Hear me Rawr

Brit readers near the south east – this post is for you 🙂 keep reading to the end!

I had a GOOD day today! Lots to talk about (well, it feels like it) so let’s jump straight to it shall we?

The day started off with rain. Lots of rain. Maybe not so good? But I did fit in a lovely Jillian-esque workout and a walk/run, so I’d say that was leaning to the positive, wouldn’t you? There’s nothing like getting your heart rate up early on, it makes the day 😀

Next good thing – breakfast of course!! It was my third day of baked oats, and it was without a doubt, the best one yet. I did the usual mix (1/2 c. oats, 1.5 c. water, salt, cinnamon, vanilla) and cooked it on the hob, then transferred it to a baking dish, where it was baked for 35mins or something –

– maybe a little crispy round the edges today 😛 I let it sit out for a 1/2 hr whilst I put some slap on for the day, did the horses’ hay in the field, and made a super delicious sauce; a peeled extra ripe pear simmered with blackberries and cinnamon/nutmeg til soft 😀 The result:

Oh. Mydaysmydaysmydays. The TEXTURE you guys! Seriously out of this world! I can’t describe it – so creamy, yet sticky, yet smooth, yet clumpy, yet tasted-like-pancakes, yet sheer amaze………it was eaten with a big smile on my face.

But boy did that smile get bigger – a bloke arrived whilst I was eating the bowl-of-yum. Sadly, he wasn’t holding red roses or bearing an ‘I am your one true love’ sticker, but he WAS holding a big box.

A box?

A box.

Not any old box, but a box from the grand old U S of A! And what was in this box? Why, presents from my wonderful blog friend Jess of course!

Way back when we were but wee nippers, we decided to do a foodie swap – and it sure was worth it! This lady sent me some AMAZING stuff, fresh from the snow covered hills of Vermont 🙂 She had made me promises of peanut flour however – but when I read her note, my heart sunk a little. They’d sold out.

That is, until I dug a little deeper into the box –

HAHA! I did an actual real life LOL out loud 😀 I’m not sure if my mum quuuuite got it, but it seriously made my day 😀

I just know that peanut flour is gonna stay wrapped up in its’ safety bubble for the forseeable future; now that Trader Joe’s has discontinued it, there is no WAY I’m going to risk it getting damaged/stolen/burnt/frozen/anything-negative-whatsoever. In fact, i’ll probably never even break into the packets, purely because I don’t want them ever to end :p that stuff will now officially be known as Peanut Gold Dust.

In my excited daze, I immediately broke into the cookies:

SO delicious! And besides, cookies for breakfast? MMmmm you can’t go wrong! Especially when they’re sliiiightly healthy cookies…

…I see no aspartame, or other poisons, so I’m assuming they’re safe 🙂 Plus, how can a cute little lion be bad for you? Nay possible.

The chunk of the day paled in comparison somewhat – the highlight was my lecturer taking a full 30 secs to realise that the video she was playing on the cinema-sized screen in the lecture room was not showing picture (despite watching it herself). And she teaches me? Eh. No logic.

HOWEVER!

Two more exciting things happened!

1) Waitrose, my beloved, have started stocking the other beloved – KABOCHA!! It’s been…ooh…2months? since my last one, so you can imagine the joy. A happy dance may or may not have occurred in the aisle.

I stocked up. (What you don’t see is the other two, hiding out in Meredith :p)

2) RAWR!

If you’ve been reading my blog since August, you’ll know that I quite like raw food. So of course, when a lovely local company, Rawr, sent me some samples of their raw chocolate, I happily obliged 🙂

I broke into the Intensely Dark flavour last night…

LOVE the ingredients list!

It’s really great to see ingredients like mesquite and coconut butter appearing in English products; I so, so rarely ever see them over here. Refreshing!

Well well well! It was SO silky, SO intense, and SO lovely! And I’m not just saying that (I’ve had other brands of raw chocolate before and was distinctly unimpressed – too dusty textured), it truly was the smoothest chocolate ever. Melty deliciousness 🙂 Now, I am a serious dark chocolate lover, and this flavour is most definitely for fellow dark chocolaters too – it has a strong, almost fruity taste to it, with tiny tiny bits of crunchiness from the cacao nibs. But yeah, I was a fan 🙂 I can’t wait to break into the other flavours (and you’re totally going to know when I do – I never miss an account of a new chocolate breed :p)!

Thank you Kind Folk @ Rawr 🙂

I think raw food is becoming more of a big thing now – so many more companies in Britain seem to be popping up that are raw, and I’ve even seen some raw restaurants in London, albeit not many. I think it’s great though!! It always amazes me what raw foodies can make – ice creams, lasagnes, crackers, soups, cakes…the list is endless. The first time I tried raw food was at the Healthy Living Summit in Chicago last August, and I was seriously blown away by the variety. I remember when I came back home, I was desperate to try to make some of my own raw meals, but I just had no idea where to begin 😦

Whhhiiiich is why I have an idea of sorts! British readers, PRICK YO” EARS UP NOW!

Are you free on a weekend in April? Do you have the ability to travel to London? (Bus, train, super powers – you’ll find a way)

WELL.

I’m going to attend a raw food class, at none other than The Raw Food School!

The amazing people over at Gourmet Raw told me about this, and I thought it sounded BRILLIANT!

Sooo, I wondered – would any readers/bloggers want to join me? It would be on a Saturday in April in London, and I’d be there (OBVIOUSLY the best bit :p). Oh, and you’d get to learn about raw food :p

‘This class is designed for those that are curious about or new to Raw Food. They’ll guide you through everything you need to know about raw food, the why’s, the benefits and even overcoming the challenges. They then talk in depth about ingredients, preparation techniques, equipment as well as how to set your kitchen up. Then, through live demonstrations walk you through, step by step, how to create the most delicious raw food dishes on the planet. Their objective? To send you away from the class knowing how to take control of your health through raw food. Get ready to be inspired! http://www.therawfoodschool.com ‘

What do youz reckon!? If you’re interested, shoot me an email or leave a comment!!! 🙂

And with that – I fare yee well.

Goodnight!

PS – follow me on Twitter yeah? BritChickRuns. You know you want to 😛

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What’s green and blue and sounds like panda? And the ACCENT VLOG!

VLOG COMING UP!!

Hmm that title makes little sense til you’ve read the post! Baaah well, you better keep a’ readin’ then!

See, I was feeling slightly inspired today…inspired to get some greeny goodness into my (poor, oh-so tired & battered) body. I really do need those darn nutrients – I was up til 2am last night trying to sleep, woke up this morning feeling like DEATH and therefore decided nutrients were in order!

If you read Ashely’s blog or Gena’s, you might have seen the raw green breakfast wraps floating about?

Well I didn’t make one (sorry to disappoint) BUT I did do a non-raw cabbage wrap at lunch! See, creative juices flowing already, just at the mere thought of a future detox! Hurrah.

I started wiiith…chopped veggies – butternut, parsnip, red pepper, and cooked aubergine (note – that is a small plate, not a giant amount of raw veg):

I layered the sticks in a raw cabbage leaf (stem removed) along with some salt, dried mixed herbs, tomato puree and chickpeas:

So far so good! They were then rolled and wrapped:

Cute huh!? I’m steamed them both for about..10mins or so? Til everything was soft and cooked anyways. The result:

Hehe!

They were…kinda tasty. Awkward to eat, and a bit blah. I ended up just eating the insides separate and rolling up the leaves on their own :p I actually preferred my side dish, was the rest of the 1/2 can of chickpeas, stir fried with soy sauce and parsnip/squash/aubergine 🙂 Oh, and dessert – the end of a pot of soya yogurt.

I’m glad I at least tried to be imaginative though – breakfast was the same old oats & fruit:

(frozen grapes! I love thee)

Cereal crummage, the best bit 🙂

It was super creamy and wonderful today 🙂 and perfect after a somewhat chilleh walk with my mamma and the dawg. I had it super late though – I had a mahoosive apple pre-workout (Jillian level 3 30Day Shred & a 3mile run) and then was really not feeling the hunger AT all, so whilst my oats set, my mum – who had a random morning off from work – went for a wonder 🙂

Ah, talking of my mum! She helped me sample something lovely today!!

Panda Liquorice!

Now, before y’all recoil in horror at the thought of liquorice, hear me out:

I hate liquorice. My mum hates liquorice. I have terrible memories of eating the stuff and having to spit it out after when I was little, it was that foul. But when the Panda folk contacted me with a NEW flavour – BLUEBERRY – I was feeling curious. On top of that, Panda liquorice isn’t like other liquorice brands:

– it has ‘no nasties’

– no fat

– no refined sugar

– made from natural ingredients

True story:

Curiosity intensified!

I broke into the packet, expecting to see dark, nasty smelling chewey stuff..but I was greeted with:

Nice smelling brown stuff! (my descriptive skills are off the hook today aren’t they!?? It’s the tiredness, I blame the tiredness!)

My mum and I both tried a chunk, feeling apprehensive about the taste – but let me tall ya, it was GOOD!!!

(My mum’s ‘oh my, wasn’t expecting that’ face. I had to persuade her to try some at the start, but by the end… :p)

We both went back for more! And I can now officially say I like Panda blueberry liquorice 🙂 seriously, if you haven’t tried it before, give Panda a go. I haven’t had any other of their products, but if they’re as good as the blueberry stuff (which yes, did taste of blueberry) then you’re sure to love it 🙂

I washed down the liquorice with a frothy coffee, but not just any frothy coffee..oh no, one made with my mumma’s Aerolatte thing I got her at Christmas!

120ml/ .5cup soya milk became almost 400ml!

WOW does that thing froth! And so quickly too – impressive. I actually had to break out the man-size mug to fit all the drink in :p

Other eats included random vegetable crisps, an apple which I bit into, then had to cut up due to nasty mouth ulcer I have –

And dinner and chocolate for dessert 🙂

NoW – VLOG TIME!!!!!

I really hope this works – if it doesn’t, just follow the youtube link and you’ll see it 🙂 But first – no makeup, very tired, look rough – don’t judge! :p If you want to follow along (Disney sing-a-long style!), the words & questions are below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgGuLTrKnD4

Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught

• What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
• What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?
• What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
• What do you call gym shoes?
• What do you say to address a group of people?
• What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped
• body and extremely long legs?
• What do you call your grandparents?
• What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry
• groceries at the supermarket?
• What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
• What is the thing you change the TV channel with?

The changed font? Cos I copied and pasted from Jess‘ blog :p

So there you have it! That’s me in all my glory 😛 What you were expecting!?

Your turn – I want every blogger to do an accent vlog now 😀

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Off to the chippy

Ooh no – do non-UK folk have chippy shops? You know, the places that do good old British fish n’ chips take away? I’m not sure…but anyway! I’m going somewhere with this, bear with me 🙂

When I was newly into double-digit age, I used to like fish n chips on a Friday – twas tradition. One thing put me off though – the sheer amount of GREASE and FAT! (In fact, I’ve read on numerous occasions that the fish n chip take away done the traditional way is the worst take away you can have, health/calories/fat wise) After I’d eaten a big plateful, I could almost feel the oil seeping through my skin and I’d feel tremendously bloated and heavy…not pleasant. In an attempt to be healthier, I had oven chips occasionally. Not really the same though, yaaannnae? They lack that summin’ summin’…the crispiness? Who knows. (In fact, the oven chips we have in the freezer are currently used either to cool down the cool box when we need ice, or to ice injured feet/hands/backs/whatever. That’s how much we don’t care for oven chips!)

Now – this is still on the same point, so do keep following 😀 – I’m not a big fan of endless product placement on blogs; it bugs me (ok, maybe it’s jealousy…but whateverz). BUT I do like me a good kitchen gadget – Vincent the VitaMix, blenders, hand held blenders, juicers (that break after 2months….never again), coffee frothers (mk, it’s my mumma’s, and I haven’t used it before), slow cookers, coffee makers….you get the idea. So despite my dislike of product placement, I sure did JUMP at the chance to review the thing that fell through my letter box last Friday……..

…..a kitchen gadget! A super cool one!

Yep – the lovely folk at Tefal sent me an Actifry to review!

It claims to cook 1kg of chips (one THOUSAND grams!) in just 1tbsp of oil, resulting in that crispy-on-the-outside-soft-on-the-inside thing that often comes with deep frying. Excited much!!??

Soo tonight, as it was just my mumma and I, we decided to test it out…I used 500g white potatoes (2 peeps don’t need 1kg), and cut them into chip size pieces:

Then put them in the machine with some salt, 1/2 tbsp oil, mixed it up, set the timer to 25mins, and boom!

Sit back and wait 🙂

Oh boy, that’s one heck of a dark photo…I MUST start using my camera properly! boo hiss.

The result:

CHIPS!

(I used my mum’s plate as an example cos she had fish and purple Brussels grown by my aunt, thus creating a prettier picture :D)

Opinion?*

Impressive!!! Slightly crispy outer, very soft inner. They were maybe not as crispy as we were expecting…BUT the potatoes I used were ‘white potatoes, suitable for anything but best for boiling’….hence not IDEAL! The booklet the machine comes with recommends the sort you use, soooo I can imagine they could be better. BUT saying that – they were really, really delicious! The flavour was great, they weren’t too oily or too dry – just perfect – and were far, FAR superior to any oven chip. They certainly did remind me of proper fish n chip shop chips – you know, that warm comfort-y type taste!!? – but without the heaviness and grease. I’ll be using the machine again for sure 😀

Pros:

• easy to use machine. Seriously! Open lid, put chips in, press timer button, press start -> done.
• easy to clean – dishwasher proof (phew)
• Quick – the chips I made only took 25mins! And no stirring or anything required – I literally just left it to do its’ thaaaang.
• versatile – you can cook vegetables, meats, fish….really, the machine takes loads of stuff! In fact…
• ….the handy recipe book shows ya what you can do:

Cons:

• the chips maybe weren’t AS crispy as they could be – but then the booklet says the sort of potato to use (I didn’t use the exact right sort), and it also says that if you add a bit extra oil, you’ll get better flavour.
• there was a slight smell when it first started cookin’, but as my mum said ‘ that’s just new appliance smell’. And it went pretty quick (or my nose stopped being able to smell :p)
• it makes a noise. But er…so do a lot of things :p (ever tried blending frozen fruit and cereal? BoOoOOO YAH that’s a noise if you ever want one!)
• price – it IS a bit on the pricey side, BUT there is so much you can do with it that it’s kinda worth it 🙂

Overall? I like it 🙂

*This opinion is 100% my own – I was not told to say positive or negative things about the machine; my task was purely to eat chips and say what I thought 🙂

—

Right! Onto some other random eats :p

Frozen grapes, Grape Nuts, cranberry blended banana cereal milk mix – dang awesome after a 10mile run on Sunday 😀

Three words for you – peanut butter roast parsnip chunks. (ok, five – but three sounds better). it’s been SO long since I’d had any, and ohemgee had I forgotten what I was missing!! One giiiiiaaanntttt mouthgasm!

Oop! More blended cranberry cereal :p The spoon is there to illustrate the sheer thickness of this beast 😀

More frozen grapes – I’m addicted.

And finally – the long-awaited return of the yogurt-cereal mess!!! Since I’ve been trying to cut down on soy, I stopped having soy yogurt – but when I saw it today in Budgens…well, it called to me. And y’all know I don’t refuse the call of food! 😛

Oh! Talking of today, this it totes random, but I had THE wettest 5mile run in the history of runs. Just thought I’d put that out there! I was proud I even braved it (seriously, my BRA was wet at the end!), so I wanted tell you all (or show off, your call).

—–

The luuurverly Chelsey did a post about this the other day, and it reminded me – I haven’t mentioned this in ages! I used to do so quite frequently, then I…well, didn’t. SO, without further adieu – my most recent weird search engine terms that crazy folk have used to get to my blog!

– the granola dentists

– freya little canning town, lon (I’m a canning town!? First, Goddess of Fertility, now a canning town…well I never.)

– hannah yee

– in brit chicks what makes jean pears (eh?)

– what is jp favourite toppings on brit chick (eh? x 2)

– “healthy living” and “horses” (<- aaah, the perfect search term to find my blog! Love.)

– honey monster vs mr blobby (wtf?)

– he’s my boy

– dead mouse in soup (2 people found my blog by searching for that….)

– katheats, hurtful comments (whaaaaat?? Why? I’ve never been mean to Kath!)

– how chicks should look (yeah baby :D)

– ugly muffin recipe

– brit chick runs i miss your daily posts (awh!!)

– xxx swop wifes 40 moves (no, I don’t get that either)

– kate moss smoking (I get a loooottt of links from people searching Kate Moss :s)

Annnd my favourite:

– hot cinnamon whiskey dragon

ha! I’m gutted I haven’t been checking these terms regularly, cos oooooh my gosh, there are some good ones sometimes! Note to self: Must. Keep. Checking.

Right – i’m off to go eat more chips. Later gators.

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