HEALTHY HABITS: BREAKFAST PARFAIT

Ingredients:

* Yoghurt

* Fruit

* Oats

* Honey

* Chia seeds

Method:

1. Cook your oats and while waiting for them chop up your fruit.

2. After your oats have cooled you are able to begin preparing your parfait.

3. Begin with a layer of yoghurt and top with honey.

4. Follow with a thick layer of oats.

5. Top with another layer of yoghurt and generously heap your prepared fruit on top.

6. Drizzle with honey and Chia seeds. I did a whole blog post about the the benefits of chia seeds and what they are so click here if you would like to know more about them.

HEALTHY HABITS: SUPER FOOD- CHIA SEEDS

We often hear about these "super foods" which apparently contain properties which are the key to success in a healthy eating plan. I have decided to join the hype and begin experimenting with these super foods to see what I think about them. This time I will be talking about Chia Seeds! What they are, how they benefit you, what they taste like, how you eat them and if they are worth it.

What are they?

Chia seeds are a species of flowering plant in the mint family, native to Mexico and Guatemala. They can be sprinkled on and added to foods to instantly add nutrition to your daily diet or can be heated up and turned into a gel which can replace butter and spreads in cooking or everyday use.

What are the benefits?

* They keep you full for longer because of their unique gelling action meaning they curb cravings. 

* Balances your blood sugar because it helps slow down the conversion of starches into sugars.  

* Gives your more energy because of it's high amount of complete protein.
* Great beauty food for healthy skin, hair and nails.

* Good for anti-aging due to all of the anti-oxidants.
* Very high in fiber for a good digestive system.

* Contains all 8 essential amino acids.

What do they taste like? How do you eat them?

They taste like most seeds but have a very versatile flavour so can be used for  number of things. You can sprinkle it raw onto almost any food, add it to breakfast cereals, salads, soups, bread, muffins or turn it into a gel by soaking in water. About a teaspoon a day will serve nicely in a balanced diet.

Are they worth it?

They can get kind of expensive costing $10 for 500g from the local supermarket but considering they contain more calcium than milk, antioxidants than blueberries, iron than spinach and potassium than bananas; I think they are definitely worth it when it comes to nutrition!

MARS BAR SLICE

This is a recipe for the delicious sweet treat, Mars Bar Slice!

Ingredients:

* 4x 53g Mars bars, finely chopped

* 50g Butter

* 3 cups (60g) Rice Bubbles

Icing

* 50g butter 

* 200g milk chocolate.

Method:

1. Melt your butter and Mars bar pieces ina saucepan over low heat. Once the two ingredients are combined, turn the heat off and set it aside to cool slightly. 

2. Pour your rice bubbles into a large bowl then add your slightly cooled chocolate mixture and mix until the rice bubbles are coated with chocolate. 

3. Pour your rice bubble mix into a cooking dish lined with aluminum foil then using your wooden spoon, gently press the mixture evenly around the dish.

4. To make your icing, melt your butter and chocolate in the microwave on 30 second intervals, stirring in between then place it on top of your rice bubble mixture in the pan.

5. Pop it into the fridge for about half an hour or until hardened then slice is up as desired.

CARBONARA PASTA

Hey everyone,
This recipe is how to make Carbonara pasta, mainly focussing on the sauce portion because pasta is pretty basic and I'm sure everyone knows how to make that bit.

Ingredients:
Pinenuts
Mushrooms
Shallots
Cream
Milk
Butter
Pasta

STEP ONE

PASTA

The first thing your going to want to do it start boiling your pasta so that it is ready for when you finish your sauce. Just heat some water and cooking salt in a saucepan on the stove and place your pasta in, stirring it every once in a while so all of the pasta is evenly cooked.

STEP TWO

FRY

The next step is frying your ingredients. Start of with the pine nuts, quickly frying them on each side because they burn easily. Next remove your pine nuts from the pan and fry your mushrooms. Lastly, in a seperate frying pan, fry your shallots.

STEP THREE

COMBINE

Now you can add your pine nuts and mushrooms back into the drying pan as well as your cream, butter and milk. Once the sauce thickens, you can then mix in your shallots.

It's a super easy pasta sauce but it tastes delicious and is a change from normal tomato based pasta sauce. I hope you enjoyed this recipe! Another pasta sauce is coming soon so watch out for it.

VEGETABLE/VEGETARIAN LASAGNE

This recipe is for one of my favourite dinners to make, Vegetable Lasagne! It's really simple to make but very delicious!

Ingredients:
Lasagne sheets
Olive oil
Lasagne Bechamel Sauce
Lasagne Tomato Sauce
1 Sweet Potato
2 Zuchinni's
1 Capsicum
1 Onion
Cheese

Method:
1. The first thing your going to want to do is prepare are cook your vegetables. Cook your sliced capsicum and onion in a small frying pan over medium heat, uncovered. Cook your sliced zucchini and sweet potato in a large frying pan over medium heat, covered. Set aside to cool.
2. Place a small amount of olive oil at the bottom of your lasagne dish with a thin layer of tomato paste. Place a lasagne sheet on top of this and then add a mixture of your vegetable fillings on top of the lasagne sheet. Top with white sauce and another lasagne sheet then repeat the process until you have used all of your vegetable ingredients. Finish with white sauce and cheese.
3. Cook it on 160 degrees Celsius for 20-30 minutes or until the cheese on top is browned and the pasta is soft. You can check if the pasta is soft by inserting a knife into it and if it cuts through easily then it's ready.
4. Take it out of the oven and leave to cool for about 15 minutes before serving.

Thanks for reading, hope you try it out!

HEALTHY HABITS: TRAIL MIX RECIPE

If you follow me on Instagram (JordyDanielle) or Twitter you would probably know by now that I have started eating healthier because I really want to get fit. I thought that I would share the knowledge that I am learning along the way and begin a new series called "Healthy Habits" where I will be writing about nutritious recipes, healthy snacks, good diet foods and tips on how to live healthier (food choices when eating out, maybe even some exercise tips). The first installment in this new series is my trail mix recipe! I am a huge snack-er and always having to be munching on something! Before beginning eating healthier it used to be chocolate, chips and biscuits but now I have to make sure that what I snack on is better for me than that! A "naughty snack" that I love picking at is trail mix because I still get my sweet, salty and crunchy snack fix but it isn't as packaged and processed. Without further ado...what I put into my trail mix...

Dried Fruit

Of course fresh fruit is so much better for you than dried fruit is but it's still much better than chips and biscuits! I add goji berries (I could go on forever about all of the benefits these little berries have), Craisins (dried cranberries) and a berry mix which includes cherries, strawberries and sultanas. This satisfies my sweet tooth because of the sweet dried fruits. 

Nuts

Nuts are a great source of protein but they are pretty high in fat so I only add some cashews and almonds. I also love adding peanuts and occasionally walnuts but I tend to stay away from macadamia nuts because I feel like they are the fattiest nut and I always feel really heavy after eating them. This is where I satisfy my salt cravings because the cashews and most nuts come salted.

Chips

No not the kind of chips your thinking! I add banana chips which are so delicious but very high in sugar and calories! I also add coconut chips which are shaved and roasted coconut pieces! These suprisingly aren't too bad for you but they are quite expensive. This is where I get my crunchy snack fix because it feels like I'm eating chips!

All of the ingredients I use, you can easily have access to at any Coles and probably Woolworths so it's super easy to make and the ingredients are very accessible. 

I hope you enjoyed my first "Healthy Habits" post! There will be many to come and I look forward to sharing my healthy journey with you all and possibly supporting everyone else in the same position!

SWEET AND NUTTY POPCORN TREATS

Hey everyone, 
This recipe is a super simple sweet and nutty popcorn treat perfect for entertaining!

Ingredients:

200g Cooking Chocolate

1 cup marshmallows

1 cup popcorn

1 cup peanuts

Cupcake wrappers

 Method:

This recipe is super simple because all you have to do is evenly distribute the 3 ingredients into cupcake wrappers and then pour the melted chocolate over the top. After about 30 minutes in the fridge, take them out and they are ready to eat!

As you can see, these are very simple and quick to make. Thanks for reading!