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Hello everyone, happy Sunday! I’m loving this Sunday evening even more than usual as I have tomorrow off work! I’ve had a great weekend so far that started with lots of this…

Yes, that would be 2 bottles of red wine shared with my friend Sarah on Friday night, I had a great time and really enjoyed myself but I paid for it the next day! Before I’d went out I had a delicious dinner of courgette ‘spaghetti’ with chickpeas and pesto:

I’d bought some Zest vegan pesto – I think it was Maria that had blogged about it, and it was delicious! I’d usually make my own pesto but I thought I’d treat myself for a change! I also had a slice of the most incredible vegan sticky toffee pudding:

That was just the best thing ever! So sweet and delicious.

I have no idea how I managed it, but while I was drunk on Friday night I’d managed to prepare some overnight oats ready for the next day!

This was 1/2 cup of oats with water, hemp milk, chia seeds, agave syrup, strawberries, kiwi and raw cacao granola. I’ve had a craving for cold creamy oats and it hit the spot.

Despite the hangover, yesterday I was mega productive. I made some bread (more on that tomorrow), painted some kitchen shelving (more on that to come too!) and cooked some chickpeas to make hummus. I’d ran out of tahini yet again so thought I’d make some hummus with a twist:

Easy Pesto Hummus (vegan if using vegan pesto)

• 1 cup of chickpeas (or 1 tin)
• juice from half a lemon
• 1 clove of garlic
• 2 tbsp of pesto (I used the Zest Green pesto)
• water to thin

Blend everything in a food processor, adding water until smooth. This is such a delicious hummus! I had some with a couple of slices of my bread, roast courgette, aubergine, red pepper and red onion and a few olives:

Absolutely fantastic! For dessert I had a bowl of frozen cherries topped with a pot of Ecomil chocolate almond pudding, yum yum!

Today started at the gym with a 4 mile treadmill run (3 mile intervals and 1 mile cool down) 20 min cross trainer and a gruelling kettlebell class. I’ve also been making soup, cookies and cooking up more beans as well as cleaning the flat top to bottom. Tomorrow I hope I’ll be able to chill out more!

Green Smoothie Challenge Round Up

This week I have been enjoying lots and lots of delicious green smoothies, some days I’ve even had more than one! Its been great that the weather has been so warm while I’ve been doing the challenge as well. I find green smoothies are fantastic after workout for refuelling and rehydrating. I do feel great for all that green! I’ve been making some of my old favourites like my Apple Pie smoothie (as featured in Crazy, Sexy Juices and Smoothies) and my Raspberry Carob smoothie. I’ve also made up a couple of new recipes! All of these make one generous serving and are vegan. Just blend all the ingredients in a blender and serve. All of these recipes are just utterly delicious, you can’t believe your enjoying something so healthy!

Strawberry and Peanut Butter Green Smoothie

• 2 cups of spinach or romaine
• 1 heaping cup of fresh or frozen strawberries (plus ice if using fresh)
• 2 tbsp of peanut butter or 1/4 cup of peanut flour and pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp of agave nectar or stevia to taste
• water or non dairy milk to blend
• optional 1/2 tsp of xanthan gum to thicken

I had mine in a bowl topped with peanut butter sauce (I used peanut flour but you could just mix regular pb with hot water to make a sauce) fresh strawberries and kashi go lean crunch.

Chocolate Cherry Almond Green Smoothie

• 2 cups of spinach
• 1 heaping cup of frozen cherries
• 1 scoop of chocolate protein powder or 1 tbsp of cocoa powder
• Approximately 1 – 2 cups of almond milk or other non dairy milk to desired consistency
• 1 – 2 tbsp of agave or stevia to taste
• 2 – 4 drops of almond extract
• optional 1/2 tsp of xanthan gum to thicken

I had mine in a bowl topped with raw almonds, flaked almonds and dried cherries, yum!

Chocolate Ginger Pear Green Smoothie

• 2 cups of spring greens
• 1 juicy pear
• 1 scoop of chocolate protein powder or 1 tbsp of cocoa powder
• 1 cup of ice
• Water to desired consistency
• 1 inch piece of fresh ginger
• optional 1/2 tsp of xanthan gum to thicken

I topped mine with cacao nibs, pumpkin seeds and flaked almonds.

I just love all of these recipes, these are definitely some of my favourites ever!

How’s your weekend been? If you’ve been following the green smoothie challenge how has it gone? Are you a pesto fan?