Babymoon Sunshine eats

Earlier this week Marco and I finally went on our Babymoon. I’m 38 weeks today so we were cutting it a bit close. We stayed at Twin Waters at the Sunshine Coast, but travelled around a bit to see a few beaches and eat out. Luckily I was able to find a few delicious of plant-based options that didn’t leave me feeling jealous of what Marco was eating.

On our drive up we first stop was Kings Beach and the Greenhouse Cafe at Caloundra. The weather was perfect but still a little cold for a dip. But it was lovely to see the beach and smell the sea air.

I’ve had my eye on the Greenhouse Cafe for a while via facebook. So I was very excited to stop in for lunch. This cafe serves up 100% organic vegetarian food. I ordered the Naked Burrito, which had spiced refried beans, guacamole, turmeric hummus, salsa,  and bamboo infused brown rice. It was delicious and the perfect nutritious lunch for me and baby. They also had a couple of delicious looking vegan desserts but I didn’t want to overeat since we were having a late lunch. Next time!

For dinner we went Lemon & Thyme, a restaurant at Mooloolaba on the Esplanade. I booked this restaurant in particular because I knew that they catered for food allergies and special diets. Their focus is on providing healthy eating options and using local produce and seasonal ingredients. They only really had one listed vegan main, but I didn’t feel like a thai curry, so they agreed to make the Sweet Potato Almond Gnocchi vegan. The gnocchi is paleo and gluten free and was sautéed with spinach, walnuts and fresh sage. I don’t usually eat gnocchi unless I make it so I was really excited to order it out. My dish does looks a bit messy, because the waiter forgot to write dairy free on the order, so it had to be made again in a hurry. They poor guy also though we ordered a side prawns, so the manager ended up having to eat both for dinner. Other then that it was delicious and very filling. I’d love to try and recreate this at home.

 

For dessert we stopped into Gelatissimo on the Esplanade. This is my favourite gelato shop because all their sorbets are dairy free and vegan, including this Chocolate Sorbet. It’s not too dark and even Marco (the milk chocolate connoisseur) approved of the taste. It was a little messy, so I’m happy the girl advised me to take a napkin. You don’t want to see the table after I was done.

Breakfast was also at the Mooloolaba Esplanade, at Ground Organics. They are organic, vegetarian and only use whole, local and unprocessed ingredients. They also don’t use microwaves and only use organic cold press coconut oil to cook with, so definitely my kind of place.

I orderd the Dandy Latte with the homemade Almond Coconut Combo milk, which is naturally caffeine free. It also came with a sweet little message. For breakfast I ordered the Green Smoothie Bowl. I usually prefer savoury dishes first thing in the morning, but I’ve never tried a  smoothie bowl before. I was a bit worried it was going to be really sweet but it really wasn’t, it was just delicious, refreshing, lite and filling. It consisted of greens, banana, mango, avocado, vegan pea/rice protein and coconut water topped with raw crunchy granola and some dehydrated fruit. Marco also approved but he was also happy with his Ommmmelette with long fermented sourdough. I tried a bite of his and it was probably the best omelette I’ve ever had.

As I mentioned previously I was determined to swim in the ocean pregnant. I can’t even remember when I was fully immersed in sea water, its been years. Marco isn’t a big fan of the beach. He prefers the pool and hates getting sand in his car.  Lucky for me this day was the perfect weather for the beach. So we headed up to Noosa at Hastings Street. I’ve never been here before so I was pleasantly surprised by the shopping since Mooloolaba was such a let down. Their are also an abundance of places to eat and a gorgeous beach. We originally had plans to go to Spirit House at Yandina, but I was so impressed with this part of Noosa that I didn’t want to leave.

After some window shopping we built up an appetite so we stopped at Bistro C, which is situated on the beach. Unfortunately the best tables were taken but it was still nice inside and the view was still spectacular. I ordered the Pappadelle, which had tuscan kale, leek, du puy lentil and slow roasted garlic, asparagus spears, roasted swiss brown mushrooms and roasted capscium relish. To be honest I didn’t check if it was vegan I just assumed in my hunger. The pasta did taste fresh though so I assume it had eggs, hopefully ethical good qualities ones. Nevertheless I loved this dish and was probably the most exciting vegetarian pasta dish I’ve ever ordered out. Marco ordered the fish and chips, which he was happy with but he felt like something was missing so I helped him with this side salad of salad leaves, tomatoes, cucumber, topped with crisp chickpeas and sumac vinaigrette.

Finally the time had come to go swimming, so we step right outside the restaurant and onto the sand. I won’t terrorise you with my pregnant body in a bikini, which I’m lucky still just fits me, just. But rest assure I had the time of my life. I was a bit scared that the waves were going to hit the baby hard, but there was this nice sweet spot between the crashing waves, which we could just float in without being chucked around. After a little while I convinced Marco to take a dip. We had to take turns since we had a valuables with us. Considering he didn’t want to go in, even though I snuck his bordies in my bag, he had a blast. He was swimming for ages, while I got some much needed Vitamin D. He was having so much fun he forgot that he left the electric keys to our new car in his pocket. Thank god they still worked after that.

After all that walking I was so exhausted. So that evening after a struggle to find a nice affordable place that our gps could actually locate I was in a bad mood and was willing to go anywhere before all the restaurants shut. So we stopped into a Thai restaurant. I wasn’t that impressed, so I won’t bother sharing that.

After a good sleep I was in a better mood the next day, so on our way home we headed to Kunara Organic Cafe at Forest Glen. This cafe is situated at one of Australia’s largest organic marketplaces. If you love food shopping, particularly for organic food you will love this place. I actually heard about this place on Queensland Weekender. I really wish I lived closer. Luckily Marco was really impressed and agreed that it was worth the drive to come back and stock up on supplies. He also really like the organic butcher which I think sold him.

The cafe is one of the nicest whole food eateries I’ve ever been to. They have a huge range of organic, gluten free and raw foods in the fridge as well as a made to order menu. Their food is 95% organic and gluten free and they also don’t believe in microwaves. I really love this mircorwave free movement. I personally hate them and won’t allow Marco to get one at home. We have a little oven in our microwave spot in the kitchen that does a better job.

For breakfast I started with the Antiox Overload Smoothie, which had blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, goji berries, maca and apple green tea. It sure didn’t last long, I loved it. Not long after my Braised Beans with Pesto Soliders and Nut Parmesan came out. OMG this was the best breakfast beans I’ve ever had. It was vegan but it certainly didn’t taste like it. I’m not sure how they got all that smokey flavour in there, but it was like nothing else I’ve ever had. Even Marco prefered my breakfast to his Bacon, Eggs and Tomatoes. I think next time we will both be ordering this dish. The serve was also really big so I had to share it with Marco, which made him happy.

I couldn’t leave the Sunshine Coast without having a vegan dessert.  Although they had a big cabinet of delicious desserts they only had a few vegan options. I wanted something rich so I opted for the Chocolate Beetroot Cake. Marco really didn’t want any, but after I forced a bite in his mouth I had to get another dessert fork. He couldn’t believe it had beetroot in it. It was so moist and dense, but also very sweet. So it was a lovely end to a delicious breakfast, even if it was a bit early to indulge.

Hope you all enjoyed my Babymoon and get to try some of these amazing places to eat out.

If you can recommend anywhere else at the Sunshine Coast leave me a comment below. Once the baby arrives I’m sure we will be taken more frequent trips up there for lots of baby beach time.