Wilderness Woods - Fun Days Out - Review by Bex

We had a brilliant morning playing at Wilderness Wood in Hadlow Down yesterday.  As well as being a beautiful, family owned and run woodland, there is lots to do including organised activities and adventure playgrounds and a cafe selling delicious homemade cakes and other food.

Caramel Cake

For the twins, the playground by the cafe was the best bit with a mud kitchen, pirate decks and a tyre swing (which they're still a bit young for but Priya did a great job of holding on!)  There are picnic tables outside, beautifully decorated with wild posies and there's an outdoor kitchen with wood fired pizza oven.

Kalyan wanted to push Priya on the tyre but didn't quite get the concept of it swinging back towards him!

After a play next to the cafe, it was time to head off and explore.  We found muddy puddles, a wigwam, logs (which K tried to lift before giving up and trying a piece of bark), lots of trees and birds.

 The adventure playground area was quite small with just a zip line and a slide but we all had fun!

And then we set off on another trail through the Christmas Tree field and down, finding bugs, brambles, butterflies and sticks along the way...

Before heading back up to the cafe for cake!

Mum and I had the caramel cake and Nik, Dad and the twins all had the orange cake.  Both were moist and delicious and extremely generous slices.  For 5 pieces of cake and 4 coffees it cost £23.  For entry to the woods you just "pay what you feel" to help maintain the area.

Afterwards, Nik had to go to work so he and Dad left and Mum and I took the twins for another little walk in search of the fairy garden we heard about.  We never found it (the map could be better!) but enjoyed another trail exploring through the woods.

It was a great morning out and we will definitely be returning!  We could easily spend a whole day there if the twins didn't get tired and need a nap.  I'd like to go for lunch next time and sample some more of their yummy food!

They run lots of workshops and activities for older children too with lots going on in the holidays and monthly BBQs.  You can also camp there or just hire a space for a BBQ yourself.  They do weddings and have a Yurt with fire pits and there's also a Forest School for little ones (age 2.5+).

See the Wilderness Woods website for more details and check out the Wilderness Cafe website for their menu and info too.

Rest Day Recipe inspiration for Cycle 2 and 3 - weight loss by Bex

So as part of Cycle 2 of my 90 day plan from The Body Coach, I was given a list of the foods I am allowed on a rest day or a training day and specific quantities.  Those are tailored as part of the plan according to my assessment form and therefore not for sharing.  The following recipes are just to inspire you if you're also on the plan and need ideas for what to make from the food lists, they don't contain quantities as they are different for everyone.

Of course, if you're not on the plan and you fancy trying them, just make up the quantities!

So, on rest days in cycle 2 we have very low carbs, high protein and high healthy fats.  Here are my favourite recipes for rest days using my list of suggested foods.  We choose one (or 2 for veg) from each group - cooking fat, protein, extra fat source, 2 veg, greens, spices (this is freer as they have no effect on the macros) and side sauce.

Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli Bake - I was sent a recipe for this from Joe but I've adapted it to suit my tastes more.

Ingredients:
Coconut Oil
Chicken
Mozzarella
Mushrooms
Onions
Broccoli
Salt & Pepper
Cottage Cheese
Chilli Flakes (optional)

Method:
Heat the oil in a pan and fry the chicken until browned, in the same pan and oil, cook the mushrooms & onions.  Steam the broccoli until just cooked.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the cooked chicken, broccoli, mushrooms & onions with the cottage cheese, half the mozzarella, a little salt & pepper and chilli flakes if you wish.  Tip into a baking dish, sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake in the oven until golden and bubbling on top. 

Cheesy Mustard Chicken with peppers - this reminds me of a delicious cheesy sauce I once had in a restaurant which is lovely with potatoes.  Sadly I'm not allowed potatoes and cheese on the same day so I have this with my broccoli on the side.  The best thing about this is when it's freshly cooked in the pan, it's a gooey, cheesy, stringy mess - the closest thing to a pizza minus the carbs.  When it's reheated - it's much more saucy.  If I fancy having different veg in it, I make a bigger batch and use alternative veg for one of the measurements so I can have onions and peppers and mushrooms and more mushrooms.  It's a great one pan, quick rest day meal.

Coconut Oil
Chicken
Mozzarella
Mushrooms
Onions (red or white)
Peppers
1 tsp Mustard
Sour Cream
Broccoli

Heat the oil in a large frying pan.  Cook the onion & peppers and then add the chicken, when the chicken is almost cooked, add the mushrooms.  When chicken & mushrooms are cooked through, remove from the heat and add the mustard, cheese & sour cream.  Stir as the cheese melts.  Serve with steamed broccoli.

It also makes a good sauce for steak, just leave out the chicken and spread it over a lovely grilled steak instead:

Chicken Strogannoff

Coconut oil

Chicken breast

Onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed/chopped

Mushrooms, sliced

2 tsp Paprika

1 tbsp Thyme

1 tbsp Dijon Mustard

1 tbsp Lemon Juice

Black Pepper

low fat sour cream

1 chicken stock cube in 100mls water

Broccoli

Steak or Chicken Thai Curry

Coconut oil

Sirloin steak OR Chicken/Turkey breast

Aubergine

Onion

Thai curry paste

Low fat coconut milk

Fage yoghurt (?keep some for pud)

Sugar snaps/mange tout

Cashews

OR

Cheddar for pud

In a large frying pan, fry your meat in the coconut oil with some seasoning until cooked, remove from pan. Using the same oil, fry the onion until soft, add the aubergine and cook for about 5 mins before adding the curry paste, fry for 2 mins then add coconut milk and sugar snaps/mange tout. Add the meat back into the pan. Stir through your yoghurt for extra creaminess and serve.

Prawn & Pea Curry

Coconut oil
Onions
Chopped garlic
1 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp hot chilli powder
Tinned chopped tomatoes
Tomato puree
Stock cube in 150 mls water
Salt & pepper to taste
Prawns
Peas (approved by coach just a few times per week)
Yoghurt

Fry the onions in the coconut oil until soft, add 1 clove garlic and then spices, fry gently then add tomatoes, stock and tomato puree, bring to the boil and reduce to simmer, season to taste. Add the prawns and peas and cook until prawns turn pink through. Remove from heat and stir through yoghurt.

Add extra fat as preferred - I had cheese as a dessert. You could also have nuts in the curry or after.

(Serve with rice on a training day and adjust quantities as needed.)

Thai Salmon with crunchy seeds - another really easy one with minimal prep.

Salmon fillet
Thai curry paste
Seeds (I used a combi of pine nuts and sesame seeds)
Broccoli
Coconut/Olive Oil
Garlic
Lemon Juice

Preheat the oven to 180oC.
Place the salmon in an oven proof dish, top with curry paste and seeds. Bake in oven for 15-20 mins.
Microwave broccoli until cooked.  Fry the garlic in the oil and throw in the broccoli, tossing to coat.  Cook for 2-3 mins and serve with the salmon.  I can't remember what I did with my other veg allowance - I might have had a salad!

As for ALL of the greens, I love broccoli so mostly ate that as my green option but even so, it still got a bit dull so I had a couple of ideas to change it up a bit. Broccoli soup was awesome for when I didn't fancy a big pile of broccoli, particularly at breakfast or with my sausage bap. Simple to batch cook and freeze in pouches to take to work too.

I also LOVE broccoli fried in garlic. Steam it first in the microwave and then quickly saute it with some chopped garlic (I use frozen) and a little oil. Delish! (If I'd already used my cooking fat allowance for something else I just dry fried it with the garlic being careful not to burn it. It was still nice.

Broccoli Soup

Whatever your portion of greens is, multiply by however many you wish. I did a batch of 8.

8 x Broccoli, chopped
1.5L Chicken or veg stock
Salt & pepper to taste
Pinch of chilli flakes (optional)

Add the broccoli, stock, chilli flakes and seasoning to a large pan and bring to the boil.  Simmer until broccoli is cooked through (appx 8 mins) and blend to your preferred consistency.


From what I could tell from the unofficial pages on Facebook, a lot of people had trouble thinking of breakfast recipes but as I don't mind having leftovers or random things for breakfast, I didn't mind eating anything.


Smoked Salmon with Avocado/Mozzarella Salad or Scrambled Eggs

Smoked salmon
Avocado or Mozzarella or Seeds (fat source) or divide and split them to have a mixture
Peppers (1/2 allowance)
Tomatoes
Red Onion (1/2 allowance)
Lemon Juice
Capers (unauthorised!!)
Salt & Pepper
Lemon Olive Oil

Mix everything together and dress with oil and lemon.  Serve with broccoli soup (see above).

Alternatively I'd have the salmon with scrambled eggs as the fat source and salad on the side.

Amy's New Home - The Pink House by Amy

I am delighted to introduce a new regular contributor to the blog!  You may remember Amy has written us a couple of guest posts in the past but the great news is, we now have a brand new home renovation project to share with you!  Amy has just bought a beautiful house in Essex and is going to share her home project with us here!  So over to the wonderful Amy and her tales of The Pink House...

As many of you will know, we’ve not had the best of luck when it comes to moving.  Getting to this stage where we are almost in our own house, with stairs and a roof and outside space and a proper front door has taken over two and a half years and more stress and heartbreak than we would ever have imagined, but it’s not a cliché to say that things happen for a reason and the house we now call home is one we could never have dreamed we would be able to own at the start of it all.

The previous owner had lived there for 41 years, and one of the things we fell in love with was the history connected to the house.  It’s grade 2 listed and has been a pub and a school as well as a home, has been countless different colours, and has even withstood an earthquake!  Our lovely vendors had clearly loved the house, and we wanted to respect all the love and care they had put into it in our own plans for renovation.  Our aim is to reflect the age of the house in our style of decorating, whilst at the same time applying a few modern touches such as a more open plan style living area, adding an en-suite and dressing room for our bedroom, as well as keeping an overall aesthetic that reflects our own slightly eclectic style.  We love traditional period features, mid century style décor, and bright spacious modernism and I think our plans reflect all of those things.

I’ll be posting regular updates on our renovations as they are done, and probably sharing a few cries for help in sourcing particularly tricky things I have my heart set on along the way :)

Amy

90 Day SSS Plan - Cycle 3

I should have been finished cycle 3 on Saturday but I have chosen to extend it for 10 days (making it a 100 day plan rather than 90) to make up for the very naughty few days I had in Scotland - food, food, wine, food and NO workouts!  I did pack my weights but they never made it out of the roof box!

Cycle 3 has been HARD.  Not least because of our little holiday up north but also many other reasons.  Kalyan has been rather difficult these last few weeks, MAJOR tantrums (I suspect and hope it's teething related) meaning little rest, interrupted sleep, interrupted workouts and little to no food prep getting done.  I was FED UP!  I actually had a couple of meltdowns myself, one morning we were out wandering the village before 8am, none of us had eaten (they refused) and I was in floods of tears.  I just had to bundle them, semi-dressed, into the buggy and get out.  My amazing friend Holly, came to my rescue when I rang her for a chat, bless her - she bundled her 3 kids into her car and drove from the next village to find me and give me hug!  Just what I needed and then we made plans for later on after she got her twins to pre-school.  Another morning left me feeling useless and utterly exhausted by 9am so I managed to get us all (twins still in bibs and no socks on) out of the house again to pop-in where I pushed them into the hall, sat down and left them crying in the buggy while the lovely Lynda and Jane tried to comfort me (which set me off into floods again) and reassure me that they'd all been through the same thing.  Rose and her son took over trying to calm the twins while I had a mini breather before K eventually calmed down and P followed suit.  It's times like these I'm glad I have some amazing people nearby to go to since I have no family near.

I'll admit, until now I've loved the plan, I've been lucky that until recently, the twins had been sleeping really well and been mostly good-tempered and I always managed my workouts before they woke.  But a few days into cycle 3 I had had enough.  All of the weighing of every little thing was getting to me.  Tomato puree should be squeezed randomly into a bolognaise not carefully measured to the gram and don't get me started on the eggs!  I've had way fewer eggs this cycle as I just couldn't be bothered weighing out whole eggs and then my egg white portion just to make some scrambled eggs.  It was all just too much and I was getting irritable with it all.  The workouts are super hard with 150+ reps of 2 different exercises interspersed with HIITs.  I stuck at it though and mainly stuck to the food (until Glasgow) but had to abandon two workouts mid-way through due to K waking early and I missed a couple entirely due to a horrible virus.

I tried to catch up in the hotel gym when I had to go to Bristol for work but then we left for Scotland, an amazing wedding and a few days in my favourite old city with many favourite eateries to enjoy.  I wasn't going to miss out on such a rarity as getting to indulge in steak, Bread Meats Bread's awesome burgers (and a milkshake and poutine!) or some proper, fresh sushi or delicious fusion tapas.  Living down here in the country means our eating out is rather limited to (albeit lovely) pubs or Italian restaurants - there's just no variety like in Glasgow.  I also treated myself to a Krispy Kreme (Biscoff flavour, yum!), pate, moule frites, an ice cream...  I enjoyed my plan break shall we say!

Priya eating her chicken teriyaki in an altogether MUCH neater way than her brother!
(See below!)

Face out of focus but too good an expression with his first burger not to share!

Drinking the last of his ice-cream after tapas.  A trick his Granny taught him!!! 

Glasgow was a much needed change and a rest from the plan.  Sadly it coincided with my final week on plan so when I would have normally been giving a final push of effort to get a great final result, I was dong the opposite.  However, it has left me feeling motivated again (especially after an unsurprising 5lb gain in a week!) and back on the plan properly for a few more days.  I had managed to lose a total of 20 lbs (9kg) on the plan (I measured just before we left) and a fantastic 16.5" so hopefully I can continue and meet my goal of losing 2 stone in the next couple of months.  As it is, I've already lost 2 stone since July last year so I'm pretty thrilled with that!

After I've finished the plan, I hope to stick to the main principles but relaxing on the measuring.  I will be sensible, have many new recipes to draw on and will stick to the portions of exercise I enjoyed (cycle 2 was great for me with the weights but when life gets tough, I'll just get in my HIIT sessions which are so much shorter!)

Having had over a week without working out it's been tough to get back into it.  I finally forced myself today after a rest day back on plan food yesterday and I'm glad it's done.  I'll hopefully get back into my usual routine again now.  

Bex's Bookshelf - reviews

I've read a few good books lately and it's so long since I reviewed anything so here are my thoughts on my recent reads.

The Tea Planter's Wife by Dinah Jefferies was a book club choice and not something I would normally choose.  This is why I like being in a book club because, although it can be hit or miss (there have been a couple of choices I haven't enjoyed), it expands my reading repertoire and can unearth some gems I would otherwise miss.  It's only £1.99 on Kindle at the moment.

Set in colonial times in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon), we follow the story of 19 year old Englishwoman Gwen as she travels to be with her new husband in their tea plantation home.

I instantly liked Gwen and was interested in her story and how her life would evolve in this new, exotic land.  Having visited Sri Lanka, I also found the setting with the history and local politics very interesting.  There was intrigue, romance, secrets, mystery and excitement, all things I love in a story but the main thing was wanting to know what would happen to these characters, even the one I hated!

I was really keen to talk about this one at book club but unfortunately Nik was on call that evening so I ended up being 30 minutes late, had awful trouble parking and they'd already finished the discussion!!  The rest of my evening out was spent at the end of a very long table being largely ignored with one person sitting next to me actually entirely turned towards the person on her other side leaving me with only her back for company.  I also managed to spill someone's wine due to an extremely wobbly table and immediately offered to replace it but was then highly embarrassed to find my wallet was at home in the changing bag so I was unable to!  I actually drove home in tears after a horrendous, wasted evening out.

Since that rather depressing evening, I decided to start up my own local book club with friends from my village and the next which I plan to be much more inclusive, smaller and intimate being held in each other's homes rather than pub venues with parking issues, noise and big tables meaning difficult chat.  I've called it The Book Club With Wine (although the wine is optional of course!) and it's going to be very informal, fun and relaxed.  I chose the first book and have finished it already - The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson.

This thriller is apparently along the lines of Strangers on a Train, which I've neither read nor seen so I don't know how similar or not it is but the premise is apparently the same, two strangers meet and discuss killing their partners (or so I believe).  This book is quite dark, delving into the past of the mysterious Lily who approaches Ted and begins encouraging him that he could get away with murdering his wife and she can help.  Her motives are initially unclear but she's a fascinating character.

There are plenty of twists and turns and some interesting yet disturbing ideas exploring the value of life.  I was always guessing and enjoyed being along for the ride, waiting to see what would become of all the characters.

Another thriller I read recently was the next choice from the original book club, Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris.  I already had this downloaded on my Kindle (it's also only £1.99) and zipped through it in 2 days!

Although rather dark and disturbing (I know some found it a difficult read, especially if they had been affected by bad relationships in the past), I found I was desperate to know what was going to happen and I really enjoyed how the story was written, flitting easily between past and present each chapter to fill you in on how the current situation came to be.

Again, I liked the main character, Grace, despite thinking some of her decisions rather foolish and was gripped by her life with Jack.  In fact, this was one that still had me thinking about it days later, the last few lines in particular - shivers.  I loved the ending despite it being a little predictable.  I preferred it to the end of Gone Girl which, although it had so many twists keeping me guessing, had a rather odd and disappointing finale and no likeable characters.  Behind closed doors had me loving not just one but three characters.  Millie is awesome!

5 years

 

Happy Anniversary Nik!  xxx