Brit Chick Runs

Y’all, I am exhausted! I feel really quite weak now :s just very low on energy…I have been pretty active today though. Anyway, today was meant to be Hannah’s Uganda post – despite about 3 days warning, she still hasn’t written it, so it’ll have to wait! Tomorrow? Thursday? 2012? Who knows! I’m going to nag her some more though, cos I want it up this week (seeing as I promised!).

Mooooving on, I had a run today. It was meant to be 6miles, but I did 7 (very long story, I spent like..an hour…working my plan out cos I had to make a few alterations, and 7 was the conclusion reached for Horsey Humpday ). BOOOO at the run though! The first 6miles were really good – no walking, OK splits – considering the heat:

• 8.52
• 8.36
• 8.33
• 8.33
• 8.38
• 8.48

Then suddenly on the last mile, I started to feel really sick! My breathing went all weird – like asthma attack breathing; noisy, shallow, general oddness – and I felt like I had a huge lump in my chest, which made me want to be sick. Like, you know when you want to cry, and you get a lump in your throat? Like that feeling, but bigger…kinda. It’s hard to explain! Either way, it was rough, and I struggled I actually stopped for a minute, just so I could whack my chest and say ‘breeeeaaath’…nasty! The last mile was 9.44 anyway. Such a strange feeling. Maybe it was the heat? Dehydration? Anyone else experienced this? The last time I had those feelings was on my half Mary back in March….gah. Any advice would be appreciated!

So after that hellish run, I felt I deserved a simply fabulous breakfast Hello, empty peanut butter jar…..

Yeah, you know what came next.

That would be:

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1 & 1/4 ish cups milk
• 5 chopped dried dates
• 1 biiig banana
• 1/2 tbsp chia seeds
• mixed spice
• granola and jam for the overflow :p

I did feel a bit better after that lot Plus, I sure needed it – the next hour was spent doing child slave labour – aka raking the arena in the hot sun. My GOSH that job is hard! My hands were all blistered by the time I finished

Next job was an hour of power walking with Poppy, then I got back and made my mum lunch as she was working tres hard (mashed avocado/chickpeas, with lime juice, coriander, s+p and salad leaves, sandwiched up). THEN, I attacked by beautiful Vita baby!!

There she is, powering her way through some thick, evil water….what a god blender.

ANyway, lunch! That’s what I was getting to I decided it had to be a blended lunch today, using a load of these:

Beet leaves, spinach, 2 plums, strawberries, leftover tofu 1/2 an avocado, 1/2 cup yogurt.

I also added in a tsp of agave nectar

Theeen, the result was topped with some edamame beans (sp?) and accompanied by a few bran sticks:

BEAUTIFUL lunch!! The blending was OUT OF THIS WORLD! I love all the settings on the Vita Mix, and the plunger (best invention ever) was so useful I think my smoothie tasted better purely cos it was made in the Vita Mix. It was like adding a sprinkle of gold dust

Dessert was….no! NOT So Crispy bites!! It was a black bean brownie:

Dang those things are good!!

After lunch, I was starting to feel a bit rough again – headache, slight queasy-ness, a bit weak..so I veto-d riding and instead went to the farm shop/Waitrose to stock up on cereal and various bits and bobs. Tbh, it was pretty nice to just sit in my nice warm car for an hour or so and relax

When I got back, I had a hay-UGE amount of mucking out to do :s the barrow weighed the same as a small elephant…twas a workout in itself, dragging it across the field to empty! Sheesh, horses are full of c**p.

I still felt a bit gross and sick and not at all hungry after all that BUT, I knew I needed to eat – 1) replace burnt calories, 2) I realised my lunch was rather low on carbs :s soooo, I had another black bean brownie (they’re healthy!) and some cereal (approx. 1/2 cup):

Carbs – done

So when I was in Waitrose, do you know what I saw? CHICKPEA SPAGHETTI!! I was so excited! I bought some, and made a pact to have it for dinner, along with my kabocha, parsnip and aubergine, and a homemade tomato sauce (mixed spice, apple cider vinegar, s+p, garlic, smoked paprika):

It wasn’t til after I’d eaten it that I realised the spaghetti has 18% organic free range egg in it…darn! I thought it was like your average wholemeal spaghetti which doesn’t have eggs, and in all my excitement at finding it, I forgot to check. Oops…oh well. I know now!

Dessert later on…yogurt, and either a(nother :p) black bean brownie, or one of my millet muffins…..ooooohhhhh LIFE DECISIONS!

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Question time!

I want to name my Vita Mix! Any ideas?! I should hold a little competition to find the best name…..it has to be legendary!

Does anyone have any advice about the running problem I described earlier?

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Check out the weird moth I saw last night….

….erh! It’s a replacement photo for the fact there is a lack of a) horse photos and b) Hannah’s Uganda post :p

Okkkaaay folks, you asked for it – here’s my wheatgerm post! All the info will come at the end

So I swear today has been the best day ever! Let me do a recap

Woke up, ate 2 tsps wheatgerm and an apple, and took Poppy out for an hour of power walking (minus the serious face and silly arm movements). Today was a running rest day, so I had the time Got back, and made a beauuuutiful cereal/yogurt mess! I made myself banana peanut butter yogurt…

Melt a frozen banana with a blob of PB, 1tsp maple syrup and some cinnamon…

..and mash it all up good:

Then mix it in with the yogurt:

Get yo’ ass some cereal:

And mix both together! VOILA:

A scrummy, SCRUMMY bowl of healthy yogurt banana peanut butter mess

And good FUEL.

I then did 10mins abs work, and got together a lovely lunch for myself – a two parter today! Part 1 -

Roast aubergine, butternut squash, turnip, aunt-grown beets, all covered in mixed spice:

And mixed with 1/2 a can of chickpeas:

YUM-ness number 1

Part 2 -

A multi seed pitta bread, stuffed with this:

And some spinach:

YUM-ness number 2

The rest of my day was spent at work. The time FLEW by today! My boss gave me loads more stuff to do today, so I was manning the till and doing a ton of other things. I LOVE BEING BUSY!! Anyone else hate just sitting about, counting sheep and tapping their thumbs!?

I actually got let out of work 20mins early today, which was both good and bad…Good = Hooray, I’ve finished work early (it holds a novelty factor!). Bad = Hooray, I get to go shopping! (My bank balance does not appreciate this so much…). The shopping wasn’t too bad though, ££ wise, and contributed to why I’ve had the Best Day Ever (I do use the term loosly). I snaffled…..

1) Heat/The Sun:

2) Four charity shop books for £4:

I love Sophie Kinsella – but I’ve never read her as Madeleine Wickham, so I have NO idea what to expect! I barely even read the blurb of this book :p

YES PLEASE!

3) Reduced price strawberries and plums:

YES PLEASE x2!

4) FREE silken tofu (x3) from the nice lady at the health food store:

It was passed the sell by date – but experience has told me that doesn’t make a squat of difference

Not bad right? All that junk just made for A Good Day, not The Best Day. So what made it that bit better, I hear you ask?

Well, the photos I ordered from Chika and I’s last regional dressage finals came:

L<3ve!

AND…the best, most BRILLIANT thing….

MY VITAMIX ARRIVED!!!!!!

OH. MY. GOSH.

I am SO excited! I’m also extremely, extremely short on life savings, but hey – it’s worth it! I can’t wait to unpack it and learn and experiment and just…BE with it….*sigh.

Anyway, enough excitement. Settle down.

When I got home, I had 1/2 a cup of yogurt for a snack…

…and before long, it was dinner time. I believe oats and seitan and nooch were calling my name…who am I to ignore such a call? I accompanied them with my favourite veggie-tables, as well as 1/2 cup milk, and spices such as cumin, cinnamon, and nutmeg. The result was a mess:

But a jolly delicious mess

Now, as I write this, I have two choices for dessert….choice 1 involves unpacking the vitamix, learning how to use it, blending a tofu pear pudding dessert, AND letting it chill and set, all before I need to eat it….or having some yogurt with one of those beautiful pretty black bean brownies I made yesterday. Decisions, decisions!

Question: What’s your favourite dessert? I’ve always been a sucker for ice cream, though I LOVE muffins, and I once had this hot-date-stuffed with apricot-thing…that blew my mind!

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Wheatgerm:

I quote: ‘Wheat germ is one of the most nutritional products available. In fact, wheat germ contains 23 nutrients, and has more nutrients per ounce than any other vegetable or grain’.

Wheatgerm has around 28% protein, as well as more iron and potassium than any other food (both highly important for runners/people who exercise!). It also has a whole bunch of other important things like calcium, vits B1 and B3 (good for energy levels). zinc……It’s also chocca with vit E, which has anti aging qualities (seriously, with every tsp I eat of the stuff, I feel a frown line just disappear……).

Apparently, I’m not the only runner who uses it either – ‘It is used by athletes in their diet to improve cardiovascular function and improve endurance levels.’

Here are some more random wheat germ facts:

…..what makes it remarkable is its richness in the variant B vitamin forms. It has mind boggling contents of thiamine or vitamin B1 (126%), riboflavin (55%), pyridoxine or vitamin B6 (55%), niacin (32%), folates and pantothenic acid (16%).

Wheat germ is a storehouse of minerals. It has handsome contents of phosphorus (129%), zinc (126%), magnesium (90%), iron (57%), copper (35%), 1070 mg of potassium (31%), calcium (5%) and some 5 mg of sodium.

Even selenium which battles the risk of cancer thrown up by potent carcinogens consumed by the body is also found in wheat germ food items.Wheat germ is one of the best sources of omega-3 essential fatty acids which cannot be generated by the body itself and thus has to be provided to the body from outside sources. These alpha-linolenic acids are very essential for blood pressure regulation, sharpened brain function and good heart health.

This article also makes some super points, including:

‘It contains a first-class protein and much oil. More important, however, are the phosphates, which play a vital role in keeping our nervous system healthy. Still more important than phosphates is the high content of vitamin E in wheat germ.’

It even goes as far as saying ‘

Wheat germ as a concentrated food is an absolute necessity in our modern world…’ (the article I just linked to is really good, if you’re interested )

Soooo as you can see, wheatgerm is pretty darn cool! And, it tastes nice

Add a few tsps to you oats, to your cereal, in pancakes, or a smoothie…or do as I do, and just have it neat off the spoon It’s worth it!

OH my gosh you guys, I had the most AMAZING breakfast today! It was simply perfect after my run – which for once wasn’t hot! In fact, it looked like this:

If you can’t tell, that’s heavy rain and a very overcast day MOST REFRESHING THING EVER! Needless to say, I was super excited about my run 5k in 27minutes, plus 1mile walk to cool down. Good times

Sooo my super amazing breakfast was spelt pancakes, from Angela’s blog. I’d like to quickly take this opportunity to apologize to pancakes as a population…I’ve spent SO long dissing them, saying how they never do anything for me, and generally being quite nasty. My opinion has done a complete 360 (and then another 180 :p) on them after my meal I followed her recipe exactly, except I added in 1tbsp flaxseed and..I think that’s it:

I seriously have very poor presentation skills :p

I topped them with vanilla yogurt, tree bark, and on the other half, a melted banana mixed with about 1tbsp peanut butter and a tsp maple syrup:

OH.

MY.

GOSH.

Most amazing delicious (and healthy!) breakfast ever, yet it tasted SO decadent! I can not rave enough about how good they were. Phew.

After the breakfast excitement, I had some mild horse excitement – in the form a speedy-ish hour hack with Hannah and Tig

By the time we got back, I was pretty hungry for lunch. I decided to make good use of some massive beet leaves in the fridge, by making a nice filling for them (thank you Heather for the idea!). But I wanted to not rush it, so I ate a lil baby orange to tide me over

Anyway, my filling consisted of:

A giant onion (I used the green leaves at the end, as my aunt suggested – she grew it):

Beet leaves, tomato, grated butternut squash, a tiny tiny chunk of parsnip:

I stir fried it all, along with agave nectar, curry powder, coriander seeds, chickpeas (I discovered some more!), lemon juice and a tsp tahini:

I then served it wrapped up in giant leaves….

…sadly it didn’t stay together! Regardless, it was freaky delicious I also had some balsamic coated spinach and roasted beans/nuts:

I bet you can guess what dessert was

I’m going to skip afternoon babbles, and just show you a) some gooey mess:

That got turned into these:

And b) my usual snack:

Why? Cos I have  a TON of photos to add, so less writing = more photos!

Dinner was a mix of a fancy potato my aunt grew and gave me:

Along with sweet potato, kabocha, parsnip, leek and marinated tofu (in stock, agave, cinnamon and soy sauce):

Fab A reaaaally good meal! (Though it was meant to be tofu strips…but the tofu fell apart in the cutting process :s).  Dessert will probably be yogurt and a brownie

Question: What’s one food you used to hate, but now love? I spent a long time hating pancakes..but after today, I sense a turnaround on the horizon!

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OK, foal photo time, as promised! Originally I had about 30 I wanted to show y’all…whether I’ll get 30 up before my laptop dies is another question! Enjoy

(PS – Wheatgerm post and Hannah’s Uganda trip post are coming up over the next two days )

Raef above, and my aunt with Tsara below

One of my aunt’s dogs (a Boxer) – Solley:

LOL at Roly’s face above!

Hello my lovemuffins! Ay I did the old disappearing act again over the weekend…did you guys have a good one? Anyone got any tales to tell!?

I had quite the weekend, mainly because – with no decent blender – Epic Green Monsters were off the cards :’( Thank goodness for oats, is all I can say

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Saturday

Hello Heatwave! Crikey, it was like, 31 degrees today!? I know that’s probably a cool day where most of you are (ie America) but over here, that is HAWT. Chika was sweating just standing in her stable! I got pretty sweaty too, on a 5k run as per the marathon plan. I set out super early, but it was still sooooo hooottttttttt! I did allow myself a 30 second walk in my last 2miles, but even with that, my slowest mile was 8.22! *BOO YAH*. The whole thing was done in 25:57

For mah breakfast, it was overnight oats time In the mix:

• 1/2 cup of barley flakes, oats, and 1tbsp wheat bran
• 1/2 cup milk with extra added in the mornin’
• 1/2 cup yogurt
• 1 tsp carob powder
• 1 tsp agave nectar
• 1 tbsp chia seeds

Now, on a regular day, with a proper blender, banana soft serve would’ve gone down a treat – but that couldn’t happen! Instead, I spent a small lifetime slicing eevverrr so thinly a frozen banana:

Almost there….

DONE!

I then mixed it in, and topped the bowl with a sprinkle of tree bark and cereal. BEAUTIFUL!

It went down a treat and tasted simply fabulous

Straight after the oats, I rode Chika, who got EXTREMLY sweaty – she still tried her heart out though I then stewed in my car for 2hours, crawling through heavy traffic to pick my sister up from the train station. She’s been in Uganda the past 10 days Boy did she have some sad stories to tell! Really quite horrific – it makes my problems – and everyone else’s I know – pale in comparison

Lunch consisted of some of the most giant spinach leaves ever:

See!? They were maHOOSive! And not actually that nice, they left a weird aftertaste. Spinach – I’m disappointed in you. I still ate it all though Along with plum tomatoes, beets, and grapes:

And roasted red pepper, celeriac and courgette:

Along with a balsamic/s+p/maple syrup/basil dressing:

Annnnd for some protein/carbs, roasted beans:

After the spinach had been chugged down, it was actually quite a nice meal

Dessert was some So Crispy bites:

I didn’t actually want them all that much, but I accidently popped open the packet manhandling them too roughly, so I had to eat them before they went stale

Post lunch – Uganda photo viewing and mucking out and Poppy-walking and snacking on the best snack known to the Western world:

Cereal and yogurt of course :p

Best snacks obviously have to be followed by best dinners too Kamut spaghetti, homemade tomato sauce, edamame beans, parsnip, kabocha, celeriac:

D. E. L. I. C. I. O. U. S.

Dessert is going to be amaze too I’ve got a pear/strawberry/cocoa pudding waiting patiently in my fridge! Crappy Blender (as it shall be known from this day onwards) can blend soft things (ie super ripe pears and silken tofu), but give it a tough leaf, and it cries and gives up. Really quite pathetic don’t you think?

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Sunday

SundayRunday It was time for a 5miler this morning, so after my usual snack, my camelbak and I set out, with just the blazing hawt sun for company. I’d decided that – despite it being super hot so early – I was NOT walking today. Soo instead I took my miles a bit slower to see what would happen:

Mile 1 – 8.58

Mile 2 – 8.47

Mile 3 – 8.46

Mile 4 – 8.48 – during the middle of this mile, I was PROPER hot, and my legs were asking to walk…then I ran through one of those crop-giant-sprinkler-waterer-things – AMAZING! Like running through a shower. Perfect pick-me-up!

Mile 5 – 8.47

(I didn’t realise they were all so close til I just typed it up! Wowzer) NO WALKING! To cool off, I then walked a mile, which brought the total for the morning to a nice ever 1hour exactly

Breakfast was another overnight oats/barley combination; same as yesterday, except I subbed mixed spice for the carob powder. This morning I mixed in a buttload more milk, and a finely chopped frozen banana (and tree bark/Grape Nuts):

That was delightful…but THIS point in eating it was the BEST!

The banana had melted, but was still very cold…it was a true mouthDELIGHT.

I then wasted 20minutes watching old bits of Big Brother – Hannah was trying to catch up on the main fights since she’d been away, so it was very distracting But eventually I dragged myself out into the sauna that is The World, and gave Chika a school and a hack

Theeeen, Cosmo and I had a walking date, followed swiftly by a pretty lunch

Nah, that wasn’t my lunch, (Though I did make it) I don’t do marmite and lettuce sandwiches….HANNAH on the other hand! My lunch consisted of….

Tomatoes….

Sweet potato….

Lentils, leek, balsamic, agave, s+p, cinnamon, spinach, sundried tomato, pear (added at the end):

Topped with fresh basil:

Hurrah! Very fabby Dessert was So Crispy bites (what else right? They’ve become somewhat of a habit :/)

Straight after lunch, Hannah and I went over to my aunt’s house. Chahara’s foal (he has a name now, but I can’t remember it…he’s called Roly for short though :p) and Chahara were going to be turned out with the rest of the herd for the first time today, so my aunt thought I’d like to watch I took my camera and got some lovely pictures! I actually have about 30 I want to post on here, but seeing as this is already a looooong post (and my laptop will die with too many photos), I’m going to save them til tomorrow. Here’s a taster though:

Hehe!

Afternoon snack – I was actually pretty peckish for it! I had an apple, as well as a cereal/yogurt mix [again]:

Good food.

Dinner was mildly inspired by Jess – she mentioned doing a chickpea thing, simmered in milk with curry powder and honey. Sounds good right!? I did my own very slight variation – butter beans (no chickpeas) simmered in milk with mixed spice and maple syrup:D

I also had tempeh, topped with a sauce made from maple syrup, a tiny chunk of melted banana and cashew butter, along with lots of lovely roasted veggies on the side:

Amazing dinner (That SAUCE!!! Good gracious), enjoyed whilst watching the World Cup final

Dessert wise – just like yesterday, I have a DELICIOUS pear/strawberry/cocoa pudding waiting patiently for me I better get to it!

Have a good evening

PS – Who wants who to win in the World Cup final tonight!? I vote Holland – they have good theme parks and little else (:p) – they deserve it!

PPS – Wheatgerm post coming tomorrow/Tuesday!

PPPS – Remember I said Hannah went to Uganda on a charity type trip thing? Well, I wondered if you guys would like her to do a guest post about it – she’s got some brilliant photos and SO many amazing stories…if you’re interested, leave a comment. If enough people want to know, I’ll get her to write one

PPPPS -

Iiiiiitttt’ssss FRRIIIDDAAAYYYY!!

Who has big crazy plans this weekend? I really hope someone does – I need to live vicariously though you guys!

Sooo what have I done today….I had work again:) I feel like an old pro now, at this customer service lark. Normally I’m one of those quite shy people – until you get to know me – but today I was striking up long conversations about how screechy violins sound, about pretty boxes. about holidays in Africa and Norway…..I was on a roll I actually think my boss should just give me half the shop takings for the day, just cos I hope you don’t think I’m bragging by the way (I’m not!) – it’s just nice to feel good at something. And now I can add ‘have a shop in the US that imports UK food’’ onto my Dream Job List! I LOVE SHOPS!

Enough ramble from me though…

I had a LIE IN today, oh yes!! I actually got up at 8am. Incredible. I chowed down on 2tsp wheatgerm (I think I’m gonna have to do a wheatgerm post soon…I seem to suddenly have been asked loads of questions about it!) and an apple, and then I took Poppy on a one hour (and 6minutes :p) walk. It was SOOO hot today, good gracious. I was sweating like a sweaty…thing…when I got back! I was also pretty hungry, so I whipped up a quick breakfast:

Pear….

Note the talented slicing….

…and the minimal wastage

1 cup of cereal, yogurt….

1 tsp carob powder, 1/2 tbsp flaxseed, cinnamon, and a few random nuts….

A true delight! Especially since I had yet more end-of-the-box cereal dustings Oh, and the carob powder MADE this bowl what it was!

I just had enough time after that to make a very quick packed lunch (and do 10minutes abs work) before heading off. Lunch today was one of those Everything But The Kitchen Sink lunches:

• basil tofu
• butter beans
• beets
• carrot
• celeriac
• turnip
• basil
• courgette

Twas a beauty! I topped it with  a tasty dressing, made from balsamic vinegar, fresh basil, sundried tomato, agave, and cinnamon:

It certainly added to the beauty..!

Yummeh! Oh, and I almost forgot – I attempted to make my own swamp water too:

That would be 1/2 cup Kara coconut milk, 1tsp agave, 1tsp carob powder, and some spinach. Blast the crappy reserve blender….the colour leaked out of the spinach, but the spinach was NOT broken up! Hurrumph.

The afternoon was obvs spent working and that. When I got home, I was confronted with two horse faces over the door – on days when I work, cos I’m late back, we have a lady who comes to turn Chika and Tig out so they’re not stuck in the box all day. Said lady was meant to come today, but for some reason didn’t! Cue two hungry and bored horses waiting patiently to be turned out…I felt so bad for them! Alas.

When I eventually got inside, I was preeeetty darn hungry. Best snack ever followed:

That would be 1 piece of toast, with yogurt (1/4 cup? 1/3 cup?), with some puff cereal:

Ooohhh it was SOOO GOOODD!! If you’ve never made the toast/yogurt snack before, do. And while you eat it, thank this lady, because she created it

My dinner was another beauty (at least in my eyes…bar my pink dinner last night, my food’s normally pretty ugly isn’t it!?) – lentils, tempeh, cocoa, parsnip (ohmydays, I actually ran out today…good gracious), kabocha and courgette:

Hehe. I love dinner time! And dinner-type food, and food in general…yeah it was a good meal

I may well treat myself to a millet muffin later, after I’ve had a little reading walk with this…

…everyone needs a treat sometimes

Have a lovely evening!

QUESTION: Anyone seen the new Twilight film? What did you think? I NEED to see that film!!

What’s been your best/worst ever job? I’d say my worst was babysitting a family’s kids – they had a dog that kept getting sick and throwing up all over the floor In the end, their house burnt down, so that was the end of tha job! (They were fine, don’t worry ). Best job..my current one!