These are a few of my favourite things!

Hidy-ho folks!
If I were to create a list my favourite foods in no particular order it would be:

• Pizza
•  Bananas
• Nut butter
• Chocolate
• Vegetables
• Pesto
• Green smoothies

I think I love them all the equally so I couldn't put a number 1,2,3 etc.

It just so happened that last night and this morning I managed to incorporate every.single.one of those favourite foods into my meals! It was good :)

For dinner last night I made a pumpkin base pizza topped with vegan cheese, steamed veggies (beetroot, sweet potato and parsnip) sliced tomato, mushrooms, and some chopped olives and marinated artichoke hearts along with some kale pesto:

Baked in the oven for about 25 mins (180 degrees celsius)

I must say, I love my thick chewy pumpkin-y pizza base so much that I rarely ever make any other kind of base for my pizzas!

I especially love topping it off with lots of veggies...

And most of all- love eating it!!

Nom!

You betcha I ate that whole pie!

Breakfast?
Breakfast featured some chocolate almond butter truffles and a green mango smoothie:

The truffles were made with 1 large tablespoon of almond butter mixed with 1/3 cup almond milk, heated in the microwave for 30 seconds (watch it doesn't spill over!) and stirred slightly- then mixed in with 1/2 cup muesli + 1 tablespoon raw cacao + 1 teaspoon cinnamon + sprinkle of chia seeds and then rolled into balls and placed in the freezer for at least 30 mins.

The green smoothie was 1 chopped frozen banana + 1 small chopped frozen mango + 2 big handfuls of kale + 3 big scoops of greek yoghurt (optional if vegan) + 1/2 cup water, whazzed together in a blender until smooth:

Breakfast of champions! And again- I ate it all!

These little bad boys were so tasty and the almond butter just made them so fudgey and delicious. Make. These. Now!

So, all of my favourite foods in the space of 24 hours? Mmkay!

What about you?
What are your favourite foods?
How often do you eat them? I do tend to eat mine quite regularly ;)

Favourite pizza toppings?

Have a great Saturday everyone! Bye for now! :D

Boxing day magic

I don't know what was in the air this Boxing Day morning but whatever it was gave me so much energy and stamina as I ran with a smile on my face for a whole 50 minutes!

I've never run so far, for so long and I felt great- even at the end (although I had to stop as my blisters on my feet (I acquired from burning them on the super hot ground) were rubbing) and felt like I could run for miles! I don't track how far I run as I don't think it's necessary for me at the moment, I just run until I don't feel like running any more and head home- today I didn't want to stop!

I don't know if I'll feel the same way the next time I head out in my bright pink and yellow running gear (favourite colours ;) but right now I'm just in such a good mood that I don't even care.

Running is my happy sport/ activity and it's days like today that remind how great it is for me. Emphasis on the for me part. I know not everyone's a fan of running (I know quite a number of people who are strongly against the entire idea of running) and to that I just want to urge you to find something you absolutely love that makes you feel great and do it often! If it's dancing, or cycling or swimming, or walking the dog, or painting, or playing music, or knitting... whatever it is- if it makes you ridiculously happy/ relaxed/ motivated then do it! It'll be good for your mind and soul!

Wow, this post suddenly got kind of deep...

Back to this morning- and a breakfast perfect for refueling!

A big bowl of vanilla protein powder steel cut oats and a side of blackberry fro-yo (a handful of frozen blackberries + 3 big scoops of greek yoghurt)

Unfortunately my usual protein powder wasn't at the shops when I needed it so instead I decided to try Michelle Bridges plant based vanilla protein powder and even though it tastes a bit different, it's a good different and still makes my oats taste so decadent and dessert-like.

And of course the fro-yo was absolutely delicious too (love the colour! :)

I tried the protein powder first on its own in some rolled oats with a side of berry ice cream in an almost empty jar of peanut butter

On it's own the protein powder had a bit of a strange taste but it did seem to grown on me.

It was quite sweet? But not really sweet... I'm not too sure what it was. It reminded me of a jersey caramel, that's how I can explain it.

The delicious ice cream was 1 frozen banana + a handful of frozen blackberries, whazzed up in a food processor until smooth (stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides)

Like a very delicious dessert when eaten with some peanut butter and warm oats:

Your turn:
Do you ever have days when you just want to run forever?
What's your favourite activity that makes you really happy?
What protein powder do you use? If you use any :)

Bye for now friends- off to go see The Hobbit (family Boxing Day tradition) and then maybe brave the Boxing Day sales! :D Have a great day!

A Very Aussie Christmas

Happy Christmas everyone! Just popping in for a quick hello (it is Christmas you know!) because blogging is something I love to do and you should do what you love everyday... especially on Christmas!!!

Now I know a lot of my readers are from different countries other than AUS, so I thought I'd share with you my very Aussie Christmas because just like all you lovely folk reading, it was unique!

Christmas Eve featured a night of Christmas carol watching (and singing! :) and then popping in Miracle On 34th Street (a Christmas tradition in our house hold) and then snuggling up into bed anxiously awaiting the on-coming day!

I woke up at 5:30 am thinking it was 6:30am, so jumped out of bed, got all excited and then glanced at the clock again and jumped back into bed and read some blogs for an hour- I was up, might as well do something ;)

Then I was truly up, sneaking a peak into our living room (it is very hard to hide a bike) and got another buzz when I saw my present (hint- it was a bike ;) I quickly threw together one of my absolute favourite breakfasts:

 A smoothie bowl!
Green mango smoothie:

Topped with home made almond butter granola:

annnnd stirred around:
Nom

 NOm

 NOM

As you can see by these pics, it was a beautiful sunny day and got to around 30 degrees Celsius( around 86 degrees Fahrenheit) and after breakfast we took full advantage of the summer sun and walked down to the beach as a family. Swimming and fun in the sun!

After that, back home, preparing Christmas lunch (I made these awesome Christmas tree napkins for the plates) and as soon as the grandparents arrived we got into the presents and then a beautiful Christmas lunch (mainly cold meats and salad- it's hot you know!) and finishing off with some desserts I whipped up for the fam :)

 A pavlova wreath topped with cream and yoghurt, thinly sliced mango and a strawberry sauce:

 And for the chocolate lovers of the family- a triple chocolate mousse cake:

 Unfortunately they weren't healthified or vegan or sugar free etc. But I don't bake to eat, I bake because I love it and I love to see the smiles on people eating my cooking :)

 I also thought this 'cake' looked awesome in the picture when I was looking for something to create.

Lunch was followed by some games and then we all crashed. Well everyone except me. I went on a glorious bike ride up the coast. It was awesome! I will definitely show pics of my bike in an upcoming post- it's one of those vintage/ retro ones in cream with brown seats and handle bars (now I just need a straw basket!)

What's for dinner? Not quite sure, I'll probably just throw a bunch of veggies together in a bowl and be quite content (isn't that what I do everyday?) But right now all I'm thinking about is how grateful I am to have my wonderful family and loved ones in my life, the blessed life I get to live, the fact that we can come together on this day, celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and be with the ones we love.

So I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, wherever you are and whatever you're doing- I hope it's a good one! :D

How about you?
What's a typical Christmas Eve/ Christmas tradition for you?
Christmas breakfast/ lunch or dinner? We generally have a family Christmas lunch.
Best Christmas present you've ever gotten? I think this bike is right up there for me!!

Bye for now friends and happiness and good wishes to you all! :D xo

WIAW #37 Christmas Lovin'

Hidy Ho happy friends! How do I know you're happy? Because it's CHRISTMAS EVE! That's how!!!

 Christmas just seemed to appear for me. Sprinting up to tomorrow before I even had a chance to say Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer!

I have been trying to cram as much Christmas as I can into my days, though, with carols of repeat and a Christmas movie each night :) I just love this time of year!

But I'm getting off track because this is a WIAW post and I'm here to show you the eats! Thanks as always to Peas and Crayons for this awesome link-up!!

Breakfast:
After two dates and a 30 min run I threw some steel cut oats on the stove with a banana, blueberries, almond milk and water and bubbled it away until the liquid was absorbed (I always put in lots of liquid- like triple the recommended amount- as I find the steel cut oats don't go very soft otherwise) then I let it cool for 10 mins before stirring in some greek yoghurt and topping with peanut butter- et voila! Blueberry cheesecake oats:

 How pretty is the colour of those oats though?

 Perfect post-running fuel- great carbs, protein and fat!

 And ridiculously yummy (can I hear a 'dessert for breakfast, oh yeah!')

 Just because I didn't think there was enough pink already....

 Deeeeelicious!

 Lunch:
For lunch I was going to be at a friends house, so I prepped a little container of awesome...

 This was a very random mix of peas, corn, cucumber, tomato, mixed four beans, capsicum, steamed potato and sweet potato and a spur-of-the-moment green sauce type thing:

 Into my trusty mini food processor went a big handful of spinach, kale and basil, along with some lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, olive oil and a crushed garlic clove all whazzed up until smooth. Then stirred into salad:

 It was really quite tasty actually!

 Snack:
Back home at around 4:00pm I had a snack of an apple with grapes and a glass of soy milk:

Dinner:
I was pretty hungry for dinner so whipped up this big bowl of deliciousness at around 6:45pm:

 That was mixed mashed veggies (sweet potato, pumpkin, potato, beetroot, carrot, parsnip and swede) with some brown rice stirred in, along with some garlic tofu and spinach, topped off with a few blobs of hommus:

 Hit. The. Spot.

 I don't think this meal will ever get old for me as I've been eating it for months and months now and it's just my easy to throw together and enjoy- so simple :)

After dinner I had a small handful of mixed raw nuts and then settled in for some Christmas magic (otherwise known as Love Actually :)

And that's a wrap!

Are you excited for Christmas?
Favourite holiday movie? Mine is hands down Elf. Love it so much!

Don't forget to check out Peas and Crayons for some more links into people's daily noms :)