Vegan Wellness Challenge + Fruit Porridge Recipe

Over the past three months I have had so much going on that exercise and healthy eating balance sort of fell out of the window. During April I was away in South East Asia, then most of May had family here and June I was sick with a cold/flu/chest infection.

During July I have progressively getting back into my usual 5 days a week gym routine and improving my diet.

Improving weekend binge eating has to be a focus and avoiding chocolate, along with portion control!
Monday and Tuesday this week I went VEGAN, vegetarian isn't a challenge for me, as I predominantly eat vegetarian.

Here is what I ate if you want to give it a go for two days! Stay tuned next week will be low carb Monday Tuesday, with a meal plan for you all!.

Vegan Plan:

7am Morning- 20 minutes cardio and 30 minutes weights, with a SWISSE Liver Cleanse in my drink bottle. I will review this product soon, its a new love.

8am Breakfast -  10ml SWISSE Liquid Iron (I've had blood test's that show I am low in Iron, I suggest testing before self diagnosing as low in Iron)  followed by Fruity Porridge (recipe below), a soy latte and a green smoothie - recipes and prep plan for green smoothies to come).

11am Morning Tea - Mandarin, if you need more have 30gm of raw nuts.

1pm Lunch - 20 minute core class and 20 minute stretching follow by Rice Protein Smoothie, with LSA meal and soy milk and carrot sticks (if I was more organised Hummus would of been good with this).

4pm Afternoon Tea - Macro Snack Bite - review of all 4 flavours click here

7pm Dinner - Vegetable Soup. Monday Coconut Pumpkin (recipe click here) and Tuesday Pumpkin Leek (Recipe Click here).

Dessert - Raw Peanut butter cup (recipe click here) or Clean Hot Chocolate (recipe click here).

Fruity Porridge Recipe

Ingredients 
1/4 cup quinoa or rice flakes or oats
1/2 cup soy milk or any milk alternative e.g. almond milk, quinoa milk or rice milk.
1/2 cup no added sugar poached fruit, I used quince
2 tsp Natvia Stevia or sweetener/sugar of choice
2 heaped tsp LSA meal

Directions 

Step 1 
Place grains in a bowl and top with soy milk, cook for 2 minutes 20 seconds in the microwave. Meanwhile place fruit and stevia, wiht a little water or poaching syrup and blast in the microwave for one minute.

Step 2
Mush up the fruit with the stevia with your spoon then mix into the porridge with the LSA ... and your done, add more soy milk if you need to, I usually don't.

Vegan Sugar Free Almond Hot Chocolate

I saw a recipe come up on Chloe Wilson's the founder of I Quit Sugar, which I thought I would give a go and adapt to my won recipe  

Whilst I'm not a fan of cutting out a complete thing from your diet, unless required (like me with gluten and coeliac disease), I do believe in watching your sugar intake, particularly sugar that provides no nutritional value. For example Fruit I will not avoid as it provides my body with lots of nutrients, I make sure I have two serves of fruit everyday, but milk chocolate or lollies on the other hand provide very little if not any nutritional benefit. 

This was really easy to whip up, but takes a bit more effort, than adding hot chocolate powder, boiling water and milk to a cup, if that's what your after then I recommend the Natvia Sugar Free Hot Chocolate, which I also use.

The below recipe is vegan, gluten free, sugar free, dairy free and a delicious dessert treat for a cold winters night.

Ingredients:

1.3 Cups no added sugar almond milk
2 tsp cocoa powder
2 tspS Natvia Stevia or sweetener of choice
1/2 tsp chai spice or tea mix
Pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of Chili powder  - if you want a kick

Directions

Step 1 

Heat the milk on the stove, it is best if you whisk and you heat it to avoid a top skin layer forming. Once warm and bubbling, add the sweetener and chai,  stirring through, then remove from the the heat.

Step 2

Sift in the cocoa (and chili if you are adding) and your pinch of cinnamon. Then pour back through your sieve and enjoy.

PRODUCT REVIEW: Macro Snack Bites

I don't know if anyone in Australia has noticed, but recently Woolworths have seriously been building their Macro Wholefoods Market range of products. If you follow me on Instagram you will see i have received their amazing Quinoa Cups, I have used their coconut water and a few other things.

A couple of weeks a go I noticed the new Snack Bite range, my local store has four flavours. When I first saw them I was excited to check them out, especially after seeing they are only $1 and all gluten free.

Apricot Almond and Quinoa

I make a lot of my own raw treats, snack bites and so on, I think these would be good as something to have in your handbag, in your cupboard at work or at your boyfriends house to deter you from choosing something unhealthy when there is no other option.

The four in the range are, gluten free, egg free, dairy free, have no added sugar, aswell as no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.


Cashew Cranberry and Amaranth 
Rating : 8/10
Taste: Great texture and balance of flavour, this one was a lot sweeter tasting than the others, perfect for something transitioning from biscuits as afternoon tea or a product that does have added sugar.
Calories: 102 calories
Sugar: 7.0gm

Almond Golden Berries and Quinoa 

Rating : 7/10
Taste: Quite sour, if you don't like sweet this will suit you. I didn't mind it, however it was probably my least favourite.
Calories: 94 Calories
Sugar: 6.4gm





Apricot Almond and Quinoa
Rating : 9/10
Taste: hard texture that is almost like a little fruit cake with little crunchy almond pieces,  this one had the sweetness you are after with
 your afternoon cup of tea, whats interesting is that it is the highest in sugar, sits at the second lowest in overall energy.
Calories: 94.2 calories
Sugar: 7.7gm

Dates Pecan and Spirulina
Rating : 7/10
Taste: This one tastes healthy, very earthy I can taste the spirulina, but I like that, I still get the sweet kick I need after lunch. I'm surprised at how un-sweet it is considering the dates in it.
Calories:102
Sugar: 5.7gm

Date Pecan and Spirulina

Also while on Woolworths website I found a recipe for Chia, Date and Pecan Bites  which I might have to try!

For more information on the Woolworth's Macro Wholefood Markets Range click here. Just don't get their Macro Gluten Free Chocolate Muffins, they are dry, terrible and edible! Would have my Chocolate Mug Cake any day.

*Rating is based on taste, calories and value for money.

Potato and Leek Soup

I don't eat a lot of white potato, I tend to have sweet potato or pumpkin, but seriously I cannot go past a good winter soup. Recently while away in the Blue Mountains a friend made me this soup and I was sold! I worked out that a the cost per serve is approximately $1.25, so seriously good for budgeters. Its also very easy and quick to make!

With Parsley and for added protein Chobani Fat Free Greek Yogurt

Ingredients:
4 large potatoes, peeled and diced
1 leek, chopped finely
1L chicken stock - I used "chicken style" as I am doing a Vegan challenge
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2TBS Olive oil
A pinch of salt and cracked pepper
Parsley, chopped fine to serve

Directions:

Step one
Place oil in a large pot on a medium heat, once heated add garlic and saute for 2 minutes.

Step two
Add leek and saute until soft, once soft add potato and cook for a few minutes. Be careful that nothing is stocking and your garlic isn't burning, if you need to add half a cup of water a time to stop this.

Step three
Add your chicken stock and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until it is soft.

Step Four
once the potatoes are soft, blend till a smooth consistency, add salt and pepper to taste then serve or put in containers and freeze.

The recipe makes enough for four serves.

Poached Pears

Poached pears are my go to dessert, probably because they are easy and relatively healthy. You can change the way you make them depending on what you have. The basic recipe is below, I have poached mine with additional ingredients like raspberries, apple cider, raspberries or powdered ginger.

With Gippsland Yoghurt for breaki 

Ingredients

With Ice Cream and Seeds

4 Pears - add as many as you like, I usually just cook with whatever I have available.
6 cups of water
Vanilla Bean, Split
2 TBS Coconut Sugar, Natvia or whatever type of sweetener you usually use, if you like it sweeter you can use up-to  a tablespoon of sugar per pear, sometimes I use none.

Directions

Step 1
Peel the pears and cut the bottom so they sit up right in your pot.

with ice cream and seeds 

Step 2
Place water and sugar in your pot on a medium heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.

Step 3
Add pears and vanilla, along with any of your chosen additional ingredients, leave the pears with the pot lid on to simmer for 15-20 minutes or until they are very tender. Turn them occasionally to ensure even cooking.

Serve them warm with a little poaching liquid, add Greek yoghurt or ice cream.

with Chobani Fat Free Greek Yoghurt and Kapi Puku Seeds for Breakfast 

Pear with quince marmalade tart and jam

Chocolate Mug Cake

So its Sunday and I'm craving a treat, at the moment I am really trying to curb my sugar problems and keep warm. I grew up on a farm and we had one of those traditional wood stoves, as a child in winter my family and I would huddle around the fire and have pudding for dinner, so feeling cold, like I need chocolate and missing my Mum, I came up with the following non fire stove needing healthy mug cake recipe. I hope you like it as much as I did.

Ingredients
2 TBS Butter - I used Flora as it is low in fat
1 TBS LSA Meal
2 TBS Brown Rice Flour, sifted
1 tsp Coconut Flour, sifted
1.5 TBS Stevia
1 Egg
1/4 tsp Vanilla Essence
1 TBS Cocoa  Powder, sifted
1/2 tsp Baking Powder, sifted
1 Square 85% Lindt Chocolate, broken or chopped
1 tsp Natvia Sugar Free Hot Chocolate
1/4 Cup Water, boiled

Directions

Step 1
Melt butter in the microwave, it takes approximately 30-40 seconds.

Step 2
Mix all ingredients in your cup, except for the water and sugar free hot chocolate.

Step 2 
Cook in the microwave for 1 minute, whilst this is cooking mix sugar free hot chocolate with boiled water.

Step 3 
Pour the sugar free hot chocolate mix over the pudding, cook for another 30 seconds.

You can eat it from the cup or tip it out onto a plate or bowl like I did. If you are feeling good serve with Greek Yoghurt, if you are feeling naughty with cream or ice cream and a dash of maple syrup. Either way you can always make yourself feel better by focusing on the good fats and fibre from the LSA meal and Phytonutrients from the Cocoa and of course its sugar free, gluten free and dairy free.