Avocado obsession

So, until about a year ago I didn’t think I liked avocados. Once when I was younger I had some, although I was told it was “avocado-pear”- so I was expecting pear. When I tasted it, it was so strange that it put me off for years. (The same thing happened to be with hummus as I thought it was honey- who knows why!).

I liked guacamole, and then a few times had sandwiches and wraps that contained avocados, and it turned out that I quite liked it. That has now turned into a bit of an obsession. Ocado sell them in packs of 3, and they are lovely and ripe, so I have been enjoying them with different meals this week.

Andy made a yummy sweet potato chilli (roasted sweet potatoes, onion, red+yellow peppers, tomatoes, and a load of chilli)- it was super spicy so I needed the avocado to calm my mouth down!

That was enjoyed after my Monday night run- that was possibly the coldest I have ever been on a run as the wind was so cold- I really felt like my eye sockets were going to shatter or something!

I made another mexican casserole thing- basically I roast chopped celery, peppers, red onion, cook some quinoa, wilt some spinach in the quinoa, then add passata, chilli, sweetcorn and beans, and then freeze. I enjoyed one portion with avocado after going to aerobics on Tuesday- I had not been in ages and it was fab! Although we did a lot of plank things at the end and I have been sore since.

On Wednesday I went to the Sweatshop run- thankfully it was not as cold as Monday, but it did start snowing quite heavily while we were out- luckily it was not settling so it just fogged up my glasses. The group stayed pretty much together and did just over 5K. I was trying to look at my watch to see what I did the 3.1 miles in, but because I was where the streetlights were out I missed it. I think it was about 28 mins though. I was given the nutrition pack as I have completed 25 runs (well actually it was last week, but they didn’t have any last week). Exciting!

I got confused when planning meals this week, so I had to do freezer lucky dip for Wednesday- I found a butternut squash chilli (think it had celery, peppers, onions, squash and sweet potato in there) so I had that with some salad and beetroot that needed using up. I love how you can see the steam in the picture.

I went to Body Pump tonight, and we got to try the new release. I was glad to see the back of the “Welcome to the Jungle” chest track from last time. It was tough. But in a good way I think. The chest track was really hard (you had to do some sets starting at the bottom, and some starting at the top, which meant it felt like there were no mini rests or anything)- it was a good song (Muse) which always helps. The triceps is back to having the bar, dips and the dreaded overhead things (I hate them!)- means it is tougher which is good I suppose. The lunges track is really challenging- instead of the leaps at the end, you stand with your feet either side of the step, and then jump up. The abs was really different as there were no planks- it was all on your back doing leg raises and some weird push up move things. I am aching already!

After my shower I had a lovely snack plate of yoghurt, persimmon and some little marzipan hearts (Christmas chocolates).

I have signed up to Parkrun and I am planning on going to one this Saturday morning with my Dad and brother, although I just caught the weather and it looks like it is going to be raining hard- not so good. I hope I don’t wimp out!

Right, I am off to get my PJ’s ready for Comic Relief tomorrow (yup, wearing them to work!)- what are your weekend plans?

Lord Poppington’s review

A while ago I was sent some popcorn to sample, from Lord Poppington’s.

First up, I love the name! And the packaging is bright and eye catching, and makes the flavours pretty clear (seems simple, but so many packets are hard to read I think and you can spend ages looking for ingredients, what the flavour is etc).

They some in four flavours- Sweet and Salty, Lightly Sea-salted, Chilli and Lime, and Four Cheese.

I really liked this popcorn- it was “proper” stuff, and not coated in that crunchy solid syrup like a lot of popcorns are. The salty was good- I am not a massive salty fan, but it was not too salty for me. You could have one packet to yourself (they are pretty low calorie), but they are pretty big so we tended to share. I am not keen on cheese flavour things anyway, and I am afraid the Four Cheese one was too cheesy for me- however I took the packet to work, and other people enjoyed it, so if cheese flavour is your thing then they are worth a try.

The Sweet and Salty was my favourite as I do prefer sweet flavours- the salt stopped it being too sweet I suppose. Plus it was so nice to have a sweet popcorn that was not all crunchy- those ones end up sticking to your teeth too.

The Chilli and Lime was a very orange colour, I suppose due to the chilli powder. It was spicy, but it was not too strong. I am quite a wuss when it comes to spicy food, so I didn’t have a lot of it, but I did have more than just a taste so it was not overpowering. The lime flavour came through (zingy) and they really reminded me of something, but I am not sure what- it is still annoying me now!

Although I don’t find popcorn very filling, it is a good snack for when you fancy something to nibble on, and the serving sizes are generous. The perfect movie night snack.

I like the range of flavours- and who knows perhaps they will start making more flavours? I would go for a salt and vinegar one, or maybe a sweet cinnamon one. What would your ideal popcorn flavour be?

Snowy weekend

Hey peeps, I hope everyone is well.

Let me see, where did I leave off last time?? On Friday evening I had an unsuccessful attempt to visit my Mum, as the traffic was so awful I had to turn around and come home, but never mind, people are allowed mobile phones in hospitals now, so at least we could have a chat.

Andy bought us a present- this massive bag of Earl Grey teabags! (He is quite partial to it too and it only cost £2!)

On Saturday morning I went for a run before breakfast- there is a 6 mile loop that I fancied doing, and I decided to go for as close to an hour as I could. I think I am still worried about starting off too fast in case I get to the furthest point from home and my legs fall off or something, but I am getting better at knowing my pace. Anyway, it was fast for me, but it still felt OK- I felt like I had pushed myself, but not like I had exhausted myself. I couldn’t start the Garmin until 0.1 miles (I checked the distance on the way back) so although it was 6.2 miles, my Garmin tracked 6.1 miles in 59 mins! I am hoping that I would have done the 0.1 mile in a minute, and it means I am getting close to that sub 60 min 10k.

After breakfast (pancakes with apple, pear and mincemeat) we headed up to Norwich. Andy had a ticket for the football, so I decided to go with him and look around the town. We only just made it in time as the town centre traffic was so awful (and all the car parks were full), so he rushed off and I wandered around the town centre.

It was raining heavily at first, but soon that turned to snow. I ended up buying quite a lot- a new wallet and bag for work from Fat Face.

I bought a few bits from Holland and Barrett (mint tea, a bounce ball although I really wanted the coconut one but they didn’t have it, cocoa nibs, plus earl grey tea lip balm- how exciting- from White Stuff- navy nail polish, peanut butter and key lime pie locally made chocolate, and some Hotel Chocolat too.

I found a tearoom and had a mint tea and a scone for a belated lunch (and they didn’t even have jam to go on the scone), although what I really wanted was lemon cake but they didn’t sell it. When I told Andy later he told me I should have gone to The Waffle House- I had forgotten there was a Norwich branch and he passed it on his way to the ground. I was annoyed with myself then! I went back to the hotel and painted my nails in the new blue varnish- I had packed some pink but of course it is always better using the new stuff. When Andy got back from the football we braved the horrible weather (cold heavy snow and slushy slippery pavements) and headed for Giraffe for dinner.

This morning we were planning on going to Cafe Rouge, as we have some vouchers, but decided on The Waffle House instead. Their menu was similar to the St Albans one, but they also had additional waffles, plus you could get small or large for some of them (I always say this to the St Albans one), and they did a lunch time deal- 2 waffles for £7.05- bargain! Anyway, there were a couple of items on the breakfast menu that our local one does not so, so I went for one of those. It was a fruit and nut waffle, with dried fruit and nuts baked in to the waffle, served with a fruit compote, natural yoghurt and crushed nuts. And of course you can add maple syrup to it too.

The photo does not do it justice.  Andy had a normal breakfast one with scrambled eggs, bacon, mushrooms and tomatoes. And of course a pot of tea for us each! That fruit compote was so delicious- really sharp and tangy with the blackcurrants and raspberries- mmmm.

We were originally planning on going somewhere on the way home- the seaside or something, but it was snowing, sort of hailing, freezing cold and wet, so after another wander around the town we headed home.

I stopped off to see my Mum, and by the time I got home I was starving! It was about 5pm I think, so that waffle had done a pretty good job of keeping me going. I had some chilli and lime popcorn (it was very orange although I don’t think it has shown up that well)- it was pretty spicy but you could still taste the lime. I don’t find popcorn very filling so I had the bounce ball too, and a persimmon.

I can’t believe all this snow though, and also how cold it is, yet again. I don’t mind the cold, but it does seem totally freezing out there. At least the snow had not settled properly I suppose. Easter is only 3 weeks away- surely it should be Spring by then????

Did you have a good weekend? Where do you like to go for a weekend away? 

Frazzled brain

So, I can’t think what to call this post! This week has seemed even more busy than usual- visiting my Mum at the hospital/ calling her in the evenings on top of a normal working week has made it more tiring than usual. Thanks for the wishes also- I don’t want to go in to details but she is awaiting an operation at the moment (a year after I had mine, although for something different) and alright.

I have a load of random photos which have been hanging around on the camera for ages, so this is going to be a random post.

This is my favourite pre-Sweatshop run snack at the moment- 2 fruit ryvitas with nutella and that biscuit spread, plus an Earl Grey tea. I was pleased to see the unsweetened almond milk in Waitrose at the weekend, so I picked this up to try, but before that I have been on an Alpro light phase.

I made some tofu/pumpkin bakes the other week, and have been working my way through these. I have put recipes for variations of these before. These ones were 1 block of silken tofu, 2/3 tin pumpkin puree, some sundried tomatoes and a little basil oil whizzed up. Then I mixed in 75/100g quinoa (dry weight, cooked in water), some beetroot and a drained tin of artichokes. I might have added a tsp of pesto in there too. I do often add in spinach too, but I didn’t have any this time.

Anyway, I put them in the foil trays (although I had one right away, so that went in a glass dish) and then I can freeze them, and they are super easy midweek meals.

Does not look like much, but the tofu makes it so creamy, and the sundried tomatoes add a little zing to the flavour. The artichokes were a new addition but they add a bit of saltiness and I really liked them in there.

I noticed this apple and cinnamon granola the other week, so I decided to treat myself. I had it for breakfast at the weekend with a chopped apple and a tea- it was lovely and quite American tasting if that makes sense? Maybe all the cinnamon.

I had a rest day on Monday, after the speedy run on Sunday with Andy, and just did a short run on Tuesday to get my legs going. The Sweatshop run last night was super tough- I have not looked at my Garmin time yet, but I bet it was one of the fastest ones. No-one slower than me turned up, so it was me at the back with the guy from the shop. He is very encouraging, but he does not let you slow down for a moment! My legs were so stiff by the time I had run home and had a shower. I had a couple of delicious Booja Booja ginger truffles as my dessert (lovely Christmas pressie from Lucy), as I am sure they are the perfect recovery food! Tonight I am going to book on to pump, but my shoulder is still not 100%, plus I am totally exhausted after being on a school trip all day, so I am not going to be back to my normal weights.

How has your week been going? What school trips did you enjoy when you were younger?

 

Alibi winner and a speedy run!

Hey all, I hope you are all having a lovely weekend.

First up, the winner of the month’s supply of Alibi drinks.

I was a bit more high tech this time; I used a random number generator on the internet (and had to work out which number matched which comment as some people put their facebook entry in the same comment- which is fine), and got number 2, which was Lara! Congratulations! If you can just email me the address you would like it sent to, then I will let them know.

Right, on with the weekend.

I was planning on having a run on Saturday morning, but Andy said that he would go with me if I waited until Sunday (he was off to football on Saturday) and I am really glad that I did. Saturday did not turn out as planned as I ended up visiting my Mum in hospital (she has been in and out recently), so I had to put back my work to Sunday afternoon too.  I did manage a bit of baking- I made some pecan crumble bars using this recipe.

I added in some coconut too- they are ready for Sunday tea in a bit. Andy had something similar in the tearoom in Stratford last weekend, and I fancied having a go at making something similar.

My shoulder has been loads better too- I feel like I have to be careful doing certain things (eg opening the garage door) but generally it is fine now. Still no idea how I did it (or what I did) but at least it is nearly normal again now.

Right, onto the run. We did the usual 8.3 mile loop- Andy knows that I have been getting faster, and also am prone to plodding when left to my own devices. He promised to slow down a bit, and although parts were tough, it was really great- we chatted most of the way (he had to chat on the hills!)- it does mean I am getting behind with my marathon talk listening! We did the loop in 80 mins, and usually my average for that loop is around 90 mins! Look, I can post my stats from the Garmin website: (split, average speed, distance, time)

1 9:59.4 1.00 10:00
2 9:47.2 1.00 9:47
3 10:00.5 1.00 10:01
4 9:53.4 1.00 9:54
5 9:37.0 1.00 9:37
6 9:30.4 1.00 9:30
7 9:45.7 1.00 9:46
8 9:32.0 1.00 9:32
9 2:42.2 0.29 9:16
Summary 1:20:47.8 8.29 9:45

I did find some of the hills tough, but no more than usual (probably)- it proves to me that the Brighton half was not a freak incident, and I really am starting to speed up a bit.

I sure needed breakfast when I got home!

I made the batter the night before (20g peanut flour, 20g w’g spelt flour, baking powder, 40g pumpkin, 60ml soya milk) and then cooked a chopped apple and pear in some coconut oil and sugar, and then stirred in some meridian mincemeat (my last jar). Plus teapigs chocolate flake tea.

Delicious.

Plus, the sun came out! I treated myself to some tulips yesterday as they are one of my favourite flowers, and they looked so pretty in the sunlight. I really hope Spring is around the corner now.

Have you seen any signs of Spring recently? We saw loads of snowdrops and crocus flowers out, and I saw a rabbit too!