What a great week its been so far, I’m just loving this spring weather :-)

Breakfast on Monday was a big bowl of fresh mixed berries (strawberries, blueberries and raspberries) with a huge portion of my home mixed muesli and sesame milk:

This muesli is awesome. I basically mixed together lots of random nuts, seeds and dried fruits that needed to be used up with some jumbo oats. This included: dried figs, dried apricots, brazil nuts, hazelnuts, pecans, raisins, dried pineapple, dried cherries, dried strawberries, dried blueberries, dried cranberries, goji berries, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, hemp seeds and chia seeds. I have a massive jar of this which should last me for a while I hope! The sesame milk is also particularly good, will definitely become a new staple in my diet along with almond milk.

Monday’s lunch was a hummus topped salad containing romaine lettuce, carrot, cucumber, red pepper and yellow pepper then some watered down home made chickpea hummus (I mixed it all in as a dressing) topped with some viva pure spicy pumpkin seeds. I also had two sweet white nectarines:

Mid afternoon I snacked on a lemon cashew hemp bar before hitting the gym. I did my usual 30 minute HIIT session on the cross trainer and step machine plus abs and core and 30 minute spin class.

Dinner was two veggie loaf stuffed baked mushrooms with swede and parsnip mash, raw carrot and steamed savoy cabbage with shoyu:

I still love these stuffed mushrooms, so tasty! Dessert was some healthy heart conscious raw chocolate and two chopped apples:

This chocolate contains maca, vanilla and blue-green algae – I wasn’t sure what to expect taste wise but it was gorgeous as always.

This morning I was up at sun rise to fit in a quick Yoga for Runners podcast. Its so worth getting up a few minutes early to be able to fit this into my day! Breakfast was similar to yesterdays – mixed fresh berries with 2 packs of Bear coco cherry pie granola and sesame milk:

Lunch featured hummus again – this time I made some courgette and carrot veggie noodles plus sliced red and yellow pepper with a hummus and nutritional yeast sauce (hummus, nutritional yeast and water) on top of some spinach:

I also had another two juicy white nectarines.

Mid afternoon I snacked on a Peppermint Stick Luna Bar then hit the gym for Body Pump. I was a little early for my class so I snuck in a quick 10 minute interval session on the cross trainer and 10 minutes steady state on the cross trainer. The class was excellent as usual and left my muscles quivering!

Dinner was inspired by my Sausage and Tomato Rice recipe but morphed into more of a Buddha Bowl: chopped baked seitan sausage with pearl barley in a tomato sauce with onions, garlic, peas, steamed broccoli and fresh basil:

That seitan recipe is so good, this had been defrosted from frozen and still tasted great. It is especially good in recipes like this as it softens and absorbs the liquid, delicious!

Dessert was some protein ice cream made with Fruitein powder, rice milk, ice cubes and xanthan and guar gums topped with goji berries:

Now I’m officially stuffed!

I got some great news yesterday when I received the email to tell me I’d passed my first assignment on my Diet and Nutrition Advisor course. I was chuffed to bits! I’m also really looking forward to my two days off at the end of the week – and pay day! My fridge and cupboards are looking pretty empty, at least by my standards ;-)

I’m still thinking of how tasty my home mixed muesli was. Are you a fan of muesli? I love it so much – it was always my go to ‘binge’ food – I would happily eat three large bowls of it then still go back and eat it straight from the box! Now I have a little more constraint but I still love a full to the brim bowlful! If you could make your own muesli mix what would it include?

Hi everyone, hope you are having a great Monday! I’ve had a wonderful bank holiday Monday that started with the most awesome home workout. As my gym doesn’t open until 10am on holidays, and as I prefer working out first thing combined with the dodgy knee, I decided to workout at home today. Usually I never feel like home workouts give me the same ‘burn’ as using the machines at the gym, however after reading blogs Pure2Raw, Fit Villain and looking at sites like Body Rock TV, I thought I could come up with something that would give me a great workout, and better yet, in a short period of time.

Laura’s 30 Minute ‘Good as the Gym’ Home Workout

*Disclaimer* I am not a trained fitness expert or personal trainer, this is just a workout I did for myself! If you want to try it out, I take no responsibility for any mishaps!

Equipment needed:

• Dumbbells – I used my two sets of 4.5kg and 2.3kg dumbbells. If you don’t have dumbbells you could use bottles of water, tins of beans etc.
• ‘Sand bag’ – I filled a rucksack with heavy books (the Next catalogues do a good job!) and one of my 4.5kg dumbbells. A small hold all bag would also work well.
• Interval timer – I downloaded the wonderful Gym Boss interval timer app free for my iPhone. If you can’t get the app you can still do this with any stop watch or clock.
• Exercise Mat

Set your interval timer to do 10 x 1 minute intervals – or just use your stop watch or clock. Repeat each move continuously for the whole minute before moving on to the next exercise without rest. Rest for about one minute between rounds. I’ve tried to link to some videos of some of the moves:

Round 1 - 10 x 1 min intervals

1. Jumping jacks
2. Shoulder press with large weights
3. High knees
4. Burpee with push up
5. Jumping jacks
6. Dead lift and row with sandbag (this move and this move one after each other)
7. High knees
8. Tricep dips (I did mine on the edge of a chair)
9. Jumping jacks
10. Clean and press with sand bag

Round 2 10 x 1 min intervals

1. ‘Shadow’ Skipping (basically just jumping up and down as if you were skipping)
2. Sand bag dragon lunge and row – shown in this video
3. Side lunges and jump
4. Right weighted low squat – shown as part of this video
5. ‘Shadow’ Skipping
6. Left weighted low squat – shown as part of this video
7. Side lunges and jump
8. Lunge back and kick right leg
9. ‘Shadow’ Skipping
10. Lunge back and kick left leg

Round 3 10 x 1 minute intervals

1. Full sit ups
2. Plank rows and tricep kick back
3. Bicycle crunches
4. Plank with leg lifts and shoulder touches – moves 1 & 2 from this workout
5. Full sit ups
6. Wood chop with large weight right side
7. Bicycle crunches
8. Wood chop with large weight left side
9. Full sit ups
10. Plank hold

I found this to be a super workout, I was very hot and sweaty after completing it! Let me know if any of you try it out :-) I followed this up with a 40 minute MTV Yoga DVD and foam rolling to stretch out.

I’ve had some tasty eats today too, after my workout I enjoyed a gorgeous smoothie in a bowl for breakfast:

Beet greens, cos lettuce, frozen cherries, small raw beet, chocolate sun warrior, maca powder, msm, barley grass powder, stevia, water, ice, xanthan and guar gums for thickness topped with a sauce made from roasted peanut butter with flax and some freeze dried berries.

Lunch was a brilliant hummus topped salad:

I love my giant hummus topper salads and haven’t had one in ages, this included cos lettuce, carrot, yellow pepper, sugar snaps, beetroot and a large serving of my roasted pepper hummus, delish!

Dinner was leftover millet pilaf from last night served with steamed kale and some lovely roasted chickpeas:

For dessert I had some organic dark chocolate covered mulberries:

Got to have my chocolate fix!

I’m very excited right now, as tomorrow I’ll be heading down to Manchester to meet several lovely lady bloggers! I love blogger meet ups and I’m sure we are all going to have an awesome time!

Do you work out at home? Do you feel like you get the same ‘burn’ working out at home as you do at the gym? What kind of equipment do have at home? Any favourite workout DVD’s?

Hi everyone, hope you’ve all had a good weekend! Mine has mostly been very good…

Today I went out and attempted my first outdoor run in over a week but my knee was having none of it! I was planning on 6 miles but had to cut it short at 4.5 miles (38.07, average pace 8.37) It seems that running on any kind of incline sets it off. As I could run ok on the treadmill mid week I’m hoping that I may be able to get some mileage in that way. It has been very painful today though. I popped to the gym hoping for an hours workout but it was so sore I had to leave it after 30 minutes on the bike :-( I’m trying to stay as positive as possible though!

Apart from that I’ve had an awesome weekend! Breakfast on Saturday was a much anticipated giant Oats in a Jar:

I have been waiting to finish this big jar of peanut butter just to be able to make this! I cooked some voluminous oats with 1/4 cup scottish oats, 1/4 cup oat bran and 2.5 cups of water in the microwave and added some vanilla stevia, frozen berries and a chopped peach. Delish!

OOTD: Faux leather hooded jacket: Topshop, anchor diamante earrings: Accessorize, striped tee: Zara, black cross body bag: H&M, floral skirt: Dorothy Perkins off eBay, tights: M&S, black faux leather boots: M&S

After a monster shopping trip in Newcastle, I came home and made a truly wonderful salad:

This contained kale, cos lettuce, carrot, cucumber, red pepper, sugar snaps, RAW Health crackers, some of my raw cheesy crumbles and hemp seeds. I massaged the kale with a dressing made from hemp oil, braggs, coconut nectar, dijion mustard and vinegar. I think I have discovered that the packs of kale from Waitrose are much better than the packs from Sainsbury's as they contain a lot less stalk!

For dinner last night I made a fantastic Mexican Tofu and Black Bean Scramble served on garlic sautéed greens:

I love my scrambled tofu recipe and the curried version I created a couple of weeks ago and this was just as good! This was also very filling, no doubt because it was protein packed!

For dinner today I made some Spiced Orange Pan Fried Tofu inspired by this recipe and served with a millet and veggie pilaf containing onion, carrot, cauliflower, broccoli and finished with a sprinkle of parsley:

This was amazing, I’m going to have to try and remember what I included in the marinade so I can post it as a recipe! It almost tasted like sticky ginger infused marmalade, yum!

I’ve had a pretty busy weekend in the kitchen making raw cheesy kale chips that taste exactly like Brad’s, raw candied cinnamon pumpkin seeds and some raw cheesy pumpkin seeds all in the dehydrator and so much cheaper than if I’d bought them! I also made some roasted pepper hummus which I ate with a load of veggies and raw juice pulp crackers for lunch:

I just made some standard hummus with chickpeas, tahini and garlic then about 2/3 of a jar of roasted peppers. It tasted wonderful!

Of course no post of mine would be complete without a green smoothie! I had his one for breakfast containing cos lettuce, 2 pears, vanilla sun warrior, maca powder, spirulina, msm crystals, stevia, water, ice, xanthan and guar gums for thickness and topped with some Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter sauce and granola:

I got 8 pears for £1 at the market and they were on their way out so I’m drying some in the dehydrator and used a couple of them again to make a Chocolate Pear smoothie for dessert:

Two pears, raw cacao, ice, water, xanthan and guar gum and stevia topped with some of my raw candied cinnamon pumpkin seeds, delicious!  

As mentioned above I had an awesome shopping trip! I had some gift cards from my birthday to spend so I thought I’d get some clothes for the new season! First up, these gorgeous skinny burgundy trousers from Warehouse:

I’ve been lusting after some pants in this colour for ages! I also got lots of knit ware and a necklace from New Look:

I love my knits, I can’t wait to cosy up in that mustard yellow number! The necklace was actually free as I’d spent over £30 :-) I also picked up this dress in the Warehouse sale:

I love the colours in this and will layer it up with leggings / jeans, cardies and belts over the autumn. I also hit H&M and got this basic tee:

Plus a couple of basic cardies and black leggings. I also got some yoga pants for chilling round the house, a water bottle and some vanilla coffee from TK Maxx as well as stocking up with flavoured tofu, tempeh and other bits and bobs from the health food store. I also got three bags full of fruit and veggies from the market for just £11. I shopped till I dropped!

How has your weekend been? If your in the UK do you have any bank holiday plans? As the gym doesn’t open till 10, and as my knee is still very sore I’m thinking of doing a home based workout first thing and then chilling out for the rest of the day. I’m actually looking forward to doing my own thing at home and have downloaded the Gym Boss app for my phone so I can get some intervals in! Have you ever had to deal with an injury? I’m actually amazed at how calm I am about the whole thing, when I got injured last year there were a lot of tears and tandrums!

Have you bought anything for the new season yet? I’m all ready to embrace Autumn, its my favourite season, and I can’t wait to get the boots and cosy jumpers on! Hope you have a great Monday whatever your up to :-)

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!

As I mentioned in my last post I had myself a bit of a soup making day yesterday. I said I post the recipe for this lovely soup:

Leek Potato and Bean Soup (based on a recipe in the Holford Low GL Diet Cookbook) makes 4 servings

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil or butter
• 3 leeks washed, trimmed and sliced
• 8 new potatoes, scrubbed and chopped
• 1 tin of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• Enough hot vegetable stock to cover the veggies

Sauté the leeks in the oil or butter on a medium heat until they have softened. Add the potatoes and veg stock and simmer until the potatoes have softened. Add the beans and simmer for another few minutes. Blend and serve.

I used new potatoes and white beans in this soup in place of regular potatoes to reduce the amount of carbs as regular potatoes never seem to fill me up. This was so lovely for dinner on a cold and windy day!

Desert was a sliced peach and pear topped with some Almond Custard made with another recipe from The Holford Low GL Diet Cookbook.

This worked wonderfully – so easy to make and very tasty! I also tried out a new to me ingredient – Xylitol. Its a naturally derived sugar alternative which like agave syrup doesn’t raise your blood sugar levels as much as regular sugar. It comes in granulated form. Has anyone used it before? What did you think?

I’m going to do a full post on the Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load really soon. This cookbook is full of some fantastic recipes and as they are all designed to balance sugar and carbs they are right up my street. They are also really simple and straightforward. My kind of cooking! The book itself is kind of laid out as a diet plan but I ignored that bit and just looked at the recipes ;-)

On to today’s eats! I made a lovely bowl of porridge using 1/2 cup Rude Health’s Fruity Date Porridge Mix made with 1/2 cup of soy milk and 1/2 cup of water. I topped it with some of my Pecan Plum Crunch Topping (2 chopped plums, 1 tablespoon of grape nuts cereal, 1 tablespoon of chopped pecans, cinnamon and agave syrup to taste)

This was delicious and tasted very seasonal!

Mid morning I snacked on some hummus with carrot and raw cauliflower for dipping.

Who knew raw cauliflower would taste so good?

Lunch was a bowl of Chilli Bean Soup I also made yesterday:

Chilli Bean Soup

• 1 tablespoon of oil
• 1 chopped white onion
• 2 chopped cloves of garlic
• 1 chopped carrot
• 1 chopped pepper (I used half a green pepper and a full yellow pepper)
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 tin of kidney beans drained and rinsed
• 1 teaspoon of hot chilli powder (or to taste)
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon of tomato puree
• 2 vegetable stock cubes (I use two teaspoons of vegetable bouillon powder)
• Hot water

Begin by frying the onion and garlic in the oil over a medium heat. Once softened add the carrots and pepper. Continue to fry the veggies for a few minutes then add the beans followed by the chopped tomatoes. Keep the empty tin from the tomatoes and fill up with hot water (be careful not to burn yourself like I did!) and add two tinfuls to the pan. Add your veggie stock cubes, spices and tomato puree. Let the soup simmer for ten minutes or until the veggies have softened then serve.

I also had a couple of juicy pears with my soup.

Before leaving work for the gym I drank a Beet It Shot. Tonight was my first spinning class in about two years! I started in the gym and did 30 minutes of HIITs on the cross trainer and step machine followed by some abs exercises then I went into the class. I really enjoyed it! It was a great workout and I think having the variety of a class as part of my routine is going to be great. I’m all booked in ready for next week!

For my dinner I mixed roast veggies from yesterday with some basil tofu and warmed it up in the microwave then served it on top of some spinach and cos lettuce.

Desert was defrosted mixed berries with half a tub of cottage cheese, agave syrup and cinnamon.

I can’t believe how dark and cold it has been today. I think I’ll be eating a lot of soup over the colder months! Now that I have my new blender I’m going to try and make some vegetable and fruit juices so that I’m still getting plenty of raw food in my diet. Over the summer I was eating lots of raw fruit and vegetables in salads and I feel great for it, I want to be able to keep it up as much as possible!

Do you make an effort to eat raw fruits and vegetables? What do you do in the winter to keep this up when salads don’t seem so appealing?

As the office is officially closed this week I can basically come and go from work as and when so I took the opportunity to have a relaxed morning, even though I was up early. I made a gorgeous bowl of hot 10 grain cereal with soy milk and water then added egg whites, 2 small chopped pears, sweet mincemeat and topped with some mixed fruit and nuts.

I also had a yummy gingerbread coffee. Just what was needed for some warmth this morning!

I’m trying to get my fair share of raw veggies in this week so lunch was a salad beast containing little gem lettuce, spinach, carrot, cucumber, red onion, red pepper and olives topped with a large dollop of roasted red pepper hummus.

I love hummus topped salad beasts! I also had an orange.

My mid afternoon snack was a slice of my easy spiced fruity couscous cake that I made yesterday. I had seen this recipe in the Cook Yourself Thin book and thought it sounded remarkably easy to make. When I got all the Rachel’s Organic yoghurt to use up I knew I had to try the recipe out, with a few adjustments of course:

Easy Spiced Fruity Couscous Cake (makes 6 – 8 servings) based on recipe in Cook Yourself Thin

• 200g of couscous prepared to pack guidelines and mixed with a few sprays of oil.
• 450g tub of low fat yoghurt – I used Rachel's Organic Low Fat Rhubarb Yoghurt
• 70g – 100g of dried fruit of choice – I used a mix of raisins, dried cranberries and chopped unsulfured apricots
• 1 teaspoon of mixed spice
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger

Pre heat the oven to 200C. Mix all ingredients together and pour into a greased 20 x 20cm cake tin. Smooth the top and bake in the oven for 35 – 40 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool slightly and serve immediately or cool completely then store in the fridge to serve chilled.

 

This recipe is super easy and really healthy. It tastes nice and doughy too. If you like things sweet I would definitely increase the amount of dried fruit in this or add some additional sweetener, as it is its not overly sweet (which personally I prefer). You could experiment by adding different dried fruits or even chopped fresh or frozen fruits and different spices – I wouldn’t mind trying out apple, date and cinnamon!

After I shared the cake with my workmates I finished work and headed to the gym. My spin class wasn’t on so I decided to make up my own 30 minute interval routine on the bike in the gym. I speeded up, increased resistance or cycled standing up in time with the chorus / verses of the tunes in my playlist. I really enjoyed it! The 30 minutes few over and I felt like I’d had a great workout. I then did a further 30 mins of HIITS – 15 minutes each on the cross trainer and step machine followed by my usual abs exercises.

Dinner was basil tofu with swede chips, roast kabocha squash, steamed cavolo nero and ketchup, yum!

Desert has been 3 small chopped apples and some hazelnut dark chocolate:

I’ve missed my dark chocolate fix these last few days!

Tomorrows my last proper day at work – I think I’m just going to work a short day and then another short working from home day on Wednesday. I can’t wait to be off, I really feel like I need the break! Is Christmas time relaxing or stressful? I make every effort to ensure things are as stress free as possible! I like the period between Christmas and New Year for being able to get my head straight for the New Year to come, I love that anticipation of what’s to come!