When you don't have it for 3 weeks...

Happy Saturday everyone!!

I hope everyone has had a fabulous week and are just as excited to tackle the next one (and if you're not- pump yourself up so you become crazy positive and annoy absolutely everyone around you! ;)

Now, I'm one of those bloggers who scrolls through her recent pictures and decides on blog posts from there. This can get a bit redundant when you see the seventh photo of roasted veg (on several different occasions) and are thinking to yourself- 'Nope, there is no way I can work that into a post'

Not my pictures- but kind of what it ends up looking like to me anyway!

(If you're interested in posts where I have talked about roasted veg, see here, here, here and here and there's more!!)

So anyway, back to me scrolling through endless pictures of my food.

As I mentioned before recently, upon returning from Africa, I have definitely been craving all the foods that normally make up my diet (ie. VEG!) and so really, it shouldn't have come as a surprise when I came across picture after picture of...

OATS!

You and I both know I go through phases with oats. If I'm in an oats phase I'll eat them every second day. If I'm not, they will hang tight in the pantry for a good few weeks untouched (awesome that they last!)

So after 3 weeks of no oats (apart from the traditional plain soup-like ones they served us occasionally- which I still ate because, hey, I needed my energy!) I guess I'm going oat-of-my-mind with some cravings!

Second day back:

 Lemon blueberry steel cut oats with coconut butter:

 New favourite oats :)

Day after: My second favourite bowl of oats:

Creamy vanilla and cinnamon banana steel cut oats:

 Topped with all the almond butter (and some spread throughout :)

Few days later: Overnight oats!

 Or perhaps some super fresh, delicious and sweet watermelon with a side tub of peanut butter?

 Just kidding:

 Choc protein overnight oats

 With quite a lot of crunchy PB left in the jar. Problem? I don't think so! ;)

And finally this mornings- which I shall be naming Strawberry Shortcake!

Into the pot went 1/2 cup steel cut oats + 1 VERY ripe banana + 4-5 VERY ripe strawberries + sprinkle of chia seeds +fresh vanilla pod seeds (sub in a small dash of vanilla essence) + 1 cup almond milk + 1 cup water- bring to the boil, stirring occasionally until liquid has been absorbed (around 20 mins)

 Sweet, strawberry-y, lusciously swirled with smooth creamy almond butter and filling the house with  a warming smell that can only be likened to strawberry cake baking in the oven.

 There were also butterflies and rainbows and angels singing.

 Too far? Any who, it was delicious and has only made my hankering for oats even stronger!

 Happy days :)

What about you?
What's on your craving/ repeat-practically-daily list at the moment?
Do you find you go through oat phases?
Favourite way to use strawberries in cooking?

I hope you have a lovely rest of your weekend, make the most of it, smile, laugh and eat delicious food! Bye for now friendly friends!! :D

My 3 weeks on carbs! ...and what I learned

I feel like I've said this a lot lately (no kidding!) and yet I'm going to say it again. I've just returned from Africa and the amount of life lessons, knowledge and experience I've returned with has been monumental.

I'm guessing a food blog is the not the place to go into depth about the harrowing poverty and confronting encounters and utter joy/ pure happiness on kid's faces who had nothing and all the other indescribable sights I witnessed.

Instead, I think a food blog is a perfect forum to go into depth about some of the experiences I encountered with the food (being blessed with a bit of a sensitive stomach and all!)

Just kidding- I know it's me ;)

I had a few concerns before embarking on the trip to Tanzania:

1. There wouldn't be enough protein for me and I'd have to eat meat to ensure I didn't get sick.
2. There would be mainly unhealthy sugar-laden foods that would mess with my stomach.
3. There wouldn't be enough food to cater for my hangry double side of me.
4. I can't remember any others but I was a bit of a nervous wreck.

In case you're reading this and thinking; 'What is wrong with this girl?' Please refer to this post where I go into depth about a time in my life where I struggled with eating and living to perfections (that is NOT living by the way!) and it's true that parts of that crazy old part of me still resurfaces and can create some food angst in me.

But here's something crazy that happened on the trip. I ate what I wanted, when I wanted and what my body was telling me it wanted. And I survived.

Shocker, right?

But seriously, it's probably been a good few years since I've allowed myself to relax like that and just enjoy... life. And the people around me and the utterly delicious food in front of me!

It became evident very early on that African cuisine focused around fats and carbs. Emphasis on the carbs.

But the beautiful thing about African cuisine was it was all fresh. Unprocessed. Made from scratch merely hours before. That included the breads, scrolls, buns etc. We would walk past the kitchen window and see the cooks rolling out great masses of dough that we knew would feature in our next meal, warm and fresh and delicious.

As I've mentioned before, this trip was demanding. It was hot in Africa (surprise, surprise) and we would spend full days outside doing some sort of activity or another. Food was fuel to keep us going and the white bread and white rice and white potatoes and other carb-y goodness were what we needed to get through. Often I would find myself finishing a meal (be it soup/ stew/ stir-fry) and reaching for a buttered bread roll afterwards because my body instantly felt replenished after I had eaten it. It didn't take long for me to realise the carbs (even though they were white- not something I'm used to) were what I needed to power through.

There would be days where I would have 4-5-6 pieces of bread. I inhaled the delightful warm cinnamon scrolls at breakfast, thickly spread their home-made salted peanut butter onto my fresh toast, laughed as I ate the Vegemite scrolls they'd whipped up especially for us with one of the girl's tubes of Vegemite she had brought over.

African cuisine uses a lot of beans. And veg. And mushrooms. And there were always eggs at breakfast and yoghurt. Protein was not an issue. There was also A LOT of food. And I did not shy away from going up for seconds (or thirds) the food was just too good!

I was probably the easiest to feed out of all the students because this was my kind of diet, and I reckon I could live in Afrcia (especially after seeing them put bananas in a curry. Life complete.)

All this is to say that my trip to Tanzania opened my eyes again. Showed me what life is like when you step away from the constant analysing of food and just enjoy where you are, what you're doing and who you're with.

My body didn't grow/shrink at all during this diet change up and I feel that's because I listened to what it wanted (and did increase my intake- I'm fairly sure!). I didn't die. I didn't lose a limb. I didn't even cry (only when watching a sad movie on the plane).

Instead I was happy. I laughed and enjoyed the energy food had given me, proving me once more how gosh darn incredible food can be!

Now I'm really craving those cinnamon scrolls!!

You're turn:
Have you ever had a pivotal moment in your life that re-opened your eyes to the world?
Has a trip ever forced you to drastically change your diet?
Any bad food experiences in other places?

That's it from me today folks, I'm just thinking out loud thanks to the awesome Spoons for the link-up! Have yourself a wonderful day and do something nice for someone else- it'll alwasy bring a smile to both your faces :). Bye!! :D

WIAW #75- Overdosing... on VEG!

Hidy ho friendly friends!

No fancy intro today- all you need to know is that it is Wednesday, I eat food and this is a full day of eats! WIAW style! Thanks as always to Peas and Crayons for creating this awesome weekly link-up for us bloggers to drool over everyone else's food... and maybe get some inspo along the way ;).

Now- FOOOOD!

Breakfast: 7:45am
This is a look into one of my last few days of holidays and first few days of being back in Australia after returning from Africa- in other words, ALL the veg and fruit and fresh stuff and deliciousness!

My brekky:

 Rich, chocolatey fudge bites made with oats, oat bran, mashed banana, raw cacao powder, almond butter, chia seeds, cinnamon and almond milk- all mashed up together and placed in the freezer for around 30 mins.

 Eaten alongside some super creamy, sweet mango fro-yo:

 Frozen mango + greek yoghurt- whazzed in a food processor until smooth.

 Yup, it tasted as good as it looks!

 Then it just got better...

Lunch: 12:15pm
Ever since I've come back my hunger seems to kick in all at once and with a vengeance. So this was a quick throw-together meal of chopped up raw veg (capsicum, carrot, tomato, peas, corn, beetroot, spinach,  mixed sprouted beans and a torn up quinoa veggie burger:

 So fresh and exactly what the body ordered!

 Nom.

Snack: 3:30pm
Again, super hungry- again, I ate :)

 Some delicious crisp and sweet watermelon with two chopped up kiwi's (skin on- it's great trust me!) and a mug of soy milk.

Dinner: 6:45pm
I was still in veggie-land (you don't know how much you miss something until it's gone!) so I roasted up some pumpkin, potato, sweet potato, parsnip, brussels and eggplant in some olive oil for around 45-50 minutes at 180 degrees celsius:

 Then I added in some spinach and lentils to the bowl and devoured (it was a tad hot but Steph was hungry!!)

 Nothing beats roasted veg!

 And there's just something about roasting eggplant and brussels sprouts that take their flavour to a whole new level!

 Finishing off the night with 4 pitted dates- nom!

Aaaand that's what I ate!

What about you?
Do you ever make super-chocolatey breakfasts? It's quite the regular occasion for me!
Ever come home from a trip and eat ALL the veggies?
Favourite vegetable to roast and why? 

I hope you all have a fabulous day and eat something super delicious. Feel free to share your delicious adventures with me too! Bye for now friendly friends! :D

Meal prep for the week!

Hello there!

As you may have guessed from the title, Steph is right back into the swing of things with some meal prep from what is most likely going to be a hectic first week back at school for term 4 (also known as exam term!!!).
I feel like I need an extra week off at home to truly feel as though I've had some holidays (5 days- where most of those days were spent getting over fatigue and jet lag- is not enough to rest and recover and rejuviante for what is definitely going to be a challenging next few weeks!).

Alas, I do not have an extra week, so I had to jump into my organised and prepared Steph jeans and start getting my life back in an ordered fashion to prevent any unwanted stress. In short, I did some meal prep for the week's lunches.

Because I'm not one to enjoy eating the same thing day-in-day-out (unless it is nut butter- even then I change it up between nut types ;) my meal prep involves two different creations that cater for 2 days (four days in total) and generally the 2 meals it creates are slightly different as well.

Now that I've successfully confused you, I'll explain what I mean and hopefully you can gain some meal prep inspo!

First off the ranks was a kind of green salad-y type thing-o made with lots of fresh yummy flavours and the capacity to change up the grains (which is what I did).

Here's how to make your very own:

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of cooked grain (I used millet and freekeh)
5 chopped cherry tomatoes
1/4 red capsicum chopped
1 green capsicum copped
2 x 125g tin mixed 4 beans
Handful of bean sprouts

Green sauce:
1 bunch basil
1 large handful spinach
squeeze of lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Method:
1. Place half the veg in a bowl- the other in another bowl.
2. Add each grain to a single bowl (or just the one bowl if you have just one grain)
3. Place every ingredient for the green sauce into a small food processor and process until combined.
4. Stir half the sauce into each bowl.
5. Transfer to separate containers and store in the fridge until required 

Dee-lish!

The second meal I prepped was original going to be ratatouille, but then I started adding some more random stuff in, so now I call it a delicious random assortment stew!

 Ingredients:
You can basically chuck any veg you like in the pot but here's what I used:
A handful of chopped sweet potato (2 cm cubes)
handful of chopped white potato (2 cm cubes)
1/4 large zucchini (chopped to the same size as potato)
1/4 large eggplant (same size)
handful of chopped cherry tomatoes
4-5 chopped button mushrooms
1 teaspoon garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon rosemary
2 tablespoons no-added-salt tomato paste

Polenta:
Either ready made polenta, or follow directions on packet (vary) then spread onto baking paper, leave to the side for 10-15 mins, then slice into cubes, fry off slightly in a pan with some olive oil.

Method:
Place the garlic and potatoes in a saucepan over medium heat and cook for a few minutes until fragrant and slightly browned
2. Add all the other veggies and cook for a further few minutes
3. Add some water and continue cooking for 1 minute- then add the tomato paste, herbs and 2 cups of water and stir to combine.
4. Place a lid over the pot and boil for 20 minutes (make sure the water doesn't run out- but don't add so much that it loses flavour)

5. Remove lid, continue cooking for 5 mins until most of the water is absorbed and then stir through the slightly fried polenta bites:

 Tasty leftover polenta never goes to waste!

 6. Leave to cool slightly and then transfer to a container to be placed in the fridge until required.

ENJOY!


I can't tell you how relived I am to have 4 meals prepped and waiting in the fridge for this week and even though it takes out about an hour from my day- it definitely saves me so much time during the week! Definitely give it a go!!

Your turn:
Are you a meal prepper?
Favourite meals to prep?
Do you eat the same meals day in day out because that's how your prep works?

That's it from me today folks. We'll see how much posting I can get done during the week, but until next time- have a great week, eat something awesome and do something everyday that makes you proud to be you! Bye for now friendly friends!! :D