Saturday 17 May 2014

Papaya, persimon, aavocado, capsicum and other stuff smoothie bowl!

Hey guys! Few! The last few weeks have been very hectic but I have survived. It was just one of those weeks where I wasn't listening to my body and as a result, it took revenge on me, bombarding me with headaches, fatigue, back aches, leg aches, morning sniffles and breakouts. Je ne sommes pas dans mon assiette. I hope that French reference was correct haha. But one good thing is that with all my tests and assignments handed in for now, I can relax this weekend, something I haven't been able to do in a long time.

After a very good nights sleep, I woke up feeling amazing! That pesky little head ache that hung around for the entire week had disappeared and I felt good so I decided to celebrate with a smoothie bowl.

It is a little unusual but I needed a way to use up all that exotic fruit that my mum had brought in this week. The capsicum and ginger add in just the right amount of heat for a cold morning, and the papaya and persimmon added in the colour for autumns, and the cilantro and mint added in the perfect freshness. And of course, the Pepitas, flax seeds and walnuts added in the boost of iron that my body was craving the entire week as well as a good crunch.


Ingredients:
smoothie:
1 cup papaya
half a red capsicum
half and avocado
a handful of cilantro
1 persimmon
1 teaspoon ginger
3-4 leaves of mint
1 teaspoon flax seeds
Topping:
1 handful pepitas


crushed walnuts
macadamia
Acai Berry powder

Method
1. Blend all the ingredients for the smoothie together
2. Pour the mixture into a bowl and top with any of your favourite toppings :)


Wednesday 7 May 2014

Relay For Life

Oh wow, I have so much to write about!

Last Saturday, my friends and I participated in the Cancer Council's Relay For Life. In teams, families and friends get together, set up tents and relay (walking/running) in shifts of 3 hours all around where ever the event is taking place (which varies from region to region) for a total of 24 hours. It was so wonderful to see so many people from the community taking part in this event in order to raise awareness of cancer and it's troubles, raise money for prospective research and new innovations that might in the future lead to a cure for cancer, and share their hope for a cancer free future. The event was very moving, with dozens of families sharing stories of survivors, battlers, and lost loved ones who had fought so hard against cancer. 

When the sun started to set, the "Hope" bags came out. These were brown paper bags with the words "Hope" written across them as well as messages for lost loved ones. Even in the middle of the night, when the sun had set, and the generators had unfortunately broken down, these Hope bags burned through the night. 

I managed to receive 2 shifts in a row, so my friend and I were walking continuously for 6 hours straight, with the longest time we spent on our bums being approximately 10 minutes. The wind bit hard, and the cold soon crept in but we did it. We walked 7 hours in total, and each hour we walked 5 km so all up, we walked 35 km plus a little bit extra. YAY. I am so extremely proud of us, and we are still waiting for the donations and sponsorships to roll in, and I will tell you all exactly how much we raised very soon. 

All in all, it was an absolutely wonderful experience. There were performances all night long, Zumba lessons, candle lighting, massage tents, hot food, speeches, songs, dancing, laughter and so much more. I am definitely participating next year and I encourage all of you to get onto the official Relay For Life  website  here and find out where your next nearest relay is occurring. Thank you all very much