Clean Almond & Goji Berry Cluster Muesli

I have had a rather serious love affair with Cluster Muesli and Yogurt for quite some time now, but since I started to get serious about my health at the beginning if the year, I had to say goodbye to my favourite store bought variety and I'm not going to lie, I have missed it alot!

So, I decided to try to make my own 'clean' version...

Here is my take on Cluster Muesli with Almonds and Goji Berries!

Ingredients:

2 cups of Rolled Oats

3/4 cup of Almonds

1 tsp of Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Sea Salt

2 Egg Whites

1/3 cup of Natvia

1/2 tsp of Vanilla

1/3 of a cup of Goji Berries

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 DegreesCelsius 

2. Line a large baking tray with baking paper

3. In a mixing bowl add the Oats, Almonds, Cinnamon and Salt

4. In another bowl combine the eggs, Natvia and Vanilla

5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and combine 

6. Spread the mixture out on the baking tray

7. Bake for 10 minutes, then mix it up and turn them over and cook for another 10 minutes or until golden (keep a close eye in it so it doesn't go black on the edges like mine ;))

8. Then add the Goji Berries and break it up into a bowl or container and serve with some Greek yogurt. Delicious!

Let me know how you go if you give this recipe a try! 

Come over and like the Clean Fit Mum Facebook page (link in the column to the right of this post) for more healthy tips and recipes! 

Sophia xo

Walnut & Basil Crusted Salmon on Sweet Potato & Pine Nut Salad

There were a few requests for this recipe when I posted a photo on Facebook earlier in the week so here we go :-)

Ingredients for Salmon:

1 cup of Walnuts

1/2 cup of Fresh Basil Leaves

3 Tbsp Olive Oil

1/2 cup of Rolled Oats

Sprinkle of Sea Salt & Black Pepper

1 Cup Salt Reduced Chicken Stock

2 pieces of Atlantic Salmon 

Ingredients for Salad:

Spinach Leaves (as much as you like)

Kale (as much as you like)

400g sweet potato (cut into bite size cubes)

Tbsp coconut oil

1/2 tsp of Parika

1/2 tsp of Cinnamon

1/3 cup Pine Nuts

2 tsp sesame seeds

Salad Dressing:

1 part Olive Oil

1 part Apple Cider Vinegar

Sprinkle of Sea Salt & Pepper

Method: Salmon

1. Preheat Oven to 180degrees Celsius

2. Place first 5 ingredients in a food processor (I used a blender because I don't have a food processor)

3. Blend until smooth(ish)

4. Place Salmon in a non-stick tray or line a tray with baking paper 

5. Spread the mixture on top of each of your pieces of Salmon

6. Pour 1 cup of Chicken Stock into tray

7. Place in oven for about 20 minutes or until crust is crispy and Salmon is cooked

Method: Salad

1. Place Sweet Potato Cubes in a lined baking tray

2. Drizzle Sweet Potato with Coconut Oil

3. Sprinkle Sweet Potato with Paprika & Cinnamon

4. Place in oven for 15-20 minutes or until soft and golden

5. When ready to serve add Sweet Potato, Pine Nuts and Sesame Seeds to Spinach & Kale

6. Combine dressing ingredients, then drizzle over salad and mix all ingredients , evenly coating leaves with dressing.

Once the salad is complete, place a piece of Salmon on top. Basil to garnish.

For the Kids dinner I chopped it all up and mixed in some avocado.

Let me know how you go if you give this recipe a try! If you like this recipe, please share with your friends! 

Sophia xo

My Dad's Garden Party Birthday!

Last weekend we celebrated my Dad's Birthday with an Italian style outdoor garden party. The weather was absolutely amazing on the Gold Coast last weekend! It has since cooled down a fair bit unfortunately!

Now, if you solely read my blog for health and clean eating tips, then avert your eyes now. Whilst I am all about eating healthy and exercising, I am also about occasionally enjoying an amazing feast with family and friends on a prefect day! If you're okay with that too then read on...

As per usual, Tim was first at the table when the antipasto came out...he doesn't shy away from olives, eggplant or a piece of prosciutto... or 10.

 Teaching Mason his ways...

Like I said, this ones not a post about clean eating...

For the main, we had Penne, Osso Bucco, Roast Veges and Salad. It was my sisters first attempt at Osso Bucco and it was delicious!!

 My children might only be a 1/4 Italian, but they still get into their pasta like they're full blooded!

For dessert we had Cannolli and they were amazing!!!

We had to have a cake as well because it's no ones birthday to Mason without a cake! On the way down to Mum and Dad's I said to Mason "Remember it's Nonno's Birthday today" and he said 

"Yeah, I'm gonna eat it!".

Nonno is one of Mason's absolute favourite people in the world!

It was such a beautiful day. I'm so grateful for my awesome family!

Sophia xo

Changing my attitude about how to be a good Mum

Before I had my first child I remember having visions of what sort of a mother I would be. Truth be told I have been having visions of what kind of a mother I would be since I was 5. It was my number one life goal for as long as I can remember.

Growing up I idolised my own mother and wanted to be just like her; a stay at home Mum with 4 kids. She was and still is the best Mum anyone could ever ask for. But until fairly recently I thought that in order to be as good of a mother as her, I had to be a mother just like her. I think I have to confess that during my pregnancy with Mason I made comments to my husband, mother and close friends that I thought parents who used controlled cyring or Save Our Sleep were cruel, I thought breastfeeding would be easy (Bahahahaha) and I thought I would be a stay at home mum at all costs and not put my children in daycare. Ohhh the naivety. Please try not to judge me, I had nooo idea!

When Chloe was two months old I kind of reluctantly took on working from home. I was lucky because thanks to my parents I had an opportunity to work from home which meant I didn't have to leave my babies to go in to work. But over time working from home became frustrating because it can feel like you are always working and I began resenting having to work at all. I felt as though I couldn't be as good of a mother and wife as I wanted to be if I wasn't focused 100% on my kids and husband all the time and doing all of the housework myself. I ended up becoming quite frustrated and angry with the situation.

I recently decided to try going into the office two days a week which has not only given me some time outside of the home, but has also given me my evenings back! Since November last year, most nights of the week I have put the kids off to bed, finished tidying up and then started work. I feel so much more calm and relaxed now that I am getting some time to chill after the kids go to sleep. I feel like this new routine is actually making me a much better wife and mother. I am a little more calm and less highly strung because I am not constantly so overwelmed!

So this isn't exactly what I had in mind when I thought of becoming a Mum and I have fought against it for a while, but now that I have finally given into working 2 days a week, it's really not so bad! I've come to realise that every Mum is on their own journey to find what works best for them and their family. I don't have to live up to the expectations I had of being a Mum before I even became a Mum! In fact, I now swear by Save Our Sleep, Breastfeeding was by far the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, and I use daycare and work 2 days a week! hahaha I'm sure there is a saying about exactly this kind of irony, but I can't think of what it is...

Did you have a vision of what kind of a parent you would be? Does your reality look different too? Leave a comment below. I would love to hear from you :-)

Sophia xo

Spontaneous Mid-Week Vacay!

On Tuesday we found out that Tim's work truck needed to go in for repairs and so he was not going to be able to work for the rest of the week (bummer...), so we decided to take the opportunity to go and stay at my parents place about 20m away from the beach at Kingscliff! We hadn't been down there for most of winter so the fact that the weather had really warmed up this week made it the perfect time to head down for some beach time!

Now, I feel i should put a disclaimer here. There is an excessive amount of photos to come. Be prepared or just opt out now cause this post may never end...

In our 1 night, 1.5 day trip we went down to the beach 3 times...

After we arrived we popped down to put our feet in the sand straight away...

What is it with boys and sticks? I don't get it...

It was a bit too cold to go in the water on Wednesday because it was quite windy and a little bit overcast towards the end of the day so we just hung out on the beach...

 Running down the sand dunes...

 and taking selfies... Chloe was loving herself sick in the camera on Wednesday arvo. Usually it is really difficult to get her to smile for the camera, but the beach air must have put her in a fab mood!

When we woke up on Thursday morning the weather was absolutely perfect so we headed down again and got a bit wet this time...

 Chloe was being a total girl and wasn't so keen on the wet sand at first...

 But with a little help from Daddy she got totally into it...

 It wouldn't be a trip to the beach for Mason without some boogy boarding along the sand...

 or running away from the waves...

 I tried to get a bit clever, but Chloe wasn't having a bar of it...

Do any other parents find themselves constantly pushing empty prams??? Story of our lives...

Well, if you made it this far, I thankyou! You were warned....

We had such a lovely couple of days away. Although it was only a short trip it was a nice change of pace and we were really in need of it. Life can get so busy and hectic and crazy, it was nice to get a surprise couple of days to chill out! No doubt next week is going to be crazy because Tim is going to have so much catching up to do, but whatcha gonna do...

Hope you all had a great week and are having a nice relaxing Friday night!

Enjoy your weekend!

Sophia xo