Triple Chocolate Orange Cake...

By Bill King

Serves 10

391 calories / 31.5g fat per portion

Maria says: ‘This simple-to-make cake is rich and tasty – a family favourite with a touch of class!’

Ingredients

For the cake:

175g (6oz) Kerrygold butter

175g (6oz) caster sugar

3 eggs

225g (8oz) plain flour

1½ tsp baking powder

15g (½ oz) cocoa powder

50g (2oz) dark chocolate chips

finely grated zest of 1 orange

For the topping

110g (4oz) dark chocolate

2 tbsp Grand Marnier or Cointreau

110g (4oz) Kerrygold butter

fine shreds of orange zest, to decorate

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/Gas Mark 4. Line a 20cm (8 inch) round cake tin with baking paper.

Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs, beating well between each addition. Sift together the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder, then fold into the mixture with the chocolate chips and orange zest.

Spoon into the prepared tin and level the surface. Bake for 50- 55 minutes or until a fine skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the topping, melt the chocolate and Grand Marnier or Cointreau in a heatproof bowl positioned over a saucepan of gently simmering water. When fully melted, add the Kerrygold butter a little at a time, stirring to combine. Allow to cool and thicken, then spread over the cake using a palette knife and sprinkle with fine shreds of orange zest.

Cook’s tip: If you’re not keen on adding alcohol to the topping, simply leave it out, or add 2 tbsp double cream instead

Guest Post Credit: Bill King’s recipe has been taken from the Kerrygold Community Recip-e-book, available for free download now! Visit www.facebook.com/KerrygoldUK for more delicious recipes and to download your free copy.

Scared Of Heights?

Chocolate Dipped Orange Biscuits...

By Rachel Allen

Makes 15–20 biscuits

92 calories/ 5.2g fat per portion

Rachel’s quote: ‘These shortbread biscuits are incredibly easy to make and you can cut them in to whatever shapes you’d like. I’ve taken the small extra step of dipping them in melted chocolate, they look lovely when set and the chocolate of course goes really well with the orange zest. Recipes with so few ingredients demand the very best quality produce and that’s why I use Kerrygold butter.’

Ingredients:

100g (3 ½ oz) Kerrygold butter, softened and diced, plus extra for greasing

150g (5oz) plain flour, plus extra for dusting

50g (2oz) caster sugar

75g (2½ oz) dark chocolate, broken in to pieces

The grated zest of one orange

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°f/Gas mark 4.

Grease a baking sheet with a little Kerrygold butter.

Sift the flour into a large bowl and, using your fingertips, rub in the Kerrygold butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and orange zest and bring the whole mixture together to form a stiff dough. (Don’t be tempted to add any water.) Alternatively, briefly mix the ingredients in a food processor until they come together.

Transfer the dough to a lightly dusted worktop and roll out to about 5mm (1/4inch) thick. Cut into rounds, fingers, squares or dinosaurs, then lift carefully on to the prepared baking sheet with a palette knife, spacing the biscuits evenly apart.

Bake for 6–10 minutes or until pale golden, then remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for a minute or so before transferring to a wire rack to cool down completely.

Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. When the chocolate has melted, dip the shortbread in about half way in to the chocolate, then allow any excess to drip off and place on a plate to cool and set.

Rachel’s Tip: If you want to mix things up with your biscuits you could always try using milk chocolate or white chocolate.

Guest Post Credits www.facebook.com/KerrygoldUK

28/09 Link Up Your Favourite Posts This Week : Welcome To The Weekend Hop...

Welcome to the weekend hop where you can link up your favourite post of the week.

Simply link up to 3 different post or just your main blog.

 

Get Fit Or Eat Pie Trying # Week 3 ...

"For me its Get Fit Or Eat Pie Trying "
 

Goals-

A under 2 hour half marathon 

  A under 50 minutes 10k

This week not only did we get the marathon numbers through the post that we have decied not to do also our letter from the people at London Marathon came through to tell me if I had a place...

And....

 We entered and didn't get in :):):)

I know I should be sad but it was a huge relief as training up for a marathon was so much like hard work and having a large family I didn't have hours free at the weekend to run.This is why I pulled out of the Chester Marathon which is a week on Sunday.

Onwards and upwards now and new goals to set and Pb to make!!.

 I have decided to run Worksop half marathon in 4 weeks time so with the marathon training I did manage to do hopefully I should be ok.

In other news we have a park run starting near us this week..whoo this should be fun a free time 5k race every Saturday...

This weeks exercise was-

Friday-  6 miles ran

Saturday -  7 miles ran

Sunday - 5 miles ran

Monday - Day off from running

Tuesday - 3 miles warm up /cool down

                 4 miles reps,8x half mile reps

Was so pleased with these fastest I have run in a long long time.Average mile over 4 miles 7.50 pace

Wednesday - 4 miles slow recovery pace 11 mins a mile was hard work after yesterdays efforts

                      1 hour weights class

Thursday - 1 hour body combat

                   2 miles warm up/cool down

                  16 x 300 mtrs with 100 jog recovery could tell I had worked hard Tuesday as these was 8.42 pace!!

No whats everyone else been exercising to this week?

Linking up with-

Fitness Friday 

Halloween Jellies...

These easy jellies are great fun to make and kids love to decorate them – the spookier the better!

Ready in: 4 - 6 hours or overnight

Serves: 4

Ingredients

4 leaves of gelatine

8 tbsps bottlegreen Cox’s Apple and Plum Cordial

2 clementines

Selection of jelly sweets, i.e., wriggly worms, false teeth and snakes

Method

Place the gelatine in a bowl, add 3tbsps water, leave to soak for 10 mins.

Peel the clementines, removing any pith and seeds, segment.

Place the bottlegreen cox’s apple and plum cordial into a large measuring jug, add the softened gelatine, pour on 500ml boiling water, stir until dissolved, cool.

Divide between 4 serving dishes; add the clementine segments, leave to set in the fridge for approx 4-6 hours or overnight. Decorate with the sweets.

Cook’s tip: To stop the clementine segments floating to the top wait until the jelly has set a little then press them in.

Guest Post Credit- Bottle Green Drinks

Halloween Eyeballs...

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Serves: 6

Ingredients

For the choux pastry:

150ml water

50g butter

60g strong plain flour

1 tsp caster sugar

2 large eggs

For the filling

250g TOTAL Greek Yoghurt

75g strawberry jam

For the glaze coating

25g TOTAL Greek Yoghurt

200g white chocolate

Black & red food colouring

Method

 

To make the choux pastry place the water and butter in a heavy based saucepan and bring to the boil. Do not reduce.

Remove from the heat and gradually add flour and sugar. Mix until it makes a smooth doughy mixture and comes away from the sides of the saucepan without sticking.

Leave to cool slightly.

Beat the eggs together and gradually add to the dough mixture. Make sure the eggs are well mixed in before adding more.

When all of the eggs have been added, pipe approximately 18 – 20 small balls onto parchment paper and bake in a preheated oven, 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4, for 8 – 10 minutes until puffed and golden.

Leave to cool and then fill equally with jam and Greek Yoghurt. To do this, fill a piping bag with jam and another with Greek yoghurt. Make a small hole in each ball and pipe the mixture in.

Melt the chocolate over a bowl of hot water, add the yoghurt and then coat each ball in the coating ensuring there is enough left to decorate the balls. Leave to set in the fridge for approximately 1 hour.

Divide the remainder of the chocolate coating into two, and colour one with red food colouring and one with black.

Decorate the balls with the coloured mixture to look like eyeballs. 

Nutritional info per serving: 385 kcals / 11g protein / 22g fat / 11g saturated fat / 36g carbs/ 29g sugar / 0.4g fibre / 0.4g salt

Guest Post Credits : Total Greek Yoghurt

Cathedral City Mature Butternut Squash and Chilli Cupcake...

Celebrity MasterChef winner Liz McClarnon has a savoury tooth, always declines dessert and chooses cheese over chocolate any day. That’s why she’s teamed up with Cathedral City, the nation’s favourite for British Cheese Week (22nd to 30th September 2012) to create a revolutionary take on one of the nation’s most popular treats – the cupcake, using Cathedral City cheddar and other savoury ingredients.

Makes: 20 cupcakes

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:

2 eggs

175ml semi-skimmed milk

250g mashed, roasted butternut squash

125g Cathedral City Mature, grated

3 chopped spring onions

80g uncooked rolled oats

125g whole wheat flour

125g plain flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. maple syrup

For the topping:


Chopped spring onions (the darker green part)

50g crème fraiche

50g soft cream cheese

Chilli flakes

Method:

Preheat the oven to 190°C and line a cupcake tray with 12 paper cases.

In a large mixing bowl combine the squash, milk and eggs.

In a separate medium bowl, sift together the flours, baking powder and salt, making sure they are evenly rubbed through. To this bowl, add the spring onions, Cathedral City Mature, oats and syrup and mix until evenly distributed. Pour in the egg mixture and mix until it is just about combined.

Fill the cupcake cases about 3/4 full with the mixture and bake for about 15-20 minutes or until they are a golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before adding the topping.

To make the topping, mix the crème fraiche and the soft cheese together until smooth. Pop this in the fridge for about 10 minutes to get it to a good piping consistency. Using a piping bag with a star tip, pipe small 50p sized tops onto the cupcakes.

Dress this with a couple of sprigs of chopped spring onion and a smattering of chilli flakes. These will keep in an airtight tin for 24 hours

Guest Post Credts- Cathedral City

Green : Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop...

Welcome to Wordless Wednesday hosted by Clairejustineoxox and Judyh-jsThoughts where you can link up your Wordless / not so Wordless Wednesday photo posts each week...

Halloween Accessories From Accessoryo Review...

Every year for as far back as I can remember me and the children have fun scaring each other at Halloween.My oldest 2 now aged 18 and 15 have now grow out of it I notice they still enjoy the party food after we've been out though!! my youngest 2 still enjoy the whole experience .

Around this time of the year we spend weeks planning what the kids want to wear for dressing up and we buy lots of decoration and food for a little family party ( with 6 of us it's like a party everyday ) after they have had some fun trick or treating.I can always guarantee at least one of my children will ask 'why don't you get dressed up mum' I always reply I spend all my time getting everything ready for all of you and I've forget to pick something up for myself and I off I go out with them in the cold.This year I wont be cold thanks to  Accessoryo who have just sent me these fun products to review including this warm hat ..

Better the devil you know!!

Devil Style Nepal Hat

£13.95

Skull Fashion Leggings

£11.00

About Accessoryo in their own words

At Accessoryo, we’re mad about accessories. Long-time lovers of fashion, we subscribe to the theory that accessories maketh the outfit. Without statement accessories a would-be hot look becomes a limp shadow of its potential. Do you ever see a celebrity cruising the red carpet without truly fabulous accessories? Exactly! So, we came up with a concept that will keep you in fresh, exciting and individual accessories to make your look unique to you.. We’ve thought of everything, because we know that sometimes your look just can’t be put into a box. So with that in mind, we’ve set up a function that lets you search accessories across all our sub-culture shops.At Accessoryo we’re committed to providing you with an unparalleled, hassle free shopping experience. After all, accessories are supposed to be one of the fun things in life! That’s why we’ve set up a customer care line, order tracking service and completely secure payment systems, so you can trust in our service.

 

What I think of Halloween products from Accessoryo

 

These are such fun products I will be wearing the hat up to and  around Halloween and I will even be taking my hat on a run with with me now the weather has turned cold.The leggings are so much fun but I can't fit into these they say one size being a size 10 they are way to small I think they would be great for a size 6-8 but anything over this they won't fit, I sure my daughter will have fun wearing them.

 

I also have enjoyed taking a look around their website and I have seen some fun products like this-
 Cupcake design skinny scarf

some beautiful things like this-

 Gothic black lace parasol umbrella with pink ribbon

and these wonderful (on my must have list ) -

Reindeers snowflake long leg warmers .

 

You can also find them on Twitter and Facebook

About this review- I was sent some products for the purpose of this review,I have added all links in and all opinion on the products and website are my own

California Prunes Smoothie And Salad...

 California Prune and Mango Smoothie

Serves 6

Preparation time 10 mins

You will need

1 orange

1 mango stoned, peeled and chopped

5 (50g) California prunes roughly chopped

100g low fat natural yoghurt

200ml semi-skimmed milk

 Method

Grate the rind of the orange then cut off the peel and cut into segments – do this over a bowl to catch the juice. Place the orange rind and segments in a liquidiser with the remaining ingredients, including the juice, and whiz until smooth.

Pour into 2 glasses and drink immediately.

nutrition per serving

179 kcal
protein 7.8g
carbohydrate 33.6g
fat 2.5g
saturated fat 1.4g
fibre 4.6g
sugar 33g
salt 0.8g

Broad Bean, Watercress, Feta and California Prune Salad

Serves 4

Preparation time  25 mins

Ingredients

275g shelled broad beans

50g watercress

100g mange tout roughly chopped

100g California prunes halved

30g pecan nuts roughly chopped

175g feta cheese

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard

1 teaspoon honey

Method

Cook the broad beans in a pan of simmering water until tender, then rinse under cold water and drain. The broad beans can be eaten like this but are nicer if the tough outer skins are removed. Divide the watercress between 4 plates and top with the broad beans, mange tout, prunes and pecan nuts, then sprinkle with the feta cheese.

Whisk together the remaining ingredients and sprinkle over the salad.

nutrition per serving

415 kcal
protein 27.5g
carbohydrate 34.9g
fat 19.3g
saturated fat 7.2g
fibre 21.7g
sugar 16.3g
salt 0.6g

Guest Post Credits-

California Prunes
Facebook
Twitter

What I Wore : Creative Mondays Blog Hop...

 Hello and welcome to Creative Mondays hosted by Clairejustineoxox and Judyh-jsThoughts where you can link up all your creative post each week.... what have you all been up to this week?

This week I'm sharing a outfit post,did you know you can also link up your outfits? would love to see what you've been wearing this week :)

 

Going Out...Out Out...

When I was taking to my friend this week she said to me in a conversation "when I go out 'out out' and I've not got it out my head all week!!

Driving the kids mad all weekend saying it,... In the very words of Micky Flanagan on Saturday we went Out...not just out ...we went Out Out !!

Halloween Recipes : Curried English Pea Soup with Paneer Naan...

 

Serves 4 - 6

You will need

50g butter

1 onion, peeled and diced

2 garlic cloves, peeled and diced

1 tbsp mild curry paste

750g frozen peas

1 litre vegetable or chicken stock

Squeeze lemon juice

Sea salt and black pepper

150g Thick Greek Yoghurt, to serve

Paneer Naan Bread

150ml hot semi-skimmed milk, not boiling

2 tsp caster sugar

2 tsp dried yeast

450g plain flour

Sea salt and black pepper

1 tsp baking powder

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 egg, lightly beaten

150ml natural low-fat yoghurt

100g paneer, thinly sliced (if paneer is not available, use halloumi cheese)

Method

Preheat oven to 230°C/450°F/Gas 8

In a large heavy based saucepan, melt the butter, add the onion and garlic and gently fry for 2 minutes, add the curry paste, stirring constantly for a further 3 minutes, add the peas and stock and cook for 5 minutes or until the peas are cooked. Blend the soup and adjust the seasoning with sea salt and black pepper, if necessary.

To make the paneer naan, put the milk in a bowl, add sugar and yeast and stir. Set aside for 20 minutes until the yeast has dissolved.

Sift the flour, salt, pepper and baking powder into a bowl, add the yeast mixture, oil, egg and yoghurt, mix into a dough. Knead the dough for 10 minutes and place into a bowl, cover with cling film and leave in a warm place for an hour.

Knead the dough again for 3 minutes and divide into 6 balls, roll each ball into a tear-shaped naan and place on a greased baking sheet, places slices of paneer or halloumi onto the naan. Bake each naan in the hot oven for 3-4 minutes, they should puff up.

Place the naan under the grill about 10cm away from the heat for about 30 seconds to brown the naan slightly. Remove from the grill and keep warm under a clean tea towel. Repeat the process.

To serve, squeeze the lemon juice into the soup and stir well, serve with Greek Yoghurt and Paneer Naan Bread.

Tip Naan breads are much easier to make than you may think, if you do not want to put the cheese on you can simply brush with a little oil before you put them under the grill and sprinkle with a few cumin seeds, taking care the seeds do not burn.

Per serving

931 cals
39.7g fat
17.2g saturates
18.1g sugar
4.7g salt

Guest Post Credits: The recipe is by award-winning chef Rachel Green for the Yes Peas! campaign –  yes peas

In The Red...

 

Lovers Night In Wine Inspired Recipes‏...

Guest post today and recipe credit's are- Sophie Michell and Blue Nun ...

 

Barbecued sticky Kung pao chicken with cashew, carrot, radish, cucumber and spring onion salad (Blue Nun Rivaner Riesling in the marinade)

Serves 4

Prep time 20 minutes, plus 1 hour marinating time

Cooking time 15 minutes

8 boneless/skinless chicken thighs, trimmed

Marinade

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp of Sherry or for a lower sugar marinade use Blue Nun River Riesling

1 tsp honey

1 tsp chili flakes

Salad

½ head of Chinese white cabbage

3 spring onions

½ cucumber

1 carrot

1 red chili (depending on level of heat required)

50g roasted peanuts, roughly chopped

Dressing

4 tsp soy sauce

2 tsp Chinese rice vinegar

1 tsp sesame oil

Firstly mix all the marinade together in a deep tray or dish and then add the chicken turn cover to coat in the marinade and then leave, covered in the fridge for as long as possible (up to 24hrs) and for a minimum of an hour.

Then make the salad. Peel and cut the carrots into very thin strips, and add to a large mixing bowl. Then cut the spring onions thinly on a sharp diagonal and also add to the bowl. Cut the Chinese cabbage down the middle, de core, slice to add to the mix and finally de-seed the cucumber, slice thinly and add too. Mix well. For the dressing, simply mix all the ingredients together and set aside.

When you are ready to eat, heat up a grill to very hot (or if you are barbecuing make sure it is hot and ready). Take the chicken out of the marinade and then place on a grill tray and cook for 8 minutes each side until cooked throughout and caramelised. Then add the dressing to the salad, mix well and serve a big pile of salad with the chicken on top.

Serve with a glass of Rivaner Riesling or the new lower alcohol Blue Nun Delicate drinks (5.5%)

Sophie adds:“The Rivaner Riesling is really is a super match for most types of Asian and oriental style dishes, which I find can be really hard to match a wine with and a glug of this fresh, fruity wine is great in the marinade too".
She continues,
“There is a big trend for lower alcohol drinks at the moment, but some that I’ve tried are rather watery. However, the Blue Nun Delicate drinks (5.5% alc) however are packed with flavour & taste. They’re ideal for the lazy summer days, picnics and bbq’s, or to serve as an aperitif when you want something refreshing & light to serve to guests.

They’re made with full bodied, aromatic wine & delicious fruit flavours such as white peach, mango, raspberry and lychee, which taste delicious".

 

Blue cheese Endive and radicchio salad with caramelised walnuts and sourdough croutes (Vegetarian)

Serves 4:

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

4 slices of sourdough bread

2 heads of endive

1 head of red Radicchio

150g blue cheese

50g walnuts

1tsp sugar

Dressing

1 tsp walnut oil

2tsp mild olive oil

1 tsp white wine vinegar

Salt and pepper


Firstly cut the sourdough slices, into rough largish cubes, drizzle with olive oil and then grill until crisp and golden. Then add the walnuts and sugar to a small frying pan, and fry until golden brown and caramelised. Cool both the croutes and the walnuts.

Then mix all the dressing ingredients together and crumble/cube the blue cheese. When you are ready to eat mix the leaves, with the croutes, dressing, cheese and walnuts then serve.

Gold leaf sparkling jellies with iced frozen red grapes and creme Chantilly ( using Blue Nun Sparkling Gold)

· Makes 6

· Prep time 20 minutes, plus 3 hours for setting (or overnight)

Ingredients

600ml Blue Nun Sparkling Gold white wine

50 ml Elderflower cordial

1 tbsp sugar

6 sheets gelatine

200g green seedless grapes

200ml double cream

2 tsp icing sugar

Instructions

Firstly take the grapes and cut into little branches with 3 grapes per set, then place on a tray and pop in the freezer.

Soak the gelatine sheets in a small bowl of cold water for about 5 minutes until softened. Meanwhile, put 100ml of the Blue Nun Sparkling Gold and the sugar into a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Squeeze the gelatine sheets to remove any excess water and stir into the wine mixture until dissolved.

Then mix the heated wine mix in with the rest of the wine (500ml), add the elderflower cordial and pour into a large bowl and place into the fridge. Leave for at least an hour then check and stir. Basically you keep doing this until the mix has thickened enough for the gold flakes to not sink to the bottom.

When ready pour into four individual metal pudding moulds, about 200ml/7fl oz/generous 3⁄4 cup capacity, if you want to turn the panna cottas out onto dessert plates, or into four pretty serving bowls. Put in the fridge to set for at least 2 more hours, or overnight. Then pour the cream and icing sugar into a bowl and whip until soft peaks.


If the panna cottas are in metal moulds, pour boiling water into a bowl and quickly dip the moulds into the water before turning them upside down on to dessert plates. Then add a dollop of cream and some of the frozen grapes.

Serve with a glass of sparkling gold!

Sophie says:"The Gold Flecks were such a talking point for my girlfriends and I. I just adore the way the bubbles rise the gold flakes to the surface, very Glam!"

21/09 Link Up Your Favourite Posts This Week : Welcome To The Weekend Hop...

Welcome to the weekend hop where you can link up your favourite post of the week.

Simply link up to 3 different post or just your main blog.

Jackie Brazil Hot Indiana Jones Necklace Review...

At the minute I am loving the colour hot pink,just lately I have started changing all my accessories,scarfs and shoes !! Also my nails and my trademark red lipsticks has been set aside (for the moment)and bright pinks are strongly becoming my favourite shades .This colour is just so cheerful and always brightens up a dull,windy or rainy day...

A few days ago I was contacted by the pr for FindJewellery.co.uk to see if I would like to review a piece of their Jackie Brazil Indiana range and I was delighted to see this hot pink necklace it caught my eye straight away.I just knew I had to review this piece of the collection.

About the Jackie Brazil Hot Pink Indiana Jones Necklace

This Jackie Brazil Necklace from the Indiana Jones range has a hot pink colour. No two beads made by this designer are the same so your necklace will be completely unique. The necklace is made from an assortment of different shaped and sized beads, some are glittery, some have blacks, purples and all shades of bright pink within them. The shocking pink colour makes this a vibrant piece of Brazillian designed jewellery.
 

What I think to the Jackie Brazil necklace

I don't usually wear statement necklaces but since this piece had been delivered I can't stop looking at it and trying it on.I keep planning nights out and what I will be wearing with it,I love this necklace it's such a beautiful piece of jewellery to own and I am so glad I got to review it.My daughter keeps asking if she can have a look at it we both like looking at the beads as each one is different.She keeps telling me to look after it (someone already has her eye on it!!)

This necklace is RRP £59.95 and is priced at £37.00 you can also find them on Facebook 

 

 

About this post-I got sent this necklace for this review all thoughts in this post are my own honest opinion and I was not paid for this post

Outfit post-

 
Necklace-Jackie Brazil Indiana 

Dress- George at Asda last year

Shoes-Matalan few years ago

Linking my outfit up on wednesday with-

 

 

Get Fit Or Eat Pie Trying # Week 2....

For me its Get Fit Or Eat Pie Trying "
 

Goals -A under 2 hour half marathon 

            A under 50 minutes 10k

And if I do get in London-just to be able to run a marathon!!   
Was very pleased with last weeks training I put my training on Dailymile and last weeks I had ran 38 miles as well as a few exercise classes.

This weeks exercise was-

Friday- Rest day not had a day off for 9 days so need this.

Saturday -  Just under 3 miles -eek weekend and I had a few glasses of wine Friday night and didn't want to run...

Sunday - 8 miles was tough on my own early but kept on running

Monday - 7 mile run  fast for me at 9.15 pace and 1 mile cool down at 12 mins

Tuesday - 45 minutes spin class ( first time back in 3 months)
                45 minutes fit ball class ( first time back in 3 months)
              6 and half miles warm up/reps at running club/cool down

Wednesday - 3 miles recovery run
                      1 hour weights class
                      just under 4 miles in afternoon

Thursday - body combat class
                  Half mile swim

Been a busy week and my arms and stomach mussels are killing " No Pain No Gain " springs to mind

No whats everyone else been exercising to this week?

Posted some great running recipes yesterday from Seasonal Berries (pictured below)

Linking up with Fitness Friday

 



Podium Power Porridge, Superfast Superfood Salad, an Isotonic Sports Smoothie and Raspberry Recovery Bars....

Matt Lovell, elite performance nutritionist to Olympic athletes, premiership footballers and international rugby players, has teamed up with Seasonal Berries to create a series of Berry Power recipes and nutritional tips to support their partnership with the BUPA Great Run races.

He has developed four recipe ideas using strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries to support your training regime: Podium Power Porridge, Superfast Superfood Salad, an Isotonic Sports Smoothie and Raspberry Recovery Bars.

Podium Power Porridge

If there were such a thing as the ‘fruit Olympics’ then blueberries would definitely be in podium contention for their powerful antioxidants, fibre and vitamin C.

Porridge is a great way to start any day.  Most commercial breakfast cereals are too high in sugars, so take a couple of minutes while the kettle is boiling to make Podium Power Porridge and get your day off to a fantastic start.  The oats are high in soluble fibre that keep you feeling fuller for longer.  The nuts and seeds supply healthy fats and extra fibre, and the whey protein powder adds vital protein.

Ingredients

60g oats

Pinch of salt

5g flax seeds (ground)

5g chia seeds (ground)

100ml semi-skimmed organic milk

150g blueberries

30g vanilla whey protein powder

Method

1.    Put the oats, seeds and milk into a pan and bring to the boil.  Keep stirring – the hotter the pan, the faster you need to stir.  Add extra milk if you prefer.

2.    When cooked, stir in the blueberries and protein powder and eat straight away.

PERFORM

Isotonic Sports Smoothie



This is a delicious smoothie recipe.  Strawberries are high in fibre, Vitamin C and potassium – one of the main salts in isotonic drinks that can help prevent you getting cramps.  Coconut oil helps boost your metabolism and immune system and cottage cheese is a great source of protein and calcium.

You can add ground flax seeds for extra fibre and omega 3 oils, oats for more carbs and whey protein powder for protein.  Often people make the false assumption that consuming whey protein is going to build muscles, but actually you need to do specific types of weight training to build new muscle.  Whey protein helps repair the damage that endurance running will do to your body.
Add a spoonful of honey or Stevia, a natural sweetener, if you wish.

Ingredients

125g fresh strawberries

100g cottage cheese

300ml semi skimmed milk

1 teaspoon virgin organic coconut oil

4 large ice cubes

Method

Put all the ingredients into a blender and whizz until smooth.

Nutritional Information

Total Calories 320 Kcal
Protein 23g
Carbs 33g
Fat 12g

Raspberry Vinegar

Vinegars can be a key component of any athlete’s diet and are an underutilized food source.We all know we should be eating more salad and an oil and vinegar dressing has many nutritional benefits. Vinegar, although acid in nature, has an alkalising effect on the body – great as the typical Western diet is very acid forming.
Another way to incorporate fruit vinegars into your diet is as a refreshing drink – use them as you would use orange squash. Add a few ice cubes and you’ve got an amazingly refreshing drink. You can even drizzle a fruit vinegar over strawberries or natural yoghurt as a delicious snack or pudding.

Making vinegar with berries like raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and blackberries is an innovative new way of enjoying their flavours and nutritional benefits.

Ingredients

500g raspberries

500ml apple cider vinegar

60g granulated sugar

Method

1. Squash your summer fruits with the back of a fork in a glass or bowl. Pour the vinegar over and leave in a sealed air tight container for two to seven days, depending on the strength of flavour you prefer. Give it an occasional stir.

2. After letting your vinegar steep, drain through muslin for two hours, or overnight.

3. Add the sugar to the liquid and bring to the boil for ten minutes. For a low carb version, leave the sugar out and add some Stevia after boiling.

4. Pour into sterilized bottles and the vinegar will last for 12 months unopened. It makes a unique present at Christmas time too.



PREPARE

 

Superfast Superfood Salad

The flavour combinations in this salad work really well and the colours shout health and vitality. The vitamin C from the blackberries will increase the amount of iron absorbed from the spinach; spinach regularly appears on the lists of super foods and has high levels of calcium, iron, magnesium and manganese. Iron is an important part of haemoglobin, the substance in our red blood cells that transports oxygen around our bodies.

Walnuts are a great source of omega 3 oils and feta cheese is lower in fat than cheddar. The fat from the cheese and olive oil in the dressing help the absorption of fat soluble vitamins from the spinach.Perfect for eating on its own or served with flaked smoked mackerel for a delicious lunch or supper.This is a good meal to have on a day when you are not training as it will help keep you full without eating a lot of carbs.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

200g fresh blackberries

150g-250g fresh spinach leaves

50g feta cheese

20g walnuts

20ml raspberry vinegar

10ml olive oil

Method

1. Lay the spinach leaves on a plate or bowl

2. Arrange the blackberries, crumbled feta cheese and walnut pieces on top of the spinach.

3. Mix the raspberry vinegar and oil in a bowl and drizzle on top of the salad

Nutritional Information

Total Calories 469 Kcal

Protein 17g

Carbs 23g

Fat 35g

RECOVERY

 

Raspberry Recovery Bars

These are a delicious high calorie snack to have as part of your recovery from training or a race. You could even crumble one up and serve over natural yoghurt or cottage cheese or as a delicious pudding with a few extra fresh raspberries on the side.

Raspberry Flapjack Slices are packed full vitamin C from the raspberries and healthy fats from the nuts, seeds, butter and coconut oil.  Try to use organic butter as it is higher in omega 3 oils and healthier than margarine.  Oats are a superfood as they release their energy slowly and are high in the soluble fibre beta-glucan that can help lower cholesterol.

If you are on a budget don’t be put off by having to buy the extra flax seeds, pumpkin or chia seeds – just add what you miss out with extra oats, or just buy one of the types of seeds.

Ingredients

 

350g oats

25 g flax seeds

25 g pumpkin seeds

25g chia seeds

50g organic butter

50 g virgin coconut oil

50g honey

250g raspberries

20g coconut flour/oat flour

Makes 10 bars

Method

1.    Grind the oats and seeds as this makes the mixture slightly finer and helps it stick together – these flapjacks have a tendency to crumble more than regular ones as they are lower in fat.  If you are short of time, grind only the flax seeds and chia seeds as your body doesn’t break these down.

2.    Melt the coconut oil, butter and honey in a saucepan and add to the dry ingredients.  Add the oil/honey mix in stages, stirring well to make sure it is all incorporated.

3.    Spoon two thirds of the mixture onto a baking tray and press it down firmly into the edges, ensuring it is at least 1cm deep.  Bake at 180C for 5 minutes.

4.    While it is baking, blitz the raspberries in a blender or mash them with a fork.  Add the flour to thicken the consistency, and mix together

5.    Remove the base from the oven and smooth the raspberry mixture over the top.

6.    Sprinkle the remaining third of the oat mixture on top of the raspberries and press it down gently so it sticks into it.

7.    Return to the oven for a further 5 minutes or until brown on top. 

8.    Leave to cool before cutting into pieces.

 

Nutritional Information

Per bar:

Calories 285 Kcal

Protein 7g

Carbs 29g

Fat 15g

He is also offering nutritional advice on what to eat pre and post training and for race day to help enhance performance and increase enjoyment of race training Power Race Nutrition Plan

 

Guest Post Credits- Seasonal Berries

 

 

Italian Childhood Memories...

Moonbeam Pasta

Stars and crescent moons make up the shapes of this gorgeously pretty variety of pasta for children. So I am inspired to create something that reminds me of shooting stars and happy dreams. Dress the pasta with as much of the sauce as you like, as some children like lots of sauce and others only want it barely coated, and refrigerate or freeze the rest for later use. To turn it into something slightly more sophisticated, substitute the ham for chopped chorizo or salame, and add some finely snipped fresh chives.

Serves 2

To dress up to

 120 g/4 1/2 oz Garofolo Anistelle pasta for children

1 spring onion, very finely chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons organic tomato passata

2 tablespoons mascarpone or single cream

1 slice cooked ham, cut into strips

3 baby sweet corn cobs cut into thin comet tail strips

A pinch of salt

Long shavings of fresh Parmesan, to garnish

Method

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a rolling boil for the pasta. Meanwhile, fry the spring onion very gently in the olive oil until soft but not coloured. Add the passata and stir together. Allow to simmer for about 10 minutes, and then stir in the mascarpone or cream, the ham and the sweet corn cobs. You should end up with a sauce that is swirly and dreamily pink, with the long comet tails of the sweet corn through it. Cook the pasta until tender in the boiling water, drain and toss with the sauce. Pile the pasta into bowls or on to plates, garnish with the Parmesan shavings and serve at once.

P.S. For special occasions, finish off the dish with a tiny dusting of edible gold glitter, a little stardust sometimes works wonders on even the fussiest of diners!

BAKED MOTORI WITH HAM AND CHEESE

MOTORI AL FORNO

This is a very simple and easy dish that I remember very fondly from my childhoood in Tuscany. I really prefer to use Penne when I make this as it fits the memory much better, but I’ve tried it out with the Motori shape from the Garofolo range and it really works too. You can of course add other things to the dish such as grilled bacon, cooked peas, mushrooms or cauliflower florets, or blue cheese for a much stronger flavour. You can easily make this ahead and freeze it for later.

Serves 2

Ingredients

140 g Motori pasta

salt and pepper

200 ml/7 fl oz ready made béchamel or cheese sauce

2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan

2 slices best baked ham, chopped

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water until al dente. Meanwhile, heat through the sauce and melt three quarters of the cheese into it. Drain the pasta and pour it back into the pot. Add three quarters of the sauce and the ham. Mix together. Grease a large ovenproof dish with half the butter. Pour in the dressed pasta and arrange it carefully. Pour over the remaining sauce and dot with the remaining butter. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake in a preheated oven at Gas mark 6/400 F/200 for about 15 minutes or until golden and bubbling. Remove from the oven, rest for 5 minutes, then serve.

Anistelle with cream, ham and peas

This is an all-time favourite in Italy, and the pairing of ham and cream with the addition of very sweet soft peas make this recipe a totally irresistible even the fussiest of child

Ingredients for 4 children

240g Anistelle (Garofalo La Giostra dei Bambini pasta)

1 shallot finely chopped

30 ml EVOO

100 ml single cream

50 g grated parmesan

200 g peas (either fresh in season, of petit pois frozen)

100 g ½ cm thick cooked ham (York ham is fine or any good quality ham) cut in very small cubes or finely chopped.

1 tbs chopped parsley

Method

In a shallow pan add EVOO and the finely chopped shallot and sauté until soft. In the meantime in a small pan cook the fresh or frozen peas, drain and set aside.

Add the finely chopped ham and cook gently a couple of minutes.

At this stage add the peas, and season to taste but be aware the ham is already salted and parmesan will be added eventually.

When all ingredients are well incorporated, add the cream and warm trough.

In the meantime boil a copious amount of water (at least one litre per 100 g of pasta), and when boiling add the salt, roughly speaking 2 TBS rock salt, add the pasta.

Cook to al dente (for anistelle 12 minutes)

Drain well the pasta and add it to the sauce, mix well and sprinkle with the chopped parsley and the parmesan.

Serve at once.

Guest post credits: All are made using the children’s range of Garofalo Pasta (‘La Giostra dei Bambini’ – ‘the children’s merry-go-round’) –  Pasta Garofalo. Moonbeam Pasta & Motori have been created by Italian chef,  Valentina Harris and the Anistelle dish was created by MasterChef finalist, sara Danesin Medio 

Abbey Road ? : Wordless Wednesday Linky...

Welcome to Wordless Wednesday hosted by Clairejustineoxox and Judyh-jsThoughts where you can link up your Wordless / not so Wordless Wednesday photo posts each week...

Meals In Minutes...

Harrisa couscous with golden chicken supremes & roast beetroot...

Cooking time: 10-15 min

Preparation time: 25-30 mins

Serves: 2

Vegetarian: No

Ingredients

2 tsp vegetable oil

2 chicken supremes

1, 250g packet of cooked beetroot, (the size varies, 3-4) each cut into 2cm wedges

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

3 tbsp olive or chilli oil

¼ mild fresh red chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped

2 tbsp sliced mint

1, 250g packet of ready to eat harissa couscous

Salt and caster sugar

Method

Pre-heat your oven to 200c/ 400f /Gas 6 upper middle shelf. Boil your kettle.

Start with the chicken supremes. Get a medium sized ovenproof pan. Put it on a medium heat. Add the vegetable oil and get it hot. Season the chicken supremes with salt. Add them to the pan and fry, skin side down, over a medium to high heat, for 5-7 minutes until the skin is golden. Put the beetroot wedges around the outside of the chicken supremes in the pan. Put the pan in your pre-heated oven and roast, with the chicken still skin side down, for 10-12 minutes. Take the pan out of your oven turn the chicken skin side up on top of the beetroot. Leave to rest for 5 minutes.

While the chicken roasts, make the dressing. Get a medium sized bowl. Add the balsamic vinegar, 3 tbsp olive or chilli oil, chilli and sliced mint. Season to taste with salt and caster sugar.

Heat the harissa couscous according to the instructions on the pack. Serve with the chicken, roast beetroot and dressing.

Tomato couscous with chicken legs & mangetout

Cooking time: 25-30 mins

Preparation time: 15-20 mins

Serves: 2

Vegetarian: No

Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 corn fed chicken legs

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

3 tbsp extra virgin olive or sunblush oil

60g SunBlush Peppers

1 small pack (80-100g) mangetout or sugar snap peas

1 small orange

Half a bunch (supermarket size) chives, thinly sliced

1, 250g pouch of ready to eat tomato couscous

Salt, caster sugar and cayenne pepper

Method

Pre-heat your oven to 200c/ 400f /Gas 6 upper middle shelf. Boil your kettle.

Start with the chicken legs; get a medium sized ovenproof pan. Put it on a medium to high heat. Add the vegetable oil and get it hot. Season the chicken legs with salt and cayenne pepper. Fry the legs, skin side down for 4-6 minutes until they are golden brown. Put the pan in the oven and roast for 15 minutes. Take the pan out of the oven and drain the fat. Turn the chicken legs skin side up and leave to rest for 5 minutes.

While the chicken roasts, make the dressing. Get a medium sized bowl. Add the vinegar, 3 tbsp olive or SunBlush oil, SunBlush Peppers and sliced chives. Grate or zest the orange zest over the top. Peel the orange with a sharp knife. Cut the segments out of the white membranes and add these to the dressing. Season to taste with salt, cayenne pepper and caster sugar.

Put a colander in your sink. Fill a pan with boiling water from your kettle. Add salt. Bring back to the boil, add the mangetout, bring back to the boil, boil for 3 minutes or until tender. Drain the mangetout in your colander. Return them to the pan, sauté for 20 seconds to evaporate the last of the water. Season to taste.

Heat the tomato couscous according to the instructions on the pack. Serve with the chicken legs, mangetout and dressing.

Moroccan couscous with lamb cutlets & rocket salad

Cooking time: 15-20 mins


Preparation time: 15-20 mins

Serves: 2

Vegetarian: No

Ingredients

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

3 tbsp extra virgin olive, garlic or basil oil

4 dried apricots, diced 1/2cm

4 tbsp pomegranate seeds (about ½ a small pomegranate)

2 heaped tbsp sliced mint

1 tbsp vegetable oil

4 lamb cutlets

4 tbsp water

40g rocket (half a small pack)

125g (half a typical punnet) baby plum tomatoes, halved

1, 250g pouch of ready to eat Moroccan couscous

Salt, caster sugar and raz-el-hanout or cumin

Method

Pre-heat your oven to 200c/ 400f /Gas 6 upper middle shelf.

Start with the dressing. Get a medium bowl. Add the vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, diced apricots, pomegranate seeds and mint. Stir to combine the ingredients then season to taste with salt, sugar and raz-el-hanout. Put the dressing next to your cooker. Put a plate with a rack on top and a bowl to drain fat into next to your cooker.

Get a medium sized ovenproof pan. Put it on a high heat. Add the vegetable oil and get it hot. Season the lamb cutlets with salt and raz-el-hanout or cumin. Put them into the pan and fry them for 2 minutes each side. Put the pan into your pre-heated oven for 2 minutes to roast. Put the lamb cutlets onto the rack and drain the fat into the bowl. Add the water to your pan. Bring to the boil and turn off the heat. Scrape all of the meaty goodies off the base of the pan then add this meaty liquid to the dressing.

While the lamb fries and roasts, put the rocket and halved baby plum tomatoes onto your plates.

Heat the Moroccan couscous according to the instructions on the pack. Serve with the lamb cutlets, rocket salad, tomatoes and the dressing

Guest Post Credits- Merchant Gourmet

Secret Ingredient Challenge With Heinz Tomato Ketchup : Creative Mondays Blog Hop...

This week I was kindly invited to take part in a ‘Secret Ingredient’ challenge with Heinz Tomato Ketchup.I got sent this fun Heinz cooking pack, including a branded apron, oven gloves, wooden spoon and squeezy Ketchup holder and bottle of Heinz Tomato Ketchup.All I have to do is cook my own secret recipe using Tomato Ketchup!! With a family of 6 we all love pizza so I made a quick,easy and very tasty pizza.

Windy Days...

My husbands snapped these pictures a few weeks ago when we was on holiday to Blackpool.It was a really windy day,my hair was a mess I had no make up on and it was hard to pose but I love these pictures and thought I would share...

This last ones shows how windy it was and after these pictures we went back to fetch my jacket!!

Dress-Jane Norman
Shrug - Peacocks
Sandals- Clark's

Linking up my outfit post to...