Living Locally

The other day I needed a study break and decided to boost out a 10km minimum and catch some fresh air.

At first I thought I couldn’t fit it in and the pressure of uni was weighted on my head. But after that session which only took 2 hours out of my day I was immediately re-focused, energized and motivated to kick some study book ass.

So I thought I’d share some of the benefits of getting outside that are easily forgotten in today’s fast paced world…

– Vitamin D: produced by the sun showing that sunlight is our mate when balanced under its harsh rays. It’s recommended by the Heart Foundation that we get at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day and when exposed to sunlight our body soaks up the good vitamin D3 which it needs to remain healthy, happy and living. However only 5–30 minutes of sun exposure between 10 AM and 3 PM at least twice a week to the face, arms, legs, or back without sunscreen is necessary to lead to sufficient vitamin D absorption.
Note, the same effect can’t be achieved in a glasshouse or front sun room. The glass blocks the good vitamin D from really getting through.
Also note, that the sun is at its most harsh around midday through to 2pm. So keep out of the sun at those times or slip slop slap!

– Fresh air and exercise – can help lower your blood pressure and cholesterol, and reduce your risk of heart attack. No explanation here. Massive plus not to die!

– Fresh air in the lungs rather than sweaty gym oxygen smells…
The benefit of extra oxygen in your body and particularly on your skin is that oxygen is present throughout our bloodstream so that it has an immediate affect on our largest living organism in our body – our skin. Fresh oxygen has a disinfecting affect on the body and therefore re-regulates the body and allows basic function.

– Need Motivation? Take this as an opportunity to listen to new music, or even old recovered music. Run or walk with a friend or family member to catch up, make a mission out of it. Map out your adventure and try to visit landmarks in your local area of interest. Eg. A park, beach side, a shopping centre or a bush track.

Best part of the session? Feeling more energized, confident and focused and accomplished (not to mention the whopping cal burn if your counting!)

Chocolate & Pear Smoothie

Who says its cool??
It’s ain’t cool until its iced cold!

Well there’s always time for delicious healthy chiller smoothies. And chocolate. And all you need is a blender!

Ingredients
1 frozen pear (diced)
2 tablespoons of chocolate protein powder
1/2 cup of ice
1/5 cup of water
1 cup of almond milk

Method
Firstly blend up the ice
Then chuck in the frozen pear to blend
Once that’s done tip the rest in; protein powder, water and almond milk.

That’s it!

Breaking up with breakfast

Sick of eggs eggs eggs for breaky? Me too. Sometimes we need something different yet still nutritious to start the day! The following pumpkin bread recipe I tried out and it’s low GI – I was full for hours! Clean mean and fresh from the garden.

Pumpkin paleo bread

NOTE: make this the night before – unless your a morning goddess who likes to get up at 4am 😮

Ingredients
3 cups grated raw pumpkin
4 whole organic eggs
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 pinch nutmeg
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
3/4 teaspoon baking soda + a tablespoon lemon juice
3 cups almond meal (I used hazelnut meal as it was in special)
1 tablespoon honey (optional )
Pepitas or pumpkin seeds to sprinkle on top

Method
Preheat your oven to 180 C
Combine the pumpkin, eggs, salt, nutmeg and oil into a bowl.
Add the almond/hazelnut meal and baking powder mixture and mix well.
Line a loaf tin with baking paper.

Spoon the mixture into the loaf tin and sprinkle the top with the pumpkin or pepita seeds.

The recipe said bake for 1.5 hours – i checked after 1.5 hours and it needed an extra half hour (so check at 1.5 and aim for 2hours).

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for a while (until cool) before removing from the tin. Otherwise it will break.

Serve with a spread in the mornings or have it plain and toast it under the grill.

Serves 16
(aka your family will devour it!)

Blushing for Brussel Sprouts

Since I started this blog a couple of weeks ago I have been hit with so many creative ideas for eating healthy and there are some great bloggers out there for paleo who I follow here on WordPress. Here’s one I learnt last week.

New fav meal as its so easy, quick and cheap (say about $10 for a family of serves below).

It’s low in sodium and fat, has anti cancer soldiers, has heaps of vitamin c – such a stress free meal.

Ingredients
7 handfuls of Brussel sprouts (I just grab one handful per person who’s eating on the night).
5 fat strips of Prosciutto from the deli
Dash of Olive oil
Dash of White wine vinegar
Salt and pepper

Method
Boil the Brussel sprouts in a pot. While that’s boiling, fry the prosciutto up in a frying pan (but you don’t need much olive oil).
Once the sprouts have boiled drain them and then combine them with the prosciutto to heat and crisp in the fry pan.
Add a dash of white wine vinegar, salt and pepper in with the mix and stir around till your happy with it.

Serves 4 as a meal and 7 as sides

Speaking of happy – this meal definitely is a happy meal!

Enjoy!

<3 Roasted Almonds

That is all.

Power of Persimmons

I always love the seasonability of fruit especially when pomegranates are in season – dying of first world problems when they aren’t in season. Not seriously.

Persimmon are in season atm and i have recently discovered them after my dad brought home a whole tray worth! Standard dad. They are full of nutrients – all types of vitamins, fibre and antioxidants (check here if your really keen for an essay on the legendary persimmon http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/persimmon-fruit.html). Plus – they are really good in smoothies.

Here’s one addition to my breaky smoothie list that’s here to stay:

Ingredients:

1 persimmon
1 handful of strawberries
1 handful of raspberries
1 bunch of mint (like 5 leaves worth)
1 teaspoon of acai powder if you have it
1 tablespoon of protein powder (again I used the vanilla paleo one i got at the fitness expo a few weeks back, plain or vanilla I think works best for this recipe)
1 cup water
1/2 cup ice
Sprinkle of pumpkin seeds

NOTE: the good thing with smoothies are that you can put almost anything in them. So if you want to substitute any of the above with other things – you can, and if you are out of ingredients for something it’s all cool! (Ice will help thicken up the texture though and protein powder will fill you up a bit more).

Method:

Chuck all these in a blender (pulsing the ice first so the smoothie blends better). Blend for 1-2 mins.

Serve immediately and sprinkle some raspberries and pumpkin seeds on top just for kicks.

Yum!!!

Pumped for protein balls

Makes a big batch!

These are the yummiest study, uni, on the go or post workout snack! Really easy if you have a food processor. A bit harder if you don’t have one – so use your neighbors, your cousins or just get one yourself because it’ll pay off!

This super recipe will make about 40 balls – I split it with my cousin (and the ingredients too!). But if you are just making it for yourself – feel free to just half all the ingredients below.

Ingredients
660g raw almonds, almond-flour, walnuts, brazil nuts (what ever you have in the cupboard handy or what’s in special in the supermarket)
120g Protein Powder – I used Healthy Chef Pure Native WPI Protein Powder (it’s paleo approved)
18 fresh dates, pitted – so without the seeds
4 tablespoons cacao powder (if you can’t find it at your health shop the next best thing is regular cocoa powder)
1 tablespoon natural vanilla extract/essence
1/4 teaspoon of cardamon (optional)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Dash of coconut flakes, goji berries, cacao nibs nuts and/or chia seeds for rolling mixture – whatever you want on them really!

Method
– In a food processor – mix the 660g of nuts/almond flour mixture with the cinnamon, protein powder and cacao powder then process until the mix looks well mixed through and kind if like bread crumbs.
– Next add dates, vanilla extract/essence then process again so it’s all mixed through
– Add about tablespoon or two of water so that mixture is soft and forms a soft ball.
– Form into decent sized balls, I used a hearty teaspoon to help create a decent size
– Roll in the above toppings and put in the fridge of a cool place.
Tip: if you live in a big family – these will be abducted – maybe don’t store all of them in the fridge or freezer.

And there’s your raw protein snack for whenever you need a little blood sugar pick me up! Happy days.

Easy Saturday morning smoothies!

So today I thought I’d do a quick bushwalk before hitting the books – which turned into 12kms! Yay for my butt but ney for my study time.

I whipped the below smoothies up with what I had in the cupboard – really easy – really fast. Brain scientists need not apply.

Ingredients:
1 apple
1 handful of blueberries
2 handfuls of raspberries
1 handful of mint
1 handful of baby spinach
A couple of large cubes of ice
1 cup of water
1/2 cup of coconut water

Method:
Chuck them in the blender!
Done!

Note: pulsing the ice will help the smoothie become more smooooth.
Plant some mint in your garden so you always have it handy
Next time you go to the grocer pick up some frozen berries from the freezer section for snacks and smoothies throughout the week.

Heading out tonight? Chuck some vodka or gin in the mix – you’ll have a ball.

Bangin’ Banana Bread (not cake!)

This one is one of my favourites so far – brought to you originally by healthyguts.net.
Most banana breads are actually more like cakes looking at what people put in them so I was stoked to find and try the below recipe, which turned out a treat.

Good for morning or afternoon teas, taking to a mates or having around the family home for something sweet. It’s quite filling and it’s big enough that you actually will get some by the time your dad and siblings find it!

It’s really easy to make and actually doesn’t take to much time at all:

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Ingredients: 

3 ripe bananas
6 eggs, whisked
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/3 cup of coconut oil
1 tsp baking soda
1tsp baking powder
1 tbs vanilla extract (or vanilla bean depending on how motivated you are)
1/2 tbs salt
1 tbs agave
1/2 cup of walnuts (or even goji!)

Method: 

Mash the bananas until soft in a  large mixing bowl and mix in remaining ingredients, in the order of the above.

Mix well until there are no clumps (unless you want clumpy bread!)

Grease a loaf pan or cupcake tray if you want to make them into smaller servings and pour the batter in. Place inside the oven.

Bake for about 50 min and test at 40 minutes by sticking a toothpick or fork on top and if it comes out clean – then your ready to go!

Let it cool down for 15mins or so, take it out of the tray and cut!

And there you go! Yummy Yummy Banana bread to go with your fav cup of loose leaf green tea (or whole teapot full of if your like me!).

Breaking up the breakfast routine – Bacon & Egg Paleo Muffins

A friend of mine asked me today if there was anything to break up the breakfast routine of oats oats oats first thing in the morning.

The following recipe I have found to be one of the easiest amongst my try’s over the last 6 months. And the good thing with these is that you can make them on the Sunday night for the whole working week! Healthy, paleo approved and oh so yummy!

They are filling, low GI, high in protein and best of all – you can put almost anything in them!

This is my usual:

Bacon & Egg Paleo Muffins – Breakfast of Champions 

Ingredients 
6 eggs (one for each muffin whole)
Bacon strips (I usually find using the rindless short cut bacon from your supermarket aisle is best – but again use whatever you can get your hands on).
1 cup/bunch of baby spinach leaves, finely chopped
Cupcake baking liners (6/12 depending on how many muffins your making)

Method
Preheat your oven to 180 Degrees Celsius and whip out the cupcake/muffin trays from your drawer. I usually find using a 6 muffin tray and cooking for the next 3 days of breakfast is best as you want them to stay fresh (12 muffin tray if you are cooking for your fam or hubby).

After placing the liners in the muffin trays, place one rasher of bacon into the inside of the liners, curving it around the inside, ready for the mixture to fill in the middle.

Crack the eggs into a bowl and mix the yolks and egg whites together. As if making an omelette. Add the baby spinach into the egg mixture – and whatever else you’d like to add. Sometimes I try it with tomato or capsicum.

Pour the egg mixture into the 6 muffin liners, making sure the rashers are holding the mixture in like a jacket.

Place into the oven and cook for 20 minutes, keeping an eye on them so that they are cooked all through – via the skewer/fork method.  After the time is up, take them out and that’s your breaky for the next couple of work weeks – heating them up at work or at home – whichever is most convenient. And that’s it!