It being summertime here in the UK, we’ve been thinking a lot about picnics lately. We’ve noticed that the shops are full of flaccid pies, dreary dips and limp salads, all purporting to be ‘perfect for picnics’. Psht, they’re messing with us! Homemade picnics win by miles. That said, you don’t have to do it…
Archives for June 2013
Vegan Aubergine and Roasted Red Onion Dip
It’s picnic season here in the UK so we’ve been busy cooking up dips, spreads and other forms of transportable deliciousness. This Vegan Aubergine and Roasted Red Onion Dip fits the bill perfectly; we had this along with several other treats for post-race refuelling after the Castle Howard 10k recently. Worth the run for the…
Classic Guacamole
Making your own guacamole is so quick and easy it seems like madness to buy the bland, pappy stuff they sell in supermarkets. This is very simple, mega-tasty and knocks soggy, shop-bought soggy guacamole out of the water. Avocado is a good source of dietary fibre, potassium, B-6 and Vitamin C. It has quite a high…
Harissa Roasted New Potatoes
Regular readers will know that we’re always looking for new ways to make carb loading exciting. Here’s another – ditch the bland pasta and perk your carbing up with these Harissa Roasted New Potatoes. They add a bit of zing to breakfast, lunch and dinner and they pack a pow in your picnic. Easy to…
Beetroot Salad with Yoghurt and Mint Dressing
Research shows that beetroot improves your running performance – it’s the nitrates that do it. For obvious reasons then, most runners love beetroot. But even if your main priority as a runner is simply putting one foot in front of the other, beetroot has a lot of other things going for it. It’s a good source of…
Ras el Hanout Veg Quiche with Feta and Caramelised Onions
Perfect Picnic Provisions! Quiche is robust enough to cart about anywhere, and the ras el hanout adds an edge to make it an elegant addition to a spread. We made this to have after the Castle Howard 10K, knowing that the protein in the eggs and pastry would be fantastic for our recovery. I’d imagine…
Becoming a Runner – Getting Kitted Up
Running is a relatively egalitarian sport, with a very easy entry level. You don’t need to muster up a team of people, and you don’t need loads of expensive equipment to get started. When I first started running, I lived in mum’s hand-me-downs for literally everything, but if you’re not blessed with a bonkers-mother-runner like mine,…
Chewy Fruit and Oat Bars
As you’ve probably gathered, we do a lot of home cooking but one thing we haven’t quite managed to wean ourselves away from is shop bought energy bars. It seems easier – if ridiculously expensive – to buy packs of granola bars, flapjacks and the like. It’s time we had a talk with ourselves. This…
Becoming a Runner – 4 Ways to Change Your Mindset to ‘I am a Runner’
I was a very reluctant runner to begin with. If you’d told me even three years ago that I would be running a marathon this year and going running voluntarily 5 days a week, I would have told you to shake your head. Now, I happily lace up my trainers by myself and nip out,…
Sweet Potato and Spring Onion Soup
Ever have those days when you think the cupboard is bare and it turns out it’s not nutritionally naked at all but bursting full of good-for-you tastiness? I had one such recently, thumping a couple of sweet potatoes on the worktop and wondering what on earth I was going to do with them this time….