A couple weeks ago we had a week separated (gasp!) yes, we do spend SOME time apart!
Carla: stayed home and did the usual. That is: cooked, worked and gymmed.
Emma: flew to steamy Cairns. Enjoyed the Great Barrier Reef, the Daintree rain forest, ate a few naughties (oops) and got to the gym a few times (double oops!)
So it’s Emma here…Cairns put on an awesome show! The highlight was definitely snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef (I found several nemo’s!) I think you should all go visit if you haven’t (you won’t regret it).
I would recommend you visit Cairns in the dry season. It is a tad humid in our Summer months (this is the understatement of the year) and the stingers (killer jellyfish) are out and about. I had a near death experience while snorkelling when I thought I was getting stung by the irukandji (aka deadly jellyfish). This was a false alarm – yep they were sea lice! The locals had a good laugh.
Another huge plus was the food. The fruit. Oh. My. Gosh. This is what fruit should taste like. And the seafood! The best barramundi I have ever eaten, with a side of tropical fruit (um yum).
I was lucky enough to visit Paleo Cafe. One of the first paleo eating spots to open in Oz! As the name suggests…everything here is PALEO! I have died and gone to paleo heaven! It was so odd to read a menu where I could eat everything and order something without asking a million questions, swapping this to that and usually ending up with something wrong on my plate! So weird but totally AMMMMAZING! Not only do they make breakfast, drinkies, lunch and snacks they have a shop filled with all the paleo necessities. Bring on more Paleo Cafes…please and thank you.
A big thanks to the Paleo Cafe staff for looking after our big table!
So all in all, I loved Cairns (even the sea lice didn’t ruin my holiday…haha). I will be back… and am bringing c!
The day I got home, c cooked me up this amazing (almost) paleo creamy chicken + avocado-pesto pasta (to paleo-fy it 100% just use zoodles instead of SlimPasta!).
Best homecoming meal ever.
Always merrymaking
e + c
- 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
- 2 avocados
- 1 large bunch of fresh basil leaves
- 2 lemons juiced
- 2 tbs. coconut oil melted
- 1/2 cup of unsweetened almond milk
- 1 clove of garlic crushed
- salt n pepper to season
- 1 onion chopped
- 5 rashers of bacon diced
- 2 full chicken breasts cut into cubes
- 500g sliced button mushrooms.
- 2 packets of SlimPasta spaghetti (or jullienned zucchinis)
- coconut oil for the pan
- In a food processor whiz all of the ingredients for the avocado-pesto until really smooth and creamy.
- Place in the fridge while you prepare the 'other part'.
- In a pan on high heat, place the coconut oil and onion. Cook until the onion softens.
- Add the bacon and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.
- Add the chicken and cook for around 8 minutes, turning the chicken pieces to make sure they cook evenly.
- Now add the mushrooms and stir through until the mushrooms are soft.
- Turn down the heat to medium and add the avocado-pesto, stirring until well combined.
- SlimPasta is super easy to cook, drain the contents of the packet and rinse. Then place the pasta in hot water for one minute and then drain again.
- Lastly, add the SlimPasta to the chicken avocado-pesto and stir through.
- Serve with fresh cracked pepper.