Brit Chick Runs

If you haven’t seen it already, head over to Caitlin’s blog; my story is up there today!

Happy Monday everyone!

I shall warn ye all now, this might be a slightly more brief post than usual – you’ll see why later….

But first – the day! An apple and 2 tsps of wheatgerm was proceeded by a very pleasant – if very damp and rainy – 5mile run. My legs felt good again, and although I wasn’t speedy (43minutes, between 8.25 and 8.50/min miles), it was very enjoyable. I’m really loving being back out there! I can’t believe marathon training starts in 2 or 3 weeks either….it’s mad! I’m so excited, but quite scared at the same time; it’s gonna be tough! I’ll be following this programme though, so hopefully all will go smoothly.

Has anyone else followed a specific marathon programme before? If so, which one?

Breakfast was, of course, an Epic Green Monster:

Ohh yes.

Post breakfast was work work work, with a minor feeling of ‘ARGH PANIC I KNOW NOTHING’ during the mid morning :s I did take breaks though, to keep checking on my ill little horse. Chika’s swelling has gone down a little from her allergic reaction, but the foolish mare has rubbed 2 red-raw patches onto her neck it looks gross!!

Not the nicest :s Poor old Chika. I think she was bored today:

Or she just fancied organising her rugs….hurrumph.

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Lunch was LOVELY! I did scrambled tofu very easy – tofu, crumbled, and stir fried for a while with 1.5 tbsp noosh, cumin, tumeric and paprika, as well as a little lemon juice. I served it with a whole wheat organic English muffin – half spread with avocado – and some stir fried veggies (aubergine, leek and beetroot):

It was really really good!! Scrambled tofu actually does look/taste a bit like scrambled egg. Very peculiar! Oh, and it went SO well with the avocado. I don’t normally like avocado, but this one was super soft and ripe and delish

I also had a nectarine, which I forgot to photograph…and a Nana’s peanut butter cookie for dessert:

Holy yum, those things get better and better each time I have them!

My afternoon snack was very rushed and unthoughtful, purely cos I had ZERO time to do anything different! Soooo enter Bear granola and yogurt:

It was very yum

And dinner – I did a lovely tofu sauce (yes, bad me – tofu twice in a day….!). Twas a blend of tofu, about 15g peanut butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, 1/2tbsp + a bit soy sauce, pepper, a squeeze of agave and about a tsp of cocoa powder. I blended it all up…

… and then mixed with some roasted chickpeas. It was served my favourite vegetables (and some dirty leek)!

Hooray for dinner time!!!

As of now, I have no idea what dessert will be..probably a birthday muffin, cos…well, they taste good

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Ok, so why did I want to rush through this post? Aside from the fact I have an exam at 9am tomorrow, I also have something else:

 

A DOG!!!

 

Yes, Poppy has arrived!! What a surprise!

Excuse the messyness of me here – I was just mucking out!

Isn’t she GORGEOUS!? And don’t you love her collar!?

She’s so friendly and she loves sitting on laps, which I LOVE. She’s totally made my day Though Carter is absolutely fascinated by her; he’s just following her around non stop! Kovac seems a bit wary (weird, seeing as he’s the hunter) and Obama is too fat and is oblivious to everything

Soo to cut a long story to a medium length one, I want to go and play with the new doggie, and not spend too long on the computer

Wish me fun! (Oh, and luck for tomorrow – it’s a skanky exam….)

Happy Sunday everyone! The weekend STILL isn’t over either! Has anyone done anything wonderful over the Bank Holiday?

So you know I said Chika had a big old allergic reaction yesterday? Well this morning it was even worse – the whole half of one side of her neck is swollen and skanky She still seems quite happy – it’s not affecting her in any way, it just looks horrible. We were going to call the vet out, but it was emergencies only, and seeing as it isn’t an emergency and it’s a bank holiday and so would cost a BOMB we’ve decided to see how she is tomorrow…but my aunt had a suggestion! Apparently, green tea is a natural antihistamine, so she suggested we give her some of that!! Lucky Chika therefore got two breakfasts – her usual one, and then some green tea soaked mess:

Appetizing right? She obviously thought so, she wolfed it down! I hope she’s better tomorrow

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Did anyone watch Eurovision last night?? I saw the last hour – how bad are England!? I think we got last place again?? Oh, the shame!

Whilst watching Eurovision, I had a lovely dessert – a pumpkin + carrot birthday muffin and a mocha soya yogurt:

Those muffins are so darn good

This morning, it was an apple and wheatgerm pre-DVDs, and then a big Epic Green Monster:

I added in a tiny bit of xanthan gum today and it definitely thickened it up – it was wonderful! One of the best ones in a while

I spent the morning revising, and getting MEGA annoyed by all the “!%^&** flies that have suddenly appeared in our house. That’s the downside to living in the country….

Lunch was pretty good though I made a little salad, of roast beets, kabocha, fresh tomatoes and aubergine, with a balsamic/agave/s+p/cinnamon dressing:

I don’t normally like beetroot, but I think I’m coming round to it – it was delicious! Very soft, very tasty. It went well with the squash too and look at all those colours!! If that isn’t a bowl of nutrients, I don’t know what is.

I also had a chunk of French baguette, which I spread with tomato puree, garlic granules and vegan parm.

Alongside, I had a pizza-style tofu fillet:

(The dirty plate is beetroot juice btw, not grub ) I put all that into the oven to heat up and get crusty; it was SO GOOD! I’ve never had those pizza style fillets before, but they’re lovely! Quite spicy, but very filling. WIN.

For dessert, I had this:

A RAW crispbread! All ogranic: golden flaxseeds, brazil nuts, buckwheat, carrots, sundried tomatoes, onions, garlic, salt, herbs, basil.

It cost me an arm and a leg, but it was SO worth it – they’re delicious! Kinda crunchy and chewy at the same time, but with a brilliant flavour. Plus, 100g packs in 15g of protein and 15g of fibre! Impressive.

Afternoon snack Numero Uno – a nectarine:

It was SO juicy, I had to eat it over the sink :s

Afternoon Snack Numero Duno – Nectarine mousse!!

Amaze. A blend of:

• 1/2 cup yogurt
• 1/2 cup Quinoa O’s
• a nectarine
• nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
• agave
• topped with 1tbsp Grape Nuts

I blended it all first minus the x.g, then thought it looked a little watery. 1/2 tsp of that stuff and it thickened up SO much!

Crikey I was impressed. As of now, I have a lovely idea for dessert, which involves yogurt, cocoa, x.g and cereal – it’s going to be good…..!!

My dinner tonight was pretty simple and dull – a baked sweet potato, kabocha and parsnip, and red lentils, cooked with 1/2tbsp maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, mixed spice and 3 chopped dates:

DEEEElicious. Like, really so. Really really.

Wow.

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In completely random other news……something incredible might be happening! I don’t want to get my hopes up too much cos it might not work out – BUT, it looks like we might be getting a DOG!! OHMYGOSH!

I have wanted a dog for SO long, and now an opportunity has come up; my mum’s friend has a little Jack Russell, a 6yr old lady called Poppy, who is being bullied by the friend’s other, bigger, dogs. Sooo, Poppy’s looking for a new home. She’s very well trained, she ignores cats (very important!) and is friendly etc etc etc – she sounds perfect! I’m so excited I could take her out running with me and she could sleep on my bed And the best bit? When it’s cold, I could put a doggy coat on her

I should know tomorrow or Tuesday what’s going to happen, but as of now, I AM SO EXCITED!!

Does anyone else have a dog? What sort? What is it called?

Kovac brought me (and the whole family) an extra present today:

It’s as big as he is!! [I have no idea what he is doing in the pic btw…] I can’t tell you the relief I have, knowing that he is cute-cat-size and not big-cat-size – I would be next on his hit list if he were any larger…

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I have worked NON STOP today. Seriously, the only time I haven’t been working is when I’ve been eating, doing 1hour’s worth of DVDs, blogging, and mucking out Chika. Ridiculous! Oh, as I just mentioned Chika – my poor girl has had an allergic reaction to something, and has MASSIVE lumps on her neck! She’s perfectly happy (albeit itchy), but it’s not nice – if they haven’t gone down by tomorrow, we’re going to have to get the vet out to give her some anti-allergy drug things

ANyway, in happier news – breakfast was a big Epic GM:

• 1 cup cereal
• 1/2 cup Kara coconut milk
• 1/2 cup yogurt
• 1 tbsp cocoa flax
• big frozen banana
• a lorra lorra spinach
• a small spoon of pea protein powder
• dates, granola, grated cacao and jam as toppings

Went. Down. A. Storm.

Whilst I was reading blogs etc over breakfast, I got invited to join a facebook group – remember my stats exam the other day, which was immensely hard? Well, there’s a FB group set up now in complaint! A) The exam was too hard, B) The questions didn’t match the lecture notes, past paper, textbook or homeworks, C) We weren’t given answers to the past paper anyway, so that was useless….and D) Uh, 4 of the hardest exams in 5 days!!?? No thank you. It’s good to know I’m not the only one who struggled with it!! And I’m not alone in suffering this past week either – a lot of people apparently have become ill due to the stress! Hmph. BAD UNI!!

Moving swiftly on….I didn’t want lunch today! I think stress makes me lose my appetite so this meal was a bit later than planned, but it was still delicious My starter was baby pak choi, tomatoes and grapes:

Followed by a nice bowl o’ steamin’ oats (it’s cold and rainy – oats are perfect for that weather!):

• 1/2 cup oats and barley flakes
• about 1.5 cups Kara coconut milk (I added more at the end)
• cinnamon, nutmeg
• a finely chopped apple which I nuked in the microwave first so it was soft
• Grape Nuts and Fru-Grains as toppings

Again with the fabulousness!! These oats were soo creamy and delicious…I always forget how good oatmeal is! Though the apple kind of got in the way; I think I like my apples to eat normally, and my bananas cooked into oats. Banana oats rule

For dessert, I had an orange spread with a little bit of jam:

During the afternoon, I had a small minor wave of sadness – my aunt is expecting 3 foals this year (well, her mares’ are, she isn’t…) and one was born the other day. So it was mega depressing when my mum and sister got to go over and see it this afternoon and I had to stay home working!! Gah At least there’s still 2more to go, due over the next 2 weeks! Sooo expect lots of foal pictures soonish

Despite the woefulness, cereal and yogurt still made an appearance – they NEVER fail to lift a mood.

And lift they did.

For dinner, I did the most yummeh tempeh ever! I baked it, but towards the end of baking, I topped it with apple sauce, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg and MASHED BANANA!! OH yeah!

Twas served with my favourite veg, and roasted chickpeas:

Well well well. That was a truly scrummy way to bake tempeh, it must be said – maybe THE best way in fact! And it’s official – banana = another thing you just can’t go wrong with. LOVE IT!

Dessert, no idea, maybe a birthday muffin, we shall see.

But now, work calls. Which SUCKS cos The EUROVISION Song Contest is on now and I don’t have time to watch it!! This will be the first year I’ve missed the cheesy awfulness that is the sum of Europe + singing. Gutted!! Here’s a taster of past Eurovisions if you’ve never seen it:

Does anyone else watch Eurovision!? I do every year (bar this one):P it was last year’s Eurovision [held in Russia] that led to my family and I going to see the Cirque du Soleil in London earlier this year (cos it was a Cirque-themed competition that year), AND it was that same year that that cute little Norwegian guy won with ‘Fairytale’ (see below if you don’t know what I’m talking about :p) – I STILL have that song on repeat in my car!! I’m such a loser

Anyway: here is Fairytale @ Eurovision last year, the winning entry! Can this year do better…??

Have a good evening!

Eveeeening! How are we all? THE SUN IS OUT! It rained yesterday, it will rain tomorrow, and it’s not warm; but as I type this, the sun IS shining, so I am feeling the summer love

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I looked in my diary yesterday, and realised I hadn’t ran for NINE days! That must be a new record for me!! It was a planned hiatus though, so that my legs could get over all the moaning and grumbling they’d been doing the past few weeks. Anyway, I decided to run this morning; 9 days is a long time, and I had a new CamelBak to try out…any excuse

SO this morning I ate my apple and wheatgerm, and then took off with a CamelBak of water. I thought I’d do 4miles ish, just to ease myself back into things; but I felt fab! My legs were nowhere near as achey (they were a tiny tiny bit sore but I believe that’s due to just general tiredness and stress), and I felt good and strong, so I kept going for 10k/6.2miles, 53minutes. It was great! It was lovely to be out, to be in the sun, to have a CamelBak and to just be running again. I felt brilliant afterwards Nothing like the feeling after a workout ay!?

When I came in, I had some faaaahhhbulous overnight oats prepped:

• 1/2 cup oats
• a spoon of pea protein powder
• just under a cup of Kara coconut milk
• cinnamon
• nutmeg
• PUMPKIN!!!!
• 1 tbsp CHIA SEEDS!!!

(Haha, I totally felt like an American writing that lot out – pumpkin and chia seeds?? What has become of me!?)

I then added in a little extra milk, and a big blob of yogurt and 2tbsp Grape Nuts this morning:

It was YUMmy! And it kept me full for hours and hours (I totally didn’t want lunch!). I think I’m a chia seed fan…exciting news right!?

After breakfast I packed up my belongings and drove off to the Place of Education, Misery and Sheer Torture (aka, uni) for my social psychology exam. I was pretty worried about this one, cos most of my revision these past few months has been focused on the essay based subjects, whilst this was multiple choice, so I haven’t had as much time to work on it. BUT, saying that, it went really well! Out of 50 questions, there were only 1 or 2 where I thought ‘eh??’ – the majority I just knew straight off! It was a lovely feeling Plus, I got to leave early cos I finished early. SCORE!

Before the exam though, I had lunch – chickpeas, TVP, baby pak choi, courgette, broccoli and green pepper, with a red thai sauce (red thai paste, lime, cumin, water, agave):

In theory the sauce was meant to be wonderful – in reality, it was a bit blah…I wasn’t a huge fan. But, food is fuel, fuel is needed for exams, therefore fuel and I get on well, and I’ll take what I can

When I got home, as you know, I was feeling the summer love, so summer fruit was on my mind! Enter a deconstructed fruit salad –

Layer 1:

Pear.

Layer 2:

Banana.

Layer 3:

Strawberries.

Layer 4: Yogurt and cereal:

PERFECT!

It went down a storm! It’s odd, I’d forgotten what bananas taste like when they’re not blended into something; I must eat them normally more often cos they are SO good. They’re actually my favourite fruit

For dinner I was a little repeitive (don’t worry – when the exams are over I’ll have time and energy to cook properly! There are a million and one recipes I have listed to try, and I WILL do them! WATCH THIS SPACE.) – Chickpea spaghetti, my favourite veggie-tables, lots of garlic etc etc (and a peanut butter sauce…again..but not just any PB sauce – a COCOA/ CHOCOLATE PB sauce!):

Ooooh yes brothers, it was a good meal!

I don’t know what to have for dessert though – I saw some gorjuz looking vegan ice cream today, almost bought it, then realised my freezer has no space it was a sad moment!! Alas.

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Friday Question Time!

Favourite fruit? Banana baby!

Best summer holiday? (or winter, if you holiday in the winter) Probably either Washington DC to stay with my best friend and her aunt (summer 2007), or Crete with my mum, step dad and sister; random story – while we were on the beach there, I saw a boy who was in my class at school!! Totally mad, it’s a small world.

Something that annoys you? FLIES!! And people who go at 60mph in the fast lane on the dual carriage way..it’s called a FAST LANE for a reason!

Tell me an embaressing story! Hmm, when I was [a lot] younger, we used to have goats; I mistook my *male* goat for a female, and tried to milk him…oops…My sister has never let me live it down!

What day is it? It’s my BIRTHDAY, that’s what day it is! It’s also this lovely lady’s birthday, so show her some lovin’ too

So most people would use their birthday as an excuse to relax and chill and be lazy and make people do things for them – not me! Nope, I have an exam tomorrow so I’ve spent the day cramming (alone, everyone is at work). So maybe not the most enjoyable of days..but my mum and sister did get me some fab presents!!

A CAMELBAK!!

Beautiful new cutlery

CHIA SEEDS! I can not WAIT to try them!

They know me so well – food, running and cutlery! Gotta love those ladies.

I’m also expecting a brand new camera!! My grandparents, aunt and step dad have all gone in together to get me something fab – but apparently it won’t arrive for another week or so. BUT, when it does, I’m going to have FABULOUS photos on here! Even more fabulous when you see the other presents my mamma got me:

Food photography! And a cupcake book (I’m going to have so much fun veganizing everything :p) – YAY for mothers

Foodwise, I woke up bright and early (I wanted to sleep in – apparently 7.30am IS sleeping in now, gruff) and had an apple and 2tsp wheatgerm before a good old DVD workout. I then had – of course – the most epic GM known to man! Why? Look at this new milk I found in Tesco:

YAY! Coconut milk, made for drinking or for oatmeal of for GMs I think it jazzed up my breakfast somewhat:

[note the gorgeous new mug :p]

So so SO right! I didn’t finish this til pretty late though – but I thought ‘screw it! It’s my birthday, so I’ll do what I want – if I want breakfast at 10.15am, I’ll have it at 10.15am!’

Lunch was also a ‘I’ll do what I want’ meal; I threw all the usual balanced meal requirements out of the window and had a nice big summer lunch, with everything I craved:

So I wasn’t eating like a caveman, I then went back and got a (brand spanking new) spoon:

Part two of lunch (you knew there had to be a part two right?) was one of my birthday carrot + pumpkin muffins I baked yesterday, complete with a candle:

So moist and delicious; it was such a yummy lunch. I like just having a random mess of things, instead of a proper meal – makes a nice change!

Dessert following all that lot was another apple:

If I want two apples on my birthday, I will have two apples on my birthday!!

Afternoon snack – again, repetitive but what I wanted – Bear granola and yogurt! It’s my birthday after all….:p

Likewise for dinner; I had all my favourite things! Cocoa parsnip and kabocha, sweet tater fries, and baked tempeh with a peanut butter sauce (peanut butter, water, cinnamon, soy sauce, nutmeg, garlic, pepper):

Oh gosh. I wish it was my birthday every day!

For dessert, I’m thinking a pumpkin and carrot birthday muffin with some yogurt. Sounds good

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Oh my gosh – I almost forgot the best present of all today;

The baby rabbit from Kovac (one of FIVE he’s had today. And a vole. And a shrew). What a sweetheart. Let’s look at Carter instead:

Hehe, any excuse to show off my kittens!!

QUESTION TIME!

When’s your birthday?

What would be your ideal activities to do on your birthday? Mine would be a trip to Wholefoods, a theme park outing, a good meal and seeing SATC 2 – ALL things happening in the next few weeks!! Nothing like delayed b-day celebrations

Have a good evening!