…the snow that is:

Yep, that’s at least a foot of snow. What’s going on? I love a little bit of snow but this is crazy. There was no way my car was going any where today, I was going to try and bus it to work but my manager told me to just work from home and I certainly wasn’t going to argue with that! It is very beautiful out there though :-)

Breakfast was a lovely warm bowl of hot cereal made with water, oat milk, egg whites and brown rice syrup with pears, mixed dried fruit and nuts and maple syrup.

I also had a gingerbread coffee with oat milk, yum!

I decided that I would take a break for a couple of hours before lunch and have a walk to the shops for milk and eggs. I was surprised that the gym was still open on my way past so I popped in and did 45 mins of HIITs on the cross trainer, step machine and bike plus my abs and core exercises. That plus a 30 minute walk in 12 inches of snow gave me a hell of a workout!

At least I got to wear my new hat and scarf (from Next):

Totally mis matched clothing but warmth comes before fashion when its –5 outside!

For lunch I made a Pumpkin and Pearl Barley Risotto inspired by this recipe from the Scandi Foodie (love this blog!)

Roasted Pumpkin and Pearl Barley Risotto with Feta and Pine Nuts (makes 1 serving)

• 1/2 onion finely chopped (I used a couple of shallots)
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 1/2 cup of cooked pearl barley
• 1 cup of roasted pumpkin
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil (plus more for frying)
• Hot vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon of toasted pine nuts
• Approx 50g of feta cheese (I used organic, vegetarian)

Begin by blending the roasted pumpkin and olive oil in a food processor until pureed, then set aside. Fry the onion and garlic on a medium heat until transparent then add the cooked pearl barley. Add a little veg stock and simmer for a minute or so. Add the pumpkin puree to the pan with more veg stock – continue to add the veg stock until the risotto reaches your desired consistency. I left mine quite thick. Pour onto a plate or serving bowl and top with the toasted pine nuts and crumbled feta. Enjoy!

I served mine with some black kale and spring greens sautéed in 1/2 teaspoon of coconut oil plus a little soy sauce. It was really tasty but if I was making this again I would actually skip the feta and mix in a good bit of nutritional yeast (or parmesan) for that strong cheesy taste instead. Still really delicious and easy to make!

I also had a Cookies and Cream Spiru-tein Shake in a bowl topped with cacao nibs.

Late afternoon I had a pumpkin spice cake bar plus a sliced pink lady apple.

Dinner was a bowl of Leek, Greens and White Bean Soup with some raw carrot sticks on the side followed by an orange.

I had a craving for raw veggies that I knew a couple of lovely raw organic carrots would satisfy.

So as of right now I have no idea how the rest of my week is going to plan out due to the weather. I’m a person who likes routines and some predictability so this is going to be tough. However, I may not like change, but I am highly adaptable when required! I guess I’ll just have to go with the flow, I’m mainly concerned about fitting in my workouts but as I have given myself lots of flexibility this month I don’t need to worry about sticking to a set training plan.

How do you cope when your normal routine gets turned upside down?

Today my plans were to head over to Newcastle early and take the hubby to work so I could do some Christmas shopping, even the 6 inches of snow wasn’t going to stop me! As we were up really early and wanted to get out as soon as possible I made a quick smoothie just to get something on my stomach. I blended up a pear, frozen blueberries, 2 tablespoons of wheat germ, vanilla rice milk and a little agave.

I can’t remember the last time I actually had a smoothie from a glass instead of a bowl!

We made the slow and quite frankly dangerous journey to Newcastle. When we got there James headed to work and I went to get a proper breakfast! I went to Cafe Royal and had a gorgeous Almond Green Tea:

Followed by some porridge with berry compote:

The porridge was very creamy and must have been made with full fat milk or cream, it reminded me more of rice pudding!

After that I popped over to Starbucks to enjoy a soy Gingerbread Latte while I waited for the shops to open.

How Christmassy does this look?

Newcastle Upon Tyne – Grays Monument – can you believe I’ve been up to the top of that!

I got lots of Christmas shopping done, plus a few ‘gifts’ for myself, including these earrings and necklace from Accessorize:

This box of Christmas Yogi teas – how could I resist?

I also bought this wrap around scarf from Dorothy Perkins to keep me warm:

When I got home I sorted out my gifts and then made lunch. I had a home made spelt wrap with roast veggies and feta from last nights dinner plus lots of chopped cucumber and a little feta on the side.

I also had a couple of sliced kiwi:

I had been planning on walking to my local shops but the snow started falling again and I decided to stay home and cook instead! I made a huge batch of my Lentil and Root Veg Stew as well as this soup:

Leek, Greens and White Bean Soup:

• 4 small leeks, sliced
• 3 chopped gloves of garlic
• Greens – I used a small head of savoy cabbage and a small head of spring greens
• 2 tins of drained and rinsed cannellini beans
• Hot veg stock

Fry off the leeks and garlic until soft then add the cabbage and hot veg stock. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes then add the beans. Simmer for a further 5 minutes then blend until creamy. Season well and serve.

This was absolutely delicious and so creamy! I had made a similar soup before a few weeks ago which hadn’t been anything special but this time I added more greens, garlic and twice the quantity of beans – sooo good, and surprisingly filling, although I still went back for more! As this soup has a good amount of garlic it is also fantastic for supporting your immune system as well as being full of antioxidants from the greens. I’ll also probably snack on a few chopped apples with cinnamon later too.

So all in all a very productive day! I hate feeling like I’m stuck indoors when the weathers bad, although things are getting worse so it looks like anywhere I’ll be going in the next day or so is going to be on foot! Despite the snow I’m planning a workout tomorrow. Luckily my gym is within walking distance. I’m going to do a treadmill run like last week – I just need to make sure I have a great playlist on my iPhone to keep me going!

After today I’m feeling really festive, I can’t wait to decorate the flat! Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? Are you well organised or more of a wait till the last minute person? 

Oh – and don’t forget to enter my Giveaway before 12am GMT tonight! Winners announced tomorrow! Have a great evening :-)

I’m even more excited than usual about it being the weekend as next week I am off work! James starts his new job in a week so we though it would be nice to have a week together to relax and chill out. We’re having a short break to York mid week, and I’m looking forward to some new season clothes shopping, enjoying coffee again (my kick start plan finishes next week so coffee will be back in my life!) and yummy food. After next weeks planned spending I will be on a major austerity drive though, I have to regain some control of my finances!

Thursday morning I was up early to do my Yoga and core exercises. I warmed up with 5 minutes of jumping jacks and bum kicks then did the Yoga for Runners podcast followed by my v-ups, side planks, bridges, side to sides and donkey kicks. Breakfast was a bowl of 10 grain hot cereal made with water and oat milk, mixed berries, sweet freedom sweetener and pistachios:

I loved this! I must remember to eat pistachios more often. For lunch I had leftover Italian Leek Stew with some steamed savoy cabbage and two pears:

I should have mentioned in my last post how delicious this stew is! It was even better as leftovers. Mid afternoon snack was a raw cracker with high protein hummus and green pepper and carrot for dipping:

I had yet another late meeting so ‘dinner’ was a large green smoothie in a bowl containing spinach, cabbage, 2 nectarines, 1 small frozen banana, big tablespoon of almond butter, kara coconut milk, spirulina, mesquite, maca, matcha green tea and the usual tinctures:

I topped it with cacao nibs and flaked almonds. I put so much spinach and cabbage in this I ended up with an extra half a bowl full! I love to eat super thick smoothies in a bowl as they make them seem more meal like and filling, for me at least. I also snacked on a couple of delicious apples.

Friday’s breakfast was two slices of organic sprouted wheat bread with crunchy peanut butter and a chopped apple:

Lunch was Leek, Greens and White Bean soup with a pear and nectarine:

I finished work early and hit the gym for my strength and cardio workout. It went really well and I think next week I’ll be ready to up the weights and drop the reps! After wards I refuelled with a chocolate cherry protein shake containing a scoop of chocolate sun warrior, frozen cherries, ice cubes, kara coconut milk, matcha green tea, maca powder and tinctures. I chucked a few cacao nibs on top for added crunch:

This was so gorgeous, just like ice cream!

For dinner I made up a new recipe:

Moroccan Butternut and Chickpea Tagine (serves 3 - 4)

• 1 small butternut squash, chopped into chunks and roasted
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger
• 1 yellow pepper, chopped
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 tin of chickpeas
• 1/2 cup of hot water or veg stock
• 8 chopped dried apricots (preferably un sulphured)

Begin by frying the onion and garlic in some olive oil on a medium heat. Add the spices and fry – taking care that they don’t burn – until they become fragrant. Add the pepper, roast squash, chickpeas, tomatoes and water. Gently simmer for 15 minutes until the veggies are tender. Add the chopped apricots and serve!

I served mine with a big pile of steamed greens. I just made this up based on a few different recipes I have came across. I’m not sure if its anything like a proper tagine but it tasted bloody lovely! You could make this without roasting the butternut first and just allowing it to simmer for longer, you could even just use cumin and not worry about the other spices if you wanted to keep it simpler.

Dessert was two oranges and some raw chocolate covered mulberries:

Still loving those mulberries! I’ve also been snacking on little apples and a clemintine throughout the afternoon and will probably continue to for the rest of the evening, I’ve been feeling especially snacky today!

This weekend I’m baking butterfly cakes for my Dad and Sister’s birthdays, visiting friends, having a trip into town and a night out for James leaving do so lots of fun stuff! I’ll also be sorting out my new make shift kitchen storage:

Yep, this is a wooden shoe rack that I plan to use as a counter top shelving unit! The storage crisis in my kitchen (due to my constant buying of foods) has lead me to try this out for size. I quite fancy painting it a funky colour and stacking it with more jars of pasta and grains and some storage tins for my crazy tea collection (anyone else have a tea collection?) I don’t think it looks too bad.

Well I hope everyone has a great weekend ahead, I’m off for a cuppa, catch you later!