WIAW #8 MAYDAY, MAYDAY!!

In one of my recent posts (the one with the yummy Biscotti recipe!)  I commented on how up until then I’d been so busy with my fitness, that I’d (almost) forgotten about cake….

How the tables have turned!

Since then, when I haven’t been baking, I’ve been either thinking about baking, or testing scoffing what I have already baked. It gets worse because I also haven’t managed to get my gym kit on since Saturday, which by my usual routine means I have skipped 3 workouts. Gah!

I wish I could show you what I have been working on, but as of yet, it’s not quite there…see I’ve been back on my quest to make the PERFECT Triple Chocolate Muffin. All I can say is that both types of Muffin Top are developing well – the cool kind…and the very uncool kind. Double Gah!

Me Vs. Muffin Tops

I feel that now I’ve come this far, I need to see this through to the end. I won’t rest until either I have the perfect muffin or I can no longer fit in my jeans. I really hope it’s not the latter.

On to What I Ate Yesterday…

Bored of my breakfast yet? Cos I’m not!

Oats, Yoghurt & Raspberries

Lunch was a wrap made with some leftover roast sweet potato, houmous and salad made up of rocket, baby spinach and cucumber.

Wholemeal wrap filled with roast sweet potato, houmous & salad.

With my brain totally consumed with Triple Chocolate Muffins,  I’m sorry to tell you that dinner was out of a packet. A  Tesco Finest packet though! Smoked Haddock Fiscakes, served with spinach.

Smoked Haddock Fishcakes with Spinach

Guess I’d better confess the things I didn’t take a picture of…

A handful (or three!) of Chocolate Chips
A lick (or ten!) of the bowl (once the muffins were safely in the oven of course!)
A finished muffin (for research purposes you understand)
My very overdeveloped,uncool kind of Muffin Top 😦

If anyone has a tried and tested Triple Chocolate Muffin recipe, my jeans would be grateful if you could put an end to this relentless taste testing by telling me your secrets!

WIAW #8 Sunshine & Salads

For anyone who lives in or has visited England, you know that we Brits have to make the very most out of any sunshine we get. Well this is one of those weeks! It’s all about sunglasses, salads, early morning runs, icecreams, pub gardens, rosé wine and Rekorderlig Strawberry & Lime Cider! Just don’t forget your jacket, because actually it’s still pretty chilly as soon as you are in the shade…

Unfortunately, I was so busy enjoying that I didn’t take too many exciting pictures. Here you’ll find just a few pictures of What I Ate yesterday.

Breakfast was business as usual -oats and yoghurt! With a combination of raspberries and blueberries and a teaspoon of almond butter swirled in. I am convinced this is the best breakfast in the world.

Oats, natural yoghurt, raspberries & blueberries all mixed together with a teaspoon of almond butter. Breakfast heaven!

For lunch I grabbed a salad from M&S. It was full of good stuff – feta, avocado, soya beans, quinoa and lots of green things too, topped of with the crème fraîche & mint dressing. (Must work on adding dressing more artfully!)

Avocado & Feta Salad with Creme Fraiche & Mint Dressing.

For dinner I made one of my summer favourites. The combination of the marinated lamb with halloumi cheese and watermelon is amazing. You have to try it! I did these under the grill, but they taste even better on the BBQ.

Lamb, Halloumi and Watermelon Kebabs

Not photographed, but also consumed throughout the day and evening was a portion of melon, a banana, a small glass of Rosé and a Strawberry Cornetto.

What a fabulous food day!

Join in the WIAW fun and post your summery eats!

WIAW #7

Whoops! It’s Thursday! I don’t know where the week has gone… I’ll get straight to the point with yesterdays eats.

Breakfast was yet another variation of oats. This time mixed with yoghurt, grated apple and cinnamon. I still feel like I’m eating apple crumble every time I mix those ingredients.

Oats with yoghurt, apple and cinnamon

Lunch was made in hurry, you can probably tell by the way this salad is haphazardly thrown together! Lambs lettuce, cherry tomatoes, avocado, mozzarella all drizzled with pesto and served with a chunk of multi-grain baguette. This definitely hit the spot!

Mozzarella, Tomato and Avocado Salad with Pesto

The Man and I haven’t quite made it to the supermarket this week, but I managed to pull together all the ingredients to make a Chicken & Lentil Balti. The benefits of keeping your store cupboard and freezer full! It might not look very appetising, but I assure you it is goooood. Even better, I have some leftover for lunch today. Not sure the rest of my office will be so pleased about that. Sorry guys!

Chicken and Lentil Balti with wholegrain basmati rice, a wholemeal pitta and mango chutney.

With the fruit bowl empty and me pretty full from 3 big meals, there was no snacking yesterday!

WIAW #6

It’s my 6th week of participating in WIAW and I’m coming to realise so many great benefits of this weekly post!

1. It gives me the motivation to continue eating healthily. No one wants to see pics of McDonald’s now do they?! Not that I really like McDonalds all that much, but you get my point…Healthy (or at least home made) food always looks so much prettier. 
2. It encourages me to make an effort to vary my diet. It’s so easy to get stuck in a food rut, but now I have an audience (even if its only a very tiny one at the moment!) to think about too. No one is going to be interested in seeing the same 3 meals week after week.
3. It helps me to keep an eye on portions. Spending one day a week photographing everything I eat helps me to understand how much I am really eating. It’s so easy to get carried away with a nibble here and an extra snack there, but photographing everything helps me to focus on whether I really am hungry, or if I’m just snacking because I’m bored.

And with that, here is what I ate yesterday…

Another shopping trip without a fully formed list resulted in an excess of eggs. For the millionth time. When will I stop picking up a dozen every time I go to the supermarket just in case. Just in case what exactly?!

On the bright side, we had a loaf of rather tasty multiseeded bread in the house leftover from the weekend, so I whipped up some scrambled eggs on toast for breakfast this morning. I must say I enjoyed the change!

Scrambled Eggs on Multigrain Toast

The weather has warmed up just a smidgen, so I decided to brave a salad. I picked up a pot of Sainsburys Taste the Difference Greek Salad which has a mix of baby salad leaves with piccolo tomatoes, feta cheese, olives and a lemon and dill dressing. I also added the king of salad – avocado.

Greek(ish) Salad

In the afternoon I snacked on some fruit. Obviously not the whole bowl…I really only put this picture in to prove that I do in fact have a full fruit bowl like I said in my post last Friday!

For dinner we had sirloin steak with sweet potato wedges and fine green beans. I also made a sauce/dip using some low fat creme fraiche that was lurking in the fridge.

Steak, Sweet Potato Wedges & Fine Green Beans

Creme Fraiche with paprika and lemon.

Why don’t you give WIAW a try too! Click the button below for more details…

WIAW #5

The 4 day Bank Holiday weekend combined with the clocks going forward has left my body clock and I (yes we are two separate entities) totally confused. I really feel like Wednesday has snuck up on me! So this week it really is what I ate [on] Wednesday….

I had to stay at the office until after midnight last night, so I skipped my morning workout (boo!) this morning in favour of an extra hour in bed. I still woke up feeling a bit groggy, so the plan for the day was healthy comfort food. I know from experience that if I don’t satisfy my appetite enough throughout the day when I am  tired then come the evening I can end up head first in the biscuit barrel. So I made a conscious decision to focus on healthy and filling foods that would leave me satisfied, without worrying too much about the calorie count.

My breakfast this morning was inspired by a recipe posted by a fellow porridge lover – Stevie at  Cinnamon Soliloquy. Why oh why have I never thought of chocolate porridge before??? What a super idea!

I enjoyed this breakfast but I don’t think the two flavours combined are my personal favourite. Next time I might try straight chocolate. Or chocolate and raspberry!

Chocolate and Banana Porridge

At lunch, I just had time to nip into M&S and pick up something super quick. I noticed this new Moroccan Spiced Butternut & Couscous Salad with Roasted Carrot Dip and just had to try it. On closer inspection I found it also contains quinoa, pomegranate seeds, raisins, chickpeas, coriander, spinach and dried apricot – all good things in my mind! And WOW it really did hit the spot – spicy, tangy, sweet but also creamy because of the carrot dip. Not only delicious and nutritious, it was filling too…but me being the greedy little cretin I am, I also had a wholemeal roll on the side. (I did warn you that I love my carbs!)

M&S Moroccan Spiced Butternut & Couscous Salad with Roasted Carrot Dip

For my mid afternoon munchies I nibbled on some mixed nuts with dried fruit. A snack which I love, but truly resent for being so high in calories. I like to convince myself that my thighs understand that the nutritional benefits balance out the high calorie count. Please don’t make me sad by telling me otherwise.

The Man cooked dinner tonight – result! A huge chicken breast stuffed with herby soft cheese & sundried tomatoes then wrapped in bacon, with spicy peppers & onions and a man mountain of mash potato.

Chicken stuffed with herby soft cheese, spicy peppers & onions and mash potato. Courtesy of The Man.

I think it is safe to say that I am satisfied!

WIAW #4

I’ve made a fantastic discovery. Meridian Natural Almond Butter. I’ve seen it cropping up in various food blogs for some time now, so I know it’s nothing new. I picked it up totally on a whim a few weeks ago. Now here’s the shocking part…there’s still about a quarter of a jar left in the cupboard! That has NEVER happened with peanut butter (you can read why here – I can’t bring myself to type that shameful confession again.)

I know what you’re thinking, that if there is still some left weeks later, then it must be because it tastes like crap. But no! It tastes good, great in fact, especially with porridge. It’s just that, the slightly grainy texture and less sweet taste is not quite addictive enough to make me want dive head first into the jar as soon as it is opened. This is amazing news for me!

So here it is, on top of my morning porridge, made with semi-skimmed milk and a big handful of raspberries. Again – no green at Breakfast time today.

Porridge with raspberries and almond butter.

On Monday night, I cooked Spaghetti Bolognese, making sure there was plenty left over for lunch the next day. Nothing beats left overs for lunch, especially things like Bolognese which are always even tastier the second day. A handful of rocket salad and I have my greens. There are also tomatoes, red peppers, onions and mushrooms in the sauce so I’d say I’ve hit my veggie quota here!

Wholemeal Spag Bol with Rocket Salad

For dinner I made one of The Man’s favourites (and another super left-over lunch!) Chicken & Chorizo Paella. Aside from the obvious lump of green (Spinach and Rocket Salad) there are also green peppers and peas in the Paella, as well as yellow pepper and red onion.

Chicken & Chorizo Paella

Throughout the day I also munched my way through a banana, an apple and an orange and guzzled down 2 cups of coffee and 2 cups of tea. Don’t worry – I also drink looooooads of water. I’ll finish there, because all that water makes you need to go for a wee at least a hundred times a day…

WIAW #3

It dawned on me last week when I was catching up with a variety of WIAW posts, that in actual fact, most people post up pictures of their food from Monday/Tuesday rather than scramble around on Wednesday trying to photograph everything and write the post!

Therefore, here is WIAY (What I Ate Yesterday) or I suppose WIAT (What I Ate Tuesday).

I started the day with an early morning workout  (posted here if you are interested!) then came home for my usual weekday breakfast of raw oats with plain natural yoghurt and frozen blueberries. I’m not much one for green things  at breakfast time (is anyone?!) so it’s pinky/purple instead!

Oats with yoghurt and frozen blueberries.

We had some clients in for a meeting in the morning, so I managed to snag 2 M&S Extremely Chocolatey Biscuits with my mid morning coffee. They didn’t hang around anywhere near long enough for me to take a picture of them, so you’ll just have to take my word for it when I say they were scrummy!

At lunch, I made up for my lack of green things with a home made Tuna salad which contained 4 types of green (Rocket, Spinach, Cucumber & Avocado) as well as some cherry tomatoes. I rounded off with an orange. You know what an orange looks like, right?

Tuna Salad.

For dinner I wanted something super quick and easy as The Man was out so I didn’t feel like cooking anything too involved. I went for chicken and noodles with loads of stir fried veg (onion, green peppers, beansprouts, spinach and mushrooms.) It might not look very ‘green’ but there are two green vegetables in there!!

Chicken & Noodles.

In the evening, I had a cup of tea with a couple of squares of Green & Blacks dark chocolate whilst working  on my crochet project.

 

WIAW #2

It was a bright but bitterly cold morning in SE England today. In an attempt to balance the changing seasons, I decided on a winter menu to warm me up and a spring themed outfit to brighten me up.

I gave my usual x-biking class a miss because my hamstrings were super tight from yesterday’s work out. Usually a bit of soreness wouldn’t deter me, but with a 10k run to complete on Thursday  morning, I figured I’d give my legs a chance to fully recover (in fact, I might even get the dreaded foam roller out tonight!)

On to the food…

There is nothing quite like the power of porridge to warm you up on a chilly morning. Even better, add grated apple and cinnamon and it’s a little bit like eating apple pie for breakfast!

Porridge with grated apple and cinnamon.

Our office is freeeeeezing so I reverted back to a winter classic – soup. I pushed the boat out by going to M&S to pick up lunch rather than just Tesco (fancy hey!) and got this delicious Spicy Lentil Soup and a crusty brown roll.

Spicy Lentil Soup with Wholemeal Roll

Later in the afternoon, I had a bowl of fruit salad. It hit the spot  but left me shivering brrrrrr.

Fruit Salad

Continuing on the winter warmers theme, I made honey mustard chicken, with mashed potatoes and peas for dinner.

Honey Mustard Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Peas.

Now I am going to settle down with a cup of tea and work on my latest project – crocheting a blanket for a friends bump that will soon be a baby. I’ll save posting pictures of that until it is a little more impressive…

My First WIAW

Long before I even thought about plucking up the courage to start this blog, I regularly sought out WIAW posts to feed my inherent curiosity about other peoples eating habits as well as find some tasty recipes too.

For those of you that haven’t got a clue what I am talking about, WIAW is an acronym for ‘What I Ate Wednesday’. Every Wednesday, there is a sort of ‘Bloggers Party’ if you will, hosted by Peas and Crayons where people post photos of all of their eats for the day.

So here it is, my very first WIAW post…

On Wednesday’s, I typically do a double session in the gym. I start the day with an X-Biking class before work and then in the evening after work I return for Body Pump. That means I am  hungry hungry hungry!!!

Oats, yoghurt and frozen raspberries.

This is my breakfast of choice, a diet staple of mine for almost 6 months now. 40g of  Sainsburys Oats with Oatbran and Wheatbran, 150g of low fat natural yoghurt and frozen raspberries. DELICIOUS! I’ve even converted The Man over to yoghurt and oats, but he likes his with a spoonful of honey instead of berries for sweetness. I’ve been known to add a teaspoon of peanut or almond butter for extra deliciousness, which I would totally recommend….but since both The Man and I seem to have a rather insatiable liking for peanut butter spoonfuls  (oh alright, peanut butter fingers!)  we can’t always be trusted to keep a jar in the house *hangs head in shame*.

Wholemeal roll filled with sweet chilli chicken, cherry tomatoes and a rocket and spinach salad.

Mango, grapes and strawberries.

At lunch I had a wholemeal roll filled with sweet chilli chicken, cherry tomatoes and some rocket and spinach salad. Followed by a  fruit salad of mango, grapes and strawberries.

Wholemeal spaghetti with tomato and smokey bacon sauce, spinach, rocket and parmesan cheese.

A pretty typical dinner for me on a Wednesday. I get in from work at around 6:00 PM and need to leave for body pump by 6:50 PM so I need to make something quick and easy. Pasta is my Go-To option and not that I would feel particularly guilty if it were regular white pasta but we do usually have wholemeal (does that go someway to making up for the peanut butter shame?!)  Since I am pushed for time, I open a jar of tomato based sauce (I will not apologise for that!) add fresh vegetables, parmesan cheese and a good sprinkle of black pepper – et voila!

Protein shake.

When I arrive home from Body Pump, I usually have a protein shake, which I make by adding the powder to water and then whizzing it up  in the blender with frozen berries to make it colder and tastier.

Hot chocolate.

After I’ve had a nice relaxing bath to soothe my stiff muscles, I like to snuggle up on the sofa in my dressing gown with a mug of hot chocolate – Green & Blacks Organic naturally…because it was on offer this week at Sainsburys!

So that, Ladies and Gentleman, was What I Ate [this] Wednesday.

What did you eat this Wednesday?