Hello my chicklets, how’s your weekend going? I’ve had a lonely one! Hannah and my mum took Tig to a 2day event, so they were actually away from Friday morning til some time late tonight 😦 which meant I was on my lonesome! As was Chika, poor baby 😦 Sooo I shall get right to it 😀
Friday night dinner = pure bliss. I did kamut spaghetti, with kale crispins, broccoli, grey pumpkin and parsnip, with a tofu-peanut sauce:
I did extra peanut butter in my sauce, and boy, it made all the difference! Talk about deliciousness….
I also had a black bean brownie and some yogurt for dessert, cos I didn’t feel I’d eaten enough in the day 🙂
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SATURDAY
I was actually really dreading today – Just me in the house, and it was a day off from exercise. I really don’t like days off – they’re nice once in a while, but I do struggle with them; I feel fidgety and want to be on the move and just…DO something, you know? It’s frustrating! But I kept telling myself that I needed one so I would have more energy for Sunday’s 9mile run. ANYWAY!
Breakfast – I wanted a big SMOOTHIE! So I gathered up some ill-looking fruit:
(All small – Nectarine, banana, pear, unexplained water splodge) And blended it with 1 cup of milk, 1/2 tsp xanthan gum and a bit under 1/2 c. yogurt, with vanilla extract:
Topped with puff cereal and Crunchy Bran:
SOOO lovely! Very, very refreshing, smooth and creamy. Pure yum!
Straight after, the dog and I went for her walk, and when I got back, I had this waiting for me:
THE OPERATION BEAUTIFUL BOOK!! I’m yet to read it properly, but I’ve had a good flick and it’s super!! There were quotations from Angela, Meghann’s sister (I think her blog is Beneath It All, but I’m not certain) and Kath! Amaze 😛 I feel famous just cos I read these people’s blogs :D
Mid morning, I had 1 cup of cereal:
And then I went to Waitrose and the farm shop – I needed cereal, apples and a few other bits – and I wanted to find some kabocha! Did I have any luck? No. BOOOO.
Lunch was a two parter – roast squash/parsnip/turnip, served with stir fried soy sauced cabbage, mushrooms and garlic:
Cabbage and I have somewhat of a love affair – garlic cabbage was the first vegetable I ever really liked! Strange choice right!?
The other part of lunch was the most DELICIOUS blend EVER! Silken tofu, cereal (yes, more cereal…I’m an addict and PROUD), cocoa powder, xanthan gum, watermelon, topped with puff cereal:
Oh MY! So thick, SO creamy, SO totally 100% amazingly delicious!! Gracious. If I had no teeth, I would survive so well – all my food seems to be blended nowadays.
In the afternoon, I spent [literally] 40mins sorting out my bar/snack stash. My ‘corner’ of the kitchen was looking somewhat out of control, so I went through it all, re-boxed it, sorted, neatened…looks WAY better now 🙂
For my snack, I wasn’t really hungry, but I was feeling low on energy (not enough carbs today? Or calories? I don’t know..). I spent a good 10mins looking at my snack stash – x? No, it’d fill me up too much…y? No, a bit too sugary…z? No, don’t fancy it….this is what happens when I snack when I’m not really hungry. Major indecision! In the end, I settled on Bear granola and yogurt 😛 No pic!
Dinner – lentils/durum wheat, tempeh with a hummus topping, grey pumpkin, parsnip,aubergine:
MMMMM.
Dessert – not actually needed, but I wanted to carb load 😀 Soo I had this bar, which was a YEAR past the sell by date:
I rediscovered it when cupboard sorting 😛 However, upon opening, it didn’t seem quite well..it almost smelt alcoholic! It was probably fine, but I didn’t want to risk it, so I had an in-sell-by-date version instead:
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SUNDAY
Long run day 🙂 ‘Just’ 9miles today…
I fuelled with a Clif bar, sent to me by America’s Nutrition:
Packing in 44g carb, I felt it was a win 😀 And it sure was! By gosh, it tasted (and looked like) a dessert. Surely not a health bar…?? A true treat to eat – Madness. I also had 2tsp wheatgerm, and then set out on my way. I didn’t take Lucozade today, instead mixing my water with some pineapple flavour coconut water:
Blech. That stuff is horrible! Every time I needed to drink, I was dreading it, cos I didn’t like the taste 😦 Such a shame. I really, really wanted to like coconut water…OH well.
ANYWAY! The run!
Fastest mile: 8.18, slowest mile: 8.48, but the majority were in the 8.30s I believe 😀 9miles OWNED in 1hr18. I felt my 9 today was a kind of confidence building run actually – I felt really, really good during it. Strong, fast, full of motivation. I don’t know if it was the amazing Clif bar (last time I had one of them pre-workout, I went off like a rocket – I really recommend them pre workout), the 2 Aspirin I took (just in case my legs decided to muck me about), the Trek bar last night, the skanky coconut water, the 2 dates eaten at mile 7, or a combo of everything….either way, I finished feeling happy and proud of myself 🙂
Breakfast – a good old fashioned EGM:
Spinach, chia seeds, vanilla essence, banana, yogurt, milk, cereal, topped with granola, puff cereal, homemade gooseberry jam, grated cacao and grapes (grapes are like peppers to me – I don’t like them that much, but I seem to end up eating them cos my mum buys them, then never eats them…!!)
Hit the spot 😀
After breakfast I dragged out my pony for a fast hack. The farmers have finally made STUBBLE! Stubble = massive fields for me to gallop in, which we promptly did 😛 She walked home so slow though…probably the equivalent of taking a kid to the park, and then sending it back home where it knows it’ll be alone and sad (aka no Tig).
Funny story – while I was getting my stirrups down and about to get on in the yard, Carter jumped a full 3foot from the stable door, onto Chika’s hindquarters!! Bless her, she stood like a rock with her ears pricked :p He even started kneading her skin, as cats do!! I think she thought it was some kind of odd massage….
Lunch was quite a repeat of yesterday. I was totally craving vegetables, so I had a bowl full of roast celeriac, squash (I have an abundance of it atm), turnip and kale, with lots of HP sauce:
SO delicious. The other part was a rep of yesterday – a pear, watermelon, cereal, silken tofu, xanthan gum, cocoa powder and maple syrup mix, all thrown into Vincent:
Again, SO SO SO SOOO amazingly scrum!! For some extra cals, I had some vanilla coated pumpkin seeds, and 2 puggets:
Yay 🙂
Now I just looked at the length of this post…rather long! So before I totally lose you (if I haven’t already), I’ll shoot through the rest of the day.
Snack = granola:
With yogurt:
Dinner – I’m thinking sweet potato puffs, with more tempeh/hummus 😛 the hummus’ sell by is tomorrow, so I want to eat it fast [plus it tastes mighty fine].
Buuuut for now, that’s me done! Have a good evening 🙂
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Do you pay attention to sell by-dates/use-bys? Or are you a ‘cut the mould off and it’s fine’ kinda person? I’m more of the latter actually, but if I can use it before the date, I will. Buuut, 99% of the time, stuff is fine past the date 🙂
(OH – PS – the 4 days and counting refers to my leaving for the Healthy Living Summit at stupid o’clock on Thursday :p)
I didn’t used to be a stickler for sell-by-dates, but the husband really is, so I tend to be more careful. If it’s something that’s just for me I usually don’t worry too much, obviously I check for spoilage, but if it looks fine and smells fine I’m not afraid to go for it.
Oh gosh I’m addicted to cereal seriously…if I don’t know what to have the answer will be cereal. Dessert..umm cereal? Snack..umm more cereal?! Yum yum yum!
The bear granola and cocoa trek brownies were good choices too, I’m having them loads recently! 🙂 Gosh the Clif bar looks amazing though! Sooo wish I could try one of those! Can I ask, what are those puggets?! They look funny haha! Where did you get your vanilla pumpkin seeds, I used to have them LOADS as a kid and you’ve just reminded me!!
As for sell by dates, I’m not toooo fussed if they’re past their date by a bit. I always try and use it before the date but I guess it depends what it is. If it’s a bar or something snacky, I’d probably eat them say 6 months out of date max. Otherwise like fresh stuff, like fridge foods and bread probably a couple of days out of date max. But I HATE wasting.
Aah I hate wasting too 🙂 and YAY for another cereal addict!
Oh the puggets are my own name for peanut butter filled nugget things..they’re DELICIOUS!
I definitely go by sight and smell…if it looks and smells okay, I will generally eat anything, ha!
I love those flavored coconut waters!! So sorry you weren’t crazy about it 😦
It was so sickly…I wish I did like it! Maybe if I keep trying 😛
I am so jealous u are going to the summit@ id love to go!! your blog inspires me to get more creative in the kitchen because the meals u cook are soo yummy looking, appetizing and achievable! i too HATE coconut water, its super mingin!
xxx
THANK YOU! I’m so glad someone else agrees 🙂
Not long to go before HLS – how exciting!!
Too bad you didn’t like the coconut water. I love the stuff. If the Chocolate Brownie Clif bar is anything like the peanut butter one it must be amazing!
4 days! Wow, I’m so jealous of all you lucky ladies heading out to the US.
Fun food combos with the blended 2-part lunches 🙂
Can I ask what those “puggets” are? They look intriguing and I have a feeling they might involve pb which means they must be amazing!
I’ve only tried the regular coconut water but wasn’t impressed either, especially after all the rave reviews I’d read, super expensive as well.
As for sell-by dates I pretty much ignore them. When I’m at uni I’m even worse, I think it’s because I’m buying my own food so I get really tight-fisted and HATE wasting food. I’m always eating pitta breads after scraping off the mould and bendy carrots…
Oh and congrats on the great run.
Lots of love xxx
Haha yes, the puggets are my own personal name for peanut butter filled nugget things 🙂 they’re lovely!
I totally agree – I was expecting something amazing witht he coconut water too, spent £4, and it’s AWFUL!
I saw a kabocha in Waitrose the other day so keep an eye out!
Eleanor
OoOH thanks for the heads up!
Congrats on your amazing run!! Don’t you just love confidence boosting days?! And that’s awesome that you’ve got big fields to gallop Chika in now. I wish the farmers would hay the field at the barn already – they are taking their sweet time. Of course, I’m not sure Teddie would want to move faster than a big trot, but I can dream, right? 😉
All your meals look amaze, but that’s nothing new 😉 And I am picky about sell-by dates when it comes to stuff like milk and yogurt, but not as much when it comes to bars, bagged snacks, etc, as long as they’re still closed.
Awh maybe a big field with gallop space is what he needs to get a proper canter out of him!?
Ugh ay, milk smells rank when it goes off :s
Yay HLS!!!! I dont know if I’m going to make it to the cocktail party on Friday, but I’ll def. be there on Saturday!! I’m so excited you’re coming! You’ve got quite a trek to make – I only live about 30 min. outside of the city!
I probably would have eaten the bar even though it was expired…
Normally I would have, but it didn’t smell good and the texture had totally changed :s
Aaaah I didn’t realise you were coming too, awesome!! Can’t wait to meet you 🙂
I had an expired Clif bar last week and I was paranoid it would taste bad, so I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much! In retrospect it was fine though. Great job on the 9 mile run! I always take pain reliever before I run as well, though I use Aleve (naproxen). My dad’s an orthopedic and he says it’s best for athletic pain!
I can’t wait to meet you at HLS!! Are you flying in on Thursday then? Me too!
Oohh I’ll try and get hold of some of that..good call 🙂
Yes I am! I land at 10.38am 🙂 when do you get in?
great eats girl!!! i’m soo jealous of your creativity!!! 😀 Great long run and damn, you’re fast!!
I don’t pay attention to due day… but I try to use as much pantry item as possible.
Eek, sorry you hate the coco water so much… will you dare try the other flavours and the plain one? I love them all, but I dont much care for the pineapple one.
Sooo jealous that you received your Operation Beautiful book already…mine is on the way, but I think the courier got lost again…hmpf…
You must be soooo excited to meet all those fabulous blog ladies for real!!! I’d be all star struck meeting Caitlin, Kath and Angela especially, and Emily from the Front Burner and all the others I’ve just left out. They all seem sooo lovely! I can’t wait for your post-HLS-posts and the 3million pics 🙂
I am flexible on sell by dates for a lot of things; but that Nakd bars sounded really off, like it had started fermenting or something. I am careful though to not use almonds past their sell-by date and I wouldn’t use eggs, poultry or milk/joghurt past their sell-by, if I was still eating them.
Why almonds so much? I’ve never thought about them…Haha I’ve had yogurt a month past! I figure as long as there is no visible mould, it’s OK – after all, it is just mouldy milk 😛
Well I’ve tried the plain coconut water (aaagges ago) and hated it, so I might be put off for life :p I just have to decide what to do with the litre of it I have!!!
And yep – I;m going to be totally star struck!
Uhm, I can’t remember actually!? I think I read ages ago that some toxic something is released when almonds get too old and that they should not be eaten; ever since I’ve been careful to not use them past their sell-by-date.
Nice one with the joghurt 🙂 I am sure I had out-of-date soya joghurt before- no harm done. I hate wasting food.
My favourite coco water is probably the pommegranate one. Maybe you could use your remaining litre of coco water as a base for a smoothie?
Ohh good idea!
The only time I get really strict with expiration dates is when it comes to spinach. Too many spinach recalls and such…..which is completely unrelated to the expiration date, but it’s led me to have a complete distrust of store-bought spinach once it’s past the due date! LOL 🙂
Spinach recalls!? What!?
Scary…I read about the US spinach recalls somewhere, but have no clue what the reason for the recalls was.
When I was a university student I totally ignored the expiration dates. I think I ate a lot of expired food. Actually I wonder how I never got sick during those years 🙂
If its a use by date then I would not eat it after that. If it isa best before date then it is a reccomendation, and should not be harmful a bit after the date, so I would open it and see. If it smelt funny then I wouldnt take the risk!
Also re the coconut water- (although I like it)- have it in a smoothie- I like it after a long hot run as its good for rehydrating and I dont like sports drinks. WIth a banana and some frozen mango it makes a lovely tropical smoothie, and you cant really taste the coconut water much. Might be worth a try anyway?
Yes because of the oil in nuts they go rancid quickly so prob best you didnt eat it!
I have read you can store nuts in the freezer to keep them fresher for longer but I havent tried it myself!