Evening all! 🙂

I’m still disappointed about missing tonight’s Body Pump class. It’s totally my own fault for getting my times mixed up and got caught up in something in the lab.  I’m addicted to it after a month and thinking about hitting up a double dose of it next week to make up for missing this weeks class. I think, dare I say it, that I’m seeing more definition in my arms. Body Pump is an awesome class for blasting those muscles into shape and it’s generally just fab!  So I did a quick cardio workout in the form of a hill climb on the cross trainer, abs and core and some weights.  I also fitted in some free style yoga this morning to stretch out my legs after yesterday’s morning run.

My run was pretty good yesterday. I managed 4.32 miles in 43 minutes although it’s a little slower that last weeks short run I’m quite happy with the time. Later in the day I headed to my Spin Core class, where my cute and tiny instructor shouted and drilled at us like an army Major! Seriously this girl is so small, around 5ft, but she has some lungs on her! All her shouting made for a good class though and my abs and legs were so sore afterwards, hence the yoga this morning.

Well my eats have been pretty much what I can grab due to a limited amount of time, however I always manage to make time for a super delicious breakfast regardless of my schedule.  Yesterday morning I made a humongous bowl of chocolate and banana oats using my usual 1/2 cup serving of oats 1 cup of chocolate soya milk, 11/2 cups of water, a mashed banana and a few dates, topped with some white chocolate wonderful.

This was perfect! The dates went all gooey and fudgy as I heated them in the oats. As this was my first taste of white chocolate wonderful I was eager to get stuck in. I’m happy to report that I wasn’t disappointed…it tastes amazing! 🙂

I was in the need for a green smoothie this morning and opted for a mix of spinach, a nectarine, a banana, oat milk, water, maple syrup, lucuma powder, maca powder, hemp protein and xanthan gum. Toppings included melted dark chocolate dreams, a peanut flour sauce and Lizzi’s granola.

A salad for me is always a quick and tasty lunch. So yesterday I whipped this one up in a matter of minutes. It included mixed salad leaves, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, goat’s cheese, olives, red onion and sundried tomatoes.

Lunch today was taken straight out of the freezer…

…Coconut Spiced Vegetable Soup! I love the fact that I can go straight to m freezer and pull something out that I cooked a while ago for an easy and tasty meal. I need to do some batch cooking this weekend though as my supplies are running a little low at the moment. I can’t wait to get it that kitchen again!:)

I got home from my class a little late, but not too late to make something quick and speedy. 

Other than my beloved green smoothies I think socca pizzas make the best quick, tasty and substantial meals when I come home late. This one was topped with a tomato sauce butternut squash, sweet potato, mushrooms, peppers, spinach and nutritional yeast flakes. I chopped some parsley and added that to the pizza base mix to make it extra tasty.

I also had a few squares of the Vivani chilli dark chocolate that I picked up from my Whole Foods trip in March…yum!

For me salads are another perfect quick and easy meal so tonight I went for a Buddha Bowl inspired salad as part of my Sex Up Your Salad Challenge…

*Moroccan Spiced Cous Cous Salad*

Ingredients (makes 3/4 servings)

• 2 cups of whole wheat cous cous
• vegetable stock (just enough to cook the cous cous)
• 5 chopped unsulphured apricots
• 200g of chickpeas
• 1/2 a red onion diced
• 1 clove of garlic grated
• 1 red pepper diced
• 1 cup of courgette
• 1/2 cup of olives (of your choice)
• 1 tsp of cumin
• 1 tsp of cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp of ground black pepper
• pomegranate seeds
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tbsps of red wine vinegar
• 3 tbsps of canola oil (or olive oil)
• 3 tbsps of chopped parsley
• 3 tbsps of chopped coriander

Cook the cous cous in the vegetable stock until the grain becomes light and fluffy, drain and set aside covered with cling film.  To the cous cous add the vegetables, chick peas, pomegranate seeds, dried apricots, parsley and coriander and stir through.

To make the dressing mix the oil, red wine vinegar, cumin, cinnamon, black pepper, lemon juice and garlic until combined and pour over the cous cous mixture.

Sexy right!?!?!

I cannot wait for tomorrow! I’m taking some time off from university to go shopping in the big city that is Birmingham. It’s only 20 minutes from me by train so I thought why not. I’m looking for some bits and pieces to finish off my outfit for the wedding that I am attending on Sunday and it is Alfie’s Grad Ball on Saturday night. So a lot of celebrating will be done this weekend! Bring it!

What is your favourite quick and easy meal?