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On Friday night I went out for dinner with the family to celebrate my cousins 30th Birthday. Unfortunately I didn’t get any pics as it was too dark for the camera on my phone. I had roasted vegetables in a tomato and basil sauce served on toasted bread to start then a half portion of pasta with courgette, olive oil and pesto served with a salad. I also had a few bites of my Mam’s chocolate fudge cake and my Dad’s sticky toffee pud. The food was delicious! I’m going to have to make my own versions of those dishes at home.

Yesterday I had a super day spent with the hubby. The lovely Neen is preparing for her wedding so asked if I would mind reviewing some goodies on her behalf. She sent me this Mighty Muesli and some Power Porridge from The Otter Valley Food Company.

I had a bowl with some added ground flax and nut mix, a chopped apple, vanilla rice milk and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

It tasted very nice, quite crunchy from the seeds. I think I need to eat a few more bowls then form an opinion!

I got all dressed snug and warm, layers were definitely the way to go today:

Silk floral tea dress: Warehouse, jumper: H&M, blazer: Topshop, black ribbed tights: H&M, scarf: accessorize.

I had a yummy chai soy latte while looking round the shops buying Christmas gifts then we headed to our favourite Italian in Durham. I opted for the vegetable risotto:

This was spot on, so comforting and tasty!  We then went to our favourite pub in Durham – I almost squealed with excitement when I saw they were selling organic ciders and beers, especially this Cherry Beer:

Oh my god this tasted wonderful! I had one bottle and I could feel the effect of the alcohol, I’m such a complete light weight!

On the way home we picked up some veggies from the green grocers and called into another oriental supermarket where I found some mung bean noodles, buck wheat noodles and this roasted gluten:

It only has two ingredients, water and gluten. Luckily I found this post on Fat Free Vegan to explain what to do with it. Turns out its a little bit like Seitan so is a great source of vegan protein, and at only £2 a pack this could be a great product for me. I’m going to try adding it to a soup or stew or soak it in water for a couple of hours then fry or bake it. I shall report back!

When I got home I was starving (white rice never fills me up) so a scoffed two big russet apples. These kept me going so by dinner time I wasn’t overly hungry. I made up a big pan of Courgette and Watercress Soup as I had some courgettes to use up so I had a bowl:

Still one of my favourite soups – so tasty yet good for you. I also decided to whip up a green monster to use up some wilting spring greens. I used a frozen banana, mango, blueberries and ice cubes with maca powder, vanilla rice milk and xanthan and guar gums for thickness. I topped with gojis and granola.

This morning I snacked on a couple of Bear peach fruit yoyo’s then set off for my run. I wrapped up with four layers and two pairs of gloves. I decided I would run a stretched out route to the gym, do a bit on the treadmill and bike and then run home. I did 3.6 miles to the gym, 15 minutes on the treadmill (about 1.7 miles) then 10 minutes on the bike, then 1.1 miles home. I even managed to get my average pace down around to around 9.40 which is a big improvement on how I’ve been running recently. 

When I got home I made myself this tasty brunch:

Scrambled Tofu on Toast

• half a pack of firm tofu, drained, squeezed of excess water and crumbled
• 1 tbsp of pure sunflower spread or butter
• 1 tbsp of tomato puree
• 1/4 cup of roasted peppers from a jar
• 1 tsp of nutritional yeast
• 2 slices of toasted rye bread

Begin by melting the spread or butter in a frying pan on a medium high heat. Add the crumbled tofu and fry until it begins to turn golden. Add the tomato puree, peppers and nutritional yeast and continue to fry for 2 minutes. In the meantime toast your bread and add a thick layer of spread or butter. Top the toast with the scrambled tofu and serve.

This was delicious! I much preferred it to scrambled eggs which I was not expecting. I’ll be making this a lot more often! Are you a fan of tofu? I’ve definitely been eating it a lot more recently, its just so versatile!

For lunch I had some brown lentils cooked with onions and vegetable stock served with a huge pile of carrot and swede mash, steamed savoy cabbage and steamed cauliflower.

I also had two plums and two satsumas with ground flax and nut mix.

Tonight we are off out to a gig – another blues guitarist surprise, surprise! The hubby has really enjoyed all the live music we’ve been to over the last couple of months. Hope you’ve all had a great weekend, I’m off to enjoy what’s left of it! Catch you later :-)