Trying Out the Chia Pod

The Chia Pod from The Chia Co. is a relatively new product on the market. Chia seeds are gaining recognition as a superfood so I wanted to try it out. I bought the vanilla bean flavoured pod from Woolworths for $3.70. They come in cute 170g snack sized portions with a little spoon so its perfect to have on the go. 

The Chia Pod had a gel like consistency making it a little difficult to scoop at first but it was definitely quite fun to eat.  The chia seeds themselves provide a nice crunch. As you could see the Pod is packed with chia seeds and speckled with vanilla.

I like that these pods only have 4 ingredients and no added sugar. Even without sugar the Chia Pods have a subtle sweetness from the coconut milk. The use of vanilla bean paste also gives it a pronounced vanilla flavour that blends well with the cinnamon. 

So why are chia seeds so good for you? According to The Chia Co. chia seeds are an excellent source of fibre, omega-3 in the form of alpha linoleic acid (ALA) and omega-6 in the form of linoleic acid (LA), as well as containing all eight of the essential amino acids (protein building blocks that our bodies can't make themselves). Looking at the nutrition information, this is indeed the case. One Chia Pod already meets the recommended 2g/day of ALA and is approximately one-sixth of the recommended fibre intake (25-30g/day).

Overall, the Chia Pod is a simple, nutritious and filling snack that is great to have on the go. I would very much like to try the other flavours if I come across them another time.

Recipe: Cheesy Baked Tuna Sandwich

I love the weekends. They give me time to be creative with my food. I was really craving egg and cheese and the first thing I thought of was a sandwich, but then that seemed really boring. Then I remembered I had a mini baking dish I bought from Daiso and that sparked the idea of a baked sandwich. 

I filled my sandwich with diced carrot and tuna. I like canned tuna, its so convenient and tuna is a great source of protein and omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 is good for your cardiovascular health, improving learning and memory, and has anti-inflammatory effects in the body. However canned tuna should not be eaten too regularly to avoid the build up of mercury in the body. 

This baked sandwich is super easy to make. Just chuck everything in a baking dish, bake it until the cheese turns golden and you've got yourself a delicious cheesey topped sandwich with a crisp crust and moist tuna filling. 

Ingredients

• 2 slices of wholegrain bread 
• 1/2 a carrot, diced
• 1 can (95 g) of tuna, drained (I used John West Naturally Smoked)
• 1 egg
• 1 slice of cheese (I used a reduced fat cheese)
• 3 slices of tomato 

1. Preheat the oven to 200 C. 
2. Cut the bread into quarters, this would make it easier when eating. Place one slice of bread at the base of the baking dish. Add half of the diced carrots and then the tuna. Place the second slice of bread on top.
3. Crack the egg into a bowl and add the remaining carrot. Cut the slice of cheese into little pieces and add this to the egg and carrot bowl. Lightly whisk the egg. 
4. Place the tomato slices on top of the sandwich and pour the egg mixture evenly over the sandwich. Bake the sandwich for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese starts to turn golden. 

When pouring in the egg, I let a bit run down the side so the edges and the bottom slice could soak up a bit of the egg. It is also nice to sprinkle a bit of pepper or rosemary when eating this to add an extra level of flavour. 

Recipe: Banana, Honey Oat Pancakes

Who doesn't love a stack of freshly made pancakes in the morning? Last weekend I was in the mood to whip up some pancakes, but not just ordinary pancakes, I made them entirely out of oat flour (from blended oats).

Having studied nutrition at uni, I have learnt that processed white flour isn't exactly the best of ingredients to be using. Being highly processed and refined, white flour has most of the nutritional value stripped away leaving you with something that has quite a high GI. GI is how much your blood sugar level rises after a meal. Something that is high GI will raise your blood sugar levels quickly but then it will come down more quickly too so you feel hungry sooner. Oat flour on the other hand has a lower GI giving you a slower and more steady rise in blood sugar so you feel fuller for longer.

I have made pancakes with normal white flour before and there is nothing wrong with that. I understand that not everyone will have oats or oat flour on hand all the time. It's just that using oat flour is a good substitute to add more nutritional value and lower the GI of your pancakes.

I am also mildly lactose intolerant so I used soy milk in this recipe but you could use normal milk or any other milk alternative.

Ingredients

• 1 cup oats
• 1 cup soy milk 
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 a banana (optional) 
• 2 tsp honey (optional)
• Toppings: 1/2 banana, 1 strawberry, honey (or any to your liking)

Put all the ingredients in a food processor or blender to make your batter. 

Heat a pan on medium heat and add a little oil. When the pan is hot, pour in your batter to whatever sized pancakes you like. When bubbles appear, flip the pancakes and heat the other side for 30 sec - 1 minute. Repeat with the rest of the batter. 

When the pancakes are done serve them however you like, whether its with fruit, honey, syrup or yoghurt. This time I stacked them up with slices of banana and strawberries and finished off with a drizzle of honey. 

I love this recipe since its so simple and versatile. The banana and honey in the batter are optional. Leave them out and the pancakes are still nice and fluffy, or you could experiment with other flavours. 

Autolyse Sydney - Lower Ground, Central Park

I went to try out Autolyse today, a recently opened artisan bakery which also serves hot food. Everything on their menu is under $15 so it won't chip away too much from your wallet. I've been scrolling through countless Instagram photos of this place and was pretty excited about their Seafood Bouillabaisse ($14.90).

The Bouillabaisse itself was nice but I felt like it could have been a bit warmer. Despite that it still tasted pretty good. The broth had a rich tomato flavour with some celery and carrot pieces. There was a decent amount of seafood including mussels, prawns (large ones at that), salmon pieces and calamari rings (but unfortunately, I only got one little ring in my bowl).

All the dishes at Autolyse are served with a generous portion of their sourdough bread. It was fun just ripping through it and dipping it into the broth. I loved the crusty exterior and the bread centre was stretchy and pillowy.

The highlight however was the little serving of rouille (the small plate of orange sauce behind the baguette). Boy was that rouille amazing! Give me that by itself and the baguette and I'd be just as happy.  

Seafood bouillabaisse served with a baguette and rouille ($14.90)

My friend ordered the chicken, duck and pork sausage cassoulet ($14.90). Like my bouillabaisse she also would've preferred it a little hotter. This was a more hearty dish with plenty of meat and white beans.

I also ordered a cappuccino but since I'm not a frequent coffee drinker I'm not too sure how to comment on it.

Cappuccino ($3.50)

Autolyse also has a range of sweet pastries and cakes ($7.50 a slice) which I'd like to try next time. As well as pre-made sandwiches ($8-$9.50) for those wanting some quick lunch on the go.

Overall, my experience at Autolyse was a good one. They have a large seating area and the food came out really quickly. It's a nice place to come with a couple of friends to have a chat over lunch and coffee.

Laneway, Wentworth Building University of Sydney

A new cafe recently opened at my uni featuring an all day breakfast menu. Searching them up on facebook and looking at the foods they had to offer I was pretty excited to finally try it out.

I like their build your own breakfast style which allows you to choose your bread, the toppings and any extras. I chose a waffle base with sauteed garlic mushrooms, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce ($10.50) plus extra avocado ($1.80) and my friend chose sourdough with smashed avocado and ricotta ($10.50).

Our food came out really quickly, within 5 minutes of ordering. When put in front of us I immediately saw the stark difference in size of the two portions. Disregarding my extra avocado, my plate of waffles was a lot larger than my friend's single slice of sourdough.

Despite that, both tasted amazing. My friend's choice was light and refreshing with a nice tang of lemon juice in the avocado. With my dish, the waffles were hot and crispy, perfect to soak up all the runny yolk goodness and smothered in tangy avocado.

Garlic mushrooms, poached eggs, hollandaise sauce and smashed avocado on waffles (front), smashed avocado and ricotta on sourdough (back).

I was pretty full after finishing my plate but my friend recommended me to try a cronut after learning that I have never tried one before. If I wasn't so full I maybe would've enjoyed it more. The pistachio cream was a tad too sweet for my liking and the pastry wasn't as flaky as a croissant. The dark chocolate sauce was good though, a much needed element to go with something so sweet.

Pistachio cream filled cronut with dark chocolate dipping sauce ($5.80)

Overall, I enjoyed my experience at Laneway and given that its located at my uni, I do see myself returning in the future.

Second visit:
So I visited Laneway for a second time last week. My intention this time was to try their sour cherry loaf bread. I wasn't in the mood for what they had on their menu that day so in a way I built my own combination. You may think I'm super weird for ordering peanut butter on sour cherry loaf with poached eggs and avocado, but this combo totally works. Well to me at least.

So how was the bread? It was nice - a crusty exterior with a soft, slightly chewy centre laced with sour cherries which were more sweet than sour.

Peanut butter on sour cherry toast with poached eggs and avocado ($8.75 or $7.45 with Access) 

Recipe: Udon Noodles with Prawn, Shiitake Mushroom and Tomato Broth

Winter is here and there's nothing like tucking into a bowl of hot slurpy udon noodles. I made the broth with prawn heads and shells and shiitake mushroom soaking water. Not only are shiitake mushrooms delicious, they are full of health benefits too. They are known to boost your immunity, lower blood cholesterol and is a good source of iron.

This was how I made my noodles tonight.

Serves one.

1 x 200g udon
2 prawns, unpeeled
2 dried shiitake mushrooms
1/2 tomato diced
3 cubes fish tofu
Bok choy (optional, but its always nice to add some extra veggies to your meal)
Salt to taste

Wash and soak mushrooms in 3/4 cup hot water until soft. When the mushrooms are soft, trim the stems and pour the soaking water in a pot. Peel the prawns and add the heads and the shells to the pot. Keep the prawns themselves for later.

Add one more cup of water. Bring to the boil and add your diced tomato. Keep on a medium heat, or low heat if the water is evaporating too quickly.

While the broth is simmering, cook the noodles in another pot according to the packet. I like to rinse my noodles afterwards to remove any preservatives. So just tip the noodles into a colander or sieve and wash it under tap water. Pour out the water that you used to cook the noodles, add fresh water and boil the bok choy.

By now the flavour from the prawn heads and mushrooms would have been extracted, add the peeled prawns, fish tofu, and salt to taste. When the prawns are half cooked, add the noodles. Bring the broth back to a boil. When the prawns are fully cooked, pour everything into a bowl and dinner is served.

Recipe: Chocolate Pancakes

This is a recipe of some chocolate pancakes I made the other day. It is adapted from a recipe from Cancer Council NSW. I had soy milk instead of normal milk and I know that soy milk has quite a distinct flavour and doesn't go well in everything. So to mask this flavour I added cocoa powder to make chocolate pancakes. I also didn't have any pears so I used half a banana, saving the other half for the toppings. I also halved the amounts since I didn't want to make too much in case they didn't turn out too nice. But luckily, they were super delicious!

This is my adapted recipe:

Ingredients: 
1/2 cup self-raising flour
3/8 cup cocoa powder (I used the same 1/2 measuring cup and filled it 3/4 full)
1/2 soy milk
1 egg
1/2 a banana (mashed)
A swirl of honey (approx 2 tsp) (optional)

1. Sift the flour and cocoa powder
2. Add the egg, milk, mashed banana, and honey
3. Mix until the batter is smooth
4. Heat a non-stick pan on medium heat and spoon the batter onto the pan to the desired size
5. When bubbles start to form and the edges start to dry, flip the pancakes and heat for an extra minute or until cooked through. 
6. Serve and enjoy :) 

For my toppings, I used mixed berries, banana and honey.