Tag: alpro

Still trying to raise money!

After work today (and after a Trek Peanut and Oat bar yum) I went on a longer run. It was great- the first bit was by a busy road but I never mind that (especially at half five when there is loads of traffic and I can overtake a line of cars). Then I got to the lakes and ran around one of them and that was lovely, I could almost feel my blood pressure dropping! I saw so many herons (loads of which flew out my way to the other side of the lake, and then promptly had to fly back when I got around the other side!), I also saw ducklings, rabbits, and also loads of people fishing. I really enjoyed that part of it. Then I had to go back on the road, which includes a bit of a killer hill (but this is good for me as I run primarily on the flat), back by some allotments (sniff, number 35 on the waiting list, my little veggie patch will have to do for now) and then home. It was about 5 miles in 52 minutes, not bad for an after work run.

I had some quorn in the freezer (I don’t normally like “pretend” meat as I don’t like real meat, but the fake chicken quorn things are ok now and then- this one had pesto and mozzarella on it which gave it some flavour)- added to butternut squash, green beans and sweetcorn it made a tasty freezer meal!
Now my fundraising at work is going ok (but despite taking in a big tray bake of marmalade gingerbread and 9 chocolate cupcakes I have only had 5 sponsorships so far- it appears some people are not holding up their end of the bargain!), so I made some cookies in a final bid to raise a bit more. I used the chocolate chip cookie recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook , but instead of dark chocolate I used white chocolate, and added in some cranberries. As usual I halved the recipe and still made 24 fair-sized cookies.
They are lovely and chewy, I am very impressed with the recipe as often cookie recipes are more like biscuits and go a bit too crunchy.
I have also had a nice snack; a pot of chocolate alpro with half a punnet of graze “Mount pleasant” mix, which is cranberries, coconut and apple. The coconut went really well with the chocolate, so I might just add some coconut next time. Have you ever opened a coconut? I did my first ever one the other day by smashing it on the ground in a plastic bag- did the trick after 5 times!

Fun at aerobics

So today was another busy day at work (blah blah I won’t go on about that), so when I got home I had just enough time to have a yummy Trek Peanut and Oat bar (love these so much- I have a massive box of them on top of my fridge to work my way through- they are my fave pre-aerobics snack) plus lots of water before heading out to aerobics.

It was good fun as always, but really hard work, my legs felt very heavy still; I think the long run at the weekend is still tiring me out today. So I was going to have a run tomorrow but I think I will rest, and have a walk instead.

When I got home I was annoyed to find someone had parked in my space. This happens all the time and it drives me mad! Because I have a parking space (with a massive sign which I got put there because it kept happening) and not a driveway people seem to think that it is perfectly acceptable to park in my space. Well it is not- grr! So there I was all sweaty after aerobics going around knocking on doors trying to find out who it belonged to. I really would like one of those bollards that go into the ground (you know like in the bus lanes?) but I think that may be too expensive to pay for!

Anyway dinner was good- pasta with roasted vegetable sauce (home-made of course!) and later I am going to enjoy another pot of Alpro with granola sprinkled on top. Tasty.

That’s all folks!

Healthy fats

Healthy fats;

I was reading on another blog (www.chocolatecoveredKatie.com – she makes some tasty looking recipes) about celebrating healthy fats during her so-called “hug-a-fat” month. So I have decided to rave about one of my favourite healthy fats…..you guessed it- peanut butter!

Peanut butter does contain fat, but the huge majority (80%) is unsaturated and it has no trans fat at all! Some research has shown that the fats in peanut butter also help to lower blood cholesterol levels.

As well as all those good fats which are great for skin, hair, nails, it also contains Vitamin E, folic acid and niacin. As vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin it only appears in fats, and needs fat to be absorbed by your body. So it is a win-win situation!

Now although I love PB as it is healthy, I mainly love it because it tastes so good! I love it in cookies (replace butter with PB for delicious cookies- see my previous review on the best recipe), I love it in PB&J sandwiches (or wraps), I love it on a crumpet (maybe with a dollop of cherry spread too), I love it in Trek peanut butter bars, I love it in home-made cereal bars, I love it spread on a pink lady apple….

I love peanut butter!

So there is me hugging (well, raving about) my favourite fat! Hooray for hug-a-fat month!

Coincidentally (actually not quite) I had for lunch hazelnut butter on wholemeal bread (also some good fat so it links that way!).

I am so glad it is Friday, I have an 11 mile run planned tomorrow, but the route I did last week I didn’t really like so am going to be getting on www.mapometer.com to plan a new one.

Randomly I was sent a coupon (for my birthday) from Alpro soya. I have no idea how they knew it was my birthday, I must have signed up to something before. Anyhoo, I got some of those dessert pots (like custard really) as I have tried the yoghurts before and am not keen on the weird flavour- can’t put my finger on it but they tasted strange. So I have a new fave dessert; one pot of dark chocolate Alpro, 80g blueberries (on reflection cherries would be nicer but I had blueberries) and half a pack of Bear Granola Nibbles- Cocoa Cherry Pie flavour. It was so delicious, the granola added the perfect crunch, chewy bits of cherry added a nice chewiness and sweetness. I also have the apple crunch flavour which I think would be lovely with the caramel dessert, and maybe a cooked apple too.

My plans for the weekend (once I have done my work) include more planting, a trip to London and maybe some oatmeal raisin cookies.