Being ok with where I'm headed

Hello there!

Long time, no see. To start off with, I want to apologize for dropping off the social media planet. I feel as though recently, I have had a real shifting of life goals and focus of where I see myself being in the future.

Obviously this hasn't happened overnight, and it has been a really interesting process for me. I am not entirely sure when it started but I knew I just wasn't happy with where I was in my 'career'. I felt like I have always forced myself into what I thought was an ideal version of what I wanted to be, or how I felt others wanted me to be. Yes, I am a perfectionist, which can often work in my favor but more often than not, makes me feel as though I'm not doing 'it' right. Weather that be work or life related.

When I was growing up, I always felt like there were specific steps to take and certain milestones everyone reached to get into their career path. You go to school, pick out what you like and what you want to do, choose your subjects accordingly. Then work your butt off to get into the university course that will get you the job you want, then 'tada!' you will be working in a steady and stable full time job (yes, I was a little naive).

So, when after having gone through this whole process, coming out of my university degree still not knowing exactly where I wanted to take my life. I really felt a little bit of a failure, but mainly I felt like I was letting my family down. I am really close with my family, and it felt like I was disappointing them by not slotting straight into a job relating to my degree. Don't get me wrong I loved everything I learnt in my course and still love to build on that nutrition, health and well-being knowledge base that I have acquired. It really is my passion, but I knew that I didn't want to work behind a computer. I really love interacting with people, working with people and helping them on a daily basis.

It has taken me almost 2 years to feel comfortable in my own 'career', while still having future goals and things I want to achieve. This is largely due to having such a strong support base, my family and partner, allowing me to see that so long as I'm happy and can support myself, I can be anything I want to be!

If you have made it to the end of this ramble, well-done and thank you!
I realise that we all go through stages in our lives where we don't even know which way is up, let alone which direction we are heading. What I wish I had know while going through this, was that no matter where I am, it is good enough. That I will be happy, so long as I keep making choices that honor my true self, not what I think would make me look good to others or how I think I 'should' be.


Take home message from this ramble; 

Don't compare your life to others. 

Your life will be different to everyone else's. 

You will have your own purpose and it is just as important as anyone else's.

Live your life to fill your own potential, don't try and shape yourself into something your not to fit certain expectations.

Know you are loved and love in return.

Courtney xo

Pumpkin Muffins with Cinnamon Icing

 

            Hello everyone!

            It's pumpkin season here in Australia, and I thought I would share with you a really simple muffin recipe, that's a great way to sneak some veggies into your diet.
            The muffin mixture doesn't have a strong pumpkin flavour and isn't super sweet. I made up two different batches, one with choc chips and icing (a sweeter tasting muffin), while the second batch was just the muffin mixture with nothing added. Both times they actually came out really tasty. If you wanted to, you could swap out the chocolate chips for dried fruit like sultanas or cranberries.

Pumpkin Muffins with Cinnamon Icing

Plant-based - Gluten Free - Dairy Free

Makes: 6 large muffins

Time: prep 10 minutes

Cooking: 20-25 minutes

Ingredients:

- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree

- 1 cup almond milk

- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1 tbsp coconut oil

- 1 cup buckwheat flour
- 1/2 cup sorghum flour

- 1 tsp baking soda

- 1/2 tsp baking powder

- pinch of Himalayan pink salt

- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

- 1/2 tsp ground clove

- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

- 1/2 cup chopped dark dairy free chocolate (optional, I also added another 1/8 cup just to top my muffins)

Icing: Optional, they are still tasty without it.
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 4 tbsp coconut nectar
- 4 tbsp hulled tahini

Method:

- Preheat your oven to 170C and line your 6 hole muffin tin or grease them with a touch of coconut oil.

- Pop all of the wet ingredients as well as the coconut sugar into a bowl and combine well.

- In a separate bowl combine all of the dry ingredients, before adding them into the wet ingredients. Stir this through until it's all incorporated, then fold through the chocolate chunks.

- Spoon the mixture into you muffin tins and pop the tray into the oven.

- Remove your muffins after 20-25 minutes or a skewer comes out clean. Allow them to cool in the tin for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the muffins are cooling you can make up your icing by combining all the ingredients into a delish paste. Them once your muffins are cool you can smooth over a layer of icing and presto they are ready to devour!

Let me know how you go if you do try this out yourselves, or post a picture on instagram and tag me with @cinnamon_courtney so I can see all of your recreations!

"There is nothing about my age that prohibits me from fulfilling my dreams" -Wayne W. Dyer

Foodie Appreciation for April- A Few Of My Current Favourite Foodies On The Internet

            Hello there! Yes this post is a few days late but I'll get my May favourites up in the right month... hopefully! I am currently sitting on my couch going through my Bloglovin' and Instagram feeds, and absolutely loving everything that I'm seeing. I am still so blown away every time I open up my foodie feeds and see all the amazing accounts and awesome talent that is shown by everyone in the health, well-being and nutrition community online!

            I genually love being a part of this community, even though I am a pretty small fish in a very large pond, it can be such a positive and inclusive space that it is hard not to feel a part of something so fun! So, I thought I would stop and take the time to share a few accounts that I have been absolutely loving recently. This list originally consisted of SO, SO MANY accounts because I just couldn't cut it down! Therefore, I have decided that I may split it up and make these kind of posts on a regular basis, maybe monthly? It depends on if you guys like these kinds of posts from me, but honestly, I would love to have a place to share accounts that I am currently loving to read and watch!
(also these are in no particular order!)

MelVFitness

You can also find Mel's website here.

NourishNotPunish

You can also find Evelyn's Blog here.

HealthyAmbitions

You can also find Karly's Blog here.

Adventuring_Home

You can also find her Blog here.

NutritionStripped

You can also find her website here and her youtube channel here.

Thehappycleanvegan

FoodForPeace

SimpleHappyHealth

Oatsohappy

Plantbased.Happiness

Littl._Plvnt

WholesomeBalance

RiceandRaw

You can also find her youtube here. 

AppetiteForHealth

Isabelle Cornish

Naturally_Cassie_

NourishYoBody

               Do you have a health, foodie or wellness blog?
        
               Comment the website address or your instagram user name down below so I can come and check it out! Or just post your favourite blogs down below to share who you have been loving reading this month!

              

Coconut, Berry & Buckwheat Granola

          Hello everyone! The recipe I'm sharing today came about from a happy accident. While i was baking my last recipe, the Anzac Cookies, I made the rookie mistake of forgetting to line the baking tray of the first batch. As a result I ended up having to scrape what was left off of the tray, ending up with a really tasty granola.

           From there, I swapped out the oats to buckwheat groats, and added in dried berries, because berries and macadamias are a match made in heaven! I used a mix of dried sour cherries, organic cranberries and wild blueberries, which gave it a few different flavours, but if you cant get your hands on all of these just use what dried berry you like the best!

           You could use this granola a few different ways, as it has a delicious crunchy texture, you could add it on top of stewed fruit as a crumble topping, or on top of banana nice cream, or you could simply eat it as you would a normal cereal, with fresh fruit and a plant-based milk.

Coconut, Berry & Buckwheat Granola

Plant-based - Gluten Free - Dairy Free

Makes: 4-5 cups of granola

Time: prep- 10 minutes

Cooking- 15 minutes

Ingredients:

- 2 cups raw buckwheat groats

- 1/2 cup macadamias, chopped

- 1/2 cup dried berries (I used a mix of sour cherries, organic cranberries and wild blueberries)

- 2/3 cup shredded coconut

- 1/4 cup buckwheat flour

- 1 tbsp maca powder

- 1 tbsp mesquite powder

- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

- 1 tbsp cinnamon 

- 1/4 cup coconut nectar

- 1 tbsp coconut oil, melted

Method:

- Preheat your oven to 160C.

- Place all of your ingredients into one large bowl and stir them around until it is all combined.

- Pour your mixture over a baking tray so that it forms a single layer. You may need more than one baking tray for this, as it will cook evenly when it has the room to spread out. 

- Mid-way through the cooking time, take it out of the oven and stir it around to make sure it doesn't burn around the edges of the tray, then pop it back in for the remainder of the cooking time.

- Once it has cooked, take it out of the oven and give it another mix before leaving it to cool completely on the tray. It will seem quite sticky and gooey when it first comes out if the oven but as it cools it will firm up.

- Store it in an air tight container, and you can serve it with fruit, banana nice cream, yoghurt, on top of stewed fruit, or simply with a dash of almond milk.

Anzac Cookies

    Oh hey guys! Long time no see. I'm so sorry I have been away from here for a while. I'm currently having quite a bit of trouble with my computer, I was unable to open any of the documents and recipe posts I had started and saved. Totally weird, and if you know me, you know I am completely not a tech savvy person and I couldn't figure out what was going on! Anyway, I have found a temporary solution to the glitch but I'm going to have to figure out a better way to write, save and store my half written posts.

    Now that that boring part is out of the way. I have always loved Anzac cookies, but it's kind of a given for me as I absolutely love oats! So oats in a delicious, portable cookie form is definitely a winner in my books.

Anzac Cookies 

Makes: 20 medium cookies

Time: prep- 10 minutes

Cooking: 15-20 minutes

 

Ingredients:
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
- 3/4 cup shredded coconut
- 3/4 cup macadamias, chopped
- 2 tbsp water
- 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
- 2 tbsp hulled tahini
- 1/2 cup rice malt syrup (or your chosen liquid sweetener ie, maple syrup, coconut nectar)
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- pinch of Himalayan pink salt

Method:
- Preheat your oven to 180C and line a baking tray with baking paper. This really is a key step as the mixture will stick like glue to your baking tray without it, and like with my first test batch of this recipe, you will end up with a super tasty granola instead of cookies.

- Pop all of the ingredients into one bowl and combine them together.

- Scoop out small amounts of the mixture and roll it into little balls and place them onto your baking tray. Press down on each one, to flatten it into round cookie shapes. I found it was a lot easier to handle the mixture with damp hands, that way it stuck more to itself than to my hands.

- Place the tray in the oven for 15-20 minutes, allow them to cook until they are nice and golden. Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking tray a bit before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.


Let me know how you go if you do try this out yourselves, or post a picture on instagram and tag me with @cinnamon_courtney so I can see all of your recreations!

'I take the win-win approach' - Stephen R. Covey

Cinnamon Buckwheat Pancakes

            When I was little we would often have pancake Sundays, and if I’m completely honest, I really didn’t like pancakes (I was a pretty fussy eater). Although I loved how my family would all come together and cook up a lot of pancakes for a lazy Sunday breakfast together. The left over pancakes would be eaten by my dad and brother throughout the week. So whenever I cook pancakes, it’s ingrained in me to cook up a large batch, so if you don’t want to end up with as many pancakes as this recipe makes, feel free to halve it!

            I recently got my hands on some banana flour and I have to say that it’s delicious! For this recipe if you can’t get your hands on any banana flour, you can just substitute it for buckwheat flour and it works just as well. I got my banana flour from my work at The Source Bulk Foods in Camberwell.

            Also I used coconut nectar as my liquid sweetener, but you could substitute this with your preference of liquid sweetener; like rice malt syrup, molasses, pure maple syrup, agave syrup or honey if you aren’t vegan.

Cinnamon Buckwheat Pancakes

Plant-based – Gluten Free – Dairy Free

Makes: around 20 medium pancakes

Time: prep- 10 minutes

Cooking- 15-20 minutes

Ingredients:

- 3/4 cup buckwheat flour

- 1 ¼ cup banana flour, (could swap this for buckwheat flour)

- 2 cups almond milk (or your choice of plant-based milk)

- 3 tbsp coconut oil, melted

- 2 tbsp coconut nectar (or your chosen liquid sweetener)

- 1 tbsp baking powder

- Pinch of Himalayan pink salt

- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon (or more if you’re a cinnamon addict like me!)

- Coconut oil for cooking

To Serve per person:

- 1 Banana, sliced

- Drizzle of coconut nectar

- Sprinkle of goji berries

- Sprinkle of shredded coconut

Method:

- Combine the dry ingredients together in a bowl, then form a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add in the wet ingredients. Combine them both together really well until there are no lumps in the batter.

- Heat up a pan to a medium heat and pop a small amount of coconut oil in the pan.

- Once the pan has heated and the coconut oil has melted, pour in around a ¼ of a cup of batter for each pancake, and leave it in there to cook until the little bubbles appear over the top of the pancake. Flip it over to cook for a further minute on the other side, or until it’s golden. Transfer them to a wire rack once they are done, to stop them from getting soggy while you cook up the rest of the batter.

- Cook up the rest of the batter the same way; you may need to add in a touch more coconut oil to the pan as you go.

- To serve, pop them on a plate with fresh sliced banana, a drizzle of coconut nectar, goji berries and shredded coconut. Or just eat them straight from the pan!

Let me know how you go if you do try this out yourselves, or post a picture on instagram with the hashtag #cinnamoncourtney so I can see all of your recreations!

‘There is plenty for everyone, including me’ – Louise L. Hay

Chocolate Chia Mousse

            Happy Easter everyone! Or happy chocolate and hot cross bun weekend if you don’t celebrate Easter. I have a little naughty but nice chocolate recipe for you here today, that is my go to healthier version of a chocolate dessert when nothing but chocolate will do!

            Now I know a lot of people out there try out ‘healthy swap’ recipes and are disappointed because they taste nothing like the dish they are trying to recreate, I’ve been there too!

            So when I was testing out a chia pudding recipe, I was using almond milk and berries, which did turn out nice but not really what I wanted, I changed it up and used coconut milk and raw cacao powder… and was blown away. I had to force myself to stop eating the whole batch…

            It has an awesome light mousse texture but the coconut milk and raw cacao make it taste like it is a really decadent and rich dessert.

A little bit about C H I A  S E E D S ;

These powerful little seeds are jam packed full of omega 3, fibre and protein.

            ~ One tablespoon of chia contains 3 grams of omega 3 and 6 grams of dietary fibre. This helps increase energy levels, improve digestion and promote healthy hair, skin and nails. They also love to absorb liquid, they can absorb up to 16 times their own weight! This can increase your feelings of fullness after eating as well as helping your body regulate hydration levels.

            ~ As a vegan protein source they are also pretty amazing as they contain all nine of the essential amino acids, which are the building blocks in our bodies and essential for maintaining a healthy functioning you!

            ~ There is also no nutritional difference between the white and the black chia seeds so feel free to use which ever you like for this recipe.

Chocolate Chia Mousse

Plant-based – Gluten Free – Dairy Free

Serves: 2 people

Time: prep- 10 minutes

Setting- 5 hrs or overnight

Ingredients:

- 1/4 cup chia seeds

- 400ml or 1 ¾ cup coconut milk

- 3 tbsp liquid sweetener

- 1 tsp Maca (optional)

- 1 tsp Mesquite (optional)

- ¼ cup cacao/carob powder

- ½ tsp vanilla extract or ¼ tsp of vanilla powder

- pinch of cinnamon

- pinch of Himalayan pink salt

Top with:

- Fresh berries, shredded coconut and goji berries – it is quite rich so the fresh berries really help to cut through it.

Method:

- Add all ingredients into a jar and make sure you stir and combine everything well.

- Pop the jar into the fridge to set.

- Serve with a layer of fruit in the centre and then top with fresh berries, coconut and goji.

Let me know how you go if you do try this out yourselves, or post a picture on instagram with the hashtag #cinnamoncourtney so I can see all of your recreations.

‘When I decide to be happy, I attract great things I my life’ – Robert Holden

Source:

The Chia Co. – www.thechiaco.com