Hi folks, hope your enjoying a blissful weekend! So far mine has been a good one indeed. There has been coffee…

…and an outdoor run and get this, with James! He decided to come out with me this morning and run a couple of loops around the block. Why is it that some one that doesn’t do a lot of exercise other than walking can run way faster than me? Damn those long legs of his ;-) He’s definitely a born sprinter. He hasn’t ran with me in the past as he has problems with his knees but we are thinking if he builds up slowly he might be ok. I continued on after that and did perhaps 3.5 – 4.5 miles – not sure what time as I was sans Garmin but it was just good to be running outside! Afterwards I came home and did this 30 minute yoga power flow from You Tube, so many chaturangas!

I have to say I feel like I’ve out done myself this weekend with the eats, I’ve made some delicious stuff! It all started on Friday evening when I made a Thai Green Soya Bean Noodle Bowl. I’ve made this a couple of times over the last few months and it is quickly becoming my favourite meal! I though it was about time I shared the recipe properly:

Thai Green Soya Bean Noodle Bowl (vegan, serves 1 hungry person or 2 normal people ;-)

• 2 tbsp Thai green curry paste (I use Thai Taste which is vegan)
• 1 inch piece fresh ginger, grated
• Approx 150ml coconut milk – I used full fat but light would be fine too
• Clearspring Soya Sauce Ramen Noodles – 1 pack of noodles and soya sauce pack (or use pre cooked or other noodles of choice and soy sauce)
• 1/2 cup frozen soya beans, thawed
• 1 cup roast squash (I use Kabocha but butternut would be equally as good)
• 1 heaping cup shredded spring greens

In a big wok or frying pan, gently fry off the ginger and curry paste in a little oil (I used coconut oil) over a medium heat. Once the paste has become fragrant (about 2 minutes) add the coconut milk and stir to combine. Add your noodles to the pan (if your using the ramen noodles or other dried noodles) and add some hot water from the kettle – just enough to cover the noodles, and simmer until the noodles are cooked. Add the sachet of soya sauce from the ramen noodle pack (or add a tbsp of soy sauce) and stir before adding the soya beans. Add your squash (and noodles if using pre cooked ones) and then pile the shredded greens on top. Allow the greens to wilt a bit in the heat then stir them into the broth which should be fairly thick. Once the greens are tender serve in a large bowl or ladle out into two regular size bowls:

Seriously this is so so good, in fact it could be a contender for my favourite meal ever especially when made with the full fat coconut milk. Its also very quick to make if you have the squash roasted and ready to go and you could probably just add the beans frozen straight into the pan and just simmer a little longer. Absolutely delish!

For breakfast yesterday I decided to make use of the coconut milk leftover from the noodle bowl by following this method for making acai cultured coconut yoghurt! I had a sample of acai powder from an iHerb order so thought I would give it ago after making my own very simple coconut yoghurt a couple of weeks ago (just by refrigerating full fat coconut milk). I had some with blueberries, buckwheaties, pecans and maple syrup:

It was wonderful! I think if I made this again I would leave it out of the fridge somewhere warm overnight so it would ferment a bit more to develop more yoghurt like tang.

Lunch yesterday was a simple but really nice salad with spinach, romaine, red pepper, roast kabocha a sprinkle of fresh parsley and some tahini dressing:

I made the dressing really quickly in a jar by mixing tahini with lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, garlic, sweet white miso and water so I have enough for a few meals. I added some to another special meal I made this weekend, raw curried cauliflower with herbed socca and roast purple sprouting broccoli:

I’d been wanting to try the raw cauliflower ever since I saw this recipe on Some Like It Raw and it didn’t disappoint! I made a few amendments adding some coconut and a few chopped dried unsulphured apricots to the mix instead of the honey. For the spices I used turmeric, garam masala and cumin. It was well nice, and the socca turned out brilliantly too, especially dipped in that tahini dressing :-)

Other snackies include:

Raw snack plate with persimmons, apples, raw chocolate covered raisins and raw granola pieces

Blueberries, apple, peanut flour sauce, chopped dark chocolate buttons

Veggies, blue corn chips and sunflower butter and miso dipping sauce (the chips dipped in the sauce, so good!)

Of course there has also been green juices and green smoothies consumed too! Yesterday we took a quick trip into town to pick up a couple of things:

Feeling the pink, OOTD (haha caught a bit off guard!) leather look hooded jacket: Topshop, pink jersey wrap around scarf: Topshop, floral blouse: Oasis, coral Cambridge style satchel: H&M, gold chunky ring: Topshop, skinny ‘Baxter’ jeans: Topshop, biker style boots: Oasis

After town I called into a tattooist to discuss my ideas for my tattoo! Getting a half sleeve tattoo is on my wish list for 2012 and I want to make sure I have it done well before the summer as I want to show it off! I have another appointment to go in next weekend and finalise my design and arrange a date for my first sitting. Excited would be an understatement! Other than that I’ve been cooking up stuff again (including a great recipe I’ll share tomorrow), watching Family Guy Star Wars, painting my toe nails pink and reading Eat Pray Love. Good times!

How has your weekend been? What would you say is your current favourite meal? My favourite foods tend to change depending on the season and that Thai Green Curry is just everything I want in a meal right now!

I’ve had a fun and busy week including a really positive business meeting, a great yoga class, a very exciting tap installation (sounds random but more explanation on that to come!) and getting my application to register with the Federation of Holistic Therapists sent off. I love feeling productive!

I’ve had some super eats this week so I’m just going to give you a photo dump of them all:

Carob, coconut and raspberry ‘ice cream’ topped with tofu cream and cacao nibs and coconut, delish!

Salad beast with black beans and avocado

For breakfast on Shrove Tuesday: Chocolate protein pancakes (made with spelt flour, chocolate hemp powder and kara coconut milk) topped with chopped pears and chocolate hazelnut butter sauce, mmm!

Post yoga smoothie of Spiru-tein chocolate chip cookie dough flavour topped with cacao nibs (not totally crazy about this new to me flavour, just tastes like vanilla!)

Chocolate pear and ginger green smoothie with spring greens, 2 pears, chocolate sun warrior protein powder, raw cacao powder, maca, ground flax, fresh ginger root, water and ice topped with more pear and raw granola

Badly handmade nori rolls with leftover cooked brown rice, avocado, carrot and cucumber – tasted great though!

Grilled smoked sesame tofu with brown rice, stir fried broccoli and brussel sprouts and peanut sauce

Montezuma Dark Chocolate turtles (so cute!) with chopped apples

 Honey and hemp muffin from the freezer with 2 chopped pears and a sachet of Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter for spreading, yum!

Persimmon slices topped with coconut butter and goji berries

Green smoothie with spinach, frozen mango, vanilla sun warrior protein powder, maca, ground flax, water and ice topped with popped amaranth, cashews and flame raisins

So quite a varied and delicious week!

I’ve also had a pretty varied workout out week including finally finding a half decent yoga class!

• Sunday – AM gym workout – 5k treadmill run, 15 min random bike, Kettlebell class
• Monday – AM Yoga podcast, PM DVD mash up
• Tuesday – PM Yoga class
• Wednesday – AM 5 min cross trainer warm up, strength workout B from Base phase of Female Body Breakthrough, 10 min HIIT step machine, 10 min HIIT bike
• Thursday – PM Yoga class
• Friday – AM 5 min cross trainer warm up, strength workout A from Base phase of Female Body Breakthrough, 10 min HIIT step machine, 10 min HIIT bike

I went to a new yoga class on Tuesday night at my local community centre and I loved it! Its still not a fast flowing class but I really liked the teacher who does a mix of Ivengar and Ashtanga styles and the whole vibe of the class was really great. Although I didn’t get a major sweat on I got a really good stretch, my muscles could certainly feel it the day after! It was also really good to have a teacher adjusting my pose and explaining things in more detail, it made me realise that although DVD’s and podcasts are great there’s no substitute for attending a class. I find that a class improves my practice so that I get more out of the yoga I do at home. I also realised that my focus on finding a faster flowing sweaty class was a bit daft considering the whole reason I wanted to do more yoga was to relax and help firm up a bit! As this class is on the same night as Body Pump, I’m going to alternate classes every two weeks.

To end this post I’m taking inspiration from one of my fave bloggers – Bonzai Aphrodite (such a shame she’s stopped blogging) and doing a weekend send off love list!  

Loving my sexy new tap installed today complete with a built in Brita filter!

A little while ago I was contacted by Brita to see if I would like to trial one of their tap water filters. I’ll blog more about this in future but its brilliant! The actual tap is such an improvement on our last one and has really made the whole kitchen look more stylish. I’ve always used a jug Brita filter in the fridge but this is so much more convenient. Other things on my love list this week:

Pig tails (the only way I can tie all of my hair back without bits falling out) // yoga of course! // listening to ‘Some Body I Used To Know’ by Gotye on repeat // getting tickets for Kendal Calling (so excited!) // stripes and polka dots // not stuffing myself on an evening anymore // feeling full of gratitude

What have you been loving this week? If your a yoga fan what’s your thoughts on classes v’s DVD’s and podcasts? Hope you have a brilliant weekend!

You still have a few hours left to enter my house plant GIVEAWAY, check it out!

Happy Friday everyone! This Friday comes with an extra bit of happiness for me as I am now on holiday for a week, bring it on! I am pretty ready for the weekend after being ill mid week. Luckily I’m feeling much better but poor James also caught whatever it was so he’s been ill too. Here’s a look at my workouts for the week:

• Sunday – 30 minute treadmill run, 15 minute bike, Kettle bell Class
• Monday – Yoga class 1 hour 30
• Tuesday – Unexpected rest day – ill :-(
• Wednesday – AM gym workout – 5 min warm up cross trainer, strength from Female Body Breakthrough ‘Dial It In’ phase, 20 min HIITs on bike
• Thursday – AM – Yoga for Runners podcast, PM Gym – 321 workout
• Friday - AM gym workout – 5 min warm up cross trainer, strength from Female Body Breakthrough ‘Dial It In’ phase, 20 min HIITs on step machine

Thanks for all your comments about the yoga class. I’ve been looking at what other yoga is being offered in my area and it all seems to be Hatha style yoga which I understand to be pretty slow paced. I don’t mind doing one class like that a week but I couldn’t do two! With that in mind I’m probably going to experiment with a couple of different classes at the gym and some DVD’s and podcasts and then re jig my workout week.

Luckily I’m back to my normal self now but mid week I had very little appetite due to that mystery illness, however chocolate and peanut butter makes everything better:

This was one of the only things I managed to eat on Tuesday, it contained spring greens, banana, lots and lots of peanut butter, water and ice then topped with peanut flour sauce and dark chocolate chips. Also accompanied by several spoons of peanut butter straight up with dark chocolate chips stuck on. Speaking of nut butter and spoons…

My order of Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter arrived from iHerb! I did just about manage to eat some of this ;-)

I’ve also continued to enjoy my current favourite snack of almonds and raisins:

These were some extra special almonds that I’d soaked overnight then coated in shoyu and ‘roasted’ in the dehydrator to make raw salted almonds. They are gorgeous, I can’t get enough of the sweet and salty combo! I just had to add some on top of a butternut squash smoothie too:

I decided to get one of these in while I still craved it. This was roast butternut, kara coconut milk, vanilla sun warrior protein powder, ginger, cinnamon and ice topped with maple syrup and those almonds all chopped up. Heaven!

I also made a pretty awesome dinner that I had a couple of nights in a row – baked tempeh with stir fried purple sprouting broccoli and greens in a ginger coconut sauce:

I marinaded the tempeh in a mix of shoyu, honey, ground ginger and garlic powder then baked. For the veggies I just stir fried them in a little coconut oil then once they were tender I added about 3/4 cup of full fat coconut milk, fresh minced ginger, shoyu sauce and 1/2 tbsp of coconut flour (to add thickness) then cooked off for a couple of minutes to thicken up even more before serving. I haven’t had full fat coconut milk in ages and it was so good. I was even more surprised when the leftover milk that had been left in the fridge turned into a very thick cream. I had a sudden moment of inspiration and decided to use it to top a gooey baked sweet potato for my lunch today:

I also added some peanut flour sauce for a bit of protein. You can’t tell me that doesn’t look amazing right? I’m a full fat convert now!

Other meals that have helped me get my appetite back include:

Big salad with romaine, red onion, yellow pepper, cucumber, black beans and avocado

Green smoothie with spinach, persimmons x 3, 1/2 banana, vanilla sun warrior protein powder, water, ice, maca powder, ground flax topped with Dorset Cereal’s fabulous ‘Simply’ muesli and more sliced persimmon

My obsession continues… four fresh figs topped with tahini (watered down a bit for more pourability), black strap molasses and thyme honey. Can not get enough!

I’ve been loving my fats this week. I used to always go for the low fat versions of everything such as hummus, light coconut milk and yoghurt (when I was eating that). I know that when you are seeking to lose weight reducing fat can be a good strategy, however fats are essential in our diets for so many things including the absorption of some fat soluble vitamins and good skin, hair and nails. I know there are ‘good’ fats (poly unsaturated and mono unsaturated fats) and ‘bad’ fats (saturated and trans fats) but for me I don’t worry too much about that and enjoy plant sources of fats even though coconut milk, butter and oil contains some saturated fat. There is some evidence that the medium chain fatty acids (MCFA’s) present in coconut milk are processed by the body in a different way to saturated fat from other sources and that they can provide energy and help to maintain weight by increasing satiety. As long as its not the nasty trans fats, and that the fat in whatever form is coming from whole unprocessed foods, I’m happy! Are you a low fat or full fat person? I definitely think there’s a balance to be had between the two.

Have you got anything exciting planned for the weekend? Tonight I’m doing something I’ve wanted to do for ages, if it works out ok I’ll share on Sunday! Other than that I think its going to be a pretty chilled weekend just catching up with friends and family, a bit of gym time and of course getting set to travel down to Brighton next week. Hope whatever your up to you have fun, and manage to stay warm!

Hi everyone, hope your all having a brilliant week and enjoying the first day of February! Here I am for yet another WIAW...

These are my eats and goings on from Monday. I had a completely different Monday to usual because I was going to yoga on the evening I didn't hot foot it to the gym first thing as usual. It was nice to be able to have a relaxed morning, plus I had even more time available as we had a planning day for work so I didn't need to be in until 10am. I started off with the usual warm water and lemon then made a big fresh juice:

This is my current favourite blend with beetroot, carrot, choi sum (my green grocer is selling this really cheap right now)cucumber and ginger. I added some matcha to it as well. After getting dressed I made a bowl of porridge:

This was just a simple bowl made with oats and water cooked slowly on the stove top. I added a little stevia and then topped with Clearspring blueberry jam and peanut flour paste. When I added it on top I thought it started to look like a ying and yang symbol so I added the dots, I'm so mature I know ;-)

I also had a lovely coffee:

This was cinnamon and hazelnut and hit the spot!

We had our planning day in the upstairs room of a local restaurant that we usually use for team building days called Oldfields. After a morning of planning we had a delicious lunch. I started with the butterbean hummus and rapeseed oil dipping board:

I had this the last time I was here and it was delicious! For my main I just had a plate made up of various side dishes such as roast root veg, roast new potatoes and greens. I added some of the left over hummus on the side:

For dessert I had an apple and sultana compote:

Yum! After we finished our day I went and got some fruit and veg from my favourite green grocer before coming home. For dinner I made myself a big salad:

This included romaine lettuce, crumbled nori, carrot, avocado, sea veggie sprinkles, pumpkin seeds, olives and braggs liquid aminos.

Then I headed off to my new yoga class! The class was very different to what I was used to, when I have done taught yoga before it has been Ashtanga so quite brisk. This class was much, much slower paced, I didn't break a sweat at all, which I know doesn't have to be the point with yoga, but for me I think I prefer something a bit more challenging. We did do some interesting partner poses, and I did feel extremely relaxed by the end of the class. I also enjoyed this class for being a bit more spiritual. I'm not sure if I'm going to make this a regular thing, at £5 a class its not cheap. I'm thinking I might occasionally visit this class when I feel like I need chilling out!

When I got home it was getting pretty late but I was a bit hungry so I made up a 'vanilla cookie' green smoothie with spinach, romaine, cookies and cream spiru-tein powder, vanilla stevia, water and ice. I also chucked in some maca powder and a couple of chlorella tablets in for good measure:

This was delicious but unfortunately things started to go down hill from there. I ended up in bed at 9pm shivering uncontrollably even when I had a hot water bottle. That was followed by a restless night and waking up yesterday morning feeling like I'd been hit by a bus. I have no idea what it was but I haven't felt that poorly in a long time, I spent most of yesterday unable to get out of bed. Luckily I started to pick up and have been much better today although my manager has just sent me home, I hate being ill!

So I’m thinking I need to look at some other yoga class options to find something that suits me better. I’ve been looking at my gym class time table and I’m thinking of doing more juggling to find classes that will fit in with my schedule. Are you a yoga fan? What kind of yoga do you prefer?

I wasn't going to post a pic of what I ate last night after work but it was so yummy I thought I would! I crushed some strawberries with a fork and mixed with greek style yoghurt and granola.

Extremely tasty! Crushing the strawberries made them all juicy, I bet that crushed strawberries mixed with yoghurt and then frozen would make a great ice cream! I also snacked on some cucumber sticks with sweet chilli dipping sauce and a few squares of cheese from the buffet at the event I was working at and I ate an extra apple after my strawberries and granola too.

This morning I made a fab bowl of fruity oats. I started with some chia seed porridge (jumbo porridge oats, 1/2 tablespoon of chia seeds and some water and hazelnut and almond rice milk mircowaved for a few minutes) then mixed in some chopped apple and blackberries and topped with a shake of cinnamon and some almond butter.

Well tasty!

Mid morning I snacked on more veggies and hummus.

Lunch was Lentil and Spinach Soup followed by some strawberries.

On my way to the gym I snacked on some Orange Nakd Raisins for some energy.

I only did a short gym workout as I didn't want to overload myself, plus I wanted to be able to fit in some yoga. I don't want to risk running with my knee so it looks like I might have to just go with running once a week and focusing on distance. I'll end up doing the Great North Run with a crap time but at least I will finish it! At the gym I warmed up for 5 minutes on the cross trainer then did 10 minutes of intervals on the cross trainer, step machine and bike followed by three sets of my abs exercises. I did a quick mid week grocery shop then came home to do 20 minutes Yoga for Runners, free from Yoga Download. It was so hot in my living room it was like doing a hot yoga class, I was pouring of sweat! I really enjoyed the session, my body feels so stretched out!

Dinner was a chicken salad with spinach, mixed salad leaves, red and white cabbage, carrot, cucumber, red and yellow pepper and spring onion with a couple of tablespoons of spicy peri peri dressing.

Total salad beast!

Desert was a new recipe -

Lemon Tofu Pudding (makes 2 servings)

1 package of Mori nu silken tofu
Juice and Zest of one lemon
2 tablespoons of agave (or to desired sweetness)

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Pour into bowls and chill in the fridge for at least an hour before serving.

This pudding is wonderfully creamy, sweet and lemony. Perfect for a quick summer desert!

I also had a golden delicious apple.

I've been buying a few varieties of apples as I'm eating so many of them at the moment in my bid to not eat as much sugary fruit. I have pink lady, golden delicious and granny smith in the fridge at the moment. Whats your favourite variety of apple? I love crunchy golden delicious! Apparently apples make a brilliant snack if your having cravings as they are low in calories and sugar and high in fibre which keeps you full. Sounds good to me!

Today I made a start on getting the things on my wishlist before my challenge starts tomorrow. I love internet shopping but it is far too easy to add other things to your shopping basket, I popped a spiraliser (a kitchen device that cuts veggies into spirals like pasta or noodles) in there while I was on Amazon as I've been dying to try one out. I also picked up my River Cottage Cookbook as it was cheaper in Sainsbury's. I've had a flick through and the recipes are amazing (and the food photography), and many of them are very healthy too. I can't wait to try them out!

I'm going to do a proper post tomorrow on my Big Challenge, I'm really pumped up for it! I'm also working on my protein powder post. Hope you guys are having a good week, I can't wait for the weekend I just hope it continues to be lovely and sunny! x