wheatgrass - AnnaTheApple

September 19, 2012September 19, 2012

Sweet Sunday and WIAW

So last post I mentioned that I had very busy Saturday with lots of wedding arrangements and having lunch out with my mum and sister. Sunday was equally busy as well. We had our ceremony rehearsal at the church in the morning after the Sunday service, and all the ‘main players’ (ushers, bridesmaids, etc.) met us there and we had a dry run-through.

It was quite surreal and we joked all the way through it. Like my dad and me did a funny walk together up the aisle. People objecting to our marriage. Then when Ben was repeating his vows I kept winking at him or pulling faces so he kept laughing. It was very funny and the vicar joined in as well. It made things a lot less scary!

Then from there we went straight to our reception venue to go through the final details and timings. So I feel a lot more ready now. I know what’s going on and that everything is pretty much sorted.

Then came the fun part of the day; buying our sweets for our candy buffet. We looked in old vintage-style sweet shops but it was all a but too expensive (but I enjoyed looking anyway – anyone else get excited by things like that??)

So then we went to more cheap shops to get better value for our money.

And we bought just a few things…

Hehe. Yum!

And then it was a case of deciding which jars which sweets would go into.

This was fairly difficult as I didn’t want to open any sweets yet so they would keep fresh for as long as possible…so it might need tweaking on Friday when I’m sorting out last minute details.

The doilies are great! I love the vintage look. And the paper plates will be for cupcakes that my friend is baking me for the day.

So it’s going to be a plethora of sweet goodies…I’m so pleased with how it’s turning out! I’m absolutely the least creative person, so this is pretty good for me. I got all the jars from charity shops so the costs have been kept down.

And I’m chuffed with the table favours too. I bought the paper bags from Amazon for like next to nothing and got some ribbon from Hobbycraft. Each table has a sweet name (like Jelly Babies or Liquorice Allsorts) and then each person on that table gets a bag full of that sweet. Top table gets a mixture of everything (win!).

So that was Sunday! Now on to WIAW. Thank you Jenn for hosting as always. Check out her blog to view what other bloggers have been eating (all very interesting!!)

As always, I’ll show you a bit of a mix of meals as Wednesday isn’t usually that exciting in terms of meals…

Breakfast is usually the same every day (apart from random pancake days!):

I mix about 1/2 cup of oats with 1tsp of wheatgrass and a sprinkle of ground flaxseed (a new addition!) and then unsweetened almond milk. Nuke in the microwave for 3.30 mins (stirring half-way) and it’s good to go!

Fills me up really well until lunch time (which is like a good 4.5 hours later!).

Then lunchtime [at work I usually have a tuna salad or homemade veggie chilli that I batch make at the weekends]. But I’ll show you a lunch I had at the weekend which rocked my world. Home-made hummus:

Chickpeas, lots of herbs (mixed and coriander), lots of minced garlic, lemon juice and a big dollop of tahini paste.

Then whizzed up in a food processor.

I had this with salad, chicken and one of my new favourite chutneys (Cheeky Monkey – banana chutney!)

Lovely. Really sweet and flavoursome, which complimented the hummus perfectly!

Dinner (from Friday night) was hands down the best meal of the week! Cauliflower pizza. The base was made with grated cauliflower, one egg and a big blob of goat’s cheese. I baked this for a few minutes, then added a tomato base…

Then I threw on lots of toppings (more goat’s cheese, chicken, mushrooms & courgette) and baked for about 8 mins.

Doesn’t look like pizza, granted (except that it’s round) but it tasted gooood and I was stuffed.

Snacks…well I thought I’d show you my every day dessert after dinner:

Two chopped apples (always chopped, never whole).

With the wedding coming up I’ve not been that adventurous with my cooking (there are quite a lot of repeat offenders) but during my honeymoon I hope to have some very exciting eats!!

Workouts have been fairly standard. I did manage a quick interval run on Sunday (2 miles) despite not thinking I’d get anything in. And then yesterday I ran another 2 miles and did some core workout. I can now hold a plank for 3 mins, woohoo! Abs of steel! *Cough* Well, moderately firm.

And outfit of the day [dress from Warehouse]:

Important meeting in London today, so the smart dress is out in full force!

Happy WIAW all! Happy eating [and viewing]!

September 5, 2012January 5, 2017

WIAW #6–Hello September

Hi lovely readers! I can’t believe it’s September. It’s just crazy how quickly it’s come around. September for me (and many others I’m sure) is a month of new beginnings or changes. School, college and university always started this month. And I loved that feeling of “what would this year bring me” and how I could make it better than the last year. Then when I left university it was when I started my first ‘proper’ job. Then it was (well, supposed to be) when Ben and I were to move out. Unfortunately the house wasn’t ready and we had to wait a bit, but it still felt like the start of something new.

But I also find September a little bit of a sad month. The summer is coming to an end. The nights are drawing in. It’s getting colder (in the morning especially). It’s dark when I get up. It’s fairly depressing. It’s only going to get worse…But let’s keep positive, people, summer hasn’t actually finished yet! It was boiling yesterday so fingers crossed it stays nice…at least until after 22nd September

On to WIAW. Thank you Jenn for hosting! And our first one for September! And the theme is ‘Good Habits’. I like this theme.

Soo breakfast…I’ve got a little bit of a problem…I’m slightly addicted to pancakes. I can’t stop eating them. The problem is though that they’re a bit fiddly to make during the week when I’m trying to get off to work quickly (bad times). But at the weekend they’re amazing. And as per my usual standard, I added a tsp of wheatgrass. Perfect green little pancakes!

I just love how fluffy they are and the blackberries just make them perfect.

And it’s not complete without a drizzle (a hefty drizzle) of PB2:

They’re not quite as filling as my usual hot oatmeal breakfast but they taste so darn good I’ll let them off.

And for lunch I’ve been cooking big batches of chilli at the weekend and then taking it into to work with me. I love cold chilli. Is that strange?

It’s always an ad hoc collection of veggies, like bell peppers, mushrooms, courgettes…anything really. And then quorn mince for protein.

I sprinkle nutritional yeast all over it and devour. Then I have a couple of Baby Bells afterwards and an apple. Really filling!

This was dinner last night. And it was sooo good. I was inspired by Meg’s recipe here.

I used 5 egg whites, half a sweet potato, sliced courgettes and mushrooms (they’re hiding) and a tbs of almond butter mixed with some almond milk to make a sauce. It’s a more healthy, but still very filling, version of pizza (I did previously try the cauliflower pizza but it took ages and this was a lot more simple).

It honestly rocked my world. I’m definitely having this again! Though you should have seen Ben’s face when he saw my dinner. *Sighs* He just doesn’t get the almond butter thing…or the sweet potato thing… Instead, I made him a tortilla pizza (safer ground for him) which he said he could “eat every single day”. I’m happy with that result!

I’ve also been using my brand new water bottle, which I love:

It’s got it’s own in built filter, how cool is that??

Moving on to fitness. I mentioned in my last post that I didn’t really enjoy my long run at the weekend. Now that I’ve changed to shorter, faster runs it’s just harder, mentally, to keep going. But at the moment I’m happy to be working on my speed and my strength training. I’m definitely seeing progress – I feel stronger, I think I look more toned. And, what I was most concerned about (and this will sound so silly), but I haven’t gained any weight. I haven’t changed my diet at all so I was concerned that by not running so much I might gain a bit of weight. But I haven’t. So I’m chuffed! Happier all round

And here’s what I’m wearing today. Nothing amazing. Just nice and simple

Cardigan is from Asda, plain white strappy top is from New Look, jeans from Top Shop.

Happy WIAW! Anyone else love trying different, healthified pizza variations?

Are you happy it’s September? Or sad summer is coming to an end?

September 1, 2012September 1, 2012

Three weeks

Oh wow I cannot believe that three weeks today I’ll be getting married! Or in fact, married!! I’m so excited. I really cannot wait. Everything is pretty much coming together. We bought our rings last week, and my engagement ring has been sent off to be cleaned and perked up. I feel naked without it! The order of services are off to be printed. The only last troubling worry is our flower girl’s dress (my little niece, Ellie). But I have a shopping trip planned for next weekend to get that sorted. Whew.

My workouts this week have been good. Though I was totally dreading my long run this morning. Because I’ve changed my runs to be short and fast the thought of having a long run just really wasn’t appealing. But I got up and did it. All 6 miles. And honestly, it was tough. Mentally difficult to run for so long. I just wasn’t feeling it. I’m glad I did it but it didn’t rock my world.

I set myself a challenge to run 6 miles in under 50 mins. And I ran 6.14 miles in just under 50 mins so I’m chuffed. Do you know what kept me going? The thought of breakfast. These tasty bad boys:

I’d promised myself pancakes on finishing my run. Honestly these hit the spot! Basically I used the same recipe as before but I added a tsp of wheatgrass (as you know I can’t get enough of that stuff – can you see the slight green tinge to my pancakes?).

And I served it up with some PB2 on the side:

I made the sauce thinker than last time so it was more ‘’dollapable’ on the side of the dish. Perfect Saturday morning treat!

So my workouts have been quite good this week:

Monday – 3 mile run and 20mins ab work (2.15 min plank, 1min side planks, 60 regular sit-ups, 30 reverse crunches, 60 bicycle crunches)

Tuesday – rest

Wednesday – 2 mile run and arm/shoulder work out (3 sets of: 12 hammer curls, 12 triceps kickbacks, 12 reverse fly, 12 bicep curls, and 80 dumbbell cross jabs)

Thursday – strength training (45 seconds of following: reverse fly push-ups, overhead press, dumbbell pull over, bicep curls, overhead triceps extension, standing pike crunch, sit-ups, torso rotations, high knee chop and waist pinchers – whew!!)

Friday – 2 mile run and 20 mins strength training (100 squats, 3 sets of 10 push ups, 3 sets of following: 8 bent over rows, 8 overhead press and deadlifts).

Saturday – 6 mile run.

And tomorrow? Definitely a rest day! We’re off to church in the morning. And then speaking with our organist to talk about our hymns and the possibility of my friend singing while we sign the registry. But other than that, nothing else has been planned for this weekend! Maybe a long walk with Alfie and regular chores. Oh and I’m totally addicted to watching Cutting It at the moment (British hairdressing drama from quite a few years ago – I love it. It’s on BT Vision…not the coolest thing to watch but I’m hooked). Anyone else…? No…?

Enjoy your weekends! Hope the weather holds up!!

August 1, 2012August 1, 2012

Summer…what summer??

Woohoo we’re mid-week already. Not that I’m living for the weekends or anything…And predictably it is cold and miserable once again. No surprises there then.

First off, here’s my What I Ate Wednesday (thanks again to Jenn for hosting as always!).

Breakfast, I had almond milk porridge but with my added twist of a teaspoon of wheatgrass to turn it a lovely appetising colour of green:

I heard that one of the benefits of wheatgrass was that it helped prevent premature greying of your hair. Now I don’t know how true this benefit is but after my friend (same age as me, 24) told me she’s been finding some grey hairs in her hair I’ve had a mini-panic and been throwing wheatgrass into everything. Silly, I know, but it doesn’t hurt to add it to things (like smoothies and porridge) as you can barely taste anything.

At work I usually eat a tuna salad or I make chilli and take that with me. I won’t post a pic as they’re fairly standard and I’ve posted photos of them before, but I will mention that recently I’ve been adding nutritional yeast as a topping to the chilli and, honestly, it’s divine! I’ve only just come across nutritional yeast so forgive me if I sound like a bit of a newbie when I say, Where have you been all my life?? Yummy.

But anyway, here’s lunch that I had at the weekend:

Chicken, onion, yellow bell peppers, courgette, mushrooms and full-fat Philadelphia Cream Cheese with a some Cajun spices to add a kick with steamed broccoli and soya beans. I love this meal soo much. So easy to throw together and just delicious. Really creamy and very filling.

And because it’s Summer Staples WIAW, [though it doesn’t feel like summer] dinner yesterday evening was a lovely colourful salad – at least something looks summery!

Feta cheese, haricot beans, cucumber, beetroot, tomatoes, lettuce and a drizzle of balsamic dressing. So fresh and yummy. I’m so into my cheese right now. I’m not a big fan of cheddar at all, but feta, goat’s cheese, edam, mozzarella (not melted) and things like that I adore. You can’t really beat a salad with how easy it is to prepare. Snacks have been a lot of honeydew melon…mmm.

Currently courgettes [zucchinis] are in season in the UK and I can’t get enough of them. I have them in my chilli, stir-fries, random ad hoc meals… and I really want to try that delicious Zucchini-ziki Sauce recipe from Jenn. Definitely a winning summer recipe! And beetroot. I really fancy making a beetroot smoothie – any ideas welcome!

Onto the fitness side of things. Not so good. I woke up Monday morning for my run really not feeling like it. When I stepped outside it was like winter. I wanted to put gloves on it was that nippy. Fairly depressing. Then as soon as I started running I knew the run would be bad. You know when you can just tell? I wanted to give up straight away. My only motivation for continuing was that it would be a waste of the effort of getting up early. I was already up, dressed in my gear and outside, I might as well just get on with it, you know? But I started slowly and didn’t pick up my speed until towards the end.

I wish I knew what makes me have a good run. Is it what I ate the night before? The amount of sleep I got? I just don’t know. But I was tired and felt my legs were heavy as I was running and I was in a bad mood.

Well, you can’t win them all can you? You’ve got to have a bad run to appreciate the good runs after all!

Here’s my outfit of the day:

The top is from Oasis, jeans Top Shop and the necklace is from Accessorize. You can’t quite see in the photo but the top is a lovely colour of greeny-blue. And it’s lovely a silky.

Oooh and I attempted yoga for the first time. I was supposed to do it at the weekend, but after getting myself all stressed out I just didn’t feel the urge. So I got up earlier on Tuesday and attempted some of the beginner’s poses I’d found on the Internet: Downward Facing Dog (to begin with I struggled a little bit to understand how I was actually supposed to be positioned), Warrior (love this one), Plank, Fierce pose, Tree pose (another good ‘un), Garland pose (not the most attractive of positions I must admit), and the Boat pose. I hope to get better at doing them, then hold them for longer and then move on to more tricky ones. Baby steps. But not bad for my first crack at it!

Happy WIAW, hope you all had lovely meals

July 25, 2012July 25, 2012

WIAW – #3

Beware, I’m about to have a bit of a rant. Apologies in advance.

It’s so lovely and warm. The sun is shining. It’s amazing. Everyone is so much more happy. I get to work. I AM FREEZING. Apparently there is the need to crank up the air con to MAX and turn it into winter into our office. I look longingly out of the window at the beautiful sunshine and gentle warm breeze swaying the trees. And I’m sat with my cardigan on and jeans shivering. Shivering. I walk out of work in the evening (even at 6pm) and the heat hits me. My car is roasting. And yet I’ve spent 95% of the day shivering. Now I know I don’t have a huge amount of insulation going to provide some benefit against this, but that is not the point. It’s finally summer and I’m still cold.

OK, I’m done. Whew. I feel better now.

Sooo, WIAW. It’s that time of the week where I ‘enlighten’ you the fascinating (mildly interesting?) meals that I’ve had today (well, Tuesday). As always, hosted by Jenn from Peas and Crayons.

So for breakfast:

Yep, that is green porridge. I added half a teaspoon of wheatgrass to my oats before cooking them. It didn’t impact the taste at all which was nice. I’m really into my wheatgrass at the moment and want to get it in where I can. I might make a green smoothie sometime this week to take to work and put in the fridge. I’m just concerned that they might think I’m a bit strange with my bright green smoothie…

Does anyone else get worried about what people think of what you eat? I eat quite healthily and get a few comments about my lunch or snacks and it really bothers me. I hate people looking at my food and judging me. I know I shouldn’t care but it makes me nervous eating around other people (except for close family and friends who know me well enough). I hate feeling like I have to justify what I’m eating. There are always the questions about why I eat so healthily and how I don’t need to eat all that salad, I’m skinny enough. I’m not eating it to get skinny I’m eating it to keep healthy and because I enjoy it! I eat rubbish as well but not all the time. I’m very conscious of what I put into my body and I like to feel good about myself.

Anyway, for lunch I had some quorn chilli that I’d made the other night and took some in to work with me [Check me out being a bit more adventurous with meals!]:

This is an appalling photo, sorry. I was trying to take a photo on the sly so my work colleges didn’t think I was crazy. They’re not from the “take a photo of your food” era. This lunch was really yummy. A bit of quorn, a handful of haricot beans, chopped bell pepper, chopped courgette, diced onion, bit of garlic, chilli, mixed herbs and a tin of chopped tomatoes. This made two very yummy portions. Very easy ‘bung it all in a saucepan’ meal.

Dinner was even better:

Goat’s cheese, chicken, chopped pear, tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce and pecan nuts with a balsamic dressing. I am loving salads at the moment. And I’m loving goat’s cheese. And surprisingly so is Ben. Another win!

Throughout the day I munched on some apples (obviously), a banana, Snack a Jacks (I am literally addicted to these) and a home-made jelly. No pictures as these are fairly dull. Well, maybe one photo:

Ahh, perfection.

Here’s what I wore (yay summer outfit!):

OOTD (outfit of the day): top is from Forever 21, jeans are soo old (from Topshop) and necklace from Accessorize. Can’t remember about the bracelets – probably Accessorize knowing me.

And for my fitness… I did my usual 5miles in the morning. I’m pleased with how it went. It was a nice cool temperature to run:

Not sure why my Garmin showed a different view today. I only recently jumped on the Garmin band wagon last month so I’m still getting used to it, and to be honest I’m not sure how to navigate through it. I just jab random buttons and hope for the best. I could read the manual. That would be the most sensible approach. But that’s an effort really, isn’t it?

Hope you’re all having a great WIAW. I love noseying (sp?) on people’s meals