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Hi everyone, hope your having a very lovely Sunday afternoon! I’ve had a great weekend because I’ve been super productive. Yesterday morning I started by sorting through all the household paper work filing things away and filling a bag of documents to shred. I also sorted out my shelves on the book case putting away DVD’s, CD’s and books and today I’m planning on sorting through my clothes and bags (of which there are many!) into piles for the charity shop and eBay. I’ve also been busy in the kitchen making a big batch of lentil soup, a peanut lime sauce, roasted aubergine hummus, brown rice and barley and some raw crackers. I’m exhausted now!

Getting the base for my lentil soup going!

I also had a walk into town and back yesterday to meet up with the lovely Jess for a Starbucks fix. It was great to see her, she received a lovely complement from a stranger too, gotta love those communal coffee shop tables!

This morning I enjoyed a glorious run in the sunshine. I went out without the Garmin again and just ran for the enjoyment of running. No idea how far or how fast, I think I was out for about 40 minutes or so? When I came back I made a tasty Courgette Banana Bread Green Smoothie:

I made this with spinach, courgette, frozen banana, vanilla sun warrior protein powder, maca, ground flax, water and ice and topped it with dried cherries and lemon salted roast almonds, yum!

Yesterday mornings breakfast was delicious, Vanilla Chai Pear Oatmeal with Tofu Yoghurt and Walnuts!

I cooked the oats in some Pukka Vanilla Chai tea, added a chopped pear and vanilla stevia then topped with some tofu yoghurt, chopped oats and cinnamon.

For lunch I made use of some kelp noodles I’d won in a competition on the Viva Pure Facebook page – I rinsed then soaked them in filtered water and lime juice then drained them and added some carrot ribbons and a sauce made from 3 tbsp of raw dark tahini, sweet white miso and water. I also added a good amount of fresh parsley:

So good, I love my kelp noodles!

Last night I had an amazing macrobiotic inspired meal. I was chopping up a kabocha squash and thought it looked a bit pale and watery so I decided to try out a recipe from Blissful Bites for pumpkin with apricot and ginger glaze. As it turned out the kabocha was fine and that glaze was utterly amazing! I didn’t think much other than nut butter could make kabocha taste any better but this did. I served it with some steamed greens and quinoa mixed with edamame and parsley. I also added a drizzle of peanut lime sauce:

I’d picked up some limes from the reduced bin at the green grocers (4 for 50p) so decided to make a peanut and lime dressing. I mixed 1/4 cup peanut flour with one tbsp of sesame peanut butter (because I’m all out of regular pb) the juice from one lime, soy sauce and water. I also used it on today’s salad with more of the glazed kabocha, cos lettuce and some finely sliced mange tout:

I also used the lime juice instead of my usual lemon juice in my fave green juice blend:

This was cucumber, celery, parsley, ginger and lime juice, love my weekend juices!

For a snack this afternoon I’ve just had an apple followed by this chocolate berry smoothie using mixed frozen berries, 2 big spring green leaves, a scoop of chocolate amazing grass powder and a tbsp of raw cacao powder blended with water and ice drank out of a pretty mug of course:

So refreshing on a warm afternoon!

I really do love ticking things off the old to do list. I’m currently reading The Happiness Project, and one thing that I’ve taken from it so far is how tackling nagging tasks supports your overall happiness. I certainly feel better for getting those things done! I also know how much easier, cheaper and tastier, next week will be now that I’ve prepped a couple of dishes – I do love my Sunday cook up sessions!

Have you had a good weekend so far? Do you keep a to do list? How do you approach keeping on top of nagging tasks?

Hi everyone, hope you’ve been having a lovely weekend! I’ve had a great one, today I was out for Sunday lunch to celebrate Mother’s day with my Mam and Grandma :-) I decided to rock my £3.50 eBay skirt:

Outfit of the day: drop crystal earrings: Oasis, blazer: Topshop, pink long sleeved top: Dorothy Perkins, bag: H&M, floral skirt: eBay, black tights: M&S, grey peep toe boots: Oasis.

It feels like I’ve been eating so many colourful foods this weekend! Looking back to Saturday, we had a lovely relaxed morning – I made a big pot of sencha green tea and just chilled out while eating breakfast. This was just delicious:

A slice of my coconut banana bread with strawberries, apple blackberry tofu yoghurt and passion fruit. I know I’ve said it before but I adore that tofu yoghurt and it tasted so good with the coconut banana bread. Just so I can link back to it here’s the super simple recipe that I use to make the yoghurt:

Simple tofu yoghurt (makes two servings)

• 1 package of mori nu silken tofu
• 1 small jar of fruit puree / 3 tbsp of pureed fruit (I’ve been using hip organic baby food!)
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Chill in the fridge before eating. I really love its plain creamy taste – dare I say it, almost as much as Greek yoghurt! It certainly makes a nice vegan alternative, at least for me!

Lunch was a beautiful ‘rainbow’ salad. I just loved all the colours in this!

It included cos lettuce, sweet pea shoots, alfalfa sprouts, carrot, yellow pepper, beetroot, sugar snaps and cucumber plus a load of mixed seeds for added protein and crunch. I made the simplest and tastiest dressing inspired by a recipe in Veganomicon using 1 tbsp of tahini, 1 tbsp of sweet white miso and water, it was utterly delicious.

I went for more posh green juice too:

Posh because I drink it from a wine glass ;-) This was my first green juice sans fruit – it contained celery, romaine, cucumber, broccoli, lemon and ginger and tasted surprisingly good without the added sweetness of the usual apple or pear. I’ve also had a few colourful fruit filled bowls:

Dinner was a a socca pizza type creation. I made up the usual socca and topped with a thick layer of my broccoli and olive high protein hummus, broccoli and brussel sprouts roasted in coconut oil, beetroot and alfalfa sprouts:

This was really good and very filling but I think would have tasted even better with regular hummus! I also had some 74% dark chocolate with mint from Plamils – it tasted amazing!

Sunday morning I was up for my run. I decided I to go for a nice relaxed 9 miles (the furthest I have ran this year) which I did in 1hr 25 minutes with an average pace of 9.32 which I was really happy with. It was a good run but it did feel slow and tough at times. It was nice to hit the 9 mile distance though and I felt really strong at the end, even managing a bit of a sprint finish! I was thinking back to last years training and how achy and tired I felt after some of my runs. So far this year I’ve had none of that, my recovery seems to have massively improved.

Breakfast was a delicious chocolate cherry beet green smoothie made with a big cooked beetroot and the usual maca, mesquite and ground flax then topped with peanut flour sauce, grape nuts cereal and cacao nibs:

So good!

I was a little nervous of visiting the restaurant for Sunday lunch as I didn’t want to have any problems finding something vegan to order. I shouldn’t have worried though as ended up with some penne in a lovely roast veggie and tomato sauce along with a big salad. My tummy wasn’t so happy with the white pasta – it always bloats me up now - but I had a few cups of green tea when I got home which made me feel better.

For dinner I made a huge pan of my favourite spring soup – Courgette and Watercress. For such a simple recipe this really tastes fab:

I had a couple of bowls full, just so nourishing and delicious. I also had more tofu yoghurt with strawberries, blueberries and a little bit of granola:

All in all a lovely weekend has been had!

I’ve also managed to be quite productive which is always good, I got another assignment completed for my diet and nutrition course and had a lovely Sunday cook up session so I have meals ready for the next couple of days, as well as an extremely well stocked freezer. I think next week will be eat out the freezer week!

Do you like to eat a rainbow of different coloured foods? I love to try and eat lots of different colours – mainly because they are so pretty but also because eating a range of colours ensures you get a full range of nutrients. I have Colleen Patrick – Goudreau’s Colour Me Vegan cookbook on my wish list – it has a range of recipes based on the colour of foods!

I would have to say that my favourite food colour is green – apples, kale, spring greens and cucumber are some of my favourite veggies!

What’s your favourite ‘food colour’?

Hi everyone, hope you’ve enjoyed a great weekend! I’ve had a busy one catching up with friends and family including a kiddies party and BBQ.

I did manage to fit in a couple of great workouts - As I’m off to NYC next week I’ll be taking a few days off from working out so I thought I’d squeeze in an additional workout this weekend and use it as an opportunity to try out something new. I had read in this months Ultra Fit magazine about the 3,2,1 workout system used by Hollywood personal trainer Ramona Braganza:

source

It basically means 3 sections of cardio, 2 sections of strength and 1 section of abs and core work (at least that’s how I’ve interpreted it based on the info in the article). Here’s how I transferred this idea into a workout:

• section 1 – 10 minutes cardio intervals - cross trainer
• section 2 – 10 minutes lower body strength circuit including lunges, squats, dead lifts (I have serious DOMS in my glutes today from this!) etc
• section 3 – 10 minutes cardio intervals - step machine
• section 4 – 10 minutes upper body strength circuit including shoulder press, hammer curls, upright row, tricep kick backs etc
• section 5 – 10 minutes cardio intervals – bike
• section 6 – 10 minutes abs and core – 2 min plank, 1 min side planks, sit ups on stability ball with medicine ball for added resistance, bicycle crunches etc

I really enjoyed this workout, I loved combining the cardio and fast paced resistance circuits as it made the workout fly over! I think I may incorporate this system into my training more often!

Today’s workout was my long run. I changed up my usual route completely – this one includes a couple of hills, two of which are an absolute killer and right in the last couple of miles of the route. I set out early and completed 10.5 miles in 1.39 with an average pace of 9.24 which although slower than last week I was pretty chuffed with considering those hills! I am still in shock every time I see my pace as it has improved so much since last year.

Eats have been great too! Breakfast on Saturday morning was so so good:

I had bought a tub of plain soy yoghurt to try as I have never had it before and wanted to see how it compared to my tofu yoghurt. I also a bottle of orange flower water that I’d picked up as an impulse purchase. I mixed the soy yoghurt with a teaspoon of the orange flower water and had it alongside some blueberries, a crumbled sunshine muffin and some pistachios. I loved the delicate orange flavour of the yoghurt. As far as the soy yoghurt versus tofu yoghurt goes I actually still prefer my tofu yoghurt! This was ok but I like the simpler ingredients of my tofu yoghurt as the soy yoghurt contains added sugar. One thing that the soy yoghurt has over the tofu yoghurt is that it has added calcium and vitamin D. I think in future I may change up between the two so I’m getting the added vitamin and mineral benefits.

Lunch on Saturday was my favourite sunflower seed butter raw wraps made with spring green leaves and filled with apple and carrot. I also had some chopped plums and more carrot on the side:

For dinner I made a herbed socca pizza base and topped it with my high protein hummus and roasted veggies including aubergine, asparagus, courgette, red pepper and red onion:

It was heaven! The combo of hummus and roasted veggies is always good but was wonderful on top of the herbed socca.

This morning I refuelled after my run with a tasty tropical green smoothie:

This contained spring greens, frozen banana, frozen mango, vanilla sun warrior, ground flax, mesquite, maca and xanthan and guar gums. I topped it with coconut flour sauce, cacao nibs, gojis and raw granola.

Today we were round at James Dads for a BBQ. I had two tofu sausages, onion rings, lots of salad, picked onions, beetroot and ketchup:

I also had more salad, several jazz apples and lots of strawberries! We enjoyed the BBQ in his little sun trap of a back garden:

OOTD: Denim Jacket: New look, gray tee: New look, gold chain necklace: Topshop, Tan bag: Dune, cardigan (just seen): Tesco, trousers: Topshop, gold sandals: Next

Before we headed round there we had a quick shopping trip into Newcastle. I picked up a few cheap purchases from Primark:

I loved the cherry print on that top and thought it would be a great summer look to go with jeans or shorts. I also loved this khaki colour chinos which I’ll be able to wear for work with smarter tops as well as casual. I just couldn’t resist the Wonder Woman tee, will be great to wear around the house, as well as with jeans and converse! I usually don’t like much I see in Primark so I was happy to find these for a change!

I can’t believe we are now in May! I’ll be back tomorrow with a quick post looking back over April, my goals for May and a few thoughts on weight maintenance. I’m definitely thinking of incorporating the 3,2,1 system into my training plan, especially as I want to avoid boredom as well as continuing to challenge my body in new ways. Have you came across the 3,2,1 style of workout before? What did you think? Do you change up your workouts each month or do you just go with the flow?

Hi everyone, Hope your having a good week! Mine is going ok but I’m fighting an awful cold, I hate feeling poorly!

Yesterday I did my first Monday early morning gym workout in a while, now that I have changed from my usual Monday evening workout / spin class. I was feeling a bit under the weather I decided to do a reduced intensity workout than the one I had planned. I ended up doing 15 minutes each on the treadmill, cross trainer, bike and step machine – I still did intervals but at a lower intensity and skipped the planned speed work on the treadmill. I also did my abs and core exercises. Yes, I could have skipped the workout all together but I didn’t feel that ill, and I know I would have felt worse if I hadn’t got my body moving!

Today I did the usual Yoga for Runners when I got up and then Body Pump this evening. I even managed to increase my weights for the squats so I must be on the mend!

As I’m fighting this cold, eats have tended to be easy to prep comfort food. Yesterdays breakfast was a cup of the Kashi Go Lean Crunch I got in NYC with 1/2 cup of brown rice puffs for chew, sesame milk and lovely blueberries:

This was so tasty and just hit the spot! I think I will really enjoy eating that Kashi cereal! I also tried out a cup of the Chocolate Mint Caffeine free Teecino – another NYC purchase. It tasted wonderful, not exactly like coffee but in a good way!

Yesterdays lunch and snacks:

My appetite wasn’t massive so I just had a bowl of Pea, Broccoli and Mint Soup I’d made at the weekend, a pear, plums and the last of my NYC cheesy kale chips :-(

Dinner was out of the freezer – Roast Vegetable Curry with millet, steamed greens, sugar snap peas, mixed salad leaves:

Love how curry tastes better after its been frozen!

I decided to go for a smoothie for dessert:

I had some romaine to use up so blended it with a small fresh banana, ice, water, 3 tbsp of peanut flour, gums and stevia then topped with some freeze dried berries and flaked almonds.

Today’s breakfast was the return of tofu yoghurt! I had some with a fresh batch of rhubarb compote. I was out of oranges so instead of my usual recipe I added some fresh minced ginger and brown sugar to make a Rhubarb and Ginger Compote!

I also had a chopped apple and some treacle granola, so good!

This evenings dinner has been another freezer raid – Kabocha Squash with Adzuki beans, millet, spinach, steamed asparagus and lots of fresh chopped parsley and mixed seeds:

Followed by a Smore’s flavour Spiru-tein protein ice cream creation topped with cacao nibs:

Delish!

Today I have been on a training course with work and it has been the first time I have attended an event like this as a ‘vegan’. Just to clarify – I see myself as mostly vegan but use that label with a lot of flexibility – I do eat things with trace dairy in and occasionally I may consider eating local free range eggs, yoghurt or goats cheese but its something I’m trying not to stress about. I basically eat what makes me feel my best, which at the moment is about 98% vegan.

I would usually just take along a snack bar and some chopped fruit and veggies in a bag to these kind of things and discretely eat them but this was a full sit down meal affair and I didn’t want to appear ignorant by eating my own food or leaving the room to do so. I was really chuffed with what they served me:

Stuffed pepper with roasted vegetables in a tomato and herb sauce with rice. This was very tasty!

Luckily my cold seems to be improving – I think all the fruit and veggies are working their magic! I’ve also been pleased that my freezer has been full of healthy and easy to cook meals which alongside a couple of things I prepped at the weekend has made sorting out dinner the last couple of days stress free so I’ve been able to spend some time relaxing and fighting this cold!

What’s your favourite comfort / easy to prep food for when your feeling under the weather or short on time?

If your vegan / veggie what’s the best / worst thing you’ve been served for your veggie option?

Hi folks, I was very excited about today’s breakfast this morning. It seems I have been going through plenty of peanut butter recently so I got to make Oats in a Jar again! This time I made up some porridge with scottish oats, water and some frozen summer fruits. When the porridge had cooked the berries had gone all melty and jam like so I decided a teaspoon of actual jam (black cherry) would do no harm!



Devine!

Last night I had been wondering what to take into work today for my mid morning snack and since I have loads of little peaches to use up I decided to try something a little experimental:

Peachy Tofu ‘Yoghurt’

• 1 block of mori nu silken tofu
• 2 small chopped peaches
• Agave syrup to taste (I used about 2 tablespoons)

Start by blending the tofu and agave until smooth in a food processor. Add the chopped peach and pulse the blender until the fruit has broken down to desired texture. Chill then eat.



This photo doesn’t do it justice, such a simple recipe, full of great ingredients, protein packed and tasty!
On my lunch break I headed to Lidl again to try and pick up some cheap fruits and veggies, I also popped into Aldi (the town I work in is cheapo supermarket central!) and between the two I ended up with loads of wonderful reasonably priced produce.

Lunch was a proper salad beast, I hadn’t realised just how much veggies I’d put in my lunch box! My salad contained spinach, little gem lettuce, yellow pepper, carrot, cucumber, red onion, tuna, tablespoon of omega seed mix and balsamic dressing.


Good job I like my veggies! I also had an apple.



Before I left work I tried one of the Clif Bars I bought whilst in London. This was Oatmeal, Raisin, Walnut.



I have been dying to try a Clif Bar after seeing them on so many US blogs, and I wasn’t disappointed, it was very tasty! However I’m pretty sure you could make a decent home made version with oats, raisins, peanut butter, walnuts and mixed spice.

I headed home for my run, as the weather was looking a bit dodgy I decided to do my run on the treadmill at the gym. I did 3.1 miles in 30 minutes. I popped to the proper supermarket to get some things that I can’t get from Lidl or Aldi, including these huge jars of peanut butter (think of the Oats in a Jar I can make in those babies!) and then came home and did 20 minutes Yoga for Runners.



Dinner was a stir fry made with Quorn pieces (bought a bag a while ago and though I should use it up), broccoli, yellow pepper, red onion, garden peas and courgette with plenty of ginger and soy sauce.



It was delicious!

For desert I made a protein cake with an egg white, 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder, 2 tablespoons of banana apple puree and a scoop of chocolate peanut butter swirl spiru-tein. I topped the cake with a spoonful of dark chocolate dreams and served it with some strawberries.



The cake was gorgeous – it had a lovely doughy brownie like texture. I also had another apple.

Yesterday I was talking about my Birthday next week and how I have the day off which I plan on spending the majority of on my own. I decided that I wanted to have a really lovely day doing some things that I would really enjoy. So here’s my plan for the day:

• Get up and go for a relaxed 3 mile run followed by yoga
• Delicious pancakes for breakfast
• Pampering shower using nice products, do my hair and make up and put on a cool outfit
• Head over to Newcastle and potter around vintage shops, high street shops and the market stopping for coffee at a new coffee shop I’ve had my eye on trying for ages.
• Lunch in a deli I’ve always wanted to try out.
• Head home after stocking up on fresh fruit and veggies from the market
• Get changed in to ‘chill out clothes’ and watch a movie
• Get all dressed up and head into Durham to meet up with the hubby for a cocktail
• Evening meal at my favourite restaurant in Durham – The Fat Buddha which serves a range of Asian dishes (my absolute favourite!)
• Home to snuggle up with the hubby in front of the TV with a glass of red wine and some dark chocolate

I’m going to give myself a budget for the day as well so I can do a little shopping too! What do you think of my plans? I’m also going to be celebrating my birthday with family and friends on Saturday which I’m also really looking forward to, I’m planning to go out for a meal with the girls on Saturday night, I’m just hoping that everyone can make it as my two best friends are poorly at the moment bless them.
What would be on your list if you had a day to do whatever you liked?

Today I was excited to receive these:

 

Cookies! Or more specifically vegan spiral cookies that I had won as part of Chocolate Covered Katie's amazing vegan bake sale for Japan. Big thanks to Hannah who donated these I think they are brilliant!

Notable eats over the last couple of days have included Monday’s breakfast: I tried some of the Alara In the Garden muesli I had bought from Goodness Direct:

I had it with strawberries and hazelnut and almond rice milk. It was ok but I didn’t pack my bowl out as I usually do so I was a bit disappointed, next time I’ll be filling the bowl right up!

Today’s breakfast did make up for it though:

Tofu yoghurt with rhubarb and orange compote, strawberries and We are bear tropical crunch granola. Yes, still obsessed with my tofu yoghurt! The rhubarb compote is amazing too. I left big chunks of orange in it this time. I’m very glad that this freezes well as I’ll be making up a few batches while rhubarb is in season.

Today’s lunch was really good - I made up a batch of my high protein hummus and used it to fill some raw cabbage wraps with some china rose sprouts. I also had a sliced red pepper, carrot sticks and two perfect plums:

Last nights dinner was wonderful herbed socca made into a ‘sandwich’ containing mashed roast kabocha squash with miso tahini sauce plus lots of steamed kale and greens with more miso tahini sauce:

This was so delicious, I really can’t get enough of herbed socca! I find socca so useful as I don’t buy bread or wraps apart from rye bread and pittas that I keep in the freezer. Socca is the perfect vegan replacement for my much loved egg white and spelt wraps as I can just make these up when I need them – such a great versatile recipe!

Tonight I made a Buddha bowl using buckwheat (my first ever try) with roast kabocha, kidney beans and spring onions on top of a big pile of steamed greens with some Thai Taste yellow chilli and ginger sauce and parsley:

This was delicious, the chilli ginger sauce was wonderful and I really liked the buckwheat. Its so quick and easy to cook so I can see it being another staple wholegrain in my diet!

For dessert I made a giant bowl of protein ice cream using a sachet of strawberry spiru-tein, water, ice and xanthan gum then topped it with a crumbled spiral cookie:

The cookie tasted fab and I loved the big pillowy bowl of protein ice cream!

My workouts have been the usual – intervals, spin and abs and core last night, yoga this morning and Body Pump this evening – which was just awesome as always. I’m thinking of knocking the spin on the head for a while as I’d like to try bringing my Monday workouts to first thing in the morning as I really do prefer to workout at this time. I do like the spinning but I feel like I’ll get more out of working out on the gym equipment first thing before work. Do you change around your classes or do you stick to doing the same classes each week?