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!

Hygge Knitting

I found a nice pattern to use my North Ronaldsay yarn on that I bought when I last visited Orkney in 2016.  It's called the Bandana Cowl and its my first go with short rows. 

\\ From Purl Soho Website \\

The first two attempts failed because I didn't use stitch markers but on my third attempt I've made it passed the short rows and I'm heading for the decreases.

I find knitting quite therapeutic, almost meditative, and any excuse to cuddle with my cat on the sofa feeling cosy is fine with me!  The other cat prefers to go watch Kane play computer games =^-^=

// Me and Azzy cat //

I really ought to knit more often but I need to knit with a purpose, so I'm recommitting to knitting some baby hats for the local hospital and also knitting some hats and scarves for the local city mission.

Maybe now I can knit short rows I should give some hygge woolen socks a go?

\\ From Website \\

What's your favourite wooly item?

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!

The Second Run

Buoyed by success of running for 40 seconds I thought I would tackle the 60 second running of the couch to 5k program week 1 day 1.  I was surprised that the running portion was actually ok(ish)!  I didn't feel like I was dying or struggling to breathe so that is a form of success, yippee!  The walking portion was a little shorter that what I had done before so I really felt that I could have used a little longer.  Overall though, I was happy to have managed it and felt slightly challenged but achievable. 

I'm determined not to get injured so the plan for the next run is to do the same one again and see if it still feels ok.  I'm running on the treadmill at the gym because, despite it being hot in there, it's much cooler that the heat and humidity outside even at night and I appreciate the cushioned surface of the treadmill while I'm carrying so much excess weight.  It's also easier to monitor and adjust my run/walk speed and time to keep me honest haha!

I'm really happy and excited to be running again and I'm hopeful that I can keep this feeling going at least until I make it habit and not give up in week 3 like in the past!

Running – Starting From Scratch

So it’s time to get my health back (and get rid of some of this 91kgs), and my friends must have been thinking about their fitness goals for next year too when the email about entries opening for the Auckland Half Marathon popped into our inboxes.  So we’ve all decided to go for it and tackle the 21.1km in October 2018!  Now I can’t run the length of myself right now, so the idea of doing a half marathon is a big stretch but I am optimistic that over the next 46 weeks I will be able to make it to the start line prepared, ready for the distance, and uninjured.

The Kit:

I got a nice new pair of Nike Pegasus to see me through the start of my new running regime.  Once I’m further down the track I’ll take a trip to a local running store to get my running analysed again to see if there is another shoe that will be better for the longer training runs.

I then went into the Warehouse and bought a whole bunch of cheap singlets and t-shirts.  I also got some cheap sports bras from K Mart, but these are super unsupportive (i.e. painful!) for running so I’m just squeezing into the trusty shockabsorber and hope they start fitting better in a few weeks!  I’ve already got some lululemon tights and a bunch of sports socks to complete the outfit.  And let’s not forget my Nike Apple Watch that I got for my birthday.

The First Run:

The couch to 5k programs generally have you running for 60 seconds and I just don’t think I can even do that so I found an entry level program that has you running 100 metres then walking 300 metres and repeating this 4 times to make a total of 1600 metres (just shy of a mile).  I was pleasantly surprised to find I could run for 40 seconds and feel pretty good.  I finished my run sweaty and feeling really pleased about it.  I then went to stretch out my legs which always feel incredibly tight.  I really don’t want to get injured so building up slowly and paying attention to stretching is very important to me.  I’m strangely looking forward to my next run.

Winter is Coming .. better get out the blankets

First of all I am super excited about the new Game of Thrones season coming in July!  But I am not as excited about actual winter coming this week. 

In New Zealand winter officially starts on the 1st June, but many places in the country has already had a bit of snow and few cold snaps.  In Auckland we don't get snow but we still complain about the cold which leads the rest of the country to the south, to call us "soft" and make fun of us, as in this article from our national newpapers website:

//From NZ Herald

When I was in Scotland last year I really wanted to get a wool blanket in the Dress Stewart tartan.  I had seen this picture (below) when I was looking for inspiration for decorating the bedroom and I just love it.

So I set out scouring the streets of Edinburgh.  I had expected the high end shops like Romanes and Paterson or Hector Russell would have what I was looking for, but alas they had any blanket I could have wanted except Dress Stewart.  I started to feel like I wasn't going to get what I wanted, so when I found a blue version in the Edinburgh Woolen Mill shop I decided to get it.  Later, while trawling through all the tartan and Scottish shops on the Royal Mile, I came across the tartan blanket I wanted, but it was in a super soft lambswool and not the slightly rougher texture I was looking for.  I bought it anyway.

It wasn't until I was at the airport ready to head back to New Zealand that I finally found the blanket I was looking for!  So yes, I now have 3 tartan blankets!  That should keep me toasty warm this winter!

//My 3 blankets

Do you have a favourite blanket or comfort item?  Tell me in the comments!