I'm just stating facts- I've always hated the smell and sight of sea food for as long as I can remember. Until recently)

Ok, where am I going with this? Well, yesterday my matured taste buds decided on what they wanted for lunch. My brain was shocked but didn't argue with the true control center of my body.

Kettle boiled, wholemeal pasta in the pot and whazzing up a creamy pasta sauce... avocado style:

 1/2 an avocado+ 2 scoops of greek yoghurt+ 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast- whazzed!

Mix it all together (with some sauteed mushrooms and capsicum, rinsed 4-beans and steamed peas) and voila:

A creamy-dreamy pasta dish.... what has become of me!

 Oh, wait I know- common sense!

Mmmm.
Now onto the 10-day-you challenge!

 Almost at the end guys! Here are my two songs:

2. First of all- my all time favourite song.....
 You're the voice- by John Farnham
This song just moves me for some reason and I feel really emotional and motivated when listening to it!
1. Shake it off- by Taylor Swift- I know this song has mixed feelings among people but I love it! It makes me just want to get up and shake! I love the video too, how she's not trying to be serious and sexy like a lot of other music videos, she's just being silly and doesn't care :)

This is me when Shake it off comes on:

So if you take anything away from this post it would probably be the fact that as a child I was an alien and since I've grown up I've started dancing like an alien.I'm glad we got all that cleared up :)

Do you like creamy pasta dishes?
Thoughts on Taylor Swift's song Shake it off?
What is your dancing style?

Have a great day everyone! :D

More bang for your buck!

Hello ladies and jellybeans! Happy Sunday!
As you all know I like to purchase and eat food. Wait. Don't we all?
Well, I especially love to buy something yummy and healthy and then make it yummier and healthier!
If I buy a pre-made soup at the supermarket, you can bet that I'll add some of my own steamed veggies, or beans or peas to the pot. Got some wholegrain cheerios- they'll go straight into a mix of muesli with some nut butter for a yummy granola. The same goes for most other pre-made meals and so on.
The other day I wanted to drink a green nudie juice I had bought a few days ago. I also wanted some wholemeal crumpets to go with it. I pictured my planned breakfast and knew that wouldn't fill me up!
So I had to do some creative thinking, which resulted in my original juice shape-shifting into a smoothie!
Presenting my awesome idea:

Place in blender and whaz!
Ta-da:

As you can see by the slight colour variations, I only had a little bit of peanut butter left, so  sotherd the res of the crumpets in cashew butter :)

I was full full full:

Since it's the weekend I've also enjoyed some other yummy eats worthy of sharing that have also been pumped up by mixing ingredients to form 'super' foods. (I don't really believe in super foods in the sense of ancient berries never before heard of. For example I would list eggs as a super food. And nut butter.. :)
But that's a whole other topic for a whole other post!

Instead let's check out yesterday's brekky:

 Baked vanilla protein oats topped with cashew butter with a green smoothie. Yum!

For the oats I simply placed a serving size of rolled oats (my serving size;) into a pot with the required amount of oat milk (look to your packet instructions) and a scoop of organic vegan vanilla protein powder and bublled it away until the milk was absorbed. Then I poured the oats into a small ramekin thing-o and baked in the oven for 20 mins at 180 degrees celsius.

 The smoothie was simply 1 chopped frozen banana, some frozen chopped cantaloupe, a few spoons of greek yoghurt, chia seeds, big handful of spinach and a dash of water.

T'was very tasty indeed!

Then lunch rolled round and the stomach began growling again.

I was in a veggie mood again so into the pan went some veggies:

Grated carrot, zucchini and brussels sprouts, chopped capsicum, tomatoes, mushrooms, broccoli and some frozen peas and corn and garlic and olive oil- sauteed up!

With some instant brown rice thrown in at the end:

 And then a last minute decision of scrambled egg, using this method.

Then topped with some salsa:

Another filling and yummy meal!

Do you usually eat differently on the weekend?

More or less?

Do you enhance any supermarket bought products?

Have a relaxing day! :D

Yes, I really do crave veggies

It's Friday, Friday! It's also the start of 2 weeks of holidays for me! If you can't already tell I'm extremely excited!
I started my lazy, not rushed Friday morning with a big almost empty jar of peanut butter filled with whipped banana cinnamon steel cut oats, with a side of mandarin slices and dates. Why? Because that's what my body really felt like today:)

This is exactly what I wanted to talk about today- cravings that may not make sense, but taste so amazing when fulfilled.

People often look at what I eat and think I'm on a crazy vegetable diet of some kind or that I'm torturing my body by stuffing it with steamed unmentionables (hello brussels sprouts)

I'm not crazy (entirely), I'm definitely not on a diet and I don't find eating brussel sprouts torturous.. I actually enjoy them (have for as long as I can remember)

Why have I all of a sudden started thinking of this? Last night I was craving veggies. Last night I ate a lot of veggies:

Baked sweet potato with coconut butter, some organic blue maize tortilla chips and half a plate of steamed greens (broccoli, brussels sprouts, beans, peas and corn (ok, corns yellow)

It was what I really wanted to eat so it all tasted absolutely amazing- especially the steamed greens.

I  also generally have more thanone craving at a time so the sweet potato and coconut butter satisfied my sweet/rich tooth..

And the tortilla chips satisfied my crunchy/salty tooth..

 On days when I don't eat many veggies, (I'm not gonna lie- these are very few. I just love my veggies so much!) I simply roll with it, because I know it's my body's way of telling me to ease up a bit, or focus on different nutrients it requires.

Some days I crave chocolate:

Overnight oats in an almost empty jar of almond butter with a side of chocolate-banana ice cream

This was my breakfast from a few days ago made by putting a chopped frozen banana, a few spoonfuls of greek yoghurt and some raw cacao into a food processor and whazzing until smooth. (scarping down the sides a few times)

It's what my body was telling me to have and it had never tasted better.

As you all know I also eat a lot of pizza. I won't ever say no to that craving:

You can find some of my favourite pizza recipes here, here and here

In conclusion (I had to write an essay yesterday if you hadn't guessed by my original concluding statement- yes they gave us an essay on the last day of school!) I have cravings, I satisfy them I'm happy. Most importantly I CRAVE veggies! I don't make myself eat them- I make myself cook them (or not) so I can eat them because I want to. Don't give me that look ;)
 

 

Sometimes a bowl/ plate/ glass full of veggies just hits the spot!

Make sure you satisfy your cravings not only for your tummy but your general well being! Happiness comes from listening to your body.

P.s. this is not a post giving you permission to eat that whole bag of chips or tub of ice cream. Satisfy your craving- don't over-do it because you never get to eat that kind of stuff. Moderation in any-thing is key... even my beloved vegetables :)

What are you craving right now?
Veggies. Love em or hate em?
Are you part of the minority loving brussles sprouts?

Catch ya later! :D

Thinking Out Loud

Hi super-awesomeley-awesome friends!
I got bored of saying; 'Hi friends!' So I mixed it up a little!

And with that nice little random intro I think we should get straight into some Thinking Out Loud! Thanks to Spoons for the link-up!


1. I was watching friends the other day and it was 'The one with the birth mother.' Any-who that's irrelevant because it was this part that just had me cracking up:

Then I was like, you know what? That's me! I have this thing with sharing my food with others. I can share other stuff- pens, clothes, advice... but when it comes to food, I'm really selfish! However, this picture exists, so I think my response is justified:

2. On the topic of English (yes we are talking about the English language.. sort of- well there isn't a we in food!) doesn't this just make you want to scream at whoever created the English language?

Actually it makes me want to just say it one day during English class and see if anyone notices :)

3. With the confusion of English now on my brain, I can't help but ask; Why do essays exist? Who created them and why has it now become the means of passing English? I find essays pretty hard and I always feel like I'm rambling (can you believe it? ;)

I do love maths though... but how's this for irony:

4. Now, on the topic of maths.. (I'm full of good topics) I got sent out of my math class the other day. Ooooh, what did I dooooo?

Well, let's just say it started like this:

 And ended up in a full blown coughing fit :D

5. So to end my little rant about school:

Wow. Just wow

6. Because this is a food blog, I feel this post should have at least one mention of food. Remember when I said I thought I was allergic to dates... well I finally tried one!

Z-OH-MY-GOODNESS! They are like little caramels! I love them so much! (No I am not allergic!!!) Why have I lived so long without these stuffed in my mouth! Ahhh!

7. Why did I have dates on hand? Because I was making a super-duper healthy caramel slice for my sister with dates and soaked cashews etc. It smelled pretty good! If you told me 2 years ago that you could make super yummy caramel slice with a choc topping and biscuit-y base without butter, sugar or flour, I wouldn't have believed you. I love it!

8.Kabocha. I have no words.

 Dinner- steamed brocoli+salsa, roasted rosemary potatoes, boiled artichoke and roasted kabocha:)

 Well, actually I have many  words but none will accurately express how good this pumpkin is. My first bite was a surprise, I had never tasted a squah like this before. It's not water-y at all and tastes sort of like roasted chestnuts. Mmmmmm.

 I cooked up a whole lot of it as I'd seen other bloggers have just plain bowls of kabocha, but seriously, this vegetable/ fruit (I dunno) is so rich that I could only have about 3 chunks (so I had 4;) Luckily it made for the best cold salad topper for school the next day :)

With brown rice and a whole lotta other raw veggies:)

9. So I found this guy on youtube over the weekend...He is hilarious! I'm not sure if he's dead serious- but check out this video

 I absolutely love this guy- he just makes me smile :)

So with that happy thought I think I'll end this random brain dump here and let you all get back to your day :) Wanna see what everyone else is thinking? Head on over to Running With Spoons to check it out!

Bye for now fantabulously fabulous friends (ok, I'll stop) and hello school holidays for me! :D