Start of September…Back to Pumpkin

Am I ready for the end of Summer – both the school holidays and the sunny weather? No.

Am I, nevertheless, starting to look forward to Autumn? Maybe.

I was doing a bit of online window shopping last night and, instead of bikinis or cute summer dresses, I found myself lusting after hoodies and chunky jumpers.

And I may have opened one of my (many) tins of pumpkin that has been lurking in my larder since last Autumn. I actually opened it on the 31st August, but shhh, we’ll keep pretending that my taste buds are super in tune with the seasons!!

So on Friday I made a Oh She Glow’s pumpkin gingerbread smoothie – one of my favourites from last year.

Delicious, but too strongly spiced for Toby, and perhaps a bit too fall-like for me just yet.

So this morning I cut out the spices and molasses, added in the all important peanut butter (!), and made a mellowed down pumpkin smoothie that is perfect for adult and children taste buds alike!

Peanut Pumpkin Smoothie
(makes 2 large portions)

• half a tin of pumpkin (200g)
• 2 frozen bananas, chopped before freezing
• 500ml milk (I used organic cows but you could use non-dairy if you want this to be vegan)
• 50g oats
• one huge heaping tbsp smooth peanut butter (prob about 60g?)

1. Put the milk, oats and pumpkin into the blender jar, and leave in the fridge for a few hours/overnight. This isn't essential, but will help you get a smoother result.
2. Add the bananas and peanut butter when you are ready to eat, and blend until smooth and creamy.

I prepped this first thing this morning and put it in the fridge whilst Izzy and I went swimming. Exactly what we wanted when we got home a few hours later

Thumbs up from Izzy (despite the face, ha, I think she still had a mouth full of smoothie!!)…

And Toby gave it his version of a thumbs up too…

Divine. I think I possibly even prefer this version to the spiced one – it has a lighter flavour whilst still being super thick and creamy. Definitely more “appropriate” while the sun is still shining…the perfect transition into pumpkin season!!

Are you ready for Summer to be over yet? Thought about eating pumpkin? I love summer, especially the recent (for England) heat we’ve been having – beach, iced lattes, sunbathing etc are my idea of bliss. I’m also sad that schools start back next week, however it is never too early to start eating pumpkin!! I’m pretty sure I was still eating it into Spring this year, but I have seemingly now had a long enough break from it to start wanting it again! I might stick to this smoothie for now though – pumpkin oats can start happening when the weather gets cooler again, which wont be long I’m sure!

Food From The Weekend

Hello! How have all your weekends been? Good I hope :) We've had a relaxed one here - bit of tidying, bit of exercise and, of course, lots of eating!

I've been trying to eat a bit "better" this weekend - cutting down on my snacking and processed foods - as I realised that it is less than 2 weeks until Liam's graduation ceremony and I have nothing to wear, eek!

This has resulted in some quite yummy meals - going back to basics + trying new things is good! :)

Saturday morning I had a smoothie for the first time in ages. It was a bit cold, but delicious - about a quarter of frozen avocado, frozen blueberries, a banana, milk and a little agave...

This was really tasty, I love how thick the avocado makes smoothies!

After this Izzy and I headed to the gym. She started going to a gymnastics club which she really enjoys. Last week I stayed to watch to check she got on ok, but this week I spent the time in the gym (just down the corridor) instead - a bit of exercise for me while Izzy has fun, win!

Lunch on Saturday was a big plate of roasted red kabocha squash, with a couple of scrambled eggs and ketchup randomly on the side!

I've got majorly into roasted squash recently, I just wish it wasn't so difficult to cut! Luckily at the weekends Liam is home to do the knife work for me. We had squash again today, and I asked Liam to chop some extra up for me to use tomorrow/Tuesday - save my fingers from getting chopped off!! :)

Dinner last night was a quick stir fry - courgettes, peppers, basil tofu, noodles and soy sauce:

Simple but tasty. We hadn't had stir fry in ages for some reason, despite Liam often asking for it, so this was appreciated by all of us.

After dinner treat of a Halloween "Scream" Egg! I love Creme Eggs and this tastes just the same, with a seasonal colour, yum!

*****

This morning started off with another smoothie, but an even better one - Oh She Glows' Pumpkin Gingerbread Smoothie. Minus the chia seeds as I really don't like them, this was delicious. The recipe says it makes only 1 serving, but I managed to fill the glass below 2 and a bit times - no complaints here! :)

This was fantastic...I'm planning to have it again tomorrow! It somehow didn't seem as cold as Saturday's smoothie, although I'm sure that was just psychological - pumpkin is such a comforting food no matter what temperature it's served at.

Lunch today was a random assortment of foods that needed eating. The others all had cheese on toast, but whenever I have that I end up having two slices, and then wanting another two slices immediately after! Not such a good idea on day 2 of "better" eating! Instead I had this warm salad that filled me up and kept me full for much longer than cheese on toast would have.

Cooked quinoa/bulgar mix, last of a bagged salad that needed eating, roasted beetroot (thanks Mum!), avocado and Munchy seeds. This was delicious - I'm always pleased when I make a bit more effort with my food. Trying to improve my eating has made me realise how much we rely on bread, especially for weekend lunches (yesterday the others had poached eggs on English muffins when I had my squash egg combo) but I never find that bread fills me up for long so finding other alternatives is great. This salad was perhaps a bit too filling - I spent a good 20 minutes unable to move after finishing eating!!

Tonight's dinner was another one that we haven't had in ages - butternut squash risotto. This time without spinach, and with a red pesto "sauce"...

I love this recipe. It's actually really quick to make, but tastes like more effort has been put into it. Today I used a mix of red kabocha squash and butternut squash (with half the butternut left for another day) which worked just as well. I did miss the spinach - next time I must remember to buy some. I used to always have some in over the summer, but I haven't been making any green smoothies lately.

What was the best thing you ate this weekend? Pumpkin smoothie for me I think - I loved all the meals I've had but my sweet tooth always wins! Also, any suggestions for what I can wear for Liam's graduation??? I'm thinking black trousers and a nice top maybe? I'd quite like to wear a dress, but I always have an issue with shoes (size 8, wide, flat feet = shoe-shopping nightmare!) and I can probably squeeze into the black trousers I already own which would cut down on the new clothes I need to buy. Feel free to link to any nice clothes you've spotted recently please - I'm thinking a shopping trip will be needed later in the week!

Weekend Highlights

I've decided not to post photos of everything I've eaten the last few days - I've eaten lots of standard foods like egg mayo sandwiches, a repeat of basil tofu, brown rice & peas, plus many grabbed handfuls of almonds and Brazil nuts. I seem to have become unable to go into the kitchen without grabbing a handful from the bag of mixed nuts in the cupboard! Plus the post would just be too long if I posted every single thing I ate - I've become a real snacker recently!

Here are the more interesting things I've eaten though...

Friday:
After the gym I never fancy a heavy breakfast, usually opting for a smoothie. Friday morning I had the energy to make it a bit more visually creative. Smoothie made of a banana and frozen exotic fruit mix (mango, melon, papaya and pineapple), layered with Rachel's coconut yoghurt, topped with a sprinkle of desiccated coconut...

this tasted as good as it looked! I loved being able to taste the individual flavours of the fruit and the yoghurt, although it has made me want to buy a whole new collection of glassware!!

The rest of my meals on Friday were less interesting, but I had some fun snacks! Total split pot yoghurt with honey...

I loved this! I loved that the honey was set, and tasted really good quality...it immediately carted my mind back to when I was about 11, and we went over to Portugal to visit my Auntie and her (Portuguese) husband. They both worked in the hotel we stayed in, and I remember most mornings my Uncle would make my Auntie breakfast...usually toast and yoghurt with honey and jam. I remember watching with fascination as he first mixed the honey and jam before adding the yoghurt...to my child's mind it seemed so exotic! I of course tried it at the buffet breakfast the next morning and it was delicious. The thickness of the Total yoghurt with the yummy honey reminded me of that...I think I'll have to buy some decent honey to enjoy with yoghurt more often :)

My daughter was still off school on Friday. The thing she was most upset about? Missing the fruit salad that was meant to be part of her school lunch! I know I could've made some up for her, but it was a treat for her to buy some, and for £2 I think this was quite good...

Tesco mini fruit platter - kiwi, melon, grapes, mango and pineapple. The children ate most of this (with baby squeaking to make sure he got his fair share!!) but I was left with some pineapple and kiwi, yum.

Saturday:
Another great breakfast. Katie's Pumpkin "Boatmeal" or baked oats...delicious.

I followed her recipe except I used 2 tbsp date syrup to sweeten it, and I added 25g of crunchy peanut butter from her list of optional extras.

This was amazing. I really enjoyed Jess' Carrot Cake Breakfast Bake and Averie's Microwave Blueberry Banana Oat Cake, but Katie's Boatmeal tasted the most how I thought baked oats should taste...I'm looking forward to playing around with different variations of this!! :)

the texture of this was so good. Not as "cakey" as the breakfast bake, but not as chewy as the microwave cake...I don't really know how to describe it...just soft, yummy baked oats...divine.

Dinner was the other highlight of Saturday. Not even a pre-planned meal - just a way to use up the kale that was delivered in our veg box. Stir fry with onion, garlic, ginger, kale, peppers and frozen soy beans, served with noodles, soy sauce and sesame oil (plus prawns for the others)...

Sometimes a big plate of veggies is just what's needed :)

Sunday:
My gym plans changed today (my sister was only free to look after the children in the afternoon instead of the morning as I'd hoped) which meant my breakfast plans could change...I took the opportunity of being able to have a heavier breakfast to eat a variation on yesterday's boatmeal. Chocolate-banana = divine.

Choco-Banana Baked Oats

• 40g oats
• most of a banana, mashed
• 50ml milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp Sweet Freedom, to taste

Mix all the ingredients and cook in the oven at 190C for 20-25 minutes. Topped with Rachel's coconut yoghurt and the rest of the banana. This was so good...

I love the texture of this, even without the crunchy peanut butter that yesterday's had. A great start to the morning (especially alongside an unpictured maple walnut latte!)...

I plan to make many more of these in the future...thanks for the inspiration Katie! :)

Going to the gym straight after Liam's lunch break (the only time my family could look after the children) does not really work well with our routine. I didn't want to eat the pasta that everyone else was eating for lunch, so instead I had a small smoothie to keep me going. This was really tasty and so simple. Just 1 small banana, 100g tinned pumpkin puree, 1 tsp cinnamon, 25g Meridian peanut butter and 5g agave nectar all blitzed up in the blender. So smooth and sweet, and surprisingly filling too...

When I went to the gym, there was only one other person there, fab! (not particularly surprising as it was sunny and the rugby was due to start) Unfortunately I couldn't do a particularly long work-out as my sister wanted to watch the rugby child-free, but I managed to fit in 20mins on the cross trainer (changing levels up and down every 2 minutes, this worked me really hard!) plus free weights, leg weight machines and 10 minutes on the rowing machine.

When I got home, my appetite was all over the place! I wasn't hungry when I got back, but equally couldn't last until dinner. I ended up eating about 5pm - leftover passata veg pasta sauce that the others ate for lunch, with wholewheat penne and nutritional yeast flakes...

I hadn't had nutritional yeast in such large quantity before (and I can't believe this is only 1 level tbsp!) but it was great...and the protein for calories is so much better than cheddar, yet it doesn't feel like I'm missing out, ideal! :)

As well as my recent nut addiction, I have also been eating lots of yoghurts. Since I went shopping a week ago I have finished the entire big tub of Rachel's coconut yoghurt, plus all the Total split pots I bought. I ate the last one this evening - tropical fruits...

this was nice, I liked that the fruit compote had chunks in it, and of course I still love the thickness of the Greek yoghurt. My favourite still has to be the honey version, but I prefer this to the blueberry (I didn't buy the strawberry one as I find strawberry yoghurts boring!)

So that's my weekend. A quiet one, but a good one. I hope you've all had a nice time too!