WIAW #79- A Good Food Day!

Hello there friends!!
How has your week been going so far??
Mine has been filled with...
Studying. All the studying. So much studying. And food too, because for some reason I have been ravenously hungry! But that's never really a problem though- as it is such an easy solution- EAT ALL THE FOOD!

So today we celebrate the gloriousness that is food via the super-awesome link-up that is WIAW!! Thanks to Peas and Crayons for creating this awesome link-up!

This particular day was taken from Tuesday, a day of Blogilates workouts, school, school, school, flute lesson, study, and RELAXATION (finally!)

Breakfast: 7:15am
After a fun cardio Blogilats fitness video along with my 30-day fitness challenge, the stomach started grumbling and the body was craving a...

Creamy-dreamy green smoothie!!!

This delicious specimen of food love included a frozen banana, 1/4 rockmelon cut up and frozen, kale, spinach, oats and chia seeds soaked in almond milk, cashew butter and water:

I love adding rockmelon to smoothies as it has a beautiful flavour and adds to the voluminous and thick-ness of the smoothie (and I love slurping up a THICK smoothie!)

Although, always a spoon, just in case:

Nom.

Snack: 11:05am
PEAS

I LOVE PEAS.

Lunch: 1:40pm
By lunch, after 4 periods of school (one being PE) food was on my mind and a delicious lunch was sitting in my locker:

Roasted potato and white sweet potato with drained four beans, lentils and spinach:

Filling, delicious... happy days!

Snack: 4:00pm
Even thought that awesome lunch hit the spot, my stomach was grumbling once again by the time I got home and so a snack was required:

A nashi pear with black gapes and a mug of soy milk:

The rushing off to a flute lesson!

Dinner: 6:45pm
Flute lesson done, a little more studying entailing and dinner time rushing up to me..

Resulting in 2 slices of rye toast, topped with Vegemite, smashed avocado and poached egg, with a side of steamed veg (brussels, pumpkin, beetroot, parsnip):

It's days like these where I absolutely love eating.

I kid, of course. It's everyday that I absolutely love eating!

Finishing off the day with some almond milk warmed up with cinnamon- sweet, creamy and delicious!

And that's what I ate! Lot's of tasty, delicious fruit, veg,whole grains, protein- the body was feeling good!!

What about you?
Have you ever thrown rock melon in a smoothie?
Favourite frozen fruit (besides banana) to chuck in a smoothie?
Are you a 'leave a pumpkin skin on or off' kind of person? I always leave it on- I don't know why I just love the taste?!

I hope you all have a lovely rest of your day (however much rest of it there is left), smile lots, laugh even more and as always; eat something delicious! Bye for now!! :D

Because sometimes you just need easy!

Hello Friends!

This is not a beautiful recipe post.

This is not an inspirational, food creation post.

This is not a creative creation from Steph in the magical land of kitchen creativity.

No. This is real life and in real life we have one of those day (days;) when coming up with something out of this world amazing/ sophisticated is simply out of the question and sometimes random creations come to fruition and it just might be what you really wanted after all!

Make sense?

Good! :D

Now let me give you some examples of such creations:

When I have to go to work of an evening and return at night in need of some food to fill my dinner-less filled belly...

That is when some pre-roasted potatoes (orange sweet potato and white sweet potato) with pre-boiled brown rice become your new favourite person.

Or those times when you've spent the whole day at school, studying and doing tests and assignments and then come home to more studying for tests and assignments and then dinner rocks up like 'Hey, I exist!' and all.

Enter avocado and baked beans and hommus on rye bread, toasted in a jaffle iron, along with the leftover baked beans and the end piece of toast topped with hommus, avocado and two poached eggs, with a side of steaqmed pumpkin and parsnip.

So easy to whip up requiring approximately 0.24% of my brain power.
Excellent.

Finally when life just gets way too busy and some leftover cold pasta in the fridge is such a good idea.

Especially when paired with the genius idea of mashed avocado mixed with hommus:

Boom. Cold, creamy avocado pasta!!

Eaten alongside some steamed greens with chili garlic tofu, because in all honesty I'm an eating machine and avocado pasta would not have filled me up!

Yes, I will admit to the world that even us food bloggers have those days when cooking food/ having the time to cook food is simply out of the question and random assortments of food on a plate is sometimes the best meal that could have happened any way.

Tell me:

Do you find you have those days/ weeks of 0 food time/ inspiration?

What's your go-to easy meal to create when you just. can't.

Cold pasta? Yay/ Nay? I love cold pasta so much!! I used to bring cold pasta to school for lunch with some grated cheese on top- best lunch ever!

I hope you can all relate to this at some point in your life and just know that it's absolutely fine to make whatever sounds good in the moment. Have a fantastic day and as always- eat something delicious (whatever it may be!) Bye!! :D

Getting Oat-rageously creative!

Hidy-ho friendly friends.
I like oats, you probably like oats (unless you don't) so today you are going to enjoy a full post about...

OATS!!

YES!!!

Ok, ok I know oats may not be the most exciting thing in the entire universe but before you go jumping to such oat-rageous claims, hear me oat! (Ok, I'll stop now ;)

I love being creative with the different flavours I can add to my oats to keep them new and exciting (because let's keep it real here, I eat oats A LOT) and of recently I have come up with some rather delicious creations!

So read on below to find two of my (if I do say so myself) rather fabulous oat experiments that you just might like to try out yourself!

The first concoction to enter my bowl:

 Creamy lemon cheesecake oats:

Topped with a pool of melted coconut butter! Nom!

I've added citrus to my oats before (see orange poppy seed oats) so I already knew adding lemon to a creamy bowl of whipped banana oatmeal would be brilliant:

So into a saucepan went 1/2 cup steel cut oats with 1 chopped banana, sprinkling of chia seeds, zest and juice of half a lemon, 1 cup almond milk, 1 cup water- bubbled away on medium heat until all the liquid is absorbed (may need to add more). Then leave to cool slightly before adding in some greek yoghurt (optional) and transfer to a bowl (lined with coconut butter if you want the ultimate delicious experience) and top with more coconut butter!

Lemon-y, cheesecake-y, coconutt-y... this was a pretty good way to start off my day!

Big spoons is the only way to go:

I'll just let the pictures do the talking :)

My next oat success came in the form of chocolate... and orange.

Now, I was never really a big fan of the whole choc-orange combo.
My entire childhood was spent avoiding the deadly choc-orange chocolates in those mixed variety chocolate boxes people love to give as presents.
And then I made Mindy's tart for the first time and was converted. (If you're not a fan of chocolate and orange- MAKE THIS NOW- it is so good!

So these oats feature that traditional flavour of citrus and chocolate and boy-ohboy does it do it proud!

To make this guy I simply placed 1/2 cup steel cut oats in a saucepan with 1 chopped banana, sprinkle of chia seeds, 1 heaped teaspoon raw cacao powder, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 cup almond milk, 1 cup water, bubbled away until the liquid was absorbed (stirring every so often for about 15 minutes), before folding in 1/2 of an orange's zest. Then I folded in some greek yoghurt (again, optional) transferred to a mug (in thirds, as there was nut butter scattered throughout!) and topped with some cashew butter:

And once again, a big spoon of oats is utterly essential for full enjoyment of this flavour-packed delight!

There you have it! Two very different bowls of oats, filled with fresh, vibrant flavours to please anyone's palate and jam-packed full of wholegrains, vitamins, minerals, fruit, protein- it just doesn't get much better than a bowl full of dessert-flavoured oatmeal for breakfast!

Your turn:
Lemon cheesecake or choc-orange cheesecake? I don't think I can decide between them! It all depends on what I'm feeling like on the day!
Favourite oat cration you've ever made?
Typical ingredients you always add to your oats? Mine would probably be a thinly sliced banana. Nothing can beat that delicious creaminess with bonus sweetness!


I hope you all have a wonderful day, do something you love and, as always, eat something delicious. Bye for now friends!! :D

A quick stop-in to share some links!

Hidy ho friendly friends!

Today was not one of those relaxing stress-free Sundays that I always drag on about.

Oh no.

Today was a day filled with hectic work, work work (of both the actual work and school variety!)

So, without further a-do (and without a proper intro! ;) here are some lovely links I've picked up from the week that was...

Food:

I Banana Bread Nutella Muffins

Red Curry Basmati Rice and Tempeh Stuffed Acorn Squash

Vegan Pecan Pumpkin Shake – No Ice Cream Needed!

Brussels Sprouts 3 Ways: Roasted Balsamic Brussels Sprouts | Vegan, GF

Crispy Avocado Fingers

Naughty Vegan Food Recipes!

Protein pumpkin fudge oreo cake. Low sugar. Egg and grain free 

Fitness:

The Balance Between Resting, Running, and Eating

How to Work with Your Fatigue Threshold

Why Foam Rolling Will Change Your Life (and Thighs)

The Most Fun Way to Work Your Upper Body and Core

Health:

8 Reasons To Avoid Sugar (That Have Nothing To Do With Weight Loss)

Fun:

The Debate Has Been Settled: Hot Dogs Are NOT Sandwiches

31 Tweets About Exercise That Will Make You Laugh Out Loud

A little bit of a shorter list this week (partly to do with the fact that there was a very small window of free time available!!) but still some great reads in there!

I hope you all have a great day (hopefully less hectic than mine!) enjoy yourself and eat something delicious!! Bye for now friendly friends! :D

WIAW #78- A little detox :)

Hidy-ho folky folks!

I hope you're all having a wonderful day and are eating even more wonderful foods.

I say this because it is Wednesday- and on Wednesday we celebrate food WIAW style!! That is posting pictures of all the food that enters our belly's... before it turns into the soup-like chyme when mixed with the stomachs acidic juices :)

Now that we are in the mood to delve into ALL the food, let us begin! Thanks Peas and Crayons for the link-up!

Breakfast: 7:15am

My day started off at the crack of dawn (which just so happens to be 5:15am at the moment!) followed by a small ab workout with my new favourite YouTube channel (Blogilates shout out!) and a 30-day fitness challenge I started with a friend (we're on day 6 if you were wondering ;))

And then breakfast happened. Finally! (Have i mentioned how hungry I am when I get up in the morning? Once or twice?)

Breakfast was awesome.

Mango fro-yo (frozen mango + greek yoghurt blitzed in a food processor until smooth)
Plus a cashew butter and banana toasted sandwich on home-made spelt/ rye bread:

Nom!

Snack: 11:00am
It's almost getting laughable how predictable my mid-morning snack is. I just don't feel like anything else!!

Peas guys. Peas.

Lunch: 1:15pm
My stomach was having one of those days when it just needed a bit of a detox from life. So I made a simple salad of plain boiled brown rice, spinach, carrot, green capsicum, celery, raw asparagus and... that's it!

It totally hit the spot (even though to any sane person it may sound like a taste-less nightmare) and left me feeling re-energised and happy! (What I believe food should always do- honour your body guys!! :D)

Snack: 4:00pm
After a jammed-pack day at school (I don't think it should be legal to have 6 tests in one week... but that's just my view point.) I came home rather ravenous and sourced out a plate of yummy goodness:

A granny smith apple with the most beautifully ripe, sweet and perfect rockmelon/ cantaloupe I think I've ever had!

Fruit will always make me happy :)
Dinner: 6:45pm
Dinner couldn't come soon enough and quite frankly couldn't ever seem to be enough! I roasted up some white sweet potato (yes, it's back!!!) and regular potato in olive oil for about an hour, then mixed that with some hommus-y lentils and grilled tempeh:

Quite tasty and super easy to whip up!
After dinner the hunger bug was still present so I had two squares of 85% Lindt Excellence dark choc :).
Happy Days.

And that's what I ate!

Your turn:
Have you ever done a 30-day fitness challenge? I'm kinda scared about day 30- hello 90 SQUATS!?!
Favourite 'detoxifying' foods/ meals?
Potatoes; roasted, mashed, boiled or baked? I hands-down pick roasted. So. Good!

Well, that's it from me today friends, make sure you have a brilliant day, smile lots, eat delicious foods and look after yourself!! See ya next time!

Lately in lunches!

Hi friendly friends!!

I love lunch.

But it's one of those meals that I don't share all that often. Maybe it's because I find that not as interesting as a fun new oatmeal creation or smoothie concoction (I've mentioned it before, I should probably just turn this food blog into a breakfast blog!)

However, my lunches have been looking mighty fine lately (if I do say so myself) and tasting even better. Er go, here is a post about lunch (and how to make your next one utterly amazing!)

Generally for lunch I like to go with a base grain and then work up with the veg, flavours and then protein I'm going to add. Enter this gorgeous rice bowl:

In the mix was brown rice, broccoli, brussels, shredded carrot and zucchini, capsicum, eggplant and kale, topped off with a runny pan-fried egg:

I simply cooked up the brown rice until tender, sauteed the veg in a large fry-pan over medium heat with a little olive oil, onion and garlic, added the rice and kale to the mix for the last few mins, fried up an egg in a touch more olive oil and voila!

Taste sensation!

Filling, healthy and delicious (triple threat?)

This guy didn't last too long!!

Exhibit B, is the ultimate veggie sandwich taken to a whole new level (yes, my friends, it got even better)!
I don't know what it is but over time this sandwich has just evolved into perfection on a plate. Let me explain...

When you cook a large portobello mushroom and two slices of eggplant in a non-stick fry-pan until tender and brown...

Then also grill up some capsicum and half-cooked pumpkin slices (I microwave mine for a few minutes) and pile it on top of that beautiful seedy wholegrain cape seed roll...

With a generous spreading of hommus, followed by spinach, pumpkin, eggplant, mushroom, salsa/ tomato slices, other eggplant and rest of pumpkin then capsicum...

And then you heat it up and brown the outsides in a sandwich press...
You get what can only be described by one word. YUM.

 Opened up:

 Aaaand devoured: (messily, I might add :P)

 Finally, a make-ahead marvel!

This container of goodness was some wholemeal cous cous, mixed with 4-beans, grilled capsicum and mushrooms and some kale pesto!!

And yes, it tasted as good as it looks!

Another easy, prepare in advance meal that ticks all the boxes!!

So that's been life on the lunch front lately!

What about you?
Are you a fan of lunch? I think it's the meal of the day where I am most hungry!
Favourite lunch of all time?
Your typical primary school lunch that you brought to school on the daily? Hello squashed Vegemite sandwiches (I squashed them by the way!)

I hope you all have a great rest of your day, eat something delicious as always and tell someone you love them! Bye for now!! :D