What to buy the girl who hates tea?

– Coffee.

Coffee in French press form:

Coffee moonlighting as beer:

Note: that really is coffee. Vincent the Vita is a wonderful machine!

Extra foam:

– Chocolate.

Real, good quality (vegan) dark chocolate.

An addict can never have too much 🙂

– Vegetables:

Melon and hummus? Why not?

I’ll tell you why – cos black pepper and sea salt hummus doesn’t exactly go with melon, that’s why.

Brussels sprouts and pear/melon/cereal/banana blends as a pairing however?

Kinda works 🙂 But the hummus, it really is best left where it belongs – on toast.

With a side of cooked cucumber, natch :p

Jizzy new plate right??

Question: What was the last present you received?

Oh, & happy new year!!

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I Love My Boys

Seriously. How could you not love these two?

Carter:

I don’t care how many similar photos I put up – you can never have too many cat pictures :p

He’s my little fatty kitten who sleeps on my bed (so close that his whiskers touch my face!), walks across my face if he wants attention when I’m asleep, burrows under my quilt, pounces on my feet, cries at my door if it’s shut, plays with his prey (for ages..and ages…and ages…). He’s always sneezy (thank you, kitten cat flu, for that), he has poor self cleaning skills…

….but I adore him!

Kovac:

I’m sad..I didn’t get many of him! Some older ones..

He’s my supermodel 🙂 He has the silkiest coat known to Cat World, he’s an incredible hunter (birds, rabbits, voles, SQUIRRELS), he’s gorgeous, he’s precious and delicate, especially since he got hit by a car when we first had him, he likes to ride on people’s shoulders, wrapped round your neck like a scarf, he likes to lick all the gravy off his cat meat but leave the chunks….

…and I adore him just as much 🙂

Gah, I’m totally going to have to do a post dedicated to my favourite lady sometime soon too –

– she’s been PERFECT recently!

Talking of perfection – I love food, and ohmydays did I eat some good stuff recently! I know it’s probably boring to just see endless pictures of meals with little content, but..well, whatever :p My meals were good enough to share, so SHARE I WILL!

Chocolate lentil stew thing with grilled aubergine rounds:

I’m suddenly on an aubergine kick – it’s so GOOEY!

Tofu, marinated in soy sauce, maple syrup, smoked garlic, veg stock, mixed spice (I think…), cocoa powder and a few other bits (again, I think – I can hardly remember now):

Looks gross right?

Fried with spelt/wheat:

Oh. My. Days.

This morning, I had THE most delicious pumpkin bowl! I saw the recipe on Gina’s blog, but I had to change it slightly – I didn’t use Vega mix, subbing instead with 1 spoon of pea protein powder, a spoon of cocoa powder, 1 tsp agave and extra cinnamon.

It was still totally delicious!! And filling too 🙂

Lunch today – wowzers!

You know what the below photo is?

Why, it’s brussels sprouts. Roasted. Then fried. With soy sauce. And..BANANA!

I originally saw the idea here the other night, and HAD to try it!!! It was so so worth it – amazing tasting! I only used soy sauce with my version, but it was proper incred 😀 Sounds weird, but I really do recommend you try it, oh yes 🙂

Other than eating weird food combos, what have I done…christmas shopping!! I even bought all my tags today, in prep for wrapping. I’m so excited! My excitement almost went overboard when I got a cappuccino today, and the takeaway cup was in CHRISTMAS colours! Seriously, there was one major happy dance in my head 🙂

Anyone else excited about Christmas!!??

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It’s all in a sandwich

Happy Friday lovelies!

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you’ll know this already –

I don’t like sandwiches.

Seriously, how often do you see a sandwich or a wrap appear on here? Hardly ever, that’s how oft! I find bread very blaaah. My mum and sister go wacky over fresh crusty bread (as do a number of bloggers), but I’ve just never got it… In the past 6 or 7 months, there’s been 2 sandwiches I’ve liked. One was a tempeh, banana and peanut butter sandwich, and one was a roasted veggie sandwich. But, my dears, the other day, I had the sandwich DREAMS are made of!

It involved hummus and canned pumpkin….

….spread thickly on seedy wholemeal toast (fyi, random side note: Jesus Walks by the one and only Kanye just came on the radio..PARTY IN MY HEAD! Ever since I saw Jarhead, I have LOVED that song! Bliss.):

Then piled with roasted mushy aubergine:

I then stuck it in the keep-warm oven for 10mins or so, so it went REALLY crispy and hot through.

Oooooooooooooh my days.

Never have I had such a gooey, delicious sandwich! Seriously!! I mean, it must’ve been good – I’ve just dedicated a post to it!! It was even good enough to repeat the next day too, with the addition of some roasted mashed kabocha:

GOO!!!

Happy days 🙂

All my other eats kinda paled in comparison to be honest 😦 But some highlights, food wise? Reduced-to-clear blackberries:

Reduced-to-clear sharonfruit (permissons or something, to all you crazy Americans):

I worked out if you go into a supermarket [Waitrose] the minute it opens [cos your bladder is about to burst], you can pick up a ton of bargains 😛 (ohemgee, fyi, the same radio station is now playing a song by Notorious B.I.G and co, which I love! You know, the one that was released a few years back – Nasty Girl -, despite the B.I.G bloke being dead for years…beyond the grave singing. Quite a talent!)

I had the best tempeh the other night too – after reading a post by my fellow horsey blogger about steaming tempeh, I decided to go for it. I steamed my T for 10mins, then marinaded it in a white wine vinegar/smoked garlic/soy sauce/maple syrup/something else which I forget mix, I fried it and the result was the most succulent lump of soy I’ve ever had!

The photo does it NO justice.

Today’s breakfast was somewhat random – an out-of-date Mojo bar.

As you do. I was in a rush!!

But lunch…oh did lunch make up for my breakfast! I made parsnip, maple and apple ‘soup’!!

A tiny weeny apple cooked with a chunk of leek, mixed spice and EVOO spray:

When mushy, I added in 1 tsp maple syrup and a load of parsnip chunks, with weak stock for boiling:

It simmered away for however long it simmered away for, til the parsnips were all soft. While it was cookin’ up a storm, I made a tiny roasted salad – kale, kabocha, broccoli:

Hurrah!

By the time I’d eaten that, I’d also blended the soup and was ready to eat it, with a blob of soya yogurt:

See, I very loosely use the term ‘soup’. I don’t like watery soup (blates), but add more water in to get the consistency you like 🙂

oooyyyy vveeeyyy! It was soososososos DELICIOUS!!! Party in the tummy, I tell ya.

——-

In other news:

Obama came back (whenever I say that, I want to start rapping ‘Baby got back’. Mah! It takes some real self-control to defeat the urge!). She’s a weird one. She disappears for a month, then appears – looking fat and shiny – and hangs about for a week. Then she goes, and the cycle repeats. Honestly, if she was in the army, she’d get shot for deserting. Maybe I should dig out my gun, no?

In more, other, news:

I had a lovely jubbly 5mile run this week 🙂 my first one since…my 7miler the other week!? The weather has been AWFUL all week; gales, rain, wind (a lady died!), so I’ve been sticking to indoor workouts. It felt GREAT to be out!

In more, more, other, news:

I think I have a post coming up soon about Life Post-Marathon. Eating, exercising, that kinda thing. It’s been interesting!

By the by – you probably don’t watch X Factor, nor care about it. But that does little to put me off. Check out my favourite X Factor performances 🙂

My fave boy, Matt, who I want to win:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-5M93tovEs

My other fave boy, Aiden (he’s 18!! yet I find him incredibly attractive….:p):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwfNexdaIdU

Mary Tesco:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yr4Zfhox3t0

Matt’s audition – don’t you LOVE him!!??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSph1cRiG4M

Uh..I’ll leave it at that. Believe me, I could go on and on and on……

Oh no! One more song I’ve been loving:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkcrNAQbU2Q

Loooooooveeee it.

Question: Any Brits out there watching X Factor? Who do you love/hate? For me – LOVE Matt, Aiden and Rebecca! HATE Cher, Katie and Wagner 🙂

(PS – I don’t seem to be updating my recipe page atm..BUT when I make something I feel is recipe-worthy, I tend to tag it under ‘Recipe’. So if you have too much free time, feel like trawling through back posts, and want to cook something you probably won’t like all that much, you know where to go! :p)

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Imagine this….

….or, as the case may be, don’t.

Normally, I’m really good at imagining things – when I used to compete regularly in dressage, I’d imagine riding through my test (every single step, corner, transition) over and over. I’d imagine finishing it with a smile, getting a great score, and winning the class. It’s amazing what imagination can do! So many times, my imagined scenario would come off. The days I didn’t do it, I often did a much worse test. Correlation or causation? Causation, in my opinion 🙂

So, I thought I’d do some serious imagining re the marathon – I want to imagine myself reaching 10miles, 15miles, 20miles, NOT hitting a wall, hitting 23miles, 24miles, 26.0miles, 26.1miles, the finish…I want to imagine getting my medal, meeting my mum (and no doubt crying :p) and the sheer joy of having done it! But – I can’t!

I try and imagine all this, but my mind is blank. It’s not negative, it’s not positive- there’s simply nothing there to imagine!! It. Is. Infuriating. I think a lot of it is because the whole thing is SO different to anything I’ve ever done before. i’ve competed dressage thousands of times, ridden, done the whole shebang, but running a marathon? In America? Alone? With 35,000 people!? Heck, I’ve done 4 running races in my entire life, the biggest having had about 1000 entries!

I talked to my mumma about it the other day, and we agreed that by the time I’m IN DC, and I’ve picked up my packet and gone to the First Timers Evening, everything will fall into place, and my power of positive thought will take shape….here’s hoping! I don’t want to run it blind…

—-

Whilst we’re on the subject – I always used to imagine what it was like to buy canned pumpkin, and then to EAT said pumpkin. It was a distant dream. Until today! Yep, I broke into my first can of pumpkin this morning 🙂 OATS it was! (Perfect after a 26minute very very cold 3miler :))

– a large 1/2 c. oats/spelt flakes (spelt flakes give it a great chew!)

– 1/2 c. soya milk, 1/2 c. water

– a large 1/2 c. pumpkin

– a tiny weeny banana (and another half, cos it was so small :p)

– cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, almonds

Oh, I squealed with joy!

I was so excited! Til I started to cook it – then it looked SO watery! After a good 5mins of stirring on the hob, I put it in a bowl and shoved it in the Aga for 5mins whilst I unpacked the dishwasher. I then put it in the keep-warm oven, and by the time I got round to eating it, it had hardened up to my liking 🙂

SUPER! Extremely, extremely delicious!! OH pumpkin, where have you been all my life!!?? I didn’t want the bowl to end 😥

Obvs it did. Good things always come to an end (even my can of pumpkin – it’s been 1day and it’s almost finished….) But I had so much other yummy food to look forward to! In fact, I’ve had some GREAT things these past few days!

Pre-run fuel of an O bar:

Fab ingredients:

Love them! So dense and delicious, AND a portion of fruit 🙂

Peanut butter coated parsnip and brussels sprouts:

A very gooey peanut butter sammeech:

(I miss peanut butter – I never, ever think of doing it in a meal – probs cos the jar (x 6) are hidden in the cupboard. Out of sight, out of mind!)

Chocolate roasted chickpeas, with hummus and tempeh:

Actually one of my all time favourite meals 🙂

And today! Which I shall name The Day of Pumpkin! Pumpkin oats, and pumpkin on toast, with cinnamon:

Holy cow.

I worked out my favourite bit of the toast was the crappy burnt bit:

Oooobviously, I saved it til the end, with my other favourite bit :p

Yeah, it was goooood.

I also had a bowl of my favourite roasted veggies – onion squash (this one I’m on is INCRED!! It beats my last kabocha hands down!), parsnip, brussels, aubergine, kale:

Annnd just now, I snacked on a bowl of cereal with soya yogurt and…yep, PUMPKIN! It was to die for 🙂

Besides good food, what else have I been up to..being busy, that’s what! I sure do miss blogging regularly, but by GOSH I do not have any free time at the moment! I’ve got my lectures, commuting, and a dissertation to sort out, which is taking FOREVER (I have to go into schools and test children). I’m also doing some volunteering in a primary school (or will be – training first), teaching them about history. I’ve had lots of meetings about it, and it’s going to be so fun!!! I’m trying to ride as much as I can too, as well as sticking to my marathon plan. My final ‘long’ run tomorrow, 8miles….after that, I have a 3miles, a 4miles, and a 2miles, then – MARATHON!

I can’t believe how soon it is – my mum and I leave on Tuesday!!! Crazy crazy. I’m nervous!! Plus, I’m a bit miffed – the amount of lectures, meetings, work and organisational time I’m missing is ridiculous :s oh well!!

Annnyways – I better get my groove on and get movin’. Have a good evening!

Question: Do you believe in the power of the imagination, or positive thought? Has it ever worked for you?

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Lovin and Hatin

Hello! Just thought I’d check in – it’s been a while 🙂

So I totally thought I was gonna have to tell y’all some sad news today, about the passing on of two good friends. The friends in question have known me since I was born – 20 years – and have stuck with me through every major life change. BUT! There was no need! Toenail 2 Left Foot and Toenail 2 Right Foot survived Sunday’s 20miler! They were quite purple on Monday & Tuesday, and on my 5miler today, I was quite sure they’d gone to the next life (so much so I stopped at 2.5miles to check!). But they’re clinging on 🙂 phew! i’m sure you all reaaally wanted to know that…mm.

ANNNNYways, what else has been happening? Replying to emails – apparently not. I am so sorry for not replying yet! Literally every spare second this week has been filled, and by the time I do get time to do things like email replying and blog reading, I’m ready to pass out in bed…Hopefully I’ll catch up by the end of the week though 🙂

Talking of busyness – oh my, is uni mental at the moment! Early starts, hours and hours and HOURS of commuting (and a fair bit of rush hour traffic), lectures, reading, reading, reading..did I mention reading? Oh, and meetings and reading and riding and reading and eating and reading and running and reading. It’s been a busy few days, to say the least…some foodie highlights? Here’s what I’ve been lovin:

Cereal in an almost empty yogurt pot, eaten for breakfast in my car. STYLE!

A baked munchkin, surrounded by baked beans <- that was AMAZE!

A cashew cookie Nakd bar <- it’s been far too long!

An amazing hummus/salad/tomato puree/seitan sandwich, with ketchup roasted parsnip and fancy olives…

MORE ketchup veggies!

.

Kabocha squash, roasted and mashed, then cooked with oats/spelt flakes, soya milk, cinnamon, nutmeg and maple syrup and pea protein powder, then put in the keep-warm oven for 20mins to harden over….

The same again, but with cocoa powder…holy. yum. If you’ve never had that combination before (squash and oats), you’re a fool, and are missing out! Gone are the days of runny, banana oats…it’s ALL about the stick-to-your-ribs, could-cut-wth-a-kinife oats now!

Banana and oats still have a place in my heart though 🙂

As do Vega Vanilla Almond oats!

And who could forget hummus…especially when it’s mixed with nooch and lemon juice and water, and ‘baked’ with parsnip:

It’s actually quite ridiculous how much I’ve enjoyed my food the past few days 😀 Even though oats/spelt flakes to seem to be the recurring theme….but hey – if my body wants oats, I shall give it oats! After the fabulous 20miles on Sunday, I have a newfound love of it, so it can have whatever the heck it likes 😀

Things I’ve been hating this week? The divorce of two of my favourite celeb couples – Christina Aguilera and Jordan Batman or whatever he’s called, and Courtney Cox and David Arquette! I thought both were in it for the long haul…they literally used to bang on about how much they loved each other, right up until the press release announcing their respective splits. C’est ridiculous! Hollywood is all LIES, it really does make you lose faith in love/celebs saying they tell the truth. Hurrumph.

Right, I’m off to…yep, read. All about emotion this time (FYI – I love my emotion lecturer! She is OBSESSED with Lord of the Rings, so pictures of Frodo and his cronies keep popping up all over the shop. It’s so funny!)

Question: What have you been loving and hating this week?

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The Many Faces of Freya

Thank you SO much to every single one of you who commented on my post yesterday – I haven’t had a chance to respond to them all, but I read (and appreciate) every single one. Words cannot describe how much everything you all said meant to me!! 🙂

I thought I’d show y’all a bit more about the man behind the mask today (aka the Freya behind the blog…). As one of my wise bloggy friends said (Gabriela? I think..), the whole MCA (Marie Claire Article) kerfuffle has sure highlighted that we don’t always know what happens behind closed [blog]doors. So! Here’s some of me 🙂

I’m the girl who used to be obsessed with Buffy and Angel:

I’m the girl who is still obsessed (and always will be :p) with Arnold Schwarzenegger:

I’m the girl who loves fluffy, pink, sparkly things:

I’m the girl who loves black and white films:

I’m the girl who is fiercely competitive – once in swimming:

Once in endurance:

Once in dressage:

And now in running:

I’m the girl who believes cracked mirrors don’t mean squat – we make our own luck:

I’m the girl who loves to read women’s magazines:

And fitness magazines:

And trash magazines…..:p

I’m the girl who loves to collect awkward shaped plates, bowls and mugs (blates just to annoy my family :p):

I’m the girl who is massively organised:

But who has a [very] messy side too:

I’m the girl who loves all things horsey, especially if it involves magazines and/or shopping!

I’m the girl with the gum addiction:

I’m the girl with the home workout DVD addiction (note: this is..ooohh…about 5% of my collection!?!)

I’m the girl who believes her horse, and all things horsey, are one of the things that make me:

And will love her horse to the end of the earth!

I’m also the girl who really does love writing about food, recipes and meals, and is going to honour that passion now!!

Pre-breakfast – big. beautiful. apple. Followed by a lovely home DVD workout for 55mins! I did part of Jillian’s dvd today, which I haven’t done in about 3 weeks…boy have I lost my Jillian fitness! Post-Mary Mission Numero Uno: Get back some strength!!!

Breakfast was a total repeat of yesterday’s bowl of scrum 😀

• pear
• banana
• soya yogurt
• xanthan gum
• cereal
• peanut butter
• vanilla

Except – I made one addition:

Maca powder! A lovely commenter on my blog the other day suggested I try some as a daily supplement, as it helps with stress and the like (I can’t remember all the exact details, but google it and you world will change. Probably.). i told my mum about it, and she immediately went ‘BUY IT’ – being the supportive ball of love she is, anything which might improve a) my happiness and b) my training, is one giant win to her 🙂 Sooo I added about a tsp 🙂 Result:

Same meal, different bowl 🙂

The end of my blackberries…

Bye bye blacks. Bye bye.

It was delish! And very filling too. Maca is a superfood!

I rode ChikaMunchkin this morning – in fact, my mumma gave me a lesson. She (Chika, not my mum) was so, so good! Despite having got in a total tizz before I worked her (cos Tig went out for a ride), she was an angel 🙂 Her half pass was lovely and floaty today – despite the 3month break from it – so much so, my mum proclaimed ‘it’s days like these I wish you would compete again!’. Maybe post-marathon 🙂

Lunch afterwards was so so cool. I was going to do Jess-Inspired-Recipe-Number-One, til I realised I didn’t have the pumpkin. So I decided on Jess-Inspired-Recipe-Number-Two. Yet again, I realised…yep, I had no pumpkin. I couldn’t be bothered to roast up looooads of squash and get it all gooey and gross, espec. since my current squash just doesn’t do that, so I settled for 3rd best.

I roasted up gran-grown squash fries, with celeriac and a few token chunks of parsnip, and served it all with a load o’ hummus 🙂 I also had oatmeal 😀 50g oats, mixed with 1/2c. + a bit soya milk, and water, salt, maple syrup, roasted squash (mashed yes, but not pumpkin-in-a-can-style mashed), cinnamon and nutmeg:

Can you guess my response to this meal? Of course, it was the old ‘ohemgee, best lunch EVAH!’ And it truly was! I ate all the veggies and hummus first, and by the time I got to the oatmeal, it had thickened up something silly:

Oh. My. One of THE best bowls of oatmeal! I love love LOVED the thickness 🙂

For dessert – a lovely square of vegan shockolade 😀

Im gonna go cook dinner now (and watch my sister give the cat a bath – he was playing under the car, and is now covered in black grime….), which will be spaghetti. Carb loading is on the cards this week, as not only do I have a 10miler tomorrow, but a TWENTY miler on Sunday!

Question: Without wanting to sound like some crazed vegan hippie – who are you? Or, to put it in an easier question form..what are some random things about you that people might not expect or know? 🙂

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Scuffin Love

Happy Tuesday!! You know what’s awesome about today? Very little, cos it’s just a Tuesday. I’m not a fan! Tomorrow will be better though – I’ve got my second/follow-up appointment with my nutritionist 😀 Apparently, we’re going to talk race day strategy and the like, for the marathon. Which FYI, is in…less than 5 weeks!!?? Freakin’ madness!

Anyway, back to Tuesday. I was so majorly tired today. I woke up and actually looked like Death. It’s days like these I thank my lucky stars that no-one else sees me early in the mornings!! Alas. After eating an apple and a bite of a rice cake, I did some DVD action for 55mins or so, and then, something mildly annoying happened. Normally after a workout, I’m not hungry for a good hour afterwards. So, I finished my workout, pretty-ed myself up (well, attempted to :p) and thought I’d dash to the store to get my newspaper before my sister took the car for the day. It just HAD to be today that pretty much as soon as I was on the road, I was starving! And it also just HAD to be today that I got stuck behind freakishly, jokingly slow farm traffic for miles. Gah! Therefore, breakfast was v v v v welcome:

• 1/2 c. coconut milk
• 1/2 c. soya yogurt
• 1 tbsp hemp seeds
• 1 c. cereal
• xanthan gum
• banana
• cantaloupe melon
• frozen papaya
• a few kale strips
• dates, Grape Nuts, homemade jam and almonds for toppings

Gawsh! I don’t know what it was today, but that mix was so SO good! One of the best ever, for sure! A bowl I wished would never end…..

I rode Chika for a bit after breakfast – after the past few days’ escapades, I thought it’d be best to lead her in hand past the lion den before I got on – sure enough, she was all ‘ohemgee can’t go theeeerrrrreeee!!!!!’ for a good 5minutes – thank goodness I didn’t get on first! When I did eventually get on, she was very well behaved 🙂 But gosh, I sure don’t know what’s gotten into her the past few days. Maybe someone is spiking her feed with Red Bull? Hmm…

Lunch was just a plate of sheer awesomeness today. So many delicious aspects! Angela’s spelt pancakes for one (minus the protein powder):

Served with roasted broccoli and parsnip fries, and rosemary and garlic seasoned roast kale:

Check out the bubbles!!

That wasn’t it though – toppings were to come! Roast soya nuts, hummus and peariac puree (see my recipes :)) – basically, roast celeriac blended with a ripe pear and some salt:

Ah. No words! I sure had a hard job deciding on what the best mouthful was to save til last 😛 It was ALL ace.

Moving on – you know how yesterday I really got ma bake on? I did the same this arvo too!! I had lots of butternut squash sitting in the fridge, so I decided I’d do something pumpkin-inspired…cos roasted butternut is the perfect sub 🙂 Soo, I cut and roast a whole load:

I had to pretty much handcuff myself to my chair so I wouldn’t eat all the roast gooey-ness when it came out of the oven….ANYWAY! After I roasted it, I had to decide on a recipe. Angela’s pumpkin and chia scuffins won my vote!!

I used a chia egg, rather than a flax egg, cos I had no flaxseed open 😦

The result was 22 little fluffy scuffins of LOVE!!!

These pictures do NOT do them justice!

Oohh they are BLISSful!!! I had one as an afternoon snack:

They’re light, fluffy, full of flavour….just delicious! I’m so glad there’s another 21 left to eat 😀

The scuffins were Baking Mission Numero Uno. BM Numero Duno was muffinsssss!! When I was at the store this morning, I saw some really dirty skank bananas which, just like the ones yesterday, were calling out to be baked with. I obeyed that call.

Using a recipe for banana bread in the Veganomicon cookbook, I made muffins 😀

Well, they smell really good! I’m yet to try one (cos I had a scuffin instead), but no doubt one will SOMEHOW find its’ sneaky way into my stomach at around 9pm tonight, when my raging dessert tooth demands to be fed 😛

Oohh but before dessert, I get to eat dinner 😀 I’m feeling inspired by a certain fellow horsey blogger, who did a wonderful balsamic/maple/mustard combination the other day. I’m reckoning on covering sweet potato chunks in it, and baking…literally, my mouth is watering at the thought!

Talking of dinner – no photos, but I thought last nights’ was worth a mention (ohemgee, I just heard on the radio that The Apprentice starts next week – YAY!) – I made a real groovy tomato sauce, using chopped tomatoes, balsamic, mixed spice, stock, molasses and soy sauce. I cooked some tempeh in it, with chickpeas and broccoli and my favourite veggies, and it was SO. GOOD. Love love love!!

Mks, now I gotta stop talkin’ about it, and go prep dinner 🙂

Question – what’s your favourite reality show? I’m a sucker for The Apprentice and…uh….well, there are a ton more, but apparently I’m having a brain blank 😛

Oh – Ps – cute Kovac 🙂

Hehe! Cats and boxes. They fit together like…Edward and Bella 🙂

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Did someone say pumpkin?

Goooood Gosh. Literally, every single post I’ve read the past 2 days (from US bloggers) has been to do with pumpkin. Pumpkin oats, pumpkin yogurt, pumpkin smoothies, pumpkin scones, pumpkin lattes…. ARGH!

England. Does. Not. Sell. Pumpkin.

Okay, maybe the odd online US-import online store, or London Whole Foods. But basically, you can’t get it here. It’s infuriating! I’ve tried one can of Libby’s Pumpkin in my life (thank yooouuu Jess for that can :D) and it was iiiincredible. I made the most wonderful pumpkin muffins…but anyway. What’s a girl to do? The next best thing, blates 🙂

See I’ve had two great big squashes open for a week now, which weren’t reaaaally up to scratch for eating in huge quantities (like my kabocha). So, I’ve been roasting random loads, and today, I roasted a bunch ready for a muffin baking extravaganza!

Don’t you just want to dive right in!?

I used a blueberry & oatmeal muffin recipe from Happy Herbivore, but altered it somewhat. Instead of whole wheat pastry flour (another item that does not exist in England), I did a mix of white and wholemeal flour. I also used freshly picked blackberries instead of the blubes, and used 1 cup of mashed up squash in place of the apple sauce:

I aslo used a whole load more spices 🙂 The result:

2 ugly muffins:

9 un-ugly muffins:

And 3 baby muffins 😀

It goes without saying that I had a baby muffin for an afternoon snack 😀

—-

In other news! I took the advice of 95% of you commenters yesterday, and did just the 5miles (instead of 9miles). I had an apple, 2 tsp wheat germ and 2 rice cakes before i left, and then did the whole thing in 45mins. It was a pretty slow run, but I thought it was better to go slow and steady and ease myself back into it 😀 I felt pretty good though – not top knotch, but certainly 90%, which is good enough for me 😀

Breakfast was…no words….amazing. My all time favourite – OATS IN A JAR!!

       

I look forward t o the rare occasions a peanut butter jar is finished more than I look forward to Christmas 😀 Into my jar:

• 1/2 c. oats
• 1/2 c. milk + 1/2 c. water + a bit more water
• cinnamon
• vanilla extract
• 1 sliced and ripe banana
• 3 chopped dates
• topped with cereal nubbins

Bliss bliss bliss! Wowzer. If you’ve never done OIAJ, then DO. There is simply no logical reason not to, it’s that good!

After breakfast, I managed to fit in a sneaky schooling session on Chika, before the clouds burst and that was the rest of the day written off. Booo 😦

Lunch was fah-bulous! I baked a sweet potato, roasted some veggies (turnip, celeriac, parsnip and a few tiny chunks of odd squash), fried some spring greens in soy sauce, had some smoked roasted almonds and had a piece of toast with hummus. Nothing incredible…except, I put a) hummus and b) [soya] YOGURT on the sweet potato!

Holy cow! Yogurt and sweet potato is easily the most delicious thing, EVER!! The beautiful sweetness contrasting fabby-ness-ly with the tart/sour flavours from the yogurt. I was blooowwwwwnn awaaaay. Yum 🙂

Afternoon eats included an apple and a fig:

And of course, a little baby muffin 🙂 I made a mistake making them though..the recipe called for salt, which I added – but it wasn’t ground salt, it was like, salt granales which are pretty big and chunky…with every bite, there were random tastes of salt 😛 Certainly not a bad thing, cos I like salt – but it stopped them from being as good as they could have. Alas! Lesson learnt.

And now..I’ve got to decide on dinner. TBH I hardly post about dinner anymore – they’ve been so similar the past few weeks!! I would feel bad…but I really don’t 😀 My mum has had the same breakfast (museli) for the past 10yrs…so why not have a similar dinner!? At least my lunches and dinners are different 🙂

Question: Do any of you find yourself repeating the same meal over and over? What is it?

Ps – wish me luck! I have EIGHTEEN MILES to run this Sunday! Suffice to say, I’m bricking it!! 18 is a personal record distance to me – 16 has been my longest so far. Plus, there is ‘heavy showers’ forecast for the whole day. Joy.

Pps – sorry for the crappy post today…I spent about 40minutes SCREAMING at my laptop cos it wouldn’t let me find the photos I’d just uploaded. I got very stressed and angry, and also lost a lot of time. GRRRR!!!!

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Listening to your body

Hello!

Thank you to everyone who wished me well yesterday 🙂 much appreciated! I woke up today feeling a lot better – though my head is still thumping!? I’ve been drinking my own weight (and plus some) in water, but it doesn’t seem to be helping 😦 I didn’t run today though….I’ll get onto that later.

Anyway! I’ll make this post very photo heavy cos..well, why not!? I seem to have eaten loads the past 2days, which is odd considering I have zero appetite! Nothing whatsoever 😦

Wednesday:

A serving of Grape Nuts and 2 tsps wheat germ before a 4mile run <- yeah, that wasn’t a fun run! I went slow (I did it in about 38mins) cos my head was thumping away with literally every step! When I got to two miles, I totally regretted going out :s soo I was super relieved to turn around at that point!

Breakfast = the smoothie from Tuesday:

• galia melon
• strawberries
• xanthan gum
• blackberries (only about 5 – the colour they give out is incredible!)
• papaya
• 1/2 c. coconut milk

Topped with cereal:

On the side, for added carb + protein – 1/2 c. soya yogurt with 1/2 c. cereal:

Blackberries were picked in the morning (I’m proud of my stash :p):

And then….

Lunch! = 1/2 c. oats cooked with 1/2 c. milk/1/2c. water, cooked squash, cinnamon, mixed spice, vanilla essence, salt and agave nectar, and a side of melon:

And the best bit? Peanut butter/soy sauce coated and roasted parsnip fries :D:

AMAZING lunch!

In the afternoon, I felt pretty crummy. When I’ve felt bad before (achey, stiff, tired etc), a walk has always ALWAYS helped me, so that’s what I did. Bad move!! I felt 10 x worse after it…lesson learnt!

When I got back, I felt so lethargic and achey and crap, that I thought a carby snack might help:

Toast, yogurt, 1/2 a banana. Delish! I also had 1/2 a cup of milky coffee my mum made, which lifted me up for 10mins 🙂 aka, enough time to pump out that post yesterday!

Dinner = marinated tofu (maple syrup, hoi sin sauce, cinnamon, stock, soy sauce, smoked garlic):

Fried til crispy, and served with kabocha, parsnip, broccoli (oh the IRON!! I sure needed it!), and a mix of spelt/barley/rice and durum wheat:

Fantastiqueeeee!! The tofu was super super good. Crispy always wins!

Dessert was 2 squares of super dark chocolate, and a yogurt 🙂

—–

Thursday

I did wake up feeling better today, though not 100%. I had a 9mile run on the cards….BUT I also have a very very important 18miler this weekend. After how I felt going for a walk yesterday, I decided to veto the run. I had to think of the future!! If I’d done 9miles and broken myself, I prrrrobably wouldn’t be on for the 18miles. Far far better to miss a 9miler (however bad I felt about it) than to miss the most important long run yet. Besides, I was trying really really hard to listen to my body. My head still had the occasional thump going on, and my legs felt tired. 9 miles is no easy feat….so the decision was made. I’m super glad I did decide to veto it – my head has been thumping like the clappers again today at various times!!

I’ve now got another tricky situation on my hands though…I’ll ask at the end of the post 🙂 First, breakfast! 2 tsps wheat germ, plus a cereal/yogurt mess, with an apple:

Lunch was light, purely cos I just did not want to eat!! These past few days, if I had listened to hunger cues, I’d be yet to eat anything :s not good! So I decided a delicious nutrient packed lunch was needed – spring greens (more IRON!) stir fried with soy sauce and smoked garlic, served with roasted red pepper, turnip, parsnip and celeriac:

As well as 2 pieces of toast with hummus:

Wonderful! A mini dessert was some left over roasted squash in the remains of a yogurt pot:

SUCH a good combination! Yogurt goes with everything 😀

I rode in the afternoon too, after much debate – it was POURING with rain! But, Chika needed the work and I wasn’t quite dying, so I decided to brave it. Check out how wet….

….ugh! Of course, just 5mins after I finished, the rain stopped. Bah! At least Chika was good 🙂

I snacked on some unpictured beetroot crisps and a fresh fig in the afternoon (I felt I needed the calories), and now, I have to think of something for dinner :s Would it be wrong to just have comfort food yet again!!??

Question: My marathon plan tomorrow calls for a 5mile run. Today was meant to be a 9mile run. If I feel fine, should I do the 5 or the 9? And if I don’t feel quuuite 100%, should I still run anyway? I’m really worried about missing too many days <- those miles are there for a reason!

Any advice appreciated 😀

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Cruel to be kind

OH I am a cruel, cruel woman!

After last Carter’s escapades last night, I decided I had to ban The Beautiful One from my room, just for the one night:

It was so difficult..especially when I heard him crying and scrabbling at my door at 11.45pm…or when I woke up to find him curled up in a little ball outside my door in the morning!! Poor baby! But, which is more important – Carter’s happiness, or my sleep? Carter’s happiness My sleep, obviously 😛

Sadly, I woke up on the wrong side of bed this morning, despite the more peaceful night 😦 Partly due to my skankyass virus, and partly due to the skankyass weather – aka, extremely strong wind and grey clouds! NOT good for my 4mile run!

I ate an apple, wheat germ and a rice cake, and then set off (somewhat sniffily)

8.58

9.05

8.49

8.51

The 2nd mile was hell! I was out of the shelter from the trees, and was running directly into the [really reaally strong] wind…HORRIBLE! I just wanted to cry 😦 I mean seriously, it was so windy and loud I couldn’t even hear my music! Suffice to say I was relieved to finish…

I had a scrummy breakfast waiting for me as a reward – overnight oats 😀

1/2 c. oats

1/2c. milk + a bit

1/2 c. yogurt

1/2 tbsp chia seeds

1 tbsp Vega chocolate smoothie mix

I warmed the bowl up (I was cold) by a bit of microwave/Aga action, and mixed in melted hot banana:

On the side – freshly picked blackberries and a tiny bit of cereal, with almonds on top:

So, so lovely 🙂

I was going to have a lunge lesson on Chika after breakfast (to honour Horsey Humpday, obvs), but I just couldn’t face it 😦 Nothing against Chika (I luff her!), but I was just in one of those terribly sad moods 😦 my mum helped by a) giving me a huge hug, b) telling me she felt exactly the same when she was sick last week, and c) offering to lunge Chika for me. She’s the best!!!

I cheered myself up by going to Waitrose for the weekly shop (and then getting angry when the strong wind blew half my bags over, in front of a car, whilst I was walking with the trolley, resulting in my scrabbling to pick up loose garlic, an aubergine and some cereal, whilst an angry driver looked on), before coming home for a yummy lunch.

I attacked my crazy squash that’s been in hiding for a while!

I roasted it alongside some bbq-salt seasoned carrot fries, parsnip and broccoli. Along with all that, I mashed up 1/2 c. red kidney beans with hummus:

And spread it on a slice o’ toast:

A fig accompaniment:

Simply fabulous! Hummus is always a win IMHO 😀 As is the square of 85% Lindt which may or may not have been consumed too….

In the arvo, I spent an age and a half reading through a huge thick psychology research paper in prep for my dissertation (as fun as it sounds), as well as picking 491g of blackberries:

Hurrah!

I also had an unpictured snack of a fresh fig and a 1/4c. cereal <- I wasn’t hungry, but I’m worried (seeing as I never get hungry for snacks) that my metabolism will become snail-like, so I thought a lil somethin’ somethin’ would do me good 😀

Currently, I’m baking oatmeal bars for my mum 😀 Packed with oats, hazelnuts, buckwheat, raisins, dried figs, apricots, pecans and hazelnuts! Quite the mix. Then I shall move onto dinner…

Dinner – last night, it was sooo ace!

Buckwheat & lentils:

Basil tofu:

Roast veggies – broccoli, squash, parsnip.

 

I mixed the buckwheat/lentils with tomato puree, balsamic vinegar, stock and mixed herbs, and when it was done cooking, I stirred in the broccoli and parsnip:

Oohhh it was THE scrummiest meal in a loooooong time!! Seriously, like proper wow. I actually plan on having a total repeat of it tomorrow 😀 And hopefully I’ll be able to slow down and enjoy it a bit more – I had to eat fast cos I was going to my BFF’s house 🙂

My bestie and I had such a nice time 🙂 We just talked, non-stop! LIke, no background noise or TV..just talking 🙂 And a lot (A LOT) of facebook stalking too….grubby skinny lanky 17yr old boys who used to go to our school are now handsome buff mature 20yr old men! I can’t believe how much people change in 3yrs!

It makes me really, really want to go to a reunion in like, 10yrs…I’m hoping my healthy living will mean that I’ll have a (slightly orange, due to all the squash) glow and be fit and bouncy, whilst 99% of people I used to know will be puffed with one too many McDonalds and look 10yrs older than they are….am I being cruel? Maybe. But high school was NOT enjoyable for me, and I sure know the reason why. I’m allowed to dream!!!

Anyway, uh, I seem to have rambled somewhat….I’ll shut up now 😛

Question – have you ever been to a school reunion? What was it like? Orrr if you haven’t, would you want to go to one?

Did you like high school? I was sooo miserable there…my ED started during my last 2yrs there, and I think that place and the people had a lot to do with why 😦

Hmm…let’s finish with a happy note! A bad joke maybe?

Why was the chicken happy?

Everything was egg-cellent….ha!

Hmph.

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