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As the office is officially closed this week I can basically come and go from work as and when so I took the opportunity to have a relaxed morning, even though I was up early. I made a gorgeous bowl of hot 10 grain cereal with soy milk and water then added egg whites, 2 small chopped pears, sweet mincemeat and topped with some mixed fruit and nuts.

I also had a yummy gingerbread coffee. Just what was needed for some warmth this morning!

I’m trying to get my fair share of raw veggies in this week so lunch was a salad beast containing little gem lettuce, spinach, carrot, cucumber, red onion, red pepper and olives topped with a large dollop of roasted red pepper hummus.

I love hummus topped salad beasts! I also had an orange.

My mid afternoon snack was a slice of my easy spiced fruity couscous cake that I made yesterday. I had seen this recipe in the Cook Yourself Thin book and thought it sounded remarkably easy to make. When I got all the Rachel’s Organic yoghurt to use up I knew I had to try the recipe out, with a few adjustments of course:

Easy Spiced Fruity Couscous Cake (makes 6 – 8 servings) based on recipe in Cook Yourself Thin

• 200g of couscous prepared to pack guidelines and mixed with a few sprays of oil.
• 450g tub of low fat yoghurt – I used Rachel's Organic Low Fat Rhubarb Yoghurt
• 70g – 100g of dried fruit of choice – I used a mix of raisins, dried cranberries and chopped unsulfured apricots
• 1 teaspoon of mixed spice
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger

Pre heat the oven to 200C. Mix all ingredients together and pour into a greased 20 x 20cm cake tin. Smooth the top and bake in the oven for 35 – 40 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool slightly and serve immediately or cool completely then store in the fridge to serve chilled.

 

This recipe is super easy and really healthy. It tastes nice and doughy too. If you like things sweet I would definitely increase the amount of dried fruit in this or add some additional sweetener, as it is its not overly sweet (which personally I prefer). You could experiment by adding different dried fruits or even chopped fresh or frozen fruits and different spices – I wouldn’t mind trying out apple, date and cinnamon!

After I shared the cake with my workmates I finished work and headed to the gym. My spin class wasn’t on so I decided to make up my own 30 minute interval routine on the bike in the gym. I speeded up, increased resistance or cycled standing up in time with the chorus / verses of the tunes in my playlist. I really enjoyed it! The 30 minutes few over and I felt like I’d had a great workout. I then did a further 30 mins of HIITS – 15 minutes each on the cross trainer and step machine followed by my usual abs exercises.

Dinner was basil tofu with swede chips, roast kabocha squash, steamed cavolo nero and ketchup, yum!

Desert has been 3 small chopped apples and some hazelnut dark chocolate:

I’ve missed my dark chocolate fix these last few days!

Tomorrows my last proper day at work – I think I’m just going to work a short day and then another short working from home day on Wednesday. I can’t wait to be off, I really feel like I need the break! Is Christmas time relaxing or stressful? I make every effort to ensure things are as stress free as possible! I like the period between Christmas and New Year for being able to get my head straight for the New Year to come, I love that anticipation of what’s to come!