Over the weekend 1

I had one of those moments on Saturday morning, where I was just stoked with where we live. I had enjoyed my favourite chai, finished the grocery shopping,  visited a new local organic grocer – Aunt Maggie’s- where I was able to refill my Grateful Harvest Kombucha bottle (win!), and was on my way to a new little donut place that is only open between 8am and 3pm on Friday and Saturday, when it just occurred to me that I love Brunswick. And I am so very happy that we don’t have to leave this little hood (that’s a post for another day).

The Brunswick Foodstore does THE best soy chais.

Aunt Maggie’s has opened up right near where I do the grocery shopping. Organic, whole foods heaven.

Ginger Kombucha. Be still my heart.

I went with… the OG Glaze, Lime Brûlée, Coffee glaze with chocolate crumb and passionfruit curd filling, and the Raspberry glaze with raspberry and white chocolate crumble. I have been dreaming of donuts for a couple of weeks now, but not just any donut, I wanted a Doughnut Plant donut. When I saw photos of the All Day Donut numbers in instagram during the week I thought I might have found an alternative to Doughnut Plant. Unfortunately, they didn’t quite live up to my expectations. The donut themselves were plain and relied on the glaze and filling for flavour, they were also a little dense for my liking. But I’m glad I tried it. Next weekend I might have to go in search of Doughboys…

My productive Saturday continued once I arrived home- at 9.30am!- and whipped up some raw chocolate bliss balls (recipe coming soon) and pumpkin soup (recipe here).

The rest of the day was spent attempting to do an essay that was due on Sunday. I got about 200 words in before my brain pretty much shut down and I knew nothing else was getting done.

Small Block is, and may always be, my favourite breakfast place. The staff are lovely and know that the BF and I both want English Breakfast tea before we sit down and the bacon is second to none. I am really looking forward to having a runny egg yolk once baby arrives…

Once breakfast was done it was time to get back to essay writing… instead I did two loads of laundry and baked some banana-blueberry muffins (another recipe I will get to you soon). I never feel the need to do laundry as much as when I have homework to do. I almost folded everything too, but resisted- which yes means there is a pile of clean clothes on our living room floor (no need for photos of that).

I have decided that I think I prefer exams to essays. There is something comforting about having a answer that is either right, or it’s not. Essays are all about how you argue, and maybe I’m just not that good at arguing… at least it’s now done and submitted.

What did you with your weekend?

A long weekend

Like everyone else on the planet, I love a long weekend. There is something so delightful about getting to Sunday night and realising that you don’t have to be in the office the following morning. Bliss. Serious bliss.

This weekend we down here in Australia (apparently with the exception of Perth for some reason) celebrated the Queen’s Birthday. Even though the actual Queen’s Birthday is not in June. It’s weird. But I will not object to a day at home.

It wasn’t a terrible eventful weekend but it was lovely nonetheless… here are a few photos of this and that…

I remembered to order the homemade lemonade at The Local Burger Co. on Friday night. Tangy, delicious and super cute!

Small Block. Our breakfast venue of choice.

A little East Brunswick street art.

It was a perfect day to walk home in the sun.

And any day is perfect for baking. These two loaves- raspberry, white chocolate and coconut on the left, and banana and milk chocolate on the right- went off to a friend who is a new mama six week olds don’t leave a whole lot of time for anything aside from feeding and nappy changing…

I’ve been meaning to try Loving Earth caramel for ages… it was pretty impressive.

Sunday breakfast. There is cheese, avocado, mushrooms and ham in that puppy. I’m a sucker for a quesadilla.

For some reason the grocer near my work has stopped stocking the ginger number… why, oh why!? It’s the best one!

PERFECT AVOCADO. This went into yet another quesadilla…

For the month of June I decided I’d take on an Instagram yoga challenge. The one I picked is Mermaid Yogis. This is days 7, 8 and 9. There was also a 45 minute flow on Yogaglo. I am really enjoying yoga at the moment. White tshirts seem to make me look particularly pregnant… the bump is even poking out on the top left!

Vegetable fritter mix. The only thing I dislike about making fritter mix is that you need to squeeze out the liquid from your veggies. No matter how much I squeeze there is always juice in the bottom of the bowl. Why? I tried to compensate with quinoa flour, I think it went pretty well. I’m already looking forward to chowing down on these puppies with avocado, and tuna for lunch. Yum.

Today I have also managed to knock off a lecture on carbohydrates. It’s nice to have started subjects that are more nutrition focused rather than the general biology and chemistry. I’m looking forward to getting into more of the nitty-gritty of nutrition.

And that’s it. The weekend is pretty much done. And as much as I do not want to go into the office tomorrow, at least I know it’s only for 4 days and then we’re back to the weekend again.

Enjoy your week!

 

 

Three Bags Full

A break from breakfast tradition.

Three Bags Full is in Abbottsford, and on the one occasion I visited before the place was jammed with people and there was a line for a table. Only in Melbourne do we line up for brunch. Melburnians take brunch seriously.

This time around however we arrived a little after 8am- thanks to dropping the car off for a service bright and early- we had our pick of the tables.

We started off with a tea for two. English Breakfast for him. Calmer Sutra chai for me. 
Delicious.
Although much of the menu sounds delicious I find Three Bags Full one of these places- that seem to be popping up a lot now- that make things a little too fancy. When it comes to breakfast I tend to go for things that are simple and tasty. Lunch and dinner can be more “interesting” but breakfast is for the classics, in my opinion.

After a few sweeps of the menu I went with the sautéed mushrooms, which would ordinarily come with goat’s cheese, but things of that nature are on hold until September, disappointing.

When it arrived… holy cow that’s a whole lotta mushrooms! They were really tasty, super mushroom-y with the sweetness from the shallots. But halfway through I was struggling. It was just. So. Much. Mushroom. Half a serve of the ‘shrooms with a nice egg would have done with trick.

We were in and out in about half an hour, we are nothing if not efficient in our breakfast pursuits.

If you’re in the Abbottsford area, check out Three Bags Full, just make sure you get there early!

 

Three Bags Full
Corner Nicholson St and Mollison St, Abbottsford
www.threebagsfullcafe.com.au

The weekend

Waaaay back in May I was given a voucher for a night’s stay at the Grand Hyatt Melbourne. This weekend the BF and I finally used it. We decided to make a day of it and headed in right on 2pm to check in.

I have been the Hyatt before for a function but had never stayed there, mainly because the rooms are CRAZY expensive.

We had a pretty killer view though…

After checking out the room we were off. The BF does a lot of work in the city and there was a place just a stones throw away- we could see it from our room- he wanted to try.

Bowery to Williamsburg is a gorgeous little cafe. You can get sub and bagels and it all smells incredible. I am sucker for a good bagel. When we visited New York I think I ate one everyday. So naturally I ordered a bagel and schmear. Now, as Australians we don’t tend to understand the variety of bagel and schmear that is obviously available in the US. So I had to choose my bagel- seeded- and my schmear- scallion. There were so many to choose from, but I was happy with mine decision.

Next up we were off to the cinema to see American Hustle, it was great, if you’re thinking about going, do it, you won’t regret it. Naturally I had to get popcorn.

Dinner was at a fancy pants restaurant, so fancy I was not about to take photos of our dinner… no matter how much I wanted to.

We relaxed in the room and fell asleep on the huge bed. The beds are the best bit about hotel rooms in my opinion.

Well… the beds and the buffet breakfast! I find myself a little intimidated by a buffet. There is too much all happening at once. Too many options that I want on my plate. Bacon, sausage, mushroom and hash hit my plate first, followed by waffles with Nutella and strawberries. All inhaled while reading the paper and washed down with english breakfast tea.

After breakfast we went for a wander and ended up on Hosier Lane, which for those not from Melbourne is known for its street art.

We were thirsty after all the walking… 

So headed back to Bowery to Williamsburg for a hot chocolate and a chai.

Well, I was going to get a chai… until the waitress mentioned a peanut butter hot chocolate. Yep, no chai. Peanut butter hot chocolate it is. 

So good. 

Not a bad weekend if I do say so myself.

What did you do with your weekend?

Snaps from the weekend

This weekend just past was a four day one for me. Tuesday was Melbourne Cup Day, one of the perks of living in Melbourne, and I took the Monday too. I love having no alarm to wake me up for four days in a row, it’s lovely.  Saturday started with a walk around the hood. Followed by an amazing soy chai.  One of my favourite breakfasts. 

Gluten and sugar free Banana-coconut muffins. They were so light and fluffy. The following day they were dry and kind of horrible. Better luck next time. We did something a little different with the nachos on Sunday… There is a heap of shredded beef hiding under all that corn chip-salsa-cheesy goodness. And naturally you can’t have nachos without sour cream and guacamole (my speciality). 

I spotted this guy across the road from my gym. 

Juicing! The BF bought us a new juicer about a week ago. It’s amazing. I will have to show it off at some point. Then there was baking. Double chocolate donuts with salted caramel drizzle (recipe here).  Another soy chai and my other favourite breakfast.

Not a bad weekend I think…

The weekend + PB protein squares

My weekend was separated into two sections.

1. cake
2. everything else

The cake was an order from a former work colleague of dad’s whose son was turning 4. Last year my sister and I made him a HUGE castle cake. This year it was a dinosaur. Naturally my sister and I were crazy excited. Before cake sustenance was necessary… pesto-feta scramble with mushrooms and bacon. BOOM. Incredible.

Cake time. Two 11″ rainbow marble numbers, into the oven. There was a minor meltdown moment when I realised that the cake tins were leaking. Thankfully the BF was here to talk me down from the proverbial cliff. It all turned out ok…Two cakes cut and arranged. Lookin’ like a dinosaur yet?How about now? I particularly like the orange smash balls on his tail. The birthday boy said in a revered whisper, “I like it.” When he saw it. Success!

So, once the cake was delivered I was able to move onto other things. Weekly meal prep time. I find meal preparing so very satisfying. I suppose I am an organisation nerd… Here we have breakfast; protein pancakes, the green hue is thanks to a hefty handful of spinach. These aren’t too attractive, but they tasted far better than they looked. Vegetable fritters, zucchini, broccoli, mushroom, kale and haloumi. Nothing with haloumi can be bad. And these I think were the shining glory of my productive afternoon. Peanut butter protein squares. I was inspired after seeing a protein bar posted on instagram, it was a Tone It Up recipe. I found it and tweaked it.

Peanut butter protein squares

Ingredients:
1 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 cup rice malt syrup
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1 cup sunflower seeds
3 tbsp chia seeds
3-4 tbsp mix of sesame seeds and pepitas
3 scoops vanilla protein powder

Method:
1. First up warm your peanut butter, rice malt syrup and coconut oil in a small saucepan, until pretty runny.
2. Mix all of your other bits- except protein powder- in a bowl.
3. Pour peanut butter mixture over your dry ingredients and stir it up.
4. Once it’s well mixed add your protein powder, mix, mix, mix
5. Spread the gooey deliciousness into a tray lined with baking paper (mine was about 8″ or 9″ square).
6. Let it set in the freezer for an hour or so. Once it’s set hard cut into squares, or bars, whatever takes your fancy.
I wrapped mine into 2 square servings. Wrapping immediately was necessary because I easily could have eaten the whole pan in one go. That good. Pop your wrapped squares into the freezer and grab whenever you need a satisfying peanut butter treat.

After all of that meal planning the BF took over in the kitchen to create AMAZING pulled pork tacos. There isn’t much I can say to explain how freakin’ good these were. I’ll just show you…No words needed, right?

Finally, I saw this (on instagram, again) and really liked it.

My (long) weekend in photos

Protein pancake and apple breakfast.  Friday kitchen experiments. Nest cookies and cashew raspberry fudge. After which I found an impressive while hair! Not quite 31 and already on my way to salt and pepper. Saturday morning.  Lunch and more baking.  On Sunday we went farm visiting. Of the four dogs we met Lilly the three legged bitza was by far the coolest. Then there was Willy the 55 year old (!) cockie. And my personal favourite, Barney the goat.  Monday breakfast. AH-MAY-ZING. Poached eggs on sourdough with baba-ganoush, and tomato, avocado and spring onion salsa. Good lord. I only wish I could have eaten all of it. I’ll put it out there, this may be my new favourite breakfast…

And now, though I should be doing homework, I am snuggled on the couch re-watching season 2 of Game of Thrones in preparation for the new season tonight.

A photo from my weekend

I take a lot of photos of food.

This was breakfast on Saturday morning. 2 poached eggs and mushrooms on my plate. 2 poached eggs, bacon and a hashbrown on his plate.