Third World Problems

No internet. This is a HUGE issue I’m having at the moment – one that is such a third world problem but unfortunately it affects so much of my daily function. We haven’t had internet connection at our uni accommodation for weeks now and it is horrendous! What makes it worse is the fact that the library, with free wifi, is only open limited hours (the pros of living rurally). It’s shocking how reliant I have become on internet… and is one of the reasons why I haven’t posted here for a longgg time.

Anyway, back into the swing of things (now that I’ve figured out how to connect to the internet for brief periods of time through my iPhone…).

Motivation: the gorgeous Courtney Prather

 

Goji+Carrot Cake adapted from proteincupcakes.net – this is my favourite snack right now! It is SO YUM!

Serves 12

2 cups carrot (roughly 2 carrots) – grated

1&1/3 cup oat flour

1/3 cup almond meal

2 scoops vanilla whey

1 tbsp LSA/ground flaxseed

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla essence

4 egg whites

1&1/2 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

12 serves of Stevia

¾ cup unsweetened almond milk

½ cup unsweetened applesauce

25g almonds – chopped (you can sub with any nuts – walnuts or pecans would be nice)

30g goji berries (you can sub with sultanas/raisins)

30g carob/dark chocolate – chopped

Icing:

100g low fat cream cheese

2 serves of Stevia

1 tsp vanilla essence

Preheat oven to 180^oC

Mix all dry ingredients in a big bowl (excluding nuts, goji berries, and chocolate/carob)

Mix wet ingredients in a medium bowl separately

Combine wet to dry, then fold in the nuts, berries, and choc/carob

Line a cake pan with baking paper

Pour mixture in, then bake for 40-45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean

For the icing, mix it all together and spread over the cake once it has COOLED

YUM! Try not to eat it all at once (seriously… freeze it)

Nutritional info: per serve (including the icing)

Calories: 148.4

Total fat: 5.8g (1.6g sat)

Total carbs: 14.7g

Sugar: 4.0g

Protein: 9.1g

 

Warm Prawn & Mango Salad, created by my boyfriend’s dad 🙂 this is so yummy

Serves 4

1kg raw prawns – washed, butterflied (optional) (run knife down the back of the prawn to open it up slightly)

1 red chili – finely sliced

1 mango – diced

1 avocado – diced

3 cloves garlic – crushed

25g low fat fetta – crumbled

Rocket (as much as you’d like)

Splash of white wine (to taste)

Juice of 1 lime

2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Big bunch of coriander

Heat a large frying pan on high

Cook chili and garlic for a few seconds, until fragrant, then remove from heat and set aside

Cook prawns on the high heat (you may need to cook half of the prawns at a time)

Once cooked, add the chili and garlic mixture back in, then add a splash of wine and coriander

Prepare all rocket, avocado, mango, and fetta

Dress salad ingredients with lime and olive oil

When ready to serve, briefly toss the prawns in and serve immediately

Nutritional info: per serve

Calories: 396.7

Total fat: 12.6g (4.3g sat)

Total carbs: 10.4g

Sugar: 4.2g

Protein: 61.7g!!!!!

 

Kung Pao Chicken from simplyrecipes.com

Serves 4

500g chicken breast – chopped

2&1/2 tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp Szechwan peppercorns (optional – I left out)

1 red chili (add more or less depending on your chili tolerance)

3 cloves garlic

1 tbsp ginger – freshly grated

6 spring onion – chopped

2/3 cup roasted, unsalted peanuts

Marinade:

2 tsp soy sauce (I used Bragg’s aminos)

1&1/2 tsp white wine

1 tbsp water

2 tsp arrowroot powder

Sauce:

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

2 tsp soy sauce/Bragg’s aminos

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tbsp water

3 serves of Stevia

1 tsp arrowroot powder

Mix together the marinade ingredients and toss with the chopped chicken. Set aside

Combine all ingredients for sauce, whisking well to ensure arrowroot is fully incorporated. Set aside

Place 2&1/2 tbsp sesame oil in a wok or large sauté pan and place over medium-high heat

Stir-fry chilies and peppercorns until fragrant

Add the chicken, and as soon as the pieces start to separate, add the ginger, garlic, and spring onions

Stir-fry for a few minutes until chicken is no longer pink in the middle

Add the sauce and toss

When the sauce becomes thick, toss the peanuts in, and serve

Nutritional info: per serve

Calories: 286.9

Total fat: 16.5g (3.2g sat)

Total carbs: 4.8g

Sugar: 0.0g

Protein: 29.3g

 

Hazelnut Biscotti from chocolatechillimango.com

Serves: 10 (40 biscotti)

110g hazelnuts (you can substitute other nuts/chocolate/dried fruit)

3 large eggs

15 serves of Stevia

1 tsp vanilla essence

35g unsweetened cocoa powder

90g oat flour

60g casein protein

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp bicarb soda

Preheat oven to 180oC

Line a large baking tray with baking paper and set aside

Place the hazelnuts on a second lined tray and spread them out evently

Toast in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until lightly roasted and starting to colour

Remove nuts from the oven and use a tea-towel to rub off as much of the skins as possible (I made a huge mess…). Set aside

Whisk together the eggs, sweetener, and vanilla until the sweetener is dissolved and the mixture is light

In a separate bowl, mix together the cocoa, oat flour, casein, salt, and bicarb soda

Add the dry ingredient mixture to the egg mixture and mix until the dough comes together

Fold in the COOLED hazelnuts

Divide the dough in half and form each half into a log measuring about 1 cm in thickness, 3.5cm wide, and about 26cm long

Lay the logs on the prepared baking tray, leaving room between them for spreading

Bake the logs for 30-35 minutes

Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly (about 10 minutes)

Lower the temperature of the oven to 125oC

Use a serrated knife to slice each log into about 20 slices, about 1 cm thick, on a 45 degree angle. For consistency it’s easier if you slice each log in half with a diagonal cut, then in half again, and then cut each piece into 5 even diagonal slices

Place the slices in upright rows on the baking tray and return to the oven for a further 10 minutes. If you wish to make the biscotti as hard rusks, you can leave them in there for up to 20 minutes. They will crisp up even more once they cool

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack

The biscotti will keep for several weeks if stored in an airtight container, at room temperature

Nutritional info: per serve

Calories: 159.6

Total fat: 9.9g (1.6g sat)

Total carbs: 8.0g

Sugar: 1.0g

Protein: 9.7g

 

I’ve been pretty overloaded with things lately – study, organising the premier event of a new Victorian organisation (Red Party, raising awareness for HIV/AIDS and sexual health), my own mental instability, volunteering with the RSPCA, exercise, food prep… it seems likes everything’s going on!! I just have to take a deep breath, make a list or two, and keep my priorities right!

Eat clean and train dirty 🙂 x

 

Theme Parks and a LOT of Cooking!

Sorry I’ve been so MIA – my boyfriend took me for a trip to the Gold Coast for my Christmas present so I decided to take that time to just spend with my boyfriend and not stress about blogging, exercise, and even splurging on ice cream and wine :). We went to Wet ‘n’ Wild and Movie World, and spent a lot of time relaxing on the beach or by the pool; it was nice to just have some time to ourselves! I didn’t eat very well when I was up there, although I did try to have healthy options (e.g. poached eggs for breakfast, grilled fish without chips), and I admit that it was nice to come home and start eating clean again. Sometimes it’s necessary to have that bit of a break to remotivate yourself.

 

Motivation: Claire Rae

 

I’ve been doing LOADS of cooking since getting back from Queensland!!

 

Prawn and Basil Mediterranean Salad

Serves 1

12 cooked, peeled prawns

2 cherry tomatoes – halved

Handful of fresh basil leaves – torn

25g pitted olives

1/4 lebanese cucumber – diced

1/4 spanish onion – thinly sliced and soaked in cold water

Salt and pepper

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1/4 lemon

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

Just throw everything together and enjoy!!

Nutritional info: per 1 serve

Calories: 189

Total fat: 9.8g (2.1g sat)

Total carbs: 3.6g

Sugar: 3.2g

Protein: 21.4g

 

Almond and Quinoa Based Protein Pizza from www.proteinpow.com

Serves 2

1/8 cup pea protein

1/8 almond meal

1 tbsp coconut flour

1/2 cup quinoa flakes (could sub with oats)

1 whole egg

3 egg whites

1/8 cup lite coconut milk

1 tsp dried rosemary

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp salt

Put everything in a blender

Cook in a hot hot hot non-stick frying pan like a pancake

Top with whatever you want, then grill for 10-15 minutes (I topped mine with pizza sauce, tomato, grilled chicken, lite ricotta cheese, and fresh basil)

Nutritional info: per serve (without the toppings)

Calories: 248.8

Total fat: 9.0g (2.6g sat)

Total carbs: 24.0g

Sugar: 1.6g

Protein: 16.8g

 

Black Chocolate Protein Brownies from femmefitphysique.wordpress.com

Serves 12

2 scoops chocolate whey protein powder

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2/3 cup black bean puree (rinse about 1 cup canned, low sodium black beans and blend with a splash of water)

1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

12 serves Stevia

2 tbsp oat flour

3 tbsp coconut oil

2 egg whites

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

OPTIONAL: 1-2 tsp coffee grounds (I left this out)

In a medium bowl combine dry ingredients

In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients and blend well

Add wet to dry and mix (don’t overmix, just until all ingredients are blended)

Bake at 180 degrees for about 20 minutes or until cooked to the centre

Let them cool before cutting them

Nutritional info: per serve

Calories: 98.5

Total fat: 5.2g (4.4g sat)

Total carbs: 5.3g

Sugar: 0.9g

Protein: 6.7g

 

Smoked Salmon and Rosemary Low Carb Protein Quiche (Gluten Free) from http://www.proteinpow.com – I could not believe how good this was!! Tastes just as good, if not BETTER than normal quiche!! Yum yum!!

Serves 2

Base:

1/4 cup egg whites

1/4 cup pea protein powder

1/8 cup coconut flour

1/8 cup milk

1 tbsp almond meal

1 tsp dried rosemary (optional)

1 tsp onion flakes (optional)

Filling:

3 eggs

1 egg white

Splash of milk

50g salmon (I just used canned)

Spring onion

Rosemary

Blend the ingredients for the base, then press into either a medium-sized pie/quiche/tart tin or into a few small ones

Bake this 200 degrees for about 15 minutes or until it starts to brown

Allow the base to cool

Whisk together the eggs, egg white, and milk

Add salmon, spring onion and rosemary to the filling mixture

Poor into the base, then cook at 200 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce to 160 degrees and bake for a further 10 minutes or until the filling is set

Nutritional info: per serve (including the filling)

Calories: 291

Total fat: 9.7g (3.7g sat)

Total carbs: 7.8g

Sugar: 2.0g

Protein: 39.3g!!

 

I have many more new recipes that I cooked this week but I’ll save them for another post 🙂

 

Enjoy the journey 🙂 x

Do Not Take Anything For Granted

There are few things I want to talk about in this blog post, both reminding me on how grateful I am to be surrounded by my loved ones and to be so healthy…

Firstly, the horrific shooting in Connecticut. All of those innocent lives taken way before their time… there is not a single person that has not been deeply horrified and sickened by this awful event and my heart goes out to those that lost a loved one on the 14th of December 2012. I feel so blessed to have my family, my boyfriend, my friends, and cannot imagine how awful it would be to have any of them taken from me, especially in such a stupid, pointless way. Too many angels headed to heaven that day. RIP

Secondly, I accompanied my boyfriend and his family to visit a friend in hospital this weekend – their friend had been in a big motorbike accident and his family had asked all of his friends to come together at this one time to give him strength and support. When we were there we discovered that he is now a quadriplegic and has been told he will  never walk again… and he has given up all hope. This man had been one of the most outgoing, courageous and active guys and it’s terrible to hear that he has thrown in the towel. He refused to see any visitors that day, but it was heartwarming to see so many people gathering together, wearing his favourite colour blue, and writing down words to hopefully inspire and motivate hope. I am so lucky that I have my health, that I live so comfortably and have no limitations. I am so grateful for everything I have.

Please take the time to reflect on everything that you have – even though you may stress about things, and may have pressures or debts etc, think about all that you can be grateful for, because without a doubt there is someone in the world who would give anything to have what you may take for granted.

These things have made me more motivated to take care of myself.

 

Here are some new recipes:

 

Jamie Oliver’s Chicken Salad (my version….) – this looks to basic, but it’s really yummy!!

Serves 2

1/2 head of broccoli

2x 120g chicken breast

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1 cup cooked quinoa

1 spring onion

1/4 bunch fresh mint

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1&1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tbsp sunflower seeds

2 tbsp no fat Greek yoghurt

1/2 lemon

Cook the broccoli in boiling salted water for 4 minutes (covered)

Coat the chicken with salt, pepper and ground coriander, then bash to flatten to ~1.5cm thick

Grill chicken until golden brown and cooked through

With tongs, remove broccoli from water when finished, then put on a grill until nicely charred

Trim and finely slice the spring onions and the mint, then toss in a bowl with the oil and vinegar, and season to taste

Grill the sunflower seeds

Throw it all together on the plate and serve with a dollop of Greek yoghurt and lemon wedges

Nutritional info: per 1/2 serves

Calories: 394.2

Total fat: 13.1g

Total carbs: 30.2g

Sugar: 4.1g

Protein: 40.4g

 

Clean Chocolate Icecream

Serves 2

100g low fat cottage cheese

1 tbsp cocoa

1&1/2 scoop choc protein powder (whey/casein)

2 serves Stevia

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 tbsp natural peanut butter (or 2, if you love your PB!)

2 tbsp dessicated coconut

Splash of almond milk

Blend everything together until smooth, then freeze for 1&1/2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes

Nutritional info: per 1/2 serves

Calories: 330

Total fat: 20.4g (all good fats!!)

Total carbs: 7.6g

Sugar: 4.3g

Protein: 29.4g!!

 

Baked Peanut Butter Chocolate Protein Bars from http://www.littlebshealthyhabits.com – I was craving peanut butter and wanted to have it in a baked protein bar but all of the recipes I could find were unbaked! These were a great mix of chocolate and PB, but next time I’m going to add more PB so it really satisfies my cravings!!

Serves 12

1 cup out flour

4 egg whites

2 scoops protein powder

1/4 cup (or 12 serves) Stevia

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

3 tbsp unsweetened baking cocoa

113g unsweetened almond milk

1/4 cup all natural peanut butter (next time I think I’ll up this to 1/3 cup hehe)

4 tbsp non fat Greek yoghurt

Throw it all in a bowl and mix

Throw in a brownie pan and bake at 180 degrees for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean

Nutritional info: per 1/ serves

Calories: 109.6

Total fat: 4.6g

Total carbs: 7.0g

Sugar: 1.6g

Protein: 9.0g

 

I also wanted to do a shout out to slimkicker.com – it’s a free site that helps you track your meals, exercise etc, and – the best part – it helps keep you motivated by setting you challenges and reminding you to reward yourself when you reach them!! I think  it’s great :). They’ve got a mobile phone app as well (I have it on my iphone), so it’s quick and easy to log your info.

Be grateful 🙂 keep healthy xo

The “Hairdresser’s” Car

Another week has flown by… one of my sisters has gone to schoolies on the Gold Coast, another one has headed off to Europe for a school art tour… I’m still here working on my fitness and absolutely loving it!! I wouldn’t mind taking a trip somewhere though.. any suggestions? I’ve started my Cert III in fitness and so far it’s all OHS and Client Services… I can’t wait to get to the fun stuff!! I have a feeling that’s more in Cert IV unfortunately :S I’ll get there eventually.

My dad has hit his mid-life crisis and decided to really start eating clean and exercising daily… AND he has bought himself a classic 1989 mazda MX5. It’s actually very cool, but tiny and a bit feminine, and we tease dad by calling it the “hairdresser’s car” haha. Dad let my boyfriend drive me around in it :).

 

This week’s motivation: Veronika Gulasova

 

 

High Protein Gluten Free Carrot Cake from http://www.mindmuscleyoga.com – this is sooooo good!! Absolutely delicious!! The ‘icing’ totally MAKES it :). Must try!! However, I don’t think it would freeze very well..

Serves 4

5 serves Stevia

30g coconut flour

25g whey protein (I used vanilla)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ginger

1 egg white

200mL milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)

50g grated carrot (about 1 medium carrot)

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Frosting-

100g low fat cream cheese

5 serves Stevia

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Preheat oven to 150 degrees and line a small cake tine with baking paper

Stir together dry ingredients

Combine wet ingredients (except carrot) separately, then add wet to dry

Stir until smooth and fold in the grated carrot

Pour into cake tin and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the cake is golden on top and springs back when you press on it (maybe it was just me but mine took about twice the time to cook…)

While cake is cooling, prepare frosting by combing the ingredients

When cool, slice the cake in half (I had to do this length ways because my cake was about as flat as a pancake haha)

Put frosting between the two layers, then spread the rest on top

I then sprinkled a bit of cinnamon on top – YUM!!

Nutritional info: per 1/4 serves

Calories: 126

Total fat: 5.6g

Total carbs: 8.9g

Sugar: 3.4g

Protein: 9.0g

 

Asian-Style Prawn Salad

Sorry I was actually meant to post this last week but I totally forgot haha too many recipes!! I just made this one up and it was delicious!

Serves 2

500g cooked and peeled king prawns

1/2 cup cucumber – sliced

1/4 cup carrot – sliced into matchsticks

Couple of handfuls of mixed lettuce

1/4 avocado – cubed

Handful of coriander

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

Basically just combine all of the ingredients! This is really fresh and delicious

Nutritional info: per 1/2 serves

Calories: 277.4

Total fat: 5.3g

Total carbs: 6.5g

Sugar: 2.5g

Protein: 39g!! (thank you prawns!!)

 

Creamy Avocado and Chicken Pasta – again a bit of my own creation haha

Serves 1

160g chicken breast

1/4 cup no fat Greek yoghurt

1/4 medium avocado

1/2 lime (juice)

3 walnuts

Salt and pepper

Consider throwing in some chives/thyme/basil… I just didn’t have any

Grill chicken breast

Blend yoghurt and avocado until smooth

Stir in lime juice, walnuts and cooked chicken

Serve with wholewheat pasta (for high carb) or SlimPasta (for low carb)

Sprinkle some parmesan on top if desire

Nutritional info: per serve

Calories: 281.3

Total fat: 7.7g

Total carbs: 4.3g

Sugar: 2.4g

Protein: 44.0g

 

Saffron Protein Muffins with White Chocolate from http://www.tasty-health.se. These are really good!! I don’t usually like to use any chocolate except for dark, but I decided to make an exception and use the white chocolate. It’s scrumptious 🙂

Serves 8

40g vanilla whey protein

60g oat flour

1/2 cup almond meal

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp vanilla essence

12 serves Stevia

~2 tsp saffron powder

2 small egg whites

12.5mL unsweetened almond milk (or any milk)

75g unsweetened applesauce

30g white chocolate (I couldn’t find sugar-free so I used lindt :D)

Preheat oven to 175 degrees

Pour all ingredients in a bowl and blend until smooth

Break or chop the chocolate

Pour batter into muffin cups – these work best with silicone molds, sprinkle with white chocolate

Bake for 20 minutes or until cooked

Remove and let cool before removing from the muffin cups

Nutritional info: per 1/8 muffins

Calories: 98.5

Total fat: 4.2g

Total carbs: 8.2g

Sugar: 2.9g

Protein: 6.7g

 

Jamie Oliver’s Stuffed Cypriot Chicken from Jamie Oliver’s 30 minute meals – yum!

Serves 4

Small bunch of fresh parsley

Small bunch of fresh basil

8 jarred sun-dried tomatoes in oil

2-3 cloves of garlic

100g reduced fat feta cheese

Zest of 1 lemon

4x 180g chicken thigh (I would prefer to use breast but I wasn’t organised to have any haha)

4 sprigs of fresh rosemary

Pile the parsley, basil and tomatoes, with a pinch of pepper, on a chopping board

Crush over the garlic then finely chop everything together, mixing with the knife as you go

Crumble over the feta, finely grate over the lemon zest and mix again

Open up each thigh ‘like a book’ and divide the filling into the middle of each piece of chicken

Fold the chicken back over to cover (with the chicken thigh I had to use toothpicks to hold them together)

Spray some oil on a frying pan, heat on medium, then lay chicken down

Cover and allow to cook for about 10 minutes, then check and flip if golden brown on the underside. Add sprigs of rosemary to the pan

Before serving check that it’s cooked by cutting one in half

Cover and allow the other side to cook

Nutritional info: per 1/4 serves (with chicken thigh)

Calories: 158.2

Total fat: 9.0g

Total carbs: 0.8g

Sugar: 0.6g

Protein: 17.0g

 

We’re due to have an absolute scorcher here today – 38 degrees!! I’m going to be sitting by the pool reading fitness magazines haha lovely!!

Hope you’ve all made a conscious decision to eat healthy this holiday season and not stray too far into the realms of sugary treats and deep fried meats haha x

When The Alternator Fails…

I had a shocking start to this week.. on my way driving back to my uni accommodation from my boyfriends house my car broke down. Twice. I got towed – twice – and ended up having to leave my car at an auto electrician an hour away from anywhere convenient for me. It took me an extra 5 hours to get home and I wasted my entire day. Eugh, not happy. No gym, no car, and a big hole in the wallet. Times like this I get very down in the dumps, but I managed to (only just!) keep my head up, and by Wednesday arvo I had my car back again. Turns out the alternator – which normally charges the car battery whilst driving – had stopped working, subsequently causing my battery to run flat. I have such a love/hate relationship with my car hah.

I had an assessment due on Friday, and lets just say that I’m sooo glad it’s the weekend!!

Motivation: Margret Gnarr

 

This weeks food plan:

 

Meal 1/Breakfast:

I tried a DIFFERENT PANCAKE RECIPE!! And it was really yummy!! 🙂 I modified the recipe a bit from this one: dashingdish.com/recipe/strawberry-protein-pancake-roll-ups-w-yogurt-filling/

Vanilla Protein Pancakes

Serves 1

1/4 cup no fat Greek yoghurt

1.4 cup vanilla protein powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 egg whites

1/2 cup ground oats

1/8 cup water

3-5 serves of Stevia

Blend all of the ingredients, then cook in frying pan – 1/3 scoop of mixture per pancakes makes 4 small pancakes

I really enjoyed these with a squeeze of lemon juice on them

Nutritional info: 

Calories: 369

Total fat: 5.3g

Total carbs:35.6g

Sugar: 7.0g

Protein: 42g

 

Meal 2:

These cookies are awesome!! Brazil Choc Cookies from www.tasty-health.se (beware, her page is in swedish)

Serves 8

1&1/2 cups ground oats

1 tbsp vanilla whey powder

1 pinch salt

1 pinch baking soda

1 tbsp coconut butter

4 serves of Stevia

2&1/2 tbsp almond milk (or any milk)

20g brazil nuts – chopped

20g unsweetened chocolate – chopped

Preheat oven to 180 degrees

Mix all of the dry ingredients first, then add the wet ingredients (may want to use your  hands to mix it)

Bring the mixture together into one big piece of dough (I needed a splash more of water to get it to all come together)

Roll into 8 separate cookie balls, and put on a baking tray lined with baking paper

Bake for 8-10 minutes – allow them to cool completely (they will become more solid as they cool)

Nutritional info: per 1/8 cookies

Calories: 122

Total fat: 6.3g

Total carbs: 10.6g

Sugar: 0.9g

Protein: 4.8g

 

Meal 3/Lunch:

Madras Kangaroo Curry, from www.macromeats.com

Serves 6

1kg kangaroo mince

1/3 jar Madras curry paste (in Woolworths it was labelled as Tikka paste)

1 large onion – diced

1&1/2 cup reduced salt chicken/beef stock

400g canned tomatoes (optional but I added)

2 cups frozen peas

Fresh red chilies – finely chopped – or chilli flakes

Fry onion in a little bit of oil until translucent.

Add curry paste and cook until aromatic

Add kangaroo mince, mix well and cook until browned (stir to break any lumps)

Add stock and tomatoes, and stir well (may also add chilies)

Bring to the boil whilst stirring, then reduce the heat to simmer

When liquid is reduced by half, stir in frozen peas and continue to simmer until desired consistency is achieved

Nutritional info: per 1/6 serves

Calories: 253

Total fat: 4.5g

Total carbs: 14.9g

Sugar: 3.9g

Protein: 38.5g

 

Meal 4:

Crustless Berry Mini Cheesecakes from www.proteinpow.com/

Serves 10

170g no fat Greek yoghurt

2 tbsp cottage cheese

1 tbsp coconut flour

1/4 cup dried berries (I used goji berries – superfood!!)

2 fresh organic eggs (I subbed in 1/3 cup egg whites)

1/4 cup vanilla whey powder

Stevia, to taste

1 cup berries (I used frozen blueberries)

Preheat oven to 170 degrees

Blend all ingredients except fresh/frozen berries

Add fresh/frozen berries – try not to squish them!

Pour into muffin tray and bake for about 20 minutes

Nutritional info: per 1/10 mini cheesecakes

Calories: 42 (!!)

Total fat: 0.4g

Total carbs: 4.0g

Sugar: 2.3g

Protein: 5.5g

 

Meal 5:

Can’t wait to eat this… I modified the Free Range Chicken Laksa from www.masterchef.com.au

Serves 4

600g chicken breast – thinly sliced

230g jar laksa paste

3 cups reduced salt chicken stock

400mL can lite coconut milk

1 bunch choy sum – stalks trimmed off and cut into 5cm lengths

1/2 cup each of fresh coriander, mint, and Thai basil leaves

125g fresh bean sprouts (to serve)

1 small red chili – seeded and thinly sliced (to serve)

2 tbsp chopped unsalted peanuts (I left these out)

Lime wedges (to serve)

SlimPasta Angel Hair noodles (no carb noodles)

Heat a wok over medium-high heat and spray with oil

Add chicken and stir fry until cooked

Add laksa paste and stir fry for 30s or until fragrant

Stir in stock, bring to the boil, then add coconut milk and choy sum

Simmer for 2 minutes

Stir in fresh herbs

When serving, put noodles and bean sprouts in the bottom of the bowl, then pour the laksa soup over.

Top with chilli, extra fresh herbs and peanuts. Serve with lime wedges

Nutritional info: per 1/4 serves

Calories: 272

Total fat: 6.9g

Total carbs: 21.2g

Sugar: 10.1g (usually I wouldn’t go above 5g of sugar per meal)

Protein: 36.8g

 

Meal 6:

WW chocolate mousse

 

Also, I though I’d share this easy salad that I absolutely love – Chicken and Avocado Salad

Serves 1

100g of chicken breast from a roast chicken (I just buy the pre-roasted chicken from Woolies) – shredded

5 walnuts – chopped

1/4 avocado – diced

Dash of flaxseed oil

As many mesclun leaves as you want

Mix it all together (but try not to smoosh the avocado too much)

Nutritional info:

Calories: 414

Total fat: 30.8g (but only 2.7g is saturated! This salad contains all really good fats; they trigger your brain to make you feel full)

Total carbs: 4.8g

Sugar: 0.8g

Protein: 28.2g

 

Stop waiting, start now 🙂 only you can change yourself!! xx

Winter Holidays

Sorry I haven’t posted for a while – I’ve been relaxing with as little brain work as possible and I really needed it! I think I was really run down and it’s only been the past couple of days that I’ve been bouncing out of bed and feeling more like my usual self 🙂 I start back at uni next week (boo…) so study is happening again, but I’ve been treating myself to some lovely healthy treats and trying a few different recipes that I couldn’t usually try whilst at uni (due to lack of utensils/time etc).

My current home page for my iphone is this:

Make it yours! I hate when I have ‘blah’ days (which I’ve had a lot of recently) and by the end of the day I feel like I’ve totally wasted it. Just the smallest action or interaction can make any day amazing 🙂

Current motivation: Dianna Dahlgren

Ok so I’ve been very slack with my training and healthy eating over the past few weeks. I haven’t been feeling very well – extremely run down, easily hurting my muscles, just lacking motivation – so I took some time off. I don’t know if it’s just a mental thing, but I feel like I don’t look anywhere near as good and so I’m finally feeling well enough and I’m pumped up to start knuckling down again!! Sometimes a break is so needed, but it always feels great to get back into the swing of things. Not only physically rewarding, but also mentally.

I’ve taken some ‘before’ pictures and done some measurements, so now I’m going to get back in the mindset of pushing the weights and eating as clean as I can. I’m striving for a goal, and it feels great to be doing so!! Summer is just around the corner, so the thought of strutting around in a bikini is what is going to keep me going :).

 

I haven’t been bulk cooking because I’m back at home on the farm with my family over the holidays and it’s nice to eat fresh meals when I have the time. My mum also likes me to eat whatever she cooks, so she’s making an effort to cook low carb, clean meals (she’s usually pretty good anyway), which is lovely of her! However, here is a rough meal plan of what I’ve been eating – however my dinner has been different every night (thanks to Mum!).

 

Meal 1/Breakfast:

Blueberry pancakes!! 🙂 However, the other day I was at my boyfriend’s house and decided to cook an omelette and I threw in some leftover roast lamb, sweet potato, mushrooms, and low fat cheddar with my egg whites – YUM!

We’ve also grown some delicious grapefruit at home, and I’ve read that it’s great to eat half a grapefruit for breakfast, so I’ve been having that every couple of mornings as well. Grapefruit is extremely high in Vitamin C, which is especially important in the colder months when more people are prone to developing the common cold.

 

 

Meal 2:

Ok so I have a few recipes to throw at you here.

Salada with cottage cheese, avocado and tomato (and cracked pepper) is surprisingly nice.

Nutritional info: per 1 topped salada

Calories: 92

Total fat: 2.9g

Total carbs: 8.8g

Sugar: 1.9g

Protein: 7.6g

 

Blueberry protein muffins (from http://www.littlebshealthyhabits.com – I’ve done these before but it was my 2nd post so decided to rewrite it – they’re quite yummy!)

Serves 12

1&1/2 cups oat flour

3 scoops protein powder (I use Optimum Nutrition 100% Gold Standard Vanilla Icecream)

1 tsp baking soda

12 serves Stevia

2 egg whites

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup no fat Greek yoghurt

1/2 cup blueberries

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. In a large bowl mix together all the dry ingredients. Add in the wet ingredients (except the blueberries) and mix well. Lastly, fold in the blueberries. Spray a muffin pan with oil, and fill each 3/4 full with the batter. Bake for 12-13 minutes or until just firm on top and a toothpick comes out clean. Careful not to over-bake!

To make them taste fresh out of the oven again, microwave each muffin for 15-20 seconds.

 

Vanilla and Cinnamon Protein Cake (from http://www.proteinpow.com). This was really tasty, but it didn’t quite cook right :S the top when extremely crispy, but the middle was a bit uncooked… I had to preheat my oven to 180 degrees (due to the settings on the microwave oven) so maybe that’s why? Not sure. The flavour and texture (of the properly cooked parts) is awesome though!

Serves 6 (I sliced it into 8 though)

1 cup oat flour

2 egg whites

2/3 cup oat milk (I subbed almond milk)

2&1/2 cups vanilla whey protein

1 tbsp ground almond

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp chiaseeds (this can be omitted)

2 tbsp Stevia

1/2 tbsp cinnamon

Mix all ingredients in a bowl – the batter is very wet (add a little more milk if still too thick).

Pour the batter into an oven-safe dish (or a muffin tin) and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Bake for 20-25 minutes in an oven at 175 degrees (less time for muffins).

 

Meal 3/Lunch: 

I’ve been cooking grilled chicken/salmon with salad for lunch, because I absolutely love it! My favourite salad to have is made up of:

Mixed lettuce leaves

Cherry tomatoes

Cucumber

Carrot

Avocado

Low fat fetta cheese

Toasted pine nuts

Lemon juice (as dressing)

 

Meal 4:

I just made these today and they are so yummy! From http://www.proteinpow.com/ again – A Dark Chocolate, Oat, and Almond Protein Bar.

Serves 6

1 cup ground oats

1/2 cup whey (again I used my vanilla whey protein, but I would have preferred to use my chocolate protein if I’d had it with me)

2 tbsp almond butter (NEW OBSESSION! So so yummy!)

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup hulled hemp seeds

1 tbsp 100% cocoa

1/2 tbsp pea protein or coconut flour – I didn’t have either of these and instead rolled the mixture in dessicated coconut in an attempt to dry the mixture up a bit

Mix everything and shape into 6 rectangular bars.

Melt 60g of dark chocolate (the darkest I could find was 85%) in a bain marie and coat the bars in the melted chocolate. Mine were too sloppy to ‘dunk’ them in the chocolate, so I had to settle with coating only one side of the bars.

Once coated, freeze the bars for an hour or so, until the chocolate has hardened.

 

Meal 5/Dinner:

As I mentioned before, dinner has been different every night as I’m eating with my family, but has varied from chow mien, to cauliflower soup (sounds gross, but is really YUM! I’m probably going to make some to take back for uni) to spaghetti bolognese (minus the spaghetti).

 

Meal 6:

I tried something a bit different – a low carb pancake. Essentially the same as my blueberry pancakes but I subbed ground almonds for the ground oats, and left out the blueberries. It’s pretty nice!

1/2 cup egg whites

1/3 cup ground almond

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

Mix, cook, eat! I squeezed some lemon juice over them to add a bit extra and it was nice 🙂

I took a trip to the health food store (and supermarket) this morning and came back with some goodies –

Unfortunately the stores around here are no longer supplying unsweetened applesauce (go figure…) so my Mum suggested that I buy tinned apples and just mash them! I don’t have time to prepare applesauce from scratch but this process turned out pretty well! A bit chunkier but I prefer it to the sweetened applesauce. Also, I’m super excited to try out this brownie mixture – just add low fat ricotta cheese, lite sour cream, egg whites and vanilla extract!! I’ve never tried carob or hulled hemp seeds either, so I’m looking forward to experimenting with them a bit :).

Try not to let the comfort foods of winter put you off target – but at the same time, don’t be afraid to accept that your body needs a break; a week (or 2!) off gym is not going to lose you any of that hard-earned muscle.

Lift heavy, eat clean, and smile 🙂 xx