Today I woke up, got dressed in my gym gear and went for a run. I hadn’t been jogging for over six months and jogged 2 km as a start, then walked until I got my 10K steps in. It felt good as I pondered about starting a new Saturday routine and doing a weekly park run. (Although technically, I should be doing more strength work than cardio but anyway…)

Later in the morning, I had a hair cut. I decided to go for a messy French bob style hair cut. (I also chopped the last bits of my old blonde hair colour so now I’m completely dye free!). I failed in my challenge to keep my hair long for a change as it’s “not me”. Long hair draws my long face and makes it go further south.

That’s not a direction I want anything – least of all my face – to be going at this phase in my life. 🤣

After coming back home from the hairdresser, it was time to start baking.

There’s a YouTube channel I follow called How to Cook Smarter and at times I think the cook there puts oat flour in everything. However his recipes are simple, nutritious and dead easy to make. Much of the time with ingredients we already have in the pantry. What I like is that he makes healthier options of foods that you can buy from the supermarket.

Today I thought I’d make his frozen yoghurt that has no sugar, condensed milk or baddies in it. OMG this was so delicious making it. I can’t wait to have this ready for dessert tonight. The only minor thing is that I added protein powder to it to boost its protein content.

Next up was home made Nutella. Once again I love this spreadable chocolate but it’s something I hardly ever eat because it’s so sugary. Here’s the healthier option made of peanut butter, maple syrup, banana. Once again this was delicious even before it went into the fridge!

And finally, granola.

This is a staple in my fridge and I make my own. Store bought granola is hideously expensive. I usually make my own with whatever I have going in the pantry but if you need a recipe, here’s one for you from the same YouTube channel.

I’m amazed at what you can cook as alternative healthier options. One of my favourite breakfasts is blended up cottage cheese.

I’m not a fan of cottage cheese usually. The curdled look is not appealing to me so thanks again to YouTube, I found that people are blending cottage cheese which has a high protein content and mixing it up with chocolate to make a mousse equivalent. I do the same but also add additional protein powder into it, drizzle it with my granola or some fruit and then I have this for breakfast. It feels decadent but it’s great for your health and it keeps me going for most of the day as it’s quite filling.

My next challenge is to make a cheesecake but this time, whizz it up by using tofu as the cream and not fattening cream. I wonder if Andrew would know the difference. He’d hit the roof if I gave him anything like cottage cheese or tofu. 🤣

However he does love Robertson Fruit Mince (way too sugary and sickly sweet for me) and I bake these fruit mince pies every Christmas with that. Apparently his mum used to make them like this when he was younger, so I’ve continued the tradition for him. I made about 30 of them. That should keep him going.

What a day. Im finding that the days go by very quickly when im home. I have no idea how I worked during the week too. Time flies so quickly. Now it’s time for a cuppa, some knitting and watching a French film before Andrew arrives home from work.

Another good day again. Tomorrow, more golf.