today's menu and my porridge ord deal

I don't usually bother about porridge but lately I just fancy it, so much so that I've order a box or some really good crunchy oats with our food shopping this weekend.
Woke up today, done my quick yoga and went for it...on the breakfast menu I had porridge with cinnamon and banana...well..at least I wish I had.
1st time around the whole thing worked really well (making porridge hardly needs a recipe as much as timing instruction)...after cooking for a couple of minutes what I had was a paste rather than the creamy consistency I was looking for. Adding a bit of milk should sort it out...if only my soy milk wasn't off. yes, and as soy milk doesn't really smell of anything - even when it's off - I only realized it when I saw the yogurt like consistence type of fluid on the top of my porridge.

had to start again. 

2nd time around..everything perfect..nice and creamy just as I like. but I decided to pop in the microwave for another 30 seconds..bad decision. the whole thing over flowed and only half of the porridge remained in the bowl...I was decided to have my porridge so even half a portion would do. I reached to my spices cupboard for the cinnamon and when my nose got a whiff of cumin I realized that I had to stop trying for porridge and just have my good old smoothie...unf

unfortunately i did not take this pic..got it from one of those cute and funny emails about cats!!

at the end my menu today was like this:

breakfast
smoothie (1 banana + hand full of raspberries + 2tbsp of fromage frais + 1tbsp of seeds and grains) and 1 brown rice cake with peanut butter

mid morning snack
4 rice cakes (brown rice) with 30g of cream cheese

Lunch
brown rice with prawns and mixed vegetables on a spring onion sauce

afternoon snack
1 activia with agar agar

dinner
3 of my ham and avocado wraps

the head of marketing came back from holiday bringing chocolates and even enjoying them I had only about 1150 calories all day so I'm happy!!!

Let's brunch

I woke up very late today and fancied omelets for breakfast. Unfortunately I didn't have any baked beans but looking around the cupboard and fridge I thought that at almost 2pm, brunch was in order. 

Breakfast burritos my way - for 2

2 wholemeal tortillas

2 tbsp re-fried beans (on the rush I used tinned ones)

1/2 red onion (chopped)

1 large roasted pepper in brine and vinegar (chopped)

2 eggs

1 tbsp fajitas seasoning

a splash of milk

OMELET - beat the eggs with a splash of milk, salt and pepper and the fajita seasoning.  Using a non stick pan, fry the omelet and stuff it with cheese, smocked sausages and olives (that's what I had at home but the great thing with omelets is that you can always play around and add whatever you fancy). ONE IMPORTANT TIP IS NOT TO COOK IT FOR TOO LONG SO THAT IT KEEPS ITS JUICES

re-fried beans -  fry the half onion in a couple of oil sprays. add the pepper then stir in the beans and add a splash of water to make is creamy. 

warm up the tortillas, cut the omelet into 4 slices and serve them inside the tortillas with the beans on the side. You could also cut into more slices and roll the tortilla up. I know, that does not sound like breakfast burritos at all but I like to full myself sometimes!!!

MY FAVORITE SNACK...OF THE MOMENT

 Very simple grab 3 large slices of your favorite ham, about 30g of cream cheese (I use extra light) and half an avocado. Just spread the cheese and cut the avocado into cubs, roll up, cut into bite size and have fun!

Very easy to take to work for mid morning snack. It is very rich in protein so it will really keep you going.  I will usually have it around 10:30am and won’t feel hungry until 2pm or after. Since I do not eat dinner a later lunch is perfect for me so these are not only delicious but it also works a treat!

BREAKFAST – starting the day the best way

Very dark shots first thing in the morning

This is very much an assemble job rather than a recipe but is most definitely a healthy breakfast that will keep you going for a good while and help stopping you from craving those mid morning treats.

Smoothie

80g of frozen raspberries (you can use fresh ones and add some ice)

10 grapes (I used both green and red)

1 tbsp of grains and seeds (you can find different varieties in health shops, I have my own homemade recipe which, should my acupuncturist allow me, I will post here one day)

2 tsp of agar agar (it’s full of fibre, no calories or carbs and will help curbing your appetite)

1 tbsp of splenda (you could also use agave nectar)

as much water as you need to blend it.

I like to use the food processor to pure the whole thing down, then just add as much water as you want - depending on the texture you are looking for - and leave the agar agar for last, don;t blend it too much after adding it.

-         serve it with a couple of brown rice cakes and a table spoon of low fat peanut butter

really need to work on my early morning photography skills

yuuuummmmmmmmmmmm

PS: I am 100% pro mid morning snacks by the way. I believe that eating a bit every 3 hours is the best way to avoid hunger pains and keep your sugar blood on healthy levels HOWEVER eating a balanced breakfast does mean that you are a lot more likely to reach for GOOD snacks during the morning rather than the latte and muffin from Starbucks on the way to the office.