WIAW - a regular old Sunday

Before I jump into today's WIAW post, I have a bit of a serious question to ask you all.

I am studying journalism as you probably all know. One of our assingments is to write a feature article for any magazine we chose. I have chosen to write an article about online media and the impact on women's body image. I am looking at all kinds of online media - Tumblr, pintrest and twitter with their 'thinspo' blogs, and also healthy living blogs. Now personally, as I write a semi-healthy living blog/cooking blog, I don't have an issue with healthy living blogs. Obviously.

But there are others who do. And I think if I am going to talk about online media and body image, healthy living blogs are a huge part of that. So if I could get some help from you guys, actual healthy living bloggers, it would be fantastic. I am looking for people who have suffered from an ED or believe they have body image issues to discuss their opinion on healthy living blogs and whether they are helpful or a hinderance (ie if you feel guilty when you see the standard set by others when it comes to exercise, clean eating, etc) to recovery. I am also looking for regular healthy living bloggers, sufferers of an ED or not, to provide information about the healthy living blogger world. I obviously know a lot about it, but I don't think it's very fair to quote myself in an article.

I promise the questions would not be too personal unless you are ok with it, and I would NEVER take anything out of context. This article is not aimed to be slanted in any way (unlike that infamous Marie Claire one) and is more of a general overview of the world created by online media and its impact on the body image of women. If anyone would be ok with being emailed some questions, please let me know. If you want to email me instead of commenting, please do that. I would prefer it if you would let me name you and your blog in the article, but anonymity is also fine with me.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and it would be incredibly helpful to ask some of you guys questions. Now, onto the much more happier topic of WIAW.

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As usual, thanks to Jenn at Peas and Crayons for hosting.

This weekend it was just me and my roommate Yvonne, as our other roommate was away. Copious amounts of tv and popcorn was consumed every afternoon. On Sunday, I didn't have a lot of uni work to do because I had drafted most of my articles already. I got up really early as usual, as I can't sleep past six, and had a great breakfast. I had baked oatmeal with banana and strawberry, which was great on the cold morning. This is unpictured, because it wasn't pretty.

After I finished my work that morning I had a great lunch - whole weat bread with ham, pineapple and cheese - like a Hawaiian pizza. I also had apple with peanut butter and muesli. I actually only ate the half the apple.

I made Congo squares with M&Ms for the roommates and snacked on the batter and then the warm squares. It was ok, but a bit sweet for my liking. I felt a bit sick so I didn't eat much else.

After I cleaned the whole apartment I went for a run at the gym. Managed 5km on the treadmill, which I usually can't do as my ankles hurt a fair bit. Then me and the roomie settled down to watch a few hours of tv, armed with popcorn and vegetable chips. These chips are amazing! Sweet potato, carrot, beetroot and parsnip. I hated the beetroot but the rest we great!

Then I made this dinner. It was fantastic. Recipe will be up soon.

And that was my lovely, relaxing Sunday. Hope you are all having a great week so far, and if you can help me, it would be greatly appreciated!

Cocoa Granola

I have a problem.

The other day I was going to the shopping centre and I was thinking about how I hadn't bought anything I didn't need in ages. I live next door to the biggest shopping centre in Queensland so Ive had to stop impulsively buying stuff whenever I see a shop. Ever since I decided to go to America I've been trying so hard to save money. Let's just say that hasn't happened. I bought -

- The four seasons of Merlin

- Matt Smith's two Doctor Who seasons

- Tickets to the Brisbane Writers Festival

- Tickets to Ed Sheeran

- The Hunger Games

- An insane amount of chocolate covered blueberries

- Travel Wallet

- Gym membership

Yeaaaahhhh. Not so great at the whole saving money thing.

So, this granola. Another chocolate recipe! When I first made this granola, it didn't taste great when hot. But then, after it had cooled properly, I realised how amazing it truly was. I especially love the crunch of the almonds and the walnuts. The dried fruit is also pretty amazing, with a slight chocolate coating. Also, when you open the container to pour out the granola, there is a delicious cocoa smell. You just can't beat that. 

Level of Difficulty: Very easy. It’s essentially throwing stuff together.  

Average Cost: $

Main Ingredients: cocoa powder, oats, variety of nuts and dried fruits

Menu Options: This is one of those completely interchangeable recipes. I used my favourite dried fruits and nuts, but you could really use whatever fruits and nuts you please. The honey can be changed for maple syrup, and you can use regular milk chocolate chips if you want. I have this with yoghurt and fruit, or just with almond milk – it tastes like crunchy chocolate milk!

Makes 8 cups. Nutritional value is based on cup serving size. However, I wouldn't eat one cup of this granola at once - at most I would eat half a cup, with yoghurt or almond milk, so I would half the calorie count in most cases. Value calculated without optional chocolate chips – but I put them in, as it’s just great. Also I wouldn’t worry about the nutritional value – I used sugar-free dried fruit and the nuts are healthy fats.

What you need:

-          4 cups oats, preferably traditional oats not instant

-          1/2 cup hazelnuts

-          1/2 cup walnuts

-          1 cup almonds, thinly sliced. To be honest, if I were to redo this, I would double the amount and use flaked almonds instead of whole almonds - they were a little too big and crunchy for my taste.

-          1/2 cup pepitas

-          1/2 cup sunflower seed 

-          1/4 cup dried cranberries

-          1/2 cup sultanas

-          1/2 cup dried apricots

-          1/4 cup desiccated coconut

-          1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

-          1/3 cup honey

-          1/4 cup cocoa

-          2 tbsp cocoa

-          1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (optional)

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

In a large bowl, combine the first 10 ingredients. This means everything until the honey. Mix well with a wooden spoon.

Over medium heat, melt the honey and cocoa together, stirring well and frequently until the mixture is thin and dark brown. Make sure the honey has melted and is not as thick as usual. 

Pour the honey and cocoa mixture over the dry ingredients and stir well with a wooden spoon until most of the nuts are covered in the mixture. This is hard to do, I admit, so if not all the nuts are covered it’s ok. Add the other 2 tbsp cocoa to the bowl and make sure it covers the granola mixture. 

Pour the granola onto a well-greased flat ovenproof tray making sure the granola is spread evenly. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Using a wooden spoon turn the granola so the mixture on the bottom is now on the top. This also helps to spread the honey mixture through the granola. Bake for another 15 - 20 minutes, stirring as necessary. I stirred the mixture every couple of minutes.

Once the granola is done cooking, the mixture will be a dark brown from the cocoa. 

Once the granola is completely cool, and I mean completely cool, add the remaining chocolate chips if you wish. The granola must be cool or these chips will melt into the mixture and not remain whole. 

Serve with yoghurt or almond milk for best results. Or eat straight from the container. 

Chocolate Oatmeal

I love chocolate.

Dark chocolate mostly. I used to love any kind of caramel chocolate, and milk chocolate, but not anymore. I can't stomach the thought of white chocolate. I don't really eat chocolate by itself though, its got to be some kind of chocolate food - brownies, cake, oatmeal. Mostly brownies though.

Other than chocolate, I can pretty much pinpoint the very few foods I eat every week. Potato, bread, pasta, yoghurt, oats, honey, bananas, strawberries and spinach. I know, there are a lot of carbs in that list. I used to have the most amazing ability to eat carbs. I would eat three pieces of toast with nutella for breakfast, followed by two in the afternoon after school and probably two more after dinner. I ate pasta at least twice a week and only ever ate fruit or veggies as a necessity. Potato was pretty much the only vegetable I ate. It's so weird to think I used to be able to eat whatever the hell I wanted, whenever I wanted.

Over the next week I have three chocolate recipes I plan to share with you all. I was obviously craving it a few weeks ago when these recipes were developed. The first of these, today's chocolate oatmeal, is simple, easy to make and does not even require a stove. You can use a microwave and have this delicious, slightly wicked, breakfast ready in an instant. And the beauty of oats is that you can add any further ingredients you crave.

Level of Difficulty: Microwavable easy.

Average Cost: $

Main Ingredients: cocoa powder, oats, almond milk

Menu Options: This is one of those completely interchangeable recipes. You can serve the oats with any fruit you like – banana would be lovely with this. You can serve it with or without the chocolate chips and coconut – though I love the slight tang from the coconut and the chocolate chips melt delightfully in the hot oats. Can also serve with nuts, dried fruit or granola.

Serves one.

What you need:

-          ¾ cup oats   

-          ½ cup almond milk

-          ¾ cup water

-          1 tbsp cocoa powder

-          Strawberries, to serve

-          Dark chocolate chips, to serve

-          Desiccated coconut, to serve

What to do:

In a microwavable bowl, combine the first four ingredients, stirring well to ensure the cocoa powder covers the entire bowl of oats.

Microwave the oats for 1 minute. Stir well, to ensure the liquid covers the oats. Microwave for a further 30 seconds.

Serve warm. If you like, serve with strawberries without their tops, a handful of chocolate chips and desiccated coconut.

Note that these oats are not very mushy, for lack of a better word. I like my oats to be slightly hard still, so microwave the oats for longer if you prefer ‘mushier’ oats.