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Hi everyone, hope your week has got off to a good start. Here's a bit of a catch up of my last couple of days.
Sunday morning I woke up and had a strange craving for a green monster, so of course I indulged it! I used 2 big handfuls of spinach, 1 large frozen banana, kara coconut milk and a teaspoon of maca powder. I topped it with some chopped strawberries, flaked almonds and grape nuts.


This was gorgeous, check out how green this is! I think my spinach from the market must be super spinach, this tasted so healthy! Mid morning I snacked on a crispy granny smith apple.


We were invited to my parents for an alternative Sunday lunch - Indian! I had some brown rice with chicken korma which had been made with Sharwoods Korma Sauce. This sauce is really tasty, and as far as jarred sauces go isn't too full of artifical nasties.


Instead of the usual triffle that was on offer I managed to keep my halo in place and opted for a fruit bowl instead.


Strawberries, clementines, red and green grapes.

Mid afternoon, while watching Alice in Wonderland (which I enjoyed, anything with Johny Depp does it for me, no matter how mental he might look!) I had more fruit - a juicy nectarine with blackberries, pecans, brazils and goji berries and cup of Tea Pigs Chilli Chai.


Unfortunately some of the blackberries tasted a little mouldy so I decided to leave them. I went for another big apple to satisfy me instead!


Dinner was a bowl of Courgette and Watercress Soup


Desert was a smoothie, inspired by a recipe in the River Cottage Everyday Cookbook

Strawberry and Mint Smoothie

About 2 cups of frozen strawberries
1 teaspoon of chopped mint leaves
2 tablespoons of low fat fromage frais
175ml of pressed apple juice

Blend and serve.


This came out lovely and thick and therefore qualified for smoothie in a bowl status! It was like eating a bowl of refreshing strawberry sorbet.

On to today - I so did not fancy getting up for work this morning, I just wanted to have a lazy morning sipping tea and pottering about, but fat chance of that happening! I did have a delicious breakfast in mind to get me out of bed though. I defrosted a slice of my Date, Carrot and Walnut Loaf Cake and served it with a few tablespoons of low fat fromage frais, fresh blackberries and a little bit of agave.


Just wonderful. Mid morning I snacked on some spicy lentil dip with a few sugar snap peas and orange pepper sticks.


The sugar snap peas tasted so sweet and amazing, and I love the spicy lentil dip!

Lunch was a bowl of Beetroot Soup, served with a swirl of lemony fromage frais.


I sometimes find soups made with lots of root veggies a little too rich for me so I decided to try mixing a tablespoon of fromage frais with the juice of half a lemon and swirling that in to try and cut through some of that richness. I followed the soup with some strawberries.


Before I left work for the gym I snacked on one of my home made fuel bars.


I had a great gym workout, just my usual interval session with abs. I came home and did some foam rolling on my legs, its made such a huge difference to my knee, I think having a tight IT band (the muscle than runs down the outside of the leg) must be contributing to the pain and using the foam roller is relaxing it.

I had something special planned for dinner tonight inspired by a Nigella Lawson recipe from her iPhone App.

Griddled Aubergine, Courgette and Pepper with Feta, Chilli and Mint.
Serves two

1 Aubergine
1 Courgette
1 pepper
100g of feta cheese
Juice of a lemon
1 teaspoon of chopped red chilli
1 teaspoon of chopped mint

Just thinly slice the veggies and griddle then top with crumbled feta mixed with the lemon juice, chopped mint and chopped chilli.


This was lush! Oh so tasty and delicious, I love feta! As the hubby doesn't like feta I just made a large portion for myself with half the ingredients quantities listed. Desert was a chocolate orange protein cake followed by an apple.


So did everyone have a good weekend? In case you missed them I did a post on reviewing my summer wardrobe and a post on protein powders. Thanks to those that commented on them, your comments have been really interesting and useful! Well I'm off to relax for the rest of the evening, I have another long day tomorrow at work! x

This morning it was weigh in time. I’ve lost a pound since last week so I’m bang on my happy weight of 10st (140lbs). I’ve been thinking for some time now that I need to move away from using the scales so much. I’ve pretty much maintained this weight for a few months apart from holiday related slim downs and gains and perhaps I’m ready to finally ditch the weekly (or if I’m totally honest, 3 times a week) weigh ins. As someone who has lost a fair amount of weight I’ve come to rely on the scales to tell me in black and white how I’m doing – I’ve allowed them too much power over me. The fact is the number on the scale is just that, a number. I feel like I may finally be at a point when I can just monitor my weight based on the fit of my clothes, how I’m feeling, knowing when I’ve over indulged a bit and then eating a little healthier afterwards and so on. So this will be my last weekly weigh in! I think I will still weigh in once a month when I review my process and set my goals but that’s it.

I popped to the gym this morning for my usual 20 minutes of cardio intervals followed by my upper body strength routine. Breakfast was this fabulous layer up starting with a slice of my date, carrot and walnut loaf cake topped with some apple and blueberry puree (ahem, baby food – thanks to Neen for that tip!) then some fromage frais mixed with vanilla whey, more puree and then some defrosted summer fruits.

This was delicious. That was my last slice of date carrot and walnut loaf cake and I must make another one! It keeps so well wrapped in foil in individual slices in the freezer and remains beautifully sweet and doughy when defrosted. Plus its all full of healthy ingredients.

Lunch was a huge tuna salad. I made it last night with some veggies that needed using up and I don’t think I realised quite how big it was! It contained: tuna, cucumber, carrot, beetroot, red onion, green pepper, crunchy salad mix including red and white cabbage, cos lettuce and a little spicy peri peri salad dressing.

It was a whopper! I actually struggled with this for the first time ever but I did eat it all! Lots of beautiful fresh veggies – volume eating at its finest. A little later on I ate this nectarine.

Much later than usual I had my afternoon snack of a crunchy apple and two babybel light.

After work I spent the evening in my favourite way – cooking! I’ve made a wonderful cake using some of my new Greek yoghurt, I’ll be posting the recipe tomorrow. I’ve also made a large pan of Thai Green Curry with chicken and veggies. I adore Thai Green Curry so I make up enough for 4 portions and freeze what’s left

Thai Green Curry with Chicken and Vegetables (makes 4 servings)

• 2 chicken breasts diced into bite sized pieces
• half a head of broccoli cut into florets
• half a head of cauliflower cut into florets
• 1 red pepper chopped into pieces
• 200g jar of Thai green curry paste
• 1 400ml tin of light coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon of freshly grated ginger
• water

Begin by preparing all the vegetables, the ginger and the chicken. Lightly stir fry the chicken over a high heat in a little oil for around 3 minutes. Slightly lower the heat and add the curry paste and ginger. Fill the jar the curry paste came in half full and add the water to the pan. Continue to stir the chicken in the curry paste for another 2 minutes. Add the coconut milk and vegetables. Make sure all the ingredients are combined and then simmer for 10 - 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are slightly tender. Serve with your choice of rice / noodles or stir fried greens.

 

I served mine with a small portion of brown rice and some stir fried kale and cauliflower greens dressed in soy sauce and ginger. I heart this meal, it has to be one of my all time favourites. Using light coconut milk, brown rice or wholemeal noodles and the addition of lots of veggies makes this a complete healthy meal.

For desert I just couldn’t help myself and had to try a slice of my freshly baked cake. I topped it with a lovely greek yoghurt based sauce.

I’ll post the recipe for this tomorrow, it was amazing. Believe me you will want to try making this. I’m completely sold on the full fat Greek yoghurt – just delicious. I’m also going to finish off these little greenages.

So here we are at the final weekend of the summer, fingers crossed its looking like its going to be a fine weekend in North East England. I’m going to try and hang on to summer for the weekend before whole heartedly welcoming the autumn next week, even though I can feel that chill in the air already. I love that I feel very in tune with the seasons. Here’s what I’ve loved about this summer:

• Wearing shorts for the first time and feeling confident
• Wearing a bikini for the first time and feeling confident
• Eating ice cream in Majorca
• Eating frozen yoghurt in Brighton
• Having perfect days
• Eating mountains of fresh berries
• Running in the early morning sunshine.

What have you loved this summer? Do you feel in tune with the seasons?

Any big plans for the weekend? I’m planning on lots of cooking and baking (lots of recipes to come!) a run, catching up with family and friends and relaxing. Hope you all have a great weekend x

After I had posted last night I was feeling a bit snacky so I had some faux red wine in the form of a few glasses of red grape juice (watered down as its so sugary) with 3 little squares of dark chocolate. I just couldn't resist!


This mornings breakie was utterly wonderful. I crumbled a slice of my home made Date Carrot and Walnut Loaf cake with some greek yoghurt, chopped strawberries and a spoon of crunchy peanut butter. I also had a mug of English Breakfast tea with a splash of milk.


A-maz-ing! This just tasted so good!

I spent the morning just chilling out and trying to sort through some of my magazines. As the hubby was off today we decided to go to the cinema to see Iron Man 2. I made up three bags of snackies - the last of my lentil and bean sprouts, raisins and a few dates and a couple of savory rice cakes.


The movie was ok, not as good as the first Iron Man and the middle bit of the film was quite slow but we still enjoyed it though. To be honest it was just nice to get to the cinema for a change!

When we got home I took the hubby for a KFC (yuk!) and I made myself some lunch. I decided to use up all the random veggies in the fridge and do a stir fry with some wholemeal noodles. I stir fried asparagus, courgette, red pepper, carrot, red onion and spring onion with some garlic, ginger and soy sauce and served it with the noodles.


It was so tasty! I don't usually have noodles with my stir fries but as I had no chicken or salmon defrosted I thought I would have them for a nice change. I also had a chopped apple and orange.

For dinner I made some turkey and hummus wraps with cos lettuce and spinach and some chopped carrot and cucumber on the side followed by a huge bowl of chopped strawberries, kiwi and red grapes.


I feel like I've ate bucket loads of fruit and veg today, I must of had at least 10 portions!

Drinks - water, green tea, decaf tea, English breakfast tea

Well another weekend bites the dust! I'm happy that I've had the opportunity to chill out a bit this weekend, I feel a bit more prepared for the week ahead when I haven't been rushing around like a headless chicken!

I finally managed to finish looking through all of my magazines and pulling out the bits I want to keep so I think I might spend the rest of this evening watching TV with the hubby whilst starting to get my inspiration board together. I'll definitely be posting some pics of that when its done!

Hope you have all had a great weekend, catch you tomorrow! x

I managed to have a lovely lie in this morning for the first time in weeks! Usually my body clock has me awake before 6 but I slept in till 7.30, it was lovely.
Breakfast was a bowl of strawberries, fromage frais and a slice of Date, Carrot and Walnut Loaf Cake.



Oh so good! I went and did my grocery shop this morning, I’m finding it so hard not to fill my trolley full with all the amazing fresh fruits and veggies. I probably ended up getting too much, I’ll be eating a lot of berries
over the next few days! Whilst at the supermarket I picked up these Goat Cheese Babybels:



Thanks to Stella for tweeting about these, they are fab! I sliced two and used them to fill a 1 egg and 2 egg white omelette, along with some spinach. I also had a RAW cracker and some sugar snap peas.



Such a lovely filling meal! I followed that with a smoothie made with a peach, a nectarine, some frozen raspberries and soy milk.



Delicious! Mid afternoon I snacked on the last of my hummus with some veggies.



I also tried out some Liquorice and Peppermint Tea Pigs to sip on while I had a nice bath.



This tea was delicious! It tastes really sweet without any sugar or sweeteners, I have to get a box of this soon! For dinner I steamed a chicken breast in foil and served it with half a baked sweet potato, steamed broccoli, savoy cabbage and a little gravy.



Just about close enough to a traditional Sunday dinner! For a little desert I had four squares of my new chilli dark chocolate and a chopped golden delicious apple.



The chilli chocolate tasted amazing! I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but it basically tastes just like dark chocolate but with that chilli ‘heat’. Very tasty indeed! I’ve also just went back to the kitchen for another apple. Feeling snacky again!

Yesterday the hubby and I were out having a look around some of our local shops to get some ideas for our week of sorting our flat out. We ended up finding this little dining table:



It was only £30 (so I think it qualifies as a budget buy!), is solid wood and also has another two chairs which we have stored away under the sofas. As we live in a small one bedroom flat we have to be as creative as possible with space. This little dining set fit the bill as it will fold away if needed. Its actually designed for outdoor use but I think that once its properly dressed with chair pads and a nice table runner it will look fab. None of our furniture really matches (lets just say were going for the eclectic look!) so it should look ok. I can’t wait to be able to eat a proper meal at a table instead of on my lap for a change! Do you have a dining table? Do you use it very often or is it just for special occasions? Do you prefer all your furniture to match?

I’m also well chuffed as I have managed to figure out Ebay and now have several items up for sale. I hope I manage to make a few pounds to help with my Big Budget Challenge.

I’ve also spent some of this weekend trying to improve my food photography a bit after reading this post on (never home)maker. I’ve stopped using the flash and tried photographing near a natural light source, which tends to be right on my kitchen windowsill! I think my photos have definitely improved, what do you think?
Well I’m off to chill out for the rest of the evening before I’m back to the grind tomorrow. Hope you have all had a great weekend! x

I just remembered when I started to write this post that I hadn't mentioned my weigh in yesterday. I lost a pound which puts me back to 10st 1 as I was at the begining of the month. Very happy that I seem to be maintaining a more constant weight at the moment.

I was up far too early for a Saturday this morning, but since the hubby was up for work and woke me up I thought I might as well get up and get in a run nice and early. I had a mixed berry Trek bar and a cup of green tea to fuel up for my run.


I then had an epic run! I took a different route today which is not quite as hilly as my usual route. I started off really well but then I started to get pains in my tummy which was basically wind (sorry if this is too much information!) It made me feel quite uncomfortable like I had a giant balloon in my stomach. I ran for just over 4 miles and then turned around and ran back a slightly different way. I had planned to stop at 7.5 miles and then walk the rest of the way back as a cool down but I had started to feel better so I kept going till I was 2 mins from home. I ended up running 8.33 miles in 1.21! I totally blasted my average pace and fastest mile times and ran most of my miles under 10 mins. Considering I ran most of the way with a belly bloated like a balloon I was very happy with my performance!


Here's a breakdown:

Mile 1 9.49
Mile 2 9.34
Mile 3 9.39
Mile 4 9.03
Mile 5 10.35
Mile 6 9.48
Mile 7 10.33
Mile 8 9.43

When I got home I did some stretching and jumped in the shower, making sure I covered my legs in freezing cold water for a few minutes. I then made myself a green smoothie in a bowl with peanut butter suprises! I blended spinach, frozen banana, frozen strawberries, scoop of chocolate whey, hazelnut and almond rice milk, tablespoon of oats and two tablespoons of smooth peanut butter together and poured into a bowl. I then added a few little drops of crunchy peanut butter into the bowl and gently mixed in and topped it all with some grape nuts for crunch.


I know this looks like a bowl of mud but it was very tasty. I got two big bowl fulls. The little balls of crunchy peanut butter were extra tasty as well. This completely refueled me after my run!

I spent the day just chilling out and cooking. I made some Carrot and Beetroot Soup for lunch:

Carrot and Beetroot Soup

3 carrots chopped
1 beetroot chopped
1 onion chopped
1 clove of garlic crushed
Enough hot vegetable stock to cover the vegetables

Fry off the onions for a couple of minutes then add the carrots and beetroot followed by the stock. Simmer until carrot and beetroot is tender then blend with a hand blender.


This was lovely and so filling!

After that I had a chopped apple and two chopped kiwi.


I also made a pan of Courgette and Watercress soup and then a Date, Carrot and Walnut Loaf cake inspired by a recipe in the 'You Are What You Eat' year planner cook book. This has no butter but uses sunflower oil instead and only has a little bit of unrefined sugar.

Date, Carrot and Walnut Loaf Cake

75g of walnuts
6 chopped medjool dates
175g wholemeal spelt flour
40g light muscavardo sugar
2 medium grated carrots
5 tbs of vegetable oil (or sunflower)
3 medium free range eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp mixed spice

Pre heat the oven to 180 and line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper. Mix all of the ingredients together in a big bowl, reserving a few nuts for the top of the cake. Pour into the tin and bake in the oven for 1 hour, covering the top of the loaf cake with foil 20 mins before the end to prevent over browning.


I had a slice as a mid afternoon snack spread with a little strawberry jam. It was delicious! I'm going to freeze the rest of the slices so that they keep for longer (I got about 9 slices out of the loaf).


I also had another apple, still loving these!


Before I had my afternoon snack I did some yoga for 30 mins using my Yoga Stretch application on the iPhone. I've been having difficulty feeling the yoga the last few weeks, it kind of feels like a chore to do it. I think I'm going to take the pressure off and just do yoga when I feel like it. Now that I know a few poses I think I will just do them as and when and do the poses that I feel like I need to do to stretch where needs stretching!

For dinner I made some Chinese Salmon Fish Cakes - my own recipe!

Chinese Salmon Fishcakes

Large tin of salmon, flaked
1 egg white
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
3 spring onions finely sliced
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 teaspoon of minced ginger
Pinch of chinese 5 spice

Mix all of the ingredients together well then shape into patties and cover with plastic wrap. This recipe makes four patties.


Chill in the fridge for at least half an hour then fry in a little spray oil till browned and warmed through. These did dry up a little in the pan and split, I think the recipe needs a little more tweeking, perhaps more egg will do the trick. I served ours with some stir fried brocolli, red onion, carrot, mushrooms and red pepper with more of my favourite soy sauce and ginger. I have to say, these were really good, even thought they broke up a little. We also had a glass of red wine left over from last night.


Drinks - water, green tea, decaf tea, red wine.

I find cooking and baking so relaxing so today has just been fab. The weather has been gorgeous here as well so I've had all the windows wide open its been lovely. Tomorrow I need to do some grocery shopping, my strength workout and then I'm off out with my friend Kate to see a band called Ash that we both really loved when we were at school, they were big during the whole Brit Pop scene in the mid 90's.
How's all of your weekends going? Hope you've been getting some good weather wherever you are! x