Breakfast Wonders

OH my gosh you guys, I had the most AMAZING breakfast today! It was simply perfect after my run – which for once wasn’t hot! In fact, it looked like this:

If you can’t tell, that’s heavy rain and a very overcast day 😀 MOST REFRESHING THING EVER! Needless to say, I was super excited about my run 🙂 5k in 27minutes, plus 1mile walk to cool down. Good times 🙂

Sooo my super amazing breakfast was spelt pancakes, from Angela’s blog. I’d like to quickly take this opportunity to apologize to pancakes as a population…I’ve spent SO long dissing them, saying how they never do anything for me, and generally being quite nasty. My opinion has done a complete 360 (and then another 180 :p) on them after my meal 😀 I followed her recipe exactly, except I added in 1tbsp flaxseed and..I think that’s it:

I seriously have very poor presentation skills :p

I topped them with vanilla yogurt, tree bark, and on the other half, a melted banana mixed with about 1tbsp peanut butter and a tsp maple syrup:

OH.

MY.

GOSH.

Most amazing delicious (and healthy!) breakfast ever, yet it tasted SO decadent! I can not rave enough about how good they were. Phew.

After the breakfast excitement, I had some mild horse excitement – in the form a speedy-ish hour hack with Hannah and Tig 🙂

By the time we got back, I was pretty hungry for lunch. I decided to make good use of some massive beet leaves in the fridge, by making a nice filling for them (thank you Heather for the idea!). But I wanted to not rush it, so I ate a lil baby orange to tide me over 🙂

Anyway, my filling consisted of:

A giant onion (I used the green leaves at the end, as my aunt suggested – she grew it):

Beet leaves, tomato, grated butternut squash, a tiny tiny chunk of parsnip:

I stir fried it all, along with agave nectar, curry powder, coriander seeds, chickpeas (I discovered some more!), lemon juice and a tsp tahini:

I then served it wrapped up in giant leaves….

…sadly it didn’t stay together! Regardless, it was freaky delicious 😀 I also had some balsamic coated spinach and roasted beans/nuts:

I bet you can guess what dessert was 😛

I’m going to skip afternoon babbles, and just show you a) some gooey mess:

That got turned into these:

And b) my usual snack:

Why? Cos I have  a TON of photos to add, so less writing = more photos!

Dinner was a mix of a fancy potato my aunt grew and gave me:

Along with sweet potato, kabocha, parsnip, leek and marinated tofu (in stock, agave, cinnamon and soy sauce):

Fab 😀 A reaaaally good meal! (Though it was meant to be tofu strips…but the tofu fell apart in the cutting process :s).  Dessert will probably be yogurt and a brownie 😀

Question: What’s one food you used to hate, but now love? I spent a long time hating pancakes..but after today, I sense a turnaround on the horizon!

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OK, foal photo time, as promised! Originally I had about 30 I wanted to show y’all…whether I’ll get 30 up before my laptop dies is another question! Enjoy 🙂

(PS – Wheatgerm post and Hannah’s Uganda trip post are coming up over the next two days :))

Raef above, and my aunt with Tsara below 🙂

One of my aunt’s dogs (a Boxer) – Solley:

LOL at Roly’s face above!

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Disappearing Act

Hello my lovemuffins! Ay I did the old disappearing act again over the weekend…did you guys have a good one? Anyone got any tales to tell!?

I had quite the weekend, mainly because – with no decent blender – Epic Green Monsters were off the cards 😥 Thank goodness for oats, is all I can say 🙂

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Saturday

Hello Heatwave! Crikey, it was like, 31 degrees today!? I know that’s probably a cool day where most of you are (ie America) but over here, that is HAWT. Chika was sweating just standing in her stable! I got pretty sweaty too, on a 5k run as per the marathon plan. I set out super early, but it was still sooooo hooottttttttt! I did allow myself a 30 second walk in my last 2miles, but even with that, my slowest mile was 8.22! *BOO YAH*. The whole thing was done in 25:57 🙂

For mah breakfast, it was overnight oats time 😀 In the mix:

• 1/2 cup of barley flakes, oats, and 1tbsp wheat bran
• 1/2 cup milk with extra added in the mornin’
• 1/2 cup yogurt
• 1 tsp carob powder
• 1 tsp agave nectar
• 1 tbsp chia seeds

Now, on a regular day, with a proper blender, banana soft serve would’ve gone down a treat – but that couldn’t happen! Instead, I spent a small lifetime slicing eevverrr so thinly a frozen banana:

Almost there….

DONE!

I then mixed it in, and topped the bowl with a sprinkle of tree bark and cereal. BEAUTIFUL!

It went down a treat and tasted simply fabulous 🙂

Straight after the oats, I rode Chika, who got EXTREMLY sweaty – she still tried her heart out though 🙂 I then stewed in my car for 2hours, crawling through heavy traffic to pick my sister up from the train station. She’s been in Uganda the past 10 days 🙂 Boy did she have some sad stories to tell! Really quite horrific – it makes my problems – and everyone else’s I know – pale in comparison 😦

Lunch consisted of some of the most giant spinach leaves ever:

See!? They were maHOOSive! And not actually that nice, they left a weird aftertaste. Spinach – I’m disappointed in you. I still ate it all though 🙂 Along with plum tomatoes, beets, and grapes:

And roasted red pepper, celeriac and courgette:

Along with a balsamic/s+p/maple syrup/basil dressing:

Annnnd for some protein/carbs, roasted beans:

After the spinach had been chugged down, it was actually quite a nice meal 🙂

Dessert was some So Crispy bites:

I didn’t actually want them all that much, but I accidently popped open the packet manhandling them too roughly, so I had to eat them before they went stale 😛

Post lunch – Uganda photo viewing and mucking out and Poppy-walking and snacking on the best snack known to the Western world:

Cereal and yogurt of course :p

Best snacks obviously have to be followed by best dinners too 😀 Kamut spaghetti, homemade tomato sauce, edamame beans, parsnip, kabocha, celeriac:

D. E. L. I. C. I. O. U. S.

Dessert is going to be amaze too 😀 I’ve got a pear/strawberry/cocoa pudding waiting patiently in my fridge! Crappy Blender (as it shall be known from this day onwards) can blend soft things (ie super ripe pears and silken tofu), but give it a tough leaf, and it cries and gives up. Really quite pathetic don’t you think?

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Sunday

SundayRunday 🙂 It was time for a 5miler this morning, so after my usual snack, my camelbak and I set out, with just the blazing hawt sun for company. I’d decided that – despite it being super hot so early – I was NOT walking today. Soo instead I took my miles a bit slower to see what would happen:

Mile 1 – 8.58

Mile 2 – 8.47

Mile 3 – 8.46

Mile 4 – 8.48 – during the middle of this mile, I was PROPER hot, and my legs were asking to walk…then I ran through one of those crop-giant-sprinkler-waterer-things – AMAZING! Like running through a shower. Perfect pick-me-up!

Mile 5 – 8.47

(I didn’t realise they were all so close til I just typed it up! Wowzer) NO WALKING! To cool off, I then walked a mile, which brought the total for the morning to a nice ever 1hour exactly 🙂

Breakfast was another overnight oats/barley combination; same as yesterday, except I subbed mixed spice for the carob powder. This morning I mixed in a buttload more milk, and a finely chopped frozen banana (and tree bark/Grape Nuts):

That was delightful…but THIS point in eating it was the BEST!

The banana had melted, but was still very cold…it was a true mouthDELIGHT.

I then wasted 20minutes watching old bits of Big Brother – Hannah was trying to catch up on the main fights since she’d been away, so it was very distracting 😛 But eventually I dragged myself out into the sauna that is The World, and gave Chika a school and a hack 🙂

Theeeen, Cosmo and I had a walking date, followed swiftly by a pretty lunch 🙂

Nah, that wasn’t my lunch, (Though I did make it) I don’t do marmite and lettuce sandwiches….HANNAH on the other hand! My lunch consisted of….

Tomatoes….

Sweet potato….

Lentils, leek, balsamic, agave, s+p, cinnamon, spinach, sundried tomato, pear (added at the end):

Topped with fresh basil:

Hurrah! Very fabby 😀 Dessert was So Crispy bites (what else right? They’ve become somewhat of a habit :/)

Straight after lunch, Hannah and I went over to my aunt’s house. Chahara’s foal (he has a name now, but I can’t remember it…he’s called Roly for short though :p) and Chahara were going to be turned out with the rest of the herd for the first time today, so my aunt thought I’d like to watch 😀 I took my camera and got some lovely pictures! I actually have about 30 I want to post on here, but seeing as this is already a looooong post (and my laptop will die with too many photos), I’m going to save them til tomorrow. Here’s a taster though:

Hehe!

Afternoon snack – I was actually pretty peckish for it! I had an apple, as well as a cereal/yogurt mix [again]:

Good food.

Dinner was mildly inspired by Jess – she mentioned doing a chickpea thing, simmered in milk with curry powder and honey. Sounds good right!? I did my own very slight variation – butter beans (no chickpeas) simmered in milk with mixed spice and maple syrup:D

I also had tempeh, topped with a sauce made from maple syrup, a tiny chunk of melted banana and cashew butter, along with lots of lovely roasted veggies on the side:

Amazing dinner (That SAUCE!!! Good gracious), enjoyed whilst watching the World Cup final 🙂

Dessert wise – just like yesterday, I have a DELICIOUS pear/strawberry/cocoa pudding waiting patiently for me 😀 I better get to it!

Have a good evening 🙂

PS – Who wants who to win in the World Cup final tonight!? I vote Holland – they have good theme parks and little else (:p) – they deserve it!

PPS – Wheatgerm post coming tomorrow/Tuesday!

PPPS – Remember I said Hannah went to Uganda on a charity type trip thing? Well, I wondered if you guys would like her to do a guest post about it – she’s got some brilliant photos and SO many amazing stories…if you’re interested, leave a comment. If enough people want to know, I’ll get her to write one 😀

PPPPS –

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Three Words

Actually, there’ll be more than three words (although still not many – I have lots of pictures!) – but I just wanted an excuse to make y’all listen to this song:

One of my ultimate favourites 😀

Ok, now onto my Sunday! As I say, more photos than talk 😛

The day started with my usual snackage, then a super five mile run (which totally put me on a runner’s high for the day!), done in 43minutes. It went well!! I’ve been doing some walking recently whilst running (30 seconds a mile), but I did NONE today; twas tres pleasing 🙂 When I got back, I cooled off with a quick 1mile walk with my mamma and Poppy 🙂

Breakfast:

HOORAY!

Then, I had a lesson on both Chika and Tig today. Wanna see some Chika and I photos!? They’re not the best, but considering she’s been back in work for about 2 weeks after a 3 month ish break, she’s doing alright 🙂

It took me ages to work out, but we are actually walking in the next photo – at first I thought it was some weird trot canter hybrid 😛

Lol, there we go…my mum missed us!

Chika, Poppy and I – Chika didn’t smile and Poppy was scared of Chika…but still, a cute photo!

I love Chika! Of course, she was super 😀 And Tig was a good boy too. Two horses behaving in one day…a rare thing!

Lunch – very repetitive I’m afraid…

BUT – the SUPER DUPER part of lunch was my dessert…Ohmygosh it was amaze! Worthy-of-its’-own-recipe-page-amaze in fact. Let me introduce you to:

Pear and Papaya Pudding!

• 1 very ripe pear
• some chunks of papaya – maybe 1/3 cup ish
• approx 120g silken tofu
• a splash of milk – 1/8th – 1/4cup, depends on your preference
• nutmeg
• 1 tsp agave/maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp xanthan gum

Blend blend blend, chill for 25mins or so (in every sense of the phrase :p), and VOILA!

That, my friends, was DELICIOUS!! Make it now, please 🙂

After luncheons, my mum and I took a huge giant road trip. In fact, it took a full TWENTY FIVE minutes, can you believe…why the epic journey? To go see Chahara’s foal of course!

Good news guys – HE’S GOING TO BE OK!! The Powers That Be made his leg much, much straighter 🙂 My aunt actually has a theory – Chahara is a little mare, and Mr Foal (no name yet) was born 8 days early. His leg has straightened out in about 8 days…sooo, it seems he could well have been squished in the womb and came out a little ‘undercooked’ as my aunt called it. Seems reasonable! Anyway – FOAL PICS!

So proud looking:

Hehe, he wanted to go play with the big herd!

Attempting to graze….he looks like a giraffe!

And some more…

Trying to run!

A bit of the other guy…

Cute huh!?

Other afternoon stuff – mucking out, short reading walk, snack:

Then dindins!! Ultimate favourite meal was on the cards – tempeh, with a banana-peanut sauce, durum wheat (yes, *sigh*, AGAIN….I’m so dull :p), cocoa-agave veggies (including yellow courgette, which is DELICIOUS):

LOOOVEEEEE IITTTT!!

Dessert – banana bread and yogurt [later on]. The banana bread was lovely, BUT I think I used too much banana cos it was very very banana-y on the inside…I almost thought it was undercooked! But the flavour was there so that’s the main thing 🙂

And that’s Sunday done!

Monday

Woop woop, I had my first day of volunteering at the charity shop today! I’ll get onto it later though. First up in the day was my 3mile run, as per the marathon plan. It went pretty good- I did 5k as usual, and did it in 26.10, which is a good minute faster than I have been going! To cool off I just did a 1mile speed walk.

Breakfast was a Fake Cake of sorts; 1/2 cup yogurt, 1 cup cereal, 1/2 banana, cocoa powder, all blended up and topped with 2 tbsp Grape Nuts and some tree bark:

Gets better every time!

I took Poppy out for an hour’s speed walk after breakfast, as well as doing some hair washing and packing my lunch….

First up was my new favourite smoothie!

• 1/2 banana
• 1 very ripe pear
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup water
• BEET LEAVES!

Yes, it looks like swamp water..but it was seriously delicious!! The beet taste really came through, but in a wonderful way 🙂 *sigh*. Disaster did strike though – I blended it, took the lid off, thought ‘aaah I’ll give it one more whiz’……but didn’t put the lid back on!

Doh.

2nd part of lunch was this load:

A seitan sandwich – 1 piece of my favourite bread, with cranberry and caramelized onion chutney, cinnamon, salad leaves and seitan:

As well as some baby carrot sticks and courgette:

Good lunch 😀 The afternoon was spent at my first day at work 🙂 I would talk about it, but this post is already very very long so I’ll leave it…

Snack wise, I was pretty hungry when I got back! Enter an unpicturerd apple, and a cereal/yogurt combination:

And now dinner – smoked almond tofu, cocoa rice/spelt/barley, and nutmeg/cinnamon coated kabocha,turnip, parsnip:

Fantastique folks, fantastique!

Dessert – wait til tomorrow! It will be a good’un though 😛

Sorry for the epic length post and for the quick finish! But my computer is MAJORLY threatening to crash with all the info in the post :s soooo, good night!

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And so it begins….

Happy Saturday my lovelies!! Are you having a wonderful day? It’s so SUNNY where I am!!

Today also marked the first day of my marathon training :O :O I had to shift it all forwards a couple of days, cos my proposed 14mile run falls on the Sunday of the Healthy Living Summit…so instead, I’ve planned it so I do that the day before I leave, then I can have a few days off at the HLS, and get back on track when I get home 🙂 Genius right? Anyway:

Day 1 of my programme called for a simple 3 mile run – easy! I did 5k in 27minutes (I was slow cos it was way hot out) and then had my precious EGM:

Straight after, I went out on a reading walk. I was obviously feeling very emotional today…I finished the end of my book, which was just your average chick lit, rom-com type thing – yet I burst into tears not once, but TWICE reading it. It had a happy ending for goodness sake!! What can I say…I’m a romantic. I tear up at weddings in films, when people talk about love, at people who have boyfriends…I’m hopeless 😛 I just want a boyfriend of my own really. Alas!

I then played with my favourite breathing animal in the whole wide world – Chika! We just did 25mins or so schooling, but she was trying very hard and was all light and soft, so there was no need to push it 🙂

The rest of the morning was spent killing some time (apparently, cos I can’t remember what else I did :/), then, something kind of amazing happened….

THAT happened! I broke into my first spaghetti squash 😀 To make it look like above, I just cut it in half, scraped out the seeds, seasoned it, and baked it for about 40mins or so, or til it was all soft. I then let it cool while I got on with the rest of lunch.

I had a sweet section – spaghetti squash, mixed with the same gooseberry/pear concoction as yesterday, with a sprinkle of grape nuts:

A random bit of spaghetti squash on the side, just so I could reaaaally taste it:

And a lentil mix thing – 55g dry weight of green and red lentils, boiled with stock, tomato puree, sundried tomato, cinnamon, celeriac and green pepper:

All together:

A lunch fit for a King, wouldn’t you agree? Squash verdict: It hasn’t got the flavour of kabocha, but I love the texture, and in its’ own right, it has a good taste. Overall I’m pleased – but if I was on the Titanic, and I had one seat on my lifeboat left, I’d have to pick the kabocha…sorry spaghetti!! 😛

Straight after lunch, my mum, Hannah and I went to go and see Chahara’s new foal again. My aunt really wanted me to see him today, cos I saw him 2 days ago so I could judge if there was an improvement in his dodgy leg situation. Sadly, there really wasn’t 😦 His back legs are awful 😦 To be honest, the chances are he will have to be put down. He’s probably in a lot of pain already, he just isn’t aware of it because he was born like it. But the more he grows, the worse it’ll get. It’s terribly sad, especially for Chahara. She’s a fab mum, and he’s her first foal 😦 But anyway, I think my mum is going to recommend the vet comes out to give him lots of scans etc to see if the leg can be splinted – but her gut feeling is the problem is too high up, right in his hips, so it can’t be helped.

HOWEVER, I did get some nicer pictures today 🙂 He’s such a sweetheart, I have to show y’all!!

I love him a little bit 🙂

This is the other foal too (this guy is now about a month old I think):

His mum, Aurabelle:

Precious!!

After the foal fun, we shot off to Poplar Park – Hannah has an event there with Tig tomorrow, so we walked the cross country course. I snacked on an apple on the way (I wasn’t hungry, but I missed my apple from the morning :p) and then we walked…oohh, like a mile or so round the course. Some randomer on the course had the most BEAUTIFUL  German Sheppard type dog…ohmygosh, it was stunning!! Jess will know what I mean when I say it floated about like a warmblood 😛

My lunch today held me over SO well! I totally wans’t hungry for the afternoon snack :s but it was an old favourite, so I couldn’t say no 😛 Bear granola with yogurt:

HURRAAHHH!! It’s been too long, Bear granola, too long. Never again will I leave such a gap between eating you!

Dinner – immensely dull, I am sorry!! I had had bigger plans, but then I was tired and to be perfectly honest, I couldn’t be bothered to do them anymore 😛 sooo, I had tempeh, with a peanut, banana and maple sauce, usual veggies as well as some leek, and a 3grain mix:

I can truly say, that was the best sauce EVER!!! Recipe –

Peanut-Maple-Banana sauce

• 10g peanut butter
• a few dashes of soy sauce
• a pinch of salt
• a tsp of maple syrup
• approx. 1inch piece of banana, frozen then ‘melted’ in the microwave
• a dash of cinnamon
• splash of water

Mix everything together, microwave it, mix a bit more. I then let mine cool so it thickened up. Serve on tempeh, chicken, whatever! And ENJOY 😀

That’s all from me now 🙂 I’m going to do what I do best- read the newspaper and watch something crap on TV. Wild night right?! 😛

Question – what makes you cry? Romance does it for me, every time 😛

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Foal Fail

Eveeeeening folks.

So I went to go visit my aunt/Chahara’s new foal today (the one born the night before last!), and I took my spunky new camera with the hope of taking lots of delightful photos! However. EPIC FAIL. Literally, the second I turned the camera on, the [2nd] set of batteries went all red in the face and angry, and died after only a handful of photos ;’( Gutted!! A tiny tiiiiiiiiny part of my brain did actually think ‘oohh, bring some more batteries’..but obviously the rascal side of my brain decided to overrule the first thought. HURRUMPH. I’m going back this weekend to get more though. Anyway, here’s what I did get! (Apologies for the quality – I haven’t found the right setting for indoor/dull-light photos, that need a fast shutter speed :s)

My aunt has freaking huge fields!!

Proud aunt!

Proud/tired mumma!! Apparently it was quite a long birth :s

The foal is the SWEETEST thing ever! He’s so so friendly – most day old foals are pretty timid and scared of humans, but this guy doesn’t give a crap! He’s so sweet 🙂 But, there’s a downside – you might have noticed his hind legs in the pics? Well, sometimes when foals are born, they have slightly wibbly wonky legs, which should straighten up pretty quick. His don’t seem to be though…which is bad. If they don’t, he will probably have to be put down; after all, it’s a deformity, and it’ll ruin his growth (ie his back is being twisted etc), so it’d be the only option. My aunt is gutted 😦 finger’s crossed he sorts himself out over the next week!!

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I was up extra early today – lots to do! Cos I’d gotten up earlier, I totally wasn’t in the least hungry, so I just had a square of chocolate and 2 tsp wheatgerm to Break My Fast, as I couldn’t face anything else pre-workout :s Anyways, I did some DVDs, then had an EGM:

I missed thee! It was B. E. A. Utiful, as Jim Carrey in Bruce Almighty would say (loveeee that film!!).

Theeeen, I shot off to my aunts, saw the foal, had a tour of her vegetable patch, and stared in awe somewhat at her dogs; three generations – gran is a Boxer, daughter and grandchild are Boxer crosses, so they’re not massive. But after being round Poppy for so long, they looked HUGGGEE!! Crazy.

When I got home, I made a super quick packed lunch, then set out with a mission in mind – Find A Job! Basically, I went into town, and a few places along the way, and asked if anyone had any part time work. I’ve left my details at quite a few places, and I have an interview on Monday….wish me luck!!

It turns out I was actually home by lunch, so I got to enjoy my sheer yumminess at a table 🙂

A curry hummus and beetroot/salad sandwich:

Carrots-in-a-curry-hummus-jar:

A pear, and cherries:

Amazing! The hummus and the beets went SO well together – I was rather taken aback by the delight :p

For dessert, I had some cereal 🙂

Straight after lunch, I got Chika out and took her for a hack. WHY do I keep riding straight after a big meal??? Will I ever learn?? Apparently not ANYWAY – It was SO HAWT! Poor old Chika was very lethargic; it’s hard being a tubster horse in the heat 😛

When I was done with her, I mucked her and Tig out, and went out on a  random 1mile run. 9 minutes of running, and I was literally dripping with sweat 😛 heeeeaaattt wwaaavvveee!! Sheesh.

THEN, I took Poppy out for an hours’ walk – she was bursting to get out 😛 while I was walking down the driveway, I took some horsie photos 🙂

Bucket Face!

They love each other 🙂

Any excuse right? 😛

I was quite peckish when I got back, so I decided it was the perfect opportunity for a bit of cereal love…not just any cereal though. THIS cereal:

Have you had it before? It was SUPER delicious!! And the ingredients list was delightful 🙂 I had it with some Crunchy Bran and yogurt:

Hurrah 😀 I also had a tiny tiny apple – remember folks, an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Never forget.

Dinner was another old favourite: tempeh, peanut butter mess, durum wheat, veggies. Or, to put it more nicely:

Softly baked tempeh fillets, with an oriental spiced peanut glaze, on a bed of lightly seasoned, carob dusted durum wheat, and accompanied by garlic and cinnamon baked fresh winter vegetables.

Sounds a bit better right!? Here’s the mess anyway:

Hurrah again!! Best meal ever 😀

Can you guess what’s coming now? Maybe something that sounds like Doppy Palk, and Hessert…oh, and Dig Dother 😛

Answers on a postcard people 🙂

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Questions: What’s your all time favourite meal?

What’s your all time favourite baby animal? Kittens win, hands down for me 😀

PS: MyMarbleRye is hosting a giveaway!

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