Happy Halloween! Hope you are all doing well and enjoying your day. I love Halloween but don’t really have much opportunity to celebrate it, we don’t even get trick or treaters where we live! :-(

Last night I made a delicious autumnal vegan dinner:

Vegan Lentil and Swede Cottage Pie (serves 1):

• 1/2 cup of brown lentils, rinsed
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1/2 onion, finely diced
• Vegetable stock
• 1/2 large swede, diced
• 1 tsp of pure sunflower spread
• 1 tablespoon of soy milk

Begin by frying the onion and carrot in a little oil in a small pan. When the onion becomes transparent and the carrot has softened a little add the lentils and enough vegetable stock to cover everything. Simmer, topping up the pan with more stock as required until the lentils are cooked (about 20 minutes). While the lentils are simmering steam the swede until tender then mash together with the pure spread and soy milk until creamy. In an individual sized oven dish pour the lentils in and then top with the swede mash. Bake in a 200c oven for around 10 minutes until warmed through. Serve with steamed greens.

 

This was so delicious! I made the hubby a traditional version with beef mince and potato mash and I think mine was far more flavourful. This was extremely filling too, especially as I piled on the swede! I served mine with some steamed red russian kale and broccoli.

Desert was some RAW zesty orange chocolate and an unpictured russet apple.

This morning I made a quick smoothie in a bowl using some frozen fruit salad mix, soy milk, agave syrup and ground flax and nut mix topped with granola.

I headed to the gym and ran 10k on the treadmill – the first 5k I ran 0.5 mile speed intervals between 6 – 7.5 mph then for the second 5k I did 0.5 mile hill intervals with a 2% incline. Great workout! I finished off with 10 minutes on the step machine.

When I got back I had a slice of toasted soda bread with peanut butter and black cherry fruit sweetened jam.

I also had two unpictured russet apples. Lunch was another bowl of roast tomato and red pepper soup, same as yesterday along with a satsuma.

For dinner I made a Roast Butternut, Radicchio and Goats Cheese Salad. Basically some romaine lettuce, one head of chopped radicchio, about a cup of roast butternut squash topped with organic goats cheese, balsamic vinegar and some toasted seeds.

Very seasonal and very delicious!

I had been hoping on making a pumpkin pie for Halloween but the Graham Cracker pie crust I bought a couple of weeks ago had crumbled in its packaging. Instead I made a Pumpkin Pie Smoothie based on Mama Peas recipe (without the nutmeg or garam masala) – poured it into a bowl and topped with the Graham Cracker crumbs, maple syrup and some mixed seeds.

Yum!

October Review

October has been one hell of a month for me! I feel like I’ve really being under going a lot of change – from my new vegetarian diet to getting all my hair cut off!

This month I have:

• Kept up with my weekly spinning and yoga classes
• Ran 15k each week (split between a 5k during the week and 10k on a weekend)
• Lost 4lbs and half an inch off my hips

Just the same as last month, the weight loss has really surprised me. I have lost a startling 9lbs since I did the Great North Run in the middle of September. I certainly don’t feel like I need to lose any more weight and I’m completely happy with my body and feel that I’m eating enough. I never feel starving and I haven’t had a bingeing episode in a long time. I guess that may be why I have lost weight. At the moment I’m really happy with what I’m eating although I plan to include more whole grains so this may help to balance things out for next month. I’m also happy with how I’m exercising so I’m going to just continue weighting myself once a month and see how things continue. If I’m still at a low weight (for me) after Christmas I will have to think about trying to gain (can not believe I just typed that!) I like to have a few curves! Ultra slim would just not suit me.

I’m very happy that I have achieved everything I wanted to this month. I’m also doing well trying to focus on being healthy rather than slim. I used to beat myself up if I ate an extra snack – but now as long as its something that’s going to nourish my body I let that guilt go.

Goals for November:

• Continue with spinning and yoga classes
• Continue to run at least 15k a week
• Increase some of my resistance levels / change up my HIIT sessions a bit so they are more challenging
• In line with my thoughts in this post, continue to try and eat a varied plant based vegetarian diet including more whole grains and organic foods and reducing diary products
• Continue with my basic training plan structure but change DVD to Davina McCall Davina Fit DVD - Top fit and Bottom fit workouts (both on a Tuesday, Top fit on a Thursday)

Current stats:

• Weight 9st 5lbs
• Waist: 27 inches
• Bust: 35.5 inches
• Hips: 34.5 inches

What have you achieved this month? Do you have any goals for November?

I had such a tasty breakfast yesterday. I took a wholemeal wrap out of the freezer to defrost then warmed it in a pan and filled with peanut butter and sliced apple then warmed it back up.

I love breakfast wraps!

Lunch was some Kabocha Squash soup with two pears. I snacked on the Cocoa Orange Nakd Bar mid afternoon.

The Kabocha soup was amazing – it had such a velvety texture. All it was is roasted kabocha blended with vegetable stock, so simple!

I headed to the gym after work and did 45 minutes of HIITs on the step machine, cross trainer and bike followed by some exercises on the stability ball and some upper body free weights.

Dinner was two tofu sausages with red onion gravy served with steamed cavolo nero and some swede and cauliflower mash that I’d made by steaming the vegetables then blending them in my food processor with a little kara coconut milk and pure spread. Soy milk would have been better than the coconut milk but that was just what was open.

Desert was a fabulous bowl of double chocolate protein ice cream topped with one of the cookies I had received from my Secret Santa!

I’m waiting until I do my big Secret Santa post to show you everything that I got but I have to say I am a lucky girl!

Today I have just not stopped! I was up at 6.30 getting things ready for the day, getting grocery shopping and wolfing down these Bear Peach Fruit Yoyos and an orange for pre workout fuel.

I was at the gym for it opening at 9am to do 30 minutes on the treadmill, then 20 minutes on the step machine, cross trainer and bike for a full hour and a half of constant rate cardio.

For breakfast I made a vegan banana scramble / pancake type thing. I based my recipe on this one but left out the chocolate chips and used almond butter instead of peanut butter. I also served it with defrosted mixed berries.

It was delicious and so quick and easy to make. A  great alternative to regular pancakes!

I’ve spent my day baking, cooking, cleaning, writing Christmas cards and wrapping gifts like a true domestic goddess! My baking has been awesome, I started with a batch of Sinless Brownies for my Grandma who is diabetic.

How delicious do these look? They are made with Xylitol instead of sugar which is better for diabetics.

I made some vegan Almond Quinoa Muffins with Dark Cherry Jam Centre. I’ll post the recipe soon!

I also made some wonderful vegan Gingerbread Cookies based on another Mama Pea recipe. I cut them into star shapes and sprinkled half with icing sugar and then iced the other half and added some decorations.

I’m taking this selection of cookies and muffins to my parents tomorrow and some cookies to work on Monday. I’m going to freeze a small batch too for when I fancy a treat!

I also made a pan of Roast Tomato, Red Pepper and Chilli Soup to freeze up. Lunch was a slice of quinoa and amaranth rye bread toasted with marmite and some carrot and cucumber plus two pears.

Dinner was a lentil pie made with leftover Swede and Cauliflower mash from yesterday and brown lentils with carrot and onion for the base. I also had some steamed cavolo nero and spring greens with seeds.

 

For desert I had two sliced apples and a gingerbread cookie.

I have a serious sugar high now :-) I just can’t believe how much I’ve done today. I feel really wired and need to relax now before bed!

Do have any favourite baked goods at Christmas? I can see those vegan Gingerbread Cookies becoming a tradition! I’m in for another crazy busy day tomorrow with a trip to town and visits to friends and family. Hope your all having a great weekend!

I really don’t know where this weekend has gone, it has flown over! I’ve been busy as ever but have really enjoyed myself :-) I’ve been living in my Ugg style boots (Next), leather hoody (Topshop) and faux fur scarf (New Look) to stay comfy and warm!

I’ve been drinking big mugs of Christmas coffee and black chai tea with coconut milk, Clippers Indian Chai tea is the best :-) I even managed to get in a run outside! I got up this morning planning on going to the gym, but it wasn’t that cold and apart from a bit of drizzle it was perfectly runable. I did 6.5 miles in 57.18 with an average pace of 8.55. I took it easy but towards the end I felt like I was flying!

I started my weekend on Friday evening by concocting a raw dish using some of the contents of my organic veg box which had been delivered that day. This was amazing!

Raw ‘December’ Salad (vegan, serves one as a main or two as a side)

• 2 large parsnips
• 2 large carrots
• 1 small apple
• 1/4 cup of dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup of walnuts, chopped
• 1/4 cup of chopped fresh parsley

Dressing:

• 3 tbsp of orange juice
• 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp of braggs or soy sauce (I used raw coconut aminos or you could just add a good pinch of salt)
• 1 tbsp of maple syrup
• 1 tbsp of hemp oil (or oil of choice)
• 1/4 tsp of cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp of ground cumin

Begin by chopping the parsnip and carrot in a food processor using the S blade until they resemble rice (or you could try grating them). Finely chop the apple and mix into the carrot and parsnip ‘rice’ along with the cranberries, walnuts and parsley. Set aside and make the dressing by combining all ingredients in a bowl the pouring over the salad and mixing well. Leave to sit for a few minutes for the flavours to combine and serve:

This was just beautiful and so seasonal. The flavours were amazing and it was surprisingly filling, I think due to all the walnuts as they added a ‘meaty’ texture. I have to make this again soon!

On Saturday we did a little shopping and I picked up some tools for the allotment. James popped down with me and we took some measurements so I can design a plan, I’m so excited!

Behold, my little kingdom! Its going to take some work to shift those weeds but I know it will be worth it.

After that I spent a wonderful afternoon catching up with my parents, nephew, grandma and then my two best friends, bliss!

I made a gorgeous breakfast on Saturday inspired by Alissa’s Cherry Almond Mince Pies:

I loved the sound of the cherry, almond, sweet mincemeat combo so made it in porridge form! This was made with 1/2 cup of oats cooked in water, frozen cherries, apple juice sweetened sweet mincemeat, almond extract and some PB & Co Mighty Maple Peanut butter and flaked almonds on top. So good!

This morning post run I had a perfect chocolate cherry beet green smoothie topped with peanut flour sauce and cacao nibs:

Yesterday I made a fantastic salad using some black kale massaged with lemon juice and hemp oil, carrot, red pepper, beetroot, sauerkraut and a crumbled raw cracker:

I had another salady type lunch today using up some spinach, roast butternut and red kabocha squash, spicy roast chickpeas, dried cranberries and tahini miso sauce:

For dinners I made a Lentil Pie with Root Veg mash served with steamed broccoli and shoyu:

This was great, just red lentils cooked with onion, garlic, carrot and veg stock on the bottom topped with mashed parsnip and swede mixed with coconut milk, sweet white miso and nutritional yeast on top then baked in the oven.

A yummy late night snack included frozen blueberries with peanut flour sauce topped with cacao nibs and chocolate covered sunflower seeds:

My current fave snack / dessert has to be frozen berries with peanut flour at the moment, it just hits the spot!

Yesterday while at my friends I tried some of her Thai Red Vegetable soup with coconut milk, sweet potato, carrots, parsnips and lentils. It was unbelievable, I wish I’d taken a photo now. I’m going to have to get the recipe and make it myself. I’ve really enjoyed my food this weekend!

Ugg boots yes or no? I know they aren’t exactly the height of fashion, but nothing I usually wear ever is ;-) I’ve definitely been choosing comfort and warmth over style this weekend! Are you a fan of winter salads? I love my salads and the cold weather hasn’t stopped me enjoying them, I’ve actually really enjoyed using seasonal winter vegetables instead of my traditional salad veggies. I do like to balance out the raw food with plenty of warm cooked meals like my lentil pie and porridge – its all about a bit of balance I guess! Hope you’ve had a wonderful weekend!