Curried Cauliflower Rice & Lentils

Recipe time! (plus other rambles – you didn’t think I would JUST write a recipe for a post did you?)

Curried Cauliflower Rice and Lentils:

Ingredients (for one big Freya-sized portion):

– 1/4 – 1/3 head of cauliflower

– 2 small shallots (or half an onion)

– 1 garlic clove

– leek (I used a chunk a bit bigger than my index finger…I think)

– cinnamon, mild curry powder (some like it hot), garam masala, tumeric – approx. 1/4-1/2 tsp each, but honestly, I don’t measure! Just go easy on the garam and the curry powder cos you don’t wanna burn yo’self :p

– salt, to taste

– 30g mix of lentils and millet (dry weight)

– lemon juice

Method:

1) Start by breaking your cauliflower into chunks, then putting it in a Vincent or a food processor:

Process til it looks like rice!

See? Genius. (I think I saw Ashley do this a few weeks back…? But I remember she said it was bland, which is where the spice came from in my recipe :p)

2) Put your lentils and millet on to cook – throw them in a saucepan together with some water (start by covering them with water, and add more as you go) and cook til tender/soft – normally about 20mins. Make sure all the water gets absorbed.

3) Chop up your onion, leek and garlic and fry with the spices in some non-stick spray/oil, til it’s all softened and fragrant:

Stay on a medium ish heat – you don’t want to burn the spices now do you?

4) Add a splash of lemon juice to the cauliflower rice, and a few more shakes of cinnamon, tumeric and garam:

Add the cooked lentils/millet to the pan (or add the veg to the saucepan – whatever is easier), along with the cauliflower rice, mix mix mix and allow to heat through (if desired), spoon onto a plate, add a few more splashes of lemon juice, and serve!

I had mine with roast parsnip and butternut and I can honestly say – although I put those 2 veggies with everything – that the sweetness from them really did compliment the curry spices. It was FAB!

The chewy millet/lentils really went with the cauliflower 🙂 Happy times!

———

Sooo….it was the weekend wasn’t it? Hot dang it was WINDY where I was! On my run this morning, I was actually running slower than I would walk at one point, cos the wind was SO strong and I was running right into it! GAH I am not a wind fan. OH no. At least it wasn’t raining (that would have brought my demon alter ego out to play) – in fact it was warm!! Too hot for a hat, but when I took it off, the wind gave me earache 😦 What’s a girl to do!!??

Talking of running – on Sat night, my ever-so kind hearted mammabear gave me a LEG MASSAGE! And you know what? I think it helped!!

This morning (Sunday) I went out on a 6mile run, and I think I actually RAn ran about 95% of it, the most in a loooong time, in the least amount of pain 😀 My muscles ached every now and then, but the shin pain was probably down 50% from last week, and in general was much, much less. I stopped 2-3 times a mile to just stretch, and I didn’t go fast (it took me an hour) but it was lovely to be out 🙂 Until I saw a beautiful Bambi deer, lying dead on the side of the road.

(source)

I thought it was a foal at first!! *sadface*. There’s a herd of 25 or so fallow deer that live round our house, so it was real sad to see one had been hit by a car 😦

Anyway – when I finished the run, I walked for 2miles to stretch out and cool off, and then had THE best lunch EVER.

You know I’ve been craving green monsters like a crazy person this week? Well, I finally had a good old classic Epic Green Monster today, for lunch! It was AMAZING.

– 1c. cereal

– 1/2 c. coconut milk

– 1tsp xanthan gum

– a small ripe banana

– a few ripe melon chunks

– 1 tsp cocoa powder

– cinnamon, vanilla, salt

– lots of kale + a cabbage leaf

Oh it was worth every last bit of whatever makes you wait for things. BLISS in a bowl, folks!

Sadly, the oats I made Saturday did not live up to their expectations 😦 I thought I’d do coconut-chocolate oatmeal – sounds good right? No. I used 1.5tsp carob powder, maple syrup, 1tsp coconut oil and coconut milk – as well as the usual oats + water + salt + my normal method – and the bowl ended up looking like this:

Topped with crack cereal and an almond nicked from my mammabear’s museli 😛

LOOKED good, but the chocolate taste was weak, and er…where was the coconut taste!!?? Did I not use enough coconut oil? Bah!

My snack was an old favourite though 🙂

Ever put yogurt on toast? Ever since I saw Allie do this a while back, i’ve been hooked! TRY IT!

Now, you know I mentioned my mum gave me a leg massage t’other evening? Well she also forgoed (forwent? Whatever past tense of ‘to forgo’ is :p) her Sunday morning lie in (til 8am – she’s wild like that) to help me out with a big favour this morning (more on that tomorrow), so as a mahoosive thank you, I baked her a [requested] cherry almond traybake 🙂

ROOKIE mistake, Ms Freya – I didn’t let my cherries dry after I washed them, so they aaaall sunk to the bottom. D’oh!

I spoil her so (& her place of work – they get the bulk of my baked goods). What are baking-mad daughters for though right?

Other than that, it’s been a pretty hon-happening weekend – Chika got her workout x a lot in the form of freaking out at Tig’s absence (she’s a tense bunny atm) and I tried a new variety of squash – co…something, I forget :p – which looked bang on like butternut, but had a weak and wet taste and texture. #fail.

Off to bed I go 🙂

What’s your favourite thing to snack on? I want new snack ideas plez 🙂

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Clubbin it

Yawwwww, you guys are the bestest!! Thank you all SO much for every single comment left on my last post. Seriously! I’m sorry I haven’t been able to reply to them all, but I did (and always do) read every single one. It was really interesting to read everyones’ opinions on the matter, and it has helped me make a decision – I’ll post about it another day though, cos I want to show y’all some tasty food eats from the past few days 😀

I really love just posting pictures of my food – it is SO useful to look back on when I’m having inner turmoil and confusion over what to eat for dinner or lunch or breakfast :p There’s still a definite theme going on though….

– oats [in a jar x 2, + multiple times randomly for dinner. I don’t do oats for breakfast anymore, it’s ALL about the dinner]:

– Oats (Irish steel cut, cooked with salt and Nooch) with pumpkin chickpeas, and roast puff parsnips:

Snow! Snow! Snow! In the background! Crikey, it was like, -a billion degrees today. SO COLD.

Served with a side of soy sauce stir fried cabbage and brussels, sprinkled with Nooch:

Bro, yo, it was sik.

– Green Monsters that are super duper thick:

With or without the green 🙂

That grape-one one was made with cereal, soya milk, banana, pumpkin, (ohemgee my favourite J.Lo/ LL Cool J song just came on the radio!! Ha), cinnamon, vanilla and it was freakin GROOVY.

I’ve also been making lots of roast veggies, OBVS:

The day I do a food post without roasted veg featuring is the day that Brad and Jen get back together/Arnold circa 1990 comes and marries me.

Check out this Brussels sprout:

That’s a whole one! How adorable!! I just couldn’t resist taking a picture, which I now realise probs make me a liiiiittle bit of a loser…but oh well.

The other day though, wowzer, I did this really cool mix – roast aubergine (roasted til it turns to that gross mushy goo), scraped out of the skin [note: I did still eat the skin; I LOVE roast aubergine skin!!]

Then mashed with maple syrup, cinnamon and PUMPKIN, then spread on a toasted English muffin:

Ohhhhh yeah. That’s where it’s at my lovestuds!!

Talking of amazingly delicious foods – try coating roast veg in a mix of sweetener (honey, agave, maple, whatever you like), with dried thyme, a tsp+ of wholegrain mustard, and a tiny tiny tiny bit of stock, like so:

Then bake it all in the oven – I normally do 10mins in the super hot bit of the aga, then another 10 in the slightly-less-hot bit of the aga (I realise that is SUPER unhelpful). It gives the veg a lovely puffy sweet inside, with a slightly crispy inside, epsec parsnips. Best thing ever!

In other tasty news – I broke out the soya mince t’other lunchtime. I know it’s pretty naughty stuff, but once in a blue moon, I like it 🙂 To jazz it up, I fried a mini onion with a tomato and balsamic and dried thyme, with a splash of stock, then mixed it all with the soya mince. Served on a slice of toast (which went mushy, and I loooooved the mushy toast the moast <-see what I did? A typo that I decided to keep 😛)

It was rather yummy, and verrrry comforting for a hungry cold ladyface 🙂

More tasty news – I mastered the art of a delicious pumpkin cappuccino:

1/2 cup soya milk, 1/2 c. hot water, 1 tsp coffee, a tiny tiny tiny BABY size pinch of sugar, a shake of cinnamon, approx. 2tbsp pumpkin, blend blend blend.

Thick, creamy and deeeeeelicious!

OH! More news – I joined a running club!! I went to my first run Tuesday last, and although it took them HALF AN HOUR to get started (I got v cold, it was pitch black and 7pm) it was good 🙂 No-one my age…I ran with a middle aged woman (x3) and a retired GP – but still fun! When I got home, I made the tastiest chickpea red lentil pumpkin curry:

So warming after such a cold evening 🙂 (YES Matt (above) won X Factor!!!! I voted abooout 13 times. It makes up for the fact that Rhydian didn’t win, nor Olly, in previous years)

But here’s the biggest news – ever since I saw my step brother eat a bowl of milk, with floaty bits of cereal, when I was about 8years old, I have hated cereal and milk. The idea, the look, the smell, the texture: it made me gag. A few months ago though, after realising that I LIKED soy milk as is, I tried a splash of it on my cereal. It was ok….since That Day, I have repeated the process. Today, I went one step further – I had a proper bowl of cereal, with a sliced banana, cinnamon, and a full up 1/2 cup soya milk!!!

Oh. My. Days. It was actually tasty! I LIKED the taste. The cereal went soggy, and I LIKED it. It was AMAZING. A momentous day, a day I will think back on with fond memories. And you know what? This happened:

And it was the BEST BIT! I’m a changed woman! What’s become of me!!??

Tell me – do you like soggy cereal? (I do) Mushy food? (I do)

Are you a member of any clubs?

———-

Totally random – but my mum went to her work Christmas do today – look how lovely she looked!!

Isn’t she beautiful!? I hope I look that good when I turn 26 🙂

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Desert Island Questions And TWO recipes!

YO!

My New York based tall blonde American friend Gabriela tagged me in that quiz that’s been going round – so here goes!

1. What is your biggest fear? (It can be silly or real) Dying alone, fire, drowning, my horse/mum/sister getting hurt or injured, spiders, the end of my garden when it’s dark.

2. If you were onstage at a karaoke bar, what would you sing and why? Oh heck…probably that song that Bridget Jones sings [really badly] in the film, so I could re-live the moment :p

3. Do you write in print or cursive? In all honesty, I don’t know what that means :p is it like, do I write in capitals!? If that’s the question, then no.

4. Have you ever been fired from a job? Nope 🙂

5. If you could go to the Olympics for any sport, which would you choose? Dressage, or gymnastics, cos it would AWESOME to be that bendy!

6. How many cell phones have you owned? Hmm…my first one, a tiny Nokia, a pink flip phone, another phone, my current phone. You count.

7. What’s your sign (wink wink)? Gemini 🙂 And if you’re Chinese, I’m also a dragon! Or a horse…I can’t remember which….

I now tag the first seven commenters to answer the same questions 🙂

————

Bah, I have TWO recipes today! TWO! TWO!

But I’ll get to them later.

Firstly, I want to make y’all go to this link, cos it’s funny 🙂 and it reminded me of a) being boyfriend-less (running is better than a bf – read the link and the world’ll make sense :)) and then it made me remember b) why I should be GLAD I am lonely and single – I can cook whatever I like, I can turn the light on in my room when i get up early, as opposed to worrying I’ll wake up Mr Boyfriend with the light, I can choose to travel round the world [if the desire strikes…], I can see chick flicks in the cinema without moaning, I can use my passenger seat in my car to seat my bag (aka junk and rubbish) instead of a lump of human. And above all – I can have a Huskey dog named Princess PuffleBomp*, and no-one will complain 🙂

*it goes well with my alter ego, don’t you think? ‘Princes Freya the Third, PhD’ <- as I’m known by Amazon :D)

How about you? Are you a single lady, or did someone put a ring on it?

Moving on – Recipe time!

Chocolate lentil and chickpea stew:

Chocolatey, nutritious, and ever-so comforting 🙂 (makes one serving, although the more veg you add, the bigger the meal…)

– 100g cooked chickpeas (I got mine from a can)

– 25g uncooked red lentils

– approx. 1tbsp cocoa powder

– 1/3 ish of a stock cube

– 1-2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

– approx. 1tbsp tomato puree

– 1 tsp maple syrup (or agave, or whatever)

– 1-2tsps dried thyme or mixed herbs (I can’t actually remember what I used…!!)

– 1-2 tsps molasses (optional)

– veg! As much or as little as you want. I used a mix of butternut squash, carrot, parsnip, leek and broccoli, all cut into small-ish, even sized chunks.

Also, do note that I don’t measure spice/flavouring ingredients, I just wing it, so measurement are approximate 🙂

1) Chop all the veggies:

Ugly parsnip optional:

And gather stuff together:

2) Throw everything into a saucepan:

3) Put it on a medium-high heat (I used the ‘less hot’ of the 2 Aga hot plates), mix it all around and cook it for a few mins, stirring lots and lots so it doesn’t catch.

When it’s all fragrant (it should be fragrant – alternatively, just give it a few mins then move on :p), add in enough water to aaaaalmost cover, but not quite:

4) Put a lid on it (maybe leave a little crack open for steam escape purposes), have it on a medium ish heat (you want it simmering) and let it do its’ thaaaang for about 40mins, or until the lentils are cooked and the veg is very soft, almost mushy! Keep stirring it during that time every now and then, so everything gets cooked evenly, and if it runs out of water, add more. After all, a little too much water is better, because you can always put it onto a high heat and steam the water away.

5) Serve!

Yes, it is an ugly dish, and probably not something you’d want to cook for a crowd to impress them with your incredible culinary skills – purely cos they’ll think you just sicked up on a plate and called it dinner. BUT, it IS delicious! So much so, I made it the next day too 🙂

I used aubergine and brussels sprouts instead of leek and carrot and broccoli, which was fine – but I did forget the garlic, and it wasn’t quite as nice without it. Remember those cloves, folks!

Recipe Two time 🙂

Spicy Pumpkin, Red Lentil and Chickpea Smush:

Is it a soup? Is it mush? I’m not sure. It’s yum though! I wanted something lentil-y for lunch, and I also had *40g* of chickpeas from my can left over (from yesterday), so I made this 🙂

– 50g red lentils

– 40g cooked chickpeas (ie the rest of the can, if you made the previous recipe twice :p)

– 1/3 ish crumbled stock cube

– a large 1/2 tsp mild curry powder

– 1/2tsp – 1 tsp cinnamon

– 1/2 tsp ish garam masala

– 1 garlic clove, minced or finely chopped

– 100g canned pumpkin (English people – go to WAITROSE for your pumpkin!)

– approx. 1 tsp molasses

1) gather:

2) Fry the chickpeas and garlic in spray oil/oil for a few mins on a medium heat:

3) Then add the lentils and spices, and fry til fragrant. Then, add in the stock cube, dissolved in hot water. I don’t know how much water you add, but it needs to be enough for the lentils to cook in. They should cook for about 20-25mins or so, and the mix will look something like this:

4) Get yo’ pumpkin and molasses:

And stir them in:

Heat it up again, and serve it in a big old mug, a la me 🙂

I actually can’t believe how delicious that was!! Spicy, comforting, full of flavour – absolutely perfect for the minus–degree day! I was a sad, sad woman when I finished it 😦

———

I’ve been on a cooking kick actually 🙂 Tonight I made a majorly modified version of Mama Pea’s pumpkin tofu curry, which I’ll show y’all next time 🙂 I’ve also been making a ton of frothy cappuccinos, using good ol’ Vincent the Vita Mix! With this fabby coffee:

Er, yum.

They are incred 😀 who needs Starbucks right?

I also made THE most delicious pancakes the other night! i mean, really:

Heaven!

And to go with lunch today, I had soya yogurt with mushy pear (a baby ripe pear, cooked with vanilla essence, maple syrup and water, til it went soft and caramel like):

As well as ketchup roasted veg:

BUT the biggest event the past few days has been the SNOW! And lots of it!!

Ok, so fair play – if you live in the Arctic, or Canada, this is nothing. But to England it’s a Big Deal 😛 Heck, Chika’s whiskers were frozen the other morning!!

Hannah – no more complaining! That’s TIG rolling in the snow!

Snow pony!

Snow mummy!

Snow land 🙂

Below – standing – full weight – ON the water bucket, showing how thick the ice was!

Horse people – have you ever tried that trick of putting a ball or something floaty in water, to stop it freezing? Does it work?

Deep!

And to round off this epically long post – here are the usual cat pics 🙂 Until next time!

Bless 🙂

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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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P-p-p-um……

OH.

EM.

GEE.

Canned pumpkin has arrived in the UK!

Life as I know it is about to get very interesting. Very interesting indeed….

As interesting as some of the food I’ve eaten the past few days?

Maybe not. But still!

Ps – woah, I had the best run today! It was just like old times:

mile 1 – 8.31

mile 2 – 8.32

mile 3 – 8.28

mile 4 – 8.04

Fast AND effortless! Believe me, there was a BIG smile on my face after I finished it!!

Question: What’s made you excited recently? For me – pumpkin and CHRISTMAS CARDS and cold weather!!

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Dreams dreams dreams

Ohh gosh, I’ve had some of the best dreams over the past few days! I know I bang on about dreams a lot, but sometimes they’re just so cool! Take Friday night, for example. I remembered not one, not two, but THREE dreams!!

1) I had a huge argument with a store worker about the price of kabocha squash and pumpkins. He said one thing, I said another, the label said something else. It was quite the heated argument!

2) I saw a boy riding a pony really REALLY badly – the boy’s mumma then came up to mine, and offered her £1million per year, to be a live-in instructor to him to teach him how to ride. It was most definitely a dream…

3) The best one – Justin Timberlake was my best friend. We hung out together all day, and I kept introducing him to everyone, and they were all super jealous :p He also – quite randomly – played hide-and-seek with Kovac in my cupboard. As you do.

4) This was actually a Thursday night dream – but, to set the scene, I have a major crush on this radio presenter in England called Greg James. He’s young, tall, hot and funny <- I love him! He’s also dating the singer Ellie Goulding…but in MY dream, we met up and he suddenly realised that i was The One, not stupid E.G., and we fell madly in love..we then went Christmas shopping (for giant toys) in a big warehouse-esque department store. It was great! So great in fact, that I promptly burst into tears when I woke up, because it wasn’t true, and I realised that I don’t have – and never have had – that amazing i-love-you-can’t-live-without-you closeness with any guys 😦 Something I want more than anything in the world. Alas!

You’re proooobably wondering where all this is leading right? Well! One of my other non-night time-dreams is to RUN A MARATHON! Which, provided I don’t catch malaria (a la Cheryl Cole), get hit by a car (a la Emily – thankfully she’s OK!!) or get trapped in a mine (a la 33 Chile miners) – I will be doing TWO weeks today! I can’t believe how quickly its come about…total madness!! I’m swaying between being really excited and really, really nervous. It comes in waves! But one thing is for sure – I’m fed up of training now, and I want to get this marathon started. I tell you, after it’s over, I plan on spending 6months running no further than 3miles. BLISS>

Anyway – here’s how I’ve been fueling for training the past few days….

Peanut butter coated/baked parsnip chunks with aubergine – quite possibly one of the best things IN THE WORLD!

Lots n lots of EGMs with handpicked blackberries <- I’m still finding them! They’ve yet to go out of season completely, thank goodness:

Hummus, roast veggies, delicious olives….

My first taste of a Chocolate Peppermint Stick Luna bar!

I love those things – if ONLY they were sold in England. Bah.

OKRA! I haven’t had okra in aaaggggess, and last time I did have it, I was most certainly UNimpressed. I saw some in the reduced-to-clear bin the other day though, so I nabbed some and roasted them up with some brussel sprouts and parsnip. I like!

Ketchup coated crispy baked kale. Bliss.

Savoury oats – oatmeal cooked with pressed coconut milk and a LOT of nooch, as well as smoked paprika, salt, pepper, onion powder and smoked garlic:

Oh, and lots of gran-grown butternut squash :p

Cereal/yogurt messes….most days!

Lots of molasses/cocoa-y food:

And – On Saturday, I found time to do some PROPER cooking, amazingly! Loosely based on this recipe, but with lentils and split peas instead of chickpeas:

Voila!

There’s also been yet more ketchup roasted veggies…

AND yet more squashed up cocoa oats!

I also have to show you some raspberries:

Why? Cos 3yrs after it was planted, our raspberry bush has FINALLY produced some! (Note: ‘some’ = about 6. But still! At least it’s trying :p)

ANyway.

Today of course, was my final double digit run before the actual marathon. I really, really needed it to go well, seeing as Friday’s 8miler was awwwful (bad head space again. D’oh!). I also wanted it to go fast, cos I went to the airport with Hannah and my mum afterwards – Hannah is off on her 3month gap year now! (she went to LA last week, came back Thursday, and left for good today).

I ate a chocolate brownie Clif bar and a date before I left, then I was off (into the extreme cold mind you :p).

It was fabulous!!! 12miles, 1hr53, 9.29pace – which included a sprint finish (well I say sprint..my pace went down to about 6.30 min/mile for a 1/5th mile or so), with my mum behind me on the bike yelling ‘RUN FASTER!!!!!’ Gotta love her! All in all, a super run, perfect for confidence building.

When it came to breakfast, I was pretty hungry – all I’d had was Lucozade Sport during the 12, so I sure was ready for food! I did my usual EGM:

• cereal
• coconut milk
• maca powder
• xanthan gum
• banana
• melon
• spinach
• Vega smoothie mix
• almonds and dates

I had to scarf it down pretty quick – not long after I’d finished it, I went with my mum and sister to Heathrow-

– Hannah left for her 3month gap year today! She was in LA last week, got back Thursday, and then today left – til Christmas Eve! As I type, she’s flying to Africa…mad!

Here’s a lil tribute to the girl herself :p

Running to say bye to Tig!

It was sad to see her go! She’ll have an amazing time though 🙂

Annnnnyway – I gotta run, reading calls. Sorry (still) for my lack of emailing replying…I WILL WILL WILL get back to you all!!

Have a good few days 🙂

Question: Have you accomplished any of your dreams yet?

(PS – check out my yummy sandwich for dinner:

Smoked almond/sesame tofu, with hummus and spinach…so good!)

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You Can Do It – 20miles!

I DID IT!!!!!

————–

Herro!

Wow, just 2 days without a proper post and it feels like it’s been forever! I’ve been keeping busy though –

On Friday, I ran 5miles – my last one before the big Two-O – 46minutes, 9.12 min/mile pace. Not fast, but not slow either. I also had a ton of good eats 😀

Giant apples…

A thickie – cereal, yogurt, banana, maca, Vega vanillia-almond, xanthan gum, banana, strawberries, spinach:

Kovac caught and ate a squirrel…

I know a squirrel is just a rat with a furry tail, but it still seemed so wrong! Squirrels don’t steal horse feed, they eat acorns and they live up trees..they’re adorable!

Lunch highlights – the most scrummiest sweet potato ever! I cut up and cubed a very large sweet p., and coated it with:

• maple syrup
• molasses
• ketchup
• vegan worcestershire sauce
• balsamic vinegar
• salt

Baked it for a half hour or so, and served it with celeriac and gran-grown squash fries, and some courgette, and a Mojo bar for added carbs + protein:

The Mojo bar was sent to me a while back by America’s Nutrition to review.

It was very sticky, but completely delicious! I loved the little nutty chunks in it, plus it was a super source of protein – 9g per bar – and carbs – about 21g. Seeing as I was having a late lunch and needed to carb load AND needed some more protein with my meal, it was perfect 🙂 Plus, it tasted like a dessert or something :p It’s love.

Later on, I managed to make myself a vanilla cappuccino:

I use the term ‘vanilla’ loosely. Couldn’t taste it at all! I’ve tried instant vanilla coffees many a time, and I never, ever taste their flavour. Maybe my taste buds are dead?

Other delicious food in the day – a load of roasted veggies- brussels and kabocha – with peanut butter/soy sauce coated parsnip fries, and a side of seitan:

As well as an biiig bowl of oatmeal, made with 1c. milk, 50g oats, roasted and mashed squash, maple syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg and salt. Bliss.

Saturday brought another busy day, and another trip to uni, and a failed attempt at sleeping in!

I’d hoped to sleep til about 8.30 to reserve valuable energy stores for Sunday, but alas! twas not meant to be. My body decided that 6hrs of sleep was perfectly fine, so when I woke up at 7.24, that was that – I couldn’t get back to sleep! 😦

Breakfast – another amazing thickie blend:

Then it was a ssuuuuuper lesson on Chika with my mum helping <- they’re both stars!

I packed up a quick lunch to take with me to uni (Fresher’s Fair was 12-4pm) – an extra big serving of lentils:

Along with a load of roasted veggies:

I also had a Nakd bar for some added carb 🙂

Fresher’s Fair itself was pretty good (despite the 2hr commute) – i’ve found lots of different project things I want to get involved in, which should keep me busy! On the way home, I stopped at Waitrose for the weekly shop and got some great stuff 😀

Hooray!

Dinner – oatmeal!!! Except this time I did 1c. dry oats (about 95g)! If that isn’t carb loading, I don’t know what is. I cooked it with the same mix as yesterday and (like yesterday) left it in the oven for 10mins to harden up:

Amaze. On the side, i had a tiny but of roast aubergine and parsnip with garam masala:

All eaten whilst watching X Factor! [Louis’ old folk – AWFUL! Nicolo – very disappointed. Aiden/Matt/Rebecca/Paige/Treyc (or however she spells it)/Mary – LOVE! Cher/Katie/all the bands – HATE!

Sunday

MEEP! I got up extra early today to allow a good 2hrs to digest 😀 and digest I did! 50g oats/spelt flakes soaked overnight in 1/2 c. milk, 2 tsps wheat germ, vanilla, salt and a mashed banana:

As well as some raspberries nuked with agave, then mixed with 2tbsp Grape Nuts:

And a tiny apple (which I ate in a nervous haze!). To kill time, I watched 25mins of Ugly Betty and took some gorgeous early morning ChikaTig photos 😀 I might put them up later in the week 🙂

Just before I left, I ate a date, then I was gaaaaawn.

I set off with a grin on my face; I decided this run was going to be AWESOME and I was going to kICK BUTT.

Which I did!

I kept a steady 9.30-9.50 pace for the first 7miles, and didn’t walk once. I was feeling great! At 7miles, i met my mum, so I could top up on water/Lucozade. I deserved a medal for bravery for the next 3miles – I was feeling so ace that I found a 1.5mile long steep hill, and ran all the way up it!! The best bit was coming back down 😀

At mile 11, I’d started to walk 1minute out of every mile, which was a great help, although my pace slowed a bit. No worries! i was hardly caring about pace anyway 🙂

At mile 13, I felt sick – I’d eaten a Powerbar too fast and in basically one chomp…lesson learnt! Luckily, that mile was when I saw my mum again, so I stood about for a few mins, the sickness passed, and I continued on my merry way.

I got back home at mile17, where my mum was waiting. I ran 1more mile alone, and then for the last 2miles, she came with me on the bike and sang crap songs to me 🙂 It was the best 2miles ever!

During the run, I had about two bottles of Lucozade Sport, a Powerbar and some Powershots. It worked perfectly 🙂 Mile Totals: 20miles in 3hr20 (my goal time had been 3hr22, so, er, BOO YEAH). Average pace – 10.01min/mile. I’m so super pleased with it!

In fact, I’m over the moon. I so badly needed this run to go well, and with the power of positive thought (plus a lot of carbs and many, many wonderful comments on my last post), it did. I’m living proof – If you put your mind to it, if you want something enough, you can do it. Last week, I struggled and cried my way through 14miles. This week, I smiled my way through 20. YOU CAN DO IT!!

As soon as we finished, I grabbed a banana from the house, and took some celebratory photos 😀

BIG thanks go to my mum!

We went for a 10minute walk round the fields afterwards to stretch out and say howdey to the horses:

Take note of the Chika fluff: in about 2hours, it’s going to be clipped off 😛

Lunch wise – I just had one big bowl of nutrients [which tasted bang on like marzipan]!

• soya yogurt
• cereal
• spinach
• melon
• 1.5banans
• maca powder
• xanthan gum
• Vega smoothie mix
• dates, almonds, blackberries, and a scuffin on the side

My mum had the other scuffin – twas the least I could do!

Perfect meal to celebrate a perfect run.

I am going to ROCK this marathon!

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Ok, so here’s my announcement, which I feel bad about mentioning cos a) lots of you said you couldn’t wait for it(!) and b) it’s not so big anymore… basically – I’m not sure if I can keep my blog going…

My final year of uni starts tomorrow (Monday), and I’m going to be super busy this year – lectures, my final dissertation (which involves having to collect a boatload of data, as it’s a psychology experiment), and a long commute there and back each day. On top of that, I really want to keep up with riding Chika, which obviously takes up a lot of time, as well as get involved with some more volunteering and clubs at uni (this Tuesday, I have to be in uni from 9.30am – 8pm…). The few weeks after my marathon are going to be manic too, as I’ll have all my lectures and work to catch up on. So basically, I’m unsure as to how to fit everything in. I think I’m going to keep blogging as much as possible, but probably in a different style, and not as regularly.

But – regardless of whether I resume a regular blogging or not, I will still keep reading everyone’s blogs (cos I genuinely think of a lot of you guys as friends :D), and I’ll be back with a big old marathon recap (or 10!).I just don’t want to lose touch with the blogosphere – I love it too much! You all have helped me so much, with your positive comments, good luck wishes, funny stories..You’re all the best 😀

Anyway, enough talk from me – this is a looooong post. Have a good afternoon!

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Eighteen Miles. Good gosh.

If it’s hurting, it’s working

Pain is temporary, quitting is forever

If you find yourself going through hell, keep going

Are you going to be a wimp, or are you going to be strong today?

Can I give more? Yes.

Rock what you’ve got.

I set a new distance record for myself today!! EIGHTEEEEEN big ones baby!! Oh yes 🙂 Run recap and a ton o’ horsey action shots to come….

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Saturday

Breakfast:

A lorra lorra cereal, with a splash of soya milk (the self-confessed milk & cereal hater can now have milk and cereal…what has the world come to??), yogurt, wheatgerm, a banana and blackberries

A side of fig 🙂

I sure worked myself up a mild appetite for lunch! Cos I rode Mrs Chika in between, and – due to the terrifying wind – she was quite the handful. I set out thinking ‘bah, it’s cold and windy, I’ll only do 25mins’…..50mins later, I finished! She’d decided that she couldn’t (could?) see the lions hiding in the grass with all the wind, therefore it was perfectly necessary to spend 30minutes spooking at the exact same spot. Over and over. And over. And over.. Mares!! Luckily, just as she was determined to spook, I was equally determined for her NOT to spook – Battle of The Mare vs The Girl commenced (albeit with no violence obvs!!). I won 😀 we finished on an ace note, and both came in tired and happy 🙂

Um…sidetrack much?? Lunch! I had to carbo load today, due to the impending 18miler on Sunday, so it was the winding route of kamut tagliatelle that won my charms today. A nice hefty portion, served with a ‘sauce’ made from a 1/2 tin of chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, mixed herbs, garlic, stock, swede, turnip, broccoli, celeriac, parsnip and squash:

Sure was delicious! A piece of Lindt may have been eaten too…

The afternoon was spent gettin’ ma bake on! My gran had given me a huge (arm size) courgette the other week, and a request to bake a chocolate courgette cake. Like the good grandchild I am, I obeyed:

Voila!

I then had a taste for baking….so I whipped up some muffins from Allie’s recipe section. The original recipe was for pumpkin and carrot muffins, but I firstly vegan-ised it (by using 1tbsp chia seeds mixed with 2tbsp water), and English-ised it – mashed banana in place of pumpkin!

Instead of making 6 large muffins, I made 12 mini muffins instead 🙂

Tooooo cute!!

My afternoon snack was some cereal and yogurt:

And dinner was the scrummiest mix of maple roast sweet potato, lentils cooked with apple, and maple roast kabocha and parsnip:

In hindsight, although this meal was delicious – it was too much fibre!

I had a little dessert of Lindt, yogurt and a cracker 🙂

——

Sunday

I was awoken ever so rudely by an alarm at 6.30am today. Why? I had eighteen miles to run of course! However the weather was looking seriously dodgy, with heavy showers forecast….so I wolfed down a breakfast cookie (1/2c. oats, mashed banana, peanut butter, milk), as well as a few dates and a spoon of Grape Nuts:

And then 1/2 hour later, I set out.

BAD MOVE!

The first 5 miles of my run were hell on earth. I felt so amazingly SICK. At 3.66 miles, I had to stop for 15mins, expecting to throw up at any second, whilst having a major cry session. I couldn’t believe how ill I felt after so little distance, and all I could think was ‘I’ve got a half marathon left to run….’. It was horrific! However, I had to keep going. I was 2miles from home, and I knew my mum would be waiting for me. The next 2miles were deathly slow (like, 10.50pace), but I did them. When I saw my mum’s glowing pink coat at the end of my drive, it was like a beacon of hope 😛

I cried on her for a few mins, cos I felt so bad, but after a little weeny pep talk, I set out again, on a 3mile loop. Baby steps! Thankfully, I started to feel a bit better. After an hour and 20mins or so, my stomach started to settle. No sooner had that settled, did the clouds UNsettle, and the rain clouds open. And open they did! I’m talking monsoon like rain, for an hour. I literally could not SEE cos it was raining so hard, and I was soaked to the skin. It was horrible!! But my mum, bless her, was waiting for me after every loop (even the 2mile one!) to just be there for support. Words can’t describe how grateful I was to her! Especially since she was getting soaked too!!

Anyway – despite the rain and the sick stomach and all, there was some good – my legs felt GREAT! The whole achey-leg thing is a distant memory now 🙂 Thank goodness for Brooks trainers! And after the rain slowed, I actually started to enjoy myself again. The best bit? The last 2miles, when my mum dug out her old bike (she hasn’t ridden one in decades) and wobbled down the road next to me, singing crap folk songs (!) to me and telling jokes and laughing! I was running with a Hugh Jass smile on my face 🙂 I also seemed to get a second wind of energy, which meant I decided to get my run finished in under 3hours (on the wonk cos I can’t rotate it :p):

Oh yeah!!!

The start was slow, but I finished strong, and felt I could have even continued for quite a lot more miles!! Needless to say, I was happy 🙂

My average pace was 9.58, total 2hrs59. During the run, I drank about 750ml Lucozade Sport, and ate a Power bar. I probably should have had more, but it wasn’t until mile 13 that I even started eating <- that’s how sensitive my stomach felt! But regardless, I finished great (no walls for me :p), so alls well that ends well 😀

Oh! Amazingly, I didn’t use my ipod for the entire run! And it was fine! I entertained myself by singing ‘There were 99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer…take one down, swirl it around, there were 98 bottles of beer on the wall….’. Weird, but it worked!

When I got inside, I quickly ate a mini banana/carrot muffin:

And then went on a 10min walk to stretch out. Lovely 🙂 Brunch was a proper big old Epic Green Monster:

• 1 c. cereal
• 1/2 c. soya milk
• 1/2 c. soya yogurt
• 1 tbsp hemp seeds
• xanthan gum
• loooooads of spinach
• a massive banana

Perfect post-run fuel!!

And as usual…this is now a massive long post, so I’ll speed up!!!

I made my mum and I soya cappucinos (spelt wrong…!) for a nice afternoon break:

Could have had more froth but my mum was on the phone so I couldn’t blend for long enough 😛

We aslo played horses in the afternoon – lunged Tig over jumps:

And showed my baby some love 🙂

Excuse my outfit! Gran-knitted hat, long thick horse socks, 3/4 length trousers…I’m pure class. I also did some yoga, which was fabulous! Nothing like a good stretch after 3hrs of running 🙂

Annnnd that’s where I’ll leave it! I had a delicious snack too, but the pic isn’t on here so….whateverz :p

Question: do you have any inspirational quotes? How do you keep yourself motivated/not bored during a long run?

What’s been your biggest achievement lately? It doesn’t have to be physical, or huge – an achievement is an achievement, regardless of size 🙂

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The Dentist Will See You Now…

Goooood EVENING! And how are we all on this fine Monday?

I’ve had a busy day 🙂

Up bright and early for a little power walk 🙂 It’s lovely to stretch my legs on these running days off; it always feels SO good! Plus, I get to eat blackberries on the way 😛

However when I got home, I – totally randomly – felt tremendously nauseous for about 10mins. Like, for no reason. It was very odd!! But just as quickly as it came on, it left again, so I grabbed a quick breakfast. It was the epitome of a boring breakfast! Cereal and yogurt, with a little muesli sprinkle:

Imaginative? No. Tasty? Heck yes! And it only took 10mins to eat (plus an apple), which was good cos I had the vet coming.

No need to panic though 😀 He was just here to stab jab the horses (for flu), and do their teeth. FYI, non-horsey readers, horses teeth keep on growing as they age – they never stop. In the wild, all the roughage they eat wears their teeth down, but precious lil domesticated horses don’t have such groovy diets, so we have to get the dentist or vet out to rasp them 🙂 Sounds violent (and looks it!) but it’s ok 🙂 Besides – my sister and I love having the vet over, cos he is HOT!

Carter was a div though – he caught a vole, then proceeded to torture it and run about under the vet’s feet chasing it, having a great time. It was sad to see 😦

After the vet had been and gone, I set off for work. Whilst in town just before, I bought a delicious soya cappuccino <- I actually think I’m becoming addicted 😛 I love them! I also saw this Indian bloke (not Indian as in ‘from India’, but Indian as in ‘Hello, my name is Dances With Wolves [love that film!]’…I’m ignorant and don’t know the correct term, so please no-one take offence!! *EDIT* Native Americans! Thankyou Little Bookworm :)) playing great music in the street, so I bought his cd 😀

Lunch at work –

Roast mixed veggies (2 types of squash, carrot, parsnip, leek):

Lentils:

Salsa:

SO scrummy!!! I had to eat it real quick though; there was ton of steaming and hanging to do today….joy.

When I got home, I was getting rather haaaangry, so I chowed down quickly on Bear granola nibbles with yogurt:

Amaze. Except the little freeze dried pink bits. I HATE freeze dried fruit!! Anyone else with me!?

Question – now, before I forget, when I’m in the US running my marathon at the end of October, I won’t be able to blog (I don’t think..you never know). Sooo I was wondering if anyone wanted to do a guest post? I’ll probably need quite a few (I’ll be gone for 8days), so if you’re interested, leave me a comment on this post 🙂

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Ooooh – I’ll show you some of the pictures I took the other day now! I hope y’all like them 🙂 I was meant to edit some of them to make them better, but…well, I can’t be bothered :p so, in all their un-altered glory, here they are!

I took some flower ones too, but I won’t post them – I find flowers pretty dull sometimes…plus this post will probably crash my computer anyway :p

Have a good evening!

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Time for Twelve (again)

Wow, does marathon training skew your view of what an ‘easy’ run is – all I could think today was ‘aaah I’m only running 12miles, eaaasy’…I mean, wtf!? It’s TWELVE miles! I can’t wait for the day [post marathon] where 4miles is a decent hard workout again 😀 Oh well.

Saturday

Rest day! Woo hoo! Some days, I dread rest days, cos I’m..well..restless! But I felt like I needed one today 🙂 so it was a welcome addition. And heck, I sure made the most of it! I didn’t wake up til 8.25am, then read in bed for 15mins – bliss. Plus, it was a beautiful morning today; cold but sunny. I spent about a half hour whilst I worked up a breakfast appetite snapping Chika/Kovac/Poppy photos outside – I can’t wait to show y’all later in the week 😀

Breakfast – a spinach pear Epic Green Monster, topped with hemp seeds (I didn’t blend them in today), dates, Grape Nuts and cereal:

 

Nooo!! I’ve just realised there’s a tiny little (cat!?) hair on my spoonful in the photo below! Gah. I’ll have hairballs in my stomach now

 

Tres delicious. Despite the hair. In fact, I think it was the addition of the hair that made it taste so good.

I had a good schooling session with Chika after breakfast (despite Tig being away at a competition this weekend), and then decided to do something I’ve been meaning to do for the past week – homemade bean burgers!

• 2 cans of beans (butter beans and pinto beans, all I had)
• 1/2 c. salsa
• coriander seeds
• garlic granules
• 4 tbsp vital wheat gluten
• salt
• 1/2 c. oats

 

Blended the beans and salsa and spices roughly:

Tipped it all into a dish, mixed in the oats:

And the VWG:

Shaped into 5 burgers:

Baked for 20mins on 160degrees (fan oven), and then got them out to flip. And flip they did. Onto the floor:

A hand was burnt. A spatula was thrown. A tear (or 10) were shed. It was horrible! Though I thanked The Powers That Be that I’d put the burgers on two trays, so thankfully, two were salvaged. I baked them for another 10mins:

 

Hurrumph.

Sadly, the burger fiasco totally ruined my appetite for lunch 😦 but I stormed ahead, cos it was a good ‘un!

Apple and Onion Sauce

I made a ‘sauce’ by cooking (over a medium heat) a small chopped onion and a small chopped apple, with stock (a 1/4c. to start, and I added more water as needed):

Til it was mush:

Meanwhile, I roasted swede, aunt-grown butternut squash, and carrot, and boiled 60g wholewheat pasta. All together:

 

 

 

 

The onion/apple thing? Oh my!! Delish! Sweet yet savoury….LOVED. IT.

A fig (my last one!!) was consumed for dessert 😀

Dinner – I did a tempeh thing, with a cocoa peanut butter sauce and a cocoa-lentil veggie mix 😀

Look at that rich colour….wow!

What can I say – I LOVE THAT MEAL (made better by watching X Factor whilst eating it :p)! I was going to have a burger, but I’m freezing them so my mum and I can have them on Wednesday (when it’s just us two).

Sunday

12 mile day (aka a taper week)! I was sliiiightly dreading today, cos I looked at the weather forecast, and it said rain. ALL morning. Not cool! Howeverrrrz, when I did get up, there was no rain!! Sooo I made a super quick Fitnessista inspired breakfast cookie (but made in the morning and eaten immediately 😀 no overnight-hardening for me!):

50g oats

1 banana, mashed

a big forkful of peanut butter, mashed into the banana

I then mashed everything together, and topped it with a spoon of Grape Nuts and dates:

Sooo delicious! Why have I not made these before!? Good gracious. I really recommend you make one if you haven’t 😀

I let that go down for an hour or so, ate a rice cake, then headed out into the grey and miserable glorious cloud.

Splits:

9.01

9.01

8.50

8.46

8.59

8.51

9.02

8.49

8.46

8.50

8.53

9.15 (I decided to take it slow as I was a tiiiny bit wheezy on the last 1/4 mile of mile 11)

= 1hr46 & 12miles

You know what? It was brilliant!!! I felt ACE! My best training run to date 🙂 The hardest part was actually slowing myself down – I kept looking at my Garmin and seeing 8.00/8.15 splits – good, but bad, cos I didn’t want to burn out!! But yeah, it was a really, really good one. Was it the breakfast cookie? Or the amazing tempeh sauce? Or the super night of sleep on Friday? Or a positive attitude (after all, 12 felt like cake compared to the 18 this Sunday….)? Who knows….

Weirdly, the only fuel I had was 500ml Lucozade Sport, and 2 small dates! I just did not feel the need for anything, and I actually felt better for having a lighter stomach. Very curious.

Anyway, who cares – it was a fabulous run and I felt GREAT!

Brunch was an Epic Green Monster…once again, with a pear instead of spinach 😛

• 1 c. cereal
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1/2 c. yogurt – soya yogurt, so it is vegan 🙂 I’ve had a lot of questions about that recently…
• 1 tbsp hemp seeds
• a pear
• frozen banana
• toppings: Grape Nuts, homemade jam, almonds, dates

That’s plum jam, made from our very own plums growing in the garden 🙂

Fantastique!

I was then a complete fool though – straight after that big meal, I had a lunge lesson on Chika (almost like yoga on a horse – it felt GREAT!), which was fab in itself. My mum gives us such difficult exercises to do, in trot and canter 😀 however…1/2 hour of sitting trot does NOT do wonders for a stomach! I felt SOO sick after!!! The whole of my brunch was just being bounced about and it was horrible :p I shan’t make that mistake again…..

I had an afternoon snack of cereal and yogurt:

As well as a small apple, blackberries and large (large) amounts of hummus whilst making my mamma’s lunch for tomorrow 😛

I also got some cuteeee pics of Carter 😛 (I put them up mainly for your benefit, Lily :p)

I love this cat SO MUCH.

And so he doesn’t feel left out..here’s Kovac too:)

He’s the supermodel of the family!!

Rightio, I hear the Call of the Cookery right now, so I’m gonna obey it and go cook me some dinner 🙂

Have a lovely evening (hopefully watching X Factor, if you’re British :P)

Oh! – I mentioned it in my last post, but in case you missed it – do you like the new header!? The wonderful Jess made it for me 🙂 She’s a super star!!

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Question – do you take rest days? How many do you take per week?

——

ps – Listen to this song!! it’s only 1.30mins long, and is BEAUTIFUL!

pps – my current squash collection :p

Lol 😀

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