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 :-)

I’ve had such a lovely weekend. Its been really relaxed, I’ve seen lots and people and I’ve been really productive so I certainly can’t complain!

Saturday started with a quick grocery shop followed by a big pot of sencha green tea and pancakes for breakfast:

I made some whole wheat pancakes (1/2 cup of whole wheat flour, 1 tablespoon of coconut flour, 2/3 cup of soy milk, 1 tsp of baking powder) with mango, kiwi and warm coconut sauce (1 teaspoon of coconut flour mixed with water and agave syrup). I added some additional agave syrup and desiccated coconut, yum!

Mid morning I had a craving for fresh juice:

Carrot, beet, cos lettuce and ginger along with a pink lady apple.

For a late lunch I had the idea of throwing together some roasted veggies, couscous and leftover beans, the result was just so damn tasty I have to post it as a recipe!

Roast broccoli and brussels sprouts with chickpea and cranberry couscous (makes 2 servings)

• 1 head of broccoli chopped into small pieces
• Approximately 10 brussels sprouts chopped in half
• 1/2 cup of couscous (I used barley couscous)
• 1 teaspoon of vegetable bouillon powder or a veg stock cube
• 1 tin of chickpeas drained and rinsed
• 2 tablespoons of dried cranberries
• Handful of chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil (I used my cool oil)
• Juice from one lemon

Begin by tossing the broccoli and brussels in some oil and a little salt then roasting in a hot oven for 20 – 30 minutes until browned and tender. In the meantime add the couscous and vegetable bouillon to a bowl and cover with hot water. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave for 5 minutes until the water has been absorbed. Add the chickpeas, cranberries, lemon juice, oil and parsley and mix well. When the roast veggies are done plate them up and top with with chickpea couscous.

This was just so delicious! If you had a little bit of feta cheese that would be a great addition to this dish too. I also had a bowl of cherries.

During the rest of the day I snacked on another apple before heading through to my friends for a fun night in. It was so good to catch up with my two besties, we’ve been friends since school and they’re both just fab. I wasn’t drinking as I had the car so I took through some pomegranate juice and soda water plus some Divine Hazelnut Milk Chocolate and Green and Blacks Cherry Dark Chocolate:

I had taken the chocolate through to share, however they had pizza which I didn’t fancy at all so I ended up eating pretty much both these bars plus a few Thorntons chocolate truffles. The chocy was lush but I felt a bit sick after eating it all! I thought I might have been hit with the food guilt after over indulging but considering I wasn’t drinking and had eaten well during the day I made sure any guilty feelings were sent packing!

This morning I was up nice and early for my run. My stomach was still feeling a bit dodgy so I decided not to eat anything before hand – I was pretty sure that the chocolate from last night would have given my body some fuel to burn! As usual I didn’t track my pace or distance but I did run for just over an hour so I reckon I did about 6 miles. Thankfully my tummy didn’t give me any problems and it wasn’t too cold – I really enjoyed my run!

Afterwards I headed to the gym for some steady state cardio and magazine reading. I did 45 minutes on the step machine, cross trainer and bike giving me a good 1 hr 45 minute workout. Obviously by the time I had finished that I was ravenous as so I made a giant green smoothie:

I blended kale, frozen banana, two nectarines, frozen raspberries, coconut water, vanilla hemp protein powder, spirulina, matcha green tea powder, mesquite, peanut butter, water and xanthan gum. For toppings I added goji berries, grape nuts cereal, coconut and flaked almonds. So so good. I also had a big pot of kukicha green tea. 

Lunch was a slice of toasted quinoa and amaranth bread topped with mashed avocado mixed with lemon juice and nutritional yeast, some carrot sticks, an orange and an apple:

The avocado / nutritional yeast mix tasted wonderful, almost like cream cheese!

A little later I also made myself a lovely fresh green juice containing apple, cos lettuce, cucumber, ginger and lemon:

Dinner was scrambled tofu with stir fried courgette, red pepper, red cabbage, mushrooms and swiss chard:

Dessert was a chopped pear with soy milk, granola and cinnamon:

I realised a pretty cool thing over the weekend, after a good few years of constantly getting spots and having bad mood swings around my time of the month, it seems that both may have finally settled down. I have been loving the Dr Organic products I bought a few weeks ago:

The Rose Otto night cream has really helped my skin to be less greasy and the Olive Oil body lotion has such a lovely texture. I also think that using maca powder in my smoothies regularly (supposedly it helps to balance hormones) may be having an effect. It could all just be psychosomatic of course, but I have to say I’m feeling pretty on fire at the moment – the good mood I was in on Friday has certainly continued on to the weekend which has been great :-)

Have you tired any of the Dr Organic products before?

I have a nice week ahead of me and as I had a Sunday cook up session today making soups (I have a fab recipe for you later in the week!) and preparing other bits and pieces I’m feeling very well organised! I love being able to spend an hour pottering in the kitchen with the radio on making stuff for the week ahead. Anyone else have a regular Sunday cook up session?

Happy Wednesday everyone! How’s your week going so far? Mine has been pretty good, its been nice to start getting back into my usual work / life routine again. For some reason I’m feeling particularly good at the moment – like I have an extra sparkle! I’m also being super productive which is always good, lets hope it lasts!

These are my eats and whatnot from yesterday. I started out the day with Yoga for Runners. when I’m not heading to the gym early its so nice to do a bit of yoga, it really wakes me up and only takes 20 minutes. I feel like I’m starting the day off right!

Gorgeous sunrise

For breakfast I decided to make use of the beetroot in the fridge and make up some of my current favourite juice blend:

This was beetroot, carrot, cucumber and ginger with some Pukka Aloe Vera juice added, its so sweet and yummy. I also had a handful of raw cacao granola with home made sunflower seed milk (sweetened with dates) and a teapigs matcha green tea:

I adore that granola, its Living Intentions and I get it from Viva Pure, its lush. It was my first try of making sunflower seed milk and I was pleasantly surprised, very mild and sweet. Mid morning I snacked on some raw carrot, ginger and sunflower seed dip with green pepper and cucumber:

The dip was super easy to make, after making the sunflower seed milk (by soaking, draining and rinsing 1/2 cup of seeds then blending with 2 cups of water + 2 dates and straining) I dumped the seed meal back into my blender with two carrots, grated ginger root and a little coconut aminos (soy sauce would also work) plus water and blended till smooth. You could also make without making the milk first and just using the whole soaked seeds.

Lunch was a massive bowl of ‘Boot Camp’ soup with some home made raw rosemary and almond crackers:

This soup is fab. I made a massive pan of it based on this recipe (I just added some garlic and used cos lettuce instead of iceberg) it is so filling, probably because I ate a massive portion of it ;-) I’ve eaten it three days in a row now, perfect for these cold days!

Late afternoon I snacked on these funky little cookies:

I’d made these with some almond pulp leftover from making milk, coconut, ground flax, agave and matcha green tea powder then dehydrated to make Raw Almond Coconut Matcha Cookies! These are probably more biscuit like than cookie, they are crispy – almost like a sweet cracker.

After work I headed to the gym for the usual cardio followed by Body Pump, I really need to try and increase my weights on some of the tracks next week I think!

Dinner was an absolutely gorgeous tofu scramble. This contained red onion, red pepper, tofu, black beans, brown rice, tomato puree, nutritional yeast, cayenne pepper and shoyu served on top of spinach:

I had it on Monday evening too, it reminded me how simple and delicious tofu scrambles are, must make them more often!

A bit later I made a protein smoothie for post Body Pump recovery. This was 1 scoop of vanilla sun warrior protein powder, frozen blueberries and strawberries, maca, ice and water topped with a few gojis and cacao nibs:

I finished the day with a sleepy time tea:

I love this tea for chilling out before bed.

That tofu scramble was fabulous. I’ll definitely be trying to eat more of them, it only took me 10 minutes to throw together and you can pretty much add in whatever veggies you have to hand – perfect weekday dinner. Are you a fan of scrambles – tofu or egg? What’s your favourite ingredients in a scramble?

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On Friday night I went out for dinner with the family to celebrate my cousins 30th Birthday. Unfortunately I didn’t get any pics as it was too dark for the camera on my phone. I had roasted vegetables in a tomato and basil sauce served on toasted bread to start then a half portion of pasta with courgette, olive oil and pesto served with a salad. I also had a few bites of my Mam’s chocolate fudge cake and my Dad’s sticky toffee pud. The food was delicious! I’m going to have to make my own versions of those dishes at home.

Yesterday I had a super day spent with the hubby. The lovely Neen is preparing for her wedding so asked if I would mind reviewing some goodies on her behalf. She sent me this Mighty Muesli and some Power Porridge from The Otter Valley Food Company.

I had a bowl with some added ground flax and nut mix, a chopped apple, vanilla rice milk and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

It tasted very nice, quite crunchy from the seeds. I think I need to eat a few more bowls then form an opinion!

I got all dressed snug and warm, layers were definitely the way to go today:

Silk floral tea dress: Warehouse, jumper: H&M, blazer: Topshop, black ribbed tights: H&M, scarf: accessorize.

I had a yummy chai soy latte while looking round the shops buying Christmas gifts then we headed to our favourite Italian in Durham. I opted for the vegetable risotto:

This was spot on, so comforting and tasty!  We then went to our favourite pub in Durham – I almost squealed with excitement when I saw they were selling organic ciders and beers, especially this Cherry Beer:

Oh my god this tasted wonderful! I had one bottle and I could feel the effect of the alcohol, I’m such a complete light weight!

On the way home we picked up some veggies from the green grocers and called into another oriental supermarket where I found some mung bean noodles, buck wheat noodles and this roasted gluten:

It only has two ingredients, water and gluten. Luckily I found this post on Fat Free Vegan to explain what to do with it. Turns out its a little bit like Seitan so is a great source of vegan protein, and at only £2 a pack this could be a great product for me. I’m going to try adding it to a soup or stew or soak it in water for a couple of hours then fry or bake it. I shall report back!

When I got home I was starving (white rice never fills me up) so a scoffed two big russet apples. These kept me going so by dinner time I wasn’t overly hungry. I made up a big pan of Courgette and Watercress Soup as I had some courgettes to use up so I had a bowl:

Still one of my favourite soups – so tasty yet good for you. I also decided to whip up a green monster to use up some wilting spring greens. I used a frozen banana, mango, blueberries and ice cubes with maca powder, vanilla rice milk and xanthan and guar gums for thickness. I topped with gojis and granola.

This morning I snacked on a couple of Bear peach fruit yoyo’s then set off for my run. I wrapped up with four layers and two pairs of gloves. I decided I would run a stretched out route to the gym, do a bit on the treadmill and bike and then run home. I did 3.6 miles to the gym, 15 minutes on the treadmill (about 1.7 miles) then 10 minutes on the bike, then 1.1 miles home. I even managed to get my average pace down around to around 9.40 which is a big improvement on how I’ve been running recently. 

When I got home I made myself this tasty brunch:

Scrambled Tofu on Toast

• half a pack of firm tofu, drained, squeezed of excess water and crumbled
• 1 tbsp of pure sunflower spread or butter
• 1 tbsp of tomato puree
• 1/4 cup of roasted peppers from a jar
• 1 tsp of nutritional yeast
• 2 slices of toasted rye bread

Begin by melting the spread or butter in a frying pan on a medium high heat. Add the crumbled tofu and fry until it begins to turn golden. Add the tomato puree, peppers and nutritional yeast and continue to fry for 2 minutes. In the meantime toast your bread and add a thick layer of spread or butter. Top the toast with the scrambled tofu and serve.

 

This was delicious! I much preferred it to scrambled eggs which I was not expecting. I’ll be making this a lot more often! Are you a fan of tofu? I’ve definitely been eating it a lot more recently, its just so versatile!

For lunch I had some brown lentils cooked with onions and vegetable stock served with a huge pile of carrot and swede mash, steamed savoy cabbage and steamed cauliflower.

I also had two plums and two satsumas with ground flax and nut mix.

Tonight we are off out to a gig – another blues guitarist surprise, surprise! The hubby has really enjoyed all the live music we’ve been to over the last couple of months. Hope you’ve all had a great weekend, I’m off to enjoy what’s left of it! Catch you later :-)