Info all Articles

Hi folks, hope your enjoying a blissful weekend! So far mine has been a good one indeed. There has been coffee…

…and an outdoor run and get this, with James! He decided to come out with me this morning and run a couple of loops around the block. Why is it that some one that doesn’t do a lot of exercise other than walking can run way faster than me? Damn those long legs of his ;-) He’s definitely a born sprinter. He hasn’t ran with me in the past as he has problems with his knees but we are thinking if he builds up slowly he might be ok. I continued on after that and did perhaps 3.5 – 4.5 miles – not sure what time as I was sans Garmin but it was just good to be running outside! Afterwards I came home and did this 30 minute yoga power flow from You Tube, so many chaturangas!

I have to say I feel like I’ve out done myself this weekend with the eats, I’ve made some delicious stuff! It all started on Friday evening when I made a Thai Green Soya Bean Noodle Bowl. I’ve made this a couple of times over the last few months and it is quickly becoming my favourite meal! I though it was about time I shared the recipe properly:

Thai Green Soya Bean Noodle Bowl (vegan, serves 1 hungry person or 2 normal people ;-)

• 2 tbsp Thai green curry paste (I use Thai Taste which is vegan)
• 1 inch piece fresh ginger, grated
• Approx 150ml coconut milk – I used full fat but light would be fine too
• Clearspring Soya Sauce Ramen Noodles – 1 pack of noodles and soya sauce pack (or use pre cooked or other noodles of choice and soy sauce)
• 1/2 cup frozen soya beans, thawed
• 1 cup roast squash (I use Kabocha but butternut would be equally as good)
• 1 heaping cup shredded spring greens

In a big wok or frying pan, gently fry off the ginger and curry paste in a little oil (I used coconut oil) over a medium heat. Once the paste has become fragrant (about 2 minutes) add the coconut milk and stir to combine. Add your noodles to the pan (if your using the ramen noodles or other dried noodles) and add some hot water from the kettle – just enough to cover the noodles, and simmer until the noodles are cooked. Add the sachet of soya sauce from the ramen noodle pack (or add a tbsp of soy sauce) and stir before adding the soya beans. Add your squash (and noodles if using pre cooked ones) and then pile the shredded greens on top. Allow the greens to wilt a bit in the heat then stir them into the broth which should be fairly thick. Once the greens are tender serve in a large bowl or ladle out into two regular size bowls:

Seriously this is so so good, in fact it could be a contender for my favourite meal ever especially when made with the full fat coconut milk. Its also very quick to make if you have the squash roasted and ready to go and you could probably just add the beans frozen straight into the pan and just simmer a little longer. Absolutely delish!

For breakfast yesterday I decided to make use of the coconut milk leftover from the noodle bowl by following this method for making acai cultured coconut yoghurt! I had a sample of acai powder from an iHerb order so thought I would give it ago after making my own very simple coconut yoghurt a couple of weeks ago (just by refrigerating full fat coconut milk). I had some with blueberries, buckwheaties, pecans and maple syrup:

It was wonderful! I think if I made this again I would leave it out of the fridge somewhere warm overnight so it would ferment a bit more to develop more yoghurt like tang.

Lunch yesterday was a simple but really nice salad with spinach, romaine, red pepper, roast kabocha a sprinkle of fresh parsley and some tahini dressing:

I made the dressing really quickly in a jar by mixing tahini with lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, garlic, sweet white miso and water so I have enough for a few meals. I added some to another special meal I made this weekend, raw curried cauliflower with herbed socca and roast purple sprouting broccoli:

I’d been wanting to try the raw cauliflower ever since I saw this recipe on Some Like It Raw and it didn’t disappoint! I made a few amendments adding some coconut and a few chopped dried unsulphured apricots to the mix instead of the honey. For the spices I used turmeric, garam masala and cumin. It was well nice, and the socca turned out brilliantly too, especially dipped in that tahini dressing :-)

Other snackies include:

Raw snack plate with persimmons, apples, raw chocolate covered raisins and raw granola pieces

Blueberries, apple, peanut flour sauce, chopped dark chocolate buttons

Veggies, blue corn chips and sunflower butter and miso dipping sauce (the chips dipped in the sauce, so good!)

Of course there has also been green juices and green smoothies consumed too! Yesterday we took a quick trip into town to pick up a couple of things:

Feeling the pink, OOTD (haha caught a bit off guard!) leather look hooded jacket: Topshop, pink jersey wrap around scarf: Topshop, floral blouse: Oasis, coral Cambridge style satchel: H&M, gold chunky ring: Topshop, skinny ‘Baxter’ jeans: Topshop, biker style boots: Oasis

After town I called into a tattooist to discuss my ideas for my tattoo! Getting a half sleeve tattoo is on my wish list for 2012 and I want to make sure I have it done well before the summer as I want to show it off! I have another appointment to go in next weekend and finalise my design and arrange a date for my first sitting. Excited would be an understatement! Other than that I’ve been cooking up stuff again (including a great recipe I’ll share tomorrow), watching Family Guy Star Wars, painting my toe nails pink and reading Eat Pray Love. Good times!

How has your weekend been? What would you say is your current favourite meal? My favourite foods tend to change depending on the season and that Thai Green Curry is just everything I want in a meal right now!

Hello lovelies, hope you are enjoying your weekend!

Taken on my walk this morning, so beautiful!

So far my weekend has been exactly what I’ve needed: relaxing! Yesterday I got up and did a couple of workout DVD’s, got some grocery shopping in, saw friends, watched a movie with James then stayed up late reading magazines (I decided to treat myself to Elle and Yoga Magazine) while watching the comedy special on Channel 4. Father Ted for the win :-) Today has been perfect, a lie in, pancakes and iced coffee and a walk in the sunshine.

I think I mentioned on Friday that I was looking forward to doing a big pay day grocery shop. I thought it would be nice to share with you what I got, I love noising at people’s grocery shopping! I visited 3 different supermarkets (over Friday and yesterday) to buy our usual faves and get the best value at the same time. This food is for myself and James and includes a couple of treats:

Tesco: tinned full fat coconut milk (on special offer), unsweetened almond breeze (on offer so stocked up!), dried adzuki beans, avocados, peppers, giant bag of almonds, kale, spinach, courgettes

Aldi – broccoli, sweet potatoes, tinned tuna, plums, blackberries, mushrooms, red onions, avocado, cucumbers, celery, romaine

Sainsbury’s – crisps, olives, strawberry yoghurts, full fat Greek yoghurt, organic brown rice, almond extract, hummus, organic goats cheese, small wholemeal loaf, cooked ham, mild cheese, tofu, 12 large organic eggs, skimmed milk

Sainsbury’s continued – crushed ice, frozen blueberries, frozen raspberries, frozen mixed berries, 14 inch thin and crispy pizza, banana’s, ginger, potted parsley and basil

All of that has well and truly stocked us up for a while, I love having a full fridge and freezer to make meals from!

I was very much looking forward to opening up one of those cans of coconut milk, I decided to refrigerate the can so that the milk goes extra creamy and I’ve been using it in different meals throughout the weekend, including my favourite blended coffee:

I had it hot yesterday morning and iced this morning. I just blend the coffee with about 1/4 can of the milk, vanilla bean paste and a little stevia. I’ve got a whole post on the blended coffee thing coming up really soon, so stay tuned. I also enjoyed it with a bowl of strawberries:

Heaven! Then last but not least I decided to try out some experimental pancakes and holy moly they were good!

Coconut Milk Pancakes (serves 1 hungry person, grain and sugar free, roughly based on and inspired by this version)

• 1 medium ripe banana
• 2 large organic eggs (I’m sure that flax eggs would work too for a vegan version)
• 2 tbsp of full fat tinned coconut milk or coconut cream
• 1 tbsp of coconut flour (or flour of choice, almond meal would also work well)

Pop a frying pan on the stove over a medium high heat to warm up. In a bowl, mash the banana with the coconut milk until smooth. In a separate jug beat the eggs then add the banana mix and flour and mix well. Pour some of the batter in to the greased pan and cook slowly until bubbles start to form and the underside is cooked. Flip the pancake and cook the other side (should only take a couple of minutes on the other side) then transfer to a plate and keep warm under the grill while you use the rest of the batter. I got 2 good sized pancakes and one smaller one from this mix. Enjoy with your choice of fruit, syrup or sauce.

I had mine with blackberries, figs and more coconut milk on top. The trick with these is to cook them very slowly. They puff up nicely and taste just wonderful with a beautiful bananary coconuty flavour. With only 4 ingredients they are so easy to make!

Other delicious things from this weekend must include this fabulous socca pizza:

I added fresh basil to the socca crust and topped it with fresh figs, organic goats cheese, thyme honey, grilled it and then added more basil. I have a great recipe featuring figs and goats cheese coming up for you tomorrow!

Another lovely simple meal was yesterday’s brunch:

Scrambled organic eggs and a peach sautéed in coconut oil inspired by Katie. The peach tasted amazingly sweet and tender.

Its been a very tasty weekend, I’m really enjoying my food right now!

How has your weekend been so far? Do you do a big pay day shop or just get in groceries as you go? We tend to do a mix depending on when we run out of things. If you have a bank holiday tomorrow do you have any big plans?