A Day In My Life

hello friends!

i thought i would break away from the usual for my post today. so instead of sharing a recipe post with you i thought i would give you a little insight into how i spent my weekend.

of course majority of my day is spent thinking about food, eating food, planning what i want to eat and where. even when i'm at work (the source bulk foods in camberwell *melbourne) i am surrounded by ingredients and get to hear what other people love creating and dishes they wish to make. i love helping people find things they may not have tried or give them inspiration to branch out in their diets.

any way, i digress. here is a little insight into what i got up to on my weekend off, which was actually a friday and saturday.

Friday

as my partner works monday to friday i had the apartment to myself today, but decided to spend some time in the city/center of melbourne for a while.

my breakfast fuel for the day was bananas and a dandelion chai with almond mylk and coconut sugar.

i took the train into the city getting off at melbourne central shopping centre, not the biggest fan of public transport but i am getting the hang of it now and it isn't as scary as it used to be. 

made my way into lululemon at the emporium and picked up a new pair of leggings that are warmer than my current pair to wear to yoga. so far i have only tried a 10 day trial but i seriously think i have an addiction... and cannot wait to sign up! luckily my partner generously gave me a voucher at christmas for the studio at the end of our street.

i love walking the streets of melbourne, especially all those little side streets, filled with little boutiques and eateries. i made my way down to degraves street, to pick up a little vegan doughnut at doughnut time.

as it has been a few hectic weeks for both of us, my partner and i decided to have a good old fashion date night at home. so i took it upon myself to make sure we were fully stocked with delicious goodies. they had 2 vegan options the day i went and i decided to go with their vegan fox. its a simple doughnut coated in dark chocolate, pistachios and freeze dried strawberries. it was sooo good, but i am a bit of a doughnut fiend.

as you will see this 'weekend in my life' is far from the healthiest representation of diets but i don't eat this way all that often and therefore have no regrets! 

before leaving the city to head back home, i ducked into raw trader for the last of tonight's treats. they have an absolutely amazing range of raw vegan goodies, and if you are a little nervous about making these kind of treats but want to try them, this place is perfect!

i picked up an apple crumble cake, black forest cake and a trifle slice. We shared these later that night and the apple crumble was our fave, followed but the black forest cake. i'm not a fan of trifle and that slice tasted spot on, so i tried but couldn't eat it because it was so close to the original!

since i knew i'd be having a few treats later that night, when i got home from the city at lunch time i decided to get in my daily dose of veg.

i had a bowl of left overs from thursday nights dinner. veggie lentil bolognese with tri-grain pasta from work, the source bulk foods in camberwell.

so friday night ended with kombucha, popcorn coated in tahini, cinnamon and vanilla powder, shared treats from my trip to the city, while rugged up watching some of the new season of penny dreadful!

Saturday

so saturday actually started off with a sleep in, which never happens for me. i'm usually wide awake early on my days off to get the most out of my day, even if it's just to sit around watching foodie videos on youtube!

then one of my best mates messaged me asking if i wanted to catch up over lunch, so of course i said yes! 

my partner had gotten a restaurant recommendation during the week at his work, for an american style burger joint in richmond called the collection bar, that offered a vegan burger. so we decided to try it out, as our mate loves all things american!

this was the burger, and wholly moly, it was delishiously messy! and even though i haven't had the chance to try many vegan burgers, it was actually realllyy yummy! 

i tend to keep away from soy products because i know my tummy really doesn't like it at all, but decided the discomfort was worth it.

it was called a bbq tempeh cheeseburger, made up of a hickory smocked tempeh patty, with dill steamed onions, vegan cheese, dill pickles, and vegan burger sauce. sorry for the really poor food photo!

as a little snack to tide me over until dinner, i tried out a new to me snack bar. it was actually really good as well! i had a surprisingly good food choices day today, as i find a lot of these types of energy bar/natural food bars are hit or miss for me. most of the time they are a miss actually, i prefer to make my own. but this had a deliciously fudgy texture and good flavour pay off.

dinner ended up being a baked sweet potato boat. which has become a bit of a staple dinner recently, along with spicy lentil stews.

this guy was baked in the oven for quite a while (forgot how long exactly sorry!) until you could poke it with a skewer and feel no resistance in the flesh. also a gooey caramel begins to ooze out of the potato when it's close to done.

once it was baked i opened it up down the middle and spooned over a lentil bolognese i made while the potato was cooking, then drizzled unhulled tahini and nutritional yeast on top.




thankyou for making it to the end of this little adventure, and i'll hopefully catch up with you all again soon.

have an awesome day!

Cinnamon Courtney xoxo

Spiced Caramel Self Saucing Pudding

Hello friends,

Long time, no see!

Today I had the day off work and was super excited to get into the kitchen again! Life has been pretty jam packed recently and even though I have still had time to bake a few things, it hasn't been that calm and relaxing baking experience that I love!

Today's recipe isn't one that I have created, I found it on the gorgeous Gather & Feast Blog.
If you haven't seen Ashley's blog do yourself a favor and go and check it out! She is an absolute sweetheart, and her photography and baking skills are  i n c r e d i b l e! 

Vegan Spiced Caramel Self Saucing Pudding

Recipe found HERE on Gather & Feast Blog

This recipe was so easy to follow along with, and luckily for me, wasn't filled with ingredients I didn't already have in my pantry.

 

It is super simple to make, essentially you need one spoon, one bowl, one saucepan and a pair of kitchen scissors while your prepping, and then a baking dish for the oven.  

I used the scissors to chop up my dates because I didnt want to get a chopping board and a knife dirty (less dishes!), but I found these dates bassically broke down as soon as I touched them! 

They were beyond soft and gooey, and had almost became a caramel sauce under my fingertips.

 

Ok, so as you can tell from below, mine is waayyy less presentable than Ashley's but holy moly people... it tastes sooo good! I love that the spices are coming through as the main flavour here. As spices normally take a back seat in baking to help give the other ingredients (like fruits) an extra flavour dimension.

The reason my pud isn't as dark and caramelized as Ashley's is actually because I cooked mine 10C less than recommended and I also cooked it 10 minutes less.

Why is that? you ask.

Well... at the start of the week it was both my mum's and my boss' birthday on the same day, and I decided to bake them each a cake. Long story short, my oven was way hotter than the recipe called for and I completely dried out and burnt my boss' cake (so sorry!!)

I only managed to save my mother's cake because it needed a lot longer to cook and by the time I figured out my oven was too hot, I still had enough time to take hers out before it completely burnt and dried out.
*It was Lola Berry's Hummingbird Cake recipe (which i veganised) and it was super tasty!

I know realize (as I am typing this) that it was because I was also roasting sweet potatoes at a much higher temperature before putting the cakes in.  S m a r t   m o v e   C o u r t n e y . . .

Any way, I was scared to burn this, so I cooked it lower and for less time (*completely unnecessary).

I kept mine vegan by serving it with Coyo coconut ice cream. I chose their tamarind and sticky date flavour! Soo yummy...

I hope you guys get the chance to go check out Gather & Feast, you will  n o t  be disappointed!

I hope you all have an awesome day and find time to smile!



Much love,

Cinnamon Courtney xo

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