Friday 18 July 2014

ETC. | LAUGH AT THE ODDS





INTERIORS | LOVE WARRIOR








The Love Warriors are a creative team with expertise in design, architecture, styling, photography etc. etc. They are talented and they are great. Just to put it simply. 


You can shop their collection here.

FOOD | VANILLA CHIA PUDDING

Three things with this one; 1. It will satisfy a sweet tooth 2. It is man friendly (yes, I’ve tested) 3. Really easy and minimal mess.

I came across this recipe on Pinterest, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who has never really known how you are supposed to upgrade Chia seeds from an add on to a main ingredient. But alas, it has been done. 

I came across the original recipe at Pastry Affair and another version for a breakfast pudding at Daily Burn

Servings | 4 half cup servings

2 cups almond milk (or your preferred milk)
1/2 cup chia seeds
2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or 2 tablespoon vanilla extract) 

1 1/2 cups mixed berries

In a medium bowl, whisk together the soy milk, chia seeds and vanilla extract and refrigerate. Over the next half hour, whisk the pudding every so often as it begins to thicken; this will prevent the chia seeds from clumping and give you a nice consistency. After an hour to two hours the pudding should be ready. 

Before you serve the pudding, prepare the berries. Put the berries in a small pot on medium heat, add a splash of water and let simmer. Simmer for approx 10 minutes, you will notice the berries soften and there should be a juice from the berries. Once your berries are ready, grab the pudding from the fridge and spoon an even amount into four glasses, drizzle/ spoon the berries and juice over the pudding. Easy, healthy and delicious! 

Mix things ups:
+ Top with your desired fruit (mint, mango & passionfruit is a yum combination) 
+ If you want to sweeten things up a little, serve with some melted chocolate drizzled over the top.
+ Spice things up by sprinkling some cinnamon and nutmeg over the top.

+ Turn it into a breakfast meal, add some almonds, honey and double the fruit. 

IMAGE SOURCE | kitchensimplicity.com

ETC. | A BEAUTIFUL MIND







Tuesday 23 April 2013

About

I’m Carmel and welcome to Fivefourtyfive! Among a few other things I really love to cook and enjoy delicious food, but with that comes multiple issues as we all know.. lack of time, expanding waistline, expenses for all that delicious food and finally.. is it good for me? Which is where I intend to come in. 

I currently run my own business separate to Fivefourtyfive and work there six days a week, in my spare time I need to reconnect with the world outside of work or instead lock myself inside to re-watch a season of Friends. I don’t have time during the week to fluff around with food and if you’re a mum or have work commitments like mine it’s not hard to figure you’d be in the same boat. 

Now as a lover of everything delicious and unhealthy, it's not always the best attribute for keeping thin. And I'll be damned if I have to eat another no carb stir fry for dinner. I've had more than enough stir fries and the thought of making another for lack of ideas makes me want to throw my wok out the window. I’m not overweight or intending to lose weight, that’s not what my blog is for, but.. I would like to look as good and glowing as Gwyneth Paltrow after two children and not have to drink green sludge every day. 

Money is my last hurdle, home cooked meals need to be accessible. To the teenager who’s just moved out of home to the mum on a budget who needs to feed a family of five boys. I’m not at either end of that spectrum but I’m still somewhere in between and I do not care how amazing Jamie Oliver’s recipes are, I will never again spend $140 on the ingredients for one meal. That I have to cook myself. No deal Jamie, no deal. 

So here I am on a journey to find and make clean meals that are delicious, time savvy and affordable for myself mainly but I’ll share them with you all to enjoy aswell!

And as an important side note; I take an avid interest in healthy eating and the way the body works but I am in no way a nutritionist or expert in this field, and I in no way claim to be. I cook what works for me and what I like, I encourage you to do the same; test, experiment and substitute ingredients as per your palette or your pantry. Hopefully you’ll come across a few recipes to add to the bookmarks bar.