What my bag says about me

Hi blog friends! Hope you have all enjoyed the last day of August. I started my day with the return of an old friend – Davina McCall in the form of Davina’s Super Sculpt DVD workout. I really enjoyed doing this DVD again. I’m going to add the additional 10 minutes of upper body work in next time just to make sure I get a really good session!

Breakfast was a bowl of fresh blueberries and a chopped nectarine with some jumbo oats, full fat Greek yoghurt, a tablespoon of sunflower and pumpkin seeds plus some local honey comb.

Just delicious, I love Greek yoghurt with honey and blueberries – one of my favourite combos!

I had a really busy morning at work and didn’t get to eat my lunch until well past 1pm so I was starving! I had a simple chicken salad (my body was craving something simple and free from too many carbs after the barbeque and cake yesterday!) containing a shredded chicken breast with a good bit of pepper, oak smoked chilli and paprika grounded over it plus cucumber, red pepper, spring onion, cos lettuce and spinach. I added a squeeze of lemon juice over the top. I also had a tub of strawberries and blackberries.

Simple and delicious.

Later this afternoon I had some caramelised onion hummus with carrot and sugar snap peas for dipping.

For dinner I was inspired by this recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi for Fried Cauliflower with Tahini. This is my healthier version!

Stir Fried Cauliflower with Tahini Dressing (serves 2)

• 1 head of cauliflower chopped into small florets
• 6 spring onions sliced lengthways
• 1 tablespoon of oil
• 1 tablespoon of light tahini
• 2 tablespoons of Total Full Fat Greek Yoghurt
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1 tablespoon of fresh chopped mint
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
• 2 cloves of garlic crushed
• water
• Salad to serve

Start by making the dressing: mix the tahini, yoghurt, crushed garlic, lemon juice, mint and cumin together in a bowl. Slowly add water to the mixture until it has the same consistency as single cream. Heat the oil in a wok and stir fry the cauliflower for 5 – 10 minutes over a high heat until starting to brown. Add the spring onion and continue to stir fry for another couple of minutes. Toss the stir fried cauliflower and spring onion in the dressing then serve with a big salad.

My salad included spinach, cos lettuce, cucumber and sugar snap peas. This was very tasty and filling. The tahini and garlic flavour was quite strong so you could half the amount of these ingredients if needed. I loved the middle eastern flavours in this recipe too. As the cauliflower was stir fried instead of deep fried this makes it a much healthier version than the original recipe.

For desert I had a chopped apple and two chopped figs with 2 tablespoons of muesli and soy milk

In last nights blog post I mentioned that I would be tidying out my handbag to start using my new autumn winter one. Here’s a quick snap shot of what I carry around with me everyday.

Umbrella, digital camera in case, note book, current book I’m reading (I’ve been trying to finish Eat, Pray, Love for months!), Celia Burtwell fold up bag, iPhone and case, little tin containing green tea bags, headphones, keys, purse (green leather from Dune), mini make up bag containing mirror, philosophy hand cream, korres wild rose lip butter, mini paul smith perfume, mini hair brush, kirby grips and hair tie. My hand bag was from TKmaxx. Its nice and big so that I can fit my work files and net book in when I’m working.

I think the contents of our bag says so much about us. I love the work of Nathalie Lecroc who paints ‘portraits’ of womens bags like this:

So beautiful, I would love to have one done for me! Apart from the usual purse, keys, phone what essential items do you carry in your bag? People usually think I’m crazy for carrying green teas bags around with me!

Before I go I was tagged by the delightful Becky to answer these questions about myself:

1. What is your favourite recipe website? – I love blogs for finding recipes but my favourite single website is the Guardian Recipe Search. Lots of interesting recipes such as the Stir Fried Cauliflower I made for dinner.

2. What are your fitness ambitions? – My current fitness ambition is to complete my first half marathon in under 2 and a half hours (secretly I’m hoping for under 2hrs15 but I don’t want to pressure myself).

3. And what are your non-fitness ambitions? – I still want to do more travelling and eventually start a family. I would love to explore opportunities to work for myself doing freelance work – either related to my work in the community and voluntary sector or writing articles on healthy living topics.

4. What made you start your blog? – I started my blog to help me stay on track with my health and fitness goals after I’d lost some weight. I also wanted a space to be able to talk about the things I’m passionate about – healthy food, fitness, fashion and style!

5. What are your guilty pleasures? – Singing loudly to Madonna in my car on the way to work, listening to disco music while I clean my flat and watching comedies with Seth Rogen over and over again!

6. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would that be and why? – This is such a tough one! I have two places I would love to live. No 1 would be New York City. I visited a couple of years ago and I just loved everything about the place, especially the shopping and the food! No 2 would be Brighton on the south coast of England. I just adore this town, I love the shops and cafes, the architecture, culture and being near the seaside.

 
7. What is your motivation for getting, and staying, fit and healthy? – My motivation has always been how it makes me feel both physically and mentally. I feel a million times better eating healthy food and exercising regularly than how I felt when I ate a lot of processed foods and didn’t exercise. The biggest difference has been in my confidence, self esteem and general happiness and wellbeing.

8. How would you spend a perfect Sunday? – My perfect Sunday would start with a light breakfast in bed with the hubby– probably a bowl of fresh fruit. Then I would get ready (in a lovely outfit of course!) and head into town for a look around the quayside market followed by stopping at a cafe for coffee and brunch. Then it would be off home to chill out with a good book and a pot of tea or perhaps some baking before making a lovely dinner and finishing the day with an indulgent bath before falling asleep in front of the TV!

Thanks for those questions Becky!

Tomorrow I have more goodies for review to show you and my favourite things about autumn. Hope you’ve all had a great day! x