Silo Park Markets

Life can be a little crazy sometimes. One day you’re lying in the January sun, soaking up the last of the summer holidays with a weekly schedule that consist of “tan…read…eat…repeat”, the next, 8 weeks of school have passed and you’re driving into school at 7am on a Monday morning with a to do list that has become decidedly less thrilling. Whether its school, university or work it’s easy to become overwhelmed with the to do’s, a list of tasks which supernaturally manages to never shrink no matter how hard you work. By the time you survived to Friday your #TGIF celebration is often dampened by the fact that your ‘crazy weekend’ will probably consist of going between watching procrastinatively and work.

To be honest I had been feeling pretty shit this Friday, un-productive day, plans cancelled last minute and the idea of a free weekend slowly disappearing under a mound of design and photography work. Taking a few hours off get my ass to the gym (my membership was growing cobwebs) then visiting a Silo Park markets in town was the last thing on my mind, yet ended up being just the thing to get me out of my funk. After getting on a sweat at Les Mills, my beautiful mother and I drove to Wynyard and after a couple minutes of scoping out the carpark, managed to steal a park.

I forgot how important it is to take a break every now and then, put life on hold and surround yourself with good music, delicious food, happy vibes and interesting people.

With over 20 food stalls/trucks, an outside movie showing, cute little clothing stalls, fresh air and crowds of people ambling around, Silo park is definitely the place to slow down, grab a seat and indulge in some cheap eats and good old-fashioned people watching.

mmmmm Balsamic and Onion Soft Pretzels 

$12 Beetroot Burger courtesy of The FoodTruck 

A Super Photogenic Very-Berry Natural Fruit Ice-cream 

So get out of your weekend sweat-pants (we all have a pair), step away from the work desk and get out into the big wide world for a few hours. It'll be fun, promise. 

The Ultimate Breakfast

“The most important meal of the day is…” Over and over we are told that breakfast should be the largest meal of the day, yet a surprising number of us are ignoring this, instead opting for a small breakfast or no breakfast at all “gasp”. While the reasons may be different, time, weight-loss goals, appetite or schedule, none are any real justification for missing this fantastic meal.

Enter the breakfast food rated number one by basically all nutritionists……PORRIDGE!!!

Now I know that 89% of you are thinking ‘eugh, I hate porridge’ but you know what I say to that? No. No you don’t. “I don’t?” you question meekly (I say meekly because without starting your day with porridge you are without energy and generally unhappy as a person). No you don’t, because of this simple reason, anyone who hates porridge, hasn’t eaten good porridge before. Do not worry, I too have mistaken a tiny bowl of lukewarm, half-cooked, soggy yet crunchy bowl of goo as ‘porridge’, but once you know how good it can really taste you too will be converted to the porridge club. So before you rush out to bulk buy your steel cut oats here are 5 super cool reasons as to why porridge is the best thing ever.

1. It will make you happy.

I’m dorky and weird but to be honest the idea of a warm sweet bowl of porridge quite genuinely makes me happy inside. Even after having it literally every single morning this year it maintains its magical ability to get me out of bed, which is important since like most people mornings made me want to crawl into a  hole and die. Before you know it oats will turn you into that stupidly happy morning person at school with your travel cup of porridge.

2. Energy Energy Energy!!!

Over the years poor carbohydrates have gotten a pretty bad name for themselves, with a ridiculous number of fad diets and magazines telling us that carbs=fat, so the idea of a high carb breakfast seems pretty scary. Luckily there is nothing to fear as with a high amount of complex carbs that are digested slowly, porridge will keep you feeling fuller for longer as well as giving you lasting energy to get you through those morning meetings/classes.

3. Iron

Now something that all the amnesiacs and vegans can get excited about, IRON! Gone are the days of adding a pound of minced beef to your morning cereal because one cup of porridge has 14mg of iron which is 80% of a woman’s daily intake, and 100% of a mans! Since iron helps the oxygen transport around your body, it helps you feel less tired and encourages muscle growth!

4.Cheap as chups

With a 1kg bag of eats costing $4 the average bowl will only set you back 5cents! A breakfast to please even the poorest of hungry students.

5. Practically perfect in every way

Healthy, easy take on the go and the perfect base for almost any flavour combination, whether its almonds and date caramel, peanut butter chocolate and banana or even a savoury cream and salt, there is very little the humble oat cannot do.

SIDE NOTE: Do yourself a favour and don’t buy those horrific microwave sachets. Nutritionally refined within an inch of their life, full of sugary flavourings and a crazy-long list of additives, they do more harm than good, especially when I have to use 5 of their sachets to get a decently full bowl of porridge #girlsgottaeat.

How Instagram porridge looks

How real porridge looks

So happy Sunday everyone and may your week be filled with copious bowls of deliciously creamy porridge!

Brown rice Quinoa and Lentil Salad

I always find it oddly ironic that when life gets busy and our bodies are put under more pressure and stress, the first thing that is shuffled to the bottom of the priority list is our mental and physical wellbeing.  When you have left that urgent report until the night before, the concept of taking time to prepare a nourishing meal or making sure you drink your daily litre of water seems impossible, especially when the 2 minute noodles are calling your name.

“A man who is too busy for health will one day find time for illness” It’s during these busy times where there aren’t enough hours in the day that I find this quote especially important in reminding me that taking time for your body is not a waste, but an investment into your wellbeing. If you didn’t have the time to fill up on gas and instead used water for your car, you wouldn’t expect it to run for very long, so why do we treat our bodies that way?

Wholesome and fast aren’t two words that many people would think could co-exist, the problem being that so many people think that the only way to have a diet full of healthy food is if you have hours of free time to spend in the kitchen. Balancing scholarship subjects, school, teaching dance, fitness and various other commitments, it’s important for me to have lots of little recipes on hand which are quick to make, easy to eat on the go and taste delicious.

This recipe was a bit of a happy accident, as after getting home late I grabbed whatever was left in the cupboard, lazily threw it together and created something a little bit delicious. With ingredients like lentils, kale, kumara and quinoa its packed full of fiber, protein, anti-oxidants, foliate, and an alphabet of Vitamins like A, B, C, E, K! Plus the use of packet rice/quinoa and tinned lentils and legumes, means the only culinary skills required is knowing how to work your microwave and use the can opener, wiiiiiin.  

My original dinner that literally took 2 minutes to prepare and plate only included the microwave brown rice + Quinoa, tinned lentils/chickpeas and spinach. Although I’ve found it to be especially delicious with the addition of roast vegetables, so I’ve included them in the recipe.

As per usual it’s totally up to interpretation, so feel free to sub in whatever you have kicking around the cupboards, like boiled beetroot or pan fried mushrooms mmmmmmm

Ingredients (Serves 2)

-1 packet 90 second Brown Rice + Quinoa (or 3 C stove cook rice/quinoa)

- 2 Kumara

- ¼ Pumpkin

- 1/2 can of Curried Chickpeas (I love Delmaine but Wattie's is another great brand)

- 1/2 can Freshwater Lentils

- 2 C Leafy Green vegetables (spinach/rocket/kale)

- 1/2 Avocado

1.     Wash, and cut root vegetables into small even chunks (the smaller you cut them, the faster they will cook) season with coconut oil and paprika

2.     Place vegetables onto an aluminum foil covered tray and bake at 180 for 30 minutes or until soft inside and crunchy outside, then remove to cool

3.     Cook rice packet in the microwave for 90 seconds

4.     Pour the curried chickpeas, fresh lentils and chopped spinach/rocket over the rice and mirowave again to heat

5.     Top with ¼  of a fresh avocado and serve

6.     Immediately go back to the fridge and retrieve the other ¾ of the avocado and shamelessly add it all to the meal, because asdfghj avocado <3

This cheap and easy recipe is not only perfect as a quick and delicious dinner, but also works great to be made in bulk on a Sunday and portioned into little containers for a lunch/dinner go-to during the week!

Happy Monday Ya'll