Info all Articles

Last night I enjoyed my wonderful Amaretto and apple, raspberry and grape juice, in fact I enjoyed it so much I had three glasses and almost half the bottle of amaretto! I also had a margarita cocktail and then ended up having a drunken mini binge on ginger dark chocolate (12 little squares to finish the pack) a slice of the hubbys pizza and some muesli straight from the box. Not good.

I woke up with a crappy hangover and a poorly tummy but I was determined to have a workout. Before I left for the gym I debated whether or not to weigh myself this week. I didn’t think it was going to be good due to the various snack fests and I didn’t want to depress myself any further. In the end I did jump on the scales and was very happy to see that I’d only gained a pound. I’m more than happy with that result considering what has passed my lips this last week. I’m not particularly looking to lose more weight, I’m trying to maintain my weight at just under 10 stone (140lbs) which I feel is my happy weight (although I have to admit my happy weight keeps getting lower for some reason).

The gym was really tough, I thought that sweating it out would do me good but I just felt sick. I managed to do 20 minutes of intervals on the step machine and cross trainer and then did my upper body strength routine cut short a bit so I could just get home! Breakfast was a smoothie made with frozen peaches, frozen raspberries, vanilla whey powder, soy milk and a tablespoon of crunchy peanut butter. I topped it with a little cinnamon, grape nuts cereal and goji berries.

I spent the morning recovering and finishing off a couple of crafty projects for the living room which I can’t wait to show you! For lunch I made these amazing muffins. I can’t remember exactly where I got the recipe, I think it may have been one of the health and fitness mags a couple of months ago.

Red Lentil, Spinach and Feta Muffins (makes 12)

• 300g of red lentils washed
• 500mls of water
• 1 teaspoon of vegetable bouillon or a vegetable stock cube
• 1 red onion
• Tbsp of balsamic vinegar
• 100g of spinach (two big handfuls)
• 1 egg beaten
• 2 rounded tablespoons of spelt flour
• 100g of feta cheese

Pre heat oven to 180. Cook the lentils in the water with the stock cube or boullion for about 15 mins until the water has been absorbed and the lentils are tender. Slice the red onion and fry off in a little oil, then add a tbsp of balsamic to caramelise. Add the spinach and allow to wilt. Combine onions and spinach with lentils adding the beaten egg, flour and feta crumbled. Divide mixture between 12 muffin cases and bake for 40 minutes until slightly golden and set.

These are fabulous little muffins and so healthy! I had three with a side salad of lettuce, spinach, cucumber and red onion (these fell apart a little as they were baked straight in the tray rather than in cases as I had ran out) and then I tucked into another!

Very filling and tasty, they have a wonderful spongy texture as you can see from the pic I took of the bottom of the muffin. I’ve frozen the remaining muffins, they should taste good cold with salad for quick lunches. I also had a bowl of strawberries and blueberries.

I just chilled out this afternoon pottering on the internet and catching up with my favourite blogs when I came across this recipe for Apple Basil Tea. I thought that I would give it ago with the remainder of my apple, raspberry and grape juice in place of the Pom juice used in the original recipe.

It reminded me of a non alcoholic version of Pimms!

For dinner I roasted some broccoli, red pepper and red onion and mixed it with some chopped beetroot, omega seed salad sprinkle, some of my oak smoked chilli and paprika pepper, a little garlic olive oil and lemon juice. I put it all on top of some spinach and cos lettuce.

I have been craving veggies today, I think as a result of the sugar and alcohol from yesterday. This was so fresh and healthy tasting – exactly what I was after.

For a little desert I had several mini plums with fromage frais, honey and cinnamon.

Home Week – The Kitchen

The kitchen is my favourite room in the flat! Here’s a few pics:

What we did: Repainted the walls and wood work white, bought new towels, tea canisters, mug tree and mugs, painted canvas to create custom made art work, rearranged position of items on counter top, added photos and magnets (including home made ones) to decorate fridge. Everything else was existing. I painted the canvas myself based on this tea towel print I saw on Not On The High Street - I really liked the vintage style of the print and thought it would make a nice bit of wall art. Again, this wasn’t very a very expensive job, I bought the mugs and canisters when I was in Brighton, the tea towels were £5 for three, the canvas only cost £5 too and I already had the paint and paint brushes.

So what does everyone have planned for the weekend? I’m having a rest day tomorrow then I plan to run 12 miles on Sunday morning before going out for a meal with my Mam and Sister to celebrate my Mam’s birthday which is today. Tomorrow is free to spend how we like so I’m looking forward to waking up and going with the flow! Fingers crossed for good weather.

Hope you have all had a terrific week! I’m off to make a pot of sweet tea to keep me going till the Master Chef final comes on! Hope you have a good weekend x