Winter Wellness Bowl

Excuse me if this post is a little jumbled, but I have been up since 3am and am starting to feel a little weary. Yes, 3am sounds crazy to me too, but for the next year of my life this will be my regular for a Monday. As part of my graduate programme, I spend one day a week out in the field. This involves being in a supermarket at 4am making sure all of our shelves are well stocked and tidy and that our displays are all set up.... Hence the 3am wake up.

With my Monday's spent in a state of sleep deprivation and spending quite a lot of it driving in a car, I need to figure out some great nutritious meals and snacks that are easy to eat in my breaks between stores. Today I did ok, eating a bit of fruit and some sugar-free oat mufifn things, but I definitely think that I could do better.

This winter wellness bowl that I made the other week would actually be a great choice.  This bowl is packed full of nutrition and uses some great seasonal vegetables. In this I included brussel sprouts and kumara, but it would also be great with pumpkin or butternut squash. The same goes for the chickpeas that I used. I love chickpeas as they really help to fill me up and are a great source of protein, but you could use lentils, kidney beans or some leftover chicken.

Serves 1

Ingredients

1 medium kumara      

1 cup finely sliced brussel sprouts

1/2 tsp vegetable stock powder

1/2 cup water

1 cup cooked quinoa/amaranth/rice or other grain

1 cup chickpeas

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp cumin seeds

Squeeze lime juice

If you have time, wash the kumara and roast in the oven until soft. If you are short on time, prick the kumara all over with a fork and cook in the microwave for around 6 minutes, turning half way through. 

Heat a fry pan over a medium heat, add a little coconut oil and then add the brussel sprouts. Stirfry for 3-4 minutes, then add the water and stock. Simmer for a few minutes until the water has evaportaed and the sprouts are soft.

In the same pan, heat a little more coconut oil. Add the cumin seeds and paprika and fry over a medium-high heat until the cumin seeds start to 'pop'. Add the chickpeas and saute until they are well coated in the spices. Squeeze over a little lime juice

Chop the cooked kumara, then assemble all of the ingredients together as nicely or as un-nicely as you like.

Chia & Oat Pudding

Hi everyone. How is your week of wholegrains going? I will admit that not every single grain-based food that I have eaten this week has been wholegrain, but I would estimate that around 80% has been, a balance that I am happy with. One of my wholegrain foods that I loved this week were some chickpea and quinoa patties from Donna Hay. Quinoa is a great source of protein, fibre and lots of other vitamins and minerals, so it really is a great wholegrain to try to include.

This weekend is Waitangi weekend, which means that we get an extra day of weekend. Yesterday we spent doing chores around the house, including sorting through the pantry (which is a great way to see what ingredients need using up in the next few weeks). Today we headed North up to the Matakana farmers market for breakfast. We found ourselves some Bacon, Egg, Chorizo and Veggie breakfast wraps which were delicious! After that we headed to a nearby Marine Reserve to go snorkelling for a few hours. It was amazing how many fish there were and how close you could get to some of them!

So on to today's recipe. I'm not the sort of person who can keep eating the same breakfast day after day. I like to mix things up a little, which means that I am constantly on the lookout for great new breakfast ideas (I actually judge a food blog primarily on its breakfast recipes).

I had seen lots of recipes around for chia puddings, but I thought that I would try and make a slightly more filling and interesting version. This recipe contains the wholegrain goodness of chia seeds and oats, and is the sort of recipe that you can customise with your own flavours and toppings. This breakfast was pretty easy to make, tasted great, and kept me full all morning.

Enjoy x

Serves 1, but easy to double or triple quantities.

Ingredients
2 Tbsp chia seeds
1/4 Tbsp rolled oats
1/4 Cup Greek Yoghurt
1 Cup Almond Milk
1 Banana
1 Tbsp Rice Malt Syrup, honey, or other liquid sweetener
1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)

In a bowl place the chia seeds, rolled oats, yoghurt and almond milk. Stir to mix, cover and place in the fridge overnight.

In the morning, place the contents of the bowl in a blender or food processor, along with the banana and sweetener of choice.

Blend until smooth, thick and creamy.

Enjoy topped with your favourite fruit and nuts (mine had blueberries hidden in the middle).