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Hello everyone, hope your enjoying your weekend! I don’t know where last weeks sunshine has gone, its been a bit bleak and grey these last two days. Anyway, I have had plenty of lovely things to keep me cheerful, this mornings pancakes being number one:

Vegan chocolate protein pancakes with strawberries, cashew butter and maple syrup. Absolutely delicious!

Number two would be this bowl of oats with pears topped with Justin’s chocolate hazelnut butter and buckwheaties for crunch:

That finished off my jar of crack for now, must reorder some from iHerb!

I’ve also enjoyed this gorgeous Butternut Cherry Bomb smoothie inspired by Laura from Sprint 2 the Table:

This was spinach, roast butternut, frozen cherries, vanilla sun warrior protein powder, cinnamon, ground flax, maca, water and ice topped with lemon salted roast almonds, dried cherries and raw granola. It was fantastic and the toppings really worked well together too, I’ll be having the almonds and dried cherries together again soon!

Last night I had a craving for some British style comfort food so I made my version of a ‘Sunday Dinner’ with stuffed seitan roll, cauliflower mash, roast broccoli and gravy:

It hit the spot! For dessert I had a big bowl of frozen blueberries, a chopped pear, peanut sauce made from peanut flour and maple syrup plus cacao nibs:

I also ended up devouring a couple of bowls of millet puffs and chopped apple with extra maple peanut sauce too because it was so good as well as a couple of these home made raw chocolates:

I’d bought some cacao butter ages ago and finally got round to making my own raw chocolate! I used this recipe but halved it and added some lucuma powder, chopped pecans and sea salt. This made 6 little chocolates that taste absolutely heavenly!

For lunch today I’ve just had this gorgeous Warm Butternut, Lentil and Fig Salad:

I left off the pine nuts and added some simple tahini miso dressing instead. So so good, perfect salad for this time of year!

Something lovely happened at the gym this morning. I’d just done my gym workout (30 minute treadmill run, 15 minutes cross trainer) and was waiting for my kettlebell class to start when I bumped into a friend that I hadn’t spoken to in a while. She commented on how good I was looking since I’d gained some weight and that she was actually worried about me when I’d been thinner. It meant so much to me to hear her say that. I am trying to deal with this weight gain thing and its not easy but every time some one says something like that it makes me feel a million times better. At the moment I’m just trying to relax into things to see where my weight naturally stabilises eating and exercising as I am now although I am expecting that I’ll continue to gain for a while. I’ve started to think that experiencing both ends of the spectrum – being overweight and then underweight (for my own body) are just things that I’ve had to go through in order for me to grow as a person and hopefully help others in my future :-) 

I also went to the tattooist yesterday and managed to get booked in for a 2 hour session on Wednesday if I can get the time off work! So incredibly excited, as well as being a little nervous of the pain but I know it will be worth it. Looking forward to sharing the tattoo with you once it’s done!

What lovely things have you enjoyed this weekend?

Hi everyone, hope your all having a wonderful relaxing Sunday! I’m busy trying to get organised ready for our week away! I said in my post on Friday I was looking forward to doing something I’ve been wanting to do for ages…

I dyed my hair red! I’ve been trying all weekend to get a picture that actually shows the colour properly but this is the best I’ve managed. I dyed it a reddish brown a few months ago but decided to buy a bright red colour this time. I had my hair bright red when I was younger and had been thinking of going back to that colour for ages. This is probably about as bright as it will go without lightening my natural colour first. I love it though, its great for a change!

Other than that its been a pretty quiet one, I spent most of yesterday just enjoying watching the snow! There have been several good meals to be had though. On the way home from work on Friday I stopped in town to go to the green grocers and while I was there I had a look in one of the Asian supermarkets. I got a bag of goji berries, millet, dried mango and this unusual sesame peanut butter:

Considering that I adore both peanut butter and tahini (sesame paste) this tastes incredible, its like peanut butter and tahini got together and made a beautiful tasty baby! Half the jar is already gone! I mixed it with some sweet white miso and water to make a dressing for this Buddha bowl meal:

This was stir fried kale, courgette, brown rice, roast butternut squash, chickpeas and the sauce, it was fantastic. I also used some of the sesame peanut butter in this protein pudding snack:

I had a bit of a protein craving so mixed a scoop of chocolate sun warrior protein powder with water and added a swirl of the sesame peanut butter then topped with raw cacao granola, yum!

Yesterday morning I enjoyed a lovely lie in, my first in such a long time! I decided to treat myself to breakfast in bed and made a big bowl of Kashi Go Lean with chopped apple and kara coconut milk topped with a few pumpkin seeds:

I had a couple a mugs full of coffee with this, perfect Saturday morning! For lunch I made a big salad:

This included romaine lettuce, cucumber, raw beetroot, avocado, hemp seeds and some of my home made rosemary and almond juice pulp crackers. For dinner I decided to raid the freezer and found some of my stuffed seitan roll. I had it with swede chips, roast brussel sprouts, steamed purple sprouting broccoli and ketchup:

That seitan roll tasted just as good as when it had been freshly made. Delicious!

As I’ve come to realise that I get extra snacky on a Friday and Saturday evening I’ve decided that instead of fighting it I’m going to just go with it so I’ve started making bigger snack plates that I can pick on over the evening:

This one included a fresh fig with some of the leftover sesame peanut miso sauce, grapes, russet apple, yellow plum, dried mango and mixed dried berries. I did end up eating more of the dried fruit but this is good for me to nibble on while I’m watching TV.

Are you a weekend nibbler?

Right I am off to get myself sorted out! I’m glad that we didn’t decide to travel this morning with all the snow we’ve had, I’m hoping it will all be melted by tomorrow. Have a great one!

Hello everyone, hope you are enjoying your Boxing day! I’ll be back tomorrow with a round up of my amazing Christmas, but in the meantime I just had to post a couple of my recipes I made for Christmas dinner. Along side my Leek and Roasties Soup which we ate as a starter, I also made these two fantastic dishes:

Sage and Onion Stuffed Seitan Roll (vegan, serves 4)

For the stuffing:

• One box of vegan Sage and Onion Stuffing – I got mine from Aldi for 99p :-)

For the seitan:

• 1 1/4 cups of vital wheat gluten – (you can purchase vital wheat gluten in the UK via The Flour Bin or from iHerb)
• 1/4 cup of gram flour
• 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast
• 2 tsp of vegan vegetable bouillon powder
• 3/4 cup of water
• 2 tbsp of soy sauce

Pre heat oven to 160. Mix the dry stuffing mix with hot water according to packet instructions and set aside.

Combine all the dry seitan ingredients in a bowl and the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Pour the water and soy sauce into the dry mix and combine with a spoon until the dough begins to stick, then kneed using hands until all the dry mix has been incorporated.

You should be left with a ball of sticky dough. Place a sheet of foil on a work surface and place the dough on top. Pull and press the dough out into a rectangular shape. This will take a few minutes and the dough make break but just take your time pushing the dough out and nipping any holes together.

When you have a rectangle approximately 6 x 8 inches get the stuffing mix and spoon on top leaving a couple of centimetres of dough around the edge (you may not need the whole bowl of stuffing mix – roll any remaining stuffing into balls and bake).

Roll the seitan up using the foil to support it, into a roll, nipping the ends together. Wrap the foil around it in a sausage shape and twist the ends together.

Place the seitan onto a baking sheet and cook for approximately 1 hour. The seitan should be golden brown and firm but springy to the touch. I cut mine open just to check it was cooked through:

Slice into rounds and serve!

You can also make this ahead of time, slice and wrap in foil and allow to cool then store in the fridge for a few days. It will also freeze very well. This was delicious served with gravy and veg for my Christmas lunch, a perfect turkey alternative for any vegetarians or vegans! 

Salted Caramel Chocolate Mousse Cake (vegan, serves at least 6, adapted from CCKs Chocolate Fudge Pie)

Crust:

• 1 1/2 packets of lotus biscuits (which are vegan) – 375g, reserve a couple of biscuits to crumble over the top   
• 100g or about 3/4 cup of vegan spread – I used Vitalite

Mousse: 

• 1 package mori nu silken-firm tofu
• 1 tsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp non dairy milk – I used soy milk 
• 1 1/3 cups dark chocolate chips
• 3 tbsp agave syrup

Salted Caramel Sauce:

• 1/2 cup of light muscovado sugar 
• 2 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp of vegan spread (I used Vitalite)
• 3 tbsp of soy cream (I used a carton of Alpro light)
• 1/8 tsp of sea salt

To make the crust – using a food processor (or a bag and a rolling pin) crush the biscuits to crumbs. Add the vegan spread to the food processor and blend with the crumbs (or melt and combine if not using a food processor) Line a 9 inch spring form tin with greaseproof paper and press the mixture into the bottom of the tin. Put into the fridge to cool and set.

To make the mousse – melt the chocolate and add to a food processor along with all the other ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour the cheesecake mixture into the spring form pan on top of the caramel crust. Put back in the fridge to chill until firm.

To make the caramel sauce - place the sugar and water in a sauce pan and bring to a rolling boil over a medium high heat – this should happen quite quickly! When the sugar has melted add the vegan spread 1 tbsp at a time and stir in. Then add the soy cream a tbsp at a time stirring constantly. Add the pinch of salt and continue stirring. Grease a small bowl with some vegan spread and pour the caramel into it to cool (wash up your pan and spoons straight away so they don’t get too sticky!) Leave the caramel to cool for a couple of hours.

When you are ready to serve the torte remove from the spring form pan and drizzle with the salted caramel sauce (you’ll probably have some left) and some crumbled lotus biscuits

This is super rich and chocolaty and for most people (er, not a chocoholic like me!) a small slice will be enough. I was going to call this a torte or tart but when everyone was eating this they thought the topping was like a rich chocolate mousse. 

Holy yum!! Considering that these two recipes were pretty experimental I was very happy that they turned out so well! I’m very much looking forward to enjoying leftovers of these today.

Did you make any special dishes for your Christmas Dinner?

Hi everyone, hope you all had an amazing Christmas! I’ve had such a great time its been wonderful, here’s a bit of a recap of the last couple of days!

  Christmas Eve

Post 30 min quickie DVD workout smoothie – banana, cranberries, vanilla sun warrior, soy milk topped with gingerbread cookie, pomegranate seeds and maple nut butter. Delicious Italian meal in Newcastle – veggie soup and massive plate of penne arriabiata.I enjoyed lots of red wine – first in Newcastle with my Sis-in-law Katy and my friend Kate then at my Mam and Dad’s local pub with my friend Charlie, plus about 20 other friends and family!

Bedtime snack plates with sabra hummus, veggies, seeded crackers, olives, stuffing balls, apple, persimmon and clemintines

Christmas Day

Epic Christmas Day breakfast: festive loaded oats containing a chopped pear, lots of sweet mincemeat, vanilla soy milk, dark chocolate chips, gingerbread cookie, soy cream, white chocolate wonderful peanut butter and some star sprinkles. Plus an amazing latte with Christmas coffee, vanilla soy milk and amaretto liquor topped with some soy whip and cinnamon.

Pressies! Chocolates (including posh booja booja ones!), tea and coffee, pj’s socks and undies, Cook Veg Everyday, DVD’s and Two Door Cinema Club CD, Lush smellies, nail varnishes, pretty magnets and a Paperchase address book.Christmas Lunch! Started with Leek and Roasties soup then Stuffed Seitan Roll, stuffing balls, roast veggies followed by a large slice of salted caramel chocolate mousse cake.

Had a craving for green! After Christmas dinner feeling bloated and sugared out I made a quick simple green smoothie in a mug – spinach, frozen banana and honey.

Snacky dessert plate with booja booja chocies, mint chocolate, dark chocolate covered marzipan heart, hersey’s dark chocolate kisses, maple roasted nuts and frozen grapes.

Me and James on Christmas Day!

I did feel a bit worse for wear on Christmas morning after the red wine, but it was nice to enjoy a festive drink for a change, especially with so many of my friends and family! We spent Christmas morning at my sisters watching my nephews opening presents before having lunch at my Mam and Dad’s. Father Christmas has been very good to me again this year, as well as pressies I got a couple of gift vouchers and some shopping spending money. I can’t wait to hit the sales today!

How was your Christmas? What was your favourite gifts to give and to receive? I feel so lucky to have got so many lovely things, I’ve already been planning the recipes I’d like to try from Cook Veg Everyday and the Hazelnut Booja Booja truffles are to die for!

Have you been enjoying plenty of foodie treats? I’m working very hard on not feeling guilty for indulging in so much chocolate (I ate a lot yesterday!), I’ve been eating till I’m happily stuffed! Hope you’ve all had an amazing Christmas!

Happy Wednesday guys, hope your all enjoying the week between Christmas and New Year! I always find this week a bit strange, but not in a bad way. I tend to think a lot about the year that has past and the year that is about to start.

Poor Jenn isn’t well this week (get well soon!), but I’m still joining the party! These are my eats from Boxing day, plus a few things I had yesterday. I love Boxing Day, we always make that a day for us to completely relax, eat good food and watch TV. I had been planning on having an additional rest day but I decided that as I was going to be sat on my arse all day long it would be good to move my body a bit, I did Davina’s Aerobic Fit 30 minute workout. For breakfast I had a lovely big bowl of Dorset Muesli with frozen blueberries and vanilla soy milk:

I love muesli! Mid morning I made the most amazing coffee: a latte with a Christmas coffee blend, vanilla soy milk and a shot of amaretto then topped with some soy whip and some caramel sauce leftover from my salted caramel chocolate mousse cake:

How good does that look? It tasted divine! For lunch I made myself a massive snack tray:

This included carrots, red pepper and cucumber with sabra hummus, olives and thai sweet chilli crackers. I also had a chopped apple with honey peanut butter for dipping, 4 dates stuffed with roast salted almonds and a sliced persimmon.

Mid afternoon I had some fresh figs with vanilla soy yoghurt, cashew ginger granola and more caramel sauce:

That caramel sauce is amazing, so glad I had some leftover! Dinner was Christmas Day leftovers:

Sage and Onion Stuffed Seitan Roll with ketchup and roast carrots, brussel sprouts and parsnips.

For dessert I had lots of chocolate! I made a tasting plate with some Hotel Chocolat dark chocolate reindeer, hazelnut truffles, Hersey’s dark chocolate kisses, dark chocolate covered marzipan hearts and some mint dark chocolate:

I was stuffed after all of that but I enjoyed every bite! Goodness knows how many calories I must have eaten over the day, oh well!

In addition to my Boxing Day eats I thought I’d share a few things I had yesterday too. I got up feeling pretty bloated but I did my planned workout – the 30 Day Shred levels 2&3 back to back (so tough!) For breakfast I made a green smoothie:

This contained cos lettuce, frozen banana, a scoop of vanilla sun warrior, water, ice and gums then topped with PB and Co Mighty Maple Peanut Butter, raisins and choc covered sunflower seeds. I ate way more peanut butter and toppings than pictured here – I kept adding them on top as I ate them off!

We headed into Newcastle for some sales shopping. Before we got started we met our friend Nathan for a coffee, I just had a plan soy latte. After a monster shop (pics to come!) we came home and I had the strangest urge to run! It was the first time in a while that I have wanted to go out and run just because I wanted to and not because it was part of my training plan.  I went out without the garmin and ran for about 30 minutes. I have no idea on my pace, it was just wonderful to enjoy running!

When I came back I made a gorgeous lunch:

A Food Doctor seeded pitta with sabra hummus, spinach and Taifun basil tofu, carrot sticks, cucumber and olives. That pitta was amazing, best sandwich ever! Mid afternoon I snacked on an apple, satsuma and a gingerbread nakd bar.

For dinner I made a big salad:

This included a bag of mixed leaves, finely shredded red cabbage and carrot, pomegranate seeds, roast red kabocha squash, dried cranberries, lots of maple roasted nuts and a dressing made from blueberry balsamic vinegar, hemp oil and dijon mustard. Absolutely gorgeous!

Dessert was the last slice (sob) of my salted caramel chocolate mousse cake with soy whip and extra leftover caramel:

I also ate several extra squirts of soy whip ;-) A bit later I snacked on a few more maple nuts, hazelnut truffles, mint dark chocolate and some frozen grapes plus a cheeky cocktail:

Some of you might remember a few months ago when I went and foraged some damson plums? Well I gave a big bag to my manager at work and she made some damson gin with them! I made a cocktail using the gin, amaretto and pomegranate juice. It was delicious!

I have no idea how my eating compares to others, and to be honest I don’t care! For me, I feel like I’ve indulged in much richer foods and in larger quantities than usual and I’ve enjoyed every single bite. So far I have no guilt at all! Even though I’ve definitely overeaten (my poor body and digestive system are not happy!) I haven’t ‘binged’ or eaten uncontrollably and I’m very happy about that! So far so good.

How did you spend your Boxing Day? What’s the tastiest foods you’ve been enjoying over the holidays?