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!