Maria Runs

Hello everyone!

I hope you have been enjoying the most fabulous weather (well here in England anyway). I have been getting out in the fresh air and feeling better all the time- there are some fields near the back of my house, and I have been loving walking through them. Before I was sticking to the roads in case I had to phone someone to come and get me, but I know I can manage it now. Although I did drive the other day for the first time and was so shattered I had to lie down and nearly slept before dinner. I went to see the doctor and she was very pleased with how the incisions are healing- she explained to me that the biggest cut (and the most pain) is on the left because they could not go in on the right side (the side the cyst was) because they could not risk puncturing it. Made perfect sense but I never worked it out! Anyway, she said to increase everything gradually, so not to drive too far too soon and that sort of thing. Plus now although I have some soreness, it is not pain any more, just twinges now and then, and general aching (she said it was still a bit inflamed and would be bruised inside for a while) and tiredness, and that is so much easier to deal with. Hurrah!

The other day I was sent a sample of Coyo, which is yoghurt made from coconuts. I had some when I was in the US in the summer, and it was lovely, so I am so excited that we can get it over here now. Unfortunately the package had split in the post, but I managed to salvage a bowl-full to try. I was sent some berry coconut yoghurt, which contains coconut milk, tapoica starch, xylitol, blueberries, blackberries and probiotic cultures.

I topped it with a little bit of coconut, but it was delicious on it’s own too. I absolutely loved it- the flavour of the berries went really well with the coconut and it was so rich and creamy- it was thick like greek yoghurt. Heaven in a bowl! And such a taste of summer too.

They have a list of stockists on their website, (but none near me currently) but they are also sold online at Planet Organic which I have used before, Goodness Direct (which I have seen other bloggers order from) and also a site called red23.co.uk, which I have not heard of, but looks good.

Anyway, I have also been busy baking!

That mess is the start of sourdough! I had to start off a new culture (I got rid of the last one before I went to hospital because I thought it would not make it!) and seeing as I only started it on Monday it was looking pretty good (the rest is in the jar). The dough looks so craggy, but a good lot of kneading will make it come together. I used half white and half rye flour for this one.

It has to be left for a few hours to rise, before you shape it.

I decided to cut it before I left it to rise overnight, because when I have cut it before baking, the bread seems too delicate, and I saw it done this way on a TV show this week.

It had risen a lot overnight, and was ready to bake. I used my silicone loaf pan inside the metal one, as the metal one keeps the shape, but it comes out of the silicone one much easier.

It had burst out of the back a bit, but it smells pretty good. I still think it is amazing that this is made from water, flour and salt. No added yeast or dough improvers or anything else. We will have some for dinner this evening but my favourite is to toast it- I freeze it in slices (between pieces of baking paper so they don’t stick) so perfect for lunches/ breakfasts all week.

I also got a little i-herb order 🙂 I have been using peanut flour in smoothies a lot, so decided to get some more. Also some cinnamon raisin peanut butter (as I have not tried this flavour and it sounds like an amazing combination), some chocolate chai tea and some apple spice tea.

I have also been baking for the blog cookie swap, but I won’t post any pictures until Tam gets her package 🙂

Anyone want to guess what I made?

Hey peeps.

I see a lot of the US blogs getting green for St Patrick’s day this week, but being English it is not something I have ever celebrated (nothing against the Irish, but it is not really my culture). But I am loving the green theme (thanks to Jenn) , and this week I have not taken pictures of one day, so I just have a selection of green meals from the last week instead:

A salad for lunch, with rocket leaves covered in strawberry balsamic, cucumber, pistachios , figs, ryvita with pumpkin seeds (they didn’t have the sunflower seed ones which ae my fave, but then the green pumpkin seeds fitted with the theme even more) and some roasted pepper hummus. This was delicious- I loved the figs and balsamic together.

I attempted to make some sweet potato/ kidney bean burgers. I mashed up cooked sweet potato (2 I think) with a tin of kidney beans, some lime juice, some paprika and tomato puree. Then I shaped and baked them (made 8 I think). They probably needed flour or something as they were squishy, but very tasty. I had some with more rocket, roasted courgettes, roasted asparagus, roasted fennel and peppers, and some hummus (I think).

Some  wholemeal pasta with delicious pesto (the stuff I got from Brighton- called Zest- it is amazing) with peppers, courgettes and cheese. It looked more green in real life!

Some mexican casserole bake (which has celery, spinach, red onions, sweetcorn, peppers, tomato passata, quinoa and beans) served with more spinach and some cheese.

I have also been having some lovely fruit salad bowls.

This was a papaya, fig and grapes, with a squirt of lime juice and topped with some vanilla munchy seeds. I won the seeds on facebook, and they are nice, but they are coated in icing sugar which I don’t like so much. I prefer their savoury seeds (which is a surprise coming from me!).

And another one with papaya, plum, grapes, lime juice and munchy seeds. Papaya with lime is such a delicious combination.

I also had some green tea. This one has lemon with it, and it quite nice. It does say to brew for only 2 minutes, which I think helps as I find green tea can taste bitter really quickly. When I have it I think it tastes OK, but I would not normally choose green tea if I had any other option. Ah well, it fits with the theme!

But, do you know what is missing???? Green chocolate!

Phew! The balance has been restored. This was peppermint Drink me Chai, and some Montezuma’s Christmas (ithey lasted a long time!) peppermint truffles. Yum.

Do you do anything for St Patrick’s day? I know my friends who like drinking like to go out as the Guinness is always cheap, but that never appealed to me (and I don’t think it is vegetarian either) so I have never done anything for it. 

Well, the best breakfast for this weather anyway.

When it is warm, a smoothie in the morning is lovely. Since discovering peanut flour in smoothies they have featured more for breakfasts- I always found fruity ones a bit too sugary and left me hungry pretty soon. This one had 1/2 frozen banana, a lot of frozen raspberries, some almond milk and some peanut flour. The peanut goes well with the fruit (just like pb&j) and I am sure it would lower the GI of the smoothie too.

Plus a slice of sourdough rye (home-made; I made several loaves and froze them before I went into hospital as I knew I would not have the energy to do all the kneading etc after)- topped with almond butter and some apple/mango jam. Such an amazing combination. I think the rye bread is even nicer once toasted, and I love the combination of nut butter with jam. Mmm.

I have been trying a few of the Dove’s Farm bars that I won last week. The crispy chocolate bar was lovely- much more chewy than I thought it would be, which I really liked. Perfect with a cup of tea after a walk in the cold.

I shared the flapjacks with my parents after they came over on Saturday (my Dad dug two vegetable beds for me, so he needed some energy!)- they were lovely too- nice and moist but not too sweet or sticky. Andy has been  taking some to work too- they won’t last long!

I have also been having my lovely Provamel almond milk which I picked up in Brighton. I was sent some a while back to review (you can see my thoughts here) and I really loved it- it tastes lovely and is sweetened with agave, so better than the Alpro ones which are sweetened with sugar (although this one has double the calories of the Alpro one), and it does not have the sediment like the unsweetened Ecomil one has (anyone else find that with almond milk?). But it is so hard to find- sometimes Holland and Barrett do it, but I never see it in the supermarkets.

I also used the almond milk to make a cheat hot chocolate- I warmed up the milk, added some nesquick powder and frothed it up. A dusting of cocoa powder makes it look all fancy 🙂

Excuse the very bright photo- I had to use my phone because the camera batteries ran out!

I also tried the peppermint Drink me Chai (and had it with a couple of peppermint chocolates)- it was nice, but not as nice as the mango chai I tried the other day. I don’t think I am a fan of mint with black tea- to me the flavours did not quite match up.

What is your favourite breakfast for this time of year? 

It seems like ages since I have done any baking, but on Sunday I finally got my fix. We were up early to watch the Grand Prix (not actual time, as that was something silly like 4am!- and Go Button!) so I sat at the table and made some little roses to decorate them with.

I had to colour the icing first, so I used the grape/violet colour I was given for Christmas. I could not quite 100% remember how to make the roses. I had to roll the icing into a sausage shape, then cut it into 7 pieces (or 9- they have to be an odd number of petals). They were then rolled into little balls, and then squashed flat into petal shapes. You start by rolling one into a tube, for the centre, then carefully adding petals around the outside, making sure they overlap.

I was quite pleased with how they turned out anyway.

I made some cupcakes- chocolate ones from the Hummingbird recipe. Although the recipe said it made 12, some of them were very small and even once risen did not go half way up the cases! Usually those recipes make too much.

I did cheat and didn’t make the icing- I had a tub of stuff which I bought before I went into hospital (as I thought I would not want to make it!) so I swirled some of that on, and then added the roses.

I think they look very pretty anyway!

We were going over to Andy’s parent’s for Sunday tea, so I took them along, and they all got eaten- must be a good sign. Sort of Mother’s Day themed with the flowers too.

The weather today has been beautiful and I had not one but two walks! Only short ones, but it was so lovely being outside in the fresh air. I really do think that I need fresh air- I go a bit stir crazy if I don’t get any for a day or two. I saw some pretty birds (jays) and also a rabbit! Nearly as good as seeing one when I am out running. Nearly.

What is your favourite fresh air activity? Flying a kite? Walking by the sea? Opening the living room window? (I might be joking about that one).