Super Green Smoothie

It's been so long since I last posted!! If you follow me on Facebook and Instagram then hoefully you won't feel forgotten, but if you only follow this blog I apologise for neglecting you! A lot has been happening in the last few weeks, including one of my best friends coming up to see Singing in The Rain together. The cast did an amazing job and the water curtain was so impressive! It somehow made me want to go and dance in puddles and I tend to hate rain!

I have been having some pretty delicious food in the past few weeks! We went to some awesome little Japanese place before Singing in The Rain (no idea what it was called but it was across from the Civic Theatre in Auckland). I always love a good Donburi. On Monday this week, I had a work Dinner at Depot. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures, but we got a bunch of share plates of delicious things like Turbot sliders, lamb ribs and Fig and Goat's cheese toasties. Pretty much everything was amazing and I would definitely recommend it (if you can get a seat).

Not all of my meals have been out of course. When my friend was up we attempted to cook our way through the bags and bags of Feijoas that i had from the trees in my back garden. We made Feijoa jam and stewed Feijoas, both of which are delicious. Another great thing I made is this smoothie.

After a pretty jam-packed week last week, including a night of only 3 hours sleep (it was conference alright!), I was feeling in need of a bit of a nutrient boost. This is when I think smoothies really come into their own, as you can jam so much into them, and they are so tasty and easy.

My rule of thumb with smoothies is to include a fruit, some healthy fats, protein and if possible some form of vegetable. This one checked all of the boxes. I had frozen banana, as I love how cold and thick they make the smoothie, coconut oil for some healthy fat, almond milk and protein powder* to keep me full, and baby spinach as the vegetable. To top it off, I added some Vital Greens powder to up my vegetable-based nutrient content.

It's pretty much a power smoothie.

*NB: With Protein powder, aim for one with no refined sugars. I use a Whey Protein Powder that is sweetened with a little bit of Stevia, but plain Whey or plant-based protein powder will also work.

Makes 1 Smoothie

Ingredients
1 banana, chopped and frozen
1 cup almond milk
1 tsp coconut oil
1 scoop protein powder
Handful baby spinach
2 tsp Vital Greens powder
1 tsp pure maple syrup (optional)

Place everything in a high-powered blender or food processor. Blend in two 30 second bursts, or until everything is completely blended together (no one wants chunks of spinach in their smoothie!).

Serve immediately.


Enjoy xx

Fantastic Feijoa Smoothie

Hi everyone. I am finally back with a recipe! After a great Easter break away  I have been feeling a bit more inspired in the kitchen lately, so hopefully I'll get some great recipes up for you over the next few weeks.

I had a really nice Anzac weekend. On Saturday we went mountain biking at Woodhill mountain bike park. It's a really great nearby park full of great mountain biking tracks, however, it turns out that it is actually quite large so we ended up biking for around 3 hours! My legs were complete jelly at the end.

Sunday we went and got a couple of things in town as I wanted some things to put on the wall in our bedroom to make it feel more like 'ours'. Monday the weather wasn't very great, so we mooched around in the morning and then wandered around some more shops.

I came up with this recipe as a way to try and get through some of the dozens and dozens of feijoas that are covering a part of my lawn at the moment. There are four feijoa trees in our back yard and teamed with this year being a bumper season, I have quite the feijoa problem on my hands. I think this weekend I might have to try preserving some.

I love smoothies for breakfast as they are a great way to pack nutrients into a meal and they are nice and portable, so if i'm running late I can also take them along to work with me. I used a frozen banana in my smoothie, but if you don't like the taste of banana, a frozen apple would also be really nice! Haven't pre-prepared frozen fruit? You can always use fresh and add some ice cubes to the mix.

Ingredients

Frozen banana (or apple)

3 medium feijoas

1 cup almond milk

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1-2 tsp honey

Scoop protein powder (optional)

Halve the feijoas and scoop out the flesh. Add all of the ingredients to a blender and whiz until completely smooth (I did around a minute all up). Enjoy nice and cold.

So here is one way to use up my feijoas, now to just find about 20 more. Let me know of you have any great ideas for how to use up my feijoas!

12 Week Challenge Final Week- Be Body Confident

This week is the final week of the 12 Week Challenge. This week is also possibly one of the most challenging weeks. It is easy to change what you have around you to help you eat better, but changing what your brain is telling you... well that is a different story.

Think of your morning routine; you shower, get dressed, do your hair, do your makeup and then go and check yourself in the mirror. What is it that you say to yourself? Do you compliment yourself, or do you find yourself pointing out all of your flaws?

I believe that part of being healthy holistically, is having a positive mindset. So here are my tips on being more body confident:

1. Focus on the positive: A few months ago we had a great speaker come into work who spoke about the influence having a positive mindset can have on your mental wellbeing. So when you look at yourself in the mirror, rather than immediately pointing out to yourself what it is that you don't like, instead find two or three things to compliment yourself on. Focusing on the positive aspects will become a habit and in time, you will find that you notice the positive more than the negative.

2. Don't be a slave to fashion: Not all styles of clothing will suit you, it as simple as that. As much as I love the look of loose, draped layers, between my chest and butt, they tend to look like unflattering sacks on me. While sometimes its frustrating, I just have to remind myself that there are lots of clothes that can look great on me. Rather than following the latest fashions to the letter, you are far better picking out the pieces that suit you and make you feel good and making your own style.

3. Find the little things that make you feel good: Sometimes something little is all it takes to perk up your day. I like to put on bright lipstick when I'm feeling a bit low as I feel like it helps brighten the rest of your day. I also feel better about myself if I've gone for a good run etc. Make time for these little things.

4. Dont try to change what you can't: Sometimes you just have to make peace with what you have. You cannot physically change the length of your limbs, or give yourself an entirely different body shape. So stop wishing you could!

I'm not saying that I am completely body confident, I sadly don't believe that many people are, but it is something that I think that I can constantly be trying to work on.

What are your body confidence tips? What do you do to make you feel brighter?

12 Week Challenge Week 11- Meat-free Monday (or any other day)

Hey everyone. I hope that you had a fantastic easter! I'm sorry that I have been out of action for a few weeks. I ended up getting really busy with work and trying to get everything sorted up in Auckland before we went down to Dunedin for a week and a half. Then unfortunately, the day we got home I was hit by a cold and have been feeling less than fantastic this past week.

Anyway, I am back now and ready to get stuck into Week 11 of the 12 week challenge. This week, the challenge is to go veggie for a day. Why vegetarian? There are a few reasons actually.

1. Saves you money. Meat tends to be the most expensive component of a meal, whereas vegetarian forms of protein are often dirt cheap. Ditching the meat for one day a week is a great way to reduce your food bill a little bit.

2. It forces you to be a bit more creative. Sure you could just go with a simple pasta, but once you start looking, there are actually some really great vegetarian options out there. Some of my favourites are falafel, bean burritos and lentil-based soups.

3. The key to health is variety (of real foods of course), so mixing in some vegetarian is definitely a way to mix things up.

If you are already vegetarian then this will be easy! Perhaps instead you could challenge yourself to try a new vegetarian dish. On the other side, if you are paleo, then you can probably ignore this unless you are able to find a well-balanced vegetarian dish.

Here are some ideas from the blog to help you along:

Try a lentil-based vegetable soup: http://www.libbysfood.blogspot.co.nz/2013/06/pumpkin-and-red-lentil-soup-with.html

This roast beetroot sub makes an easy, quick lunch or dinner: http://libbysfood.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/roast-beetroot-sub.html

In the mood for pizza? Try this veggie based pizza: http://www.libbysfood.blogspot.co.nz/2014/01/veggie-rific-margherita-pizza.html

Stack these potato and parsnip fritters up with avocado and tomato for a delicious meal: http://libbysfood.blogspot.co.nz/2011/08/potato-and-parsnip-fritters.html

Lots a recipe books have a vegetarian section now and you can always use google for more ideas.

12 Week Challenge Week 9- Breath

Hi All! Another week, another challenge.

Right now you may be thinking "What is she on about? I breath all the time!". However, if you stop and think about it, do you ever take the time to stop and take some deep, relaxing breaths?

I thought not.

Unless you have been living in a bubble, you will have heard that stress is just downright not good for you. And you may notice that when you are stressed, you tend to take shallower breaths and tense up, and then you just end up feeling more found up.

That is why this week, I want you to take a minute or two to just stop and take some big, deep breaths. I get that meditation isn't everyone's thing, but if you are in the mood, it is a great way to pause and focus on breathing. For everyone else, pick a time where you have spare minutes. Perhaps you sit in a bit of traffic going to work, or you could do it when you are watching TV.

Just take in a deep breath, right down into your belly, and then let it out slowly and feel yourself start to relax.

That is all the advice that i am going to give you, because frankly, you don't need my instruction to know how to breath.

Good Luck and remember.....

BREATH

Apricot Surprise Muffins (Refined sugar free)

Hi All! I hope that you have enjoyed your weekend. I fit in a spot of shopping yesterday and got a couple of nice things. I managed to find a blouse for work and a striped dress from Valley Girl (gotta love cheap and cheerful). I don't expect these to last that long since they were really cheap, but they will be good for a season or so. I also got a nicer sweater for work from Farmers.

It is very hard to even imagine winter when it is still pretty consistently in the mid 20s up here in Auckland, but I don't want the colder weather to creep up on me and have nothing to wear for work!

I also got out for a bit of Mountain Biking yesterday evening. I'm still very much a beginner at this, and as a result my technique isn't that great. Because of this, I did take a bit of a journey off my bike and onto the ground. Ouch! Luckily I only have a couple of scrapes and bruises to show for this.

I realise that I have been a little bit slack with the recipes lately. It's not that I haven't been creating anything, but I just haven't been taking the time to photograph and document it. I promise to try harder in the future :)

As this week's focus for the 12-week challenge is cutting refined sugar for one day I thought that I should post a recipe that allows you to still enjoy sweet food without all of the refined sugars. I definitely have a sweet tooth, so anything that allows me to indulge in a healthier way is a winner in my book.

These muffins have been sweetened using brown rice syrup, as it doesn't play havoc with blood sugar like refined sugars do and it is a relatively natural alternative. If you don't have access to brown rice syrup, I definitely think that these muffins would work with honey. If you do try let me know! These muffins also feel a bit more like a treat thanks to the creamy 'surprise' that they have in the middle.

Enjoy xx

(Makes 12 regular-sized muffins)

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup wholemeal flour (you could use all wholemeal but they will be stodgier)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
3/4 cup brown rice syrup
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup cream cheese
1 tsp brown rice syrup

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. and line a muffin tin.

In a large bowl, sift the flours, baking powder and baking soda. Stir through the dried apricots.

In a separate bowl, beat together the brown rice syrup, eggs and milk. Make a well in the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients, and fold together until just mixed.

In a small bowl, beat together the cream cheese and brown rice syrup.

Fill each muffin hole about 1/4 full with mixture, then add 1 tsp of cream cheese mixture. Fill each muffin hole evenly with the rest of the mixture.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the tops are golden and the top of the muffin springs back when gently pushed.

Eat within 1-2 days, or freeze for later.

12 Week Challenge Week 9- Cut the Sugar

Hi All. Another week, another challenge for you. Usually I am very much against cutting things out of your diet, as this kind of restriction is usually a sign of an unbalanced diet. This is why I why I won't tell you to completely cut refined sugars out of your diet. However, if there are two things that you should really try to eliinate as much as possible from your diet, it is overly processed foods and refined sugars (although both things tend to go hand in hand).

As noted before, cutting sugar completely from your diet just tends to lead to major sugar cravings and will probably get you nowhere in the end. There are programmes like the I Quit Sugar programme that do this, and if you can follow this and succeed, go for it! But I won't ask you to do this. Instead I prefer a more incremental approach.

Cut the sugar for one day per week.

Because sugar is addictive, the more you eat, the more you tend to crave. That is why occasionally I like to go a full day without refined sugars to help prevent this. However, doing this once a week would be even better, which is why I have included it in this challenge.

Here are some tips that I've come up with to help you out:

- Drink water. Linking back to the first week, make sure that you keep your water intake up. We tend to crave sugar around mid afternoon as we feel that energy slump, however, instead you may actually just be a bit dehydrated. Whenever you start to crave sugar, try drinking some water.

- Find some healthy alternatives. If you really must have a hit of sugar, find a natural alternative such as fruit. A find dates really great.

- Try to identify your sugar triggers. I know that I tend to want something sweet after lunch and dinner. I suppose that it is just a habit that I have developed. To help out I tend to grab a cup of tea. One good way to beat your sugar cravings is to know when they tend to happen and be prepared for  them.

- Watch your condiments. Chutneys, sauces and spreads can all have a lot of hidden refined sugars in them, so watch out for these.

These are just some of the ways that help me successfully cut sugar for a day. I will share some other tips on Facebook and Instagram over the week and please share any tips you have with me.