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Hi guys! How are you this lovely Sunday? Unfortunately I am suffering with a bit of a cold but I’m not letting it get me down!

Yesterday I headed to the gym for a monster treadmill workout. I designed a play list to take me through some intervals but it didn’t upload properly! I just had to wing it in the end but it was still a great workout. I split my run into four roughly 15 minute sections with a 5 minute session on the bike between each section. I started out with a 6mph pace then increased it by 0.2mph for each track on my playlist. The next section was speed intervals so I alternated a moderate to fast pace each track. Then for the third section I did hill intervals with a 2% and then 3% incline. The last section was the same as the first but starting at 6.5mph. I really enjoyed this workout, using the playlist and dividing the workout up kept it interesting. I must have covered about 6.5 miles in total. After my recent issues around running motivation I was really chuffed!

I had only eaten a bear fruit yoyo before going to the gym so I was starving when I got home! I made a lovely big bowl of 10 grain hot cereal with water and soymilk plus some wheat germ and brown rice syrup. I added some defrosted strawberries and a spoonful of cashew butter. I also enjoyed a pot of japanese sencha cherry green tea.

Delish!

For lunch I had 4 wholegrain rice cakes topped with vegan cream cheese  and some roasted peppers and olives from a jar. I also had a few carrot sticks and a couple of pears.

The hubby was at work all day so dinner was another solitary affair. I had a small butternut squash and decided to try and stuff it. You can easily double this recipe for two:

Stuffed Butternut Squash with beans and peppers (serves 1)

• 1/2 small butternut squash
• 1/2 tin of cannellini beans
• 2 small shallots or half an onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup of roasted peppers from a jar
• 1/2 teaspoon of nutritional yeast / parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar

Begin by pre heating the oven to 170c. Place the butternut (with the seeds scooped out) cut side up and rub with a little oil. Roast until the butternut is slightly tender. While the butternut is cooling down lightly mash the beans. Fry the shallots / onions until tender then add the peppers and beans and fry for a few minutes. Scoop the flesh from the squash leaving enough in the shell for it to hold its shape. Add the chopped squash to the pan with the beans and peppers. Add the nutritional yeast and balsamic vinegar and stir well. Stuff the squash shell with mixture. Return the squash to the oven and bake for a further 10 minutes until warmed though. You could top the stuffed squash with cheese if desired.

I served mine with some sautéed black kale inspired by the Sicilian Greens recipe from The Kind Diet. I started by frying a finely chopped clove of garlic in a little olive oil then added the chopped kale and sautéed for a few minutes until lightly tender. I then added a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, 1 tablespoon of raisins and 1 tablespoon of toasted pine nuts.

Just a wonderful meal, both dishes tasted delicious!

I also had the last of my Chilli Dark chocolate and an unpictured apple.

God I love that chocolate! As I was feeling a bit grotty this morning I thought I’d cheer myself up with pancakes! I made up some of Angela’s vegan spelt pancakes for one. Yesterday I had used up two old apples to make some apple and cinnamon compote. I added a spoonful of compote between each pancake and then topped them all with more compote, chopped walnuts and maple syrup.

So amazingly good! I had thought that pancakes without egg and protein powder wouldn’t taste as good or fill me up but I was so wrong, these were lovely and fluffy too.

Today I decided to buy some wholegrain tortilla wraps. I haven’t had shop bought wraps in ages as the ingredients list usually put me off but the ones I got weren’t too bad. I used them to make a tasty lunch for me and the hubby. I filled mine with leftover butternut squash and cannellini beans fried with red onion and a little hot chilli powder then folded and fried to make a Butternut and Bean Quesadilla. I also had some roast broccoli, raw carrot sticks and ketchup.

Absolutely gorgeous and so tasty! I made two wraps for the hubby filled with ham, cheese and mushrooms, he really liked them so that’s one extra healthy thing we can enjoy together!

For desert we had the last two of my Sinless Chocolate Brownies with Tofutti Vanilla Ice Cream.

I love these brownies – and as the hubby likes them too I must make more!

I’m going to spend the rest of the day chilling out with my hubby, I have some old dresses to put on ebay and I’ve just placed a huge Christmas order with Tea Pigs and Goodness Direct (yey!) Its quite sad to sell these dresses as I’ve had many good times in them and they are beautiful but are now two or three sizes too big for me. If you’ve been bigger and lost weight what did you do with your old clothes? I like the idea that someone else will get to wear them and at least I can use the money to pay for new clothes!

I’m also going to be trying to get as many vitamin filled foods down my neck and lots of hot lemon and ginger to try and sort out this cold! What’s your favourite cold remedy?