Rollback roller Disco

Flowers

I bought myself flowers today because Traff couldn't take a hint. I think I deserve them! It's been a crazy week!  I've been off doing something every day after work- and work has been pretty intense too.
So these are a present for me.
Well done for surviving until Friday.

Hula hooping class

May and I went to a Hula hoop class- It was pretty late 9-10 on a week night is optimum snooze time.

I learned to hula hoop- which I have never been able to do before so that made me very happy!

Although it turns out that I make the most amazing concentration face when doing it..May has video evidence.

May was much more elegant.

Paddle boarding

Priory Marina with Traff

Reading

On Saturday I met with my Mum, Aunt and Nan in reading. We had a good day of mooching around the town, We we went to Reading museum to see the replica of the beaux tapestry- it's awesome for 3 reasons:
1) It's an incredible feat of embroidery and it only took a year! mental!
2) It shows Halies commet as a bad omen during the battle.
3) It's had a dose of victorian modesty- The naked gentlemen were given shorts!

Paddle boarding

I actually really enjoyed my paddle out but I am grateful that I went early as by the time I came back in the wind had really picked up.
I was more or less dragged across the car park trying to put the board away! nothing like having a 10ft sale to make walking more of a challenge!

I had a bit of a freak out- the side of the lake nearest the clubhouse was really choppy, so I headed over to the back of the lake where the bridge for the dual carriageway shelters the lake from the wind. on that side of the lake the water was totally flat. It was lovely, it was so still you could see all the plants on the bottom- In fact I saw a live pike! It was longer than my arm!- However, the source of my freak out was looking at the plants in the water I saw a dead carp. I don't really know why, but I had 5 minutes of losing my shit. I screamed, lost my balance and got myself stuck in the reeds directly next to the poor dead bloated fish.
In honesty, seeing a dead fish should not have surprised me at all. it's a lake. it would be odder if there were no fish. I've just never seen any fish before- dead or alive.

Apple pie cookies

Sorry for the less- than impressive photo, I'm doing baking today, I can't be crafty in more than one way at once!

I made these apple pie cookies half following a recipe which I will post below and they're awesome. They're really moist and actually taste like apple pie (Even if I do say so myself).

This will make 16 cookies which are around 88 calories per serving.

Ingredients:

2 cups oats

1 cup Sultanas

2 eating apples, diced and stewed

1 dsp cinnamon

pinch of sea salt

2 tsp flax seen with 4 tsp water to form an "egg" (Or you could use an egg..)

1/2 cup coconut milk (Or any liquid you like really)

1/4 cup maple syrup.

Method:

• Stew the apples with some water- no added sugar- I mashed mine with a fork once they were soft but if you have a blender that would work much better!
• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees
• Whilst the apples are stewing, combine the flax seed and water to make the egg, leave to one side to thicken.
• Combine all the dry ingredients thoroughly
• Add the syrup, milk and flax egg and mix
• Add the stewed (Mashed/pureed) apples to the mix

I found this to be a bit hopeless initially but chilled the  mix for about 20 minutes to allow the oats to absorb some of the liquid. once it looks a bit more like dough and a bit less like weird porridge it's ready to be cooked!

• Spray the baking sheets with non stick spray or flour/ grease them- this is a sticky mixture I learned my lesson with the banana cookies, there cannot be too much non stickiness.
• I squidged the mixture into a cookie cutter to make the cookie shapes on the tray and to help me make sure that I was using even amounts of mixture, it's too sticky to make into balls and flatten like the banana mix.
• Bake for about 9 minutes at 200 degrees. 

Apple Pie Oatmeal Cookies

Print

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

12 mins

Total time

27 mins

These soft cookies are very lightly sweetened. If you prefer them sweeter, try adding a little stevia with the dry ingredients.

Author: Susan Voisin, FatFree Vegan Kitchen

Serves: 18

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons chia seeds or ground flax seeds
• 4 tablespoons warm water
• 2 cup regular or quick oats (use certified gluten-free, if necessary)
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (see Notes)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
• 1 large apple, cored and chopped
• 2 ounces pitted and chopped dates (about 4 medjool dates or 1/4 cup packed chopped dates)
• 1/8 cup water
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375.
2. In a small bowl, combine the chia seeds (or ground flaxseed) with the warm water and set aside until thickened.
3. In a dry blender or food processor, grind one cup of the oats. Pour it into a mixing bowl and add the unground oats, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the raisins.
4. Place the apple, dates, 1/8 cup water, and apple cider vinegar in the blender. Blend until it’s about the consistency of apple sauce. Pour it into the oat mixture along with the chia “egg” and stir to combine.
5. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto a baking sheet lined with a silicon mat or parchment paper. Flatten each cookie slightly with a fork. Bake for about 12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack before serving.

Notes

Pumpkin pie spice is a combination of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves or allspice, with cinnamon being the main ingredient. You can replace it with 3/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon each of ginger, nutmeg, and allspice (or a pinch of cloves instead of allspice.

If you omit the raisins, each cookie contains 52 calories. Without salt, each cookie contains 36.2mg sodium.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 1/18 of recipe Calories: 59 Fat: less than 1g Carbohydrates: 12.3gSugar: 4.9g Sodium: 100.8mg Fiber: 1.7g Protein: 1.4g

Paddle boarding

Oxford with Traff and Kirstie

On Saturday Traff and I met up with Kirstie in Oxford. We both wimped out of our respective sports training in the morning (I usually have roller derby but thought it would be sods law I'd get an injury and Traff usually has wresting but as he has an injured foot and a match on Sunday night he decided to just hit the gym instead).
This meant we were able to have the afternoon in the city and enjoy the weather. I keep seeing it in the papers described as "The hottest weekend of the year so far" -That isn't exactly difficult- I't been miserable since November.

We walked in through Botley which was nice in the sunshine and then headed for broad street. It's the literary festival weekend so there was loads of dancing and people dressed up. We got ice cream (Don't start) and sat on the steps of the new bodlean library building opposite the Sheldonian and watched the festivities.

After that we went to The Queens Lane coffee house, which was the first coffee house in Europe. Where I drank tea to break with tradition.

Following that we just had a bit of a mooch about. I like taking Traff to Oxford because when he's like "I wonder what that is?" I usually know the answer. It makes me feel clever! I made him walk up the high street and back down past Merton college into the back of Christchurch meadows- Avoiding all the people! It is possible to get to places quickly and without being elbowed, you just have to know al the lanes and rat runs. And they have loads of those blue signs for famous people, and the road is cobbled. You don't get many chances to walk on cobbles any more! It's weirdly satisfying.

We had a mooch around the Modern Art Museum. Traff wasn't very fussed by the modern art. I did try and encourage him but he was glued to the football scores. I enjoyed the museum though.

After our mooch about we met kirstie for dinner in Thaikhun. :) It's so good. I know there are loads of really good thai places in Oxford but this one has all my attention for the time being. Especially as they serve a really good massaman curry (Yeah, another thing I'm not supposed to have. Shhh) and they do sticky rice.

After dinner we went to G&Ds and had ice cream and put the world to rights for about 2 hours. Traff was worried we'd get thrown out but there were lecturers marking books in the cafe so I think they're pretty happy to just let people koch about at their own pace.

New Purse

I've had my old purse for years and years. I'm really sentimental when people buy things for me and I'll keep using them long after they're actually functional/nice looking because I feel guilty about throwing them away. The purse in question was a hoochie mamma one that Helen gave me as a birthday present when she was still living in Bedford.
The zipper had gotten all worn out and sometimes it wouldn't open properly- which was a bit awkward when you're trying to pay for things!

Traff and I have this game which started as a joke and is now a "thing". He thinks I have garish taste in objects- especially accessories or homewares (Most of my clothes are black so not all of my tastes can be garish...)
It started when I was sick and we'd first moved to Bedford. I asked Traff to buy me some new PJs from Primark. In an effort to cheer me up he asked the sales assistant to help him pick out "The ugliest" PJs in the shop- I only wanted the bottoms but I am now the proud owner of a set of pink flannel covered in a repeating print of owls. I genuinely loved them. I still do.

So now, whenever I ask Traff to pick me up something in town he tries to get the "ugliest" possible version.

That is what I am now the owner of a textured, plastic, leopard print purse.

Paddle boarding

It's still too cold for shorts but no longer cold enough to need a hat and gloves! Spring must be on it's way!
:D
I had a really lovely paddle out with Traff yesterday evening- I really like to paddle later in the day as there is so much more wildlife you can observe- birds feeding on insects low over the water, roosting etc.
In the summer the swallows and swifts come in to feed round you- I guess they don't associate the paddle boards with people so they don't have any fear (Or not enough to override their enthusiasm for feeding).

Fingers crossed for some more paddling and maybe some warmer water over the next few weeks- It's nice enough to paddle and flat enough that standing isn't difficult but not warm enough that you'd want to fall in yet- So no head stands and knee dips.

We've been looking at getting our own kit so that we can try some new places to paddle- the inflatable  boards (Like the ones in the photos) pack down into a back pack, so it'd be possible to take them down onto the beach at the Gower or if we find some nice lakes to try them too.
http://www.24-7boardsports.com/inflatable-boards-packages/
I am tempted by the Fanatic fly air premium package, The Red paddle co ride 10'6 or 10'8 but the biggest value deal on there is the Starboard Astro Whopper. So I am saving my pennies up at the moment.
It's a bit of a bummer actually, as the boards aren't too pricey on their own and you can get second had or ex demo stuff pretty easily. It's a bummer because as we don't currently have any kit we also need the pumps and paddles and bags and leashes etc etc.