Today's Eats

Although I'm not 'officially' back at work yet, I have a fair bit of planning/preparation to do before I return. Sometimes I long for a simple 9-5 clock in, clock out job, but I guess a lot of jobs involve prep. outside of working hours. All of the jobs I want to do do anyway.

So yes, I have spent a large part of my day here, at the 'dining table'

Those are the bf's hands in the background. I persuaded him to work from home so for a bit of company. And I'm happy to say I can sometimes use colouring pencils in my work *true*.

Here's today's eats:

Breakfast: cinnamon pancakes

 

 Using my new spatula. HOW do people create perfect pancake shapes (ie circles) HOW?! 

 

Although they're not exactly pretty, they turned out ok in the end. They were pretty yummy and dead simple to make. All you need is 1 banana and 2 eggs, and a bit of cinnamon. Mash the banana, add the eggs and cinnamon and whisk until there are no lumpy bits. Pour into a non-stick pan for a few minutes, flip (which I finally managed to do without creating a massive mess/scrambled eggs-hurrah!) and they're done. 

Lunch: Leftover Moroccan chickpea stew from yesterday: 

I stored it in my cute little London lunchbox. (Can you spot the mulled wine in the background? We have so much to finish from Christmas...I sense more on the menu tonight). 

I also had a jazz apple.

Pre-run I had a green smoothie, made with 1 banana, a handful of spinach, a dollop of yoghurt and a tablespoon of spru-tein banana powder (bananary, just how I like it) and almond milk all blended up in the blender.

I've now just finished a run on the treadmill. I didn't want to push myself tooo far, as I've been sporting a (minor) calf injury, but I seemed to be ok. I ran 6.1 miles in an hour, which isn't wonderful, but it felt wonderful. An easy, longish run was just what I needed.

I am now looking like a cherry tomato, even though I showered. It takes ages for my face to return to its normal colour after running!

On the agenda for tonight: cooking (probably chicken and roasted veggies), catching up with blogs and drinking mulled wine :)

First Post Hello and Tonight's Dinner!

A picture of my baked bean teatowel, in place of an awkward hello. It's my first post, and I'm not great with knowing where to begin! Still, it's a pretty cool teatowel, no?

So, I've created this blog in order to document what I've been eating, my endeavours with new recipes (I'm pretty much a complete novice/cookophobe in this area) and fitness pursuits. I've been reading several blogs for a while now, and I wanted to jump on the wagon and possibly talk to some other lovely people with the same interests as me.

A little background...

I've had various struggles with my weight over the years. I've been underweight and too-heavy-for-me. I'm trying to come to terms with the fact that being at a healthy weight is ok...and to 'reclaim' the word healthy (in my mind) as cheesy as that sounds. In the past, to me, healthy always meant fat. Now I'm starting to see it as a positive thing (duh!) and to embrace it. I am going to have milk with my porridge and a splash of honey instead of 100cal porridge with water! I am going to eat nut butters and healthy fats! (I'm not usually one for liberally scattering exclamations marks around, but they were needed). I want to be liberated from the low calorie mindset and move towards health and hopefully happiness.

In all honesty, I have yet to think about how this relates to my weight...I still don't feel too comfortable in my skin, but I'll work on that. Hopefully, exercise will continue to help me with this. I bought a treadmill and have been running (thought I'd use it more than the gym, as the closest gym is a train ride away) as well as a few fitness dvds. Once the weather is a bit better, I'll start to run outside, but I need to find a good route. I'm terrible with directions, so I'm scared that I'll get lost. Pathetic, I know.

Anyway, I guess my aim for this year is to become 'healthier'; to cook good, nutritious food, to exercise, to LIVE and to document it all on here.

Now for tonight's dinner:

 Ingredients alongside my handwritten recipe (old school) inspired by @keepinghealthygettingstylish.com


Moroccan Butternut and Chickpea Stew
*1 butternut squash, chopped into chunks and roasted
*1 chopped pepper
* 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground cumin
* 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
*1 tin of chopped tomatoes with chopped garlic
*1 tin of chickpeas
*4 chopped apricots

Heat the oil, then add the spices followed by all of the other ingredients. Easy! My type of recipe. It reminded me of a chunky Moroccan soup that we sometimes buy from Sainsbos or Waitrose. It was a hit with the bf anyway.

Our chopping board...I like cute kitchen items!

 

I also added chicken to the dish. If I were to make it again, I would serve it with greens of some sort. 

 And finally, a few photos of me lovingly interacting with a banana smoothie. I don't know about you, but when I read other people's posts, I enjoy seeing a pic or two of them to sort of get more of an idea of what they are like. It makes it feel more personal. Or maybe I am just nosy. 

I'm off to have some mulled wine, trying to get rid of the last before it feels too wrong to indulge in a Christmassy drink.