Hey guys and girls!!! How fast did this weekend go? I hope you have all had a fab time. I’ve spent some of my time playing around with the blog. You may or may not have noticed that the site address has now changed to www.unconditionallynourished.com. This is the first major change that took me quite some time to figure out, but “GO me!” I got there in the end. Other changes are likely to occur, such as updating some of the pages and the way the blog looks, time allowing of course.
Well my weekend got off to a yummy start with a bowl of Dorset’s Cereal Tasty High Fibre Flakes, warm soya milk and a chopped apple.
So simple, but so good! 😀
After this and getting my cleaning done I headed to the market to restock my fruit bowl and pick up some veggies. Whilst struggling back to my car weighed down with shopping bags I walked by the Julian Graves store. I don’t usually shop there as I find that there range of food is quite limited. However, this time I just had to go in- due to their current clearance promotion of 50% off everything!!! As you can imagine I was overcome by excitement and seemingly everyone else was in the store. Some of the shelves were bare and the poor lady trying to restock the shelves just couldn’t keep up. Everyone was going crazy! Unfortunately the walnuts and pecan nuts (my faves) had sold out but that didn’t stop me from picking up some bargains.
What’s in the bag?!?!?
My haul included pitted dates, dried cranberries, omega seed mix, whole almonds (almond milk is a must!), cashew nuts and brazil nuts. Now I did say this 50% off promotion was on everything…
Yup! Nakd bars too! The small Wildly Different bars came to a grand total of 34p. To say I went a little wild in the aisles is an understatement when it came to the Nakd bars, but who could resist? I’m not sure if this offer is nationwide or when it ends, but check it out if you can. Before the Julian Graves madness I did pop in to the independent health food shop, where I showed way more restraint.
Here I picked up some Clearspring soba noodles, carob powder, golgi berries, dried unsulphured apricots and some oatbran. This was all bought of course after tidying my health food cupboard. Nevertheless, I did find some room for these extra goodies and in a few other cupboards too. 😀
Gosh! It still does look a bit messy…oh well…
For lunch I made possibly the biggest green smoothie I have ever made:
Smoothie glass and an extra bowl was needed for this monster.
It was delicious! I mixed beetroot, spinach, strawberries, celery, Kara coconut milk, xanthan gum, agave nectar and wheat germ. Toppings on one included raw chocolate covered golgi berries and dried fruit and nuts. The other was sprinkled with dates and omega mixed seeds.
As you can imagine I was seriously full after all of this. We were going to go out for dinner I recreated one of Alfie;s favourite starters from the Saxon Mill, one of our favourite restaurants-baked Camembert. In an attempt to make it a main meal I made a platter up a platter of treats…
It included smoked mackerel, Butternut Squash Hummus, olives with roasted veggies, cured ham (for Alfie), french baguette slices (for Alfie), Ryvita pumpkin seed crackers, raw veggies an the baked Camembert of course.
The Butternut Squash Hummus is divine! I’m so excited about sharing the recipe with you this week.
It was all so tasty and made a nice change from having a proper meal. I love tapas, which I know this wasn’t, but it had that kind of feel about it if you know what I mean?
This morning started with a great 4 mile run at the same pace and time as last Sunday. It was much colder than last week, which I wasn’t expecting when I headed out- my hands were freezing! I’m loving my running at the moment and I cannot wait for the warmer Spring mornings to come so that I can get out there more often. I refueled with a lovely bowl of carob oat bran with mixed seeds, cranberries, Kara coconut milk, water, wheat germ, ground flax and peanut butter.
Look how the peanut butter melts…
For lunch I made some Vietnamese Vegetable Rolls with an Asian style dipping sauce…
These were so light and tasty and make a great alternative to traditional wraps.
Ingredients
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extra thin spring roll wrappers
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a shredded carrot
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half a shredded courgette
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shredded savoy cabbage
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fresh coriander
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cashew nuts
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pre-prepared soba noodles
I found the spring roll wrappers a little awkward at first, but after making up a few rolls I soon got the hang of it. For me it was easier to soak the wrappers one at a time in warm water for a few minutes until they turn soft and transparent. Once the wrapper is ready, transfer to a plate and place some of the vegetables, noodles, coriander and cashew nuts into the middle of the wrapper. Turn in the ends and simply roll it up like you would a normal wrap.
For the dipping sauce I mixed 2 tbsp of sweet chill sauce with 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp of sesame oil and 1/2 tsp of grated ginger.
I will definitely making these again! You could virtually put what ever vegetables you would prefer in these. Also, sea food or meat would also work here too.
My afternoon was spent reading where I ate a pink lady apple and a orange and a very delicious mug of Roobios and Vanilla Cosy Tea…
And no I don’t usually study with a place mat for company, it was left over from lunch!
😀
For dinner Alfie made a chicken pepper pot soup, which he adapted for me by adding lots of steamed veggies and leaving out the chicken.
I added the omega seed mix and some Engevita yeast flakes. This was followed by a selection of chocolate:
RAWR Intensity dark chocolate, Anthon Berg Raspberry and Blackberry dark chocolate and two Thornton’s chocolates.
I have a busy week of experiments ahead of me and tonnes of reading to keep me busy. I’ve got a super tasty soup recipe and my Butternut Squash Hummus recipe to share with you this week.
Sneaky peek…
Well here’s to a fabulous and productive week for us all!
What is the best thing you ate this weekend? Did you make anything amazingly delicious? I really can’t pick just one thing from my weekend eats. Hmmm…its between the platter with the Butternut Squash Hummus or the Vietnamese Vegetable rolls.
Woohoo! Look at you with your own domain name now! 🙂
We had our homemade pizza just like every weekend… and as always, it was super fabulous! 🙂
holy moly!! THAT IS A HAUL!!!!! so so jealous! YAY for your own domain!!!!!!
best thing i ate this weekend??? a cinna roasted squash and almond butter wrap!
Woow go you for getting your own domain name!
I am super jealous of your food haul..you definitely stocked up on some yummy things! I’ve never heard of Julian Graves, are they only down south?
I’ve tried the spring roll wrappers before and found them really fiddly and ended up ripping half of them..it was a lot of work and I didn’t find them very satisfying either.
I can’t wait for your butternut squash recipe – anything squash and I am bound to be in love with it!
There’s one in Durham Nicky ~ Julian Graves is nearly opposite Holland and Barratt, but it’s not as good as Almonds & Raisins in my opinion.
Thanks! It is a mega food haul, but it’s going to last me for months and months. I thought it was best to stock up whilst they had the offer on. I thought Julian Graves had stores everywhere in the country?
Thanks! It is a mega food haul, but it’s going to last me for months and months. I thought it was best to stock up whilst they had the offer on. I thought Julian Graves had stores everywhere in the country?
Good lord, that is a haul and then some!! Wow!!
Best thing I ate this weekend was the gnocchi with pesto and rocket on Friday night – so good!! Closely followed by today’s Sunday roast.
That gnocchi sounds right up my street!
I think we might just be related…! There’s no way I could resist a 50% off sale at Julian Graves (I’ll check out the one near me tomorrow) and my cupboards look exactly like that!
Best thing I ate this weekend is probably more coconut muffins – I’m addicted 🙂
woah! what a fab post! go you!! that platter looks amazing! my boyf would love that…may have to make one next weekend!
Thanks! My boyfriend loved it! 😀
Best thing I ate/made all weekend? Your PB/nana pudding. It was absolutely divine and I nearly cut my tongue off licking the blender 😉
Hurrah for huge green monsters. The best ones always require two jars, fact.
xxx
I love that pudding! So glad you enjoyed it. 😀
Your Butternut Squash Hummus sounds and looks amaaazing!! I made Home-made Chocolate Truffles last night! 🙂
Homemade truffles…they sound lovely!
Oh man, that platter looks DELICIOUS! Congrats on making the move to your own domain name!
Thanks! It was more complicated than I thought it was going to be. Glad I made it in the end!
😀 All the things I love eating! Can I come ovaaa? hehe. You have such a cute site, girlie! Keep rockin’
Thanks Ellie!!! 😛
Congrats on your own domain name! And that soup looks amazing. I’m hoping its vegan friendly.. 😀
I didn’t eat much of anything exciting this weekend: a lot of veggies, pb, dried apricots and linseed bread. I am going out for dinner tonight though, so that’s something to look forward to!
Thanks Alison! The soup is super tasty! It does contain soy sauce but you could use shoyu as a replacement.
Great nakd bar haul! I quite like Jullian graves for picking up unusual goodies! Looking forward to your squash hummus recipe, sounds a bit like my squash dip which was so yummy!
I love squash with everything. Your dip looked delicious!
I think I would have went wild in the aisle’s if it was 50% off too – especially on Nakd bars!!!
Ha!I couldn’t resist!
I love snack plates/tapas-y style eating! Yours looks delish, I’ve never had baked camenbert before I’ll have to give it a go!la
Thanks It was super tasty! 🙂
Everything looks delicious! Especially the butternut squash hummus – I can’t wait for the recipe 🙂
Also I’m soo jelous of all your bargains, especially the nakd/trek bars! have you seen the offer on the website at the moment?!
Thanks! The recipe is coming up in tonights post. I hope you like it. I haven’t seent the offer on their website. I’m not even sure if it a nationwide thing, so I took full advantage as you can imagine!
Wow you hit the jack pot!! It all looks so great!!
OMG yum! So many tasty eats!! You definitely scored big at the store; what great deals! I love your well-stocked cupboard too! That always makes me happy:) I noticed you have carob powder, and I was wondering some of the things you use with it!? I’ve never tried it but have been meaning to, and NEED some ideas! Thanks xoxox;)
I only bought it on Saturday, but I think you just use it the same way you would cocoa powder. So far I have used it in my oat bran. I will be using it in my green smoothies and maybe some baking in the future too though. 😀 xxx
The vietnamese rolls look amazing – I need some of those in my life 🙂
The best thing I made this weekend was probably pancakes (although not the healthy version unfortunately)