Day 299 in a Year of my Life

Food Diary:

8am Hot lemon water.

10am Green smoothie - celery, zucchini, lettuce, snow peas, mint, basil, parsley, 3 strawberries, red apple, hemp oil, vital greens and magnesium oil.  It tasted much more delicious than it sounds!

1pm Half chicken breast with salad of avocado, tomato, onion, mushroom, cucumber, fresh beetroot and carrot.  A squeeze of lemon juice and pink Himalayan salt over the top.

3pm A small piece of this delicious chocolate cake.  Sugar free, grain free and gluten free.  The main ingredient is 3 cups of almond meal.  Every single ingredient has good nutritional value.

It's very rich on it's own, but with pure cream and strawberries - bloody delicious!

I included it in this reflections photo ...

I had another small piece at 7.30 tonight.  I didn't have any dinner.  Plenty of water.

I don't think Adoring Husband was keen on the cake.. all the more for me :D  I must check if I can freeze it.

Tomorrow I am going to attempt a chocolate mousse made with avocado, cocoa powder and coconut milk.  Sounds interesting huh?

I have a fridge full of fruit and vegetables that I have to use up before I leave for the Sunny Coast next week.  So I am searching through the 'clean food' recipes on-line.  I'll share the recipes that I think you non-fanatics might enjoy.

Today, I'm grateful for fun time in the kitchen experimenting with new ingredients and feeling GOOD for it!

Nite all.

Day 298 in a Year of my Life

Adoring Husband and I went to the movies to see "Now You See Me" today.  Yes, I got the day and the times correct this time and we shared the cinema with only 6 others.  I love it when that happens.

I was pretty much on the ball through the whole movie.  All the twists and turns didn't fool me and I predicted just about everything.  I even knew who the mastermind would be BUT that final twist at the end got me hook, line and sinker.

I did NOT expect the mastermind to be that particular character in the movie.

Great movie.  I highly recommend it.  Big names like Mark Ruffalo, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg.  I'm a big fan of all of these actors.

There is another movie that can't wait to see. "Red2".  Also big names .. Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Mary-Louise Parker.  I think it opens next Thursday at our local cinema.

There were a few previews that look good.  A new Channing Tatum movie coming soon, called "White House Down" also starring Jamie Foxx and Maggie Gyllenhaal.  I'll watch it just to look at Channing Tatum.

"RIPD" with Ryan Reynolds, Jeff Bridges, Mary-Louise Parker and Kevin Bacon.  It looks like 'Men in Black' in ghost form.

That's just a few I can think of, off the top of my head.

I promised yesterday that I would share a recipe that I tried.  I called them wraps, but I guess they are more like Tortillas.

Cauliflower Tortillas!

3/4 head of raw cauliflower
2 Eggs
1 minced garlic clove
3/4 teaspoon of mixed herbs of your choice (I used parsley, basil and thyme)
1/4 teaspoon salt

You can also try with 1/4 teaspoon curry powder.

Preheat oven to 220C and line two baking sheets with baking paper.

In a food processor, pulse the cauliflower until it forms a crumb like texture (there should be 2 cups when packed). Place the crumbles and 1/4 cup of water in a saucepan with a tight fitting lid. Cook on a medium high heat for 8 minutes until tender.

Drain cauliflower in a sieve, then transfer to a clean t-towel. Firmly squeeze any excess water from cauliflower. In a bowl, stir together the cauliflower and remaining ingredients . Form two thin circles on baking paper. With a spatula, press down the dough so it forms a thin layer. Keep the wraps compact - there should be no paper showing through the mixture.

Bake for about 17 minutes until dry and pliable. Gently remove to a wire rack to cool so that the bottom doesn't become soggy. 

Heat a frypan and brown the tortillas to your liking .. this makes them a little crunchy round the edges and gives them a nice nutty flavour.

Use with light fillings or tear pieces off to scoop up fillings.  This is supposed to make 6 or 7, but I got 4 large-ish tortillas out of it - they are very filling!

Today I am grateful for my new Batman t-shirt that I bought for a pyjama top :) Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-BATMANNNN!

Nite all.

Day 297 in a Year of my Life

I can't believe how late it is!

So this will be a quickie.

One photo from my ride this morning...

I found a great recipe to make gluten free wraps today, which I will share tomorrow.  I wish I'd taken photos of the cooking process!

Today I'm grateful that I'm not craving sugar after 3 days of being sugar-free!

Nite all.

Day 296 in a Year of my Life

Full moon tonight.

At 5.46pm the moon rose over the ocean straight out from our beach.

I love a full moon, but having a boring straight horizon as the only point of interest makes for a boring moon rise photo.

If it was rising at the end of an interesting pier, or above a magnificent tree,  over the mast of a yacht or between some buildings in an interesting cityscape, then you could see scale.

On a flat boring horizon, you can't even tell how big and amazing the moon is.

I struggled to get my camera settings right tonight.

There was a lot of smoke haze just sitting on the horizon, so the moon appeared and then disappeared for a little while behind the haze.

I had a lovely Skype call with Chicklet and Vegan Chickie today.  Chicklet had some new toys to show me.

She had a couple of dinosaurs (she would correct me if she heard me say that .. she knows their correct names and I have to use them!) and she had an anemone.

I got SEB out of the bird cage and brought him to the computer screen to show her, which she thought was cool, but her favourite thing of all, was a little plastic Snoopy doll that I got from the markets for $1 last week.

She had a lovely conversation with Snoopy and even showed him her new toys!

He is now packed into the suitcase ready to come on a train trip with me next week.

Today, I'm grateful for a beautifully clear and cool evening down on the beach to watch the moon rise.  It was very peaceful down there tonight.

Nite all.

Day 295 in a Year of my Life

What a nice day I've had today.

I didn't even get out of bed til almost 8.30am!  I woke up at 7.50am but lay in bed with my ipad for a while.

My first stop was morning tea with the girls and then I went for a ride around town for about an hour.

It's that perfect time of year leading up to Spring.  Everybody has a spring in their step.  Everybody appreciates the sunshine and warmer weather.  Everybody comes outside to their garden.  Everybody notices the colour of the sky and the river.  They can hear the birds singing.  They want to walk on the beach.

The air is definitely happier.

I got a reflection photo today, but I'm not going to use it for the competition.

I'm working on a couple of ideas at the moment, after doing a bit of brainstorming with BGWLBH and The Nikonian.  I hope something good comes from it .. or at least I hope that I can do the ideas justice!

Today I'm grateful for other people's good ideas :D

Nite all.

Day 294 in a Year of my Life

Canon Photo 5 competition has begun!

Canon run this competition every year at the same time.  It's open to anyone and it's free to enter.  The prize is a creative photography workshop in New Zealand, accommodation and flights included.  A great prize right?

The first open brief is "Reflections".

At first glance, it seems like an easy brief.

Yes, everybody has a decent reflections photo in their collection, but that's the problem.  Everybody has a 'similar' reflections shot in their collection.

There have already been hundreds of photos submitted.

The most common seem to be:

Yacht masts in the marina.
Tree reflections in water.
Frogs on glass.
Cats looking out windows.
Ducks or lilies on ponds.
Bridges or piers over still water.
Eyeballs.
Bubbles.
Water droplets.

So not only do you have to think of something original, but you have to set the photo up and execute it perfectly.

I look forward, every year, to this competition, but as soon as it arrives, I stress over it!!  Why??  It's not like I have anything to lose!

Ugh!

Anyway I found this little fella in the bush today ...

There were so many little Fairy Wrens making so much noise, I didn't know which direction to look!  In the end I just stood very still and he came to me.

Today, I'm grateful for Winter changing into Spring and bringing nature back to life.

Nite all.

Day 293 in a Year of my Life

I had a big day in the kitchen today.

I started with a green smoothie using baby spinach, celery leaf, lettuce from the garden, mint, parsley, 6 snow peas, half an apple, 1/4 of a small papaya, 3 strawberries and a tablespoon of hemp oil.  It was not a pretty colour, but it tasted great!

Then I made a small pavlova.

I'm cutting sugar from my diet, so it's my 'goodbye to sugar' gift!  When it's finished ... it's all over for processed/refined sugar!

I used my imagination to make a delicious vegetable stack, and a chicken and rice dish with turmeric and coconut oil, which was so much nicer than I expected!

I've also decided to cut caffeine and alcohol and to reduce my meat intake.

My diet will consist of lots of green smoothies, lots of vegetable soups, lots of meals made with clean fresh food.  Most processed foods contain sugar, they are all on the 'out' list.

Since my diet became gluten free, 18 months ago, I have gradually introduced so many processed foods, high in sugar and other ingredients that are either numbers, or words that I can't pronounce.  Just because they say 'gluten free' doesn't automatically make them good for you!

I want vitamins, minerals and nutrients and I want to feel rejuvenated and healthy and full of energy.  I want my head to be clear.

Feeling like an old woman is not an option for me anymore!  I'm 53 and I feel 73 (not that I KNOW what 73 feels like lol).  My friends in their 60s have more life and more energy than I do, so this is my way of attempting to find my energy.

A 3 month experiment with the potential to be everlasting.

Facebook friends have shared lots of recipes and links to websites/blogs/pages that have more clean fresh recipes.  I'm a bit excited and have already picked out a few to start with.

The first recipe I want to try, from one of the recommended sites http://thediva-dish.com/recipes-2/ it looks simple and delicious!

Strawberry Broccoli Salad

Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 5 mins
Total time: 15 mins

Serves: 3 cups

Ingredients
(For the Salad)
1½ c. chopped strawberries
1½ c. broccoli, cut with most of the stems removed
¼ c. salted cashews, chopped
2 TB (or more) toasted coconut
(For the Dressing)
2 TB. greek yogurt, plain
1 TB. balsamic vinegar
2 TB. honey
sprinkle of cinnamon

Instructions
Add salad ingredients to a medium sized bowl and set aside.
In a separate small bowl whisk together salad dressing, then pour over top of salad.
Can serve immediately, or will do great in the fridge for when ready to serve.
(If serving later, add in coconut just before serving)

Today, I am grateful for new food challenges that I hope will inspire me to find my creative juices in the kitchen!

I've shared this before, but it's my favourite quote.

Nite all.