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Saturday 9 April 2011

Summer is here

We are having our summer here in Northern Ireland! Last year, April was lovely too (although more towards the end of the month). I took yesterday afternoon off work, and spent the entire afternoon out walking along the Lagan river valley. I detoured to pick up our race packs for sunday and to get a wee bit of coconut ice-cream, yum. It's about 20C/68F here from about 11am, so I went out in my running skirt and light technical shirt. Hopefully it will last a good few weeks, although our 'summer' is usually over by July, when the rain comes back!
Today, after an early bodyrock sess, a quick crab cake breakfast:


(tinned crab, an egg, a garlic clove, hot sauce, blitzed and sauteed, osmanthus tea on the side) and feeding our friends' cats (we're keeping an eye on them while they're away for birthday celebrations) we walked into town for the farmer's market, and a bought a beautiful bottle of newly harvested olive oil from Foggia in Italy, the guy told me the olives were still on the tree 8 weeks ago! It's grassy, herby and peppery but not a hint of bitterness (which is what normally makes me avoid grassy olive oils). It's far too good for cooking, but it's going to transform my salads and will make a lovely simple dressing for lightly steamed greens.
I also got some other treats, our friends make Italian desserts so we got a slice each- blueberry olive oil cake for the Mr, flourless chocolate run cake for me.
I also got some salmon fillets for tonight's dinner, a beautiful big bunch of flat leaf parsley,


duck eggs, chicken eggs and a meat deal from a rare breeds farm called Pheasant's Hill Farm out in Comber, Co. Down. They breed Dexters, little tiny cattle. I got a ham hock, dexter steak pieces, mince (ground beef) and natural Tamworth pork sausages all for £10. Let's not forget the veggies, I got a January King cabbage and a big bag of curly kale.

Weekday meals:

Kale, bell pepper and quorn in passata with some pesto and olives


Roast chicken breast on the bone with lots of herbs de provence, sweet potato, onion, carrot and steamed broccoli


Salmon, egg and goat cheese salad


Roast chicken salad (I got four meals out of the one roasting pot)


Fage yogurt with heated up raspberries


Today's lunch: mushroom, spinach and quorn-slices-that-needed-used-up three egg omelette. With oregano, fresh parsley, a little goat cheese and some leftover tomato passata.


It was a pretty huge (and messy once folded over) dish, just want I needed after yesterday's 12 mile walk and before tomorrow's race.
Today we are taking it easy before the race, in fact MrPeskyRunner is a big horse racing fan so we're going to be watching the Grand National. Then it's off to pick up a few groceries (read: carbs and Quorn for Mr, and a few householdy things) and a nice stroll in the sun to wake up an appetite for tonight's salmon and dessert.

3 comments:

  1. Yay for bodyrock love :) So glad to hear that you are enjoying it. And love egg goat cheese salmon salad looks heavenly! YUM

    Pure2raw Twins

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  2. Goat's cheese is fab- I pretty much never buy cow cheese (sheep's cheese is nice too though).

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  3. Crab!! Oh it definitely IS summer!! We've had amazing sunshine too- it's a real smiley time when that happens isnt' it!

    Apologies for being AWOL recently- been through a 'why isn't anything happening right' moment. http://vivoir.wordpress.com/2011/04/13/change-it-up-and-reap-the-rewards/

    See what I mean?! That was only spurred on by my own decision to finally make a change and go down a path that I want to go down!

    So, I actually think that it's completely awesome that you're changing your diet so much. Mainly because you've got the confidence to give it a go and see what happens

    Love it :)

    Now to go and swipe the can of crab my parents have stashed away... reckon they'll notice?!!

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