It has been quite a random week for me with lots going on at work and at home. Getting home after some of my busiest days have been spent recovering from the madness.

This week on one of my days off I decided to go and visit one of the farm shops in county. There are quite a few in the area so it was a tough choice, but the one I settled on was amazing. There was an abundance of fruit and veg, a deli, local preserves and honey, a bakery, butchers, restaurant and a garden centre too.

After having a good look around I headed to the meat counter and bought some venison steaks after loving them last time, minced beef, ox tail and some lambs liver. I decided to go for some of the more unusual meats to give them a try. Ox tail and lambs liver are completely new to me so I will let you know how I get on.

I also picked up some local honeycomb and lots of free range eggs. Something tells me that I will be visiting this farm shop a lot in the near future.

This week I have really been enjoying my workouts and currently have a great routine going. My usual weekly mix is strength training, cardio and yoga and Pilates. Normally Sunday is my whatever day and I do what I fancy and I take rest days one day in the week and Saturday. This week’s routine included:

Monday: 30 minutes of cardio with strength intervals in between every 10 minutes of cardio.

Tuesday: Tara Stiles yoga weight loss and balance workout.

Wednesday: 10 minutes on the cross trainer (warm up), upper body strength, 10 minutes on the bike (cool down).

Thursday: REST

Friday: 10 minutes on the cross trainer (warm up), lower body strength, 10 minutes on the bike (cool down).

Saturday: REST

Sunday: Yoga for runners and POP Pilates: Stretching for Flexibility.

I’m loving the variety in my exercise routine at the moment as well as my go with the flow approach to my workout week.

Also, this week I have been eating some pretty tasty food:

3 egg mushroom and cheese omelet stuffed with spinach with roasted kabocha squash on the side. This was the most tastiest speedy meal that I’ve had in a long time. It practically took minutes to make and only seconds to eat! =)

As well as my green smoothies for breakfast this week I have also been enjoying other tasty breakfast delights too. This scrambled free range egg, smoked bacon and banana bread chick pea flour muffin topped with butter and blueberry jam was as good as it looked.

Chocolate protein oats made with water and topped with coconut milk was the perfect start to a grey morning this week. The chocolate and coconut combo was immensely good and reminded me of a Bounty bar.

One of my favourite lunches from this week has to be this left over roasted free range jerk chicken breast with my Curried Quinoa made with dates and almonds and mixed leaves. Oh my this was good!

My work colleague bought in some homemade saag paneer into work this week that I had with roasted veggies for a delicious dinner at work on one of my late nights.

Another lovely meal made out of the left over roasted chicken was this super fast curry that I made using homemade chicken stock, coconut milk and Thai red curry paste with courgettes, spinach and steamed broccoli on the side. It’s amazing how many meals you can make out of one whole chicken.

After reading Laura’s cauliflower rice post it reminded me it has been ages that I had made some myself. I made an Egg Fried Cauliflower Rice that turned out really well:

It included:

1 grated head of a small cauliflower
1 egg scrambled
edamame beans
half a red pepper diced
1 spring onion
1 tbsp. of sesame seed oil
1 tbsp. of soy sauce

To make the rice I first scrambled one egg and once cooked I put aside. Next I fried the cauliflower in a little oil and added the peppers and edamame beans to the pan and cooked until tender. Then I added the soy sauce and sesame seed oil and added the scrambled egg back into the pan. The spring onion was sprinkled over to finish.

I had the egg fried “rice” with a stew made with the ox tail that I bought from the farm shop. I have to say that both parts of the meal were equally delicious and I will definitely buying ox tail again.

These were a lovely treat from Alfie that he picked up the other day. An organic dark chocolate and mint Easter egg with some Lindt mini eggs. I cannot wait to get stuck into these Easter treats. I’ve hidden them away in a cupboard so save me from myself, although there’s not long to wait now.

Have you tried any new foods recently? I’m quite excited about trying some of the new meats that I picked up from the farm shop. Is it sad that I get excited by food so much?!

Are you having any Easter treats this year?

17 Comments

Chrissy grace on March 10, 2013 at 7:59 AM

We have a couple of Lindt bunnies looking at us in the fridge lol awaiting Easter Sunday! Interestingly I’ve also been getting into liver lately as its a great energy pick me up and inexpensive. I pan fried it with some spray oil & Harissa had with salad was awesome! Ox tail is great too I made a big chunky soup/ stew with lots of various lentils slow coloked was great! Your week sounds similar to ine in terms of exercise I’m loving the new routines and balance I feel xxx
- Jemma Andrew on March 11, 2013 at 9:16 PM
  
  I like the sound of Harissa and the livers. I’m so going to try that!
Eleanor@eatinglikeahorse on March 10, 2013 at 8:27 AM

I love cauliflower rice, more than the “real” stuff! Farm shops are great and hopefully they’ll get more trade with all the horsemeat news…
I’ve never really been a fan of bacon but the type you’ve got there looks really tempting, that’s proper bacon!
My mum always buys Easter eggs – and of course, Lent will be over by then so I’ll be able to do full justice to the chocolate 😉
- Jemma Andrew on March 11, 2013 at 9:15 PM
  
  There is not too long to go for Easter now. I bet you cannot wait!
Claire on March 10, 2013 at 9:50 AM

I admire your self control when it comes to those Easter goodies Jemma, I would not be as good! Thanks for the yoga links, will def check them out. It’s also great to see your weekly workouts, have given me some ideas for how I can mix mine up. Happy Sunday!
- Jemma Andrew on March 11, 2013 at 9:14 PM
  
  It has been tough I assure you! 🙂
Bec - Half Baked on March 10, 2013 at 10:47 AM

Meat and honeycomb from a farmers store? YUM. Also, weird coincidence but I just did Tara Stiles yoga – like 20 minutes ago! I love that routine. And as for Easter treats, today I discovered M&M speckled eggs – holy yum. They were to die for!
- Jemma Andrew on March 11, 2013 at 9:14 PM
  
  Ha! That is kinda freaky and cool and the same time. Tara Stiles has some awesome yoga videos.
Tamzin Pettitt on March 10, 2013 at 11:31 AM

Oh yes and I can’t wait! Loving all the eats x
- Jemma Andrew on March 11, 2013 at 9:13 PM
  
  I’m really looking forward to Easter too! x
AnnaTheApple on March 10, 2013 at 8:38 PM

I don’t think I’ve ever tried oxtail. Sounds intriguing though. I really can’t stand liver though. But I love buying food from farm shops. It’s just s much more personal than a big supermarket. You feel more in touch with the process of how it got to the shelf which I think is really important.
- Jemma Andrew on March 11, 2013 at 9:12 PM
  
  I think you are right. It the current climate it is nice to know where your food comes from.
Persistence Over Perfection on March 11, 2013 at 10:22 AM

Mmmm My Dad made some lovely oxtail stew recently – yum yum! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
- Jemma Andrew on March 11, 2013 at 9:10 PM
  
  I was really surprised that I liked it so much. I will definitely be buying again..
Ffion on March 11, 2013 at 4:00 PM

Egg fried rice is my favourite way of making cauliflower rice, it’s great for when I fancy a veggie paleo meal. I’m jealous of your edamame, do you buy it frozen? I never manage to spot it in the shops! I would love to experiment with more unusual cuts of meat, it is just knowing where to start!
- Jemma Andrew on March 11, 2013 at 9:12 PM
  
  Yeah I buy it frozen either from Tesco’s or Sainsbury’s. It’s such a God send as I don’t think I can get it from anywhere else. Holland and Barrett sell it too but at a much higher price.
Christina Wilmowski on March 14, 2013 at 11:03 AM

Everything looks so good! I love red thai curry, the flavours are always so incredible!

Farm shop buys, Easter treats and egg fried “rice”

17 Comments

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