Oh God, OH's car is buggered. Again. He's only had the thing two months and has already had to replace the battery and get the AA out because the key stopped working. He's just taken it to a garage because the breaks seemed a bit funny this week... turns out the cables have split, break fluid has leaked on his tyres (? i know nothing about cars), his breaks are duff and sorting all this out plus a service is costing him a grand. It's a scratched up X reg estate but it was free from a relative and only had 50,000 miles on the clock, so he thinks spending £1500 on it is a better deal than just buying a second hand car for a few hundred more.
What can you do, eh? Having it out of action this weekend is causing so much trouble. He was supposed to be picking up a brand new leather sofa for £300 today for his new flat, but now is stuck at his old place with virtually nothing and he can't go to mine because I'm not there!

The new flat is in a lovely village in Hertfordshire, full of £1 million+ houses which apparently need redecorating on a yearly basis so there's lots of brilliant quality second hand stuff on ebay and gumtree. Think imported and bespoke furniture at less than DFS prices. Since he can't have the £300 sofa anymore, we're watching some lovely looking stuff on ebay.
It's a bit complicated,I should be moving in, but because of my job I can't until May/June when I graduate and can change jobs. I say that as if getting a job is so easy HA!

I'm currently staying with my parents in Birmingham for the weekend, and it is a wee bit boring as everyone's busy! I've just made a big batch of soup from a Waitrose recipe card. I had a bowl for lunch and it was delicious, the rest is going in my Nan's freezer as she's a bit of a soup addict.



Here's the recipe. It's almost a store cupboard recipe, aside from the stick of celery (not essential) and the orzo. Orzo is just pasta shaped like rice and it doesn't really add much to the soup, I'm sure smashed up spaghetti would have the same effect. I took out half, blended it, then mixed it back in and it made it a much thicker, heartier soup. So hearty that it doesn't even require bread!

Nip+Fab

I forgot to photograph my lunch again, argggg!!! Why why whyyy do I find that so difficult to remember to do? It has a really tasty one too. Lentils, tomatoes, loads of veggies and a little wholewheat pasta.
Must remember tomorrow! Also, note to self: buy more protein powder. I got totally carried away trying to work out a super charged protein powder blend full of anti-oxidants and fiber, but now I've realised that I really should invest in some plain protein powder to add to my juices/smoothies.

Anyway, today I got three new products. Absolute bargain and they're apparently hot stuff so it's okay... Is it? Kind of. Maybe not. Eh? Never mind!
Nip+Fab Bust Fix, Dry Leg Fix and Tummy Fix. I'll be using each of them religiously every night and will report back with progress on a weekly basis. Then writing humongous reviews for Boots, Ciao, makeupalley etc either rating or slating 'em.



Back away from the shift key Aimee, that's enough exclamation marks for tonight.

Exercise

Somedays you just don't have time for a big workout but you can still fit something in. I like to do a few mini circuits of compound exercises while I'm doing something like cooking dinner or making a cup of tea. Boiling the kettle is just long enough to drop and do 20 press ups, and you can fit a whole workout into making dinner. My favourite exercises for this are jump lunges, press ups and knee hug crunches. They're all high intensity compound exercises that work major muscle groups and get the job done fast.
If you're a beginner, do 10 jump lunges (that's five each side), 10 press ups from knees and 5 knee hug crunches in a row, then take a minute break and do it again. Do the whole thing at least three times, if you think you can do it again, go for it! The fitter you are, the more reps you can do. If you think you can do it all again, then go for it. If it burns, it's working! I learnt in yoga that your body really starts to change when you learn to push through the pain and discomfort. It's a mental thing really. So that lunge is starting to make your thighs burn? Lunge deeper for five deep breaths then stretch it out and do it again! You feel so much more accomplished and mentally stronger when you can overcome your whining body.

No matter how short the workout is, you should still warm up just a little bit. Even just a few jumping jacks, shoulder rolls and hip circles are good enough for a workout like this. And give your muscles a quick stretch at the end.








Now I really want to exercise!

Green Pea Pesto Ravioli

Green Pea Pesto Ravioli

What I ate today... no, um... a few days ago

I've been meaning all week to make a post about what I eat in the average day. I generally have a pretty good diet but of course, the only day I remember to photograph everything is a pretty carb heavy one where my treat of the day is a mince pie and chocolate! Though it's not that bad I guess...

So what did I eat?
6.30 carrot, orange and red cabbage juice. It tastes a lot better than it sounds! I then did a circuit workout followed by...
7.30 two fried eggs with a slice of "savoury pulp loaf"(pulp muffins in a loaf tin)
11.30 banana, obviously
1.30 salad! that's a small tin of sardines and ~40g dry weight of macaroni, under that there's a few cherry toms, a celery stick, 2" diced cucumber, a big handful spinach and loads of lettuce
5.00 got in from work and had my first mince pie since 2010! and a lindt choccy :)
7ish "minestrone stew" which is just pasta, carrot, red cabbage, butter beans, olives, celery, tomatoes, peppers, onions and chorizo bunged together. I just make this to use up odd bits of veg and season with whatever seems appropriate.

This was around 1400-1500 calories, I don't know exactly because I'm not obssessive. I just know that I got in plenty of vegetables, protein after exercise, good fats from oily fish and a nice treat after a rubbish day at work.
I'll try my best to document at least another day this week, hopefully one where I eat a little better.


I've been so busy with exams this week that I haven't been able to write much and there are so many things I want to talk about!! Vitamin C serum, oil cleansing, herbal remedies talk with my Mum... And more!

Lettuce, kale, spinach and kiwi blended with cucumber, apple, carrot and broccoli juice. Yum! I basically just grab anything and everything and shove them together, so far I've loved them all. I just love that green taste!
I keep meaning to use my actual camera, not my phone, as the photos don't show just how vibrantly coloured all these juices and muffins actually are.
You can also see some chipped nail varnish, proof that I'm fabbing just a little bit.



My "housemates" are driving me insane right now. The two crazy ones are being extra crazy and unreasonable since going home for Christmas. I don't generally get annoyed with people but they are all my pet peeves amplified and rolled into one- being controlling, selfish and not practising what you preach. I could go on and on about what they do and why I'm so annoyed this time, but there isn't much point. I'm trying to remove stress from my life by ignoring them and the sarcastic rants they leave on the fridge, white boards and tiles when they're not satisfied with something. And the 26 year old one that has tantrums(the worst being when she found out a guy she stalks was moving in with his girlfriend and she trashed her room then screamed at us and cried for hours) can stomp and howl as much as she likes, I'll just pop some music on. Calmly talking to them about problems has never worked, so I'm going to ignore them instead.
Seeing as stress is so bad for your health maybe this will do me some good, or at least make room for the stress of all these exams! I'm definitely gonna have to squeeze a bubble bath in tonight!

Juicy!

My juicer arrived today! It's a Philips 1861 from Amazon and came with a surprise free Jason Vale recipe book. I whipped it out as soon as it arrived and made myself a yummy glass of carrot, apple, cucumber and celery juice and it was SO good! I then raided the fridge for more veggies and made 1L of juice for me and OH to drink tomorrow morning using 2 apples, 3 carrots, 1 cucumber, celery stalks, broccoli stalk and several handfuls of kale and spinach (note, pack leaves tighter next time for more juice!). But with juice, comes pulp and like hell am I gonna throw it in the bin! It was time to get cooking...


There are surprisingly few juice pulp recipes knocking around the internet. The ones I could find often used very little pulp and were mostly sweet with lots of added sugar and nasties. I wanted a healthy pulp recipe to go with my healthy juice recipe, so I did what I do best and made something up!





Savoury Pulp Muffins

1 cup wholewheat flour
1 packed cup juicer pulp
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarb
2 eggs
heaping tbs sour cream or yogurt
1 tbs olive oil
pinch salt
tsp dried herbs
50g grated cheddar + a few chunks to top

Mix all the ingredients together and dollop into muffin cases topping each one with a little chunk of cheddar.
Bake for 20 minutes at 180C or until a tooth-pick comes out clean.

I wasn't expecting much from these, especially as I'd used such a high ratio of pulp to flour but they're delicious and full of flavour. My housemate reckons they'd be good with a sauce or as dumplings but I like them just as they are. They're quite eggy so those who aren't keen on eggs might want to use just the one and add extra oil and cream.


The muffins only used up 1/3 of my pulp so I tried dumping a cup of pulp in with a tin of tomatoes and some fried onion and courgette to make a pasta sauce. Um... not such a success, way too much pulp. It's perfectly tasty spread on ryvita and would probably make amazing wraps, but was a bit too fibrous for pasta.
Tomorrow I'm going to try adding mince to the remaining "pasta sauce" to make spag bol- I genuinely think it'll be quite nice.


It's pretty clear that I won't be able to keep up with eating all the pulp. As long as I'm not having to compost more than 1/2 of it I'll be happy.

Future juicy plans:

• use cheap fruit & veg being sold off at market at closing time
• research the properties of juiced herbs
  
• try blending in bananas, avocados and other soft fruits
  
• keep fruit pulp separate for savoury recipes
• keep carrot pulp for carrot cake
• conjure up some other recipes for the other vegetable pulp

Ummm... how fab am I otherwise? Well, I still haven't painted my nails and am dressed á la bag lady but at least I'm fabbing from the inside out ;)

Comfort Food

I rarely eat potatoes, but I just love a baked spud every now and then. It's so warm and comforting and not that unhealthy at all. Especially when it's topped with cottage cheese and kidney beans, and eaten with a big green salad, avocado and a tiny blob of mayo.

Gooey Banana Bran Muffins

These high fiber muffins are just over 100 calories a pop and each one contains 4g of fibre. The banana and oil makes them especially sweet and gooey, yet they have less than 5g of sugar each and the fats are mostly omega oils and medium-chain fatty acids such as lauric acid which has prized antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal properties.

In the past I've always made this recipe up on the spot and never bothered to write it down. I'm particularly proud of this batch as they're really moist and here's the recipe:


In true testiment to my hap-hazard cooking technique, this photo doesn't actually include all the ingredients, but here's what you'll actually need:

60g all bran style cereal
60g wholemeal flour
100ml milk
generous tbs greek yogurt
1 tbs virgin coconut oil
1 tbs ground flaxseed
1 egg
1 banana
1.5 tsp baking powder
6 chopped dates
1 tbs chopped nuts


Warm up the milk and melt in the coconut oil, then add the cereal and yogurt and mix it all up and let it soak for a few minutes. Stir in the flour, baking powder, nuts and dates. You can use whatever dried fruit you fancy and could even sub the nuts for chocolate chips.


Mash the banana with the egg and add this to the mix. I then added flaxseed, but if you don't have flax just add another tbs of flour or oat bran. Spoon everything into muffin cases, preferably a little neater and spread them out a bit more than I did! Cook at 180C for ~25 minutes and use the tooth-pick test. This made nine muffins but there's only eight in the last photo because um... I ate one ;)


Virgin coconut oil is one of those wonder foods that top models claim to glug litres of every week. Whilst I wouldn't be so misguided as to believe knocking this stuff back will turn me into Miranda Kerr overnight, it does have some real benefits, a few of which are talked about here. It's definitely expensive compared to most other edible oils but I personally think it's worth it. It's the best dietary source of lauric acid and it also tastes amazing, even just spread on toast! I usually grab a few jars when it's on offer at Holland & Barrat but right now it's cheaper online from OneClickPharmacy.

Elevensies

During a recent discussion on the MSE forums I really wanted to share some of my favourite healthy snacks but then I realised... I barely record any of my recipes! And I really struggled to think of more than a few different ideas off the top of my head. I've decided to make a concerted effort to record more of the healthy recipes I make up or improvise, and log more of my meals. Then I can actually make things more than once and give clearer advice!

Right then! So this was actually today's late breakfast but usually I'd have it as a snack: apple topped with cheddar and almond butter.
I know it's not the most appealing looking photo but I wanted to share a quick snap. The cheese provides a little protein and calcium and is just plain tasty. The almonds are high in B vitamins, manganese(bone health), magnesium(too many benefits to list so read this!), vitamin e, tryptophan(regulates mood, sleep and appetite), phosphorus(bone & blood health, calcium absorption) and fiber. And of course, "good" unsaturated fats which reduce bad cholesterol and are the kind of fats you want to eat!

Almond Butter: Roast almonds in a warm oven for ~15 minutes until the skins start to darken, then blend in a food processor with a little bit of coconut oil or olive oil.
When the bowl of the food processor gets smeared with oils from the nuts, your nut butter is ready. Keep blending for a smoother butter that flavours well.
I like making it even more rich and tasty: add cocoa powder and vanilla extract; cinnamon, rum flavouring and raisins; mulled wine spices and minced meat. It's best to mix the minced meat or raisins in by hand or blend very briefly, unless you'd like streaks of gooey fruit in your nut butter.
Store it in the fridge and eat within a month.



Money Saving Mocha:
I make this when I'm craving a treat or something sweet after dinner. It's much cheaper than bought mixes and is healthier too as it contains only unsweetened cocoa, milk and coffee. Use whatever milk you like and if it's not sweet enough for you add a natural sweetener such as raw honey(apparently eating local raw honey can lessen hay fever symptoms), maple syrup, molasses or stevia.

Put 1tsp cocoa in a cup and mix in 1/4 cup of milk. Fill up with boiling water, add 1tsp coffee and stir until it's all dissolved and delicious!

Sunday is my cooking day where I make my lunches, snacks and a batch of something-or-other to eat during the week so I'll be back with more later :)

Acceptance

I admit it, I'm a beauty addict! Make up, skincare, perfume, aromatherapy, facials, waxing, dying, cutting, styling- everything! I'm pretty much obsessed with anything that smells or looks good. I've recently started to shy away from the slap and become more interested in natural skincare, making my own products, beauty from the inside out and treatments with a more permanent effect. Some things are more common, like making facial oil blends but others are very unusual like derma rolling.
A few things I'll be experimenting with this year and will be documenting here are:

• Green smoothies, juices and supplements. I'm literally just about to buy a juicer so I can really super charge my smoothies with vegetable juices!
• Massage and body brushing. I've been half heartedly body brushing for a while now, but have just started following Carole Maggio's No Lipo Lipo and incorporating some other massage techniques.
• Homemade vitamin C serum, sunscreen and whatever else takes my fancy.
• Derma rolling for stretch marks and large pores.

I like to read detailed reviews and accounts, so that's exactly what you'll find in my posts!

Oh, and I also love cooking and crafts and am slightly erm... adventurous?