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Hi guys, how has your weekend been? I’ve had a really lovely one, after having a bit of a ‘me’ day on Friday I had a lovely lie in on Saturday morning and awoke to a big comforting bowl of muesli with a chopped apple and kara coconut milk alongside an Indian Chai tea with coconut milk and stevia:

So good to enjoy a big bowl of wonderful muesli! Lunch was a salad with black kale massaged with with lemon juice and mashed avocado, romaine, carrot, red and yellow pepper, olives, more avocado, hemp seeds, nutritional yeast and braggs:

I spent most of the day pottering about in the kitchen getting ready for my little Bonfire night get together. Unfortunately my Sister and my Bro in Law couldn’t get a baby sitter for my 9 month old nephew but my Mam and Dad brought my older nephew Harry with them and my best friend Charlie brought her little girl Hannah. We had so much fun!

~My Bonfire Night Menu~

Vegetable Broth

Cumberland Sausage Sandwiches (Linda McCartney vegan rosemary and red onion sausages for me) with ketchup and fried onions

Caramelised Red Onion with Blueberry Balsamic Vinegar

Roasted brussel sprouts and leeks in a maple dijon dressing (hemp oil, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard)

Banana Coconut Chocolate Chip Bread (my old recipe but with 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips added and unrefined soft brown sugar instead of the xylitol)

Hot Chocolate (made with cococardio) with coconut milk and a shot of amaretto liqueur

      

I had such a lovely evening, I adore those kiddies :-) We ended up watching the fireworks from the top of a hill just two minutes from our flat instead of paying £3 each to go into the actual park. A lot of people had gathered there and the atmosphere was wonderful, I wish I had bought some sparklers, not for the kids but for me!

The food I’d put on went down really well too, that Banana Coconut Chocolate Chip Bread was utterly wonderful even James, who rarely gets excited by food, said it was the best thing I’ve ever baked, and in his words it was ‘f***ing lush’. Not bad for something vegan eh?

This morning I enjoyed another lie in so my run wasn’t in the dark for a change! I was really looking forward to getting out, the weather was perfect, bright but very crisp and I adore the smell after bonfire night. I’ve really been enjoying changing up my running routes recently and today was no exception. I did a route with a good few hills that took me though parts of Durham so I could enjoy the views and all the colourful trees. I did 6.7 miles in 58.13 average pace 8.41. I would have rounded it up to 7 miles but I forgot my mittens to go on top of my gloves and my hands where throbbing with pain by the end!

Breakie was a bit of a tutti fruity smoothie containing spinach, rainbow chard, 1/2 frozen banana, frozen peaches, frozen mixed berries, frozen strawberries, strawberry hemp protein powder, maca powder, spirulina, water, vanilla stevia, gums and topped with raw cashew butter, freeze dried berries and bee pollen:

I made myself a delicious raw lunch of raw aubergine bacon and avocado open faced sandwiches on some raw flat breads along with some chopped veggies:

I had the mid afternoon munchies after I’d downed my usual green juice so made up a bowl of cold roast kabocha squash with some peanut flour sauce (1/4 cup peanut flour with stevia and sea salt) plus a sprinkle of cinnamon and a drizzle of honey:

This was the bomb! Such a great snack, and along with an apple it sorted my rumbling tummy out a treat!

For dinner I had a little bit of leftover roasted greens from last night with some roasted broccoli and a herbed socca wrap filled with roast kabocha squash:

The roast broccoli tasted so good and the sprouts and leeks were wonderful as leftovers often are!

Those of you in the UK – did you do anything special for Bonfire night? Is there any food you always associate with the 5th November? I always remember my Nana’s broth!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Well this has been one hell of a week! I’ve been so busy at work with an event on Monday, two evening meetings, a last minute funding bid to help write and interviews for a new member of staff, its been all go!

Obsessed with my stripey top at the moment!

Of course I’ve also had my exciting bits of news which have made the week go by a lot better. I managed to fit in most of my usual workouts:

• Sunday – Outdoor run – in set back week so didn’t track pace but about 4 miles
• Monday – AM gym workout, 5 minute warm up, 30 minutes strength – from ‘Define yourself’ phase of Female Body Breakthrough, 15 minutes HIITs on treadmill
• Tuesday – AM working late so did Davina Super Body DVD, Super Pump workout followed by Yoga Download Detox Challenge Flow
• Wednesday – AM gym workout, 5k speed intervals treadmill, 30 minutes HIITs cardio machines
• Thursday – Anything goes workout! AM – Yoga for Runners, PM Gym – 30 minutes random intervals on bike, 10 minutes HIITs on step machine, 10 minutes rowing, 100 stability ball crunches 
• Friday - AM gym workout, 5 minute warm up, 30 minutes strength – from ‘Define yourself’ Phase of Female Body Breakthrough, 15 minutes HIITs on bike

I was super happy this morning as I managed 8 full push ups! I had been neglecting this 2011 goal and thought I’d better start making an effort again! I did have a bit of an accident at the gym though – I fell off the stability ball while trying to do a prone jack knife (how tough?) and bashed my knee – the gym floor is basically concrete covered with a thin carpet, ouch!

As I’ve been working late I’ve been able to start work a little later in the day which means I’ve been able to enjoy a more relaxed breakfast! I had one of Maria’s pumpkin spice cakes with some sliced plums, Alpro Soya yoghurt, cinnamon and maple syrup:

That cake was delicious, thank you Maria! Another tasty breakfast included some sprouted wheat bread with almond butter sauce (almond butter mixed with apple and mango fruit puree) and a fruit bowl of apple, clemintines and plums:

That wheat bread is so good, it only has a single ingredient (sprouted wheat) and the serving I had there contains 10g of protein. It is so filling! I also had some bread for lunch with hummus and lots of veggies:

As I’ve been working late I’ve been hitting my failsafe late night meal of a green smoothie:

Tuesday night – spring greens, frozen strawberries, scoop of pb swirl spiru-tein protein powder, midori greens, berries powder, water, ice topped with roasted flax peanut butter, crumbled peanut butter puffins and some freeze dried berries.

Wednesday night – spring greens, blueberries, carob powder, hemp protein powder, midori greens, berries powder, water, ice, stevia topped with muesli and goji berries.

To keep me going at work this week I made a couple of portions of my I can’t believe its not M&S Whole Food Salad for lunches served on top of some spinach and red cabbage:

So tasty, I used kabocha instead of butternut since I still have mountains of the stuff!

For dinner these past two evenings I’ve had green lentils with onions, Linda McCartney vegan mini sausages, sweet potato with almond butter and roasted brussel sprouts:

I love sausages and lentils together, and the sweet potato with almond butter is heaven!

A tasty dessert was also had:

Frozen cherries topped with Alpro Soya yoghurt and peanut flour mixed with apple and mango puree and cacao nibs. I’m really loving frozen cherries right now!

Well I’m sitting here getting very excited for the weekend ahead! I have a nice relaxed evening and then tomorrow I’m hitting the town for some serious Christmas shopping! A couple of items for myself my just make their way into my basket too ;-) We are also planning on treating ourselves to Starbucks and lunch out. Can not wait! I’m also planning a massive cooking / baking session – I need some gingerbread in my life!

What do you have planned for the weekend? Have you tried any of the seasonal Starbucks coffees? Which would you recommend?

Hope whatever your up to you have a good one!