Breakfast of Champions

Lately we have been enjoying a basic bowl of cooked whole grains for breakfast. Once a week I'll cook up a cup each of whole oats and brown rice, mix them together and it lasts us a few days. I'll generally use 2/3-1 cup of the cooked grain as a serving. In this bowl I;ve got oats and rice, raw almond milk, tahini, banana, chopped dried apricots, chia seeds and molasses. I usually heat up the grains and then pour cold milk on top.

It tastes good, has a good texture and is very filling without being too heavy. I like that in a breakfast.

A nice start to the weekend

I made the desicion to get up this morning and do some exercise before breakfast rather than late afternoon when I normally do it, and I did! Hooray!

In my first group pilates class we used a stretchy band thing that I loved, so I went to a sports shop and got myself one! With it came a 40 min workout DVD utilising the band so I did that one this morning. It was pretty good, except I felt there weren't enough repetitions! You'd do three or four of each move instead of 8-10, but I can just learn the movements and do them myself as many times as I like (I hate listening to the instructors on DVD's yack anyway!). This isn't a paid product review by the way, it's just what I use at home and like.

Anyway, my band is gaiam brand, I got it at AMart Allsports, but gaiam also has a website. Unfortunately I couldn't find the band on it, but I can find the mat I use! When I bought the band I noticed Amart also had a million different kinds of yoga and pilates mats, so after I finished the half marathon I got myself a little present! This pilates mat by gaiam. It says it's thicker than most gym mats and has extra cushioning, both of which I reckon are untrue! It's as hard as a rock! I have to assume it softens up with more use. Other than that it's fine to use, and even with the lack of apparent cushioning it doesn't hurt. One thing it IS though, is sticky! Which is excellent because I often slide all over the place on our yoga mat we got from Target.

And also what I can't find on the site (I'm probably blind!) is that the mats are also free of the bad stuff in plastics (pthalates? I don't know how to spell it) I chucked out the (plastic! hahaha) wrapper on mine and I can't recall the exact kinds.

After my little bit of exercise I made some apple and cinnamon porridge for breakfast:

1/2 cup rolled oats, 1 cup soy milk, half a large apple grated and the other half cubed, and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. If you want the apple to be more cooked and mushy, precook it a little first. I didn't so I did it all at once.

Sprinkle some extra cinnamon on top (in this case I used allspice because I couldn't bothered opening the cinnamon packet again!) and enjoy. I discovered that if I set my camera to 'shoot waterside scene with rich blue colour' it picks up real colours in my food, instead of the usual greyish tone it all gets. Strange that the 'food' setting doesn't do it!

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Yesterday I also recieved some good news from the bank which means I can now go and buy my new (used) car! I am very, very excited =D

Brown 'Rice' Sushi and Zucchini Noodles with Almond-Coconut Sauce - Raw

On my birthday, I dragged Nadine to Mrs Flannery's and bought piles and piles of grains and dried beans. Yes, that is my idea of fun. One of the grains I got is whole oat groats - I've been wanting to make oat milk to see what it's like, and I just assume you make it the same way you do brown rice milk.

Anyway I got lots (I love bulk - so cheap!), and I always look at this recipe from Addicted to Veggies, just waiting for a time when I could be bothered making it. (I often keep recipes bookmarked for aaaggges before I finally get around to it). And, I took so long to make it because the idea of eating grains that weren't actually cooked seemed odd to me.

I had a day off work Monday (present to myself haha) so I decided to make it then!

Oooh and it turned out so so good. I put the oat groats in to soak on Sunday night so I could prep it all during the day. I really hate being rushed when sushi rolling is involved! I made half the recipe, in case I didn't like it and because I didn't have quite enough oats to make a full recipe and milk later on.

I had to make a few substitutions:

In the brown 'rice' seasoning - I used sunflower seeds instead of pumpkin seeds, and I used my mortar and pestle to grind everything. It took a little while but it's worth it.

And in the making of sushi rice I used soy sauce instead of coconut aminos or nama shoyu.

I could have just eaten the oats as they were then! Yum. They turn out quite chewy. It's very different, but also very good.

In my sushi filling I had avocado, carrot, red capsicum and garlic chives from my garden.

I had to make something to go on the side, so I had a look around and found this recipe for Spicy Thai Almond-Coconut Sauce. (Scroll down, I think it's the second recipe). So I made some zucchini noodles by peeling and peeling a zucchini until I couldn't peel any more (I want a spiraliser), tossed them with the sauce and some baby spinach, the rest of the zucchini cubed, and the leftover bits of red capsicum that didn't fit in the sushi. I also used lemon juice instead because I didn't want to buy a lime, but I sprinkled some lime zest I had frozen on top to make it limey. Yum. (Good thrifty tip I learned from Vegan on the Cheap).

Extremely good, except for one thing - I used coconut oil instead of coconut butter, not wanting to go and buy butter just for one recipe. I should have, well, not. Next time I make it, if I do, I'm going to skip the oil and used some dessicated coconut instead. It made me feel so sick! I woke up nauseous, went to work and had to come home because I still felt nauseous (I couldn't eat even half my breakfast and the mere thought of eating my morning tea at work made me want to be ill).

But on the motorway on my way home, when I saw one of those 'cage' trucks carrying cows off to whereever they go and burst into tears, I realised the nausea was probably a little more to do with certain lady troubles than just too much coconut oil!

Anyway, I'm glad I've finally had a go at raw 'cooking', especially since eating more raw foods was one of my resolutions! I've done pretty well this year so far. Why make a boring salad when you can make raw sushi out of oats!?

Anyway, I've just finished baking a trial batch of hot cross buns and, wow, they smell amazing. I made some last year which turned out kind of brick-like, so I hope these are nicer. If they worked I'll post my recipe, and make another batch for actual Easter that's coming up soon! I'm not religious, but I do enjoy making holiday food. Mince pies are on my list for Christmas this year, in lieu of my usual trifle! Actually that trifle is so delicious I may have to make both.

Tonight I'm cooking up a big pot of something spicy, and chickpea-y and oil-free to try and make the nausea go away. I've tried sleeping it off, drinking ginger tea and eating marmite toast but it's still there. Ah well. Hopefully I make it to work tomorrow, I don't have that many sick hours clocked up, and getting paid is kind of important to be able to eat.