Happy Halloween!

No Trick-or-Treating this year! :( I miss all the free candy already.

Also forcing myself to stop drinking coffee so I'm super grumpy and experiencing all kinds of pain right now. How did I manage to get addicted to coffee within a week?!

Breakfast:

Blueberry & apple quinoa crumble
(No more cereal! But that's okay, because the quinoa added the crunch I wanted. Still smelled heavenly and tasted like bliss. Nourishment for the soul.)

Snack:

Banana-flavoured mung bean quinoa oat-muffin
(Also finally finished that bottle of Charlie's spirulina smoothie juice. I'm really into this quinoa crunch thing. I used to only eat it sprouted or cooked, but I kind of like it just tossed in. Actually, I haven't seen any web source that recommended that but quinoa's a seed and as long as I make sure that it's washed, I should be able to eat it, right? Sprouted quinoa is essentially raw quinoa... oh well. Let's hope nothing is going to grow in my stomach.)

Snack:

Frozen watermelon w/almond milk topped w/watermelon
(DELICIOUS. Such a great summer snack, even though Melbourne still feels like I'm taking an ice bath inside a freezer. Why Melbourne, why?!
Edit: I stepped out today, the day after Halloween, and it was actually pretty warm. I guess my flat's just really cold.)

Snack:

Quinoa pb oatmeal cookie
(I found this packet several weeks ago but finally remembered about it again! Ah, the good ole days... I will never take Val's unlimited supply of these pb packets ever again. Anyway, I used about a third of the packet to make a fulfilling cookie. Mmm. The quinoa really enhances the nuttiness of the pb and adds a much needed crunch.)

Snack:

Chupa Chups cola-flavoured lolly
(This was from the Cairns spring break trip; the bus driver was running late for lunch and was afraid we'd pass out so he handed us cookies and lollies. I ate the cookies, but I'm not a big lollipop person so I still had this in my bag. Figured it'd be a nice way to celebrate Halloween. And for your information, only the first ten licks were good. I felt sick toward the end and just tossed the stick. Still not really into lollipops. I think the only hard candies I like are the Asian coffee-flavoured ones, hard caramels and licorice suckers. I can't recall any others at the top of my head.)

Snack:

Mung bean drink
(Add some sugar, vanilla and other spices and you've got a traditional Vietnamese dessert! I did add a bit of the vanilla sugar from Daniel and Winnie's care package, so this actually tasted quite authentic!)

30 October 2013

Breakfast:

Coffee overnight oats, mixed berry & apple crumble (feat. cereal blend & quinoa)
(Tried to pretend my overnight oats was a milkshake, but it didn't work out. Whatever, it still tasted delicious. And the crumble...mmm. SO good. Writing about how good it was is makes me want to make another bowl. Takes about five minutes to make and it's gone entirely too quickly.)

Snack:

Watermelon

Snack:

Frozen watermelon w/almond milk topped w/watermelon
(Like a sorbet! Delicious. I bet it would have tasted sort of like ice cream if I had added in a milk with a higher cream/fat content. Something like actual dairy milk or coconut milk would probably make this less sorbet-esque. But I like it a lot with almond milk. Can't wait to have another bowl tomorrow!)

Snack:

Mini mung bean & quinoa oatmeal cookie

Snack:

Mung bean, lentil & black bean quinoa patties

Snack:

Citrus-flavoured mung bean & quinoa oatcake w/a bit of almond butter
(Yum. This is so cracker-esque! I wish I had a blender to make some hummus; it'd be a perfect pairing!)

Snack:

Banana-flavoured mung bean & quinoa oatcake
(I lied. Banana-flavoured oatcake would be a better hummus pairing. This would also make a great chip for nachos or guacamole. I MISS MEXICAN FOOD. Only two more months until I can get some authentic Mexican.)

Late night snack::

Frozen watermelon & blueberries w/almond milk & almond butter
(I really have a thing for frozen fruits. Tastes just like ice cream, esp with the creamy almond butter. Yum. Also can't believe I finished the entire jar of almond butter already.)

29 October 2013

Happy National Oatmeal Day! Yesterday was one of several National Chocolate Days, but I didn't have any chocolate to celebrate.

Breakfast:

Coffee quinoa oatmeal cake w/vanilla soy yogurt

Snack:

Blueberry crumble w/a bit of almond butter & vanilla soy yogurt
(Last of the soy yogurt! Went beautifully with the blueberry crumble.)

Snack:

Sweet potato & carrot soup w/black pepper

Snack:

Watermelon slushie
(So good and refreshing! If only it were warmer...)

Snack:

Mung bean & quinoa oatmeal cookie
(Used almond butter to stick the ingredients together. Loved the crunchy texture and nutty flavour.)

Snack:

Mung bean & almond oatmeal cookie
(So then I decided to add in actual almonds. This made it taste more like a trail mix bar.)

Snack:

Dried mango (2)
(Divine. I love mangoes.)

Snack:

Dried mango (2)

Snack:

Dried mango w/almond butter
(My last piece! So so so delicious with almond butter.)

Snack:

Frozen watermelon piece (2)
(Like a popsicle! Sweet, icy and refreshing. Yum.)

Snack:

Rice cracker
(Got this at the gamelan concert I attended with Nathalie. No wonder where the people got it from, but this is one of my favourite Asian crackers so I had to grab a package!)

Snack:

Lots of frozen watermelon pieces
(My fingers were practically frozen from picking out pieces, but it was so worth it. And yes, I basically just put half of a watermelon into the freezer. Biodegradable storage!)

Snack:

Mung bean, lentil & black bean quinoa patty

Snack:

Citrus-flavoured mung bean & quinoa oatcake
(Since mung beans don't really have a strong flavour, I just added in some of the carrot ginger OJ as my wet ingredient and the cake picked up a subtle citrusy flavour! Sounds weird and looks gross, but tasted pretty good! The oatcake is more like those rice cakes that people have been eating with pb or a chocolate spread, so visualise a cracker instead of a cake.)

28 October 2013

Breakfast:

Banana coffee "milkshake", mixed berry & apple crumble (feat. cereal blend & sprouted quinoa)
(Totally loving my crumbles. I sprouted some quinoa last night and thought they'd be a perfect addition to my crumble; I was right. The textures and flavours in that bowl were to die for. I'm making quinoa a staple to my crumbles from now on. Anyway, I still had that jar of coffee overnight oats that I made maybe a week or more ago and three quarters of a frozen banana in my freezer. Felt like a milkshake and blended frozen bananas have the same consistency as soft-serve ice cream, so the timing was perfect. Had a mini-workout hand-blending the banana chunks, but it was so worth it. Another plus was that the overnight oats were sort of thick and goopy already, so I got to have a thick milkshake! Yum.)

Snack:

Several gulps of this juice
(I've been sipping on this or adding it into the sweet potato & carrot soup for the past week, but the juice seems to be never ending!)

Snack:

Last of the chickpea & lentil spaghetti w/zucchini pasta, black pepper & cayenne pepper

Snack:

Mixed berries w/quinoa, vanilla soy yogurt, raw oats & almonds

Snack:

Mixed berry quinoa oatcake w/a splash of almond milk & teensy bit of almond butter

Snack:

Spoonful of watermelon
(Finally cut open my watermelon! Love love love watermelon. I'm so excited about this.)

I haven't seen seeded watermelon since I was in primary school. What a hassle. Also, too lazy to cut the watermelon into slices (and I don't have enough storage containers) so I just spooned out the insides. Plus, I can also get rid of the seeds. I froze the other half of the watermelon. Can't wait for instant "popsicles"!

Few sips of my watermelon slush
(Yum. Put the rest in the freezer so that it'd be like a fresh slurpee of sorts.)

Refreshments at The Final Gong - End of Semester Gamelan Concert:

Pesto & cherry tomatoes pizza (from Domino's, didn't eat the crusts)
(I love pizza. This is a pretty good topping actually. The Domino's here have a wider range of toppings, but their pizzas are teensy! Everything here is much more portion controlled. Also, Domino's is still using the old crust recipe, as opposed to that new garlicky one in America.)

Celery & carrot sticks w/capsicum, cashew, tomato & basil spread (had a lot more than this picture)
(This spread was AMAZING. I could eat tubs of this. Mmm tasted like a creamy tomato sauce. I need to find it.)

Chocolate caramel bar, some kind of coconut nut blondie (ate a bite)
(The chocolate caramel bar was good, but I think it was more like caramel creme or something. The texture kind of reminded me of a pumpkin bar, but it didn't taste like pumpkin. I also didn't know that the blondie had coconut in it, so I didn't finish it.)

Chocolate chip cookie (2), mint cookie

1/3 of an original Tim Tam, green tea w/green soymilk
(I don't know why the soymilk was green. Perhaps there was pandan in it or something.)

27 October 2013

Breakfast:

Ginger tea, coffee w/almond milk, blueberry & apple crumble (feat. some GORP & cereal blend)
(I rolled my left ankle twice on Friday and had an especially bad one yesterday, so I figured that it wouldn't really be prudent for me to go run this morning. Anyway, I couldn't decide on what I wanted to eat or drink, so I jumbled everything together - and doesn't it look fantastic? Smelled so autumn-esque. I'm kind of obsessed with apple crumbles right now and the GORP and cereal blend add an amazing range of flavours and textures to the standard oats topping. Mmm. I could eat this all day long.)

Snack:

Sweet potato & carrot soup w/raw oats (added in a splash of almond milk for creaminess)
(Another fall treat! Except it's spring here. Added some almond milk to make the soup creamier and some cinnamon because I love cinnamon. The raw oats were added because I felt like I was just drinking a smoothie and I wanted the soup to have a bit more substance. Good texture contrast though.)

Snack:

Almonds

Snack:

Chickpea & lentil spaghetti w/zucchini pasta & black pepper

Snack:

Mixed berries w/raw oats & vanilla soy yogurt
(I always want to top my crumbles with the yogurt, but it's really sweet and the crumble is already fantastic on its own. These berries are a bit on the sour side since I picked out all the blueberries, so the soy yogurt was a nice pairing. I just realised how summery the colours in this bowl are! Love it.)

Snack:

Coffee quinoa oatcake w/vanilla soy yogurt
(It's late, but I needed to finish several problems and had some coffee left in my ramekin. So I added in oatmeal and quinoa, microwaved the mixture and topped it with soy yogurt. Actually tasted pretty good and I loved the crunchiness from the quinoa.)

Snack:

Blueberry banana quinoa oatcake w/vanilla soy yogurt
(More late night snacking. This time I used the Charlie spirulina smoothie as my liquid and tossed in some blueberries. Bit strange, but it was all fruity so it worked.)

Snack:

Frozen blueberries (and a bit of raspberries & blackberries) w/almond milk & teensy bit of almond butter
(I remember eating bowls of this last summer (or was it two summers ago?) when my mother went crazy with the blueberries. Marie is a genius. This is so delicious.)

26 October 2013

Breakfast:

Bowl of coffee, warm mince pie from Filou's
(Can't be in one of the Commonwealth countries without trying a mince pie! I thought this had meat in it for the longest time, but I think that's only the early traditional recipes. Now it's basically just a medley of fruits and spices. My flatmate told me it's best warm with cream, but I'm not a fan of cream. Anyway, like everything I've had from Filou's so far, this was fantastic. The pastry crust was phenomenal - light, buttery and perfectly sweetened. Although I'm a bigger fan of the usual American pie fillings, this one grew on me. The nutmeg flavour is very potent and overpowers a lot of the other flavours, but the alcohol (I'm guessing brandy after looking through a list of recipes) added a warm depth to the overall taste.)

Lunch at Lentil As Anything, Abbotsford, Melbourne, Australia: 

The supper menu.
(I seriously love this place. Thanks to Nichole for bringing me and Nathalie here! I need to go back soon.)

Basically everything on the menu above except for the rice.
(The cauliflower and sweet potato dish were my favourites. Everything had a bold and intense flavour, ranging from sweet to tangy to spicy to savoury. The dhal was advertised as being extremely spicy, but I didn't think it was that hot at all. Maybe I just have a high tolerance. I wasn't a big fan of the noodles because they were a bit too oily, but they had a nice tangy savoury flavour.)

Spiced fruit & nut cake (2)
(So good. It's like the holidays came early! I scraped off the coconut cream although the flavour kind of lingered. I had a second helping with my chai latte and wow, perfect way to end brunch.)

Sip of Nathalie's hot chocolate
(I was a fan! Very chocolate-y, yum. And look at how gorgeous it looks!)

Chai latte
(So serene. The latte was great, although there was a bit too much milk and too little spice for my liking. But it surpasses a lot of chai lattes I've tasted in the past, especially since it wasn't on the sweet side.)

Chilling at the Gelato World Tour - Oceania, Carlton, Melbourne, Australia:

Nichole's (#2) Mandorla Affogato from Cow and the Moon in Sydney, Australia

Nathalie's (#12) Pistachio Crunch from Cones Ice Cream Hawthorn in Hawthorn (Melbourne), Australia
(Since I went to this booth several times yesterday, they lady knew me and told her employee to scoop extra gelato for Nathalie. She then topped the cup with two cone wafers and put two spoons in, so Nathalie and I could share. She's so sweet. Perks of being friendly and getting to know the artisans! I wish her store was closer, because then I'd go all the time. Anyway, I had a couple spoonfuls and one of the cone wafers. Mmm, just as good as I remembered.)

Nathalie's (#8) Pavlova Gelato from Frangipani Gelato in Sydney, Australia

Nichole's (#3) Tiramisu from Giapo in Auckland, New Zealand

Shared mini cone of (#7) Banana with Dulce de Leche from 7 Apples Gelato in St. Kilda (Melbourne), Australia
(Had about three spoonfuls from this cone. Just as I remember it from yesterday. Very banana-y, with swirls of dulce de leche that never got overwhelming.)

Back side of the mini cone.

Snack:

Chickpea & lentil spaghetti
(Eating in my mini ramekin! Yup, this spaghetti tastes way better cold. It's like a saucy salad!)

Snack:

Chickpea & lentil spaghetti w/zucchini pasta
(I have a huge thing for cold pasta, even if the pasta isn't "real".)

Snack:

Oats & Australia bush muesli w/almond milk
(Yum. Cereal is a great night snack.)

Snack:

Australia bush muesli w/almond milk