Happy Wednesday everyone, you ready for another WIAW?

I started my day in the usual way with a mug of warm water and lemon juice then I headed out for my run. As I did my half marathon at the weekend I decided to take it easy and have a recovery run. I did 6.4 miles in 59.25 with an average pace of 9.17. It was a pleasant run but even though the sun was shining it there was a freezing wind! When I got home I did my abs and core exercises then made a giant smoothie for breakfast:

This was delicious! I blended up some kale, cos lettuce, 1/2 avocado, nectarine, frozen strawberries, coconut water, vanilla sun warrior protein powder, spirulina, barley grass powder, maca and the usual gums for thickness. I topped it with goji berries, coconut, pistachios and a little granola. I decided to wear a nice yellow top to match the sunny weather:

Yellow camisole: Old Navy, Black cardigan: M&S, necklace: H&M, gold crown earrings: Accessorize

For lunch I had some wonderful sweet cantaloupe melon followed by a big bowl of my gorgeous Smokey Spicy Black Eye Bean Soup and a couple of Ryvita pumpkin and oat crackers:

 

I was in meetings all afternoon but managed to snack on a peppermint stick Luna bar:

For dinner I had defrosted one of my sweet potato falafel burgers which I baked in the oven and served on top of a big salad of rocket, summer lettuce, cucumber, sugar snaps and red onion alongside some sweet chilli hummus watered down into a sauce:

This was so delicious, the sweet potato falafel burger tasted wonderful and the hummus was lush! I haven’t had shop bought hummus in ages as I’ve been making my own so this was a great change. Dessert was some raw banana goji cake from the freezer:

This was made from sesame seeds, almonds, banana, goji berries and dried cherries, yum!

I was very excited and chuffed to come home to this:

My race pack for the Great North 10K! This is only my second race so I still get really excited about these things!

I’ve also been invited by Alpro Soya to attend the Kendal Calling Festival! I’m a fan of Alpro products and was actually thinking about checking out a smaller festival this summer so I think it must be meant to be. Looking forward to finding out even more about Alpro and their products. I’ll post all the details soon!

What’s the best thing you’ve eaten today? Do you run races? Do you still get excited when you receive your race pack?

Today I have had a lovely working from home day. I’ve managed to get so much done, it has really helped my stress levels!

I went to the gym first thing for a quick 3,2,1 workout. I did 3 x 10 min interval sessions on the cross trainer, step machine and bike broken up by 2 x 5 minute upper body weights circuits working back and chest (I did triceps and shoulders yesterday) then finished off with 15 minutes of abs and core work.

Breakfast this morning was insanely good! I decided I would try making CCK’s Voluptuous Oats for the first time. Last night I microwaved 1/2 cup of mixed oats and oatbran, 1 tbsp of chia seeds, 1/2 cup of hemp milk and 1 cup of water for about three minutes. I then left it to stand and cool. It was quite thick so I added about another 1/4 cup of water and refrigerated.  This morning I added half a scoop of nutty berry spiru-tein protein powder, then poured the cold oatmeal over a punnet of chopped strawberries. I topped it off with more strawberries and a tbsp of PB&Co White Chocolate Wonderful made into a sauce:

Check out all those strawberries!

This was so good! As you know I love my food to have a lot of volume and this was perfection. The White Chocolate Wonderful was heavenly too.

Lunch was a huge salad containing romaine, mixed leaves, yellow pepper, carrot, cucumber, radish, roasted soya nuts, braggs liquid aminos and courgette dressing:

I also had a juicy pear.

For a mid afternoon snack I made a melon slushie inspired by Kirsten’s watermelon slushies. I blended half a chopped galia melon with ice and a few drops of stevia:

This was just fantastic! I can’t wait to try it with watermelon as well, definitely going to be a favourite summer drink!

Dinner was a Sweet Potato Falafel Burger I made and froze at the weekend.

Sweet Potato Falafel Burgers (makes 3 or 4 burgers) Inspired by recipe from Leon: Ingredients and Recipes

• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
• Juice from half a lemon
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• 2 large or 3 small sweet potatoes
• 1/2 – 1 cup of chickpea (gram) flour (this depends on how moist the sweet potato is)
• 1/2 cup of chopped parsley or coriander
• Sesame seeds

Bake the potatoes in the oven or microwave until soft then leave to cool a bit. Add the spices, garlic, lemon juice and oil to a bowl. Once the potato has cooled a little scoop out the flesh and add to the bowl and mash well. Add the chopped herbs and then the gram flour a little at a time mixing well until you get a firm consistency, not too dry but not overly sticky. Form the mixture into three or four burgers then sprinkle with sesame seeds. Leave in the fridge for an hour to firm up (I froze mine at this stage) then bake in a 200c oven on a greased baking sheet for 15 - 20 minutes until golden brown:

I served mine with a big salad of romaine, mixed leaves, red onion, cucumber and sugar snap peas plus some tahini lemon sauce:

Tahini Lemon Sauce (makes 2 servings)

• 2 tbsp tahini
• Juice of one lemon
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 4 tablespoons of chopped parsley

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl adding water to thin to desired consistency and drizzle over falafel and salad:

I loved this burger! It turned out lovely and firm and almost spongy from the gram flour. The sweet potato adds a great sweetness to the flavour too. I do think it needs a sauce, this would be wonderful in a pitta or wrap with hummus!

For dessert I had half a bar of this Blueberry and Lavender Chocolate I brought home from NYC:

This was gorgeous, the lavender flavouring wasn’t too overpowering and made the chocolate taste a little like my favourite violet creams, so good.

Home inspiration

Now that I have my little mini break to NYC over and done with my thoughts have been turning to other areas in my life that need some attention – our lovely little flat. We have been living here for over 5 years and as it is a one bedroom property we are certainly ready to move on. However, with the housing market on its arse we have to be realistic. We would like to put it up for sale but there’s a few things that need doing, first and foremost new carpets! All this thought of decorating has made me start looking for inspiration for a few cheap little changes I can make around the place – here’s some of my favourite interior design ideas right now:

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I love the colourful chairs and the arrangement of picture frames in the background.

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I love this idea! I even have loads of these embroidery rings leftover from my GCSE Textiles course as well as a collection of vintage fabrics.

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I love these great kitchen storage ideas, I just wish I had a bigger kitchen! I already have a big free standing unit under one of my counters and have used shoe racks as bench top shelving units!

When did you last decorate?

Any weekend plans? I have to say mine are pretty boring, although they are exactly what I need right now, i.e. a weekend at home catching up with the million and one things that seem to need doing, plus a long run! Hope whatever your up to you have a good one!