Posts Tagged by Tofu
Race Time
| July 2, 2011 | Posted by Sweet Tooth Runner under Uncategorized |
HEY friends!! Thank you for your sweet comments on yesterdays post!! I DEFINITELY missed you all so much!! Just so you know, I’m actually going away again in less than two weeks, but I’ll tell you all nearer the time 
Ok, I’m guilty. I pride myself on vaguely having some diet variation and not having the exact same foods day in and day out. Well, breakfast was a fail in this respect. But in my defence, I definitely honoured my cravings:
Banana oatmeal, Alpro soya caramel pudding, crunchy PB and mango butter. AMAZING combo!! And actually because I’ve never had that combo before that TOTALLY counts as variation, right?! 
I then had hours of music rehearsals to start the day (I have a concert tomorrow, one on Tuesday, and a National competition on Thursday- busy week!!) and then I came home to fuel up before hitting the gym:
Scrambled tofu (with nooch and spices), polenta and fresh tomatoes
I had a NROLFW workout today…
…and again it kicked my butt!! LOVE IT!! I took it easier than normal on the exercises involving the lower body in preparation for tomorrow (you’ll see why in a sec ), and I also did 35 mins easy of elliptical+bike as a warm-up and cooldown. The book says you should refuel straight away with a protein shake, but I read that as banana soymilk apparently:
My head isn’t wonky in real life, but I was whipping my hair back and forth thanks to a certain song that came on the radio! 
The refuelling continued when I got back home. Lifting makes me SO much hungrier than normal, and I think we all know that’s saying something!! 
Tropical Protein Oatmeal! 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 scoop tropical protein powder, soy milk and mango butter! I am addicted to this stuff, and it’s nearly gone already!! SO darn good though!! And this was such a filling and delicious snack! Happy belly
And before my workout, I went shopping! My second favourite form of cardio It was to buy a pink running top!
Now I’m not normally a person who wears pink (I actually have no pink clothes I don’t think!) so why did I buy this?
Because tomorrow I will be running a RACE!! It’s a 10k Race For Life and I’ll be running it with my best friend. She knows how much this race and cause means to me since I ran it last year following my aunt’s diagnosis with breast cancer, and so signed up to do it to help raise money for Cancer Research! She’s such an amazing friend and it means the world to me. 
I know the training for it hasn’t been easy for her, and this will be her first ever race (she started running just for it!!) so we’re just going to run it together and have FUN. And I can’t WAIT! 
What was your breakfast today? Best ever!! Tomorrow I won’t be having my usual pancakes because of the race. Gotta have my usual pre-race ritual foods!
Latest fave foodie obsession? MANGO BUTTER, thanks to Lauren! It’s so almost gone, and there will be tears when that moment comes!
What was your first race like? It was a Cancer Research Run 10k, and it was one of the best days of my life! The crowd support was AMAZING too- it makes such a difference!!
What I…Wednesday! Thankful Edition:)
| June 21, 2011 | Posted by Sweet Tooth Runner under What I...Wednesday |
HEY friends, and welcome to another What I…Tuesday Wednesday! Last week this party of Jenn’s got over 100 participants!! Wooo!! Go Jenn! 
So this week I thought I’d do a slightly different focus. What I’m THANKFUL for Wednesday! So not WIAW but WITW!! There’s SO much to be thankful for and it’s too easy to just take things for granted, so today I’m going to count my blessings! 
What I’m Thankful For…BLOGGER FRIENDS!! Jenn for doing this awesome thang, your comments/emails/friendship, and blogger inspiration! Like Amanda who inspired me to top my oatmeal with caramel pudding…
Which seriously was AMAZING. Caramel Pudding Oatmeal is to die for!! Plus then there was the last of Amanda’s yummy banana bread warmed up and topped with almond buttah…
What I’m Thankful For…delicious, healthy meals!
Marinated tofu, sweet tater fries (it’s been waaaay too long!!), cucumber, and Sabra hummus for dippage
Katie’s Pizzert! A banana-date one!
Haha forgot to grease the pan, so I had to eat it outta the tin! 
My favourite salad: Get-As-Much-Produce-As-You-Can-Fit-In-Your-Belly salad, topped with more Sabra spicy hummus. (With the obligatory PB&J toast on the side 
)
Peanut Butter Crunch oatbran! My banana oatbran pudding topped with PB&Co Crunch Time and the last of the peanut butter granola.
What I’m Thankful For…the reduced aisle in the supermarket!
BARGAIN!! And I LOVE cherries!! I may or may not have bought four punnets…! I used one punnet to make these:
Mama Pea’s AMAZING Double Chocolate and Cherry cookies, but with added pecans! Oh, and the cookie dough is beyond belief by the way
What I’m Thankful For…help from Facebook friends for post inspiration!
Workout playlist? OKAY then!! Well I actually have a LOT of playlists! I have long run playlists, speedwork playlists, tempo run playlists, easy run playlists, etc, but I’ll share with you today’s short playlist:
Have I ever mentioned I have the coolest taste in music? This playlist has a mix of everything, from Rock music to Glee, Disney and a Christmas song too. I love being in a Christmassy mood any time of year!
What I am MOST Thankful for today was this moment:
I RAN AGAIN!!! COMPLETELY PAIN FREE!! Being reunited with Betty was a sweet sweet moment. 
There were tears, there was laughter, and I grinned like a crazy person the whole time. I think I forgot that it wasn’t just me and Betty in the room, but I was too happy to care about the very odd looks I was getting from my fellow gym-users. My first mile in over 4 weeks!!
Did 1 mile slow run, 1 mile walk, 1 mile slow run, 1 mile walk, came home and took Buddy for a walk, including a 1 mile run on grass.
I’m thankful that my running Buddy (haha!) makes sure I don’t go too fast! He can’t keep up if I go too fast, bless his little legs
So 3 miles run today in a very slow (for me) average 8.30 min/mile, COMPLETELY pain free! I can’t remember the last time I ran pain free!! In many ways I’m actually THANKFUL for my injury, for teaching me so much. More on that in another post, but for now I’m just going to drink up my chocolate soy milk (HEALED me I tell you!!)…
…and try not to burst with happiness!! I’m taking it all out on the poor dog right now because he can’t escape me hehe 
What are you thankful for today? YOU GUYS for sticking with me and being so lovely to me and being my No.1 motivation not to run cos I know you’d all kick my butt!
Best thing you ate today? EVERYTHING I posted!!
What is your current favourite song on your playlist? Definitely the Christmas one! I’m excited already- only 185 days to go!!
Have an AMAZING day friends!! SO MUCH LOVE for you all!!
Overuse of the word AWESOME.
| June 19, 2011 | Posted by Sweet Tooth Runner under Uncategorized |
HEY friends!! And HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to you all!! Hope you had a very special day with your loved ones 
Father’s Day is a VERY special day for me. Because I love my dad so so much and he is AWESOME!!
He is my biggest fan (I swear half my blog hits are his doing), supporting my running and encouraging me every step of the way in my journey.
I also love him because we are twinsies. And I didn’t realise this until combing my photos two days ago. Now let’s play Who’s Who!
Our Signature Move:
LOVE YOU DAD!!! 
Ok, now I’ve done a Lindsay Sappy Sunday, it’s time for something less sappy but *almost* as AWESOME as my dad: PANCAKES.
And you know I tried these for the first time yesterday?
Well I figured, why not combine the two?
Caramel Pancakes
Vegan, Serves 1
- 1/2 cup wholegrain spelt flour (most flours should work fine)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 cup non-dairy milk (more or less to get desired pancake batter thickness)
- Pinch salt
- 1/4 tsp vanilla essence
- 1 pot Soya Caramel Flavoured Dessert (is about 5 tbsp of dessert)
- Sweetener, if desired (I didn’t use any more, but you might like to add some brown sugar or maple syrup)
- Combine dry ingredients and mix. Add in wet and mix well. Make your pancakes, and ENJOY!!
Obviously, I enjoyed them as I always do- drizzled with maple syrup and choc chips:
Next time, I think I’ll add some diced apple for Caramel-Apple Pancakes!
After an AWESOME church service about listening to what God is trying to tell us (I need to work on this!!), I popped out to the shops to stock up on essentials (dates, broccoli, chocolate chips, and more peanut butter- not kidding!!), and I found my FAVOURITE flavour of Nakd bars being sold!! I’d only seen these in WF before!!
These taste like brownies and are soooo good!!
I also made Julie’s Peanut Butter Granola, which I’d had my eye on since I first saw her post the recipe!
This granola is AWESOME. To me, granola is only granola if there are big clusters. Otherwise it’s just baked muesli. And check out these clusters!!
I am a granola MONSTER and there was literally only a handful left once I had finished munching. SO DARN GOOD! And it’s like four ingredients or something and takes about 10 mins form start to finish!! Gotta love short ingredients lists and speed!
And I had the best afternoon snack EVER!! Check this awesome snack out…
Oatmeal with chopped apple and apricot jam! Just the usual 1/2 cup cooked in the microwave this time, and it was SO good! Afternoons are definitely when I get hungriest (I eat a pretty late dinner- usually around 8-9pm!) so I always have a lot to eat inbetween. I went back and put some PB granola in there too for good measure 
Dinner was pretty awesome too. Quinoa in hummus/nooch sauce, marinated tofu and cucumber…
…but the best bit was (obviously!) dessert. This was something Katie suggested to me in the comments of her Cookie Sandwiches post, and it sent me into a state of pure bliss.
Two of my peanut butter cookies sandwiched together with strawberry jam. PB&J is literally THE most awesome food combo in the world. I’d never had a cookie sandwich before now, but now I don’t think I’ll be eating anything else. Ever.
I realise I have used the word awesome about a thousand times, but in my defence it’s late and that really just describes LIFE anyway! And I know this week is going to be BEYOND awesome for me, and here’s a clue in case you haven’t guessed already…
What made your day awesome? Tell meee!!
Are you a granola fan? Yes, it is one of THE most addictive substances on the planet in my opinion. I need Granola Rehab.
What time of day do you get hungriest? Definitely the afternoons! It used to be right before I went to sleep, but nothing some late night snacking couldn’t solve
Hope you guys have an AMAZING week!! Love you all!! <3
I am beautiful and totally normal…
| May 26, 2011 | Posted by Sweet Tooth Runner under Uncategorized |
HEY friends, and Happy Thursday!! I want to thank you all SO MUCH for your kind words and personal experiences that you shared with me in the last post! It meant SO MUCH to me 
First up, FOOD!! Today was a rest day for me, so I just did some yoga to stretch out, and I don’t know about you guys but I am always MUCH more hungry on rest days! I guess it all catches up with me! Bring it onnnn I say! 
Here are a few foodie pics from the last two days…
Banana oatbran pudding with goji berries, apricot jam and cashew-date butter.
A big ol’ salad with brocc, red pepper and sweetcorn, topped with a tofu-cheeze-hummus dressing. I just blended 2/3 block of silken tofu with water, nooch, hummus and salt/spices and it was AWESOME! Enjoyed for lunch with a baked sweet tater on the side
Apple with almond butter.
Apple with PB&Co Crunch Time! Best crunchy PB EVER!!
Red pepper with spicy Sabra hummus.
Angela’s Easy Creamy Tomato Barley Risotto (AMAZING, and so simple to make!) with courgette/zuchinni on the side.
And these x1000 of course! 
Okay, enough food!! I have tons more but this post would be SO long and I don’t want to bore you guys to death! 
Yesterday I also got in an hour long sesh on the indoor bike:
30 mins of High Cadence Speed Intervals and 30 mins HIITs= SWEAT!! Then I hit the weights for an Upper Body workout.
Oh, and the lovely gals Olivia and Ragnhild awarded me this a while back…
The Smiling Award!
The rules:
1. Smile!
2. Write 3 things you like about your looks.
3. Write 3 things you appreciate about your personality.
4. Write about something you find beautiful in other people (looks, personality – whatever)
5. Award as many other people as you like and let them know!
1. SMILE!
The smile had to involve nut butter of course
2. Three things I like about my appearance…
ONE: I like my hair when it’s washed, so maybe I should do that more often…
TWO: I like that my stomach is like a bottomless pit and somehow manages to contain all the food I put in it without me exploding. Don’t ask me how it works.
THREE: I like my huge clown feet. I’m pretty sure if they weren’t big boats then I’d fall over.
3. Three things I appreciate about my personality…
ONE: I like that I don’t care much what people think of me. The only person whose approval I need is God’s, so it’s okay for me to be slightly insane in public and do things like crazy-pose with foam rollers in the gym in front of people.
TWO: I love that I’m a little obsessed about some things/people. Like Paula Radcliffe…
…and nut butter. I’m opening up now you guys, and revealing The Collection…
Those are just the open ones. 10 jars and 1 bucket. PB&Co White Chocolate Wonderful, Tahini butter,PB&Co Crunch Time, Cashew-Date butter, Almond butter, Smooth PB, Cashew butter, Hazelnut butter, PB&Co Dark Chocolate Dreams, Crunchy Sunflower Seed butter and Artisana coconut butter. There are also other unopened ones in my Nut Butter Cupboard, but lets not go there today. Gotta let the crazy out in small doses.
THREE: I love that I’m a hugger.
Bananas…
Trees…
Myself…
…and sometimes other people too…
HAHA don’t you just LOVE my friend’s expression there?! I promise I’m not THAT bad at hugging!
4. Something I find beautiful in other people. Oh gosh this is HARD! I find so many things beautiful in other people! I love people who are genuine, caring, and positive! People who aren’t afraid to be themselves are beautiful too…but I think caring is the most beautiful thing. People who show kindness and selflessness are SO beautiful and you can always tell when someone has a kind heart
I have that stuck in my Bible actually to remind me to try to be more caring and conscientious, and I love it!
5. Tag other people and let them know. This is the bit I can never do!! You are ALL so beautiful to me, and I know this is cliché, but CONSIDER YOURSELF TAGGED! I’d better see this on your bloggies later, or else!!!
Something you like about your appearance? This isn’t being vain, it’s being self-loving, so tell me pleeeease!! If you don’t, I’ll reply with a list of things that I love about your appearance instead
One thing you love about your personality/something you find beautiful in other people?
Do you have a big nut butter collection, or a big stash of something? Aside from my slightly ridiculous nut butter collection, I also have a pretty impressive snack bar stash!
Love you all, have an AMAZING day!!
What I…Wednesday!
| May 17, 2011 | Posted by Sweet Tooth Runner under What I...Wednesday |
I know I know, it’s Tuesday today, but it’s Wednesday in an hour (in London anyway! 
) so let’s roll with it!
What I Ate Wednesday: Breakfast and Post-Workout Snack Edition!
I got asked to do more breakfast and post-workout snack pics, so here you go! 
Yesterday I tried my first ever Dough Boy Smoothie, ala Kath!
It was SO GOOD! I think this’ll definitely be my breakfast-on-the-go of choice now! Hot oats still win on the filling factor though….
Today I had my beloved banana oatbran pudding, with raisins and almond buttah 
Post workout yesterday, I had a tropical protein smooooothie!
1/2 block tofu, 1/2 scoop tropical protein powder, milk, xanthan gum, pineapple and strawbs. SO good! I then added lots of raw oats which you HAVE to do to your smoothies, cos it makes it all doughy and mmmm….
Post-workout today (short run+exercise class), I wanted something quick! So chocolate soy milk of course…
…and then when I got home, I had some leftover tofu and veggies:
Random, but that’s what I was feeling!
Best eat today though?
HH’s single serving brownie with extra PB and choc chips. HEAVEN
What I Worked Wednesday- Abs Edition!
Today I have an AB workout for you! Seriously, it’s a toughie! I’ve linked to the moves in case you don’t know what they are
15 minute Ab/Core Workout
- 30 secs Toe-Touches (holding medicine ball/weights)
- 1 minute Up-Down Plank
- 1 minute Russian Twists (with medicine ball/weights, and switch sides after 30 seconds)
- 1 minute Bicycle Crunches (30 secs fast, 30 secs slow)
- 1 minute Around-The-World plank (<—-KILLER!)
- 30 secs rest/collapse
Repeat twice more!
Seriously, if your abs aren’t BURNING after this, then you’re either doing it wrong or you have abs of STEEL! I don’t work my abs/core much except for the abs track in BodyPump, so this reaaally hurt! Feel free to collapse afterwards like I did!
P.S. That’s a recycled photo. I didn’t do my ab workout in the park- people think I’m crazy enough as it is! 
And today I went to my first ever Body Balance class! Going to a new class each month was one of my goals for 2011, and I think I’m on track! So far, I’ve done spin, BodyCombat, yoga, Triple Challenge and now BodyBalance!
I LOVED it, but there was an abs section…OUCH!! I was in pain from yesterday’s workout beforehand, but now it hurts to breathe haha!
So now I’ve got abs down, it’s bicep time…
Bicep curls with a 1kg pack of raisins. Curl, munch, repeat. Make that your next strength training workout and thank me later when you have guns to rival Jillian’s, because she doesn’t know about this killer move.
Overnight Oats or Hot Oats? Overnight oats are nice after a hot workout, but hot oats are just so filling…so hot oats!!
Did you make any 2011 goals? How’re they going? Achieved some already woo! But really I’m just thankful I made the decision not to add ‘regularly wash hair’ to the list because I would’ve failed big time already.
Random Q: What is your weakest muscle group? Triceps. I don’t have any.
Have an AMAZING rest of the week friends!!
Sundays are the BEST!
| May 15, 2011 | Posted by Sweet Tooth Runner under Uncategorized |
I. LOVE. SUNDAYS!! It’s my favourite day of the week, hands down. I know I go on about this every Sunday and really I should just repost my post from last Sunday every week instead because lets face it, they’re all the same. But here’s again why I love Sundays…
I love Sundays because it means two breakfasts. First up was the usual pre run breakfast:
Mmmm PB+banana+toast…it’ll never get old! 
I love Sundays because it’s long run day! I hit the gym for the treadmill because I’ve been banned from running on the road with the shin splints.
Posted that from my Dailymile account (if you don’t have an account yet, GET ONE- it’s so addictive!!) because I’m too lazy to write that twice! 
Nine miles knocked out before church- BOOM! 
I love Sundays, because it’s PANCAKE SUNDAY!! 
Katie’s Snickerdoodle Pancakes. As soon as she posted these a few days ago, I KNEW I had to make them this Sunday! And oh boy these are the BEST!! Seriously, you guys HAVE to try them!!
I actually plated these up a few minutes before I had to leave for church, so I scarfed down what I could then bagged up a few to go. I ate the rest sneakily in church, and kept getting glared at by a woman in front of me. Obviously, she was just jealous, and I Tweeted about it and my Twitter buds agreed!
I love Sundays, because it’s church time!! I have the BEST church friends EVER!! During our Bible sesh they brought Oreos for themselves, and made some vegan cookies for me!! Awww! 
Hehe I went to TOWN on these bad boys! 
I love Sundays, because there’s more time to spend in the kitchen.
Decadent Date and Pecan brownies. These are SO GOOD, and raw too! Logan send me the link- he obviously knows me too well! I added extra almond butter and more chocolate topping obviously, because I’m on a bit of a date+almond butter lovin’ kick at the mo…
There were numerous Medjool dates stuffed with almond butter and choc chips consumed today…
Too. Darn. Tasty.
Time to make yummy meals too!
Curried scrambled tofu with cheezy polenta and tomatoes.
And when I’m too lazy to get up from the couch, I always have a trusty Clif bar with me for Hunger Emergencies 
Sundays are for YOGA time! I can ALMOST hold the crow- woohoo!!
I can hold it for like 5 seconds before faceplanting. Yeah, Tip #1 is have a big cushion in front of you, NOT your mirror. That was just painful.
Sundays are for race planning! My first half is in August, and turns out is not only the hottest race in the universe but also the hilliest…
I spent AGES stalking the course profiles and race reviews and EVERYONE said the hills were killer- and they sure look it!! Yeah that’s gonna be fun! BUT the plan is that this tough half is gonna make my main half in October (which is a flat speedy course- wooo!) hopefully my sub 1.35 course! BRING IT OOOOON!!!
What was the highlight of your weekend? ALL of it! The run, church, the pancakes, it was all gooood!!
What do you find harder- hill work or speedwork? Oooh toughie!! For me, it depends, but probably hill work!!
Random Q: What is one food you are craving RIGHT NOW? Tomatoes. Hehe I bet you all thought I’d say chocolate or nut butter!
Hope you guys have had an AMAZING weekend! Have a great week friends!!
Almond butter lovin’ and Awesome April
| April 30, 2011 | Posted by Sweet Tooth Runner under Month recap |
Helloooo lovelies!! Having a good weekend? Quick warning: This is the longest post in the history of the world, so get comfy! 
By the way, I LOVED hearing your thoughts on commenting and and on my Friend’s Friday Faves yesterday! But, being me (aka brainless), I FORGOT a Friday Fave! 
But luckily for you that just means ANOTHER one for you today!
Little Bookworm’s Friday Fave:
‘One of my faves is this Frozen Hot Chocolate from Chocolate-Covered Katie’s blog with a brownie (Emma’s recipe). It tastes like an amazing ice-cream sundae (especially made with coconut milk)!’
Frozen hot chocolate + brownie?! That sounds like HEAVEN!! Thank you Little Bookworm for making me drool on my keyboard!
This morning, I was raiding my nut butter cupboard (they need their own special space of course) and I came across, right at the back…
ALMOND BUTTER!! It has been ages, and so I tried it again spread on a microwave banana oat cake:
Oh. My. Muppets. I had TOTALLY forgotten how much I LOVE almond butter!
I had it in my breakfast:
Katie’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Baked Oatmeal (with 2 tbsp almond butter) which is SO YUMMY!!
I then had it as part of my lunch:
Apples and almond butter with tofu on toast. Tofu on toast ROCKS by the way! 
And then I went a little mad…I had almonds on the brain…
I know you’re jealous of my photoshopping skills. And of the fact that I managed to score two bags of organic almonds for £2!!
So what’s a chocolate-and-almond-butter-loving girl to do? Make Ashley’s Cocoa-nut Almond Butter of course!
It is AMAZING!! It’s dark chocolate almond butter with coconut butter in. Amaze. Licking out the bowl and spatula was the highlight of my life day.
***
It’s the end of April today. Okay, this may be stating the obvious for you, but I literally JUST realised this!! April has been a GREAT month for me, and has gone so fast!! Time flies when you’re having fun…
I went on my music tour to Germany and had a BRILLIANT time…
I posted everything I ate in a day and got some AMAZING responses…
I had my dreams come true when I got to meet and run with my idol Paula Radcliffe!!
And then 2 days later I met her again and got her autograph…
I ran a 5k race without racing (because of my injury) but still PR’d and loved it!!
I started recovering from my shin splints and got some amazing (and SWEATY) runs in…
Oh, and I started and finished not just one, but TWO peanut butter buckets.
And YOU FRIENDS have made this month an amazing one!! My readership has grown SO MUCH this month and I can’t thank you guys enough for all the support and lovely comments you leave me that make my day! LOVE YOU GUYS so much!!!
So this month is officially AWESOME APRIL!!
What have been YOUR April highlights? Tell me por favor!!
What’s your favourite nut butter? It’s now officially Cocoa-nut Almond Butter!!
Random Q: Favourite vegetable? Broccoli, hands down!! Followed by Brussels sprouts, spinach and squash 
ENJOY the rest of your weekend friends!! Love y’all!!
A belated Friday Faves!
| March 13, 2011 | Posted by Sweet Tooth Runner under Friday Favourites |
Hey friends!!
Thanks for all your responses so far to my giveaway post! Keep ‘em coming!! And a couple of you mentioned subscription problemos? Well I have a new plugin thingy (so technical…!) so if you had problems before, HOPEFULLY this one’ll work! Otherwise, I am totally clueless, and I’m sorry! 
So yesterday I didn’t get to do my usual Friday Faves post! I’ll make up for that now with my Friday/Saturday Favourites! 
1. A delicious breakfast! Kris’ Vanilla Coconut Breakfast pudding, only chocolatified…
I used chocolate soy milk instead, and boy this was gooood!! With a banana on top and PB on toast on the side, cos life just isn’t complete without a ton of carbs! 
2. People being nice to the ‘special’ one. Went to a birthday partay last night, and there was a buffet (not so good for vegans generally!), BUT my lovely friend provided some vegan food!! In particular, this bean salad rocked.
Screw plates and hygiene. I’ll just eat it straight from the bowl thank you.
3. Positivity and perspective. I had an easy 8 miler planned today, but experienced a fair amount of side shin and Achilles pain, both of which are new to me!! So I stopped a few times to stretch out, and easy jogged a bit, but it didn’t go away. I decided in the end it was best not to risk it, and cut my run short. 
Even though I was disappointed about this, I still LOVED my run, and being outside in the fresh air, and focused on that instead! 
And I thought my average pace of 7.55 min/mile was pretty good, especially in the circumstances! As soon as I got back, I stretched, and watched Friends with a bag of frozen sweetcorn on my shin.
It WILL be fine. Positivity cures everything 
4. Refuelling food is the bomb.
Smoked tofu and broccoli sprinkled with nooch, and chocolate milk too of course!
5. Baking time!! Oh I do love to bake yummy treats…!
Basically, a while back, amazing blog reader Angie sent me a couple of goodies, including these delicious chocolate chip Clif Crunch Bars:
They weren’t around for long sadly! So I tried to recreate them today, with a little twist…
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Crunchy Granola Bars (adapted from this recipe)
Depending on what mix-in you use, these have no added sugar- just sweetened with agave. They are crunchy, delicious, and not overly sweet. These are filling and healthy, and make the perfect on-the-go snack!
(Makes 12 very large bars, or 24 squares)
- 4 cups quick cooking oats (I used half rolled oats)
- Generous 1/3 cup peanut butter, melted
- 2/3 cup agave nectar (or maple syrup, etc)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips/chopped chocolate/cacao nibs
- Preheat oven to 180C/350°F. Spread oats on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes, stirring a couple of times. Allow oats to cool to room temperature.
- Melt the peanut butter in the microwave (may not be necessary, depending on how drippy your nut butter is), and let cool.
- Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Spread mixture into a 9×13-inch baking tray that has been greased or lined, pressing down hard to compact it.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool completely and cut into bars, and ENJOY!!
So. Good.
I wolfed down those two big bars, and then passed out in a food coma.
6. Looking forward to SUNDAY!! Sunday is a great day-one of my favourite days! Sunday means pancakes…
…a hill workout…
and church! A great combination if you ask me!
What are some of your Friday/Saturday Faves? Your turn to share!!
What are your post-run/workout foods of choice? Chocolate milk always! And broccoli is another fave…and PB banana toast!
What is your favourite day of the week? I love Sundays and Fridays the best I think!
Enjoy the rest of your weekend lovelies!! And don’t forget to keep those affected by the earthquake in Japan in your thoughts and prayers, and to donate if you can!
Lazy Lady
| March 9, 2011 | Posted by Sweet Tooth Runner under Uncategorized |
HEYA friends!! 
First up, just to let ya know that I was requested to put off my review+giveaway post for a bit, so I will be posting it on Friday instead! I’ll just keep you on tenterhooks until then! 
Okay, so one thing you should know about me is that I am seriously lazy. I mean it. I think people assume that all active people aren’t lazy at all. But that’s definitely not true for me…
Lazy Lady Example #1: Lazy breakfast. Oatmeal topped (on reader Bronagh’s brill advice) with almond butter and morello cherry jam. Bliss…
You might not think stovetop oatmeal is lazy, but literally all I did today was get up, put my oat bran + milk (too lazy to go on a banana hunt…) on top on the stovetop over the lowest heat and left it for 20 mins whilst I went back to bed. Then got up, threw on some clothes, ate breakfast and left.
Just so ya know, the words ‘make-up’ and ‘hairbrush’ are not part of my weekday morning vocabulary. I apologise in advance to any future husband of mine.
Lazy Lady Example #2: Not bothering to try to find my iTouch, which has been missing in my house for a few days. Ergo, a very tough treadmill speed workout. On the tread, I need ENTERTAINMENT. So I suffered through my 800m repeats by playing mind-games (I was being chased by spies), singing to myself (Glee soundtrack) and people-watching (the woman on the summit trainer talking to herself).
Track Speed Intervals:
1k warm-up
5 x 800m @ 6.35 min/mile with 400m recovery @ 8.20 min/mile
1k cooldown
I also did a 30 min step class before that, which in hindsight wasn’t the best idea! Tired legs do not make for easier speed intervals!!
Lazy Lady Example #3: Living off snack bars…
A bad (and expensive!) habit!! They’re just so quick and easy to take around. And darn yummy too!! 
Lazy Lady Example #4: Leftovers + frozen + packaged dinner. 
Leftover vegetably couscous, a stuffed grilled mushroom (stuffed with…er…couscous…) topped with vegan cheese, smoked tofu and spinach from frozen. Can’t beat a 5 minute meal! 
Lazy Lady Example #5: Skipping the unnecessary chore that is hair washing.
I can’t imagine my life without dry shampoo. It is the best invention on the planet, and thankfully Santa knows me well and brought me a year’s supply at Christmas. Needless to say, my March goal of washing my hair more often still needs work…!
So are you lazy in any way? Honestly, if I listed every example, this post would never end!!
What is your favourite snack bar? Hard question I know!! That Clif PB bar is my current fave I think…
Do you have a go-to lazy meal? Leftovers, or a microwaved sweet tater and baked beans
Have a great week lovelies!!
My inner geek
| February 24, 2011 | Posted by Sweet Tooth Runner under Uncategorized |
Hey friends!! Hope you had a rockin’ Wednesday!! *Edit: This is yesterday’s post! My internet was down last night so I couldn’t publish it!!*
rgea
Breakfast this morning involved something totally new: bulgur. Inspired by Katie’s breakfast bulgur, I thought I’d try something different! I’m really trying to experiment with my brekkies this week, and I’m loving it! 
Topped with black cherry fruit spread and sultanas
Brekkie Bulgur ‘Rice Pudding’ (inspired by Katie’s recipe)
Serves 1. Tastes like pudding.
- 1/3 cup prepared bulgur wheat (see Katie’s tutorial for a great how-to)
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/4 cup non-dairy milk (I used coconut)
- 2 tbsp (soy) yoghurt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- Combine the cooked bulgur with the applesauce and milk in a saucepan and heat on low, stirring occasionally like you would oatmeal.
- Once the bulgur has absorbed most/all of the liquid and reached desired texture, remove from heat.
- Stir in yoghurt, transfer to a bowl, add spices and toppings/mix-ins and enjoy!!
Nutritional Info (excluding toppings/mix-ins): Calories 241, Fat 2.2g, Fibre 9.9g, Protein 8.7g
efw
This is amazing!! Tastes like rice pudding and is so filling! All stirred in:
RICE PUDDING!!
hrst
I exercised my inner geek big time today. Well I am a geek, and usually embrace that. But today was geek-overload…
Geek Example #1: Obsessive running research. I am a running geek. I headed to the library and got a ton more books out on running.
Knowledge is power people, knowledge is power…
grea
After breakfast and the library visit, I headed to the gym for my longer easier run of the week (6 miles @ 8 min/mile pace). Gym entertainment:
iPod for plugging into the tread and watching Toy Story 3 on, then ‘Performance Nutrition for Runners’ book for the elliptical, using the good ol’ hairband trick:
Geek alert. I always get funny looks doing that, but hey, at least I’m not stuck with watching reruns of Bargain Hunters on the gym TVs like everyone else! 
gre
In true geek style, I put what I’d learned from the first few chapters of that book (which is AWESOME so far btw!) into practice at lunch with a ‘balanced’ meal:
Veggies (broccoli+mushrooms): check. Carbs (spelt flakes): check. Protein (‘Cheezy scrambled tofu’ and more nutritional yeast in the spelt flakes): check.
aera
Dessert was Averie’s amazing ‘Raw Vegan Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding’. 
I did a little happy dance at all the goodness there. GEEK.
Not to mention it tasted SO yummy!!
thrs
I then headed off to central London! Being a geek, I went to spend some quality time in Europe’s largest bookstore (Waterstone’s Piccadilly). I almost fainted when I saw the HUGE section of vegetarian and vegan cookbooks!
About half of them!
EVERYTHING I had ever clicked ‘Add to Wishlist’ on Amazon was right there. Being a geek, I counted the vegan cookbooks. 31. New record.
I couldn’t leave that section empty handed. Especially when I saw Lindsay’s book! I’ve been reading her blog forever, and I was reminded of it after seeing that Freya had bought it in her post yesterday. So I got it too! 
It was this recipe that had me:
Single-Serving Brownie?! Hell YES!
I then went to check out the running section. And fainted in awe. Hence no photo of that gloriousness! I did take a stack of books though and sat on the floor and read them, because I’d already spent all my money. WHAT a geek. And said geek WILL be returning on Friday to drool over the books some more!
5era
The Geek headed next to Whole Foods. Because The Geek can’t manage to not go there after 2 days apart apparently. Only THIS time it wasn’t for food, it was for the Sports Nutrition talk!
It. Was. Brilliant.
It was a lovely small group of us (only 13!) in a little room with comfy chairs. Oh, and they provided food.
A platter of fruit and a platter of veg. Only at a nutrition talk! 
Got given a wrap too! 
And gave us some snack bars to take, like this one:
Bonus points because they provided ‘doggy bags’ for us to take stuff home at the end. Guess who made it first to the food?
Shameless.
grea
Because I’m a geek, I took copious notes.
Like I would want to miss anything important! I learned SO much (I NEED MORE SALT), and was totally inspired by the speaker! He did make one mistake though: he gave me his email address. Guess who I’m going to be bombarding with questions daily? 
htrs
Okay, so some recipes coming up tomorrow! Think hummus people, think hummus. The Geek tried 5 batches to get it right, and grew many, many grey hairs. Worth it though 
grs
Are you a geek? Are you proud of your inner geek or do you hide it away? I’m proud to be a geek. I think it’s cool (<—GEEK!)
gera
What books are on your Wish List? I have SO many! Including Run Faster, The Thrive Diet, and Vegan Cookies Invade your Cookie Jar. Says a lot about me really!
gre
And did you notice a change to the recipe I posted? I posted the nutritional stats after an email I got requesting the calorie counts for my recipes. What do you think- stats or no stats? I’m not a calorie counter, but I appreciate that some people might want to know, and I do like knowing the protein and stuff…so I’m mixed!!
grea
Sorry for the ridiculously long post! The Geek needed to express herself eloquently! Have a great week friends!!
