Category: General ramblings

Is that a bit too dramatic? It is after all only the last day of half term, except for the weekend which I have anyway. Half term has been brilliant- really relaxing. I have had work to do (parents evenings next week so getting ready for those) but also had fun projects like making Christmas cakes.

Exercise has been good- I realised I have not done a Sunday recap for ages so I will do one now.

Saturday- 10 mile run

Sunday- walk to shops (rest day)

Monday- 6 mile run

Tuesday- yoga, Shred level 1 and 2

Wednesday- 3.6 mile run

Thursday- walk to shops, Body pump (and I kept the heavy weights for squats and heavier shoulders as of last week, and added a little to the lunges).

Friday- 4 mile run

Tomorrow will be a rest day (and I will be going shopping while Andy goes to the football) and then the Great South Run on Sunday! Getting excited now!

I had a delicious lunch today.

Roasted a little squash (a harlequin which is the smaller yellow one with the dents on it).

Mashed up half on a little wholewheat tortilla, crumbled on some herby goats cheese (thanks Delamere) and baked it for 5 mins.

Yum!

Yesterday I had another delicious lunch.

Carrot pancakes! This time I used 35g spelt flour, 1 grated carrot, 1 tbs pumpkin puree and some milk (50ml?). With tahini and maple syrup yum 🙂

Also shhhhhhhh:

I may have bought some more tea. How cute are the piglets? I wanted to try the lemon ginger tea so getting a 2 pack is perfect. The chilli chai is for Andy for Christmas you see, plus he thinks we have enough tea at home already. You can never have enough tea.

I also popped to the shops today and could not resist a baby pumpkin (munchkin pumpkin)- for photos and also for eating later on! I also got some giant cous cous as I keep seeing it raved about- thought I would give it a try for lunch at some point. Plus some coconut water (this was a new brand on offer so I thought I would give it a go) and many tins of pumpkin. Although some are for a friend from work- yup I am branching out to pumpkin dealer.

Plus I have been practising with my icing! I decorated the mini Christmas cakes (the ones I made in the little loaf cases). I took photos as I went along, so at some point will post the how-to.

Cute 🙂 Well I think so anyway.

And my first i-herb order arrived (I have been going to and from the website for ages)! After trying several Luna bar flavours, I have decided that the peppermint one is the best. I also got some mini ones to make up the weight (they are teeny and only 80 cals so good for when you fancy a sweet snack I think and come in variety packs) plus a free peppermint lip balm and some scary green powder. Not sure what to do with the powder?? Also you can get $5 off your first order by using code QOC914.

Also I got my rejection email today from the London 2012 Olympic run ballot- did anyone get in?

Any exciting weekend plans?

What do you like to do on your days off from work?

Evening all!

I am super excited because it is half term! Yes! A massive bonus of the profession! But also I have had some exciting deliveries!

A squash box!!!! I kept seeing these on blogs and loving the look of them. Then, while I was looking online at various veg box places (for my budget challenge) I found that Riverford do squash boxes! Plus you can order one-off boxes, and other things too. So to try them I ordered a squash box and a fruit bag (great idea, 3 types of fruit for 2 people- Andy only likes bananas really, so it would be down to me to eat everything in the normal fruit boxes which might be a challenge!).

I got some apples (I think they are russet apples?) pears and oranges- lovely.Plus I just noticed I made a hidden Mickey with the orange and apples! Now I cannot wait to make lots of soup, roasted squash things, baked apple desserts and other bits this week- yay! All recipe ideas gratefully received!

I also got a prize! I won a prize from Jemma at Celery and Cupcakes– so exciting! I have not had a gingerbread nakd bar for so long- really looking forward to that one! Thanks Jemma/ nakd people.

I also got an order from planet organic. I always used to order bits from them, but have not for ages. Then when I did the review of those Ecomil desserts I asked them where to get them from (I have not seen them in any shops) and they told me Planet Organic. So I also got some hazelnut milk (how amazing does that sound?), white almond butter and almond and dark chocolate spread (love Carley’s Organic range), figs, cherries and mixed peel (for Christmas cake making) and some conscious chocolate. Yum.

Wednesday I got home late (work has been really busy this week) so only did a 3.6 mile run (I was originally planning for a 5 mile run) but I managed it in 36 mins so pleased I could keep up that fast pace for that long- think I am getting back to my best! Body pump last night was brilliant- I decided to go even heavier on the squats – 17.5kg (my heaviest ever)- my legs were fine but I was so worried that I would not get the bar back off my shoulders at the end! I also chose heavier weights (slightly) for the shoulders track. Nearly didn’t make it through the triceps track though- seemed harder than last week, not sure why.

Pimp my porridge continues:

Cherry bakewell (ish?)- cherries, oats, almond milk, almond extract, mixed spice.

Tropical- dried mango, oats, dessicated coconut, oats, almond milk.

Peaches, oats, almond milk- which I then topped with flaked almonds. Yum.

We are still keeping our heating off too! It has been soooooo cold here- I have ordered some more thermal vests, and have been wearing thick gloves and scarves outside- it will be time for a hat soon! I feel we will have to give in this weekend though! Anyone else still keeping the heating off ? One of my friends does “the November challenge” and they do not have their heating on til November- I do not think I could last that long. One year (I could write a long moan about British Gas here but I won’t) our heating broke, and even though we had the British Gas people out every week, they would fix it then the next day it would break again- from October until January. We were freezing (and had no hot water for that time either!) but we did have an oil heater which we plugged in. I am going for the hot water bottles at the moment!

And what shall I make first with all my squashes and apples?

Enjoy the weekend folks 🙂

That time of the week already- time to party! Thanks Jenn for hosting.

I chose Saturday as my day, which was super exciting as I went on a cake decorating course.

Breakfast;

Soya yoghurt, rude health muesli, apple from my garden and a fig.

Snack– a small slice of marble cake at the decorating course- they were quite insistent on us eating!

Lunch;

Rye bread with pb, and DCD, and a pear from Andy’s parents garden. Loving the garden produce today.

Snack;

Cocoa mint Lara bar from my blog swap with Errign. It was nice, but I think that our UK nakd bars are better. 🙂

Dinner;

Butternut squash and goats cheese wrap– this time I added chilli flakes when I cooked the squash, and also some spinach to the wrap.

It was super tasty 🙂

Dessert;

One of the cakes I decorated! Can you guess which one I ate?

(They were little fairy cakes just covered in a lot of icing).

I went for…

…

…

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I did give Andy one of the roses though- super sweet! 🙂 I am going to choose it as my favourite even though I did not really want to eat it- I wanted to just look at it!

Have you ever been to a course like that before?

Also- added on final question- beyond dark have asked for flavour ideas on facebook- I said chocolate mint and peanut butter! Any other ideas?