My first Christmas baking project and an allotment!

Hello everyone, hope you’ve all enjoyed a lovely weekend! I’ve had a pretty busy one, but its all been good :-)

On Saturday morning we got up bright and early to get over to Newcastle before the shops got too busy. I had a quick but tasty breakfast of Natures Path Maple Sunrise cereal with chopped plums, hemp milk and some hemp seeds sprinkled on top:

Once we got to town we made a bee line for Starbucks - I decided to go with a Soy Gingerbread Latte and it was delicious! Then I proceeded to well and truly shop till I dropped. My Mam and Dad gave me some Christmas spending money, I got two coats, boots, scarves, a dress, a jumper and several necklaces – all great bargains too! I’ll be sharing them in my outfit of the day soon. I also made a good dint in my Christmas present shopping as well. I felt so Christmassy, I even treated myself to some roasted chestnuts from the continental market! I also fitted in a trip to the health food shop for a few bits and pieces:

Cacao nibs, che mate ginger tea, sauerkraut, Starbucks VIA Christmas blend, soy whip and apple juice sweetened sweet mince meat

I can not wait to make some festive porridge with the sweet mincemeat and I’m saving the soy whip for desserts over Christmas. I also got a couple of red kabocha squash and some basil tofu from Waitrose. We also called into the new oriental supermarket which is huge! I didn’t have much time for a proper look around but I can not wait to hit it again. I got some interesting looking peanut mochi and some frozen shredded Thai young coconut:

Thai young coconut is an ingredient in a lot of raw food recipes so I’m looking forward to trying this out!

We had been planning on staying in Newcastle for lunch but James was feeling a bit worse for wear after being out on Friday night so I swung by a new deli / cafe on the way back to the car. I ended up getting some couscous, marinated Mediterranean veggies and some hummus. I ate it all once we called in at my parents on top of some spinach:

It was delicious and the hummus was some of the best I’d ever tasted! I had a huge portion of it, so good!

Other tastiness from the weekend include my fave raw spiralised courgette with my raw pasta sauce and nutritional yeast:

A big salad with black kale, lettuce, carrot, ramiro pepper, raw beetroot, black beans and braggs:

Baked tofu with parsnip and broccoli stem chips, steamed broccoli and ketchup:

The baked tofu was delicious, I pressed it and marinaded it in shoyu, mirin and ume vinegar then baked it with plenty of coconut oil till it went super crispy. I can’t believe some people say they don’t like tofu!

A couple of green smoothies:

 kale, frozen cherries, chocolate sun warrior protein powder, raw cacao powder, berries powder, ice, water, gums and topped with cacao nibs and gojis

Kale, spring greens, courgette, 1/2 avocado, a sachet of spirutein greens powder, 1/2 scoop vanilla sun warrior protein powder, midori greens, berries powder, ice, water, gums, vanilla stevia and topped with cashew butter, popped amaranth and bee pollen

I popped the amaranth myself while I was making some popcorn on Friday night, its really nice and I much prefer it this way than cooked traditionally.

Today I did my run but it was so windy I decided to run to the gym, do a few miles on the treadmill and then run home. I ran the long way to the gym (1.6 miles) 3.5 miles on the treadmill switching up speed and incline and then I ran straight home (1 mile) for a total 6.1 miles.

I’ve had a very busy weekend of cooking, I kicked off my first Christmas baking project with gingerbread cookies! I made these last year using Mama Peas recipe and I said back then I could see them becoming a Christmas tradition and I was right:

I’m having a couple for dessert later, taking a few to work and freezing the rest for porridge and smoothie toppings! I’ve also made up a big batch of Thai Sweet Potato and Leek Soup, a Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chilli and some red pepper, cashew and mesquite raw dip – recipes to come!

I also had an unexpected knock on the door this morning from the Chairman of the allotment association – I now have an allotment! Here it is:

I can’t believe I have my own little plot! Its pretty big and needs a lot of clearing. To be honest I’m feeling a bit over whelmed by the work I’m going to have to spend on it but the thought of growing my own kale and the amount of money I’m going to save is strengthening my resolve!

If anyone out there with an allotment has any tips for me let me know! Are you starting to feel Christmassy yet? Shopping and making those cookies has put me right in the mood! One one week left for all you Secret Santa’s to get your gifts posted, so excited to see what everyone gets!

Hope you’ve all had a great weekend!