WIAW - Dragonfruit & Chia Pudding

To be honest - this is what I ate on Tuesday.... last week! 

I am particularly in love with making 'pizza' like this.
Smoother a piece of lebanese bread with chili flavour hummus, top with piles of fresh baby spinach leaves & pour on a mini can of BBQ flavour baked beans. 
Bake for 15 minutes - OH MY YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

But the real reason I added this to WIAW was really just because I wanted a good excuse to share with you this awesome 

Dragonfruit & Chia Pudding that we had for dessert!

You'll need:

1 pink dragonfruit
165ml lite coconut milk
1 Tablespoon coconut sugar
1 Tablespoon chia seeds
1 teaspoon vanilla

Remove the flesh from the dragonfruit and place in a blender with all the other ingredients.
Blend til smooth.
Pour into serving dishes and refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour. 
Sprinkle with coconut if desired.
Store in the fridge til ready to serve.

Makes 4 small servings.

Question of the day -
Have you made a chia pudding before? What is your favourite flavour?

WIAW - On a Tuesday

This weeks What-I-Ate-Wednesday post happens to be about what I ate on Tuesday.

Mainly because I have wanted to share this 'yogurt' recipe for sometime and doing it this way actually prompted me to get motivated to do it!

But first..... here's what I ate yesterday:

Pawpaw yogurt with oats, flax and passionfruit for breakfast.

     Roasted sweet potato with refried beans and salsa, and kale chips for lunch.

            Spinach noodle and shiitake mushroom peanut stir-fry for dinner.

Paw Paw Yogurt

In a blender combine:

1 cup frozen paw paw pieces

1/3 cup frozen raspberries

1 Tablespoon probiotic

1/2 cup plant milk (more or less depending on your blender)

Blend til smooth and thick.

Serve straight away.

There is something about the tang of the raspberries mixed with the creaminess of the paw paw that makes this so similar to yogurt!

I'm not a huge fan of pawpaw by itself, though it does bring back fond memories of my grandmother! She used to serve us pawpaw for dessert when we stayed over in the school holidays.

I must admit that most people I ask say that pawpaw is not their favourite taste. 

Thankfully, in this recipe you can't really taste the pawpaw itself! 

Question of the day:

Do you like pawpaw?
If so, what is your favourite way to serve it?  

WIAW - Triple grain breakfast

Welcome to What-I-Ate-Wednesday
It's been a while since I posted for WIAW. Life seems to be somewhat back in a regular routine now so with that comes a WIAW post. 
Wednesdays for me mean a packed lunch to take into work.
Today's Bento box style lunch:

 Green salad with bean salad and rice salad. Not more leftover from Christmas - just made again since then!!!

I have the wonderful blessing of my husband making our Wedensday evening meal.
Today was a taco plate with brown rice, red quinoa, black bean mix, veggie mix, carrot and lettuce:

I had pre-made my breakfast so that my morning routine was somewhat quicker.
And in the Summertime I definitely prefer oats to be cold instead of warm.

TRIPLE GRAIN BREAKFAST

3 Tablespoons quinoa flakes

3 Tablespoons Rye flakes

1/4 cup oats

1/2 mango

1 passionfruit

1/2 cup water

Put all ingredients into a bowl. Cover and keep in the fridge overnight.

Question of the day:
Have you experimented with soaked oats?

WIAW - and Mofo Wrap-up

How has your Wednesday been?

 Here's what I ate today:

I finally decided to do a summary of my Mofo posts - I know its a few days late, but don't they say better late than never?!?
After all, my planning was pushed back a day ;-)
I hope you have enjoyed baking as much as I have this past month!

 Snacks:
Vanilla cupcakes with raspberry filling 
Carrot cookies 
Strawberries and cream cake 
Scrolls 
Cranberry macadamia cookies 
Peanut butter scones 
Chocolate prune cookies 
Banana sultana loaf

Mains & Sides:
Red lentil tortilla bake 
Mexican chickpea filo pie 
Roasted vegetable roll 
Pasta bake with cauli cheese sauce Roasted stuffed capsicums 
Pizza couscous timbales



Fingerfoods:
Baked tofu strips 
Lentil meatballs 
Cheeseless pizza bites 
Blistered potato chips 
Baked eggplant parmigiana 
Chickpea nuggets


Desserts:
Healthy pastry crust 
Quick baked apples 
Apple crumble pie 
 Baked pumpkin pudding
Apple fig walnut strudel
 
Other posts:
Snack box 
In my kitchen 
Precooked grains 
Events we don't plan









Did you try any of these recipes?
Which ones did you enjoy the most?


My favourites were the cheeseless pizza bites, lentil meatballs and the strawberries and cream cake. They will now be regulars in our home!

Baked Tofu Strips 2 ways

Guess what I'm eating this Wednesday.....

If you answered oats for breakfast and salad for lunch then you would, of course, be right ;-)

My salad today incorporated my Vegan Mofo theme.....

The "bake-off" series includes finger food.
But without the use of high fat pastry I had to make something other than standard "sausage rolls" and "meat pies". 
So today I bring you a different type of finger food....

BAKED TOFU STRIPS

                                            Cut firm tofu into 1cm thick strips.
Place in a baking tray.
Spread a thin layer of either soy sauce or sweet chili sauce over the tops of the sliced tofu.

Pour water in the baking tray til it reaches 3/4 of the way up the sides of the tofu (amount of water will vary depending on the size of your tray and the amount of tofu you use).
 
Place in a preheated hot 220C oven.
Bake for 15 minutes then flip the tofu pieces over to their other side, cover again with the sauce and then return to the oven for another 15 minutes.
The water will have evaporated and the tofu will be slightly crispy. 

Serve.

Options for serving these strips is endless --> they make great 'nibble' food, or served on top of a salad, or as part of a meal :-)

WIAW - Choc-Hazel-Goji Granola

Welcome to WIAW

I haven't done a Wednesday post for some time, so enjoy today's one!
It comes with a super yummy breakfast recipe.

Today's eats:

Breakfast was the totally delicious granola recipe below - sure beats nutella on toast!

Lunch I made a quick salad with cooked wholemeal pasta, salad leaf mix, grated carrot, sun-dried tomatoes, chopped capsicum and spring onions - topped off with a big dollop of hummus. Quick, easy, delicious :-)
Dinner was roasted sweet potato with a mexican bean mix with capsicum, corn, tomatoes, zucchini, borolotti beans and mushrooms.

Now for the promised recipe:

Chocolate Hazelnut Goji-berry Granola

You'll need:
2 1/2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup hazelnuts
1/4 cup pepitas
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup coconut
1/2 cup apple sauce
1/2 cup brown rice syrup
1/2 cup goji berries
1/4 cup raisins

Smash the hazelnuts by placing them in a zip-lock bag and beating with a meat-mallet until broken into little pieces.
In a large mixing bowl combine the oats, smashed hazelnuts, pepitas, cocoa powder & coconut. Stir well.
Pour in the apple sauce and brown rice syrup.
Stir until well combined & all the oats have been coated with the moist ingredients. It will look like it won't all combine but keep stirring and it eventually does.
Pour mixture onto a lined baking tray and spread evenly and as thin as possible.
Place in a preheated 160C oven.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes.
Remove tray from the oven & allow to cool.
Stir in the goji berries & raisins until evenly distributed.
Pour into an airtight container for storage.

Here's a picture-tip for how to easily transfer the granola into the storage container:

Because sometimes in life we need all the tips we can get right!!! ;-)


Here's another one then...... don't start nibbling on this before putting it in the container - its soooo good that you won't have much left to transfer otherwise!!!

WIAW - Split Pea & Leek Stew

Happy Wednesday everyone! :-)
I hope you've all had a wonderful day.

Its been a few weeks since I did a What-I-Ate-Wednesday Post.

Over on the peas and crayons blog, June is sensible snacking month. I find that winter is definitely a time of year when its easy to sit and snack, so its a nice reminder for me to be mindful that I'm only snacking if I really need to eat something. Today I had an apple when I was driving home from work at 6pm. I think that definitely falls into the category of 'sensible snacking'. 

Here's what I ate for meals during the day:

Breakfast - blueberry 'yogurt' and oats.

Lunch - mexican rice & beans with spinach on a grain wrap.

Dinner was Split Pea & Leek Stew - courtesy of the slow cooker!

I reckon I could just about call my WIAW posts "Slow-Cooker Wednesday" since our slow cooker is used almost every Wednesday. Its such a wonderful kitchen appliance for my late-home day! 

Here's today's recipe: 

Split Pea & Leek Stew

 

1 cup green split peas

1 leek

1 onion

2 potatoes

approx 1 1/2 litres of stock

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon minced garlic

Chop the leek, onion and potatoes. Place in the slow cooker with the bay leaves and garlic. Pour over the stock (you'll need enough to just cover all the vegetables).

Put the lid on and set to high for 5-6 hours.

Remove the bay leaves prior to serving.

Optional: stir through a tablespoon of tomato paste if you like tomato flavoured stews!

 Delicious served with warm crusty bread.... but then again, what meal isn't!!! ;-)

I have been making our own stock lately. Its really easy to make and amazingly tasty. I don't buy veggies to make it because I find that the expense of doing that adds up really quickly. Instead, I save all our 'off cuts' - meaning the ends of carrots, capsicums, zucchinis, celery, beans, broccoli and any other vegetables that would otherwise be thrown in the bin. All the end bits truly make an amazing stock and I'm yet to find a vegetable that seems to spoil the stock! What a great way of making the most of 'all' the vegetable!!!
I just keep the pieces in a container for 5-7 days and then pour them into a large stock pot and cover with approx 2 litres of water. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 1-1 1/2 hours. Strain the mixture and then its ready to use. The stock also freezes well.

Questions of the day:
Have you ever tried making your own stock?
Do you call it a "slow cooker" or a "crock pot"?

WIAW - Trade

I'm sure by now you know that on Wednesdays I have oats for breakfast, salad for lunch and soup for dinner! Today I also enjoyed snacking on these delicious pumpkin cookies from Kari @ Bite-Sized Thoughts:

Try them - you won't be disappointed!

So this week instead of showing you yet another What-I-Ate-Wednesday, I decided I would trade Wednesday for the weekend (same letter after all so I can still call it WIAW)!
That's because we went camping last weekend!
How is it that something so simple can be so fun & relaxing....???

I love going away camping (when its not too long).

I thought I'd share with you our camping stew.

This is such a great meal to prepare when you don't have your full kitchen available & especially in cooler months. 
Its very easy to transport the food needed for this stew too.
I pre-chopped all our vegetables at home before we left just to make it easier.

Camping Stew
 
3 medium potatoes
1 zucchini
1 carrot
1 onion
1/2 chili
1 tin butter beans
1 large tin diced tomatoes
Sprinkling of italian herbs

Chop all vegetables.
Put all ingredients in a large pot. Bring to the boil. Simmer for 40 mins. 

Serve with fresh crusty bread.

 Sit in front of the fire and enjoy your steamy stew!

Now for camping breakfast:

Soaked oats! This was too easy.

We boiled water in our billy. Poured it over the oats and left their lids on for 5ish minutes. Then added apple sauce, raisins and cinnamon.

Delicious warm camping breakfast!

Is it just me or do the oats on the left remind you of the 3 bears??? ;-)

Question of the day:

Do you have certain meals that you always eat when you go camping?