Saturday morning brunch...

Hello :) This morning I invited a good friend of mine over for brunch! I made raspberry and banana bread and a fruit salad with apples, white nectarines, plums, mixed berries (frozen which I let thaw) and passionfruit. I also made some freshly squeezed orange juice. Everything was quite delicious (especially the raspberry and banana bread...mmm) and it was a lovely morning.

And here's some lovely music: 

Quite an appropriate song at the moment, as my long (over 3 months!) summer holidays are coming to a close and I'm about to start University on Monday! Eeeeek.

This also means, as much as I'd like to, I won't be posting as frequently. I'd still love to continue blogging though!!

Well enjoy the rest of your weekend. I'm off to the beach tomorrow to celebrate the last day of holidays! Can't wait :) :)

Hannah x

Cooking fun day!

Hello :) Today my good friend A came over to do some cooking! He doesn't usually cook much- thinking that it'll take to long and is difficult, so I wanted to prove him wrong.

A day spent cooking, sounds like fun to me!

We started the day off with some pancakes, which turned out really well! I was surprised at how well they held together.

He did a very good job at pouring maple syrup- impressive

After going for a walk we came back to cook some lunch. Pesto fettucini.

Making the pesto in a mortar and pestle. Go A!

 The pesto was full of flavour, using lots of fresh basil

Later on we decided to make the blueberry, apple and coconut crumble I had yesterday at my Grandparents, since I managed to get the recipe. I adored this crumble, and will definitely continue to make it. The sweetness of the blueberries and apple base and the coconut and buttery crumble top was so delicious...

It was our favourite dish and there wasn't much leftover afterwards...

A very fun day indeed :)

And last night I decided to get crafty and make a cushion cover using men's shirts! It was so, so simple and was really pleased with the finished product. I decided to give it to A for all his hard work. A well deserved gift! I have quite a few more men's shirts (from various op-shops) so maybe I'll continue my cushion cover making.... it even has a pocket on the front!

Hannah x

A Birthday Lunch

Hello :) Today I've been at my Grandparents house with my family, celebrating my Grandfathers birthday! It was a splendid occasion, catching up with relatives, present opening and of course, eating delicious food! I managed to take photos of some yummy (vegetarian) dishes...

A few starters, served with wine/champagne. Cheese+crackers and homemade hummus+lebanese bread

Lunch: roasted pine nut, avocado and mango salad. One of my favourite combinations!

Roasted smashed potatoes with thyme and fennel seeds. Loved the addition of fennel seeds- good for digestion too!

Salad with mango, rasins, watercress, lettuce, walnuts, alfalfa sprouts and parmasen

Sweet potato and capsicum slice/bake

My Lunch plate. A well balanced meal in my opinion.

Dessert: blueberry, apple and coconut crumble. This was so divine...I even got the recipe from my Nanna so I can make it soon :)

Coconut and jam slice 

 Cake! It was a delicious, moist but oh-so-light chocolate cake topped with melted chocolate...

Now a little about portion control. As delicious as all this food was, sometimes it's very easy to overeat. At the end of the meal I wanted to feel satisfied, not overly full so what I did was leave out bread with my meal and I opted not to have custard with my blueberry, apple and coconut crumble. I also tried not to over indulge in the cheese and crackers. And because I cut out these foods it meant I had more room to have some delicious homemade dessert and cake! Yummo. 

Hannah x

FebYOUary: update

Hello :) Well my Chemistry Bridging course has finally, after two exhausting weeks come to a close, and I am a free bird for another week until University starts on the 28th of Feb! Hooray!

Now seems like a great time, to have a little FebYOUary update. To recap, what I wanted to do during the month of February was take the time to focus on health and wellbeing and set myself some goals. Read my original post here. It's been a big challenge, as for the past two weeks I've been waking up at 5:45am each  day to go to a 3 hour lecture/tutorial then coming home, studying etc. So here's an update of how I'm going:

1. Have I stretched every day? To put this quite simply, no I haven't. When I say 'stretching' I mean at least 10-30 minutes of proper stretching or yoga. I have been doing this about 3 times a week, which is an improvement in itself. I've used a basic yoga DVD a couple of times which was really great, and I find it helps to relax and unwind as well.

2. Swam 2km? Again, no I haven't. But I have still been swimming a few times, despite being really busy and have probably done about 1km most times. There's still time in February for improvement though, and I'm going to go swimming after this post!

3. Exfoliated twice a week? Yes, I have been doing this and hope to continue this too. As I mentioned in my other post, I use a basic scrub of olive oil and sugar (any kind) for my body and a mixture of almond meal, oats, honey and milk for my face. Sounds weird, but it works really well! 

4. Have I used a facemask once a week? Yes I have, and it's been a nice way to unwind after a long day. Sometimes I'll make my own but lately I've been using this Bloom one:

5. Have I focused on eating food that will make my skin glow? Of course I have! And I'll obviously continue to do this, after this month. I've been focusing on taking healthy snacks with me whenever I go out such raw nuts, apples, carrot sticks with hummus and sliced cucumber. Here's a few things I've been eating lately when I've been home:

Wholemeal spaghetti with avocado, spinach leaves, pine nuts, olives and arrabiata sauce. 

Quinoa and chickpea salad with cucumber, tomatoes and avocado

A delicious smoothie with a frozen banana, vanilla bean paste, frozen raspberries and oat milk

Most importantly though, despite been really busy, I've been taking out time for myself each day. Sometimes it will only be about 20 minutes but I've been doing things like painting my nails, doing some yoga, reading a magazine, having a foot bath or as you've read above popping on a facemask for a little while. We all know, it's the little things that count!

Hannah x

edit: I've just come back from the pool and have just swam 2km (40 laps!). I've never done this many before, so I'm really happy and have reached my goal!! :)

Zucchini Bake + snapshots

Hello :) On my previous post, I posted for lunch one day I had Zucchini Bake. Well I thought- I may as well share the recipe! It's seriously easy and tastes pretty delicious...

Recipe: Zucchini Bake
Ingredients-
3 large-ish grated zucchinis (approx. 375gm) unpeeled
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 cup grated cheese
1 cup wholemeal self-raising flour
6 eggs
Salt and pepper or other seasonsings to tastes
Method-
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Pout into an ungreased sqaure cake tin or quiche dish. Bake in a moderate oven (180-200 degrees celcius) for 30 to 40 minutes.
Cut into squares or wedges and serve, hot or cold.

We made this for dinner and then I took some of the leftovers for lunch. It's nice with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese on top too. 

Also, last night I watched the band Tinpan orange  at The Vanguard, in Newtown. The female vocalist was quite exceptional, and I bought their CD. I've posted one of their songs on this blog already (on this post), but here's another! Isn't it "Lovely"?

Oh- and here's a few more photos I've taken over the weekend:

My Friday morning breakfast. I didn't have to go to my bridging course till the afternoon so I made myself mushrooms and herbs on toast with hummus and a side of asparagus. 

Delicious vegetarian dumplings I had yesterday afternoon. I really should start making dumplings again!

And now I must get back to my study...

Hannah x

Lunches

Hello :) Hope your week has been spectacular! At the beginning of the week, I actually started a bridging course at uni, in preparation for when I start uni at the end of February. It's been quite exciting getting back into the swing of things. The one (rather large) downside however is the uni I have chosen to study is a 1.5 hour train ride away from where I live. This means I have started to become the queen of organisation, preparing most of my lunch, working out what I'll wear and packing my bag all the night before. Did I mention I have to wake up at 5:45am each day? Yep.

Of course I've been a little more tired each day, but considering it's FebYOUary, I've been focusing on eating healthy foods that will provide me with enough energy to get through the day, avoiding coffee and taking some time out for myself each day (more on that to come). I still have to go in today, but not until the afternoon, so I thought I'd post what I've been eating for lunch each day! When I say 'lunch', all this food really has to last me from the early morning until the afternoon.

Monday: A sandwich (quinoa and flaxseed wholegain bread) with mushrooms, hummus, alfalfa sprouts, rocket, tomato and mango and ginger chutney. Carrot sticks with hummus, a berry muffin and almonds.

Tuesday: A sandwich with hummus, a lentil pattie, rocket, alfalfa sprouts and mango and ginger chutney. Sliced cucumber, a berry muffin, lychees and a mix of macadamias, sultanas, shredded coconut and sunflower seeds

Wednesday: zucchini bake, carrot sticks with sweet potato hummus, a banana, half a muesli bar, almonds, dried blueberries and apricots. 

Thursday: A sandwich with sweet potato hummus, a lentil pattie, tomato, rocket and mango and ginger chutney. Vitaweats with sweet potato hummus, a mix of dates, sultanas and walnuts, an apple and a banana. 

So that was my lunch for 4 days! I made sure I planned ahead and made a mix of various nuts and seeds the night before and I also made a batch of lentil patties on Monday night to make my sandwiches more substantial. 

Well that's all for now...it's nearly the weekend and I'm excited :) Can't wait to sleeeeeep in!!

Hannah x

The making of a wrap

Hello :) I made scrumptious wrap for lunch today and photographed each process. Enjoy!

mountain bread + homemade hummus + red onion + tomato + cucumber + rocket + alfalfa sprouts + mango and ginger chutney = delicious. 

Who said I was bad at maths?

Hannah x