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What a fabulous day it has been! The long weekend has certainly got off to a good start. I’ve cleaned the flat and James has tidied our ‘garden’:

As we live in a small flat this is our garden space, (we also have a grassed communal area) it was a total mess, imagine weeds every where! James cleared it and laid new gravel. I’m hopping to plant up some little pots to make it look pretty :-) Now that we have those jobs out of the way we can enjoy the rest of the weekend!

This morning I decided that instead of waiting for the gym to open at 10am I would change my usual interval workout to an early morning run. This would also give me the chance to take my new Asics out for a ride!

I did 4.6 miles in 42 minutes with an average pace of 9.04. It was actually a pretty tough run and my legs felt very heavy so I wasn’t out to push my speed, when I saw my average pace at the end I was actually really surprised I had been that fast! My new trainers felt really good though. When I came home I did my abs and core exercises then made a really tasty breakfast:

Apple and Butternut Green Smoothie (serves 1 generously)

• 5 spring greens leaves (with tough stems removed)
• 1 cup of roast and frozen butternut squash
• Pink lady apple
• 1 scoop vanilla Sun Warrior
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp mesquite
• 1 tsp spirulina
• 1/2 cup hazelnut and almond rice milk
• Water
• Xanthan and guar gums

I topped it with some Viva Pure raw apple granola, some apricot kernels and flaked almonds. This was the bomb!

Lunch was a fantastic salad including little gem lettuce, spinach, watercress, yellow pepper, carrot, red onion, sugar snaps, roasted soya nuts and some wonderful tahini miso dressing:

I love the roasted soya nuts for adding protein and crunch to salads. I also had a bowl of super sweet pineapple:

Sometimes simple fresh fruit is just the best, I’ve been snacking on it all day!

For dinner I decided to make a spring version of my favourite butternut quinoa risotto:

Spring Vegetable Quinoa Risotto (vegan, serves 1)

• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup of quinoa, rinsed
• 1 cup of hot vegetable stock
• 1 courgette, chopped
• 6 stems of asparagus, chopped into small rounds
• 1/2 cup of frozen peas
• 1 tbsp of nutritional yeast powder (if using flakes add an extra 1/2 tbsp)

For added creaminess add either:

• 2 tbsp of soy milk or soy cream (optional but adds extra creaminess)
• 1 tbsp of sweet white miso (I used the miso)

In a large pan fry the onion and garlic in the oil over a medium heat until softened. Add the rinsed quinoa and stir to coat in the oil then slowly add the veg stock about 1/4 cup at a time, increase the heat so that the stock simmers. Add more stock as the quinoa absorbs it until the quinoa is almost cooked and creamy. Add the frozen peas, courgette and asparagus. Continue to cook until the vegetables are tender. Add the nutritional yeast and milk / cream / miso if using then serve.

I served mine with some steamed broccoli on the side. This was absolutely wonderful! It tasted creamy and cheesy but fresh. I am in love with spring veggies like asparagus at the moment! I also love making this with quinoa for the added protein punch.

Dessert was some Easter Sunshine Conscious raw chocolate containing dried mango and sunflower seeds:

Delicious! I’m now sipping a lovely iced sweet chilli tea :-)

Do you have a garden and if so do you enjoy gardening? I would love to be able to grow some veggies and may see what I can grow in some small pots. Unfortunately we don’t get a lot of sun down there so I’ll have to do some research into what will grow without much sunlight!

Tomorrow I have a lovely day planned of enjoying the sunshine and baking! Hope you all have a great Easter weekend!