What I ate Wednesday

This is my first ever What-I-Ate-Wednesday post.The concept comes from the blog Peas and Crayon linked below:

Inspired by other blogs who do it on a regular basis I want to expand my regular posts to include more than just recipes and I thought this was a great way to start.

So here it is:

 To start the day I needed a berocca to get me going. I don't have them everyday and I usually have the tablets ready to go but this morning I woke up super tired so needed a kick start.

I had a slice of homemade Sultana/Apple Bread that I made which uses a similar recipe base for my Healthy Banana Bread. I had it with a cup of tea and some Mixed Berry Chia Jam using the recipe from Powercakes blog which can be found here.

I had a much needed Chai latte to keep me going mid morning.

For lunch I had a salad made with spinach, pomegranate seeds, cherry tomatoes, sprouts, seeds and sweet-n-sour tofu that I will post the recipe for soon.

I had a Pink Lady apple in the afternoon for a snack along with multiple Vitawheat and cups of tea and a few rice crackers.

Dinner was one of my favourites - Pita Pizza. I made it with mushrooms, olives, artichokes and topped it all with Nutritional Yeast Cheese Sauce.

I finished the day with Mango/Banana Yonanas ice cream topped with coconut flakes, delicious!!!

Carrot, ginger and orange soup

I'm really loving my soups at the moment as it is a dish that freezes really well and can be taken for lunch each day as a very quick and healthy meal especially when it is cold.

Carrot, ginger and orange soup
Servings: 5, Serving size: 2 soup ladels per serve, Calories: 98 Calories per serve

Ingredients:
500g Carrots, diced
1 Medium Onion chopped finely
1 Leek, chopped
2 Oranges, juiced
Ginger, fresh
Garlic
Olive oil spray

2 x Campbells stock pots
1L Water
1/4 tsp Coriander seeds, ground

Salt

Pepper

1.In a medium pot lightly spray some oil and add the onions, garlic and ginger, cook for about 5 minutes until the onion is soft. Add the carrot and leeks and cook for a further 10 minutes.

2. Whilst the carrot is cooking make up the stock pots by adding 1 litre of boiled water to a bowl and adding the pots and stirring until dissolved. You could also use stock cubes or real stock but the flavour in these I find really adds some punch to soups and dishes.

3. Add salt, pepper and coriander seeds. Add the orange juice and stock to the pot and bring to the boil.

4. Then turn down to a simmer and leave for about 30 minutes stirring occasionally.

5. Check that the carrot is soft and then use a barmix or hand blender to blend up the smooth until it is thick and smooth.

6. Serve immediately. This soup is freezer friendly and tastes just as good reheated as it does the first time.

Low calorie cauliflower and blue cheese soup

I had this soup a couple of months ago from a soup shop and it was a combination I hadn't heard of before but it was delicious. I thought I could make a version that was low on calories but still creamy and with lots of flavour particularly because blue cheese is quite strong you don't need a lot to taste it.

Cauliflower and blue cheese soup
Servings: 8, Serving size: 2.5 soup ladels per serve, Calories: 95 Calories per serve

Ingredients:
1 Medium Onion chopped finely
Garlic
Olive oil spray

1 & a 1/2 heads of Cauliflower, chopped into small pieces

1 Small potato, peeled and chopped

100g Danish Blue Cheese, finely chopped

4 x Campbells stock pots
2.5L Water

Salt

Pepper

In a large pot lightly spray some oil and add the onions and garlic, cook for about 5 minutes until the onion is soft. Add the potato and cook for a further 5 minutes. Whilst the potato is cooking make up the stock pots by adding 2 litres of boiled water to a bowl and adding the pots and stirring until dissolved. You could also use stock cubes or real stock but the flavour in these I find really adds some punch to soups and dishes. Add the cauliflower and made up stock to the pot with the potato and onion. Add salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and then turn down to a simmer and leave for about 30 minutes stirring occasionally. Check that the cauliflower and potato are soft and then use a barmix or hand blender to blend up the smooth until it is thick and smooth. Add the blue cheese and mix very quickly so that it combines with the soup and doesn't sink to the bottom. Serve immediately. This soup is freezer friendly and tastes just as good reheated as it does the first time.

Chicken chop chop salad

Chop chop salad is a very American style salad of chopping all ingredients to around the same size and mixing it all together. I'm not a huge fan of lots of lettuce in big chunks in my salads so this one suits me well. When I found diced cooked chicken breast in the deli section of the supermarket I knew it had the potential to work well in this kind of salad. I usually would have chopped some spinach up and added it too but I didn't have any on hand and it was still delicious and filling anyway. The nuts and seeds add some nice crunchy texture for something different. Another time I may add craisins for some more sweetness.

Chicken Chop Chop Salad
Servings: 1, Serving size: all, Calories: 262 Calories per serve

Ingredients:

75g Cooked chicken breast, diced

5g Slivered almonds

10g Pumpkin seeds

25g Reduced fat Tasmanian feta, diced

20g Green olives, chopped

1/2 Tomato, diced

1/2 Cucumber, diced

10 ml Light honey mustard dressing

Salt

Pepper

After chopping up all the ingredients simply combine them in a bowl and add salt and pepper and dressing and enjoy. I love how easy this one is to prepare and is great for lunches at work.

For an alternative you could use a can of tuna instead of chicken breast or even a can of chick peas.