Trial Tuesdays #6

Welcome to Trial Tuesdays #6, if you missed last weeks post here is what Trial Tuesdays are all about:

Trial Tuesdays are where each week I will post about one or more new recipes that I have tried that week from other blogs and sources and I will also ask for suggestions of new recipes you think I should try.

Here is what I tried this week:

#1 Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

Stuffed Spaghetti Squash from Liz's blog at I Heart Vegetables. This was my first time ever using spaghetti squash and I found this recipe really easy to put together and more importantly really delicious! I added some chopped artichokes and olives to mine as I love that on a normal pizza. I definitely recommend giving it a go!

#2 Chia Seed Breakfast Bowl

Toppings being soaked

Chia Seed Breakfast Bowl from Angela's site at Oh She Glows. This bowl uses mashed banana, chia seeds and almond milk for the base. Then you top it with soaked buckwheat and dried fruit. This was so easy to make and a great grain free breakfast.

Want to join in?
To join me on my Trial Tuesdays simply create a blog post of a recipe you have tried recently, include the Trial Tuesdays button above and add your link to the link up tool below.

Alternatively you can suggest a recipe you think I should trial by posting a comment with a link to the recipe, emailing me at sproutsnsquats@gmail.com or message me on twitter @sproutsnsquats with the tag #TrialTuesdays.


Any recipes you think I should try? 

Marvelous in My Mondays #13

This is my now my 13th  Marvelous in My Monday's post, for those of you not familiar it is all about sharing some marvelous things that may have happened, new recipes you have found, really anything marvelous to help start the week off right. The concept comes from Healthy Diva Eats and has been around for about a year.

#1 Marvelous is going out for brunch with my best friend on Sunday. She has just got a new job not close to where I work anymore which means we can't have lunch most days during the week like we used to. But that means we get to go out for delicious brunches most weekends now instead. (I think I've posted about going out for brunch over the weekend 5 or more times in a row, what can I say I'm OBSESSED!)

#2 Marvelous is having time over the weekend to just chill out and do a Sudoku puzzle. I never could have imagined a few years ago being really happy to just sit at home over a weekend and potter around, let alone enjoy doing Sudoku's but what can I say I've turned into a Nanna in my 'old age' ;)

#3 Marvelous is getting to celebrate my best friend's 30th birthday next Saturday night. Don't get me wrong as much as I just said I love to stay at home I still love a good night out and an excuse to hit up the dance floor. 

#4 Marvelous is trying out Spaghetti Squash for the first time and loving it. I've only just found it here in Australia and it is not the cheapest (about $12 for 1) but it is well worth it and I will definitely be having it again. I am hoping to have a new recipe for you with it this week.

#5 Marvelous is another week of yummy recipes to make:

Apple Cinnamon Banana-Nut Muffins
Avocado Smoothie
Carrot Cake Date Bars
Chocolate Chip Yoghurt Donuts
Chocolate Honey Rolls
Coconut Curry Shrimp
'Rice' Pudding
Tuna Salad with Avocado


What marvelous things are happening for you?

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Don't forget Trial Tuesday tomorrow, get your blog post ready if you plan to link up.

Book Review: Make Peace with Your Plate

Breakfast today
I met my best friend today for brunch at a place called Top Paddock. It is a huge cafe in Richmond that is very popular and in spite of its size is always really really busy. It was the first time I had been there. We put our names down on the list and were told it would be a 15 minute wait, 30 minutes later we finally were seated. We didn't mind the wait though as pretty much if you go there you know you are going to have to wait.

I decided to make up my own and had poached eggs with avocado, gluten-free bread, goat's curd (like goats cheese but thicker) and roasted mushrooms:

(Yes they give you half an avocado!). It was delicious and I probably should have stopped eating sooner than I did because I was stuffed by the end.

Workout today
For my workout today I took it pretty easy, after yesterday's longer workout my legs were definitely feeling it. So I just did 15 minutes of power walking and then did about 30 minutes of Pilates Reformer:

It is so handy having Reformer machines in my gym that anyone can use. If we ever move out I would consider buying a Reformer for at home even though they are very expensive.

Book Review: Make Peace with Your Plate
Since giving up calorie counting I have been reading a number of books that talk about Intuitive Eating and listening to your body. 

One of those books that I came across is called Make Peace with Your Plate by Jess Ainscough an ebook that I came across from her website called The Wellness Warrior.

Description from the website:
'Make Peace With Your Plate is not a diet book. I’m not going to tell you to count calories or restrict carbs. It’s not a book that preaches a certain dietary dogma. Whether you are vegan, vegetarian, a meat eater, raw vegan, or Paleo does not concern me in the slightest. The gist of this book is real, whole, natural foods.'

My review:

I found this book really easy to read, it begins with Jess talking about her story and how she used to be a party girl, eating and drinking all the wrong things. She changed her ways when she was diagnosed with cancer and was told she would have to have an arm amputated. Instead of listening to that she took up a plant based diet and completely changed her life around.

The book gives you tips throughout such as putting lemon juice into warm water in the morning to kick start your digestion. It also has a small amount of recipes at the end. What I enjoyed about it was that it was very relatable and realistic in terms of how you should approach healthy eating. Some of the things she mentioned I'm curious about but a bit unsure I will actually try such as doing a coffee enema. Yep you read that right an enema. As well as testing out the PH balance in your body which is done with a pee test. This one I am more likely to try even if it is a bit out there. 

All in all I would highly recommend this book, it was inspiring and made me reconfirm in my mind even more that giving up calorie counting is the right direction for me to be taking at the moment.

I'm now off to go make dinner and do some Sunday food prep for the week. I also plan to play even more Candy Crush (yes I'm still obsessed).

How long would you wait at a place for brunch or even dinner?

Have you ever done reformer pilates?

Do you calorie count?

Apple Cinnamon Buckwheat Porridge

Breakfast today
For a post workout snack I made the usual smoothie with Almond Milk, Berries, Yoghurt, Peanut Flour, Cinnamon and some Stevia:

No I didn't have 2 smoothies, I made enough so my boyfriend who had also worked hard playing video games whilst I was at the gym could have one too ;)

I followed up my smoothie with a big bowl of buckwheat porridge that I'm about to share the recipe for:

Workout today
My workout today was the 12WBT Super-Saturday-Session which is where you do a longer session than the rest of the week and it is always a mix of strength and cardio.

This morning's session was called Run-Rabbit-Run and consisted of 4 circuit with a running sprint between each circuit and 15 minutes on the crosstrainer at the end. 

It looked like this:

Circuit 1 x 4
Run 400 Metres
Circuit 2 x 4
Run 400 Metres
Circuit 3 x 4
Run 400 Metres
Circuit 4 x 4
Run 400 Metres
15 minutes Cross trainer.

The exercises in the circuit included box jumps, push ups, tricep dips, sit ups and much more. If this workout wasn't enough I decided to do an 8km (just under 5 Miles) run afterwards just for good measure.

I didn't go as fast as my usual pace as it was my first longer run in a long time and I want to try and build my distance back up rather than worrying so much about speed. I am thinking of doing a half marathon later in the year and I want to make sure I at least maintain some kind of distance running before entering.

Apple Cinnamon Buckwheat Porridge
I've made buckwheat porridge once before and really enjoyed it but it is definitely more of a weekend dish as it takes about 30 minutes to cook but it is well worth it and is a great very warming and filling breakfast.

Apple Cinnamon Buckwheat Porridge
Servings: 1, Serving size: whole bowl

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Raw Buckwheat
1 cup Almond Milk
1/2 cup Water
1-2 drops Stevia
1 Tbs Chia Seeds
1 small Apple, grated
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Coconut Flakes

1. Rinse your raw buckwheat first and drain well.
2. Add Buckwheat, Almond Milk, Water, Stevia and Chia Seeds to a Saucepan with the heat on medium.
3. Allow the buckwheat to cook for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally.
4. Add the grated apple to the saucepan and mix well.
5. Allow to cook for another 20 minutes continuing to stir occasionally.
6. Sprinkle with coconut flakes and serve with some extra Almond Milk.
7. Enjoy! 

I'm now off to go have a nice long hot shower, do the market shopping and hopefully do some cooking prep this afternoon for the week. 

What have you got planned for the weekend? 

Have you ever tried Buckwheat before?

Friday Favourites #15

I think every Friday I always talk about how happy I am that it is Friday and this week is no exception. Even with a 4 day week it has been crazy busy at work so I'm looking forward to doing not much this weekend to make up for it. Side note, got to love Garfield I used to read the comics all the time as a kid. Those and Betty and Veronica comics!


Breakfast today
My boyfriend did the supermarket shopping on the weekend and bought 2 large containers of yoghurt that are used by this Saturday which I only realized on Wednesday so we have been trying to eat more yoghurt. As a result my breakfast today is a smoothie but made with lots of yoghurt so it was extra thick. I also added berries, peanut flour, cinnamon, almond milk and a dash of water:

Workout today
As I mentioned yesterday I've changed my workout days around this week so today was a weights day. Consisting of legs, back, shoulders, triceps and abs. It included assisted chin ups, tricep dips, hamstring curls, front raises, calf raises and more. 

I am definitely preferring my weights sessions to my cardio at the moment but I'm thinking of entering a run or something to try and kick my motivation up again when it comes to cardio.

Friday Favourites

My favourite funny of the week.

My favourite healthy recipe of the week Power Chia Bread. It is Gluten free and looks delicious!

My favourite inspirational quote of the week.

My favourite book of the week, Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. I finished this book on Wednesday and literally could not put it down!

My favourite chocolate picture of the week. Kitkat's are by far my favourite chocolate bar. In Japan each different region has a different flavour kitkat bar. My boyfriend and I went to Japan and I forgot to try all the different flavours, which is a great excuse to go back :)

My favourite cat picture of the week. As I mentioned yesterday I am obsessed with pinning cat pictures since we can't have a cat in our apartment.

My favourite DIY of the week, this bow backed t-shirt. I really want to do more craft projects and I think this should be one of them.

This weekend my boyfriend and I are going to finish watching the movie The Fifth Element as part of crossing off more movies from the IMDB Top 250 movies that we are working our way through. I also plan on playing A LOT of Candy Crush as I am totally addicted and going out for brunch.

I'm also hoping to catch up on some reading time, do some sudoku and hopefully do some meal prepping. I am definitely in winter hibernation mode, it is freezing here in Australia!

What are some of your Friday favourites this week?

What have you got planned this weekend?

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Things I'm pinning lately

Breakfast today


I didn't have time for a smoothie this morning so had 1/4 of a banana, yes a 1/4 because the bananas I bought this week look ripe on the outside but are mainly completely rotten on the inside.





I'm currently sipping on a soy chai and I'm about to have some greek yoghurt, apple & strawberry puree and granola (an old 12WBT recipe):

Workout today
I switched up my workout days this week and did my cardio workout from the 12WBT this morning which included hill sprints, rowing, running sprints and normal running. It finished with a 400metre sprint as fast as you can. I was feeling dead by the end of it.




Things I'm pinning lately I got the idea for this post from Brittany at Freckled Nettles who posted some things from Pinterest that she is pinning lately.

Please feel free to follow me on Pinterest.

Here is what I'm pinning lately:

Motivational quotes. I always love pinning these as it helps me keep motivated.

Anything funny. It might be my partial Irish heritage but I always want to laugh and will search for things to Pin on Pinterest that do just that.

Peanut Flour recipes. Since I blogged about my peanut flour obsession I have started pinning many a recipe with peanut flour.

Food Porn. I love my food porn (which sounds kind of wrong). But I will happily pin lots and lots of food porn even though most of the time I'm pretty healthy, until that is I'm not.

 

Cats, Cats, Cats! Yes I am a crazy cat lady and unfortunately my boyfriend and I are not allowed a cat in our apartment as our landlord won't let us. Instead I have to feed my obsession with pinning lots and lots (and lots) of cat photos.

Vegetable dishes. New ways of cooking veggies. I love getting new ideas and more ways to sneak in vegetables in delicious ways.

New hairstyles. Ever since I discovered the Sock Bun I am obsessed with trying to find new easy hairstyles that I can do apart from just a ponytail.

And more cats.....

We are having a French Food themed party at home soon once the Tour de France starts (my boyfriend is obsessed with it) so I will need to start pinning some french food recipes soon.

What are you pinning lately?

Are you as obsessed with cats as I am?