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Yoga was brilliant again last night. It was a lot tougher than last weeks class, this week I worked up a bit of a sweat! We did some harder postures including quite a few twists and forward bends. I’m really feeling those DOMS today!

After class I headed to Starbucks for my Chai Latte fix. I also bought a little pot of greek yoghurt with honey and granola to go with my big apple as a post yoga snack.

I think this also may or may not have contributed to the fact that I got all of three hours sleep last night. I suspect the caffeine may have had something to do with it!

This mornings breakfast was a little experimental. I have loads of muffins in my freezer that need eating up and I wanted to have some for breakfast but as they don’t make the most balanced meal on their own I decided to try something out:

Spiced Muffin Eggy Bread

• Two small banana, oat and cinnamon muffins
• 2 egg whites
• splash of soy milk
• 1 tablespoon of agave syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon of mixed spice
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Begin by combining all ingredients apart from the muffins together in a microwaveable bowl. Then crumble the muffins into the egg mix and leave to absorb some of mixture for at least 5 minutes. After 5 minutes microwave on high for around 2 minutes or until the egg mix has set and a little bit of wobble remains in the centre. Serve as it is or with some fruit, jam or nut butter.

 

I’m very glad that this little experiment worked! This tasted really good, just like french toast pudding in a bowl. I served mine with some apple and raspberry compote and a nice cup of hazelnut and cinnamon coffee (I really needed that this morning) Adding the eggs also helps to slow down the release of the sugars in the muffins and helps to keep you feeling fuller for longer.

Lunch was a big salad with spinach, lettuce, beetroot, carrot and organic soft goats cheese followed by a small chopped apple and pear.

 

I haven’t had goats cheese in ages, had almost forgotten how good it tastes!

Mid afternoon I snacked on a sample Cocoa Mint Nakd bar with a mug of green tea.

Still my favourite Nakd bar by far.

I hit the gym after work for 45 minutes of HIITs, some work on the stability ball and some upper body free weights. I really enjoyed the workout – it left me energised rather than knackered which doesn’t happen very often. It also left me famished so I was thoroughly looking forward to dinner. I had a small portion of brown basmati rice with some slices of basil tofu, crunchy stir fried broccoli and brussel sprouts (love sprouts!) topped off with wonderful spicy peanut sauce (crunchy peanut butter, lime juice, soy sauce, chilli, ginger and water to thin to pouring consistency)

Such a satisfying and very filling meal – and completely vegan (The Kind Diet must be infiltrating my mind already!) For desert I had my usual giant bowl of double chocolate protein ice cream topped with a crumbled chocolate cherry cookie from Tam.

How good does that look! I’ve put the rest of these tasty treats in the freezer so I don’t binge on them.

I didn’t get my Friday food co op box this week as I still have avocados, celeriac, butternut squash and sweet potato left from last week. Yesterday I got a leaflet through the door advertising a new local organic box service. They are holding an event just up the road tomorrow so I might head up and see what it is like. I would love to buy more organic foods but my budget just doesn’t stretch. The boxes this company sell aren’t too expensive and I’m wondering if I could perhaps just get one organic seasonal veg box a month to go along with my food co op boxes. Do you buy organic? Do you believe that organically grown food is better for you?

I’m so glad that the weekend is here. Tomorrow I’m going to walk into Durham for a browse around the shops and market, then off to see my friends in the afternoon before roasting lots of veggies for dinner. Sunday I want to fit in a run and visit parents before me and the hubby head off to see a blues guitarist in Newcastle. What do you have planned for your weekend? Hope you’ve had a good week!

Today I reached over 100 blog followers! Big thanks to Sarah who has really championed the blog over on iheartcosmetics. A big welcome to my new followers, hope you enjoy the blog! I really believe that beauty starts with good nutrition and exercise so hopefully you’ll find some inspiration here. I know not everyone that reads is signed up as a follower so if your a new reader a big welcome to you too!

My day started with a lovely breakfast – 1/3 cup of Dorset Super Cranberry, Cherry and Almond Muesli, 2 tablespoons of Total Greek Yoghurt and some of my apple, berry and cinnamon compote:

Apple, Berry and Cinnamon Compote

• 3 apples that are past their best
• 1/2 cup of frozen mixed berries
• 50ml of water
• 2 tablespoons of agave syrup
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon

Core, slice and chop the apples (keeping the skin on) add to a small pan along with the berries, water and agave. Simmer for 10 minutes or until the liquid as turned syrupy and the apple has softened. Use a hand blender to blend the mixture to desired consistency – I left mine a little chunky. Allow to cool then store in the fridge for up to 5 days.

 

This tasted wonderful with the muesli and yoghurt. It would also taste great with some raisins or soaked goji berries added to it. I was also really impressed with the muesli. It contains toasted wheat, barley and oat flakes which I find lighter than muesli that is oat based. As always with Dorset Cereals there were plenty of dried fruit, seeds and nuts in the mix too.

Mid morning I snacked on a little pot of my home made hummus with carrot and sugar snaps for dipping. I used a really straightforward recipe for the hummus:

Straight forward hummus

• 1 tin of drained chickpeas
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of tahini
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 clove of garlic
• water

Add the chickpeas, olive oil, tahini, lemon juice and garlic to a food processor. Blend to a smooth consistency adding a tablespoon of water at a time if required. You may also need to scrape down the sides of the food processor too. I added a pinch of ground cumin and finished with a good grinding of oak smoked chilli paprika and pepper.

 

Mine turned out thicker than a shop bought version and with more texture which I really like.

Lunch was a bowl of my home made Roast Tomato, Pepper and Chilli soup which was perfect for this horrible wet and rainy day along with a juicy pear.

Before leaving work for the gym I had a Beet It Shot.

At the gym I started with a 5 minute warm up on the cross trainer then continued with my usual HIIT (high intensity interval training) session on the cross trainer, step machine and bike. I finished off with 5 minutes on the rowing machine and some abs exercises. I didn’t push it too much with the Great North Run coming up but I still got a good workout in.

I just wanted something quick and easy for dinner so I made a cheese omelette using 1 egg and two eggs whites filled with a little grated edam cheese and served with a huge salad of spinach, yellow pepper, carrot, cucumber and red onion – got to get those raw veggies in!

For desert I made up some mint chocolate protein ice cream by blending a scoop of chocolate whey powder with 3 ice cubes, soy milk, natural mint extract and 1/2 teaspoon of xanthan gum to thicken. I topped it with a few raw cacao nibs.

Yum! This was lovely and filling as always although I wasn’t very happy as while making this one of the blades in my blender broke! I can still use it but I’m going to have to invest in a new one. Any recommendations? I need something pretty hard wearing that can deal with ice and daily use. I also had an un pictured apple.

Unique fashion and home wear

Over the weekend I spent some time browsing on a few websites that specialise in offering products that are more unique, either because they are one off or because they are customisable. I love things that are a bit different – I think they can add so much individuality! My favourite websites for products like this are Not On The High Street and Etsy. Here’s some the items I spotted:

Personalised Printed Cotton Shopper Bag – Not On The High Street

 Engraved Heart Charm Necklace – Not On The High Street

 Silver Leather Hobo Bag - Etsy

 Night and Owl, Pair of pillows - Etsy

Soft Leather Ballet Flats – Etsy

Wooden Gold Gilded Letters – Graham and Green

Have you bought anything from Not On The High Street or Etsy before? What’s your favourite website for finding more unique items? I’m so in love with that heart charm necklace, I may have to leave a few hints for the hubby in time for Christmas!

Thanks for your comments on yesterdays post about the Secret Santa. Its great that so many of you are up for it. I’ll leave it until November then I’ll do a full post with all the details. I’m excited about it already!

This mornings breakfast:

1/2 cup of Dorset Cereal Tasty Toasted Spelt Muesli, 1/4 cup of jumbo oats, 1/4 cup of quinoa flakes, chopped pear, cinnamon and soy milk.

Mid morning I snacked on some vanilla silken tofu (mori nu silken tofu blended with agave and vanilla extract) and some apple, raspberry, goji berry and cinnamon compote that I whipped up last night.

I had a few apples that were past their best and it only took me 5 minutes to make these. I followed my usual recipe but used raspberries instead of frozen mixed berries and added a few gojis for an extra hit of vitamin C. I’m taking all the vitamin C I can get at the moment, everyone at work is coughing and sneezing and I do not fancy coming down with a cold!

Lunch was a bowl of Leek, potato and white bean soup followed by an orange.

 

I finished a work meeting early so popped to the shops for a few groceries and then decided to do my usual Wednesday night treadmill run outdoors instead. I had a beet it shot for a little fuel then ran my 3.8 miles in 35.52, I took a route with a couple of hills to act like higher intensity intervals. I followed my run with some abs exercises.

For dinner I made some tomato pasta sauce with quorn mince, garlic, mushrooms and basil and served it with courgette ‘pasta’ on top of some spinach.

Twas delish! Desert was a few chunky squares of Ritter Hazelnut Dark Chocolate and a sliced russet apple.

I saw the russet apples at the supermarket and had to buy some. They were my Nana’s favourite apple and really remind me of her. I love how food can connect us with people like that.

Today I made another trip to the Library. I had ordered in this book:

‘The Kind Diet’ by Alicia Silverstone. I’ve been dying to read this for a while. Although I’m far from vegan I’m trying to reduce my consumption of meat and really enjoy eating vegan foods so I’m hoping I will find some great recipes in here. Have you read this book? What did you think?

I also picked up these other books:

I just love reading through nutrition and cookbooks for meal ideas. I also have Nigella Kitchen on order at the Library, I can’t wait until that comes in. If its good (which I suspect it is) it will be going on my Christmas wish list! With all of these government funding cuts I really hope the Libraries can survive, since doing my Big Budget Challenge I’ve really grown to love mine.

Another little highlight of my day was scoring some packs of Oreo cookies from work. They were delivered free with a stationary order. I love Oreo’s, I know they are very processed but as an occasional treat crumbled on top of yoghurt or protein ice cream they will be delicious!

Hope your all having a great week, so happy that we are over half way to the weekend already!