Easy and Nutritious Lentil and Quinoa Soup

Ingredients

• 9 cups of boiling water 
• 1½ cups of lentils
• 1 cup of quinoa
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 vegan stock cube
• 4 cardamom pods
• 4 bay leaves
• A sprig of thyme
• Salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon each of: garam masala, turmeric, ground cumin seeds, ground coriander seeds, mustard seeds

Method

1. Fry the onion and garlic in a pot with a little oil
2. Add all the spices except the stock cube, bay leaves and cardamom pods and fry until a fragrant paste develops
3. Add all the remaining ingredients
4. Simmer on medium to low heat with the lid on until the lentils and quinoa are cooked – approximately 50 minutes

Serves three

Raw Pad Thai

Sauce:
Ingredients

• 5cm ginger, peeled and chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic 
• Juice of 1 lime 
• 2 tablespoons of Tamari 
• 1 tablespoon of agave nectar 
• ¼ cup of peanut butter 
• 1 teaspoon of chilli powder 
• ¼ cup water

Method

1. Blend all the ingredients together in a food processor until smooth

Pad Thai:
Ingredients

• ½ zucchini, spiralled 
• ½ carrot, spiralled 
• Handful of fresh basil, chopped 
• Handful of sprouts 
• 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds 
• Garlic flowers (optional)

Method

1. Combine all ingredients including the sauce (leaving out the garlic flowers) in a bowl and stir well
2. Serve the mixture on a plate
3. Top with garlic flowers, extra spouts, sesame seeds, and a basil leaf
4. ENJOY!!

Serves one

Homemade Baked Beans

Ingredients

• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons of olive oil
• 1 can of tinned five-bean mix
• 2 cans of tinned tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
• Flavouring: cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, mixed herbs

Method

1. Fry the onion and garlic in the olive oil in a pot until soft
2. Add all remaining ingredients except the beans and simmer until the liquid reduces to a thick saucy consistency
3. Add the beans and leave on the stove until they are heated through
4. Serve on their own, with toast or accompanying other meals

Serves two

Scrambled ‘Eggs’ with Homemade Baked Beans

Ingredients

• 1 recipe of Homemade Baked Beans
• 1 onion, chopped finely
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 6 teaspoons of olive oil
• 250g firm tofu, crumbled until it resembles scrambled eggs
• 1 tablespoon of non-dairy milk
• Flavouring: turmeric, paprika, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, mixed herbs
• 4 slices of wholegrain toast
• 4 Sicilian olives
• Handful of parsley, chopped

Method

1. Fry the onion and garlic in 4 teaspoons of olive oil in a pan until soft
2. Add the crumbled tofu, milk and flavouring and stir until heated through. Let the milk slightly evaporate so it's not too soggy. Be sure to add enough turmeric to turn the tofu yellow
3. Pour the remaining oil over the toast and top with the tofu mixture
4. Place the baked beans on the side and garnish the plate with olives and parsley

Serves two

Cashew Cream Cheeze

Ingredients

• 2 cups of cashews, soaked overnight + the ¾ cup of the water they were soaked in
• Juice of 2 lemons (about ½ of a cup) + the pulp (don’t worry if seeds get in, they will get crushed up in the processor!)
• ¼ cup of savoury yeast flakes
• ½ small onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• Flavouring: mixed herbs, pepper, salt

Method

1. Blend all the ingredients in a food processor until smooth (this requires quite a bit of blending in order to get the graininess out of the cheeze)

Makes 3 ½ cups of cheeze

Deconstructed Lentil Burger Platter

Ingredients

• 1 piece of wholegrain bread, toasted
• 1 lentil pattie (I used Syndian Lentil Burgers)
• 4 small lettuce leaves
• 1 tomato, sliced
• ¼ onion, sliced
• ½ medium carrot, spiralled
• 1 tablespoon of Cashew Cream Cheeze
• 1 tablespoon of Raw Hummus
• 2 teaspoons of seeded mustard
• ½ teaspoon of mustard seeds

Method

1. Fry the lentil pattie until cooked through
2. Prepare the vegetables as outlined above - slice the tomato and onion and spiral the carrot
3. Arrange the lettuce leaves on a plate
4. Place the toast on top of the lettuce leaves 
5. Spread the mustard onto the toast and top with the pattie
6. Place the spiralled carrot, sliced onion and tomato over the lettuce 
7. Dollop the Cheeze and hummus over the burger and salad vegetables
8. Sprinkle the mustard seeds over the plate
9. Enjoy – yum yum!!

Serves one

Super Tasty Pita Pizza

Ingredients

• 1 pita bread
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil + 1 teaspoon
• ½ eggplant, sliced into round slices, approx. 1cm thick
• 1 tomato, chopped
• Approximately 7 pieces of ‘Fry’s chicken strips’
• ¼ cup of zucchini, chopped
• Handful of fresh basil, chopped + extra for garnish
• Handful of fresh parsley, chopped + extra for garnish
• Flavouring: salt, pepper, chilli flakes, mixed herbs

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C
2. Fry the eggplant slices in a pan with a teaspoon of oil
3. Mince the garlic and combine with 2T olive oil, salt, pepper, chilli flakes and mixed herbs in a mortar and pestle until roughly combined
4. Coat the pita bread with the oil mixture
5. Evenly lay out the fried eggplant over the pita base
6. Top with tomatoes, zucchini, chicken strips and fresh herbs
7. Sprinkle a little more salt, pepper, chilli and mixed herbs over the pizza
8. Cook in the oven for approximately 20 minutes
9. Sprinkle the remaining basil and parsley over the cooked pizza and serve

Serves one

How to find the motivation to Exercise - by someone who doesn't enjoy exercise for those who struggle to get motivated

This is not your average 'you should exercise daily' post written by a super-human crazy gym person who loves exercising.

To be honest, I don't generally enjoy exercising, although it depends on what I'm doing, but that doesn't change the fact that I NEED to exercise (dammit). I have personally experienced the benefits of exercise (even through my very minor attempts). I don't particularly enjoy exercise when I'm doing it, but I always ALWAYS enjoy the feeling afterwards - accomplishment, calmness, soreness (in a good way), determination and motivation. The funny thing is that when I start exercising, I want to keep exercising. For example, I took some time off from the gym (couldn't be bothered, felt unmotivated, was 'too busy' - the usual excuses) during my university semester and had vowed to 'get back into it' as soon as I was on holiday. However as they always seem to, more excuses appeared - I went to Bali for a week immediately after I finished my semester (legitimate excuse really) and when I got back I was feeling exhausted from my trip (during which I had basically tanned around the pool and drunk cocktails 60% of the time...) and just needed to give myself time to 'rest' (lie at home and catch up on my TV series or visit friends). So, I was again unmotivated and unable to convince myself to exercise.

Anyway, long story short (or not so short) my friend convinced me to go to a yoga class with her at the gym (I know, it doesn't sound like much) and I actually did! Two days passed and we went to another gym class together. All this high-powered exercise and gym motivation (ha ha) gave me the idea to start a health and fitness diary. I had a look around the internet, got some ideas and decided to create my own! I created a diary with four components - progress, exercise, food and most importantly, goals. This allowed me to record my meals, workouts and measurements among other things, and most importantly allowed me to create both long and short-term goals with incentives to keep me motivated and excited about my new exercise journey.

You can get my diary by following this link: https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/175852192/health-and-fitness-diaryplanner-record?ref=shop_home_active_1

So here I am, a week later, having gone to five classes in total (which might not seem like much to some but hey, it's something!), filling in my health and fitness diary daily (which is proudly stuck on my bedroom wall) and having just signed up for a 3-week challenge at my gym! So what I'm trying to say here is, if you have trouble with motivation, start off small (every little bit counts), get yourself an annoying gym or exercise buddy who will push you to exercise, and give yourself small goals and incentives to keep going; it really is that simple (TRUST me, if I can do it YOU can do it!).

Super Green Pasta Salad

I've been asking what recipes you would like to see on my blog and I've had a few requests - this recipe caters to both the salad and the quick and easy recipes request! This is a quick and easy salad that's super nutritious and will actually fill you up!

Dressing:
Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons of seeded mustard
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Mix all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl then pour over the salad once prepared

Salad:
Ingredients

• 2 cups of pasta
• 4 silverbeet leaves
• Handful of English spinach, plus the stems (they aren’t tough)
• 6 lettuce leaves
• Handful of curly kale
• 3 teaspoons of sesame seeds

Method

1. Cook the pasta as per the instructions on the packet
2. Chop the silverbeet finely, tear the lettuce and kale leaves, and chop the spinach stems (the leaves can go in whole)
3. Place the leafy greens in a salad bowl
4. Once the pasta is cooked, drain it and rinse with cold water until the pasta has cooled
5. Place the pasta on top of the greens in the bowl, and pour the dressing over the top
6. Toss the salad until all the ingredients are coated with the dressing

Serves two
Preparation time: 15 minutes, including pasta cooking time

Homemade Muesli

Ingredients

• 1 cup of rolled oats
• ½ a cup of mixed nuts
• ½ a cup of shredded coconut
• ⅓ of a cup of dried cranberries
• 2 teaspoons of agave nectar
• 1 teaspoon of mixed spice
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

Method

1. Pulse the mixed nuts in a food processor until roughly chopped
2. Place the remaining ingredients in the food processor and pulse until combined
3. Pour out the mixture onto an oven tray, and grill on medium heat for about 8 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes.
4. Remove muesli from the oven, leave to cool and store in a jar or air tight container
5. Serve with vegan yoghurt (CoYo is amazing) or vegan milk, yum yum!

Makes just over 2 cups of muesli

Vegan Restaurant Recommendations Part I - Sydney

I know how annoying it can be when you're in a new city and you have no idea where to eat, so I am writing a series of personal restaurant recommendations for restaurants that I have tried and loved around Australia!

Part I - Sydney

These aren't in any particular order

1. Lord of the Fries 

(537 George St - 5 minutes walk from Town Hall Station)

http://www.lordofthefries.com.au/

Description:

This is a vegetarian fast food restaurant, and all items are able to be 'veganised' (YAY). This is not the usual healthy vegetarian eatery, however I like it because I like the concept and I want to support it. I like the fact that it's encouraging omnivores to try vegetarian and vegan meals, letting the world know we don't eat grass breakfast, lunch and dinner! This particular location has nowhere to sit and eat however, so grab your not-so-healthy delight and head to the park (or a park bench...) or head over to Marsil (featured below) and ask very nicely if you can have a seat if you order a much healthier fresh juice from them!

Food:

They sell burgers, hot dogs, chips, 'chicken' nuggets and the like, and they use fake meats in most of the meals. They also have a breakfast menu (great for hangovers... personally tested).

Price range:

Super cheap! Like, fast food cheap!

Me with my vegan hotdog from Lord of the Fries

2. Marsil 

(Skyview Shopping Plaza, George St - 7 minutes walk from Town Hall Station) 

Description:

Cute little cafe that isn't vegan or vegetarian however they make yummy fresh juices and serve organic coffee.

Price range:

Juices were around $7 for a large from memory (and it WAS large).

My large Carrot, Pineapple and Ginger Juice from Marsil

3. Green Gourmet 

(115-117 King St, Newtown - 15 minutes walk from Newtown Station) 

http://www.greengourmet.com.au/

Description:

This is an Asian-style vegan restaurant with buffet Yum Cha options or an 'a la carte' menu option (sounds very strange describing an Asian restaurant with French words...).

Food:

I had the Yum Cha option and there was a wide variety of Asian dishes. They had noodle dishes, fake meat dishes, vegetable dishes, tofu dishes and entree dumplings and spring rolls etc. I had a look at the 'a la carte' menu too - and it was HUGE! So basically there should be something for everyone. They also had a selection of scrumptious raw vegan desserts and homemade tofu ice cream (that tasted nothing like tofu)!

Price range:

Relatively cheap - the Yum Cha was charged per 100g of food, so it wasn't all you can eat (which I like because I can never take advantage of those deals - damn small stomach). The desserts weren't so cheap however - I had a raw cheesecake with ice cream and it was around $14 - but they are well worth it.

My Yum Cha selection from Green Gourmet

Lemon and Blueberry Cheesecake with Chocolate Tofu Ice Cream from Green Gourmet

4. MH studio/Madhatter Cupcakery

(MH studio: 24 Flinders St, Darlinghurst - 15 minutes walk from St James Station)

(Madhatter Cupcakery: 1 Bay St Broadway, Broadway Shopping Centre, level 1)

http://www.madhattercupcakery.com/

Description:

A really cute little vegan bakery run by an amazing lady!

Food:

They have lots of yummy and interesting cupcakes, tarts, croissants and danishes as well as savoury sandwiches.

Price range:

Tarts are around $4.50, cupcakes around $3.

Cookie Dough and Peanut Butter Jelly Tart (left) and Chocolate Salted Caramel Tart (right) from MH Studio

5. Suzy Spoon's Vegetarian Butcher 

(22-24 King St, Newtown - 10 minutes walk from Macdonaldtown Station)

http://www.facebook.com/SuzySpoonsVegetarianButcher

Description:

A vegan 'butcher' that sells usual butchery items and also serves scrumptious lunches.

Food:

You can buy take home sausages, schnitzels, cheeses, sauces etc and they also serve really yummy lunches with options like sandwiches, parmigiana, burgers, lasagne and many more!

Price range:

I ordered the eggplant and schnitzel parmigiana and it was around $13. The take home items were a little pricey I think, however they are all made freshly from the store and packaged there so it's understandable their prices are higher than supermarket brands.

Schnitzel Burger from Suzy Spoon's Vegetarian Butcher

6. Bohdi

(2-4 College St, Cook & Phillip Park Leisure Complex, 2 minutes walk from St James Station)

http://www.bodhi.id.au/

Description:

A really nice restaurant nestled in a quiet park, serving vegan Asian-inspired meals. They have alcohol too!!

Food:

They have quite a large menu with entrees, mains and desserts as well as the usual alcoholic suspects. They even serve cocktails!

Price range:

Quite pricey, however the food is really nice, as is the environment and the staff are friendly.

Salt and Pepper Tofu Steak with Mayonnaise from Bohdi

Piña Colada Smoothie with a Green Twist

Ingredients

• 1 small frozen banana
• 6 large chunks of cut up frozen pineapple
• 75g of silken tofu (¼ of a packet)
• ¾ of a cup of coconut water
• 1 ½ tablespoons of shredded coconut + extra for serving
• ½ a cup of packed spinach leaves

Method

1. Add all the smoothie ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth
2. Serve in a chilled glass topped with shredded coconut

Serves one (in a BIG glass)