A Valentines Day Birthday

For this weeks WIAW im sharing my valentines day eats, as it was the husbands birthday too, so extra treats all round. 

For some reason I didn't get any sleep that night, which is weird because I was shattered all evening and the minute my head hit the pillow I was wide awake. Hello grey bags. So I got up at 5am, made some lists (love lists) planned some recipes and had a glass of milk with some oatcakes. I also found this brilliant alternative to valentines day chocolates from Protein Pow. I haven't got time to try these yet but its on the list. 

So I started of the day with a hearty bowl of porridge made with chia seeds, wheat  germ, blueberries and agave nectar. Really needed a healthy start as I knew the day would have a not-so-healthy end to it...

After some running around and buying the ingredients for a birthday cake, I made this....

Salted caramel and chocolate cake....it reminds me of the chocolate cake Mrs Trunchable makes one of her school children eat in Roald Dahl's Matilda, to teach him a lesson in gluttony.....and we were very gluttonous.

One slice of this cake is enough to nearly kill me, death by chocolate! I cant remember what I had for lunch, something tells me I forgot to eat it in the midst of a chocolate related whisk explosion (I used a very old whisking machine, the plate moves as well as the whisk attachments, who knew?!) 

But there were plenty of champers, sweets and nibbles while we sat in the garden listening to music and just chilling out. The inevitable drunkenness ensued while we munched our way through crisps and sweets and then thought it would be a good idea to get mexican food...and it was! It was the best burrito ever with loads of fresh chicken, guacamole, spinach in a delicious wrap and a side order of cheesy nachos with a kick ass sour cream and more guac and salsa.

It was a really good day, but I was more than ready to get back to some more civilised eating and drinking the next day, with lots of green smoothie action to recover! 

WIAW

There's been a lot of experimenting in the kitchen this week, some good, some bad. 

I started the day with a green tea and a yakult, my usual mix before making breakfast. And breakfast was pretty good considering I didn't have much in the food cupboard (panic...) but I always have oats! So I made a simple porridge with almond milk, chia seeds, frozen banana and topped it with some coconut butter at the end. Oh yeahhhhh. 

Then I headed to the gym for pilates. They made us pair up in twos for some of the stretches, which I always dread because it involves kicking my legs in the air and thrusting my pelvis into someone's face. My instinct was to keep apologising! But im glad I did it, at least its one way of meeting new people...

I always forget how much of a good workout pilates is, I started to feel the burn when I got home, so I made a green smoothie to re-fuel. This one was made with frozen spinach, 1/2 a frozen banana, 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder (sunwarrior) almond milk and cinnamon. I sprinkled some coconut and muesli on top. Mmm.

Then I had a coffee and a few carrots with hummus. Ive been struggling with ideas for healthy snacks this week, so ive just been overloading on carrots but its getting a bit boring. Then I remembered how much I used to love snacking on a couple of oat cakes with some smoked salmon, avocado or just with almond butter spread on top. They are so versatile and tasty, but there not easily accessible over here in oz, seems to be a bit of a specialist buy. So I made my own! 

Homemade oat cakes
Makes 12 cakes

Ingredients

140g oatbran 

140g rolled oats

75ml canola oil (or 1/3 of a cup)

pinch of salt

1/3 cup of water, or enough to help the mixture combine 

Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and preheat your oven to 180 degrees. 

Combine all the ingredients together until you get a dough like texture and can lift out of the bowl easily. Add more water if you need the oats to stick together more. Flatten the mixture down and cool in the fridge for 10 minutes, this will help you roll it out later. 

Sprinkle flour on your work surface and take your dough out of the fridge. Roll out the dough, being careful as it can be crumbly. 

Using a round cookie cutter, cut 12 discs and place them on the lined baking tray. Bake in the over for 15-20 minutes. Leave to cool and enjoy with your favourite topping. 

I snacked on 2 of these with some almond butter, the best. 

After I cleaned up the mess id made in the kitchen, I started looking for new recipes at meal times. I found a really good one for broccoli and parsnip soup but having brought all of the ingredients I got home to find my blender was not working. Recipe fail. So I had to improvise....and this is what I came up with...

Healthy egg and chips! I roasted the parsnips in the oven with some courgettes, steamed some broccoli and served it with a poached egg on top. I would probably get linched for calling this egg and chip back home, but what do i care? im hundreds of miles away in the sun HA. 

We settled down to watch a film that evening, so desert was on the cards... I had some low fat greek yoghurt (I usually have total 2% but it doesn't exist over here!!! so I've settled for farmers market 50% less fat, the best ive found) with some blackberries, agave nectar and a slice of protein banana bread from Protein Pow. All in all a good days eats, considering I had hardly anything in the food cupboard and failed in the kitchen a couple of times... 

My favourite post-workout green smoothie

Im always experimenting with different flavours in my smoothies because they're a great way to get nutrients into your body, are easily digestible and taste amazing. 

I often see people at the gym mixing protein powders with water, vigorously shaking them and downing them in seconds. I've never really seen the appeal of this, I prefer to add extra veggies and fruit to my smoothies to make them more interesting. 

My favourite at the moment is simple but tasty.

Post workout green smoothie
Serves 1

Ingredients
1 frozen banana 
1 scoop of vanilla protein powder (I use sunwarrior)
2 handfuls of frozen spinach cubes (or fresh spinach)
1 cup of coconut milk (I used coco-quench but would work well with reduced fat coconut milk)
1 tbs almond butter

Mix everything in a blender. Serve in a tall glass or bowl if using extra toppings. My favourites are my homemade muesli or granola sprinkled on top, or sometimes I like to crumble a chocolate protein ball (recipe to some soon).

Carrot Cake Green Smoothie

My all time favourite cake is a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. I like the spice from the ginger and the sweetness from the carrot and raisins. It cant be too hard to put these flavours into a green smoothie right? The first time I tried this I put way to much ginger in = screwed up face. The second time worked much better. 

Carrot Cake Green Smoothie
Serves 1 

Ingredients
1 small frozen banana
2 handfuls of spinach (I used frozen spinach, its cheaper and still packed with nutrients)
1 large carrot
1 cup of unsweetened almond milk
1/4 of an avocado 
1 tbp almond butter 
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract

Optional toppings
Walnuts
Raisins 
Unsweetened dessicated coconut

I grated the carrot into the blender, added the rest of the ingredients, blitz and glug. 

I sometimes have this is a bowl with walnuts, raisins and sprinkled coconut.Today I had no raisins, so I had to do without!

Im working on a cream cheese "frosting" but no luck yet. Will report back when I succeed!

Blackberry booster smoothie

Breakfast today had to be something easy because I was still in a morning zombie like state (hair upright on top of head, stumbling into the kitchen, inaudible groaning). Its also over 40 degrees here so a cold smoothie sounded good. And the blackberry booster smoothie was born!

Blackberry Booster Smoothie
Serves 1

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups of unsweetened almond milk
1/4 cup frozen blackberries
1 medium banana
1 tbs almond butter
1 tbs wheatgerm
1 tsp agave nectar 

Pop everything in a blender and mix. Serve in a tall glass and glug away.

This strengthening smoothie has lots of calcium and antioxidants to help boost your bones and fight free radicals. Helps fight morning zombie.

See? no zombies.

Maca Powder- The superhero of superfoods?

Like a lot of people I'm becoming more and more concious about my health, being keen to experiment with superfoods in smoothies, sprinkled on cereals, stirred in porridge, basically anything which packs a nutritional punch makes it onto my shopping list. 

But the range of superfoods on offer can be overwhelming and at first I found it difficult to pick which ones I thought would benefit my daily needs. The only way to know is to try it out. And it takes time to figure out which ones are working. 

So my daily go-to smoothie add-ins tend to be a combination of either protein powder, chia seeds, flaxseed and wheat germ. Added to this list is maca powder. I've been trying it for a month, and without realising it I think I've started to reap the benefits. 

The health benefits of maca:

• Regulate hormone imbalance
• Increase energy levels (high in B-Vitamins)
• Increase libido
• Rich in vitamins, minerals, essential amino acids and high in magnesium and calcium

Over the last month I've noticed I have more energy after the gym. Usually after 5 days straight I would be ready to lie down on the sofa and sink into a t.v coma, but these last few days I found myself giving the kitchen a spring clean, batch preparing healthy snacks, and just being more productive. 

I've also noticed that my PMS is not so severe. I realised last night that I haven't had any tense headaches this month, which I usually get before my period, and I haven't had any unexplainable mood swings. Good news for husband. Of course I still experienced the bloating but I've definitely seen an improvement in my stress levels and Im hoping its down to the benefits of maca, but it will take a few more trial months before I can be sure. 

Basically, anything which puts the PMS monster to sleep gets a thumbs up from me. Ive tried adding it to different bakes and it tends to work really well, giving them a slightly caramel flavour. 

WIAW: Coconut porridge+blackberries and steak night

Im very excited about my first "What I ate Wednesday" post and being part of this bloggers social event every Wednesday :0)

The voyeur in me loves WIAW posts for food inspiration and celebrating healthy living. Reading other bloggers WIAW has really benefited my healthy eating goals and finally gives me a valid excuse to take pictures of everything I eat, which I've been doing for a while now anyway and Im sure people just think im weird. 

Even though its summer here I really fancied a bowl of oats, which is probably what I would be eating back home in the UK right now. Maybe my body still thinks its winter? Not sure how as its constantly sunburnt. 

I made coconut porridge with frozen blackberries and some Coco-Quench Milk I discovered last month, and am now obsessed with. Its a blend of rice milk and coconut water. I haven't seen this in the UK before but they should definitely introduce it if they haven't already because it has an intense coconut flavour but without the major calories from the tinned stuff I usually get. 

I mixed 35g rolled oats, 1 cup of water and 1/2 cup of coco-quench with 1 tsp chia seeds. I stirred this for about 8 minutes as it was quite watery at first, but thickened nicely by the end. I stirred in some walnuts and frozen blackberries at the end. The mix was really nice and I enjoyed the tartness from the berries.

I had this with a pomegranate green tea in the new tetleys range. The blackberries melted nicely and reminded me of how Ben's mom made my oats with blackberry jam and honey. Think its a Nigel Slater recipe?

I spent the best part of the day in my p.j's (happens a lot) searching for jobs on the internet, having just moved here to Melbourne. So I had plenty of time to get to the gym for my Bodypump class, and some cardio afterwards.

When I got back from the gym I made a mega salad of avocado, grated carrot, peppers, spinach, mixed seeds and a drizzle of olive oil with a chia tea on the side.

The combination of spinach, avocado and seeds was amazing, one of my favourite go-to recipes when I get a mind blank, which usually happens after the gym...

Snacks included some carrots and hummus and dinner was steak and pan roasted courgettes and red peppers

I cant get enough of courgettes at the moment, they're so quick to cook and I wanted something that would cook as quick as my steak (which basically gets a couple of minutes in the griddle pan and then straight to my plate).

Late that evening we sat down to some more Breaking Bad, (because I cant get through a day without an episode) so I had one of my nutty chocolate protein brownies I made earlier in the week with some semi-frozen banana, greek yoghurt and a few dried blueberries on top. I then went back for an extra handful of walnuts, really craved them. 

Almond Butter Energy Chunks

I adapted this recipe from Oh She Glows, a blog I have been obsessed with lately. I made a few changes according to what I had in the food cupboard and they turned out pretty good. They have a flapjack texture but the added protein hit makes this a substantial snack. 

Almond Butter Energy Chunks

Yields 12 small "chunks" 

Ingredients

1.5 cup of rolled oats

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

2 scoops vanilla protein powder (I used sunwarrior raw blend)

2 tbsp Almond Butter

3 tbsp Agave Nectar

Oat milk to moisten 

Chocolate Drizzle

1/2 tbsp Coconut Oil

1 tbsp Cacao powder

I started by combining the oats and walnuts in a blender and blitzing until finely chopped. Then I added the oat mixture to the protein powder in a large bowl, with the almond butter and agave nectar. After stirring for a few minutes the mixture will still be quite dry so its a good idea to add oat milk (or almond milk would work well) to moisten until you can press the mixture together and it holds its shape. 

Mould the mixture into a plastic container lined with baking parchment and press down until flat. Pop in the freezer for 5 minutes while you make the chocolate drizzle. 

In a cup, add the coconut oil and cacao powder. Microwave for 30 seconds until melted. Take your chunks out of the freezer and cut into squares. Drizzle the chocolate mixture over the chunks and place back in the freezer to firm up. 

Once firm, store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to one month. Or eat within a week if keeping in the fridge. 

Coconut, Chia & Blackberry Porridge

Ingredients

Serves 1

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 cup water

1/2 cup coco-quench milk

1 tbsp chia seeds

handful of frozen blackberries

walnuts to garnish

Stir all the ingredients together, apart from the walnuts and blackberries. This will take around 8-10 minutes as the mixture is quite watery at first but thickens up nicely.

Then stir in the walnuts and blackberries at the end. I enjoyed the tartness from the blackberries with the coconut milk, but I have tried this with banana and raisins too and that's equally amazing.

Classic Hummus

I've developed quite a costly hummus obsession lately, so I got off my bum this afternoon and started making my own. Its so simple I don't know why its taken me this long to do it. And tastes way better than shop brought. Even if you do get hummus in your hair in the process.

Classic Hummus

Ingredients

400g Chickpeas, drained

2 tbsp Tahini

4 tbsp water

1 garlic clove

1 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Seasoning

Blitz all the ingredients in a blender. Easy.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

I had some roasted red peppers already marinated in a jar from last week so I added a handful of these to the mixture above for a sweeter variation. 

Nutty chocolate protein brownies

Nutty chocolate protein brownies

Makes 6 squares

Ingredients

1/2 cup dates

1/3 cup walnuts (or any mixed nuts of your choice)

2 tbsp rolled oats

1 tbsp raw cacao powder

1 scoop vanilla protein powder (I used sunwarrior raw-warrior blend)

4 tbsp water

Chop the dates and crumble the walnuts into the blender with the oats, water and cacao powder. Blend until the mixture clumps together then add the protein powder and blend again. 

Scoop the mixture into a bowl and bring together with your hands. Put the mixture into a a cling film lined plastic container-I used a shallow lunchbox container-and press down flat. Chill in the fridge for a couple of hours before cutting into squares. 

Finally there's a way I can eat chocolate and not get the dreaded food guilt if I'm on a diet of some sort. These taste so decadent, considering there's no added refined sugar or butter. I put the remaining squares into the freezer, for tasty treats later on in the month. I think these would be great with dried fruit added too. Come to think of it Im not sure why the oats are in there, I just started throwing stuff in from our food cupboard. Professional. 

First aussie BBQ+super salads+beating the bloat

So I think its safe to say that we have finally settled into to our new lifestyle out here in Oz, having spent the best part of the day soaking up the sun, enjoying our first BBQ with our new housemates in our new home.

I don't think ive eaten this much since Christmas, mainly because I've been trying to get back into my usual routine having spent the best part of 3 months travelling around Asia. I feel much more at home preparing my own meals and getting back into the kitchen to bake. That said, today was the first real break from my two week sort of detox plan, which was basically just to eat clean and lean to shed those few pounds I picked up on my travels. Its going well so far, but I still have a way to go getting back into my gym routine, its amazing how quickly my body lost its shape not going to the gym these past few months. 

So, this BBQ was MEGA, we had lamb burgers, beef sausages, watermelon, feta and mint salad, home-made tzatziki and hummus, wholemeal pita's and an avocado and melon salad with a yoghurt-chilli dressing, this was the best! and prepared by my housemate so ill get the recipe and blog it soon. 

One of the things I noticed after the BBQ was that everyone seemed to gain an appetite again later that evening, but I seemed to still be digesting lunch. I think it must be down to having IBS because I always seem to fair better when I eat 5 or 6 smaller meals a day, and when I eat a huge meal it just takes ages to digest and I feel incredibly bloated all day. Which doesn't seem like such a big problem to some people but if you have IBS its really uncomfortable and annoying. I just didn't realise how much my normal eating pattern of smaller meals benefited me. 

So next time maybe ill space out my 3 helpings over the course of the afternoon, rather than shovelling in it all at once...lesson learned.

But I enjoyed the watermelon, mint and feta salad so much. It was so simple but effective, and good idea for a quick evening side salad. I didn't manage to get a picture as we all dived in straight away. But I really like how everyone uses fruit in their salads over here, its a good way to mix up your 5 a day.

So the next day I experimented with a Chicken, Grilled Peach and Feta salad....

This was good, and I really liked the zing from the peaches, a good summer recipe.

Chicken, Grilled Peach and Feta salad
Serves 2
Ingredients

300g Chicken Breast (I used pre-sliced but would work well with thigh or even a whole roasted chicken)
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves
Juice of half a lemon
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 ripe peach (quartered) 
Spray olive oil
50g feta
Half a red onion
handful of cherry tomatoes
mixed leaves 
Mint leaves to garnish

Dressing
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp agave nector

Marinade the chicken breast slices in the olive oil, lemon, chopped garlic and oregano, for at least 10 minutes. Meanwhile, toss the mixed leaves, tomatoes, feta and red onion in a bowl. 
Heat up a griddle pan and pan fry the chicken for about 8-10 minutes until slightly charred but cooked through. Put to one side. Spray the peach slices with oil and add to the griddle pan for about 5 minutes or until golden. 
Mix the peaches with the salad. To make the dressing, combine the oil, vinegar and honey and drizzle over the salad. Divide between two plates, top with sliced chicken and garnish with mint leaves. 

I think next time I might try roasting a whole chicken with the lemon, garlic and oregano, so I can get that nice crispy skin as a treat.

What my body thinks it wants, and what it needs

Sometimes after a tiring day, or at times when im feeling a bit low, I fall into the trap of thinking that my body craves processed, sugary or salty foods and I end up raiding the kitchen for a quick fix. So, I have to remind myself at these times that my body would benefit from munching on some fresh fruits and nuts instead. 

I always enjoy this type of snack anyway but there are always those days where I lose track a little and need an extra reminder. Mainly because my body never reacts well to sugary snacks as I have IBS and find that processed foods will irritate my stomach quite badly. But also because im sad enough to get a kick out of a bag of brazil nuts. 

I don't know why but sometimes I still associate sugary snacks as being some kind of "treat" when its not much of a treat at all for me. I just get very cranky and irritable an hour after eating them (I realise this makes me sound like a 5 year old throwing a tantrum) so on days when I need to unwind I find that a glass of red wine, some dark chocolate and nuts does the trick. 

I think its good to remind myself of this stuff, at any rate it stops me from shoving my face in the fridge looking for a late night pick me up after watching Breaking Bad back to back. Obsessed isn't the word. 

{Recipe} Chocolate Berry Porridge Oats

I woke up this morning craving oats but didn't fancy my usual mix of almond milk and cinnamon, so I decided to use some of the raw cacao powder I brought from Victoria Market on Saturday and the rest of the frozen berries I had in the freezer, and it turned out pretty well.

This consisted of 1/2 cup of rolled oats, 1 cup of water, 1/2 cup of coco-quench rice milk (this stuff is amazing!) 1 tsp cacao powder, 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder (I've been using sunwarrior's new bend which is less grainier than their previous version) 1 tsp maca powder, 1tsp chia seeds stirred over a hob until it turns thick and creamy. To serve, I added a handful of frozen mixed berries, and they melted sightly while I left the oats to cool. I like to let my oats sit for a bit as I think the flavours come out more when slightly cooled. This was so good, I wanted to make another bowl but I forced myself to wait until the food actually made it to my tummy.

I think the protein powder adds an extra creaminess and thickness but I think you can get away with half a scoop as the coconut rice milk got a little bit lost. So next time I think less vanilla protein, more coconut rice milk and viola...you have a bounty-style breakfast porridge! Will try this again and see if it works!

Motivation!

Its so true!

I blog therefore I am

Hello and welcome to my blog spot, which will hopefully become a place to visit for healthy living ideas and foodie rants.

About me, I'm a brummie. I spent the first half of my twenties wanting a career, the later half of my twenties hating my career. I came to Australia for a year with my husband for something new and interesting to do. I've recently realised that I like to cook, bake, eat and feed people. If I could make some sort of job out of this that would be great. I sit around in my pyjama's too much. I shop online for clothes I don't wear often because im always in my pyjamas. I don't talk that much but I think a lot. 

I don't just "like" something, I obsess over it until it it drives everyone mad. Current obsessions include breakfasts, green smoothies, tea and cake, baking, coconut milk, bodypump, my wedding pictures, eggs, raw chocolate, chia tea, avocado and figs, frozen berries, Breaking Bad, sunday afternoon coffee and magazines, stripes, my mix and go, pyjama days.

Im not sure what sort of blog this will be, I just have the vague idea that it will act as some sort of online organiser for my thoughts, so they have somewhere to spew out onto. I bake a lot and cook all sorts of things, not all of them good. So I hope to post any experiments in the kitchen that actually work, especially the ones with healthy alternatives to the baking classics I love to eat.