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Hi Everyone, I hope all of your weeks are going well. I'm so happy we've reached the half way mark!

I had a lovely breakie this morning - hazelnut rye bread spread with quark and black cherry jam with a big pink grapefruit.


This is some of the German rye bread I brought home from Majorca. I've frozen them all so I can just pull out a couple of slices when I fancy. Check out those hazelnut pieces!

This did a great job of keeping me full till my mid morning snack which was the last of my spicy lentil dip with veggies for dipping.


So love this dip, will definitely be buying it again!

Before lunch I headed out on to the little high street were I work and checked out a couple of charity shops then headed to Lidl to see if I could pick up some bargains. I was looking for some greek yoghurt as recomended by JAG, but I couldn't find it. Instead I got some fruit and veg - a butternut squash, bananas, cos lettuce, rhubard and an avocado. I thought the prices were excellent!

Lunch was same as yesterday - my quinoa and feta salad beast, followed by strawberries and a nectarine.


I snacked on a bag of nakd pineapple raisins for pre gym fuel then went and did 30 minutes of sweaty intervals followed by usual abs and headed home to do a 20 minute Yoga for Runners flow.


Dinner was wonderful Turkey and Vegetable Kebabs made using turkey steaks, yellow pepper, courgette and red onion cooked on the griddle pan served on top of some stir fried spring greens and topped with some home made spicy peanut sauce.


This sauce was amazing, I'll be using it on everything now!

Spicy Peanut Sauce

1 heaped teaspoon of smooth peanut butter
3 tablespoons of coconut milk (I used kara coconut milk)
2 tablespoons of light soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon of chilli (I just used some lazy chilli)
1/2 teaspoon of ginger (again, I used the lazy ginger)

Combine all ingredients in a little bowl. This was delicious on the kebabs but would also work really well as a stir fry sauce or as a sauce for chicken. Delish!

For desert I decided to indulge in a Protein Frappe. I didn't have any ice cubes in the freezer so I added a handful of frozen blueberries along with a scoop of vanilla whey, coffee and kara coconut milk. I also had a granny smith apple.


I got pretty excited today when I discovered that Amazon will be selling groceries, including organic and vegan ranges. I think some Clif Bars may find their way into my basket next time I'm buying from Amazon! Which of course won't be for the next three months until my Big Budget Challenge is completed :-( I've always wanted to try Clif Bars after seeing them on so many U.S blogs. I also spotted some lovely looking teas, amaretto coffee, RAW crackers and fruit bars, buckwheat and rice bread and dark chocolate dreams peanut butter.

A big thankyou to everyone who is now following me on Twitter, I've been really enjoying it! I also just want to say a big thank you to everyone who comments on my posts, I love all your comments so keep them coming! I think I just realised today how much I love blogging and the blogging community. I'm so glad I have a place to talk about my passions! Well I am off to make my lunch ready for tomorrow and to make up a couple of Mint Chocolate Tofu Puddings for dinner tomorrow night. See ya! x

Hi everyone, how we all doing? Have you had a good weekend? Mine has been pretty good despite being a bit of a catch up weekend. I have managed to do a lot of tasks that needed to be sorted including completing two assignments for my Diet and Nutrition advisors course, washing, ironing, cleaning etc. Oh what a glamorous life I lead!

I decided that I would get my long run out of the way first thing on Saturday so I set out nice and early and got into a good running groove. I was astonished when I looked down at my Garmin at the 6 mile mark and saw my pace, I was doing really well! This pushed me to keep up the pace for the rest of my route and I ended up doing 11 miles in 1hr 40 with an average pace of 9.05. This was my personal best run ever! Considering that last week I did the same route only slightly shorter (10 miles) and had an average pace of 9.40 this was just awesome! It also means that if I can keep to that kind of pace I will be able to achieve a sub 2 hour half marathon :-)

Well tasty weekend eats have included:

Giant smoothie with romaine, spinach, small frozen banana, pear, 2 apricots, 2 tbsp of choc-a-lot Vega protein powder, hemp milk, ice, maca, mesquite, xanthan and guar gums then topped with treacle granola and gojis:

Yummy as always!

My home mix muesli with hemp milk, strawberries and blueberries. I had a big muesli craving and this giant bowl hit the spot!

Green juices (in my new Kilner jar for storing home made nut milks) cucumber, celery, broccoli, rhubarb, lemon, ginger. I had a couple of random rhubarb stalks in the fridge to use, they juice very well!

Awesome socca wrap: herbed socca wrap fried in coconut oil with parsley and basil filled with sunflower seed butter, chopped apple and alfalfa sprouts with rest of apple and a chopped red pepper:

So so good, I’ve discovered that the perfect ratio for getting the socca the right thickness for a wrap is 1/3 cup of gram flour mixed with 1/2 cup of water – this makes it a bit thinner than the half and half mix.

Salad beast containing romaine, red pepper, carrot, sugar snaps, cucumber, alfalfa sprouts, raw rosemary crackers with Appetite for Reductions Green Onion Miso Dressing:

I liked this dressing, although not as much as other dressings I’ve made recently from Choosing Raw.

Smoked sesame tofu with buckwheat on top of stir fried (in coconut oil) pak choy, broccoli, mushrooms and cauliflower with Green Onion Miso Dressing and shoyu:

This was delicious, the stir fried veggies were great and went really well with the sauce.

More smoked tofu, this time with roast broccoli and asparagus, buckwheat and a spicy lime ginger peanut sauce (1 tbsp of smooth pb, hot water, lime juice, lazy chilli, fresh minced ginger, shoyu), nom!

Cacao Coconut Frappe made with instant coconut milk:

I really don’t have the words to explain how good this is!

Reese miniature dark chocolate cups snackies:

What can I say, these are just little pieces of heaven. I can’t wait to melt them into a bowl of porridge!

So much deliciousness this weekend :-) I’ve also made a tasty dip and soup – more on those tomorrow!

Since I’ve spent the majority of the weekend on the sofa in my sweat pants and therefore have no Outfit of the Day for you, I thought I’d share a couple of items on my current fashion wish list:

High waist mid wash denim shorts – Dorothy Perkins £23

I love these high waist style shorts for a twist on a classic.

Cropped striped blazer, People Tree@ ASOS, £85

I really fancy a nice striped blazer that can be dressed up or down. This cropped style is gorgeous but I’ll probably look for something more affordable on the high street. Silver sandals – Topshop, £28

I just love these style of sandals! Again, I will probably shop about and see what I can find – I also love jewelled sandals for a bit of bling.

Essie Nail Polish in Mint Candy Apple

This is my favourite nail colour at the moment, so fresh and spring like!

I just hope that the weather gets warm enough to wear these soon! I’m dying to be able to wear shorts and sandals but its just been too cold recently.

What’s on your current fashion / make up wish list?

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!