A few firsts

Well, my post for today was going to be very different from this one! It was going to be my standard WIAW post, but something a bit out of the ordinary happened.

Yesterday (Tuesday morning) I woke up, got up out of bed and headed to the other bathroom (which is just down the hall) while Ben was just finishing his shower in the en suite. The next thing I know I’m lying in a heap at the top of the stairs and Ben is shouting at me to wake up. I’d collapsed and fallen (part-way, thankfully) down the stairs! [Before I go on, I am fine and this story has a happy ending]

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You can see the knock in the wall where I hit my head. Apparently I was lying face up and out cold. Ben had heard a bang and rushed out of the bathroom to find me in a bit of a crumpled heap. I woke up very confused and very dizzy, my vision all starry and feeling extremely sick. Ben called an ambulance and I went and sat on the bed. They were round in minutes – I am so impressed.

I’ve never fainted or been unconscious before. And I’ve never had an ambulance called for me before (thank goodness). It was all very dramatic!

The paramedics were amazing – I am so thankful for how quickly they got round and helped me. Because I had pain in my back, they got me onto a stretcher and took me downstairs to the ambulance. [I bet my neighbours loved this]. Then I had an ECG to check my heart, which was thankfully fine, and my blood pressure. My blood pressure is normally quite low but apparently it was very low.

Then we dashed off to hospital. At this point, Ben had rung my parents and my dad was on the way (my mum was already at work – she’s a nurse incidentally, but at a different hospital). And then the waiting game ensued. I’m honestly so grateful for all the hard work doctors and nurses and other hospital staff do, but honestly, the waiting does suck.

We soon found that essentially, I was OK. My back was just a bit sore, no x-ray needed, and I wasn’t critically ill. Whew. But they wanted to run some tests and ‘run some fluid through me’ to give me a bit of an MOT…their words not mine haha.

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[Yep I am still in PJs!]

As you can see, by this point the panic was over and we were just waiting around to find out what had caused me to faint. Ben and my dad were playing on their Iphone games and I was just feeling a bit queasy from the concussion.

I was a bit excited by the fact that I had a drip. I asked the nurse if it was full of a magical powerhouse of ingredients to make me feel better. Nope, just saline solution. Clearly I don’t watch enough ER or Grey’s Anatomy.

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[You can see my boredom from the random photos I was taking…]

In the end, the doctor concluded that I had simply woken up dehydrated and stood up too quickly and due to my low blood pressure, fainted and unfortunately fell down the stairs and hit my head. So essentially, I’m fine. If not a little on the pathetically weak side. To be honest, I think the wall got the raw end of the deal.

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There’s a fun job for Ben at some point Winking smile

On to less dramatic but more fun things…food!

I won’t do much of a meal recap as I’ve blathered on a bit long already. So my WIAW post will be a bit disappointing on the food side I’m afraid.

On Monday night I finally made a recipe that I’ve had earmarked for ages ever since seeing it on Chelsey’s blog.

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I made chicken pot pie calzones (originally based on THIS recipe). I followed the recipe pretty much exactly but left out the celery. I made the pizza dough using a simple recipe I had to hand but unfortunately ran out of normal flour and had to use half chickpea flour which incidentally worked very well.

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I might have also been a bit greedy on the filling side and had to have a spill-over into some ramekins.

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But it was very good none-the-less!

Snacks have obviously included a lot of this…

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And a little of this…

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Delicious frozen fruit. It’s nice to have frozen fruit for a change as I don’t tend to gobble it up quite as quickly.

Apologies for the abnormal WIAW, but I didn’t want to miss out completely! I’m feeling much better now, if not a little stiff. Obviously I haven’t been running!

Have you ever been to hospital? I hope for nothing serious!

What’s your favourite calzone flavour? I’ve never had calzone before but this was a great introduction.

What Easter egg(s) did you get this year? Normally I have a milk egg but I’ve been loving dark chocolate lately so this was a wonderful change.

Spring is round the corner – WIAW

Hello! And what a beautiful week it’s turning out to be. The sun is shining and it definitely feels like spring.

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I just love this time of year. There’s a lot of hopeful feelings of summer being around the corner. Waiting for that one blissful week of the year in British weather where the sun peaks out behind an overcast sky…no I joke, maybe it’s two weeks! Winking smile

Either way, there’s a feeling that winter is almost over and longer days and warmer weather could be on the way soon.

And to keep with a happy mood, let’s get on to What I ate Wednesday.

Thank you Jenn!

This is pretty much my usual routine for a working day in the office.

Breakfast is the same as usual. Eaten just before 8am.

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Good old oatmeal and almond milk. Can’t beat it. I tend to buy Scottish Oats because for some reason they always turn out a bit thicker and stodgier than normal plain rolled oats with the same volume of oats (so more almond milk is needed, yum).

I try to make sure breakfast is one of the last things I do before I start my ‘wonderful’ commute to work. I don’t like eating too early in the morning if I can avoid it as otherwise come midday I’m starving. This is the case even if I run in the morning. I know some people say you shouldn’t run on an empty stomach but honestly I a) couldn’t stomach breakfast at 6am or before, or b) don’t have time to eat breakfast and then digest properly before running. Plus how good does breakfast taste after working out? Open-mouthed smile

Lunchtime at work usually happens 12.30-1pm. I don’t have a snack in between breakfast and lunch, just black coffee and peppermint tea. Last week I mentioned feeling really hungry and needing more food. I experimented a bit and have come to the shocking conclusion that maybe a good old fashioned sandwich would be the ticket (sarcasm alert). I did try those bread thins last week and beefed out a bit on the filling but I think that was missing the point…whoops. They really weren’t that filling (shocking, I know).

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So in said sandwich is turkey, cream cheese and salad. With a side portion of more salad. Just because. Alongside this I also have a beasty fruit salad. Definitely been feeling better after this. I do love my salads but I love running fast more Smile

Snackage in the afternoons at work is usually some chopped carrots (to the delight of those nearby my desk), a banana and an apple. And more coffee and herbal tea.

Herbal tea

Honestly, I drink so much throughout the day I’m up and down all the time either getting more drinks or going to the loo. People will start talking…

Dinner: there is no denying that the first thing I want to do when I get in from work is EAT. But Alfie needs to be walked if Ben hasn’t got back from work before me and comfy clothes need to be put on. Occasionally some jobs are done, like putting washing on and general tidying but usually we’re fairly ship-shape and dinner is on the agenda pretty quickly. So dinner is usually 7.30pm. This is dinner from Monday night.

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This is what I like to call Single Anna’s Dinner. No Ben hasn’t left me, he was away in London. Essentially that meant that I could eat whatever I fancied without fear of the Healthy Food Alarm going off (aka Ben). Anything too healthy and he runs a mile. It doesn’t look great but it tasted pretty darn amazing and used up a lot of veg that needed consuming.

In the mix was salad, cucumber, beets, tomatoes, chopped plumb, roasted veg (1/4 bell pepper, 1/4 zucchini, couple of mushrooms, sweet potato, butternut squash), chickpeas, half an avocado and breathe. Hmm, yes quite a bit. I think Ben’s head would have exploded.

And last night I had one of my favourites:

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Chicken paprika with grated sweet potato. I love this meal but I really, really hate grating sweet potato. Seriously one of the most annoying tasks. Ridiculously strenuous as well on my arm! And then I’m always finding tiny flecks of sweet potato about the place afterwards. Grr.

Pudding is my usual two apples chopped. And then later I always tend to have a packet of Snack a Jacks…

Snack a jacks

…and a couple of squares of Lindt Mint Intense dark chocolate:

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(Old photo: it’s the top one…obviously)

There’s something about an evening that just requires chocolate. I feel sad when dinner is over…I just need that little something else before going to bed. Bliss.

So that’s my day…hope you enjoyed! Smile

If you exercise in the morning, do you eat breakfast before or after?

What’s your favourite sandwich filling?

Fruit coconut curry – WIAW

Hello! And to all my fellow Brits, I hope you’re experiencing the lovely sunshine like we are here in the South. Though it’s still fairly crisp and chilly, it’s just lovely to have those rays! However, does anyone else experience static hair in the cold? I’m a girl with quite a bit of hair and seriously, it’s not cool. All I have to do is touch it and it goes crazy. Any advice is much appreciated!

Speaking of hair, I finally got my hair cut over the weekend. After 5 months!! Here’s my before photo:

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And my after photo:

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Yep a huge amount of difference. Not. Hence why I don’t go for ages…[Also, can I just say that I am rubbish at taking photos of my self in the mirror. Seriously, there is an art to this and I have not mastered it. I feel like a right idiot smiling at myself…]

So it’s WIAW once again, how the time is flying!

Check out Jenn’s blog for more information and food envy.

Let’s get going. These are my eats from Sunday.

Breakfast: Since getting back from skiing, I have been having my good old fashioned oatmeal every single morning. Ahh bliss. No scary looking Bulgarian meats for me!

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I’ve been browsing online and found some great looking savoury oat dinners as well that I really want to try. Ones that really appealed to me:

Gluten-Free Savoury Porridge with Bacon, Cheddar, Fresh Tomatoes, and Chives

Curry Oatmeal

Savoury Spinach Oats

I’d never thought of savoury oatmeal! Amazing. Watch this space…

Lunch: Lunch on Saturday was a random concoction. I was going to have an egg scramble with tuna (a very standard meal for me) but I couldn’t be bothered to open a tin of tuna (yep, I was that lazy). So I added a heaped tablespoon of Philadelphia cream cheese to my three eggs instead. And I also added chopped onion, mushrooms, tomatoes and zucchini.

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With a small serving of broad beans Winking smile The added cream cheese made the eggs so creamy. Really enjoyed this. Afterwards I had half a small melon (no photo sorry).

Throughout the day I enjoyed black coffee and my current favourite herbal tea:

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For dinner I wanted to make curry but I couldn’t make my mind up what kind. I had coconut milk that I wanted to use but I also had some dried apricots I wanted to add…so I just kind of threw it all together.

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I vaguely based it on THIS recipe.

Fruity Coconut Curry (serves 2)

  • 1 tbs oil
  • 1 garlic clove, diced
  • 1/2 inch fresh ginger, diced
  • 1 white onion, diced
  • 1 small carrot, cut into small chunks
  • 3-4 small mushrooms, sliced
  • Quarter of a zucchini, sliced
  • 2 chicken breasts, cut into small chunks
  • 1/4 can of coconut milk (light or normal)
  • Generous tbs. yogurt
  • 150ml hot chicken stock
  • 1 tbs. tomato ketchup
  • 1 tbs. curry powder
  • 1 tsp. garam masala
  • 1 tsp. chilli powder
  • Sprinkling of dried/fresh coriander

– Fry oil for one minute, then fry onions until golden, add garlic and ginger, fry for another minute or so.

– Add vegetables and chicken and cook until chicken is almost cooked.

– Then add coconut, ketchup, yogurt and the spices.

– Once all is cooked and hot, add coriander and then serve.

Really easy, really yummy. I didn’t have any mango chutney so I substituted with tomato ketchup as I wanted the sweetness and the tomato flavour as I also didn’t have any tomato puree. I added the yogurt to add a bit more creaminess.

We’ve also been enjoying balsamic chicken, tomato and mozzarella salads:

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Yum! We ran out of basil which was hugely disappointing as you can’t beat basil with tomato and mozzarella. This was with salad and roasted vegetables.

And Monday night, while Ben was eating leftovers from the party on Saturday (sausage rolls, garlic bread, cocktail sausages and tomato mozzarella bites…*sighs*) I decided to try a recipe I’d seen on Chelsea’s blog that I knew Ben would never want.

Sweet potato cooked in the oven, then mixing the innards with a tablespoon of cream cheese, and mushrooms and haricot beans that I’d fried together in a bit of oil and herbs.

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I slightly varied Chelsea’s recipe to fit with what I had available and this honestly rocked my evening. Really enjoyed this and will definitely be having it again!

Snacks: I have been a snacking monster this past few days. My hunger has been through the roof. I’m not sure why – maybe as I’m running more miles? Not sure! Anyway I’m still loving Lindt chocolate:

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Kept in the fridge…so good. Such a satisfying noise of biting into it! We went a bit overboard on stocking up…

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Seriously, people, you have got to be prepared for shortages or national crises. Chocolate is a necessity. Fact.

Fitness: So far this week is going well in terms of running. I ran a 7 mile tempo run on Monday, a 4 mile interval run on Tuesday and today’s a rest day. I’ve got a 12 mile long run planned for this weekend which I’m strangely looking forward to. I’ve gone from the girl who was really worried and nervous about long runs to the girl who really enjoys them! I guess because I just run and there’s no pressure on speed or time. And the feeling afterwards is just amazing. Like you’ve conquered the world!

Also, on a random note…my mother-in-law has kindly said to Ben and me that she will buy us a camera as our wedding present but we haven’t a clue which one to go for or anything – hence why we still don’t have the camera yet we got married last year! Any tips? We don’t really know the price range we’re looking for so I guess something that’s not really cheap, but fairly decent (but not HUGELY expensive!)

I’d love to take better photos of my meals (as one of my friends kindly directed me to an article online about how to take good food photos – haha lovely hint Winking smile). And it would be nice for when we go on holiday not to just depend on the IPhone.

Hope you have a good Wednesday Smile

Do you have days when your just strangely really hungry?

How often do you go to the hairdressers? Am I an embarrassment to the female race??

Favourite chocolate? Cadburys? Nestle? Milka? Lindt? Hersheys?

What I Ate Skiing

Happy Wednesday! Well, I am fully back into the groove of work after my holiday (if you missed my recap of my skiing adventures, check it out HERE).

As much as I love going on holiday and getting away from it all, it is so good to be back in my own home and comforts with my regular food. That might sound boring, but I love our home and our usual routines.

As it’s WIAW, I thought I’d do a What I ate Skiing post.

I mentioned in my last post that the food in Bulgaria didn’t rock my world. Don’t get me wrong, I fully enjoyed skiing and the whole experience of it, but honestly the food at our hotel sucked. We went half-board so got breakfast and dinner. On the first morning we went down to breakfast and it was a small buffet of strange fried meats, fried bread, really dodgy looking yogurt, cold meats and salad. Yes, salad.

Now I don’t want to offend any Bulgarians, but it really wasn’t me. I didn’t know what the meat was and it all looked very sausage-like, which I am not a fan of so I tried to play it safe.

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I had a piece of toast, two boiled eggs, some ham (I think?), jam and fruit and salad. Very strange combination I know but I wanted to make sure I had enough fuel for skiing later. Basically I was making the best of a not great situation. Maybe I’m really fussy but Ben wasn’t liking it either.

To be honest, the whole breakfast experience felt very canteen-like with people rushing around grabbing food and piling their plates high. I much prefer a calming morning and slowly enjoying my breakfast. This was not fun. What also irked me was that breakfast started at 7.30am, and as Ben and me wanted to get up and get out skiing asap we’d get to the breakfast room pretty much dead on. One morning we were TWO MINUTES early and the waiter looked at his watch, looked at us and then shut the door IN OUR FACES without saying anything. I mean, seriously, how rude is that? As I said in the last post, the hotel was shocking (food, rooms, customer service) so at this point we weren’t surprised.

One morning I was overjoyed to find muesli. You better believe I enjoyed a big bowl of this!

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But it ran out the next day and obviously they didn’t re-stock *sighs*. So breakfast was a bit of a dud if I’m honest. The first morning back from holiday I practically danced my way to kitchen to make my oatmeal. I am that cool.

Lunchtime on the first day wasn’t amazing either (sorry I know this is so whiney). It was all fast food meats and chips. Meat that was vaguely “beef” or “pork” which you just ordered on it’s own and then could order slices of bread or greasy chips. Not fancying this every day Ben and me decided to hit the local supermarket and make our own lunch to take with us. Not only was this cheaper but it meant we could have a tasty lunch in the snow away from the hubbub.

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I had a ham sandwich, some stolen cucumber from breakfast, an un-pictured Babybel (they had Babybels!!) and an apple. Oh and I stole some of Ben’s crisps each day.

IMG_3704It was great eating lunch sat in the sun on the snow. I’d have a diet coke and Ben would have a beer and we’d poke them into the snow to keep them nice and cold. Perfect!

We also treated ourselves to a more extravagant lunch one day at the more posh restaurant (you had to book). It was in this beautiful cabin with a lovely warm fire. They even offered us slippers to wear if we wanted to take our snow boots off!

IMG_3672 As we only had an hour to eat, we kept to just a main course. I had a pork chop with lentils.

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This was so good. The pork just melted in my mouth and the lentils were cooked to perfection. They also had warm bread on the side so we could fuel ourselves fully for the day. We thought it would be really expensive but actually it was surprisingly cheap (more expensive than buying the cheaper food elsewhere, but for a good meal out very reasonable).

Dinner *sighs*. Well I didn’t even take any photos of the hotel dinners because honestly it wasn’t worth it. When I asked the waiter/chef what one of soups was that was on the buffet table he shrugged like he couldn’t care less, picked up a spoon and swilled it around a bit and said “Um, not sure. It has beans in it.” Ah right. Thanks but no thanks. After a night of dodging some really suspicious bullets (seriously, all crazy processed meats floating in thick sauces and no vegetables), Ben and me decided to have dinner out each night. Best decision ever.

We went to a small, cosy tavern with some very friendly owners.

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So rustic! We got a salad to start. Now Bulgarians know their salads that’s for certain. The list of different salads was quite extensive! We went for a standard Bulgarian classic.

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Lots of vegetables and big chunks of feta cheese with a basil dressing. Even Ben loved this!

For the main, I had sea bass with grilled vegetables. The funniest thing was when I was ordering the fish the waiter asked if I wanted chips with it and I said no could I get the grilled vegetables and he looked at me oddly and went “Erm, no. You’re having vegetables to start.” I really had to force my point that, yes, I wanted vegetables AGAIN with my main. He seemed bewildered. Quite amusing. Clearly he hasn’t met an Anna before.

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So good and so nice after the horrible dinner the night before.

Another night we tried somewhere else and, again, I ordered salad to start.IMG_3754

This is a really bad photo sorry, but basically it’s lots of salad, the feta cheese (which seems to be a Bulgarian speciality), roasted mushrooms, and beans in a tomato sauce. Very yummy. Ben ordered goat’s cheese roasted in honey.

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Oh my goodness, this was the best tasting goat’s cheese in the world. Fact. I managed to snag a few pieces before it was gone in a blink of an eye.

For main I went for a Bulgarian chicken shashlik. This was basically chunks of chicken cooked on an outside BBQ with vegetables on a skewer. They brought it out on a huge wooden board and then removed the meat for me.

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Honestly, this might not look that huge but the pieces of chicken were massive. I was absolutely full to my brim after this. As yummy as it was it was a bit overkill on the amount of chicken!

We didn’t snack much at all during the day because we were skiing all the time. We did however enjoy some après ski drinks.

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Ben enjoyed a beer while I had a pear cider. So lovely sat in a warm bar while watching the skiers and drinking.

We also had some hot red white with fruit in the evening.

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This was lovely and warming. There were bits of orange in the drink which added a lovely flavour.

We also went to a little sweet shop in the nearby village (how could I not??)

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We went in to have a browse around and it became very clear we needed to buy something as the man was looking at us so expectantly. It looked like a pic ‘n’ mix so I thought we could help ourselves, but he took charge and I had to point at the sweets I wanted which meant he put HUGE amounts in our bag. It wasn’t expensive and we told him to keep the change so he threw in even MORE. We now have like a life-time supply of candied and chocolate covered nuts. Well, it was great to snack on those in the evening!!

And there was soo much Milka about.

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Yum!

So though the food didn’t hugely appeal to me in the hotel – breakfast was such a disappointment every morning and dinner just not our thing at all – we managed to find ways to ‘cope’. That was the downside of the holiday that food wasn’t particularly easy like it was on our honeymoon holiday in that we had to really search for good stuff. But in the end we were there to ski!

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As we are hoping to go back next year, we know where to avoid now!

And on an unrelated note. We found a Bulgarian Alfie in a little cafe.

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Aww, isn’t he lovely? So soft as well. Just don’t tell Alfie, he might get offended.

Foreign food: do you try the local delicacies?

Ever been disappointed on holiday with the food?

How do you cope with horrible breakfasts in hotels?

Confession time

I have a confession. Actually I have a few confessions. Nothing major. I just feel the need to get it out there into the universe. Then let the universe judge me, or something or other.

I am becoming an old lady (I hasten to add that there is nothing wrong with elderly ladies, I hope to be one someday – just not at 24!) Consistently now I have started to get tired at 8.30pm. And then 9pm I’m in bed. Actually in bed, pyjamas, brushed teeth, ready for sleep in bed. Now I have every intention of having a good read of my book to chill me out. However, I begin reading and 10 minutes later I’m asleep.

And considering I don’t get in from work until 7pm, this is not very good. Ben is no longer surprised. Alfie no longer joins me as he knows lights off is quite soon.

But you know what the worst part is? I love it.

I get a full on 8 hours sleep. *Drops head in shame* I am an embarrassment to all those hip young twenty-year olds out there. Judge away. What can I say? I’m definitely a morning person. I start waking up from 5.30am onwards feeling nice and refreshed ready to hit the ground running (literally).

Next confession. Over Christmas I didn’t really go crazy on eating vast amounts of chocolate or biscuits. I just didn’t fancy it. Now January’s hit and it’s like BOOM I just can’t get enough. And all the chocolate from Bruges I got is just calling to me. And I just can’t get enough of my favourite chocolate (which I put in the fridge for that extra bite).IMG_2779

And I have since discovered the dark chocolate and mint flavour. This isn’t good people. Well, obviously it is! Winking smile

I’m fine throughout the day, it’s just when I’ve had dinner and I’m chilling on the sofa and I get that feeling. I’m sure you’ve all felt it (if you haven’t, tell me your secret!)…that “I NEED SOMETHING NOW!!” feeling. And it’s never savoury.

So most evenings I’ve been scoffing it and our supplies are dwindling…but I will be buying more. Life isn’t worth living if you deny yourself these pleasures! I just need to work out how to control the beast within.

My last confession is a dull one I’m afraid. I used to eat fish twice a week – proper oily, omega laced fish. Rainbow trout, salmon, mackerel….but now it’s somehow been forgotten. I’ve focused my energy on chicken. I’m not even sure how this even happened! So to remedy this sharply, I had sea bass.

IMG_3406 I dusted it with some ready-made seasoning (a fish-specific one) grilled it and had it alongside mashed cauliflower with goat’s cheese (heaven!), roasted root veg and my favourite veg, broad beans. What a meal! The lightness of the fish worked as there was quite a lot on my plate (maybe another confession of mine is that I’m a greedy eater – it’s all about volume with me! Stack is high and I’m good to go).

Whew, I feel better. The confessions were nothing major, I’m sure you’ll agree, but I do feel a bit lighter after holding in all of that Winking smile

What are your secret confessions?

What do you love having a naughty snack sesh on in an evening?