Big brekky's and last 10-day-you-challenge!

I like big... brekky's and I cannot lie!
Hello friendly friends and happy Monday!

Now back to my happy breakfast song :)
Breakfast is without a doubt the biggest most filling meal of my day. Always at least one serve of fruit, always involving some sort of carb, generally protein filled and more often than not full of good fats (almost entirely in the form of nut butter)

I could never simply wake up and have a small tub of yoghurt, or a piece of toast, or a bowl of sugary cereal. This hungry gal needs her food, especially after 10+ hours of fasting!
I cringe when I think back to my primary school days of filling my bowl with sugary cereal (be it fruit loops, cocoa pops, crunchy nut) and that would be my breakfast. Or some toast with Nutella slathered on top. Can you blame me when this is what the ads were telling us:

I like the inclusion of the apple... coz that makes everything better! :/

Nowadays you would never catch me doing something silly like that. Instead you might see something as ridiculously tasty as this passing my lips:

A beautiful (and quite large!) green smoothie with a jar of cashew butter.
Haha just kidding, there were overnight oats in the jar:

Chocolate overnight oats :)
But Steph! That's no better than a chocolatey bowl of sugary cereal!?!
Well, not exactly. You see I used all natural raw muesli and added in some almond milk stirred with raw cacao to let sit overnight- full of fiber, low GI carbs, antioxidant and good fats ;)

Into my smoothie went 1 chopped frozen banana, a handful of frozen mango, a big handful of spinach, a big handful of kale, 3 spoons of greek yoghurt and a splash of almond milk:

Again filled with fiber from the fruit and veg, a good serving (or two!) of dark leafy greens and calcium for strong bones along with filling protein from the yoghurt and almond milk.

I used a new muesli brand that had fiber stick things and puffed rice and it turned sort of cakey- mmm cold creamy cake in the morning!

And to finish off my 10-day-you-challenge! (10 weeks later)

And so without any further a-do here is my one picture(of yourself):

 This was a couple of years ago, but I absolutely adore this picture, the calmness and angle is awesome- especially with little Ash's head facing the camera directly- too cute!

So that's it for the 10-day-you-challenge! Did you enjoy it? did you try some yourself? If not I give you the challenge to do one, it's pretty fun really- makes you actually think about yourself and what you like/ who you are :)

Do you like big brekky's?
Got a weakness for Nutella?
What is your favourite photo of yourself- go on! Be vain!

Packing a day of food

A few days ago I was heading on out for the day at The Royal Show! (An Australian fair like thing that is absolutely brilliant!) but before I set off, I planned ahead!
After chowing down a delicious breakfast of frozen grape green smoothie topped with cashew butter and almond butter granola:

 Smoothie was 1 big handful of frozen grapes, 1 chopped frozen banana, 2 super big handfuls of spinach, 3 big scoops of greek yoghurt, 1/4 cup almond milk, some chia seeds and whaz!

 Granola: 3/4 cup muesli, split between two bowls. a tablespoon of almond butter slightly melted in microwave with some milk, rubbed into half and the same with the cashew butter for the other half. Then spread out on a baking tray and baked at 180 degrees celsius for 15-20 mins:

Such a delicious brekky:

 Spoon shot:

So after being filled and fueled I set about in the kitchen preparing both lunch and dinner to take with me!
I steamed some sweet potato, mashed some chickpeas and lentils added some garlic, peas, corn, chilli and mushrooms to make this sweet potato veggie burger:

Placed it in the freezer to harden while I made dinner, which was a roasted veggie and barley salad with an apple cider vinegar and wholegrain mustard dressing. (vinegar +lemon juice + olive oil + 1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard)
Veggies included- kabocha, parsnip, beetroot, carrot and swede along with some spinach and lettuce:

Cooked my veggie burger in a fry pan with a bit of olive oil, then placed on a paper towel.
Cut some home made bread, sauteed some eggplant and capsicum. Sliced some tomato, spread on some hommus and build a sandwich:

Yes, which was then toasted :)

And I also packed an apple, which was all wrapped up in foil before I took a shot:

I was prepared, fed and happy the entire day, which was good considering the amount of walking/ rides/ selfies we did!
Also I saved a load of money- fair food's expensive!

Do you pack your own food for a full day out?
Do you like fairs?
How about fireworks? I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!

TTFN! :D
Have a great day!

Caramel pudding... for breakfast!

Hello! Happy Sunday!
You may have remembered in this post, me professing my love for dates. The craziness that something 100% natural could taste so close to the 'full-of-sugar-and-saturated fat' chewy caramels I used to love.

 As soon as the first piece of date passed my lips and I was brought into a caramel heaven, the cogs in my brain started spinning. 'Do you know what this means?' I asked myself (in my head of course;)
'Now we can make healthy caramel flavoured things!'

That was literally my face.

I was thinking caramel pancakes, caramel doughnuts, caramel ice cream... Caramel everything!
Then I woke up this morning and wanted creamy dreamy oat bran.
Then...

CARAMEL OAT BRAN!!!

Ok, ok. I'll stop with the cartoon movie pictures ;)

I rushed to the kitchen, grabbed a few ingredients and set about making what can only be described as a warm, gooey, caramel pudding

 Caramel Oat Bran Pudding:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup oat bran
4 medjool (bigger and juicier) dates, pitted and chopped
1/4 banana, sliced (I froze the rest of mine)
sprinkle of chia seeds (optional)
sprinkle of sea salt flakes (optional, but I definitely recommend it to bring out flavour and balance sweetness)
1 1/4 cups of milk (I used almond milk)

Method:
1. Place everything except the milk into a medium saucepan and stir to combine:

2. Stir in the milk:

3. Place on medium heat, stirring continuously until mixture thickens to your liking:

4. Leave to sit for a couple of minutes, to thicken slightly, then with a stick blender (you could also use a food processor) blend everything together until smooth:

5. Transfer to a bowl perhaps using this trick, top with anything you like- I would recommend nut butter/ coconut butter.

6. Whilst you're pudding is cooling, you could make some blueberry fro-yo by whazzing together some frozen blueberries and greek yoghurt until smooth:

7. Take a breath, have a smile and enjoy your brekky!

Yum!

Do you like caramel?
Do dates remind you of caramel?
What's your favourite caramel food? (bars/ice cream/ cookies etc.)

Well that's it from me today guys! Don't forget to have a delicious day of eats!
Bye! :D

Pancakes :)

Hello folks!
Yes, I know it's Friday, not pancake Sunday, but I made pancakes yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed them and wanted to be a kind Samaritan and give you the recipe for them :)

 These little beauty's are vanilla protein pancakes that are dairy, wheat, sugar, soy, nut (unless topping them with nut butter) free and vegan!
Super yummy and super easy!

Vanilla Protein Pancakes
Ingredients:
25g wholemeal/white spelt flour
25g rolled oats
One scoop of vanilla protein powder (or any flavour, if you're feeling chocolate pancakes or strawberry etc.)
10g oat bran
1/2 a teaspoon baking powder
sprinkle of chia seeds (1-2 teaspoons)
1/2 cup milk of choice (I used almond milk, you may need more/ less depending on your preference/ type of milk etc.)
oil for cooking (olive oil, coconut oil- any oil you like)

Method:
1. Place everything but the milk into a medium bowl and stir to combine.
2. Slowly pour in the milk, whisking at the same time until the batter reaches a pouring cream consistency (lumpy pouring cream- there are oats in there!)

3. Let sit for a few minutes to settle and thicken, in the meantime, how about a smoothie?
To make this berry blast smoothie, place 1 chopped frozen banana, 1 big handful of mixed frozen berries, 3 big scoops of greek yoghurt (optional for vegans- sub in vegan yoghurt/ extra milk) and a splash of almond milk into a blender and whaz until smooth:

4. Place in the freezer until pancakes are ready:

5. Heat a medium non-stick fry pan over low-medium heat and coat with olive oil/ coconut oil/ any oil you like.
6. Once the pan is hot, spoon on the batter and leave to cook for about 3 minutes before trying to flip (no eggs make the pancakes more fragile)
7. Once golden on that side, flip over and cook for another minute or two. Kepp cooking until golden brown on each side:

8. Remove from pan and place on paper covering to keep hot while you realise you might just have enough mixture to make one more:

9. And of course this one turns out the best of all of them:

10. Place pancakes on plate and top with anything you like- syrup, lemon juice, jam, coconut butter. I topped mine with cashew butter and almond butter:

Smoothie:

Nom!

I mentioned this in my thinking out loud post, but don't you just love cutting you're pancakes into different shapes before eating them? Just me? Ok!

So, before you pour yourself that boring old bowl of cereal, maybe whip up a batch of these to keep you fueled right up until lunch!

They sure did that for me!

Do you like pancakes?
Favourite flavour? Mine probably would be either blueberry or just plain- so I can top them with loads of yummy stuff
Secret topping? Do you top your pancakes with something no one would have thought of? Just curious, as I used to top mine with tomato sauce :)

Have a brilliant day everyone! :D