relaxation

Relaxation is an excellent way of relieving stress, pain and anxiety. I am sure, just like me you come across at least of those quite often. But relaxation should not be used simply as a way of relieving those negative feelings, in fact it plays an important role in having a healthy lifestyle. I created my own little routine that I intend to do at least once a week. Relaxing my mind and my body helps me to reduce negative feelings, stress and anxiety but it also helps to keep me focus and it obviously makes me more relax.

The very first step would be to make yourself comfortable; perhaps have a hot shower and put on some comfy clothes. You might also want to find a comfortable spot and start relaxing your muscles. Light up a candle, grab your blanket, basically anything that can help you relaxing is good.

Preparing some snacks is always a good idea. You might start feeling a little hungry at a certain point and having a snack right in front of you will require less thinking and less effort. My advice would be to keep it simple and healthy. Eating healthily has such an important role here; it contributes to the good functioning of the nervous system and the production of energy. As it is getting cold here, in Australia I like to have a warm drink together with my snacks. I usually go for a detox tea with some fruits.

My relaxation would not be effective if I am being disturbed every two minutes with a Facebook notification or a message. This is the reason why I like to switch of my phone or put it on airplane mode for about an hour and I also like to switch off the wifi on my computer. Yes you can still live without your phone don't worry!

If you are feeling a little bit more tense or want to go into a deeper relaxation, it would be a good idea to do some meditation. If you have no idea of how do we do that; relax, don't worry about it! Simply start my taking some deep breaths in through the nose and then breath out through the mouth while closing your eyes. 

My favourite thing to do when I am feeling tenser is some simple yoga poses. It feels so good to have a good stretch.

I will finish this endless post by saying that you should spent some time doing whatever you enjoy doing! It does not matter what that activity is, once you like it. It can literally be anything from baking to walking your dog. Relax and try to appreciate this moment, it is a moment for yourself. 

I spent my afternoon drinking tea and eating some fruits while listening to music. I burned a gorgeous dusk candle which had the most amazing and relaxing sent. I then grabbed my book and immersed myself into the story.

Trattoria galetto

Monday was a special day to me as it was my birthday. Although I did celebrate it over the weekend I wanted to do something on the D day. As you may or may not know I am an international student here, in Australia and I therefore don't have a lot of family members around so, me and three of my closest friends here, went to the restaurant for a little birthday dinner. My favourite food of all time is definitely the Italian food and this is what we went for. 

On a little corner of Hay street in the dynamic and animated suburb of Subiaco we found a little piece of Italy. Trattoria Galetto is a modest restaurant with a good service and a lovely decoration. The food is good and generous, and the price reasonable as well. Despite the simplicity of the dishes, the menu is vast and offers a variety of Italian traditional dishes, from the Caesar salad to the ravioli the choices are numerous. 

I am not going to lie, the restaurant was quite empty but this is probably because it was a Monday and we came pretty early as well.

We went for the garden salad, which is simply a small size salad with lettuce, tomato, cucumber and a homemade dressing which I have to say was the best homemade dressing I ever had. A glass of wine of course to accompany the dinner. We then all went for pastas. I had the pene vegetariano which is a homemade pink sauce with mushrooms, spinach, olives, tomatoes, onions and parmesan cheese over pene pastas.

The trattoria does offer a number of desserts but we decided to have some churros for dessert and unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of it, apologies!

Healthy breakfast ideas

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day as it boosts your metabolism and get your body and brain ready to tackle your day. It is important not skipping breakfast if you want to keep a healthy body or control your weight. Having a good breakfast in the morning will make you feel so fresh so keen! A good and healthy breakfast should include three out of the four food groups (whole-grain bread, whole grain cereals, eggs, milk, yogurt and fruits are always good options).

As breakfast is my favourite meal of the day I am always trying to create some healthy tasty, original and quick recipes. Today I am sharing five of my breakfast recipes. All recipes are easy to make, not time consuming (except maybe for the crepes) delicious and nutritious at the same time. So let's get started with those five healthy breakfast ideas!

First of all, three days a week I start my day with a big glass of warm water in which I add half the juice of a lemon. This is a great antioxidant, good for the skin and helps digestion. 

• Healthy crepes.

No need to give a long explanation, these are just the delicious french crepes turned into a healthy way. It's probably my favourite one and the naughtiest one as well.

All you have to do here is to mix some grounded oats and organic white flour into a bowl. Add an egg  and a table spoon of honey to the preparation then, pour some almond milk until you obtain a smooth and homogeneous consistency. You can also add a few drops of vanilla extract if you have. Make your crepes on a hot saucepan after spreading a tiny amount of coconut oil. 

• The booster.

This recipe is simply a delicious smoothie with a thicker consistency and some muesli on the top. It contains protein, calcium, and vitamins; everything you need to properly start your day. This breakfast will really boost your metabolism and give you a lot of energy. 

To make the smoothie you will need: 3 tbs of greek yogurt, a tbs of oats, orange juice, half a banana and some mix berries. All you have to do is to blend all the ingredients into a blender until you obtain a nice and smooth smoothie. Pour the smoothie into a bowl and add some muesli on the top. And tah-da; breakfast is served!

• Autumn  edition.

When the weather changes and it gets a little bit cooler I definitely need to find a breakfast dish that I can eat "warm" and this is what I am use to cook when autumn is pointing his noise. A nice scramble egg made simply by cracking an egg into a bowl with milk, salt and pepper. The mixture then goes onto a hot saucepan, and that is literally it! All I do afterwards is putting my scramble egg on a slice of toasted bread and add some cheese and spinach on the top. Trust me, it is de-li-cious!

• Lazy days.

The next recipe is called lazy days as it is literally the easiest and simplest one to realise. All I do is mix some whole-grain cereals with some dry fruits, oats and a few pieces of dark chocolate into a bowl. Pour in some milk, served myself a big glass of orange juice and done!

• Breakfast in a jar.

 The last recipe idea for today will be a breakfast on the go as you can prepare it the night before and carry it with you if you know you won't have time to have breakfast at home. It is simply layers of greek yogurt followed by some muesli and some raspberries on the top. You can of course change the fruits and dispose the layers differently according to your personal taste.