I lived on ketchup as a kid.

Further, I was raised with the mentality ‘that food is meant to just keep you from starving’, the appreciation for food wasn’t instilled.

So, this whole discovery of myself has actually enabled me to discover food. To let myself slow down enough to enjoy the food. To really surrender to the whole experience!

Actually stopping. Chewing. Eating. Taking Pleasure In. Adoring. FOOD is something that I have NOT ever done before.

When my students made The Pioneer Woman’s macaroni and cheese the other day, I knew I couldn’t eat it cause it would upset my tummy. But the one bite I did have was amazing!

I didn’t just want to eat some blah pasta with sauce…I wanted something that I knew I’d enjoy! So I modified MamaPeas Recipe for Quinoa Lasagna with Mae’s Hummus Cheese, I can’t do soy as it calls from in MamaPea’s recipe.

Mama Peas recipe, minus Soy cheese, with swiss chard in each layer as well as hummus cheese.

Now the close up

It was SO tasty. I enjoyed every single bite. I have NO idea how many calories and/or points are into. I had a HUGE slice and it was fabulous. Not only was it healthy, but it was enjoyed.

So yes, I LOVE food and I am learning to ENJOY it as well.

Have you ever noticed how gorgeous beets are?

I sat and stared at one the other day!

Do you LOVE food, but find yourself not ENJOYING it?
What foods do you genuinely enjoy?

~Mish

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I then squeezed in a mini-workout during my break between classes!!!!!

• Bicep Curls @6kg x15
• Lunges @6kg each hand x15 each leg
• 20 tricep dips
• Plie Squats @6kg each hand x15
• Alternating Hammer Curls @6kg
• Calf Raises @6kg in hand of raising leg
• 15 push-ups, knees down
• 35 crunches

I did this three times through and got a bit of a sweat going on I survived class today, oh my heavens the long lazy days of sitting around are NO LONGER. Painful at times to be honest.

I came home to my students, which I adore, and as I walked in the door I knew that they were all up to something.

I go ‘what are you doing?’
They looked at me and go ‘oh just decorating our rooms’.

I don’t really pry anymore and just let them do their own thing. I go upstairs and they call to have me come down for dinner.

I walk downstairs and hear ‘MISH’ as I walk into the kitchen area. I look up and see this!

It’s my FOUR year Anniversary of Oz! How adorable are they for remembering that and celebrating it for me?

They are adorable and wrote me little notes and drew themselves

We then had an amazing dinner.

They (and I) chowed down on ice cream sand whiches…from scratch people. (vegan fail)

I ended not on such a great note with food…but I am getting there. It’s old habits people and it’s hard sometimes. I am not perfect, but you know what…being recognised and loved on is pretty damn amazing.

I may not be perfect, but I am lucky.

~Mish

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I woke up feeling saucy and busted out some Overnight Rice Oats.

Then I decided to take out my Lorna Jane gear for a WINDY and RAINY run around Fremantle.

• 4 miles
• 40 minutes (5 minutes walking/toilet break)

I honestly about sauced myself 1/2 way through the run and made a b-line for the local gas station. Note to self: don’t run after brekky! TMI..sorry

Lunch was this awesome saucy recipe that I invented with some dried chickpeas that I had laying around. Dried chickpeas aren’t saucy.

Indian Chickpeas
3-4 serves

1.33-1.5 c. dried chickpeas
4 c. water

1 onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic chopped
1 TB EVOO
2 tomatoes, chunked
.5-1.5 tsp chili flakes
1 tsp. ground cumin
.5 tsp. ground ginger and cardamon
.25 tsp. ground cloves
2.5-3 c. water

Overnight let chickpeas stand in water. They WILL expand.
Rinse water through twice
In a sauce pan heat EVOO and sauté onion and garlic
Add in drained chickpeas and stir for about 3-5 minutes
Add in tomatoes and stir until they start to break down
Add in all spices and over with at least 2.5 c. water
Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 1-1.5 hours. Stirring occasionally.

I enjoyed my chickpea creation with a salad! SO good.

Unpictured apple as I went on an airport run and uber small soy cap as I walked around town. When I was walking around town I knew that I need to sauce myself up for a cocktail party that I am going to this weekend. Perhaps these shoes?

Not unless I develop a stage name as a stripper….on second thought…jk . They were fun though.

I came home after shopping as was starving. So I sauced up some cabbage: 3-4 leaves, 1 tsp EVOO, 2 tsp vegan spread, 2-3 cloves garlic, hint of water!

My face got a little saucy with my new YesToCarrots face wash. I am telling you when I saw this in the store I gasped with delight. Their products are AMAZING! And yes..those are the saucy shoes that I am going to wear for the cocktail party.

I would have to say that this day has been capped of with Mrs.Fatass‘ post about dancing naked…I asked if I could wear my heels..and she demanded me.

When do you feel saucy?

~Mish

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This weekend hasn’t seen much exercise, other than carrying crazy boxes up and down stairs. All of this moving, had Nicole and I in the kitchen…rugged up..cause it was freezing! Who does this?

Oh my heavens…I love LOVE black beans. It’s not normal or healthy. One of my BIGGEST gripes in Australia is that they CAN NOT do Mexican food. So, when you’ve got no other options, you take matters into your own hands.

Slow Cooker Black Beans
3-4 cups

2 c. dried black beans
5 c. of water (if you want it soupy or whole w/ sauce. 4-4.5 c. if you want refried)
1 TB EVOO
.5-1 TB red chili flakes

Rinse beans
Add desired water level, EVOO and chili flakes
Crank up slow cooker to high for at least five hours. Or until beans are soft.
You can: leave them whole in the sauce, or puree them with a stick blender, food processor and/or blender. I used 5 c. of water, so it was like ‘black bean soup.

Black Bean Soup w/ rice and Sauteed Onions

Black Bean Soup as a salad topper w/ spicy pumpkin hummus and avocado.

I get that black beans are hard to make, but honestly, it’s SO worth it to make your own. They’re just AMAZING!!!!!!

So I have to ask: Mexican or No Mexican…food?

~Mish

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Friday Night ‘VIP Dinner’

Onions got the best of me

!

I cooked ‘BBQ Chicken/Ham/Swiss Cheese Roll-ups & Sauteed Garlic/Onion Mash & Steamed Broccoli w/ EVOO and salt’

Fun friends

Self-Saucing Chocolate Pudding. It’s an Australian thing, I wasn’t allowed to share the recipe on the blog (tear). But basically you mix hot water/cocoa and sugar together, then pour the batter over the top. CRAZY!

And it works!

BOOZE FEST aka: Food/Wine Festival

I went to the Food/Wine Festival. Honestly, it’s like the biggest thing that’s hit Perth since the epic Hail Storm. (I may have bought a car, 1993 Mazda that was caught in the hail storm, I am poor).

Basically you go in, and get drunk. Well, ok you clasy-ass drink and pretend you know what you’re talking about. My friend Nicole and I tried this amazing AM-MAZZZ-INNNNGGG whisky drink w/ lime. It was called a g-spot…don’t get after me. I think that Mrs. Fatass would also understand…she gets me.

It was ‘g-spot-able’…it was honestly amazing and I wanted to drink whisky.

Then we got distracted, after drinking wine, with a KitchenAid Ice Cream maker attachment. My friend Nicole seriously peed her pants–ok maybe not. But overly excited would be correct.

Then we went to a celebrity chef show. It was fun! I want to be a celebrity chef

I then got my drunk-ass sobered up…good thing. Went out for dinner, coffee and a movie. Honestly this weekend was awesome. I watched what I ate on Friday–DIDN’T eat anything that my tummy couldn’t handle. Boozed it up on Saturday but smashed an amazing 1 hour walk w/ my friend and did a SummerShapeUp Workout that morning.

You can HAVE FUN and still be FIT!

~Mish

I am so excited about this week. My results for the first two weeks of SummerShapeUp and an awesome guest poster! WOOP!

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Well, even though it’s FREEZING cold outside right now in Perth (that’s right I am an Oregon transplant living in Perth Australia) I had a hot and spicy weekend.

Which team is more hot and spicy: Chile or Spain? I watched the World Cup this weekend and it was fun comparing the looks of hot sweaty soccer players full of testerone running around on my TV.

Then I thought..why not work out. I gotta make sure I am getting my Summer Shape Up in gear and find time to squeeze in little exercises here and there. So I busted this out times three.

It felt good..honestly it did.

On Sunday, after my little trist with the soccer boys I had a little spicy coloured idea to make a fun polenta dish.

Colourful Polenta & Polenta Cakes
2-4 serves

.5 onion chopped
1 small red pepper diced
1-3 cloves of garlic
1 TB EVOO
1.5 c. polenta
3 c. water

Chop everything up and add into a pot with oil over medium-high heat.

Sautee until veggies are to your liking–mine about 5 minutes.
Then add water and bring to a boil.
Add polenta. Stir around. Take off heat. Cover until absorbed.

If you want you can mix 1 c. of finished polenta with 1 egg and fry into polenta cakes…yummy!

I did go to the beauty conference on Friday and bought WAY too many new workout clothes..but you know what it’s been since December 2006 since I’ve bought myself any new workout clothes. And my sports bras will prove it. These clothes are from an Australian brand, Lorna Jane, but never fear you Americans…they’re going stateside. I told the manager that she needed to tap into the blogging world.

I honestly felt like a MILLION bucks today working out in my new clothes. The sports bra is AMAZING, I love the shirts cause it makes my shoulders look good, is long enough and doesn’t cling to me. I busted out a workout from last weeks SSU that I didn’t have a chance to do.

• Beg: 5 min cardio (2 min@6.5kmph, 1 min@10.5kmph, 2 min@11.0kmph)
• The following three times through
  • Lunges w/ 6kg-12lbs, 15 each leg
  • Plie Squats w/ 6kg-12lbs, 15
  • Leg Lifts w. 6kg-12lbs, 15 each leg
  • Hamstring curls w/ 25kg-55lbs, 15
  • Frog crunchs, 15
  • Calf raises, 25 each leg
  • Leg extension w/ 30kg-65lbs, 15
• End: 20 min cardio @7.0kmph-4.5mph

It was a good hot and spicy workout. Ok…I need to head out..I gotta eat something..cause I am HANGRY. Speaking of Hangry..congrats to HangryPants on their engagement!

What got you hot and spicy this weekend? Any favourites in the soccer world?

~Mish

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Instead I am here to enjoy life.

This started off with wondering if I could EVER do this!

They look honestly like spiderman! FUN! I then went to the ‘Every Woman Expo’ with one of my classmates…Auds.

Then I came home and did a quick cardio sesh at the gym and 10 minutes of abs, legs, arms. Because I had to crank out a home-cooked meal for my staff. Spaghetti and Meatballs!

3-Meat Meatballs
(serves 4-5)

6oz ground pork
4oz each of ground beef and ground lamb
handful of fresh basil
1/4 of an onion diced thinly
salt/pepper
1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 c. of gluten free bread crumbs or just regular bread crumbs
1 egg

1 TB Worcestershire sauce
2-3 TB of red wine

You can make this all in one go. However, last night I did the first lot of the ingredients in a bag and let it marinade overnight.

The combine with the bread crumbs, egg, sauce, and red wine.

Shape into golf-ball sized pieces and place in a pre-heated oven at 200/400 for 25-30 minutes

YUMMY!

I found myself lusting after the cake I made last night, but realised that I didn’t have to binge to enjoy it. So I just simply had a few bites and threw the rest of it away. I didn’t want it. The birthday girl didn’t want it…so you know what…I just threw it away.

I enjoyed my day. I bought new workout clothes. My meatballs worked out fabulously. I went to church and it was amazing. And to TOP it OFF..I got to skype with Roni.

Are you a meatball person? Meatloaf?

~Mish

If you missed out on the Amazing Jewelery from The Silver Maple, you can go onto their website til July 4th and order something with an awesome 20% discount for Eating Journey readers. Coupon Code: MarvelousMish GO ORDER!!!!

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Last night, after my koala petting/chocolate eating/HIIT packed day, I went over to my friend Sarah’s house for a home-cooked dinner. When you are a poor college student, or anyone for that matter, when people cook you dinner from scratch…you basically want to kiss their toes and praise the ground they walk on.

Before dinner we had to get in a few games of CandyLand.

I was the red gingerbread man….

Then we played around with trains and took some photos of the prep.

Dinner!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lamb curry—heaven—in the crock pot all day

Toppings for the curry—apparently when Sarah lived in South Africa they always had coconut, bananas and a tomato/onion salsa to go with it. Throw them all on..they were SO good.

Lentils–heaven

‘Bugs Bunny’ carrots

Plate me up! (I may have gone back for a little bit more)

After eating…which I didn’t feel like I stuffed myself…but I was full..L decided to give us a show.

What I love about little kids is that they DON’T care what people think. He go on his bed and sang along.

We had seats to watch the show and I smiled, thinking that being six would be pretty damn good sometimes.

We then made a yogurt/cookie/berry parfait. Yogurt, 1/2 of a crumbled cookie, Yogurt, cookie, yogurt, berries!

It reminded me that we ALL have an inner-child in us.

Do you ever harness your inner-child? Ever get to hang out with kids?

~Mish

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Hope you’re day is going well. Mine started off pretty bad. However, I decided that I wasn’t going to cope with food. Instead, I powered through by making a to-do-list and got onto the things which I needed to get done.

I have been inspired by some Ancient Grains today.

Brekky was Amaranth w/ 1 egg, 1 egg white and 3/4 c. frozen veggies.
It was really good. Nice, filling and delicious.

What is Amaranth?

is actually a seed. Amaranth is a highly nutritious grain, and is unusual in that it offers a complete form of vegetable protein. It is also a great source of dietary fiber, calcium and minerals such as iron, magnesium, phosphorus, copper and manganese. A gluten free food especially useful for very active people, vegetarians, and pregnant and breastfeeding women. (source)

Asian Meets Mexican Salad
Pad Thai noodles w/ green beans, salsa and lettuce. It was tasty, but I needed protein.

Today Was CRAZY and Not.My.Day
I snacked on some almonds (1/3 c. throughout day). I then ran around all day long. Seriously today was just not my day. My scooter is having problem, I am currently uninsured cause I can’t get my credit card to work online and I stressing about money. The whole budgeting thing is good, but I makes me aware of my not-so-great-spending-habits.

Coffee Date Made It Better
I met up with Lisa who is an Irish Doctor. She’s great. We had a great conversation. She’s on a journey and it was nice to speak to someone who I just met about their life. Sometimes meeting strangers, makes it easier to open yourself up.

I had a short macchiato…basically a shot w/ a touch of steamed milk.

Quinoa and Tofu to the RESCUE
I tried to take out of Mama Peas book and make some Mexican Quinoa

• 1 c. quinoa
• 2 tsp vegan spread
• 1 carrot
• 1/4 zuch
• 1/3 onion
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 can tomatoes
• 1 1/2 can of water

Then I decided to make Sweet and Sour Tofu

• 200 g. firm tofu
• 1 can of pineapple chunks w/ juice
• 1/4 onion
• 1 tsp. vegan spread

My dinner was great. I actually decided to eat outside, cause I needed to step away from sitting in front of a computer and eating all the time.

My Crack
Red grapes and Pink Ladies (x3 today) and strawberries and cream tea.

Great Stuff

• Men and Body Image–tomorrow and Friday!!!!
• Megan’s Marathon Recap..I teared up
• 250 more crunches (x2 I owe myself 500)
• Jo-Lynne for making my new header, twitter background, and signature. She’s a gem!
  

What is something that you’ve tried that you never thought you’d eat?

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My New Man….Bob! Bob loves vegan padthai noodle spaghetti

Pad Thai noodles w/ chickpeas, onion, chili, zuchi, celery, tomatoes. tasty.

There’s something that I have been wanting to share with you. I have a new blog…don’t freak. I am not leaving this one

Cows and God — my faith journey
CowsandGod — on twitter

Did I stay off the scale? Check out my Week 5-6 Transform Me Video

Before I head off…I need to say thank you to Diane@FittotheFinish for her amazing guest post today!!!! Check it out.

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