Five minute healthy dinner.

Yesterday was just one of those days where time ran away from me. I worked at 5:30pm so when I realized it was already 4:30 I had the choice to eat Tostitos chips and con queso or figure out something quick and healthy to make. Since I had gone to the gym and wanted to keep my day on a healthy path, I chose to raid the fridge to see what I could whip up. My first thought was salad but unfortunately I was out of spinach and lettuce. I took a peek in my pantry and saw gluten free millet and brown rice ramen noodles. The noodles cook in about five minutes, making them a perfect option. I chose tuna for protein and grape tomatoes. 

I sliced the grape tomatoes in half and threw them into a frying pan with some oil, garlic, and black pepper. I added the sodium free canned tuna to the pan, stirred it all up and let everything heat through. I cooked the ramen noodles how the package instructed. After draining my ramen I topped it with the tuna and tomatoes, splashed some Franks Red Hot Sauce on top and gobbled it all up in record speed. It was really delicious! All together my dinner was a mere 490 calories.

Including prep time, cooking, eating, and cleaning up my meal took a grand total of twenty eight minutes. The cooking itself only took six! This is a perfect meal option for when you’re rushed but need something warm and filling in your belly. 

Let me know if you try this recipe. What are your go to quick dinners? Let me know in a comment. 

Thanks for reading, 

Carrot Cake Breakfast Smoothie | January fourth.

When it comes to breakfast I think the easier and quicker the better, so smoothies are a great choice. A breakfast smoothie needs to be filling enough for me to get through until lunch. I created this carrot cake breakfast smoothie with some inspiration from various Pinterest posts. 

To make my carrot cake breakfast smoothie you will need:

- 1/2 cup oats

- 5 to 7 baby carrots

- 1 tbsp WowButter (or nut butter if you can have nuts)

- 1 tsp honey

- 1 tbsp Greek yogurt

- 1/3 cup milk of choice (more or less to preference)

- cinnamon to preference

I start off by grinding the oats in my blender until they are super finely milled. I then throw everything else into the blender and blend until the carrots are shredded and everything is incorporated. 

This smoothie is so delicious, high in protein thanks to the WowButter and Greek yogurt. The oats make it filling and keep me full throughout the morning and the honey gives the smoothie a nice sweetness. 

This is a go-to, staple breakfast smoothie for me. If you try it do let me know if you like it!

Gluten Free Pizza Recipe | Food Friday

About six months ago I was diagnosed with celiac disease which has meant that I am now forced to live a gluten free lifestyle. It's not hard to be gluten free, per se; there's tonnes of stuff on the market that is gluten free. The difficulty has come because of my other food allergies- anaphylaxis to fruit and nuts. The majority of gluten free foods are made with fruit and/or nuts. 

This has meant that I've been experimenting in the kitchen. I've been trying to find good recipes and alternatives for everything from bread to cookies to crackers and beyond.

One thing I was really missing was a good pizza. Making your own dough is easy, but gluten free dough never seems to be right. It either tastes funny or the texture is all wrong. 

I've finally found a pizza base recipe that is absolutely delicious that I want to share with you guys! This pizza base is reminiscent of a thin and crispy crust pizza, not a thick or soft crust my any means. It's my favourite type of pizza crust!

So here it is:

To make this delicious pizza base I used a combination of oat flour and rice flour. As a binder I used a combination of eggs and mozzarella cheese. I seasoned the dough with black pepper and salt.

This dough has to be baked for about twelve to fifteen minutes before you assemble the pizza. I used homemade pizza sauce, corn, and mozzarella cheese to top my pizza. I then put it back in the oven for another fifteen minutes. 

I hope you all enjoyed this recipe- if you try it let me know what you think! Also if you have any gluten free recipes/resources leave a comment below!

Thanks for reading & check back again to see what KatieDidd, xo

Vegan Dinner for Meatless Monday | Recipe

Hey y'all! Today I want to share with you this DELICIOUS recipe that I concocted... that just so happens to be completely vegan! 

Before beginning on the main recipe, you'll need to make or buy some vegetable broth. I made mine by combining water, carrots, celery, leeks and a bay leaf in a big pot. Once it came to a boil, I reduced the heat down to a simmer and let it do it's thing for about an hour. By this time all the veggies in the broth were pretty mushy and so I scooped them out with a slotted spoon. I added salt, pepper, garlic, parsley, and rosemary to the broth and let it simmer another hour or so. I put it in the fridge and let it sit overnight.

To prepare the actual meal, I began by dicing a sweet onion and two vine ripened tomatoes. I placed the onion and tomatoes into a skillet over medium heat and covered it all with vegetable broth. I then covered it with a lid and let it simmer away for about 10 minutes. 

After 10 minutes, I seasoned the onions and tomatoes with basil, oregano, garlic, and red pepper flakes. I put the lid back on, reduced the heat to a low temperature setting and let it simmer whilst I cooked the rice. I used the vegetable broth for cooking the rice instead of water to infuse flavour into it. 

Once the rice was finished cooking, I spooned it onto a plate and topped it with the tomato/onion mixture. I served the dish with a garden salad. It was a huge hit- everyone loved it!

If you try this recipe do let me know! It's delicious! If you have any recipe suggestions for me to try- meatless or not- leave them in a comment!

Thanks for reading & check back again to see what KatieDidd, xo

Big Portions for a Big Week | What I Eat in a Day

This week is a crazy one! Hence the post being a day late (sigh). My final portfolio for first year is due THIS FRIDAY GAAAAAH! It's such a stressful and busy time that eating is one of those things that's really easy to push to the side. However, if I want to get through this week I need to fuel my body with good, wholesome foods that will give me energy!

Breakfast - 8:45am

Of course, sticking with my old faithful. I had 1/2 cup oats cooked in 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup water. I mixed in raw cacao powder and cinnamon and topped it off with a dollop of greek yogurt and cinnamon. Along side it was a very large cup of coffee. It was the perfect start to a long day at school of edits and photo printing.

Lunch - 2:30pm

A big portion of carbs and veggies to get me through the afternoon after such a long amount of time from breakfast was much needed! I had 1/2 cup of rice with peas and carrots. While the rice cooked I added in rosemary, pepper, and red pepper flakes to infuse some flavour into it. It was actually really delicious!

Dinner - 7:45pm

After lunch I headed back to school to do some more editing and a last minute photoshoot. When I finally got home for dinner I realized the serious lack of protein i had in my day. Ground beef was exactly what my palette was craving! I seasoned it with oregano, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. I threw in some broccoli, peas, and baby carrots for some more veg! It was delicious!

After dinner I did a 40 minute vinyasa to relax after such a busy day. After my yoga time I had a cup of peppermint tea and read a book. I finished off the day with a nice hot shower and a phone call home before heading off to bed!

I hope you enjoyed seeing what I eat in a day to get through end of the semester crunch time! How do you fuel a busy day? Do let me know in a comment.

If you're going through finals right now GOOD LUCK <3

Thanks for reading & check back again to see what KatieDidd, xo

How I Got Regular | Top 5 Tips

Yes, you read that right... I'm writing about how I got regular. I'm assuming if you clicked on this that you either 1. struggle with your own regularity or 2. just love my blog so much that you couldn't NOT read my post. Since I highly doubt it's the second option let me start off by saying being irregular isn't fun. The cramping, bloating, lack of energy, and general uncomfortable feeling are just of a few of the unpleasant effects of being irregular.

I didn't realize how common irregularity amongst women is until recently. I was watching a vlog by Anna Saccone where she mentioned that she struggled with her regularity and so sought out the advice of her friend, trainer, nutritionist and fellow YouTuber, Lucy for some tips. Shortly after watching this vlog I had a friend mention to me that she was tired of having cramps caused by constipation. Seeing how I was experiencing the same problem we began doing research, comparing notes, and sharing tips with each other. 

During my research I found quite a few websites that were really helpful:

http://www.lifescript.com/health/centers/digestive/articles/what_your_bowel_movements_say_about_your_health.aspx

http://www.phaa.com/constipation-and-irregular-bowel-movements-in-healthy-women.htm

http://www.everydayhealth.com/hs/guide-to-constipation-relief/bowel-movements-whats-normal/

http://www.prevention.com/health/health-concerns/7-things-your-poop-says-about-you

After all this research I began my journey to regularity and came out quite successful (TMI? Probably haha). These five tips really helped me and I hope by sharing them with you today some of you will be able to find more regularity as well.

1. Morning Tea

Every morning I now start my day with a hot cup of tea instead of a cold cup of water like I had done previously. The warmth of the drink helps to loosen everything up (check the links for the science behind it). I usually have a peppermint tea as peppermint has great benefits for the digestive system.

2. Diverse Sources of Fibre

Getting enough fibre in your diet is easy, but if you're eating all the same fibrous sources you may not be achieving the results you desire. Try having a wide variety of whole grains and green, leafy vegetables. A salad and a bowl of high fibre cereal every day (Shredded Wheat, Quaker Oatmeal Squares, Multi-Grain Cheerios, Weetabix etc.) have proven to be easy, delicious, and effective ways of getting enough fibre in my diet.

3. Get Moving

I'm a big fan of working out- I love the way it makes me feel. However if you're constantly doing toning and muscle building your body will become quite tight. I recommend walking everyday (or most days) for at least twenty minutes to get things moving. I have also found yoga to be a great way of keeping things loose and moving.

4. Change it Up

As a college student, I fell into the trap of eating a lot of the same foods over and over again. They weren't unhealthy foods by any means, but your body needs a diverse selection of foods to keep digestion successful.

5. Drink 2L of Water Every Day

There are infinite benefits of consuming 2L of water per day and regularity is on that list. To help keep track of water consumption I bought a water bottle that I refill three to four times per day. There is a convenient counter dial on the top of the lid which helps me to keep track of how many bottles per day I'm drinking. This makes it a lot easier to keep up with my water intake rather than having a glass here or there.

We all poop, there's no way around it. Let's abolish the awkward vibes around the topic of what happens (or doesn't) in the bathroom and have an open discussion about our regularity! All comments are very welcome.

Thanks for reading & check back to see what KatieDidd xo.