Wishful Wednesday (and what I ate)

Welcome to Wishful Wednesday.

Happy Consumerism Day!! 

Today has become just another day in my book, although I do love a day off work for no reason!

I had a fabulous start to they day, did my mile run/jog/walk and played in the park!! The council must have repaired the swing recently, it's one of those that are round with thick rope intertwined and you can lie on it...so that is what I did. I put my head back and listened to they sound of the birds. It was just so peaceful.

I prepared my meal a few hours beforehand and made some pomegranate juice. My day has been 100% raw vegan, high carb and low fat.

Chef Jen

Sharon fruit, cinnamon and mango soup

Banana, date and cinnamon cake

Pomegranate juice

The table...I would love it if my mum would one day embrace my lifestyle...

The mango probably was not the best idea, but I still devoured it

Now this was amazing and I could live off it!!

Feeling good after this meal, no sluggish feeling, totally satiated. I love cinnamon because it gives everything a festive taste!

When I felt peckish I chomped on a cherimoya and then I prepared a butternut squash curry with 3 types of rice.

Parsnip, purple carrot and normal carrot rice topped with curry

That was so flavourful! 

A very low fat day for me!!

High in vitamins and minerals though ;)

Here's a selfie of me in my new jumper

Overall, I have had a really good day, although at one point I thought I would be alone all day...luckily it didn't happen and I spent a few hours with my mum.

So, what do I wish for today?

I wish that we stop treating 25th December as a day to over indulge with food and drink, create personal debt and be greedy. 

If you want to live a healthy life with a healthy body, want to be slim, athletic and feel the best you have ever felt (or any of the above) then for a belated present to yourself you should buy 80/10/10 it is the best diet plan you will ever read as it makes so much sense. Even if you are reading this and thinking you like the taste of meat, well a lot of plant based people say they did not give it up because of ethical reasons, they gave it up because it is not good for the body.

Also, if you only have pennies left in your pocket after today then you may want to consider the idea that it is the thought that counts. I personally would rather receive something hand made and personalised that did not cost a lot, as opposed to a really expensive present. When you step away and look at the bigger picture you see everything in a totally different perspective. I see so much greed, selfishness and denial. The denial is just incredible. Our society has just grown into something so scary in terms of consumerism, "less is more" is definitely seen as "less is a bore" nowadays. This is probably one of the reasons why I do not think I could ever raise a child in England.

I am going to wrap up my rant wishes by saying this, consider what you are doing to the environment. We may live in a good place right now, but what sort of environment are we leaving for the future generations?

I hope you enjoy the rest of this festive period and you stop eating and drinking before you reach your limit. 

Much love

Jennifer x

Tasty Tuesday

It's Tasty Tuesday!

Today I started my 9 day break off work and it felt good. I have been needing a long period off work to get my mental focus back on my goals for next year. Instead of getting up at 5.30am I got up at 6.15am and did my mile. I treated most of the morning as a work day and studied TEFL for a few hours. I went to the shop at 3pm and it was surprisingly empty. I was served at an empty checkout! All in all, today has been a great day.

I feasted on a baby watermelon (I should have took a picture as it was so cute) and sharon fruit for breakfast. Then I ate satsumas for a snack and I had banana and coconut sugar smoothie for lunch. I ate cherimoya for dinner followed by an ill wrapped nori roll with parsnips, spring onion, purple carrot and mushroom. That was then followed by spiralised cucumber, peppers, mushroom and Jen's tomato sauce. Yummy.

Here are my food stats (although I did not measure the veg, I got over 2500 on fruit alone so I am happy with these numbers)

I think it is safe to say that if I continue eating like this I will achieve the majority of vitamins and minerals that my body needs. I definitely recommend signing up at cronometer and checking your intake daily. Especially if you're still eating a standard diet. It will put into perspective your dietary needs.

Christmas day is tomorrow and I am so happy to be celebrating my first vegan Christmas and it will be raw vegan style :D

I plan to make Persimmon Pudding from Anji B at Happy Healthy Vegan (I'm treating it more like a soup! I also don't have vanilla and I won't be making the cashew nut frosting) and I may add cubes of mango to give it a chunky effect

For dessert I think I will make a banana, date and cinnamon cake, Freelee style (without the apple, although I will decide tomorrow) 

If I can give you one piece of advice it is this, DO NOT allow yourself to over indulge because "it is Christmas", STOP yourself from eating high fat, stodgy, alcoholic foods and drinks if you are aiming for a healthy life. The "diet" does not start next week, it starts from your next bite. You are what you eat and you wear what you eat for years, so bear that in mind next time you look in the mirror and "wish" you looked different.

What would your 1 year from now self say to you today? Don't get caught up in the tinsel and flashing lights. 

Enjoy Christmas, I will be posting tomorrow so I hope you come by and see what I ate and what I am wishing for!

Much love

Jennifer x

Think Thursday

Welcome to Think Thursday!

More than likely you have all done your Christmas shopping and perhaps this should have been a post a few weeks ago, but if you're like me you will not want to be paying for gifts that potentially add to the problem of animal cruelty.

I opted out of my work's Secret Santa because a lot of people wanted things that I did not want to purchase (it is a specific Secret Santa, e.g. write 3 things you want and then your Secret Santa must buy from that list). I did not want to end up picking someone asking for booze or chocolate so that is why I decided against it.

I think gift giving for a vegan who stands by their morals is tough if they are buying for a non vegan who is particularly fussy about brands, etc.

Nowadays I tend to give money, which I feel is just the same as not giving a present. It is not creative, does not require any thought for that person and could not be more impersonal if it tried!

I think gift giving for a vegan could be the perfect way to plant seeds.

Gifting books, DVDs, peronal hygiene products, vegan foods, fair trade products, etc could be a great way to introduce a non vegan to this way of living. To seek a more harmonious way of living that does not involve cruelty and want to live a healthier lifestyle.

I believe that if we start small and local, we can all make a big difference together.

Now, do not give in. Do not buy anything that compromises your morals.

Much love

Jennifer x

Sweaty Saturday

Welcome to another Sweaty Saturday!

If you read Forgetful Friday you'll know that I was definitely not up for exercising in a conventional way today. 

I started to feel human again by about 3pm having spent most of the day in bed (apart from breakfast around 10am when I devoured lots of mangoes). So I went to the town centre, picked up some Christmas cards, mushrooms, water, etc and returned home.

I finally finished the Christmas tree, adding my hand made decorations and even more Disney things (my dad added the Pooh topper and some Minnie and Mickey stockings) and here is the finished thing.

I am not really in the mood to crop the photo!

So, after I carbed up with a low fat cooked meal...

Clockwise top left: 1lb mushrooms, Jen's tomato sauce, chickpeas and corn spaghetti

Don't forget the salad :)

...I was able to turn on the music channels and DANCE to get my sweat on. It felt so good. I have not done that for aaaaaaaaaaages and it used to be a regular thing to get down in front of the TV :D I plan to add that to my daily routine. 

This week I ran 5 miles - 1 mile Mon-Fri. I went to the gym yesterday to do squats, smith machine squats and lunges, bicep curls, dips, etc. I did about an hour of weights. I want to stick with getting up at 5.30am to run 1 mile and then in the evenings I will go crazy dancing in front of the TV! I will go to gym Friday, Saturday and maybe Sunday depending on how I feel.

What did your week of exercise look like??

Much love

Jennifer x

Forgetful Friday

Hello all, it was supposed to be Fun but it was Forgetful Friday instead.

Although that is not true, I did not forget to do my blog and it was fun for most part. During the course of the day I wondered when I'd get an opportunity to do it as I gave myself too much to do, which resulted in a very bad headache, leading to migraine.

The problem was that I under ate at lunch and that really did me in, especially as I went to the gym and had to rush after that to make sure I was not late for my plans that evening.

So, what I did last night was head to The Coven in Wigan and had a 3 course raw meal. 

The wonderful menu

For starters the soup was not as stated, it was tomato and basil instead but it was super delicious. For the main, I was curious how the chipolatas would look and taste...the verdict...really good! But for me I think the pudding had to be the best. I have always hated Christmas Pudding, but wow it was so tasty (although at this point the migraine had kicked in hard so I took most of it home and ate it this morning). Delicious! Such a cute place to go and the dinner ware (plates, cups, etc) are just my taste, I love it.

Main course - Chipolatas & Cranberry Sauce with Warm Kale Salad and Parsnip Rice

I am looking forward to the Raw Feast in spring time. If anyone is interested (I know it's a long way off) let me know as it would be fun to get a bunch of people together to go.

Also, at work my colleague said he was going to wear a Christmas jumper and said I should wear one too, so I dug out my Christmas T-shirt (as I do not have a jumper) and this is me yesterday morning with breakfast

Banana, date and mango smoothie :)

Much love

Jennifer x

Make it Monday

Happy Make it Monday!

So, you all know by now I am crafty. I like to sew (when I can be bothered) and I wanted to share my Christmas crafts with you. I made these in 2011 and I remember the frustration!!

I was going to make 25, but 12 was enough!!

I got annoyed when sewing these as they were rather fiddly on the sewing machine!

I should have stuffed it properly but this was my attempt at a gingerbread house!

The template for the scotty dog is courtesy of Jenny B Harris. An amazing designer and lots of free crafts on her blog. I recommend you check it out. 

I made the template for the house myself based on lots of google searches! 

Also, the stocking was just a basic template off a google search and I decided that the trimming would complete the look!

I'd love to see what you make or have made in the past :) I find that I enjoy myself when I'm getting crafty, even though I get frustrated, annoyed and angry. It fulfills the creative desires within me.

Much love

Jennifer x

Soulful Sunday

Welcome to Soulful Sunday!

Today I have been in need or serious sleep, in fact all week I feel like I've been running low on energy. Perhaps I need to eat more fruit, although when I've been eating I have been feeling so full that it would not be advisable to eat anymore without consequences!!

I had a really hard time at work last week, mainly due to the energy problem. Perhaps I should ask for a blood test before I get my next B12 injection to see if I need more?! I was so glad at 1pm on Friday, I couldn't get out of work quick enough!! This weekend has been great though.  First I went to the fruit market (check out my video on YouTube), which is probably my third favourite thing after sleep and eating. Then in the evening I went to a potluck hosted by my lovely friends and attended by great people.

I definitely deserved a rest day today (even though I had planned to go to a gallery in Liverpool - sorry James) and I do feel better for it now, even though I am still in lazy mode.

Despite putting the Christmas tree up and decorating my desk at work, I still feel like scrooge! 

Happy cheery desk...

Not the final resting place...

OMG is that a cucumber?! lol It scared me....and I ate it, nothing else!!!

So I guess that is the round up for my week/weekend. I am hoping that this week will go better than the last!

Much love

Jennifer x

Make it Monday

Hello Make it Monday fans!

So, what have I made this week? Well, not a lot. It really is just food that I make, but I am hoping to get some crafting back in at some point and as it is December it means we are into the Christmas month, so what better way to start the first Monday off than to share some Christmas crafts!!

Check out this cute beaded tree decoration. Now, the lazy people can purchase a kit if they wish (link in the caption), but to be honest it looks so easy to get the materials yourself and follow the picture...

Purchase here

The website says crafts for kids, but come on adults will love making these too, just look at their cute little faces and the bright colours!!

Find a description of how to make here

For a more complicated (looking at least) project, check out the link below for some gorgeous craft ideas

Find this beauty and others here

And finally, no house would be complete without...

A gingerbread man!!!! Find the free pattern here

I hope you all get crafty this Christmas and I would love to see your creations!

Much love

Jennifer x