Pancake Day and Valentines Day

Pancake Day

Today is pancake day and I had a tasty cherry pancake for breakfast this morning that I had put in the freezer from the weekend.  Not quite the same heated in the microwaved rather than fresh off the skillet, but much faster and better that toast :)  

I make my vegan pancakes from this recipe by Parsley Soup but here is my Cherry Pancake version:

// Pancakes //

Ingredients

225g Self Raising Flour

pinch of salt
25g caster sugar
350ml soya milk

1/2 cup of jar or tinned cherries (I used left over filling from pies I was making)

Method

1. Put all dry ingredients in a food processor and pulse to mix.
2. Pour in milk with motor running until smooth.
3. Add cherries and pulse to combine, but not make too smooth
4. Transfer batter into a jug
5. Pour in small batches into a hot skillet
6. Wait until bubbles appear all over the surface of the pancakes, then flip them over and cook on the other side until browned. 

You can pop your oven on warm and then transfer the cooked pancakes into the oven while you continue making more.

This can make anywhere between 8 and 16 pancakes depending on how big you like them :)

Valentines Day

This is a super easy fun Valentines Day drink.  I actually found this idea years ago as a Christmas celebration drink.  The basic idea is that you freeze fruit juice and then add to champagne or fizzy wine.

I found these lovely heart shaped molds in IKEA and they are useful for ice cubes, melted chocolate etc.

Find a new fruit juice you like, dark coloured ones are more dramatic when they melt.  I went for pomegranate

// Valentines Drinks //

And now for my Valentines cookie fail!

With the leftover pasty from the cherry pies I made I cut them into hearts and added jam.  Well I should have made little wells in the pastry or something to contain the jam better because it spread in the heat of the oven and just went every where.  My hearts look more hallowe'en gruesome that valentines romantic!

// Massacre //

Happy Pancake Day & Valentines Day!

Hello February!

January was an amazing month and 2018 has got off to a great start!  In April, Kane and I will be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary (20 years!!!) and the traditional gift is china, so we booked ourselves a trip to China!  I'm so excited!  And flights to Scotland have also been booked for my nephew's wedding in September.  I'm so excited about this too!  Of course these good things all come with a price tag, so February will be about enjoying the summer season without spending any more money! #hermit #NoSpendFeb

2018 Goals

1) A Comfortable and Beautiful Home

Last Month:
I decluttered the bedroom, living room and kitchen.  So many clothes, bags, kitchen containers and other items got donated.  We sold the old kitchen table and chairs, so finally that is out of the house, and we have a few other items to list and sell.

// Sold! //

This Month:
I want to declutter the laundry and main bathroom and get two superfluous lounge chairs listed and sold.

2) Respect and Honour My Body

Last Month:
I lost 4kgs through counting calories.  I went flexible vegan, where I only buy vegan food, but I'm using up what I still have in the cupboards that might have eggs/honey/dairy in it.  Kane is staying vegetarian so he's mostly taking care of the non-vegan food ;)  I also subscribed to Headspace and I'm trying to meditate for 10 minutes a day.

// Vegan Waffles mmmm //

This Month:
I'm working on stretching and strengthening my legs and glutes so that I stop get injured running!  I was thinking about getting a massage, however instead of spending money I will foam roll and then have a relaxing epsom salt bath with a mud masque ... and a glass of wine *bliss*

Celebrate the Season

// Fresh corn //

• I love it when corn on the cob becomes super cheap and its so fresh!  
• It's good to get outdoors and go for a walk up a hill or take a picnic.  
• Our barbecue hasn't had much attention lately, but with a public holiday coming up we'll get more work done in the garden and then hopefully dine al fresco in the evening.
• I'm planning a special cocktail for Valentines Day

// February walk up One Tree Hill //

Happy February!

January: Meals, Miles, Books and Looks

// January Meals //

Meals:

I made some super simple but healthy summer meals over January.  It always seems that little bit easier to eat well when so many tasty vegetables are in season!

1. Tomato and Courgette bake: It's basically layers of sliced tomato and courgette covered with breadcrumbs and a sprinkling of cheese and popped in the oven.

2.  Bruschetta: Any tasty bread toasted (I've been really into Freyas low carb 5 seed loaf) topped with a mix of diced tomato, garlic, basil and olive oil.

3. Vegetable Fajita with Guacamole: Capsicum, onion, portobello mushroom, courgette and carrot all sautéd with a fajita or taco spice mix.  The guacamole is avocado, onion, tomato and garlic mashed with a little lemon juice.  Served with heated tortilla.

4.  Chickpea Curry with Rice: After soaking the chickpeas overnight, I put them in the pressure cooker with a tin of tomatoes, chopped onion, garlic and garam masala power for 20 minutes.  I stirred in some baby spinach just before serving.

Miles: 6.92km

I failed at my only goal not to get injured :(  I had just finished warming up and was taking my first few strides on the treadmill when my calf muscle gave out on me.  So I have been using the rowing machine at the gym and dutifully stretching my legs and glutes and slowly building up some strength in my glutes and calves.  I've now managed two little jogs on the treadmill and it felt so good to be running and pain free!  So my plan is to keep going with the stretch, strength and cross training with some easy running over February.

// Trying to make friends with the "erg" //

Books:

Reading got off to a good start this year and I read 3 books this month.  Ok, one was a short poem and another a book of poems but thy still count towards my annual reading goal!

1. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency - Douglas Adams.  I love Douglas Adams' style of writing, it's fun!  The book is fun and quirky and just what I hoped for.

2. Kubla Khan - Samuel Taylor Coleridge.  This poem and its author was mentioned in the Dirk Gently book so I wanted to read it to get more insight.

3. The Transient - Josephine M Woods.  This was suggested to me and I thought I'd give it a read.  Some parts felt too religious for me, but overall I liked the imagery of the nature around that part of England.

Looks:

I bought a new necklace that is a round lapis lazuli.  Lazuli IT is the name of my contracting business (named after my cat, who came with his name) and this necklace matched my logo perfectly!

In other slices of life, we are stripping off all the wall paper in preparation for decorating.

I'm making a big effort in decluttering ALL THE THINGS! I am a bit of a hoarder of jars and I reduced two packed full shelves down to this:

// I can't go cold turkey //

My new power tool, these alligator loppers, are just awesome and make cutting small trees and branches so easy.  The garden is finally getting a much needed tidy up!

If you've got any good tips or exercises for strengthening glutes and legs to stop me getting injured while running then I'd love to hear them in the comments!

April: Meals. Miles, Books and Looks

Looking back through my photos for April, I can't believe the Pumpkin Carnival was at the start of the month as it feels like it was such a long time ago now.  We also celebrated a friends 60th birthday, helped with the running of our big Lions Club fundraiser, attended a city bike ride workshop (in the rain!) and finished up the month with a great day of running and yoga at Wanderlust 108.

Meals

Meals took a bit of a nose dive this month and there were a little too many purchased meals and take outs.  There were a few home cooked meals in there though and here are some of them:



// Meals

1) Vegan pancakes with slices plum, cooked sliced apple, and maple syrup.
2) Vegan lentil and barley stew - I made a big batch and froze the leftovers.
3) This is supposed to be enchiladas.  I wrapped vege chilli in tortillas and covered with enchilada sauce and smoked cheese - it was really tasty anyway :)
4) Smoked fish pie with parsnip, carrot and kumara.

// Ginger loaf and pumpkin muffin mix

For the Lions Club fundraiser I made the pumpkin chocolate chip muffins again and I also made a banana loaf with some of the bananas I had frozen.  Both Kane and I love home baking so to soften the blow of giving all these tasty treats away, I made our favourite ginger loaf.  It's very much like the McVities Jamaica Ginger Loaf that is popular back in the old country.

Miles: 22.6km

Running has felt a little uninspired this month and most of my runs have been about 4km and half-hearted.  I'm feeling the motivation creeping back in though and I'm looking forward to a nice morning run tomorrow.

I went to 2 yoga classes and I've started doing sun salutations in the mornings.  I also did 6 strength training sessions and I really noticed the difference in my yoga.

Books

I read two books this month as well the non-fiction book The Truth About Style by Stacy London.

I finished Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell at the start of the month and I really loved this book, and it got me interested in the music that it references.  I found a couple of Spotify playlists and I made one of my own from these.

Towards the end of the month I finished Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.  The story itself is fine and it was a quick read but I found myself thinking about some of the ideas it brings up, especially the unplugged back to nature versus high tech urban life, long after the book was finished.


// Images from Good Reads

Looks

I have one "look" and the rest are life snapshots :)  My look are these red pants I got from Esprit last month! I am getting braver :)

Life looks are: Kane and I at the start of the 5k at Wanderlust 108 - that was such a good day; Me playing in the crunchy leaves I swept up on the driveway; Kane and I looking a bit soggy after biking in the rain during the city ride workshop - quick drying pants and a rain coat might have been better than jeans and a hoodie though!

// Life

Home-made Mayonnaise and Coleslaw Recipes

Last week while I was sick and home alone, I went to make a sandwich only to discover that we were out of salad cream and mayonnaise so I set about making my own.  I'm pretty sure the last time I made mayonnaise from scratch was when I was 11 and in the Brownies, but this is a very easy recipe and came out really well.

* * * *

Whole-Egg Mayonnaise Recipe

Ingredients:
* 2 Eggs
* 2 tbsp White Vinegar
* 1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
* 1/4 tsp Salt
* 500 ml Vegetable Oil

Method:
1. Using a food processor, crack in eggs, add mustard, salt and vinegar and turn to a medium speed.
2. Very slowly drizzle in the oil in a small steady stream.

You can then put in a container and store for 2 weeks in the fridge.

 * * * *

Yesterday evening I decided that I would use up the leftover quarter cabbage and mayonnaise by making a coleslaw.  Again, another easy recipe with all the hard work taken out if you have a food processor!

* * * *

Coleslaw Recipe



Ingredients:
* 1/4 Cabbage
* 4 Carrots
* 6 tbsp Mayonnaise (more or less as desired)
* 1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
* Pepper to taste

Method:
1. Shred the cabbage and then shred the carrots.
2. Stir in the mayonnaise and mustard and mix well.  Adjust amounts to taste and add pepper.

* * * *

// Home made coleslaw 

However, as I began to shred the cabbage my food processor made a horrible clacking noise and I checked to find that the shredding attachment hadn't seated itself properly and was catching on the lid.  I adjusted it and continued on shredding the cabbage and the carrots.  I then proceeded on with my recipe and then decided to experiment a bit more adding in chipotle tabasco sauce and cayenne pepper when suddenly I bit down on something hard and spat out a small shard of plastic.  I looked at the lid I had put in the sink and yes, it was quite broken.

There was just too much broken away that there was no way we could have eaten the coleslaw safely.  I wasn't very happy - the coleslaw was really tasty!

// Broken Food Processor Lid

Thankfully, I found a replacement lid on a website called NeedAPart.co.nz and I have bought from them before so hopefully that will arrive soon and I can use my food processor again!

The Great Pumpkin Carnival

At the weekend we went to the Great Pumpkin Carnival in Hamilton. 

We went to this for the first time last year (which I mentioned in this post: Weekend Recap) and had a fun experience but this year I wanted to take part in the pumpkin baking contest.  The clocks went back an hour at 2am on Sunday morning so I had the luxury of a little extra sleep before I started baking.

I made pumpkin chocolate chip muffins and they were barely out of the oven before we taste tested them.  We 'taste tested' a half dozen of them and selected the 4 best looking ones for the box before jumping in the car for the 1.5 hour road trip down to Hamilton.



// Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins for the baking contest

I love a good road trip and I love driving in the Waikato, the countryside scenery reminds me of home.

Once we arrived in Hamilton Gardens I went and registered my muffins.  There were 3 categories, Muffins & Scones, Pumpkin Cake, and Pumpkin Pie.  Then we wandered around to look at the pumpkins entered into the other contests.

It was very visually satisfying to look at the entrants into the Most Perfect Pumpkin and Best Mature Miniature Pumpkin categories.

// Perfect pumpkins

I loved some of the Carved Pumpkins and Best Names Creations and I think I may also enter into this category next year too.

// Carved Pumpkins

// Best Named Creations

// Pumpkins everywhere!

We took a break from pumpkins, got some tasty dairy free ice blocks and wandered around the roses and other parts of the gardens we hadn't been to before.

 

We had some lunch and saw some square dancing that was happening nearby - it's a different world outside of the city!

 

// Hamilton Gardens

We returned to the pumpkins in time for the Pumpkin Racers.  The crowd were quite enthusiastic.

// Pumpkin Racers

The giant pumpkins are very popular and there are two categories, Heaviest Pumpkin Over 200kgs and Heaviest Pumpkin Under 200kgs.  Tim Harris has won in the over 200kgs category for the past 5 years and his winner last year and again this year has been a record breaker!  This years winning weight was 789.5kg while the second place one was 260kg - amazing!

// Giant pumpkins

I was absolutely delighted to find my muffins had come second place!  I'd never entered a baking contest before and it was so exciting to take part, I never expected to place.  I'm already thinking about next years event and all the categories I want to enter haha!

// 2nd Place Muffins!

All the competition results are on the Great Pumpkin Carnival website.

Have you ever entered a baking or vegetable competition?  If you have any good pumpkin recipes let me know in the comments!

March: Meals, Miles, Books and Looks

I've really felt the change of season this month.  It's become noticeably cooler in the evenings and the clocks go back an hour this coming Sunday.  Motivation has waxed and waned and some days I'm running racing and eating sensibly while on others I barely leave the sofa and eat too many creme eggs.  The hot chocolate cravings and desire to hibernate are there already but it's far too early for all that!

Meals:

I finally bought the Le Creuset mini cocottes that I've been coveting for years and made and served lots of food in them this month.

I had my first attempt at making toad in the hole but as I was in the process of making it, I realised that I used the eggs that I thought I had so I used the egg replacer I had in the cupboard.  It was edible, but perhaps a bit drier than it would have been otherwise.

1) boiled egg & soldiers, 2) carrots & mixed peas and corn
3) toad in the hole, 4) macaroni cheese & broccoli

I upgraded my spice rack with some garam masala and cumin to make a kumara and chickpea curry as my last attempt using generic curry powder was too bland.  I'm pleased to say that the new spices really bolstered the flavour.

And as I mentioned in my Pi day post, I did make chowder out of the left over vegetables.  I blended half of the vegetable mix and added shrimps and some salt and pepper.  It made a really tasty, hearty soup that I'll definitely make again.

1) chickpea and kumara curry, 2) baked potato & shrimps,
3) mojito lime marinaded tuna and vegetables, 4) shrimp chowder 

Miles: 29.4km

A painfully low amount of kilometres this month.  I ran 2 races this month, which I did well in but other than that it's been a difficult month for motivation.  I've also done 4 strength sessions and 1 single yoga class.  Oh dear :(

Books:

I read 3 books this month to keep me on target to read 24 books by the end of the year.

Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn, was an amusing read.  I heard about this book over on Lisa's blog and it lived up to expectation.

A Deadly Yarn by Maggie Sefton is the third book in this series that's become a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine.  Books that include recipes and knitting patterns? Sign me up!

All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka is a short read that the film Edge of Tomorrow is based on.  I enjoyed the movie and I really liked this book.  It's a bit different from the movie so it didn't ruin it for me having seen the movie first.

Looks:

I finally got my jeans hemmed and I bought some new shoes and red pants that I've not worn yet but hopefully that means I'll have some new looks for next month.  This month however I've only got my silly outfit I wore for a St Patrick's day dinner and a head band that I knitted.

//St Patricks Dinner

//Knitted Headband

I love this pattern and its available for free on Ravelry.  I'm not the fastest knitter but it took less than 2 hours to have a finished wearable product.

Pi Day

//Image from forbes.com

Happy Pi day math fans!  Whilst I do like maths, I love pies more and I'm happy to have any excuse to make pies.

I love both savoury and sweet pies.  Back in Scotland they do macaroni cheese pies and rhubarb pies both are in pastry shells made of hot water pastry and they are so good.  You don't get those here so if I want them I'll have to try and make my own hot water pastry and I'm just not that brave yet.

Frozen pastry is what I tend to use in my pie making and I normally use puff pastry but sometimes I use short pastry.

For dinner I made a simple vegetable pie.  My aunt used to make vegetable hand pies that were the best and I've been trying to recreate them but I've still not got it quite right.  Since I've been really in to using my pressure cooker lately, I was able to cook the pie filling quickly, actually it took longer to peel and chop than in did to cook!  I diced up potatoes, onions, carrots and sautéed them in some butter then added frozen peas and corn and a chicken flavour stock cube in boiling water.  I lined a pie tin with thawed puff pastry, added the filling and sealed some pastry on top.  I gave it an egg wash and popped it in the oven.


Next time I'll need to remember to spray or grease the pie tin though because it was a little tricky trying to get it out!

Vegetable Pie

For dessert I made a blueberry pie using most of a bag of frozen blueberries heated in a pot with a cup of caster sugar and then added this filling to some more of thawed pastry sheets.  We served this with lemon ice cream and it was too delicious to stop and take a photo, oops!

I have some vegetable pie filling left over which I'm thinking about making into a chowder, not sure if that'll work but I feel like experimenting :)

Do you have a preference of savoury or sweet pies? 

February: Meals, Miles, Books and Looks

I'm so glad that I set a goal at the start of the year to find some balance between activity and rest because by the time these end of the month recaps come around I'm feeling really good about the things I've achieved without freaking out at time moving too fast, which was an all to frequent feeling last year.

I was treated to a beautiful city morning on Friday I couldn't resist sharing.

// Auckland

Meals:

Most of our clubs and classes have started back this month and we've been trying to settle back into a meal routine when we're more restricted on time.  I've been reading lots of cook books this month to get ideas and inspiration for fast and slow cooking.

// February Meals

1) Tofu triangles in a red thai curry sauce with rice

2) Lentil and potato curry with rice

3) Baguette pizza with rocket

4) Sweet corn egg flower soup 

Miles: 47km

20 km less than last month oops!  I've had 2 really good 10k races this month but my confidence in training and running a half marathon is wavering somewhat.  I'm still working with my online running coach but our focus lately is on a very hilly 8k that's coming up next month.  Perhaps I should just focus on the race in front of me and worry about the half marathon later :) 

I've also been working with a personal trainer twice a week during February and I've been seeing some strength gains.  My trainer is away for the next month though so I'm on my own again, she's left me a program and I just need to be disciplined enough to do it!

Books:

I finished Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan and I really enjoyed it.  It's a science fiction detective noir style story.  There's sex and violence and action.  I heard it's being made into a TV show and I think it would make a good one - I'd watch it.

// Image from Goodreads

I've also been reading lots of cook books for slow cookers and for pressure cookers.  I made a lentil and potato curry in 10 minutes in the pressure cooker (5 minutes to cook, 5 minutes to depressurise).  This is perfect for when we come home after ice skating and want something ready quickly.  It also makes leftovers that can be frozen for other quick meals on the go.  I haven't tried slow cooked porridge yet but I love the idea of waking up to ready cooked breakfast.

// Cook books

Looks:

The first photo is from the Hawaiian themed night at my Lions Club and the second is from Kane's Citizenship Ceremony.  Both dresses are starting to get a little loose on me now.  I'm pleased to be losing a little weight, but also sad that my favourite clothes are getting baggy.  I can't wear two of my favourite work pants anymore for fear of them falling down.

// Looks

Of course these bright pink tights I bought this month are in no danger of falling down.  I've worn them 3 times now.  I'm definitely feeling a bit braver with the bright pants in public!

 

 



 

January: Meals, Miles, Books and Looks

I'm so used to starting these monthly recaps with how quickly time passes that I'm quite surprised with how much time felt like it was standing still this month.  New Year seems like such a life time ago and I can't even remember what I did over that weekend now - was that when I decorated my home office?

Meals

Well I'm glad I took some food photos to share here.  I made vege lasagne which I haven't made for a very long time and I remember why - it's such a long process!  I also had a go at making aubergine parmesan which I hadn't made before and there seems to be so many variations on this theme I went with basic aubergine layered with tinned tomatoes and parmesan with parmesan and breadcrumbs on top.  I used a whole mango for the mango salsa and it made such a large amount we've had it twice and there's still heaps left.

Top Row
1. Salmon in dill sauce with potatoes and carrots
2. Vege lasagne
3. Aubergine parmesan

Bottom Row
1. Prawn taco with corn on the cob
2. Bean chili and rice
3. Salmon on spinach with mango salsa

Miles: 68.8km

I've been running with a group most Tuesday mornings and I have a good Friday routine and this Sunday we decided to try out a different route which has the potential to expand into longer distances.

I did one race this month which was a 5k - Albany Lakes Series Race 1 and did well for me.

Also, this month, I've had my first 2 sessions with a personal trainer who I've hired to help me get stronger.  I was pleased to find that I had good stability which I attribute to hot yoga, but as I already knew, my core and glutes are weak and I need those to be stronger to make my running better.

Books

I read Death of a Christmas Caterer by Lee Hollis over the Christmas and New Year period.  I'm a bit of a sucker for these kind of cosy mysteries - the ones that have recipes, knitting patterns, snow globe making instructions and such like.  This one had lots of winter and Christmas recipes and cocktail recipes.  There was at least one slow cooker recipe that prompted me to get three slow cooker recipe books out from the library!

The story itself was a straight forward murder mystery with plenty of plausible suspects and the lead character was likeable.  The worst part of the book was a scene of office sexual harassment that the author failed to take this seriously and it wasn't necessary to the story so I don't know why it was written in.

//Image from Goodreads

The second book I read was The Method by Juli Zeh.  I read this for the February SciFi book club meeting.  This is translated from the original German and it's a dystopian novel likened to 1984 and  Brave New World.

I thought it was ok.  I liked the stories premise and the ideas, it was thought provoking, however it didn't feel gripping or entertaining enough.  I think this could be made into a really good movie though.

//Image from Goodreads

Looks

My looks for you this month is a simple photo collage of life this month.

We've been trying to make sure we get our 10,000 steps every day and because its been so hot during the day, we take an evening stroll to get those last few steps.  One of my favourite views is of the sea from the street at the top of my street.


I took the photo of me to brag to my sister about our lovely summer weather after she sent me a picture of her in the snow, but I didn't send it in the end.  It was like a sauna outside that day - humidity is nothing to brag about.

 

I love spending time in my home office now its mostly finished.  I still have to paint my desk but I'd have to move the cat first.  I love having furry company, I should have got more chairs.

Lazuli doesn't normally rest his head on the coffee table but he does get into some uncomfortable looking positions sometimes, however last night he look so comfy curled up at the base of my pillow as I went to bed, I had to sleep in the middle of the bed and put up with him kicking me in the back as he stretched out more and more.  I am such a pushover for these cats!