30-31/01/10

30/01/10 - Rest Day
Totals are well down for this week, took more rest than usual because I was really tired and also hurt my knee!
Push-ups - 29 + some in the Bas Rutten workout maybe 30?
Chin-ups - 0
Pull-ups - 0
Miles - 9.65

31/01/10 Boxing - 2+ hrs
Warm up - jogging, stretching and dynamic movements - 10-15mins
Skipping - 6x2min
Technique work 30+ mins - footwork, angle changes, tactics in the ring
Heavy bag - 6x2min
Strength/power circuit 1min per station

• BTN Press
• BB Lunges/ Squats
• MB Slams
• MB sit-ups
  
• Resistance band Cross
• Resistance band Jab
• Resistance band Uppercuts
• Lateral jumps over bench
• Box jumps
• Military press
• DB Shrugs
• Upright rows

Cool down - 5mins stretching

Enjoyed the boxing gym today, it was good to get some technique work in and the circuit was really tough! Especially the jumps over the bench and box jumps, I had to giggle at one point cause the way we jump over the bench you jump sideways and take both feet so it's like a moving tuck jump, well a few times one of my feet didn't quite make it hah! The strength stuff was really hard too, my whole body felt like jelly by the end, the military press being the worst just could not get that bar over my head after a few lifts, it was only 10kg too which at the beginning of the circuit would have been a fairly easy weight for me!

How's everyones weekend been? Mine's been good, Mike and I are probably going to watch Angels and Demons later, hope it's good :) I didn't really like The Da Vinci Code but I think that's because I'd read the book first and the films never compare.. I haven't read Angels and Demons so maybe I'll like it better!

29/01/10

I had one of the worst workouts ever today! Did some boxing work with Mike

2 mile jog warm up
7x2 min rounds sparring 1 min rest
1x2 min pad work

I performed terribly in the sparring... Not keeping my guard up missing shots, taking way more shots than I usually do. I had no defences and my shots felt weak. So frustrating, I hate having bad sparring it really knocks my confidence. I guess I was already feeling rough about not performing well in the sparring and the pad round went terribly. I was going to do three but I cut it short after one cause I'd wound myself up about not performing well and got really upset. I've got a perfectionist tendancy which helps me work hard but it can be so detrimental at times.. It's so silly that I got as upset as I did but I'm putting it down to being overtired at the moment, I really need a good nights sleep!

I cooked Mike and I a good comfort food tea since neither of us had a good workout and were both feeling a bit down in the dumps about it! I made home made chips (fries for the Americans).. I did this by baking some potatoes I like to use Sainsbury's vivaldi potatoes, they're a little pricey but they make the best chips I've ever eaten... Anyway... I bake them in the microwave until they're cooked through then chop them into chip shapes with the skin still on, salt them, and bake them in the oven until they're nice and crispy, no need for oil cause I cook them on non stick baking sheets. With the chips we had baked beans and I had a quorn chicken burger, Mike had quorn sausages and eggs.

p.s. I promise I'll stop winging tomorrow I think I've done nothing but complain this week, I've had an off week - no more whining from now on haha

28/01/10

Well I had a really long day yesterday and I didn't get round to posting.. I always admire the bloggers who seem to be so busy but get so many posts up! I don't know how you guys do it!

I was up at 6am yesterday which is about 2 hours too early for me in winter haha, summer it's fine but getting up in the dark is just depressing! I was up so early because yesterday I graduated from my Masters of Music. It was a nice day, ruined a little by one of my friends being selfish but I won't rant on about that here... poor Mike has had the most of my moaning about that lol! So now that's done I'm doing some volunteer work in the hope of furthering my career towards a social work masters starting in September (if I get accepted onto the course). Hopefully leading to some kind of career in social work where I can use my music and also work with people with mental health, hopefully eating disorders as I think that's an area of health care which is widely ignored by the NHS and very misunderstood by many people...

Anyway I've wandered off on a tangent.. back to the workout! I was at university all day for the graduation, picture taking, meal and seeing all my old lecturers so even though I was absolutely shattered when I got home I was really looking forward to getting to the boxing gym! Especially as said selfish friend had irritated me, nothing better than punching a bag when you're annoyed!

Boxing Gym Warm up - 10 minutes jogging and dynamic movements

Skipping - 6 x 2

Heavy bag - 8 x 2

Circuit - 20s each station

DB Shrugs
Push ups
Full Jumping Jacks
Upright rows
Leg raises
Bench dips
DB Punches
Box step ups
Mountain climbers
MB Slams
Sit ups with a twist
Barbell press

x 2 trips (60s between the first and second trip through the circuit)

Cool down - 10 minutes

Training included 29 push-ups

It was soo good to get back in the gym. I miss going when I'm injured or poorly it's a major part of my routine!

27/01/10

Today Mike and I did a 30 minute workout cd from ex MMA fighter Bas Rutten. It's a boxing/conditioning mixed workout . It was really good fun! It has stuff like shadow boxing, squat jumps, lunge jumps, push-ups, core work, neck work and finishes with a load of tuck jumps! It's fun to have someone just telling you what exercises to do and just getting on with it without too much thought but sometimes you hate him - especially when he goes from mountain climbers straight into push-ups.

25/01/10

So I went for a run yesterday with Mike and it was the crappiest run ever :(. My bum and thighs ached from the day befores lunges, I couldn't maintain a decent pace, I was tired, cold and grumpy! Mike did take the camera though so I have some pics of our favourite route! Here's me on the way to the bridge about 1.5 miles in, you can't tell too well but it's a looong hill, not too steep but you do feel it haha


The bridge, still ultra grey horrible weather in the north of England


Me again



View from the bridge


Over the other side of the bridge before we jogged over the other side... I can't say ran it was definately jogging by this stage!!


My fake smile...





A raven who went for a walk across the traffic part of the bridge, we saw a car go right near it and he didn't fly off, they must be used to them!


I really struggled with this jog, my legs really hurt for most of it and I was too cold, I'd worn clothes for a faster pace really but couldn't keep it up. On the way back down the hill my knee really hurt all of a sudden so I stopped and stretched it out and decided it was ok to carry on but after a few hundred metres I realised it wasn't a good idea to carry on so I had to stop. I hate cutting workouts or runs short. Overall a very blahh run. And I felt bad for slowing Mike down.
Overall we did 7.65 miles in 1.25ish... lost it off the garmin since.. A lot slower than the 8 miles I did last week but it felt a lot, lot harder.

My work capacity has been getting less and less over the past two weeks and I think I've burnt out a bit, picking up little injuries and the virus I had threw me out for way longer than I'd normally be ill, I'm still coughing stuff up it's been over a week.. sorry gross.. So reluctantly today I've taken a rest day instead of going boxing. I was really tempted to go cause my knee feels a lot better today and my chest isn't feeling too bad. Plus I'm feeling very fidgety having done very little movement all day!! I think I'm going to go and bake something to give me something to do.. not sure what.. any suggestions? I would have made those brownies again but I ran out of cocoa powder!

24/01/10

I did the strength routine I've been working on again today.. think I've figured out the weights and reps now, can probably go up in weight on some exercises the week after next. I'll be back at the boxing gym on Tuesday, I cannot wait! I really miss going when I'm poorly or injured! I would go back tomorrow but Mike is still injured with his rib so I said I'd wait for him and go on Tuesday together...We're going to go for a run tomorrow instead. Maybe I can pursuade him to take the camera this time :)

Is anyone else addicted to Glee? They've just started showing it in the UK, on to ep3, love it haha I've just downloaded Don't stop believing to listen to when I'm running...geek...

AM - Strength
Dumbbell clean and press 7.5kg 2x8
Dumbbell bent over row 12.5kg 2x8
Dumbbell bench press 7.5kg 2x6
Dumbbell lunges 22kg 2x12
Dumbbell curl 6kg 2x6
Dumbbell wrist curls 5kg 6x10
Dumbbell reverse wrist curls 1kg 2x30
Dumbbell uneven wrist curls 0.5kg 3x20

23/01/10

Rest Day
I was so ready for a rest day again, despite being ill and missing some training.. I'm still getting over whatever I had my breathing during workouts is not normal yet it's been over a week I hope it hurries up and goes away soon!

Weekly totals.
Miles - 14.63
Push-ups - 130
Pull-ups - 0
Chin-ups - 15

22/01/10

Well I'm looking forward to my rest day tomorrow! I only worked out once today in the morning, I'm definately ready for a rest. My legs feel a lot better than I expected them to today after yesterdays long run and having run two days in a row which I don't often do with boxing training as well.

GPP

• 10 Burpees
• 5 Push-ups
• 10 Squats
• 100 High knee dumbell press

x 10 rounds

I completed this in 18.22, the high knee dumbell presses were surprisingly tough and I definately felt a lot of fatigue in my legs during the workout!

I followed this workout with 20 minutes of continuous core work with Mike, he's injured the cartilidge between his ribs and a lot of core work triggers the injury so the core work was mainly planks and leg raises - my least favourite core work but the two exercises which don't agravate the injury!! Tough!

I made these brownies for us tonight, they were really nice :) the original recipe is here but I've posted the recipe we made here we changed a few things such as halving the butter and subbing applesauce and using xlitol instead of sugar and less of it. We also used less cocoa powder as some of the comments suggested and they were definately chocolatey enough.

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1/4 cup applesauce
  
• 1 and 1/3cups xylitol (instead of 2 cups sugar!)
  
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup wholewheat flour
  
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Line one 9x13 inch pan with greased parchment paper.
2. Combine the wet ingredients, then add the cocoa and lastly the flour, don't overmix. It should be very thick and sticky.
3. Spread mixture into the prepared pan. Bake at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

I'll probably post some pictures tomorrow but it's too dark now and they will look rubbish if I take them now!

21/01/10

AM - Humber bridge run

[Image source]

Today I went for my longest run yet.. 8 miles from my house going over the humber bridge and back again, was going to take my camera but it was too tight in my trouser pocket. I ran with Mike today, he was doing cardiac output so it was faster than my cardiac output pace and he was wearing the garmin so no HR info... I really want my own garmin! Believe it or not the weather today was a lot drearier looking than on that picture.. it's been so grey in England lately, or in hull at least. It was nice to run with Mike instead of just me and my headphones for a change, we do a lot of boxing specific training together but rarely run together as his pace is over 2 minutes faster than mine so it just doesn't work unless we're doing sprints or intervals on a track or field.

Stats
8.1 miles
1:23:18
average pace 10.24

PM
Chin-ups - 10

Diamond push-ups x5
Push-ups x10
Wide push-ups x10
Knuckle push-ups x5

Neck bridges 2x10

20/01/10

AM
I went for a cardiac output run today, it felt better than the last time as I was able to maintain a faster pace. That meant it was a lot less boring and annoying as the garmin was not beeping at me to slow down so often! I've decided that Tchaikovsky is no good to listen to on cardiac output runs! As soon as I started to listen to Tchaikovsky my garmin started beeping, I must just enjoy his music too much! It was a fairly nice jog for the most part but I saw a dead squirel whilst I was jogging and it was really upsetting. I can't get the image out of my head..

I tried to maintain a steady pace throughout the run except for a 1-2minute walk when I bumped into someone I used to box with. I also decided to sprint the end of the run, I started running at about 5.9 miles.. A bit of a screw up on my part, Mike and I moved house last October and I'm still not entirely sure about the area, I thought I was a lot closer to home than I was!

Stats
6.53 miles
1:16:59
Average HR 153
11.51 pace

PM
Core work

• 40 sit-ups
• 1 min weighted plank (2.5kg)
• 20 sit-ups with a twist
• 20 crunches
• leg raises - alternate legs in and out 10 each leg - both legs in and out x 10

x 2

Push-ups - 5x10
Chin-ups - 5x1
Wrist curls 5kg - 5x10
Reverse wrist curls 1kg - 20, 30
Uneven DB rotations 0.5kg - 6x10

Allergy free cinnamon buns and other bits 'n' bobs

When I decided to try Angela's Skinny Mini Glo-buns a few months ago they were so good my cinnamon hating boyfriend smelt them cooking and asked me to try making him a gluten free, soy free, sugar free version... I'm always up for a challenge so I had a go, to my surprise, my first attempt was pretty much the same as the wheat version I'd cooked up for myself, and if you're not worried about being sugar free you can always ice them up! Here's my recipe which is based on Angela's... These would be cool for a children's party as they go a wierd green colour from the avocado!

Green Cinnabuns
Wet
1 medium banana
1 small avocado
1 T rice milk
1/4 t apple cider vinegar

Dry
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 T baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt

Method

1. pre-heat the oven to 205c/400f
2. blend the wet ingredient (should come to around 7 tablespoons)
   
3. sift the dry into the wet
4. form a dough and roll out onto a floured surface (I like to roll it onto parchment which I then use to roll it up as the dough is fragile)
5. take a third of a cup of date paste (made by blending dates with just enough water to cover, hot water helps them blend quicker) mix a generous half tablespoon of cinnamon into the date paste and spread on the dough.
6. roll up using the parchment and chop into slices
7. for extra sweetness sprinkle with xylitol
   
8. bake for 16 minutes
9. Enjoy!
   

Green cinnabuns and skinny mini glo-buns in the background


skinny mini glo-buns with green cinnabuns in the background


green cinnabun


Skinny mini glo-bun

19/01/10

Been ill since Friday with some kind of virus, had cough, sore throat, cold, still poorly but my chest didn't feel so bad today so I managed to get some work done, even though it was tough and I didn't feel like I could do as much as I would have wanted to... Still glad to get something done rather than another day of nothing!

Boxing

Heavy Bag/ Shadowboxing - 10 x 2 (alternate each round)

Punch out drills - 20s on/ 20s off - 4 x 2 min rounds

Tomato, vegetable and basil pasta

Here's some yummy pasta I made by reducing lots of cherry tomatoes with garlic, mushrooms and spinach, I then added mange tout, green olives which were stuffed with sunblush tomatoes, sweetcorn and fresh basil, yum, yum, yum! The pasta is wholewheat with extra protein from ground lentils and chickpeas. Fairly simple but really tasty!

16/01/10

REST DAY

Weekly totals.
Miles - 12.43
Push-ups - 237
Pull-ups - 5 (partial reps)
Chin-ups - 14

Chin-up totals down as I've been working on form from dead hang instead of 90 degrees

15/01/10

Didn't do much today, got a cough and feel under the weather didn't feel up to any cardio

2x5 diamond push-ups
2x10 push-ups
2x10 wide push-ups
2x5 knuckle push-ups

Isometric punches - Jab/Cross/L.hook/R.uppercut x 4 sets

14/01/10

AM
7.5 miles in 1:20:45, slow run but not quite cardiac output pace. Included shadow boxing, backwards running, running whilst punching.

PM
5 slow chin-ups in single reps

2x5 diamond push-ups
2x10 push-ups
2x10 wide push-ups
2x5 knuckle push-ups

13/01/10

Boxing

Warm up 10 mins stretching and exercising
4 x 2min skipping, 1 min rest
4 x 2min shadow boxing, 1 min rest
1 x 2 min pad work
4 x 2min heavy bag 1 min rest
Circuit with 13 stations, no rest first time 30s per exercise, 1 min rest then 20s per exercise
Cool down for 10 mins

(circuit and warm up inc 34 push-ups)

No morning work today, feeling quite tired, not quite used to working out twice a day yet..

11/01/10

AM
Tested max chin-ups and max push-ups. The chin-ups were done to 90 degrees so this week I'm going to work on getting my numbers up from a dead hang. The push-ups were strict form.

Chin-ups - 4 most I've ever done I think!
Push-ups - 23 could only do 10 2 weeks ago!

PM
Boxing

warm up - 10 minutes jogging, exercises (inc 10 push-ups) and stretching
skipping - 5 x 2
heavy bag - 5 x 2
shadowboxing 3 x 2
cardio room circuit - 9 x 2 (elliptical/bike/bike/rower/rower/olympic bar squats/front press/incl. sit ups/treadmill)
core - 10 minutes
cool down - 10 minutes stretching

12/01/10

AM
Minute drills

30s Burpees
30s Jumping jacks
30s Mountain climbers
30s Tuck jump burpees
30s Jumping jacks
30s Shaddow boxing
30s Rest

x 5 rounds

Standing ab rollouts 3 x 10

Farmer's walk 35kg - 2min, 40s, 30s total 3.10

PM
Neck bridges 2 x 10

1 Pull-up (partial rep)
1 Chin-up (pull up to slow negative)
10 Push-ups

x 5

10/01/10

AM
Cardiac output run

4.93 miles in 1:06:34
average heart-rate 151
pace 13:33

My pace for my last cardiac output run was 12.51, not sure why I had to go so much slower this time to keep my heart rate down. Maybe it was the snow? It was fairly deep but I'm not sure why it would make me slower since I wasn't running at max speed...? dunno! any suggestions welcomed!

PM
20 minutes continuous core work (leg raises, plank etc)
Wrist curls 18.5kg - 20, 15
Reverse wrist curls 10kg - 30, 20
Isometric punches - Jab/Cross/L.hook/R.uppercut x 4 sets

09/01/10

Rest day!

Weekly totals
Miles - 10.5
Pull-ups - 5 (partial reps)
Chin-ups - 31
Push-ups - 201

07/01/10

AM
2 mile light run, intended to be a cardiac output run as I was going to have the morning off since I was tired and knew I was sparring on the evening but ended up starting off a cardiac output run with my boyfriend but our paces were just too different so we had to do different things.

PM
Boxing - 2hrs
Warm up - 10 minutes of jogging, stretching and exercises (included 10 push-ups)
Skipping - 4x2
Heavy bag - 6x2
Sparring - 3x2 minute rounds 1 minute rest
Shuttle runs - 4 sets
Core - 10 minutes
Cool down - 10 minutes stretching

Really enjoyed the sparring tonight, it's the first time I've ever done a full fight length at the boxing gym and I found it really tough on the conditioning, definately need to learn to control my nerves, breathing and improve my conditioning before my first fight. Felt like I did quite well in the sparring, listened to my coach in the rest and tried to do what he was advising me and managed to start cutting my opponent off which is something I hadn't tried before. Good session

08/01/10

AM
Another Ross Enamait workout,
GPP #1

30s Burpees (different variation each round - regular, 180 degrees, tuck jump, max height, regular again)
30s Jumping jacks
30s High knee db press
30s Shadowboxing

x 5 ROUNDS (back to back)


FINISHER Tabata push ups - counted how many I did each time to add to my push-up totals, 12, 10, 8, 6, 5, 3, 3, 4 = 51

PM
Neck bridges - 10 forwards, 10 backwards

Isometric Punches 4 sets of jab/cross/l.hook/r.uppercut

I'm so ready for a rest day tomorrow!

06/01/10

AM
Cardiac output run
3miles in 38.24
average heartrate 149
pace 12:51

This run was so boring, I really hated running so slowly and I was absolutely cursing my boyfriend's garmin when it kept beeping to tell me my heartrate had gone too high, but it will be worth it if it pays off!

PM
Boxing

Warm up - 15 minutes jogging, stretching and exercises inc 10 push-ups
Partner drills padding punches and practising parries - 10 minutes

Then

Shadowboxing - 5 x 2
Plyo jumping circuit - 1 x 2
Lateral jumps over long bench - 1 x 2
Heavy bag - 8 x 2
Shadowboxing - 2 x 2

...17 ROUNDS.. blah!

The plyo jumping circuit and lateral jumps were the killer! I was so tired after these two rounds I really had to dig deep in the first few bag rounds. I'm going to be getting some sparring in tomorrow, really looking forward to that! Also getting booked in for my medical so could be fighting in my club's home show in April!

Push-ups ammassed during the session = 22 as there were some in the plyo circuit too.

05/01/10

AM
Boxing
6x2minutes sparring, 1 minute rest first round was light sparring to warm up
5x2minutes pads
15 continuous minutes tough core work! - leg raises, plank, side plank, high tension crunches, leg throw downs etc..

PM
throughout the night did..
30 push-ups in sets of 5 slow repetitions
23 chin-ups single reps

04/01/10

Boxing gym 2 hrs
warm up 10-15 mins
skipping 4x3 min rounds 1 min rest
shadow boxing 5x2 min rounds 1 min rest
heavy bag 5x2 min rounds 1 min rest
circuit x 3, 15 stations, 20 secs on each first two rounds, 15 seconds last round, no rest inbetween exercises and a short rest between circuits
cool down 10 mins

the circuit included 3 chin-ups and 38 push-ups

Didn't get any sparring in tonight, hope I get some rounds in next time!

03/01/10

AM - Strength
DB clean and press (2x8) 7.5kg
DB bent over row (1x8, 1x6) 12.5kg
DB bench press (1x6, 1x8) 6kg
DB lunges (2x12) 22kg
DB curls (1x6) 6kg, (1x8) 5kg
BB wrist curls (1x10) 20kg, (1x40) 17.5kg
BB reverse wrist curls (1x50) 10kg

Still quite new to the strength routine so I'm still trying to figure out what weights I should be using for each exercise, on some I went to light and had to reduce weight and on others I started too heavy. I intend to keep doing this strength routine once a week so hopefully by next week I'll have the right weights for each exercise.

PM
1 pull-up (partial rep)
1 chin-up
10 push-ups
1 minute plank

x 5 rounds

02/01/10

AM
Running - 5.5 miles in slightly icy conditions, only intended to run 5 but jogged the last half a mile home as I was freezing and didn't want to walk and get colder
5 miles in 45.33
5.5 miles in 50.06

PM
Isometric punches Jab/Straight/L.hook/R.uppercut x 4 sets
Neck bridges forwards x10
backwards x10

01/01/10

Rest Day
On my rest days I've decided I will post my weekly totals for pull-ups, chin-ups, push-ups and miles so I can see my improvements and make sure I'm increasing my running sensibly.
Miles - 4
Pull-ups - 5 (partial reps)
Chin-ups - 25
Push-ups - 156

31/12/09

I did another workout from Ross Enamait's books today,

AM
ICT#5

10 burpees
10 chinnies
10 squats
3 push-ups

amrap (as many rounds as possible) x 20 mins

I did 14 rounds in 20.42, the first 2 rounds I did the intended 10 push-ups but I couldn't keep that up as it's too close to my maximum so switched to 3 per round for the remaining 12. The squats and burpees fried my legs which still haven't forgotten ICT#4...

PM
Did 20 chin-ups over the night in single reps.

30/12/09

Had a good run today, went to run an easy four miles, was not running for time cause I hadn't run since the 15th of Dec due to injury and then icy roads and I wanted to ease back into it. It was also really cold, windy and hailed for the first part of the run.. I was so shocked when I got to the end and realised I'd managed to shave 2 minutes and 3 seconds off my previous time!! Really pleased with that! Thought I had just shaved 3 seconds off and was pleased with that it wasn't until I wrote in my running log that I realised I'd remembered my time wrong! Bonus! My time this time was 35.47.

29/12/09

Boxing - 2 hrs

warm up - 10 mins
technique drills - 10 mins
shadow boxing 3x2mins
heavy bag 5x2mins
circuit training - 2x5mins (10 exercises for 30sec each)

My legs still felt really sore today so although I kind of wanted to do some sparring I was glad in the end that we didn't as I wouldn't have had much power.. glad to be back in the gym and looking forward to training hard in the new year

28/12/09

Couldn't work out properly today, my legs are so sore from yesterdays workout I can't walk down the stairs I got some stuff done though.

Isometric punches - Jab/Straight/L.hook/R.uppercut
50 wrist curls (empty barbell 10kg - need to add weight next time)
50 reverse wrist curls (empty barbell 10kg)

then during the evening

• 1 pull-up (partial rep)
• 1 chin-up
• 10 push-ups

x 5

Had intended to add a plank into the push-up/pull-up circuit but failed under a minute on the first attempt due to my legs!! (ICT#4 has absolutely ruined my legs) Hope my legs feel better by tomorrow as the boxing gym opens again after the christmas break, will be good to get some sparring in if I can

27/12/09

I'm going to upload some of my old workouts from the end of last year so I can keep track of the years goals from the start of the year. A lot of the workouts I do at home with my partner come from Ross Enamait's books. Highly suggest checking them!

ICT #4

10 second pull up hold
10 push ups
10 upright band pulls

x 5 rounds

10 burpees
20 lunges
30 squats

x 5 rounds

21.02 mins my legs felt like jelly at the end!!

Finisher
held the maize bag for as long as possible (4.30) could have gone on longer but it wasn't tiring me out so I tried moving it about and dropped it!

Salads

I love a plate of food which has lots of variety on it! This plate had spicy couscous (shop bought), penne vodka (from vcon, homemade minus the vodka), roast veg, mixed seasonal baby leaf salad, and tabouli, everything was homemade except the couscous.


Penne Vodka


Roast veg and baby leaf salad


Spicy couscous


Tabouli (recipe follows)


Tabouli
My tabouli recipe is based on the one my local vegetarian restaurant cooks and doesn't have mint or spring onion as other, perhaps more traditional recipes do but it is really yummy, Mike doesn't like tomatoes and he ate loads hehe
1 cup bulgar wheat
1 cup boiling water
1 scant Tbsp lemon juice
1 small red onion
3 smallish cloves of garlic
3 big vine tomatoes
big bunch of parsley
salt to taste

What you do!
Measure out a cup of bulgar wheat into a large mixing bowl, pour over the boiling water, a teaspoon of salt, crushed garlic and a few drops of lemon juice. Next finely chop your red onion and pour over the rest of the lemon juice, the acidity in the lemon juice will cook off the red onion a little bit and take the edge off. This step is not necessary but I don't like a strong onion flavour so I like to do it this way. Leave the bulgar mixture to soak up the water for about half an hour and the onion to cook down in the lemon juice if you are using this step. When all the water is absorbed and the mixture has cooled add in your chopped up vine tomatoes and parsley, check the seasoning and add more salt and lemon juice if necessary, enjoy!

Mango, Pineapple and Strawberries = yum!


Closeup!

Pizza night

Every now and then me and Mike like to cook pizzas, these were vegan made on a wholemeal pizza dough.

Veg ready for roasting (in the oven at 200c for about 20 minutes then 230 for 20)


Wholemeal and yeast free pizza dough
Makes 2 mini pizzas (thin crust)

1cup wholemeal flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup water

Mix the dry ingredients then add the water, roll out into one big pizza or two mini pizzas and pre-bake the base for about 10 minutes just to help it cook, top with your choice of toppings and put it back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes until the base is crispy and yummy!


The topping station!
Grilled tofu
kalamata olives
sundried tomatoes
red pepper
mushrooms
not pictured but used;
hummous (me)
fake tuna (Mike)


The base with tomato puree, oregano, rosemary and onion powder


add some mushrooms


and sweetcorn


Mike added mushrooms, sweetcorn, red pepper and fake tuna


He couldn't help but lick the spoon (caught ya!)


Next up for mine was some grilled tofu


Sundried tomatoes, kalamata olives and red pepper


Almost ready for the oven (mine had a few dollops of hummous added before cooking but I forgot to take a pic oops!)



Roasted veg from the oven



Being served up by Mike, served with some homemade ketchup. We were going to have these with the pizza but someone couldn't wait..not me haha!


The kitchen was pretty messy by this point!!


Finished pizzas



Managed to snap a quick pic of Mike's as he impatiently waited to eat it!


And here's mine


Yummy!

Vegan penne vodka

One of our favourite meals is the penne vodka from veganomicon the first time I cooked it I had no vodka, I probably comitted some cooking blasphemy here, it's unlikely I will ever have vodka in the house, neither of us like it or drink it so I figured I might as well try it without. It was really yummy! Since I'd already ignored the recipe and omitted the vodka we decided to ignore it a little more and add spinach and sweetcorn to get a bit more veg action into the tea! It was really good and reeeeaaally filling!


This is the pasta we used, it's yummy and v. healthy!

Vegan caeser salad

from Veganomicon, with herb crusted tofu.. the tofu is really simple, just marinated it in a dry rub of sorts made from nutritional yeast, veg stock powder, onion powder, garlic powder, mustard powder, rosemary and mixed herbs. This is one of my favourite summer meals, the dressing is pretty low fat as it is made from mainly silken tofu and ground almonds, I quartered the oil the recipe suggested.

High protein truffle balls

Chocolate Almond Truffle Balls (high protein)
This makes quite a lot but my boyfriend LOVES these and is half way through the plateful (see background.. he's already eaten quite a few though hehe) even though I only made them on Monday! He also doesn't like them very chocolatey so if you're a chocolate fiend like me I would up the cocoa to 1/2 a cup

3 cups of chopped dates
2 cups of boiling water
1/3 cup pea protein
1/3 cup cocoa powder
6 and a half cups of ground almonds (1 and a 1/2 is for dusting)

blend the dates and water in a blender, I use a smoothie maker which is not great, that's why I use boiling water it helps the dates along!

When the dates are smooth add in the pea protein and blend until combined

In a bowl mix around 3 cups of ground almonds with the cocoa powder, mix well then pour on the date mix. Mix in thoroughly and slowly add the further almonds (2 cups).. the mixture should now be hard to stir and well combined.

Pour 1 cup of ground almonds into a bowl and drop spoonfuls of the chocolate almond mix into the dry almonds, roll into a ball shape and completely cover with almonds.