Recipes - Maria Runs

Slow start

Evening all

Today I had another run planned, but ended up having a rather lazy morning. I did not even have breakfast until nearly 11, so then I had to wait for another hour before I went out. I used my waist pack again and it was brilliant (this time with the bottle that came with it- even less bounce)-it also has a handy little pocket which is my fave thing (pockets in running gear)- so handy! I have pockets in my shorts, tights, even in my top!

It is so hard to take a picture like this! (Where is Andy when I need him? Well, off watching football!)

I could not decide how far to go (the marathon training plan is still being sorted) – in the end I did my “normal” long run of 8.5 ish miles- 90 minutes, and I felt pretty good throughout. I am pleased that I have managed to maintain this level of fitness during the autumn and winter.

I logged on to Nike+ when I got back and as it was the first one for 2011 it had some stats for the past year. It must have been a bit skewed because I only started using it in May, but it averages out over the year. My stats were; 510 mile run, 2 runs per week on average, 10 miles a week on average, fastest mile of 8.35 (perhaps during my 28.10 5k race for life?), 49,630 calories burned (I think it overestimates but you do enter your age and weight into the website), with 77 miles in september being the month with the most miles.

It was pretty good to see this, especially as I was not expecting it!

I had a hot chocolate and a peanut clif bar when I got back- for the hot chocolate I heated 250ml Kara coconut milk in the microwave for a couple of mins, then stirred in 15g nesquick. This was delicious and just what I fancied as I got quite cold on my run.

Then after my shower I pottered for ages (this means dusting, washing, reading blogs and procrastinating) and did not manage lunch intil half 3. Not so good.

I made a kick-ass snack this afternoon- some defrosted cherries with some dark chocolate alpro and some delicious pecan and cranberry granola- yum 🙂 Alongside some tea (I felt very stupid in the shop as I could not work out how the individual teapots worked- wouldn’t all the tea pour out the crack? Silly me).

I am also in the process of using up a Terry’s chocolate orange by making it into brownies to take into work tomorrow. I love chocolate orange but Andy doesn’t, and once it is opened I could eat it in a couple of days (and it would be just me too, not anyone else helping!). So I decided to put it to better use. Maybe some pictures later!

Last night we could not decide what to have for dinner, so we had another soup, bean and sweet potato combo. It’s so easy! (I should actually make the soup but to be honest I could not be bothered!).

So in a pan we cooked a couple of peppers that were past their best, added a tub of spicy tomato soup (this time it was Waitrose tomato and pepper soup with chipotle chilli) and a tin of kidney beans. We served it with baked sweet potato (sped up by microwaving first) and some salad. Delish- no cheese or salad dressing needed either! It is currently my fave quick and easy speedy meal!

Tomorrow it is back to work, and we are having a training day which means I should be home a bit earlier. My plan is to clear out my wardrobe a bit and get a bag of clothes to give to charity- I came across some jumpers today which I have not worn for a couple of years- they were in my pile of “don’t get rid of just yet, hang on for another year in case I start wearing them again”- well, I think it is time they went! I also have some tops which I think will be sent to the “duster” pile as they are so tatty now! I love a good clear out- it’s all very theraputic so I am looking forward to it. Anyone else planning an early spring clean or clear out?

Kitchen creativity

Evening all

So I keep seeing cinnamon buns on people’s blogs at the mo, and I keep being tempted to make them. I have also been loving stollen, and have seen some “mini bites” which I was tempted to attempt. So in the end I combined them, and have made stollen whirls! I was impressed by my kitchen creation!

I based them on the stollen recipe in Bake , but I think I have made enough changes to make it my own. I think it is worth doing- there are lots of steps so you have to do a bit,then do something else and come back to it a bit later, but the finished article is well worth it.

Begin by putting 150g mixed dried fruit and 50g cranberries in a bowl with 50g ground almonds and 25ml rum/ whisky (or apple juice). Leave thiswhile you make the dough.

Warm 60ml milk (I do it for 25 secs in a microwave in a little cup) and add 1tsp quick yeast. Leave this for a bit.

In a big bowl put 250g plain flour (I used white spelt) with 1tsp cinnamon, 1tsp mixed spice, 1tsp ground cardamon, 1tsp ground cloves, some grated nutmeg (basically whatever you love)….

Use a big wooden spoon to make a well in the flour, and pour in the milk/yeast mixture in, mixing it up until it loosely forms a dough.Leave it covered for ten minutes.

Then add in 60g butter (I use pure dairyfree) and 50g caster sugar and mix it in. At this stage it might look like breadcrumbs, but if you firmly push it together it will form a stiff dough. Leave again to rise (for 2 hours).

To prepare for the last bit, roll out 100g marzipan into a rectangle, and also grease a square tin.

Tip the dough out (I put it onto a board “floured” with icing sugar as it was the one I did the marzipan on!) and mix in approx half the dried fruit mixture and knead this into the dough. Then roll the dough into a rectangle. Spread the rest of the fruit mixture over the dough (as evenly as possible) and push it down a bit. Place the rectangle of marzipan over the top, then roll it up along the long side, so you get a long log. Cut into 9 slices (although you could make more, 9 fitted into my square tin) and place in the tin. Any left over fruit can be squashed in too!

Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for about an hour, then preheat the oven to 200C and bake. These took just under 40 minutes- I kept checking after 30.

Dust with icing sugar to get the authentic stollen look!

They go perfectly with a cup of tea!

Aside from that, I managed a 5 mile run today- it was so damp and dreary and drizzly outside that it was hard to motivate myself, but I decided I should make the most of the clear pavements! Plus I felt much better once I got out in the fresh air.

Thank you by the way to everyone who replied on my post yesterday- I have decided that whatever plan I choose (well, I think it will be a mixture of a few) that I will only do one 20 mile run. That will be enough for me 🙂

I was also excited to recieve a parcel in the post!

Some yummy cereals from Natures Path. I emailed them ages ago after using their gluten free cereal in some baking for my coeliac friend, and they emailed back to say they were launching in the UK and so would send some samples to me! My fave thing was that the address label said “Running Cupcake” on it! I wonder what the delivery guy thought?

The range of cereals looks yummy (and cute names too) and I look forward to trying them all (and so does Andy!).

I also managed a pop to the local shops and got a pretty silver sparkly scarf from Accessorize. I was after a black coat but I only managed to find size 6 or size 22. Oh well I can wait! I did also find Whitards Christmas Tea for £2.50 in Waitrose- what a bargain!

Now I have a random question- I watched Fantastic Mr Fox this afternoon, and it was nothing like the story I remembered. Now, I don’t have a great memory (I have a tendancy to remember dreams and think they happened) but I thought the story was all about Mr Fox burrowing under the farms to get to the chickens etc? So am I remembering it wrong or is it actually a totally different story from the book?

Snow-lar bear

Guess what I did today!

Yes, the snow was calling to me! I went into my garden and it was so pretty, with only bird foot prints in the snow. So I decided to have a bit of fun 🙂 He is looking up at my window so I can see him from my house! It was so cold out there, luckily my breakfast was keeping me warm;

One packet of plain porridge, 40g pumpkin (left over from pasta), 5g cranberries and some mixed spice. It was delish- the perfect amount of pumpkin 😉

I rang the gym this morning and according to them, body pump class was on (they often shut down over christmas but I didn’t take a leaflet as I wasn’t supposed to be here). SO I will be off to that later on, it is the new one so I am hoping I like the music. I was feeling very productive again today, and cleared out my kitchen cupboards. Do you know I have 12 cans of pumpkin? Yes, 12. I kept adding one each week to the online shopping. Hmm. I also found some chickpea flour and I have no idea what I planned to do with it. Any ideas?

For fresh air, (as well as snowlar bear) I walked up to the post office and boy I was freezing when I got home!

I also packaged up some home-made christmas fudge.

Here is the recipe if you fancy a go (adapted from Rachel Allens Home Cooking recipe);

The trick is to get it all ready, so- line a brownie pan with baking paper. Get your electric whisk out of the cupboard, attack the whisks and check it works! Assemble add-in ingredients (for me, 50g cranberries, 50g pistachios and 50g chopped white chocolate for those christmas colours). Also get a side plate to put the hot stuff on.

In a big pan, put 100g butter, 450g soft light brown sugar (or caster sugar) and 1 tin condensed milk. Put the sugar thermometer in there so it heats up slowly. Stir until it all melts, then keep the heat low and keep it bubbling (for about 7 minutes) until it reaches the soft ball stage on the sugar thermometer. (Or fiddle about with a saucer from the freezer or some water or something.).

Once it reaches that temp, remove the thermometer and spoon, (place on side plate) and beat with the mixer. It will take a while, 5- 10 minutes, until it is not runny, but thicker and harder to mix. The beaters should leave a thick trail in the mix.

Then, quickly pour half into the tin, sprinkle on the add-ins, and then cover with the rest of the mixture. It will start to harden quickly, but I find that pushing it down firmly with a non stick spatula works well. It will not set for a while, but the quicker you work, the smoother the final fudge will look. Leave to cool for a bit (lick excess fudge from beaters before washing up) and then place in the fridge. I find that you need to take it out of the fridge for a bit before you slice it. Then cut it into pieces, put into bags or tubs or whatever. It keeps fine at room temp or in the fridge. Enjoy 🙂

I keep reading that Emma keeps getting bargains from Sweatshop with codes from Womens Running mag. Well, I subscribe to the mag but never noticed the codes- luckily I looked as there is a code for 10% off, plus free postage, which expires tomorrow. I looked and they have my fave running trainers for £60 (the other day they were £80) and so I have ordered some yay 🙂

Although I am not sure if it is torturing myself by ordering shoes when I can’t go running? Hurry up and melt snow!

Festive plans

Evening

I managed to get out for some more fresh air today- walked up to the shops in the other direction (saw a dead rat frozen in the snow which was pretty gross!)- it was icy in places, slushy in places, deep snow in places, and no clear paths at all. Shame as I was hoping that I might find a route for a run. No such luck. I also did level 2 shred (I did the cardio gently as my calves are still stiff)- actually it helped to loosen the muscles.

This afternoon I had such a christmassy snack- 2 clementines, 2 gingerbread cookies (I had some left over dough from the mini house) and some christmas tea. Love it!

Here is the tray of cookies- I decorated then with a few squares of dark chocolate which I melted, and then assorted sprinkles from one of those decirating tub things- we will be giving some of these away too;

I also did some more cooking, this time it was savoury stuff! I made some yummy pumpkin pasta. I could not remember the recipe that I did before, so I sort of made it up. Anyway, it was 1 pack of silken tofu whizzed up with around 300g canned pumpkin and 5 sundried tomatoes. I then stirred in 150g cooked wholewheat pasta and 150g cooked spinach. This made 3 portions (I put them in those silver foil tubs)- one for tonight and 2 for the freezer. Not bad 🙂 Once I am back at work I love having meals in the freezer that can defrost during the day and be cooked quickly while I am in the shower in the evening.

I have been reading on lots of blogs about how people tend to manage being healthy over christmas. Generally I don’t find it too hard, but I think as I am vegetarian I miss a lot of the typical massive meals (plus the sides like those pigs in blankets etc), plus I don’t like roast potatoes, stuffing, gravy or sauces, can live without yorkshires etc. As a family we have never had starters, whereas I know some people would have a 3 course meal at lunch for christmas. Plus I don’t drink alchohol- water and tea are the best liquids for me! I don’t ever tend to have different breakfasts- porridge is where it is at for me! Lunches will stay fairly similar to normal. I have nice festive snacks like clementines and a few nuts. I also try to keep up with the exercise. I know myself that if I don’t exercise I start to feel lethargic and a bit bleurgh, so I make sure it is in my plan to get something done each day.

The main issue I have is that I get given loads of chocolates from work (the children are always so sweet and like to help me open their gifts, and this year I think I was given 13 boxes of chocolates (including 2 mammoth trays of MIlk Tray)- I always manage to give lots away, and have left some at school for the staffroom, but I keep a couple, and if I open a box it is easy to have a couple here and there. They add up pretty quick! I use WLR so I make sure I log my meals each day, log my exercise (once done- I am a bit supersticious about logging it before I actually do it) and then seeing what I have left for snacks.

If I know that I have enough calories for a slice of christmas cake in the evening, then I look forward to that during the day. I won’t beat myself up if I go over my calories on a few days, but I know myself that I will start to feel rubbish, so it is in my interest to keep as healthy as possible. Gosh I have written a lot!

So, to conclude- during the festive period I try to;

Get some fresh air each day
Get some exercise each day
Eat lots of portions of fruit and veg each day
Allow for a “treat” each day (so keep the diet balanced, not totally restrictive and not all out unhealthy)
Drink lots of water
Keep and eye on calories in and calories out

Enjoy the festive season 🙂

Gingerbread house!

First, some photos of gingerbread houses I love! The one above is from our hotel in Copenhagen last year. The lobby smelled amazing 🙂

And the one in the lobby at the Grand Floridian at Disney (we didn’t stay there but you can wander in and even buy a roof pebble). So, there are the professional ones. And now onto mine. I took millions of pictures (it seems like) so be warned!

First, melt together butter (I use pure dairy free) with sugar, treacle, golden syrup. Then pour over a bowl of flour and spices.

Mix mix mix! Then leave in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Then measure out baking paper templates for the roof and walls. It was only after I had made the house for the second time (last year the roof was too small and I made it bigger this year and it is still too small) that I realised that the maths in the book is wrong. So next year I am going to make my own design.

Remove dough from fridge and cut about 1/4 of it to begin with. Roll out on the baking paper dusted with flour, and then the baking paper can be slid straight onto the baking tray.

Put the templates on the dough and cut with a knife.

Keep on re-rolling un-used bits until you have all the parts needed.

They don’t take long in the oven (12 mins ish).

Quick! Before they cool, cut out the windows and door. Trim any wobbly edges.

Leave to cool on wire rack and then wrap up until the construction is ready!

I had a load of dough left – more cookies for work!

Let the constructing begin!

The icing is egg white and icing sugar which makes super strong glue. I tried to use a piping bag, but this was not good, and so I drizzle with a spoon instead.

Wrap a chopping board in foil for the base.

Put icing along the bottom and up the sides, then join gently together. Hold for a few minutes, then prop up with whatever you have to hand.

Repeat with the back and other side. This is a scary time but the icing does stick pretty quick! Leave for 30 minutes to properly harden before adding the roof.