WIAW - It is heating up!

While it seems everyone in the Northern Hemisphere is pulling out their winter clothes and sipping on pumpkin spice hot chocolates (damn you guys and your pumpkin spiced everything!)

Down here is Australia, the temperature is rising rapidly and the necessity for wearing clothing is becoming more and more ridiculous... If I could turn up to work in a singlet, short shorts and thongs I would be one happy girl :)

In response to the dramatic change in season I find myself craving those refreshing foods that help chill me out! Sending a big thanks to Jenn at Peas and Crayons for hosting WIAW every single week :)

Breakfast - In case you missed my last post (check it out here) I have been loving icy cool shakes for breakfast lately, they are super quick to prepare after my morning workout and keep me energised well into the morning. Today was a little remix of my choconana shake, I used my vanilla IsoWhey protein powder and 2 tablespoons of P2B instead of the chocolate protein powder. I loved the peanut butter flavour and it works so well with banana.

Morning Snack - IsoWhey were kind enough to send me a sample of the Vanilla Yoghurt & Apricot Protein Bar which I tried for my mid morning snack :)

Lunch - My boy was kind enough to make me a yummy refreshing salad for lunch. It contained chicken, microwaved chunks of sweet potato, marinated feta, tomato and mixed salad leaves. So good!

Afternoon Snack - Chobani has become a regular staple in my daily eats - today was mango!

Dinner - I cooked up the cuban picadillo recipe I found on skinnytaste.com. This was delicious served with Basmati Rice and a really simple dish to make.

Does anybody else find that their taste/craving change with the seasons? What is your favourite summer food?

Subscribe ♥ Home ♥ Instagram ♥ Twitter ♥ Pinterest ♥ Bloglovin'

Hungry Recipe - Choconana Protein Shake

The other day in the mail I was lucky enough to receive a bundle of new products kindly sent to me from IsoWhey.

French Vanilla IsoWhey Complete - IsoWhey High Protein Snack Bar - Double Chocolate IsoWhey

For those who don't already know I am a big advocate of protein supplements. I find them to be such an easy way to get extra protein in my diet and to also get my sweet fix at the same time.

There are a few things I look for in a protein supplement... calories, protein stats and most importantly TASTE!

So far I have tried the Double Chocolate IsoWhey powder and it was pretty darn good.

Calories: 118 per 35g serving size
Protein Stats: 15.8g per 35g serving size
Taste: Surprisingly delicious - great chocolate flavour and no funky aftertaste

Another awesome bonus I noticed after reading through the ingredients is that it includes glutamine, I generally add this (in powder form) to my post workout shakes to help with muscle recovery. No need to anymore because this stuff already does it for me :)

I thought I might share the recipe to my favourite protein shake. I will generally whip this up as a post workout drink but I also use it for breakfast, a snack during the day or even as dessert.

Choconana Protein Shake - Serves 1

Ingredients
1 serve of chocolate protein powder
1 small banana - I used a ladyfinger
100g of light cottage cheese - this makes your shake super creamy and extra protein too!
1/4 cup of water
Stevia or other sugar supplement - if desired
1-2 cups of ice - alter depending on your preferred consistency

Get Blending!
Put all ingredients except for the ice into the blender. Blend these ingredients until completely combined. Start adding the ice gradually until you get the consistency and thickness you like :)

It is that simple. I like to serve mine with some muesli sprinkled on top. Adds a bit of crunch :)

Subscribe ♥ Home ♥ Instagram ♥ Twitter ♥ Pinterest ♥ Bloglovin'

WIAW ~ Getting my seafood fix

I am getting in a little late with my WIAW today... must be a little distracted. Because my boy is home!!! Yay :)

He has been gone for 2 weeks. I have to admit... the first week was kinda nice. The house stayed clean. I got to catch up on girly TV shows and just do my own thing. The second week sucked... I think I may have had way too many one sided conversations with my cat during those final last days of loneliness :)

Another positive of having my boy back from his fishing trip is that he bought home a bazillion kilos of seafood! Prawns (shrimp), calamari, Moreton Bay bugs, fish and scallops. Let's just say I am pretty stoked about this. Anyhoo onto my eats for the day. Big thanks to Jenn at Peas and Crayons for hosting WIAW every single week :)

Breakfast - Scrambled 1 egg/2 egg whites with chives and parsley topped with salsa, pan fried asparagus and toasted mountain bread with hummus. This is basically my perfect breakfast! Also had my almond milk coffee on the side.

Snack 1 - Handful of marinated olives because I was getting a bit peckish for lunch (unpictured)

Lunch - The lunch has been on the blog before... Antipasto salad is just freakin' amazing - so flavoursome, fresh and darn delicious. In today's version was rocket, cheese stuffed baby peppers, sundried tomato and green olives. Forgot to add any meat/protein... whoops still tasted great.

Snack 2 - Luckily I got my protein fix in with some beloved chobani... Pineapple is probably my favourite of all that I have tried :)

Dinner - Decided to use some of my new stock of seafood for dinner. I stirfried some calamari, frozen pack of stirfry veggies with some garlic, ginger and chilli. Served with some rice, sweet chilli sauce and crushed peanuts for an awesome and healthy dinner :)

Dessert - I ended my day with a yummy bowl of chocolate protein oats and topped it with sliced banana, shredded coconut and some dark chocolate chips.

Well thats all folks :) I also want to thank everyone who left such kind, lovely words on my engagement shoot post from Monday. You guys are just sooo sweet!

If you missed it you can check it out here.

Do you like seafood? What would be your favourite seafood/favourite way to prepare seafood?

Subscribe ♥ Home ♥ Instagram ♥ Twitter ♥ Pinterest ♥ Bloglovin'

Our Engagement Shoot!

 I am so excited to finally share our engagement photos with you guys! I mentioned a while ago that we were having an e-shoot so I am so glad to now share some of our favourite photos with my lovely readers!

Just a warning.... I found it really hard to pick out a small selection of photos so sorry in advance if this post is ridiculously long!

I can't tell you how much I adore these photos! I was extremely nervous coming up to the session. Did I pick the right outfits? Would my hair look ok? Would every photo turn out awkward? Would Josh hate the whole experience?

If anyone is preparing for a photoshoot and like me, is not used to getting their photo taken/or is just ridiculously awkward. Just trust your photographer! If you picked the right one then they will make the experience soo much fun!

I had the best time - but then again how could I not have fun when I was spending time cuddling and kissing the boy of my dreams ♥

Subscribe ♥ Home ♥ Instagram ♥ Twitter ♥ Pinterest ♥ Bloglovin'

Lunch at Gips with the Sister

On the last day of the sisters visit - we decided to treat ourselves to lunch at Gips Restaurant. You might remember my last visit here for the our Anniversary Dinner.

 Georgia was eager to get a look at where I am getting married next year. I can't believe it is only 5 months to go until the wedding!

I ordered the caramelized pumpkin linguini w’ peas, basil, chilli, roasted pine nuts, shaved parmesan & extra virgin olive oil. It was so good! Perfect flavours but maybe a but too much olive oil for me.

Georgia ordered Bourbon & BBQ sauce rib fillet steak sandwich w’ coleslaw, aged cheddar, beetroot & kipfler chips. Looked good and apparently tasted the same (I had to sneak a few of those kipfler chips hehe)

Sadly, the sister headed off back home not too long after leaving me on my lonesome until the boy arrives home from his fishing trip - 2 days til I see him... not that I am counting down or anything :)

Subscribe ♥ Home ♥ Instagram ♥ Twitter ♥ Pinterest ♥ Bloglovin'

WIAW & my need for green

It seems to be that time again for some sharing of food for the wonderful and fabulous WIAW.

As always be sure to go say hi to Jenn because she is so awesome to host this fun link party (also she shared some awesome cookies on her blog- I need to make them!)


While I was trying to think up some kind of catchy title for this blog post, I did happen to notice a very defined trend in my eating habits. I need to add green.... to everything. Yes, it is my favourite colour and there are the gazillion health benefits of green foods to think of... but it is also that they taste so darn good.

If your looking for an easy way to ramp up the health benefits (and taste) of any dish - my advice is to add a bit of green!

Breakfast was an amazing cookup of poached eggs, bacon, mushroom, asparagus on a bed of baby spinach. I will often substitute salad greens in place of toast or english muffins - cuts the calories but also really freshens up the dish.

For lunch, I mixed up a nifty, quick and healthy lentil dhal mix I found at the grocery store the other day. The packet mix is brought out by the chef Ainsley Harriott and I thought I might give it a go (I found it at Woolworths for anyone interested). The dhal took no time to prepare and didn't taste artifical in any way (as I find many premixes do). I also put the dhal on a bed of baby spinach in substitution for rice, added a dollop of greek yoghurt and some coriander.

My afternoon snack was a chobani strawberry greek yoghurt - I can't believe the protein stats on these little suckers. Makes me love them even more.

Dinner was magnificent. I recreated Skinnytastes Sante Fe Turket Stuffed Capsicums and added some oven roasted zucchini fries. I greenified by adding the zucchini side also so some sliced green onions to the capsicums which added a bit of a kick to the dish.

I even managed to add green to my dessert! I initially was only going to have custard protein oats (quick oats, milk and 1/2 cup of vanilla protein powder) but there was a lonely granny smith apple in my fruit bowl so I zapped one in the microwave and served with some shredded coconut and a baby pack of m&ms. So yummy!

Do you try to add green to your meals? How? What other ways do you vamp up your food?

Subscribe ♥ Home ♥ Instagram ♥ Twitter ♥ Pinterest ♥ Bloglovin'