Foodie block and recovery

Hello lovelies! Isn’t it chilly? The South of England hasn’t been affected too badly with snow but I know a lot of other places have been hit so I hope everyone is safe and not suffering too much with the chaos that usually ensues in Britain when it snows. And all those not in Britain but in other snowy places too! Where I work was dusted just a little bit but nothing major.

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Everything just looks so beautiful with a white overlay…

And on a snow-related note, Ben and me have booked our holiday to go skiing in Bulgaria for two weeks time! I’m so excited. I’ve never been skiing before (except at a dry ski slopes) so I’m hoping I will pick it up and enjoy it. We will have lessons as well though. I’m just worried as honestly I am the most clumsy person alive. Knowing my luck I’ll slip up just walking to the hotel and break something!!

But back to business. It’s WIAW. That lovely half-way point in the week where we can nosey around at other blogger’s food. Check out Jenn’s blog for more info!

I’ll show you what I ate on Sunday as this week has been rather boring and repetitive (halloumi salad again, tuna salad at work, chicken…).

So on Sunday morning I got up after a lazy lie-in and decided to finally crack on open the waffle-maker my parents got me for Christmas. I wanted to use up some pumpkin that I still had lurking in the freezer so I flicked through some recipes and then decided on THIS one (which I’ve previously used for pancakes). In retrospect the batter was probably a little too thick for my waffle-maker, but with my lack of waffle-making experience I missed this vital point.

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Hmmm, and this was the better one of the two. Doesn’t look like the waffle in the recipe picture does it haha.

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Aaaand here’s the second beauty. I have much to learn about waffle making I think…

However, despite it’s rather unkempt appearance, it tasted divine. I dolloped a big spoonful of Alpro soya yogurt on top and had a side portion of PB2.

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It definitely filled a hole!

After breakfast there was the funness that is household chores (woohoo for ironing and hoovering…not). Then Ben’s mum popped over for a visit which was lovely. Her birthday is soon and we were discussing birthday ideas which is all very exciting.

Lunch was another portion of butternut squash soup with chickpeas using my frozen coconut milk method.

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I am stuffed after this soup. Honestly, stuffed. I probably should make smaller portions…nahhh.

Lately I’ve been in a foodie rut; experiencing a foodie block if you will. I just couldn’t seem to work out just what I fancied eating. I love making new recipes and trying new things but nothing was appealing. Just the same old (dare I say, boring) meals were all that I could think of. Now there’s nothing wrong with cooking the same thing over and over if you really enjoy it. But I like to experiment and find new meals that I love. I also love spending an evening at the weekend cooking listening to my new favourite podcast Marathon Talk now that I’m doing Jantastic (thanks, Maria!). I find cooking very relaxing.

But over the weekend I got myself out of that rut! I made a two-toned cottage pie on Saturday night:IMG_3455

Half normal potato for Ben and half cauliflower mash for me.

Then for dinner on Sunday I tried out THIS recipe. As Ben and me aren’t huge beef eaters I decided to switch it to some turkey breasts instead so basically it’s balsamic turkey and pepper stew.IMG_3467

It was quite rich and very filling. But absolutely delicious! A heart, warming, comforting stew to commiserate the end of the weekend.

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If you’re a beef fan I’d totally recommend using beef as I think the flavours would probably work amazingly. But I’m just not a huge fan of the chewy texture. Turkey was a good alternative though.

My half-marathon training is still going well (I’m sorry if I’m becoming a bit of a broke record on this). I’m really enjoying the variety of runs and feel like I’m improving. My last run was Monday and it was a 3 mile speed run (basically I just ran as fast as I could).

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I was quite happy with that – especially as that was on a very cold Monday morning. Sniffing all the way, lovely.

I’ll be running at lunch today with two guys I work with so that should be fun. If I’m honest I much prefer just getting up early and getting the run done and then feeling happy for the rest of the day. I’m not a fan of delaying it until later. Plus, the shower at work is fairly rubbish.

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But running with people is much better than running alone! So I think we’ll probably do 3 miles? Who knows!

My strength training now comprises of a quick 20 minutes once a week (mainly to maintain my ability of a 3 minute plank – heaven knows how long it took to get to that point!!)…I know I should keep it up but with all the running and Pilates, I honestly cannot be bothered. Oops. Did I say that out loud? After the half I’ll get back into it but it’s not my main priority now.

And that’s all folks! Have a great Wednesday – it’s practically Thursday now surely..?

What do you prefer: running or strength training?

What new recipes have you been enjoying – please share!! Smile

18 Replies to “Foodie block and recovery”

    1. I think I wouldn’t mind strength training so much if I was at a gym, it’s just that when I’m in my living room on my own I feel a bit stupid and wonder if I’m doing everything right, you know? At least with running I know it’s just one foot in front of the other hehe.

  1. I’m definitely a bigger fan of strength training. Distance running just doesn’t do it for me- I think I get bored too easily. I do love HIIT on the treadmill, though! And your holiday sounds incredibleee! Beyond jealous that you get to ski for two whole weeks! AWESOME.

    1. I admit sometimes I do get bored running as music can only proive so much entertainment, but then sometimes it’s just nice to have that time to literally think of nothing!
      Sadly it’s only one week of skiing (but in under two weeks time) – I’d love two weeks though for definitely hehe! 🙂

    1. I wish I could enjoy strength training but I just lose focus when doing it. I like running as it’s just out the door and go, whereas I have to really think about what moves to do for weights hehe 🙂

  2. Haha your waffles!! Oh man. Thanks for sharing them with us! I’m sure you’ll get better with practice. I honestly know NOTHING about making waffles either lol I had no idea the batter had to be different!

    And I’m with you…..IS THIS WEEK OVER YET???

  3. Glad you like the podcast 🙂
    I love running, something I never thought I would say a few years ago! I find it versatile- it can be relaxing after a busy day at work, I get some fresh air, I can do some sprint sections of I feel stressed, plus I love having something like a race to work towards. Seeing the scenery is lovely too…
    I do love body pump too, but I would never do that on my own- I would put the weights down after a few reps!
    And how fancy having a shower at work! 🙂 I prefer getting it done as soon as I get home, but now I do the club run on a Wednesday I like to have a cup of tea and a little rest before I go out, and I quite look forward to that time.

    1. I used to do body pump when I was a member of a gym and I loved it. But on your own it’s just a bit dull for me. I get distracted by things in the house haha.
      The shower is anything but fancy I have to stress. It is quite small and a little bit grotty. But I’ll take it!
      I’d love to be part of a runnig club but I don’t think there’s one near me 🙁

    1. Good luck with the training! I think the yoga nad Pilates will definitely compliment and help out the training. And the strength trining is always good to help strengthen the muscles. But I just find it hard to push myself to do it hehe.

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