Food and Exercise Round-up (week 47)

The Stats

8th January 2014

Weight:  8st 11lbs
BMI:  21.2
BFP:  27.3

The Exercise

My work year started on the 2nd January, and I was immensely cheered up by the fact this this was a Thursday...because Thursdays are run days!  I did a nice little 5k in a respectable time.

Thanks to the mild weather it was a cycling day as well, so all in all a good start to the working week (and it's always good to start the working week on a Thursday!).

On Friday Jules came to visit!  We Cross Fitted.

It was brilliant.

Saturday was our rest day - with the exception of some quite strenuous shopping - but we did sneak in a little stroll from Craster to Dunstanburgh Castle.  It had been a grey, dull day but a lovely sunset sneaked up on us whilst we were walking back.

On Sunday we all drove to the picturesque Thorpe Thewles so that Jules and I could do a long run on the Castle Eden walkway whilst Alastair did a walk.

Nice and slow and steady...and followed by Sunday lunch!

The Food

My official post-Christmas abstemiousness was relaxed almost immediately when Jules came to stay, although we ate very healthily overall.  I cooked a delicious meal from the cookbook Jules bought me for Christmas for Friday night.  The book is Dale Pinnock's The Medicinal Chef and the main course was Sweet Potato and Chickpea Bake.  This was delicious, it was kind of a veggie Shepherd's Pie with a sweet potato and goat's cheese topping and onions, chickpeas, spinach and sundried tomato paste underneath.  I put pumpkin seeds on the top too for extra crunchy deliciousness.  The dessert was Spiced Apple Wedges (baked in cinammon and maple syrup with pecan nuts, amazing) with Blueberry Compote.  The blueberry compote included a sprinkling of chilli flakes - I was dubious but the chilli went perfectly with the very sweet stewed blueberries and really added a depth and warmth to the dish, which I served with 0% fat Greek yoghurt.

Although it's not very modest to say so I think my food was the best of the weekend - Jules and I had a nice lunch at The Corbridge Larder in Morpeth (not Corbridge!) - in fact my Greek platter, consisting of olive bread, feta cheese, stuffed vine leaves, aubergine jam, roasted red peppers and olives was very nice - but we did think that the cafe itself looked and felt a bit like a canteen - not helped by the fact that it opened into the bus station on one side.  The food definitely tasted better than the premises promised!

In the evening we found ourselves in the Hermitage Inn in Warkworth.  On the whole this was a disappointing experience - my vegetable stir-fry was somewhat below average and Jules' dessert was made in a factory and disgustingly sweet.  I also had an undrinkable cup of coffee - and for me to say that means it was really bad!  Jules said her fish pie was nice though, and I had an absolutely amazing Spotted Dick and custard.  It was perfect!  It was a sponge rather than a suet pudding and it was obviously home-made, as light as a feather, delicately spiced and stuffed with the most delicious plump raisins.  I can't recommend much else about the place but I would recommend that Spotted Dick!

On Sunday we had another disappointing meal, this time at the Hamilton Russell in Thorpe Thewles.  Alastair declared his oven baked cod inedible ("it tastes like rubber") and I only ate my roast beef dinner because I'd just run 8 and a half miles and was absolutely ravenous.  To alleviate the trauma I went home and cooked treacle sponge for Alastair and "guilt-free sticky toffee pudding" for me and Jules.  With real custard made with egg yolks and vanilla seeds.  I have to say, they made us feel much better.

Disappointing food aside, which didn't matter at all  in the great scheme of things, it was a wonderful weekend with a wonderful friend and I really enjoyed it.  A very good start to the year!