Running - Maria Runs

Mini Pumpkin Pies with filo pastry (recipe)

Hooray!

I bought some tinned pumpkin when I went to use my almond breeze vouchers (from Waitrose magazine)- plus some yummy multi-grain thins and oatcakes.

I could not wait to get my bake on!

I decided to use coconut sugar to replace regular sugar (Ocado now stock it so I don’t have to order it from i-herb any more)- it seems to work in recipes just fine. The darker one is from i-herb, and the lighter one from Ocado (Tiana brand). Next time I am going to try coconut milk in place of the evaporated milk- I think it is there as a sweetener, and to make it a bit more creamy like custard, as the egg is there to set it I think. So I think it will work. As I am not a massive pastry fan I decided to experiment with filo pastry- then there is hardly any pastry and you get more filling. Although next time I might bake a couple in ramekins for a sort of pumpkin pudding/brulee thing.

Anyway, ingredients: (for 12 mini pies)

1 pack of filo pastry

1 tin pumkin puree

1 small tin evaporated milk (I think it is 170g)

1 egg

220g coconut sugar

1 tbs ground almonds

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground cloves

grated nutmeg

First up, I prepared the filo by slicing it into squares. I then melted a little pure spread, and spread it inside cupcake tins.

In between each layer I put a little more melted spread (but not too much as it can go soggy). While this is going on, preheat the oven to 170C.

In one bowl combine all the other ingredients (pumpkin, evaporated milk, egg, sugar, spices, ground almonds) and mix gently until there are no lumps.

Then spoon into the pastry cases.

They took ages to bake in my oven- they should not wobble when you gently shake the tray. I thought as they were small they would take 25 mins (so check after this time) but I baked them for about 15 mins longer- towards the end I turned the temperature down a little bit to stop the pastry from catching.

Remove right away (I think they will not crisp up otherwise) and leave to cool on a wire rack.

I sprinkled them with a little cinnamon sugar before serving.

I took some to a friends’ house on Saturday evening, and then served up the rest today to mine and Andy’s parents who came over (I heated them back up in the oven for a bit as I think they are so much better served warm). They were delicious- I love the pumpkin pie filling- the nutmeg just goes so well with the pumpkin.

Back to the weekend ramblings:

On Saturday I went for my 11 mile run. I found it much tougher than the 9 miles last weekend, but for the most part I still enjoyed it. The weather was beautiful- the lake was looking wonderful, and it was nice and cool so good running weather even with the sun shining. I think I was more tired, plus I think I left too long a gap between breakfast and going out (lots of cleaning etc before) and so by the time I got home I was very starving- it was nearly 1pm I think. Plus I had not taken any water with me, which was a mistake when I was out for just over 2 hours- a bit too long for me really. I was hallucinating about coconut water for the last mile!

I had one of the rude health pumpkin bars. It tasted a lot like dates (no surprise, it is made mainly of dates, plus almonds, pumpkin seeds, ground pumpkin, apple, spices)- I liked the seeds as they added crunch, and I loved the spices in there (cinnamon and ginger)- it reminded me a little of a nakd gingerbread bar, but a bit more subtle. Verdict? I would like more pumpkin flavour, but it was very tasty and I liked the texture of it.

I had a nuun tab right away, plus some coconut water to help with the rehydration, but it was a bit late as I got a headache quite soon after. Ah well, at least I finished it, and although when I got home I felt exhausted, after a shower and lunch I felt fine; not too stiff or anything, so I think so long as I don’t go crazy this week I should be fine for the next half marathon.

Today started with some greek yoghurt (with raspberry and pomegranate sauce) , a nectarine and cereal. After some work I had a few jobs to do in town, so I treated myself:

Tall soya chai tea latte, with spiced pumpkin syrup. The lady at the till liked the sound of it too! It was very sweet, but I could taste the spices, and it was very creamy (I think there is condensed milk in the syrup?). Anyway, a nice change and I am glad I asked if they would do it because I don’t like coffee but I did want to try the flavour.

Lunch was a speedy affair:

A pitta bread with some honey peanut butter (courtesy of American soda). Delicious and very melty in the warm pitta. Then both sets of parents came over to watch the football- tea and pumpkin pies for half time 🙂

I had a 3 mile run planned so I headed out later in the afternoon. I wore my tights for the first time this year as it seemed a bit chilly, although I had forgotten how annoying they are- I need to wear shorts over them otherwise I spend half my run pulling them back up again. Anyway, 3.2 miles, 31 mins- I thought it would be slower as I ran so far yesterday, but I felt alright.

When I got home I had some of the coconut water that was on offer in Waitrose- it was almost creamy tasting. I liked it anyway. (I wore gloves with a vest- seems a good combo for the weather at the moment as my hands seem to stay cold when the rest of me is warm.)

I had a Rude Health beetroot bar- it was quite pink but I am not sure that the photo shows it up that well. Like the pumpkin one it was mainly dates, with almonds, seeds and 7% beetroot, but the beetroot flavour came through. The bar was still sweet, but had an earthy flavour to it. I liked it although I prefer the pumpkin one because of the spices. I suppose some cocoa powder would be nice (beetroot and chocolate cake is yummy after all) but on its own it was still tasty.

Now I am making a lemon and poppyseed cake to take to my Nan tomorrow. More on that another day!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Do you like the sound of the pumpkin or beetroot bar?

Workouts this week and rude health

Hey peeps

I hope everyone has had a good week- the week has flown by!

Here is a quick run-down of this week:

Monday- 3 mile run after work

Tuesday- Aerobics! I have not been for nearly a year, but it was good to be back. The lovely instructor had a fab new CD with new stuff mixed with cheesy tunes. I found it tough but enjoyable.

Pre- Sweatshop run snack of rude health mulltigrain thina, chocolate spread and a Reece’s pb cup from american soda.

Wednesday- Sweatshop run. We did the same route last week (with the dreaded hill), and I was tired from aerobics the previous day. However I ran with another girl (who is usually a bit ahead of me- but we were scared of the underpasses on our own!) and we finished in 31 mins- not bad.

Thursday- Body pump. I was not really feeling it- I was shattered when I got home from work (Poetry day with performances and things), and during the chest track I was feeling quite annoyed with myself because I needed a rest. I wanted to be careful because after all the digging at the allotment on Sunday my back was a bit sore and stiff, so I knew I would go slightly lighter for the back track- perhaps that put me in a more relaxed state of mind. Plus the abs track is so weird- my arms are not strong enough by the end of the class to hold my body up, so I am not sure I do the moves right.

Friday- Glorious rest day!

Phew! Tomorrow I have planned an 11 mile run- I just hope the weather is as wonderful as last weekend- my final long run before the Oxford half next weekend.

Some food highlights from the week:

Yummy post Sweatshop dinner of baked sweet potato with sunflower seed butter and pb, spinach, and butternut squash roasted in a teeny bit of coconut oil and cinnamon.

I roasted up some fruit (for cheap in Asda)- plums, nectarines and peaches with a little coconut oil, a little coconut sugar and cinnamon and cloves. I had some warm with an Ecomil chocolate almond dessert (Ocado now stock them!) and sprinkled with coconut.

Apples from my garden! There are some more on my tree but they didn’t want to come off yet.

Porridge with some of the roasted fruit, plus blackberries from my garden! Only a few, but still. (With my pb+j sandwich, pot of fruit and nakd bar as my work lunch/ snacks ready to be packed up). And my micro-mitts!

Finally I was excited to receive a parcel in the post- Rude Health are now making veggie bars! The pumpkin ones sound especially amazing, and they sent me some to try!

The pumpkin ones have cinnamon in there- I am going to have one tomorrow 🙂

Have a lovely weekend- any nice plans?

Excitement and almond milk

Hey peeps,

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Sunday morning started off for me with a trip to the allotment:

It was super weedy! We let the grass grow on the paths between the beds, but the weeds were not paying attention to my rules. Anyway, about an hour and a half later, I was very satisfied with how it was looking:

Much better!

My Dad planted those leeks for me a few weeks back, so that bit only needed a teeny bit of weeding. I also managed to pick some raspberries 🙂 I am amazed they are still going strong.

I spent a bit of time envying the plot next to mine:

Amazing pumpkins- they are massive and there are loads! My pumpkin plant still only has teeny flowers on it- no chance of one this year.

After that I was in need of breakfast!

After some work, Andy and I popped into town as we needed to get a few bits- we also popped to Starbucks 🙂 He tried a pumpkin latte (and made me try a bit even though I don’t like coffee- the coffee taste overwhelmed anything else, but Andy quite liked it)- I had the usual chai tea latte- sprinkled with cinnamon and nutmeg. I heard someone order a vanilla chai tea latte, so I am sure I will be able to ask for the pumpkin syrup with that- has anyone done that before?

I also went into Waitrose, and picked up a copy of the Love Life magazine.

I have bought it a few times and it is OK, but I saw a sign saying it was free with a My Waitrose card (I was persuaded to have one a while back, but usually you get 1p off each shop!)- anyway, inside was a little Almond Breeze booklet, plus vouchers for free plain and chocolate almond milk! Result!

As it has been getting colder I have been having porridge (with almond milk or coconut milk)- this week was with pumpkin purée molasses, spices and sometimes a nectarine too. Nice and warming 🙂 It is so dark in the mornings now- pitch black outside when I have my breakfast 🙁

Then, when I got home from work today, I had this on the door mat! Less than 2 weeks til the next half marathon! It spurred me on for my 3 miler- managed 3.1 in 31 mins, so keeping up the speed 🙂

What are you excited about right now? Anyone tried the pumpkin latte (without coffee?)?

Can other people make me run faster?

I think they can.

When I got home from work yesterday, I was tired. I suppose the late night on Monday didn’t help, and the wind and rain made me feel like staying inside and having cups of tea, and then because it looked like it might rain later, I was tempted to go out for a short one on my own. But the nature of having a club means that I feel obliged to go, when I can. Anyway, I went, and I am so glad I did (as always). I wore my yellow t shirt for the first time as it was too cold for a vest:

When I got there, every other person had their yellow t-shirts on too! That has not happened before (one girl borrowed a jacket), but then a new person came- we did all assure her that usually we are not all so coordinated! Anyway, it was a new route, we set off, and almost right away there was a big hill! There are not many of those around here. Sometimes on the runs we manage to stay together, but sometimes we spread out a bit, and Wednesday was one of those occasions. I could spot the yellow t-shirts up ahead, and I tried hard to keep them in sight (partly because I didn’t want to get lost!). I was running with another girl for a bit, but I ended up being a little ahead of her. Anyway, whenever I glanced at my watch I could see that my pace was under 10 min miles. That is fast for me. On my own now I sometimes manage one mile under that, and I am pleased if I get close to ten minutes for the other miles (on shorter runs). I kept going up the hill, and tried to focus on my posture, as I know I have a tendency to slump forwards on hills, especially when I am tired.

After the hill was a nice long downhill bit, and I tried to concentrate again on keeping the speed consistent. I did get confused at one point as I crossed a road, only to find there was no pavement, just a big fence! But aside from that I didn’t really stop (except for once at traffic lights). Anyway, the route was about 3.2miles, and I was amazed that I was back at the shop in 31 mins! The super speedy ones were already there, stretching and chatting, and we only had to wait another minute or so for the last people to come in.

I kept my watch going, and timed my run home (often it goes into power saving mode so I don’t time the run there or back)- but adding on the run home took it to over 4 miles, (4.04 miles) in 39 mins! I managed to keep the sub ten minute mile pace for 4 miles! OK so there was a little rest between the third and final mile, but still, I was very pleased.

I was trying to look through my Garmin stats on the computer, but I am not that great with it. But I know that my Sweatshop runs are my fastest runs of the week. Even if I do 3 miles on my own, I am a little slower (Tuesday I did 3 miles- it was super windy and felt slow, and actually was pretty good, but not as fast as this).

I am sure that having other people around helps to motivate me, and also helps to push me a little harder than I push myself. I know that when I do body pump I manage a lot more than when I do the 30 day shred video- it is so tempting to put the weights down! So I am sure some of that effect will translate into running with a group too. Although I have found that runs with Andy are worse for me, as he goes too fast, I try to keep up and end up gasping for breath and struggling. I suppose with these runs, I set my pace within the pace of a group which must work out better as there is a range. Plus seeing the people further on is like seeing the carrot dangling on a stick.

Anyway, I really enjoy them anyway even just as a social thing- a few people asked about the Great North Run, and another person (the barefoot girl) had done an all terrain triathlon (including swimming in a lake!) and it is so lovely to have a little chat about these sorts of things.

I can totally see the benefits of a running club, although for me that sounds very “serious”, and I like the fact that this is a bit more relaxed than I perceive other clubs to be.

A while ago I was trying to get my 10K down to under an hour- the closest I managed was 61 mins, and although I am slower than that at the moment (as a 10k is 6.2 miles, so it has to be sub 10 min miles for the whole time), I can see that regularly having these faster runs in the week will hopefully help me to get to that goal. Although I don’t have any 10K races booked- the two local ones that I like at this time of year clash with the Oxford half (well one does, the other is the week before when I want to be running longer). So I will keep my eye out.

Anything exciting planned for the weekend?

What goals are you working towards at the moment?

Do you notice the effect from other people when working out etc?

Time for (lots of) tea

Hey all

I hope everyone has had a lovely weekend, and avoided the horrible weather. I thought it was meant to be awful today, but we have only had a little rain today.

Anyway, this weekend has been all about tea.

I have been slowly working my way through the mountain of teabags I was sent from teapigs.

Last week I made a latte using a chocolate flake teabag and some vanilla soya milk.

When I got home on Friday I had the chocolate flake tea, just plain with milk. Both versions are very delicious.

The pure lemongrass tea is lovely- so refreshing and delicate.

Of course I have been loving the earl grey tea too (Darjeeling Earl Grey– very refined).

Saturday started with a trip to the allotment, to do a little weeding (there is so much weeding to do all the time!) and plant out some strawberries. I do have pumpkin envy as one plot next to me has at least 3 massive pumpkins growing, whereas only one of my pumpkin plants survived the slugs and is tiny, with only flowers (so no hope for a pumpkin this year). I spent a good hour there, and I picked some raspberries too.

Then after a bit of pottering at home (urgh- housework! Dusting, sweeping and cleaning floors, cleaning bathrooms, sorting out drawers) I headed out on a run. I decided to do 7 miles, and the loop I chose ended up being just under that. It went well, I felt OK, and so my plan for the next few weeks is to do 9 miles, 11 miles, and then I think it is my next half marathon (if I have counted the weeks right).

It was cold! I think I might need to put the vests away soon! I had a yummy peanut 9bar when I got home (the lovely Ffion mentioned that after her review, the lovely people at 9bar were sending out samples)- it was delicious. Plus some of the chocolate soya milk, which turned out to have gone past it’s date about 6 months ago whoops.

I needed warming up, so after my shower I had a mint tea. This was free in the Waitrose magazine, which by the way is free to My Waitrose card holders (have had one of those cards for ages and never sure what the point of it was).

After burning my toast (testing my smoke alarms) for lunch, I went out to the shops for a bit. Right, there was actually a whole stand of Christmas gifts in Debenhams. What is the deal???

I had a chai latte in starbucks (and saw that the pumpkin latte is apparently “coming soon”- wonder if you can have that without syrup?

Next time I think I will sprinkle on some cinnamon too. It was so lovely I sat outside- won’t be able to do that for much longer.

Anyway, I parked in Waitrose so I had to buy something!

There was a £1 off the Twinings tea, so I bought the Earl Grey stuff as although the mint humbug tea was lovely, I have a massive jar of mint tea. Plus baking things- gluten free flour (half price), chocolate drops (on offer), cinnamon sugar (on offer), posh cocoa powder, and rice crispies. I also got some coconut water as the Waitrose magazine had £1 off that too. What can I say, I like the offers!

I had to try the tea, and I love it! It does not quite taste like earl grey, but it did have a hint of an aniseed flavour, and was quite sweetie-like. Good for keeping me going during some work (my brain likes caffeine I think).

Then I got my bake on!

Dark chocolate brownies with raspberries (all from the allotment!) and white chocolate stars (which I added after, because otherwise they melt and turn into a horrible greasy mess). For work 🙂

I was sent another parcel of goodies from American Soda, so I cracked open the pumpkin.

For some pumpkin spice cakes.

Need to learn how to turn the flash off- using a newer camera now

Had one with some tropical rooibos tea (from Sainsbury’s) after dinner (found a mexican casserole in the freezer- win).

Then I chilled out and watched the Great British Bake off, and then a film about some men who decided to run across the Sahara. Amazing.

This morning I went out on a short run (3.6 miles in 34 mins, not bad) before it started to rain. I was expecting it to be awful today, but perhaps we have that saved for tomorrow instead? I have done some more baking and more pottering, and had even more tea whilst watching the Grand Prix.

Tasty breakfast of warmed baked apricots, yoghurt and granola, with a teapigs chai tea.

We are trying to hold out not putting the heating on, but it is getting very chilly now!

What did you get up to this weekend? Has the storm hit yet?