The Cookie Bronster!

Busy Baker

2011-04-17T10:16:00.001+10:00

Killa Choc Cupcakes from Gonna Want Seconds – oh my lord they were! Not in the slightest bit clean so its good I didn’t eat much more than half a mini one

A very over-exposed half batch of pumpkin muffins from here (I also added a mix of the following spices amoungst 12 muffins for a chai flavour.

Chai Spice Mix for Baking
1 ½ tsp ground cardamom
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp ground nutmeg

The spice was very subtle. I would recommend doubling, and use 1/4 of the mix to sprinkle on top, or mix into cream cheese icing.

And mini banana muffins from here, my go-to recipe for banana bread. They are about the diameter of a 50c coin – great for a mini sweet hit after lunch. Added ch-ch-chia and walnuts on top

Healthy + Yummy+ Portioned + Delivered?! Yes please!

2011-04-09T18:36:00.001+10:00

I found out about the Harvest Box concept other day and being a lover of all things delicious, healthy and free/cheap (with a voucher!), I couldn’t resist signing up for a few weeks.

The dealio: A Harvest Box is a completely bio-degreadable box filled with 4 portions of delicious and natural snackies – fruits, nuts, seeds and a few other goodies, delivered to your desk (or home) once a week or more. You don’t know what four snacks you’re getting, but you rate them so they can send you similar products, ensuring a delightful surprise and healthy variety.

Box 1: Very excited when I got this in the mail!

Cost: Its $6.95 a box, which is a bit steep for me, but this includes postage, and its cheaper than the four chocolate bars I’d be reaching for… I think I will ration myself to one of these a week or a fortnight, and eat fresh fruit and veg on the other days.

What my box contained: Big Kahuna, The K2, Blossom and Daybreak

Health: The box I got said each pack contains about 650kj, but this is an average. Some snack packs had added sugar, but its mostly limited to ones where they are needed for caramelisation, rather than just packing your raisins with unneeded sugar, so I’m ok with that. And for the planet, its all 100% recylcable. Awesome

An idea of the size of the snack packs. Small enough to fit in my bento (with a 2mm trim, drat!)

Think I might use Daybreak with oatmeal. The dried fruit is a WHOLE nectarine! Looking forward to Blossom, then the K2 most from this pack. Also hoping to get Blue Parfait, Fruity call, Dino eggs, and soo many more!

Anyway, my verdict is give it a go if like me you need variety and something to look forward to at work (spending money and eating healthy foods tend to help me avoid 3.30itis and the vending machine)

PS, you can get a freebie/half off too, by using this code 10435HVO50G.

Still playing catch ups!

2011-04-09T18:08:00.001+10:00

Not many photos this week! For a start I had a few days of non-clean eating. I let myself give in because it was easier (and tastier at the time) but I’m going to be prepared for next week!

A wicked sandwich – called “The Bone” (long story why) but its shaved turkey, garlic mushrooms and lite cheese, toasted in your favourite bread (that’s Helga’s Wholemeal and seed. Delicious!) I cant believe I don’t eat this more often!

Mr lion guards a yummy treat to help me avoid the vending machine at work!

Eggs are packed with protein and quite portable (and a blank canvas! This guy sat like this in the work fridge and got a few laughs. Somene even recognised the art I copied!)

Turns out the boy can cook some darn fancy food! Chicken smothered with basil pesto, wrapped in procutto, baked with a wine sauce and the veg, and garlic sourdough to mop up the sauce.

Having said that he is currently baking baby bok choi under tasty cheese as a side dish for dinner - Good lord! (Assuming its a remnant from his mother’s cooking as she used to put cheese on EVERYTHING to make her sons eat more calcium, and served bread with every meal to ensure they were getting enough fibre. Untraining him is IMPOSSIBLE!)

Playing catch ups

2011-04-03T17:10:00.001+10:00

A little behind because I’ve been to a cocktail party, a wedding and have fallen off my clean eating wagon!!

Breakfast: Kashi Heart to Heart Cereal with banana, peanut butter and soy milk.

I got the cereal from a friend who visited the US. Kashi is a pretty popular brand, particularly for those who are trying to eat a little healthier, but looking at the ingredients its still a bit of a concoction, and has added sweeteners - at least its all relatively natural. Usually I steer clear of cold cereals due to the added sugar and often empty carbs. But on those mornings when you just can’t stomach something warm or heavy, cereals fits in perfectly. Just have to remember to balance with protein and good fats!

Enjoyed with some fresh flowers!

Lunch: Leftover Bento

This was really delicious! Peanut soba with extra broadbeans, a gyzoa and chicken yakitori. The white nectarine was over ripe and juicy and exactly what I needed as a pick me up at work!

Dinner: The boy’s Macaroni and cheese.

Not at all clean! At least it wasn't too cheesy – most of it was low fat ricotta. He is trying. Also became our breakfast the next day before the wedding.

The wedding was a crazy feast of champagne, delicious but fried nibbles, fresh entre and main interspersed with anecdotes from the family and friends of the gorgeous bride and ecstatic groom, and so much cake! I don’t drink often, and I never forget anything or have bad hangovers, so I am a little cocky when it comes to drinking. Recently however, the next day has been a challenge – I just feel weak, dizzy, sick, am unproductive and just want to eat-eat-eat! I think my body is really trying to tell me something, and this time I am going to listen!

The Mac cheese was also accompanied by mint lemonade and some magazines. The new Cosmo health. $13 is a little steep for a magazine, but 1. its a special and 2. I get a free medium boost juice, so that’s $5 off the cover price (because I actually buy boost). It also came with a free bootcamp pass, but I don’t live close enough to the locations to get any benefit (so let me know if you want the voucher!) I bought it to read when I feel like eating chocolate – a distraction!

The mint lemonade is something I am trying to develop from Mint Lemonada I had at a Turkish Restaurant. The recipe so far is…

Mint Lemonada

1-2 lemons (depending on size) or about 1/3 c fresh lemon juice (pulp ok too)
1 stevia tablet (or tsp natural sweetener)
2 tsp agave nectar or honey
2 tsp to 1 tbsp mint (or a bunch of fresh mint, preferred)
1/2 c ice
1 c water or soda water

Blend all ingredients. Ignore colour. Delicious!

I think its still missing something. More lemon perhaps? Its meant to be tart and refreshing – a perfect beverage to cut through the powerful flavours of hummus, shish kebab and burek.

Back to basics

2011-03-30T20:52:00.001+10:00

Finding 12 hour work days very draining, so going to keep my posts about the eats during the week, with minimal rants and blab on the weekends!

Though I will say, clean eating is about 70%-80% at the moment – room for improvement that can be fixed, I think, through good shopping and planning!

Breakfast: Steel cut oats, banana, natural peanut butter, chia and soy milky
A small portion due to physical activity at work

Lunch: Leftover Teriyaki Salmon with broccoli, onion and shallots, brown rice with nori and sesame seeds and a fresh date with frozen raspberry and coconut butter.
In my other bento, used for soups and cereal!

Snack: Not exact picture, but a cup of this with blueberries and flax seed oil.
Its not the best, but will be doing a review of yogurts soon!

Dinner: Mine and the Boy’s peanut soba (semi clean due to soba noodles being wheat + buckwheat) with chicken yakitori and Coles Vegetable and Prawn Gyoza
Gyoza bought as they are the boy’s fav food (after chocolate). They were mostly “real food” but did have sugar and too much salt – will make my own one day.

Lastly, I have been getting crazy sugar cravings – clean eating is about the food, but its also about the mentality behind it. You need to be really motivated otherwise in a moment of weakness you may let yourself down (which for me is focussing on the short term, rather than long term goals).

Rubi Shoes Day!

2011-03-29T21:34:00.001+10:00

Images from http://www.cottonon.com/au/rubi-shoes

I used to have an unwritten rule about Rubi Shoes, the footwear offspring of Cotton On: NEVER AGAIN.

After buying THREE pairs of the same killer awesome $20 heels, but the heels breaking/wrong sizes I decided I should just spend $50 on some nice Novo ones. Same same with the flats that looked cute and colourful on the shelf, but cheap and nasty on my feet. The sizes were also annoying and never accommodated my wide feet in heels, so I stopped shopping there. But recently I’ve been venturing in more often and have been quite delighted!

Last weekend I checked out the sale rack and found these fantastic wedges marked down to $20– and just my size. At the counter they were 50% SCORE. They also give my calves definition, and I get comfortable height!

More about Rubi – pros and cons – below!

Today’s Noms

2011-03-29T20:26:00.001+10:00

I actually got up at 5:30am to attempt to ease myself back into fitness. At my peak I was doing an hour 5-6 days a week (1 cardio, 1 weights, 2 circuits, 1 yoga) but I have barely clocked up a whole hour in the past week! This morning was 30 mins – 10 min run, 10 min brisk walk, 10 min stretches and abs. Its difficult when you come home late, don’t get tired until after “bed-time” but want to get max sleep so you can concentrate on academia and work. But no excuses anymore – it should help me clear my head and get to sleep faster!

But onto the foods!!

Breakfast: Muffin and Egg – small but powerful!

Not ideal, but didn’t feel like oats. A “failure” muffin – carrots/bran/chia - frozen then reheated became doughy and very edible (especially with natural peanut butter). Mini glass of Soy Milky. I also tried to boil an egg, but it came out runny... so I stuck it in the microwave, turned my back and when I came back the egg was gone!

Well... stuck to every wall of the microwave!! I made another…

Some say egg yolk’s aren’t clean, but they seem pretty natural (and healthy) to me. Sure, I’ll limit my intake, especially in pies/omelettes, but we don’t have egg beaters in Australia, and it would be such a waste to throw out every yolk!

Lunch: Beef n Black Bean and Brown Rice with Nori and sesame seed seasoning

A co-worker's meat pie made me doubt my bento for a second, but once I digged in, I was happy. Did get hungry early - sugar in the jarred sauce? Peanut M&Ms were dancing in my head all afternoon – should have packed dessert. Drat. And then watermelon mid-afternoon, still CRAVING chocolate. Had a few cups of stevia sweetened tea.

Dinner: Teriyaki Salmon

At least the sauce is clean and the Salmon and veggies are fresh (and Australian!). The hokkein noodles, not so much. I like my Salmon skin-on but crispy, so I seared it in the wok, then added the sauce and brought to a boil.

The clean sauce was a marinade I turned into a sauce (see after the jump) Needs some adjusting – wayyy to salty! The boy didn’t finish his portion (extra noodles, mine was extra veg)

Just another manic Monday

2011-03-28T21:09:00.003+10:00

So a review of my eats today. A little boring, but baby-steps, yes? I have italicised the clean foods involved. Oh and PS I am not a photographer – my point and shoot camera is lucky to still have battery, but I am improving!! I think…

Breakfast: Simple Warm Oats and Apple
Steel-cut oats (made in rice cooker) with Vaalia low-fat vanilla (leftover – may not be clean…) flax seed oil and chia. It was quite a small portion for 1/3 c dry oats, but it was uber filling – couldn’t finish my apple, and wasn’t hungry until midday!!

Lunch/Snack: Bento!!
First trial of my new bento box. Smaller than I thought, but it really helped with portions and surprisingly I wasn’t hungry!! Its leftover Bolognaise with extra veggies (the birdy has parmesan cheese in it) plus broadbeans and corn. For “dessert” I had a fresh date stuffed with a little natural peanut butter. Haven't got the right Tupperware for inside yet, so had to glad wrap my watermelon snack.

So not fully clean, but note the lack of candy bar. This is what I carry my lunch in. I even have a mini fork-spoon=chopstick set.
Oh and I didnt even eat any of the brownies/cookies that I took into work. Bonus.

Dinner: Beef and Black Bean with Brown Rice
Cooked by the boy. Jarred Kantong sauce, so that’s a no-no considering the junk that was in it. Although not 100% clean, I am more concerned about impending mac-cheese night… This still had lean beef, lots of veggies and a small amount of brown rice.

Summary: A good start, although no exercise because I came home late so I’ll be up early tomorrow for a good session!
I never thought I would become an 100% clean eater straight away, but I made good choices from what I had, stopped before I got too full and had good willpower despite temptation. There are still a few hours to go (and a tub of Homer Hudson Icecream in the freezer) but I think its going to be ok! The transition has begun!

Green, clean and lean?

2011-03-28T20:23:00.002+10:00

I have been seriously considering “eating clean” as of late and last night’s late night sugar binge may just push me over the limit (cookies and packet brownies. Not even worth the tummy pain and awful taste in my mouth!). My crazy love for all things sugary (especially when mixed with fat, in say, CHOCOLATE form) has gone too far.
I am starting to really care about what I am putting into my body because I only get a certain number of calories if I want to be lean – I need as much of that to be helping me get through the day, happy, energised and motivated! So I don’t seem the harm (only the benefit) in trying to eat more things as natural as possible for a number of reasons.
1. I am really busy in life now. I need to simplify things.
2. I am a bit of a control freak and I read labels, comparing EVERY brand on the shelf, balancing price, ingredients, calories, fat, fibre, you name it. It would be nice to put my health first for a while – goodness knows I need it.
3. I am sick of counting calories. Its not natural. What is natural is to know that the food you are eating will nourish you, and to eat a normal amount.
4. I think I have lost touch with myself, especially my health. I have awfully irregular sleeping patterns, am semi-addicted to Pepsi Max, fall asleep during classes yet have no energy to gym, stress to the point of tears, and have been sick three times in the last month, despite my “semi-healthy” diet (I eat all the “good stuff”, but just as much “bad stuff”).
Can eating fresh, clean, fruit, veg and lean protein really help? Given the amount of junk I just ate… I think so.

Follow the jump to read about clean eating and my plans!

Read more »

Bron’s favourite things!

2011-03-27T17:40:00.003+10:00

Yes its that time. Where I go on about how wonderful the things I have in my life are. Unfortch I only have one of these things so I can't really have a big giveaway.... just yet :)
These are the things that make my cooking/eating/fitness/home/blogging life a little easier or better!

First up (and stupidly sounding) this handy dandy can opener. I am pretty darn clumsy (I cut myself on a bread knife yesterday...) but this opener unseals the can lid, vice cutting, = smooth edge = no cuts!! It was crazy $$ from king of knives but apparently you can get them for less if you look around. I imagine it would be great if you had kids too.

My Nespresso: in a moment of eternal lameness I called him George. I don't drink much coffee - maybe 2-3 cups a week at work, so I usually go the cafe, and pick up drinks for other etc. It can get to be $20+ a week, plus they dont do resuable cups there so I invested about $500 into this. I use George at work, making it about $1 a cup and take him home when guests are coming or on weekends. PLUS I use the aerrocino all the time for chai lattes and hot chocolate, and its much better than the hand whisk thingo. Note: There is no way I could take a photo this good. Click for source
Jump to more of my fav things!
OH NO – my bad wb skills meant to just deleted the rest of my post! ARGH. Will continue later!
Read more »

Recipe: BBB

2011-02-13T13:08:00.002+10:00

Also known as
"Bron's Best B.L.T" (I love acronyms that have acronyms in them!!)

What you need for two:

Woolworths Garlic and Olive Oil Sourdough bread - seriously imperative. If you don't, I GUESS you could use sourdough bread and spread garlic butter on it.
3-4 pieces of rindless bacon (I use middle bacon then trim it)
Lettuce (anything which is crisp and vibrant and will do), washed and pulled apart into sandwhich sized pieces
1 juicy tomato, cut into approx 6 thick slices
1 avocado, halved, seed removed and mashed
Salt and pepper to taste

Optional

Aioli - amazement, making the above a BLAAT
Caramelised onions - BLOAT?

1. Grill or pan-fry the bacon on high heat until crispy.

2. Cut the loaf of bread on an angle so you get decent sized pieces, not straight like normal bread. Grill on a sandwhich press until light brown char marks appear, or you can't stand the smell any longer (its so damn good)

4. Slather on the avocado then salt, aioli and onion (if using). On the other slice place your lettuce, tomato and then bacon.

5. Place the avo'd side onto the top of the rest of your sammo and DIG IN.

6. Die happy (eventually)

I dont know what it is about bacon + avo but whatever it is its AMAZEBALLS

And you know what, its not an awfully unehalthy recipe. You could go the rye sourdough etc and just add garlic to your bacon, shortcut at that and skimp on the avo (I usually only put about 1/4 of one on and the boy gets 3/4 on his bigger sanga)

The bread really does make it, and I've heard they might discontinue it so I am going to buy as many loafs as I can and freeze them.

I love a bargain–and there’s no better bargain than a freebie

2011-01-30T15:30:00.001+10:00

A little weekend retail therapy led to a few fantastic buys. First stop, Forever New, where they had one of their buy-one-get-one-free sales. I usually never find much that’s cheap enough (other than accessories) but I saw this Tribal dress and just loved it. Mind you, it probably looks better on Sam than myself.

But then comes the hard part – finding the second item. I ended up getting the dress in a 10 and the skirt in a 14 – can you tell I’m a bit pair shaped? Can’t wait to wear this with a white tight tank or a silky pink singlet.

Next, Rubi shoes. I don't usually buy from here as the quality is poor. But they are good for on-trend cheap shoes – the place was overflowing with clogs and heeled combat boots, and if you keep up with fashion I guess you don't care if they fall apart in two months. but I fell in love with these open toe wedge sandals. They make all my dresses look far better than the plastic and canvas ballet flats I wear everywhere.

They also were selling these little shoe bags for $2 – perfect for tucking shoes into when you pack them. Usually I hate the $1 bags you can buy ,but i bought a few of these as they will also stop my shoes from scuffing each other.

Its a bake-off!

2011-01-30T14:49:00.002+10:00

Oh its been a while. But I have been busy-busy baking (instead of taking photos!)
First, I accepted the challenge to make Vegan cupcakes that were delicious. Enter Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World’s sexy low-fat vanilla cupcakes. I added sprinkles for look and crunch (and checked – the red isn't from crushed bugs as per normal, so they were ok to add)

I ended up topping these with a tofu-icing that REALLY DIDN’T WORK. The recipe just yielded liquid slush. I had to add cocoa, custard powder (dairy free of course – it was basically sugar and cornflour) all my cornflour, egg-replacer, anything powdery to dry it out. In the end I added all my coconut oil (about $5 worth, ugh, baking is costly) and froze. FINALLY, it became useable, and I also put on sprinkles. So imagine these with browny orange topping.

Odd thing was I made about 27, two trays of 12 and then some singlies, all from the same batter, but I could only put the trays in first lot around. The second lot seemed to be a lot more bouncy (below right). Perhaps letting the dough rest was ok. Also not burning them probably helped.

These ended up being a hit at work. I waited until people told me they were delicious before breaking the news that the topping was made out of tofu and there was no butter or milk in them. Oh, and they were low-fat. So a winner!
Next up were some ricotta cornmeal muffins I kinda made up/mixed up.

The recipe was an edit from Creative Gourmet, something like
Ingredients
1 cup shy self-raising flour (I used half wholemeal)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup polenta (yellow cornmeal)
1/4 + 2 tbsp cup caster sugar (I did half with splenda)
125g low fat ricotta cheese
1/4 c applesauce
1 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 cup water or as needed to make soft
1 1/4 cups berries, frozen or fresh
Instructions

Preheat oven at 160ºC (fan forced at 150ºC). Lightly grease a 1/2 cup-capacity 12 hole muffin pan.
Combine all ingredients in a bowl, except blueberries. Using a large metal spoon, stir to combine. Spoon 2 tablespoons of mixture into each muffin cup. Dividing blueberries, top each with some frozen blueberries. Cover with remaining ricotta mixture. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until cooked through. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Turn out from pans and serve warm.

They were very tender, and not too sweet – great for lunch BUT the ones I left fresh in the baking box ended up going disgusting and tart and rotten. Lucky I froze a few for lunches!

Lastly I made this recipe from taste (minus the fruit)– honing my fruitless hot cross bun recipe for easter. I actually halved the recipe but not the yeast and it worked perfectly – the boy prefers these to woolies (and to my previous attempts which turned out like bread rather than buns) Thank goodness for the Kenwood Chef!!

Floods and My Sweetopia

2011-01-15T13:45:00.000+10:00

Its scary to think just a week ago the boy and I were walking along Southbank, huddled under my umbrella, searching for My Sweetopia to test some cupcakes. We checked out the lifestyle markets, dined at Sardine Tin and drive home, with wet shoes but bellies bursting with sweet goods and divine cheeses. But this week, we watched the two hourly reports, seeing the places we have previously dined at, walked along, explored, in Rosalie, the closest Hog's Breath and the banks of South Brisbane being 6 feet under water, our stomachs tied in knots. As reporters updated their viewers, live from the Ipswich CBD, we played a morbid game of identifying the backgrounds of our closest major town in disbelief.

We quickly ushered our relatives and friends off the phone lines, after assuring them we were safe. There wasn't much else we could to help do other than stay inside and off the roads and donate money. They didn't want food or even volunteers.

Just a day before it all went under, I drove up the main street of Ipswich, Brisbane St:

Thanks Google Maps Street View

I had no idea that in less than 24 hours it would look like this:

Thank goodness Ipswich has had about 3 days of full-on sun, and I hear these places are no longer underwater. I still feel its better we wait at home, to avoid causing any trouble for the emergency services.

And I hope the businesses at Southbank are fared a little better than Coles did here. It might be sometime before you get to visit My Sweetopia on Grey St, Southbank. I don't mean to be callous, but a quick review...

We entered My Sweetopia on a cold, wet afternoon. I have been searching for gourmet cupcakes that will knock my socks off in Brissy, and this is one of the most accessible places to get them.

It was pretty slim pickings; I think there were about 8 left. I guess you need to come early if you want a huge array of choice. I settled on a Caramel Choc, and a hot Mocha. The boy had Black Forrest Mud. They were about $4.80 each, but that might be normal for a CBD price.

As we waited for my drink we inspected their reading material and display case. Beautiful! They even had a year of the Rabbit cake. I also liked the look of mini cupcakes, and wished they were selling those that day, like they do at Di...licious in Ipswich.

These cupcakes were a deep dark choc colour - like a mud cake. I wouldn't even call them cupcakes, more like muffins, as they were pretty darn big, with rounded tops. The decorations were nice, although slightly irrelevant (that's a snow-flake on my Caramel Choc)?

My muffin was a chocolate mud base, studded with caramel drops - but I only found four on the outside. Delicious mind you. The muffin base itself was a little dry - not muddy enough for mud cake but not light enough for cupcake. And in it I was expecting a ball or ribbon of caramel, maybe some chips or even caramel icing? The buttercream wasn't too buttery, but not flavoursome enough for me, particularly as the muffin was Choc Caramel. The boy's was also chocolate based, with a ball of jam in the middle (hurrah). The icing, once again, didn't blow us away. We was rather unimpressed. Perhaps I spoilt him with my baking?

Both were very filling, but we agreed looked much better than they tasted. Perhaps we came too late in the day?

On the plus side the Mocha was fantastic. They used the right flavoured coffee (not to bitter) and the right chocolate, and it didn't need sweetening, but it wasn't overpowering.
Drat. Sorry Brissy, but all the places I have read about then visited have been slightly disappointing (with the exception of Freestyle Tout). Not bad, just... didn't live up to the hype! I would not return for the same cupcake, but a Mocha, and maybe earlier in the day for the smaller sized ones?

The curious case of... missing posts

2011-01-15T13:01:00.000+10:00

I had posted at least twice this week, but alas, I don't think Windows Live Writer Published them! And they are gone. Drat. So here we go again (although the second time you blog something, you never try as hard :( )

Its the truth!

A cluttered picture, I know, but this was my inspiration for today's walk-jog. I <3 grey marle t's and love rocking tanks when I exercise. But, other than post-run chocolate, music is ESSENTIAL for me to move to. Workouts have been cut short or even cancelled due to broken earphones, low batteries or failure to sync to my playlists. I tend to like more modern music to work out, so this doesn't reflect the eras my music taste spans (1950s - 1970s is my fav) Here's some songs that I don't usually find on other people's workout playlists but work for me.

- Freefallin, More, by Usher and Ravers in the UK - all Pump tracks, these put me int h right state of mind, even when I'm not Pumpin' with the rest of the class. Plus I have magically memorised the first two of these songs, so I can do them on non-Pump days!

- For Cardio/Running

Little Bitty Pretty One (that mmm song from Matilda)
Don't Stop Me Now, Bicycle, Fat Bottomed Girls - Queen ROCKS the run
Flirt by PCD
Harder to Breathe by Maroon 5
Mr Brightside by The Killers. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE this song yet?
Much of Greenday, Matchbox 20, the Beatles and Muse

- Strength

Survivor by Destiny's Child, plus many Beyonce songs
Don't Hold Back, The Potbelleez
Sherry, Franki Valli and the Four seasons
Blame It On The Pop - the top 25 of 2009 remix is simply AWESOME

Off to listen to some Glee Rocky Horror and eat more M&Ms :)

Breakfast Mojo? Where are you

2011-01-08T20:24:00.001+10:00

As I may have said earlier, my passion for the most important and the first meal of the day, died somewhere between Up & Gos at work and late sleep-ins during my time off. I was just not feeling it anymore.

So I embarked on a strict Breakfast Regime – delicious food to inspire me back to breakfast. I hit up blogs but its winter in America, and slow-baked oats don’t appeal down-under right now. Nothing was easy enough to lure me back into prepared breakfasts. Until…

The boy brought home some fruitless hot cross buns, proud to have discovered his favourite breakfast option, representing Easter time, was already in shelves before the clearance Xmas stuff had even sold. I was not a huge X bun fan… until this…

Fruitless Hot-X-Bun toasted, topped with vanilla ricotta, fresh blueberries and a drizzle of agave nectar.

They make the pantry smell fantastic and I can’t wait to try some more flavour combos (even if they arent so… good for you…) Coconut butter, peaches and thick yogurt, homemade jams, maybe even a baked custard X bun (like you would bread and butter pudding).

Also a pre-body pump breakfast…

Ginger-Bran Muffin and a mini glass of Anlene Milk. Not too heavy so I don't get cramps, but enough to keep me pumpin’

I love my anelene. I always try to get more calcium and with a whopping 500mg per cup, this makes it so much easier. One of my older breakfasts, mixed branny cereals, berries, Anlene and flax-seed oil – a delicious buttery addition.

Yum yum, gotta head to bed so I can get up in the morning and experiment with some leftover brown rice and coconut milk. In the mean time, head over to Simply Breakfast for an archive of some amazingly simple brekkies.

P-P-P-P-Poker Straight

2011-01-08T19:49:00.001+10:00

Just a quick one on a recent nab…

I have been dying to try the Poker Straight dry shampoo ever since saw its miniature form in Priceline (right after I dabbled in Klorane Dry shampoo, AWFUL for my hair, and the flavours of the mini Bastille)

This pack cost $9.99 (but these do go on special – I saw the old tag for $7 but this was the last left) which seems steep but isn't too bad when the individual dry shamp is about $6 alone.

The Dry Shampoo wasn’t tinted – a problem with previous Dry Shampoo contenders. But this went on quite subtly and with a few strokes of the brush it disappeared into my poor oily roots. It smelt quite good too – more like shampoo than old lady perfume as others have reminded me of.

An anti-frizz product is something I’ve always wanted but been too stingy to buy. I have hair that doesn't split, but it does break randomly, so I always have wiry flyaways. Boo. I tried the Dehumidifier on quite a wet humid day on my naked hair. WINNER. The size would be good to carry in a purse if you wanted to tame the frizzies to go from work to drinks.

And the Straightener… well I need to get a straightener first – then I’ll get back to you!

I have now tried the trifecta of Dry shampoos that were out when I started but dry shampoos are suddenly popping up all over the place! I must say my fav is the brunette Bastille because of my dark hair, but the Lee Stafford ain’t too shabby!

Weekend Smiles

2011-01-08T16:50:00.001+10:00

Enjoy the weekend!

Weekend Wear

2011-01-08T12:05:00.002+10:00

Yin and Yang

2011-01-06T22:19:00.002+10:00

Hahha, its almost been a week now. As you can see I am not that great at sticking to resolutions (I am currently eating M&Ms and Malteasers...)

But onto the eats!

When I bake I like to bake a few things at once - you may as well put all that energy to good use! But at the same time, I dislike my trousers getting tighter, so I try to balance my exorbitance with something a little less decadent (and a fair bit of gym time). It also means, when I turn up to work, the health freaks don't... freak out. Although usually a bite of one of my banana-chai-white-choc cake pops soothes the savage beast.

So today I made some deliciously decadent Choc Chip Dough Balls, courtesy of The Chic Life, but also some Ginger-Bran Muffins, adpated from Womens Health Mag.

Ah balance!!

So recipes? I basically followed the recipe (except my egg had, surprise-surprise, two egg yolks, and I think that meant they are a bit more cookie, less doughy as I had to bake them longer?) so you can grab it from the Chic Life - kudos to her for all those experiements (and yay! A new blog for me to follow!!)

And secondly...

Ginger-Bran Muffins

Makes 12 medium sized muffins

1/2 cup bran (I used ALDI all-bran, crushed a little)
1 1/4 cup plain wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp dried ginger
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 Tbsp applesauce
1 egg, beaten (I used 1 egg white and 1/2 an egg worth of egg substitute because its all I had left!)
A single-serve tub of yogurt (about 2/3 c. I used ALDI Low-fat Mango yogurt.)
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated (I used Gourmet Garden, a lifesafer!)
3 Tbsp golden syrup
A splash of fruit juice if its looking dry
1 cup shredded carrots (2-3 small ones)

1. Preheat oven to 190°C.
2. Mix the dry the ingredients (bran to sugar) together.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining wet ingredients.
4. Combine the mixtures well. You may notice the baking soda/powder doing its job, puffing up the batter.
5. Spoon the batter into a 12 muffin pan, with either pre-prepared muffin cases, or well-greased pan. Bake at 190C until the muffin tops spring back when pressed lightly or a skewer comes out clean.

I also sprinkled in some chia seeds, totally optional, and some flaked almonds on top before the bake, and squeezed half a lime when done. It means you can enjoy them plain (like me) or with cream-cheese/jam/PB/coconut oil/butter like the boy will undoubtedly do (after I refuse to make another lime-white choc buttercream for last time's muffins)

The Living Cookbook calculates these (sans almonds and lime) as 126 calories, 1g fat, 2g fibre per muffin. Could be better, but one of the first muffins I've made that rose properly despite being low fat and wholemeal.

Notes:

I use a whisk to mix the dry, then the wet then both mixtures. It combines the ingredients without pushing out the air like overbeating with a spoon might.
I also use a silicone muffin pan for healthy or lower fat muffins as I find they stick to the paper. I spray this with canola oil first, and make sure I let the muffins cool - experience.
Don't overbake! Once they are overbaked they can go chewy as hell. Boo. Plus if you freeze, then microwave them, they wont be too chewy.
Lastly, low fat and wholemeal muffins taste a lot better the next day - more flavours, moister and not rubbery. So be patient, and eat your unhealthy treats today instead!

I tried to hide the leftovers in these nifty Spotlight tins as I am about 25% cookie right now. I dont get the nick-name Cookie Bronster for nothing, you know? Even my Step class and attempt at being virtuous...

Chlorophyll*

...doesnt compensate. Ah well, I would rather be pudgey and happy than skinny and deprived. Been there involuntarily, is not so great. And right now, I'm full of cookie, and happy.

* Every time I get this stuff out, straight or diluted I say aloud "Its so ... green"

New Years!

2011-01-01T19:12:00.000+10:00

2011. Welcome.

I am convinced the number of blog posts today (and tomorrow) will probably increase from yesterday by at least 200% - people and their renewed faith that the new year will give them a chance to start some new habits and change their lives. And here I am, Little Miss Negative, who is doing the EXACT SAME THING.

So to kick us of, the eats.

Breakfast

Xmas Leftovers fried rice. With lots of ham, chicken and veg leftover from xmas, fried rice with the new rice maker seemed like a good idea. I was inspired by a Wagamama Cha Han recipe (DELICIOUS!) I have lost my breakfast mojo, so this seemed better than nothing!

Lunch

Naughty, naughty, a late breakfast and lack of inspiration led to my lunch being bites of these healthy truffles *just one, not the whole picture, that was staged*, some leftover champignions, and a baby apple. Early dinner it is!

Dinner

Questadillas. Not authentic in the slightest. Chicken, avo, light cheese, tomato, capsicum, a little garlic and I had some tabbouleh on the side. Leftovers may make for a cheap grocery bill but a somewhat uninspiring menu...

And other resolutions? Same as always, eat better, tone up, be more organised :P So far I am doing ok, Must avoid the giant jar of M&Ms and Malteasers we got for Xmas...

Oh Katy Perry (Brand)...

2010-12-19T09:38:00.002+10:00

Now I get it. I get why this happened...

I had wondered, seeing this photo before, "Why the hell didnt she get a longer wig!?!" but then I saw non-cover photos with a similarly short fringe. Egads.

As I put the bow in my hair today I realised - it happened to me too.

I can just see her, like me, sitting at the hairdresser's, insisting the fringe be just above her eyebrows, scowling "I do NOT want to be back in here in a week for a trim, just cut the fringe shorter, just above the brow like I said!" to find when it dries, this happens...

Boo :( I mean, Katy's fringe is shorter, but she has better brows and hair so can pull it off a little shorter :P

I do blame myself for going to a cheap hairdresser, only wanting the fringe cut, but NEVER AGAIN. The fringe, despite it being short, is lopsided and too blunt for me too pull off. The original cut was much smoother, even when my fringe ruffled. How did they do that?

Ah well, hair grows.