Meals in a Day

Well, it's been a few weeks, and you know what that means?  It means I haven't had much worthy to blog about.  It's gotten really cold here lately and so my mind's constantly consumed with food, eating, warmth, laziness & snuggles.  So, yes, since Easter I still hadn't gotten my eating back on track - too much bread & baking, too many BIG family lunches and then the celebrations:  birthdays & Mother's Day.  sigh.  so much food.

However, this week, is panning out much better.  I am getting ready to do a 20 km sponsored walk in 2 weeks so I thought, with the extra "practice" walking, it was the perfect time to get back on track.  I've still been going to the gym, but this extra cardio may just be the push I need to get things moving again (down, rather than up).  So, I'm back to getting the juices happening in the mornings, and I'm creating some more lovely salads to have along side some nice warming elements - omelettes, stews, socca & grilled meats.  To prove this, I thought I'd take a few pics of the meals I've been filling my day with.

I am no photographer so please excuse the dodgy pictures I include on by blog.  They're mainly taken on my I-Phone 4, so they're not too bad considering!



Starting my Day.

This has been the Juice of the Week.  I bought a couple of pomegranates and every morning I would tap out the seeds from a half & add it to frozen blueberries, pear and occasionally banana.  This is a super jam-packed anti-oxidant juice, and it tasted delicious.  It's so nice to have something new to try.

More purple yumminess

Yes, more juice. But this time it's fresh beetroot that I processed and then blended with 2 cups of water to get some gorgeous luscious liquid to cook my quinoa in.  The idea came from a recipe on beetroot risotto and I thought it would work marvellously with quinoa too, and it did!  Such a fab colour:



Mixed in was some crumbled fetta, parsley, toasted macadamias, some dried cranberries (that also spent some time soaking in the beetroot broth) and a few pomegranate jewels.  Divine.  And a perfect lunch, especially alongside a piece of grilled chicken too.

And this was the other highlight:  My socca wrap!  So delicious and I whipped it up in literally 10 mins, which was a relief as I was hankering for bread big time, and this satisfied the craving.  A good basic recipe is this one.  Whisked altogether (I should have blended/sifted to get rid of lumps, but like I said, I was in a rush) and then cooked in some heated oil in my frypan, it turned out lovely & crispy on the bottom. I then flipped it over to crisp up other side and, all going well, you can cut it in half and roll up to encase your filling of choice.  Mine was:  capsicum pesto, rocket, sliced boiled egg & tomato, red onion & basil .................. fantastic.

And for afternoon tea:  Superkid Choc Balls from my friend at My Little Yummy Tummies .  I kept mine raw by just using raw almonds & used both dates and dried cranberries to sweeten.  Hardly needed any agave and just loved the addition of the maca powder & orange zest (I used mandarin).  They've lasted all week too (in the fridge) so it's been great to have something so good to snack on.

And this was my favourtie dinner:

Beef strogoanoff with big salad & green beans

Must show you the pic of the gorgeous beef/lamb stock I made and then used in this dish.  I was able to create a delicious stock out of the bones given with my organic beef/free-range lamb order.  Note how gelationous it looks ........ (hmmmm.....sideways, interesting)

I used this recipe but didn't dust the meat in flour and added extra stock as it was a very thick sauce.  Gosh, we all loved it, the kids had it over pasta, and mine with the salad was fantastic. 

And I wish I could say I've cured my dessert desire but unfortunately I still have that sweet craving after dinner and the kids are in bed.  Still my downfall, but wow, was that pear tarte tatin I made with xylitol fantastic!  Hope to blog again soon ......