Porridge or Smoothie?

After giving Liam a lie-in and breakfast in bed on Saturday, it was my turn yesterday! I'd mentioned to Izzy that if Liam was stuck for breakfast ideas, she could suggest the cocoa-raspberry smoothie recipe on here, so when I was woken up to the blender whizzing my mouth started watering. And then I got a text from Liam saying "does smoothie need cooking in microwave or have I messed up!?" and I became slightly concerned!!

It turned out that rather than go to my recipe page, Liam had gone back through my recent posts and come across the recipe for raspberry chocolate orange porridge but had somehow managed to completely miss, in both the ingredients and instructions, that this was a recipe for porridge rather than a smoothie!! Haha, luckily the oats made up for the lack of banana and the smoothie turned out really well - thick and filling - I will be making blended porridge again for sure! I am glad Liam asked my advice before cooking it though!!! ;)

Izzy had a party yesterday afternoon, but we wanted to get some fresh air first and make the most of the sunshine. So mid-morning we headed to the beach...

Izzy and Liam chucked stones in the sea, while Toby and I...

...built stone towers...it was actually really nice to have time to do nothing!! :)

Instead of ice cream, I'd wanted to get smoothies to have on the beach, but unfortunately the smoothie bar didn't open until 12pm (!!) and Izzy had to be at the party by 1pm. We had them for the walk home instead...still just as good!

I chose a Pineapple Sunset - frozen pineapple, papaya & mango, frozen yoghurt and apple juice...

This was delicious - super zingy and tropical! Liam had a Mandarin Pleasure (mandarin, banana, mango, fro yo & apple juice) but is going to have the Pineapple Sunset next time.

Izzy decided to go the chocolatey route with a crunchie milkshake...

and luckily they agreed to give Toby the overspill in a separate cup which saved us some money/having to share - happy smiles all round! :)

When we got home, Liam drove Izzy to her friend's party and I put Toby for a nap and got the sun loungers ready for Liam's return...

Iced coffee + sunshine + child-free peace & quiet = utter bliss!! :-D

As well as breakfast yesterday, Liam also made dinner, such a treat! I should get him to cook more often - this was so good!

Potato wedges, asparagus and Philadelphia/cheddar stuffed mushroom. The potato wedges were the best part as they are something I hardly ever make myself, but it was all really tasty. Thanks Liam! :)

Right, I'm off to the kitchen to decide on an early dinner/late snack as I have Body Pump tonight!! :-D The boot camp I go to on Thursdays is at 7pm, whereas this class is at 8pm so I'm not really sure what to do about food - it will be too late to eat dinner by the time I get home about 9.30pm so something substantial is definitely needed beforehand. I'm so excited about Body Pump - it is the first class at my local gym so I am going to be able to go every week now - I've already booked me, my sister and one of my friends in for next week too! Hooray for not being able to walk tomorrow!! ;-D

I'm sure I've asked this before, but do you have any "rules" about what/when you eat before exercise? I don't really have any specific food I always eat beforehand, but I do avoid eating for at least 2 hours before exercising. This is particularly important for me with cardio (I can't swim or jump about on a full stomach!!) so I'm hoping it won't be as crucial for tonight's Body Pump class, but I don't really want to risk it - I want to be able to give 110% tonight without tummy issues holding me back! Food at 5.30-6pm, class at 8pm should be fine though, so now I've just got to figure out what to eat...off to stare in the fridge/larder in the hope that something jumps out at me!!